January Round-Up

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How did January treat you?

What have been the highlights of this month for you?

January has been a busy month for me – like most months it really seems to have flown past!

I have been working full-time, with my last day of work being the 31st January. Considering that our baby is due in around two weeks, this has been quite tough at times, but, I also feel torn about leaving my class partway through the year.

Apart from work and D.I.Y. in our home (nearly a year to the day that we got the keys, but less than eleven months since we moved in!) I have had time for very little, meaning that I was surprised that I managed to read much this month and was a bit disappointed with how little I managed to blog.

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Books Read

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Total: 41 (Total so far this year: 41)

Picture books: 15

Graphic novels: 0

Middle Grade: 11

Young adult: 10

Adult: 4

Non-fiction: 1

Poetry: 1

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Sources of books

Library: 27

Bought/Owned: 6

Won: 3 (Lollies Funny Book Award 2020 pack)

ARC: 7   ( 1 e-ARC from Netgalley)

(Thank you so much to all the wonderful publishers who sent me ARCs – they are all read, appreciated, and passed on to others who will love them too!)

As always, a majority of my books are sourced from the library – love my library! However, I am going to make an effort this year to rotate my reading so I am reading a library book, an ARC, something from my shelves which I’m excited about reading and something from my shelves which could probably go after reading.. This should hopefully start to make a bit of a dent in the books piling up around me (not that I’m complaining but I have been banned from buying any more bookshelves…)

Books read that count towards the #YARC2020 Reading Challenge: 1  (Total so far:  1 Oh dear, need to step up a bit for this challenge next month!)

Highlights this month have included: The City of Brass, The Island Child, Deeplight, Can You See Me?,  Ruby’s Worry, The Mask of Aribella,  Evernight, War is Over,  The Queen of Nothing, Sofa Surfer and The Island Child.

Some of these I have reviewed already, while other reviews are on the way!

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January Posts

Book Reviews: Throne of Swans, It’s Your World Now, The Island Child.

Mini-Reviews: 5 Books I read last year that I couldn’t tell you about until now,

Waiting on Wednesday: Deep and Darkest Red, Rogue Princess, Forest of Ghosts and Bones, The Foundling, Special Edition.

Library Loot: Despite being to the library lots I have been remiss in posting my book hauls – will try to remedy this next month!

Six for Sunday: Bookish Resolutions, I was planning to be so good at posting these this year, but have fallen off the bandwagon already…need to do better!

Other: Highs and Lows of 2019, And then there were three…new adventures in 2020!, 2019: My Year in Books, 2019 Blogging Stats, 2020 Resolutions, New Year’s Bookish Resolutions Tag, 5 Ways to Encourage Reading for Pleasure in Your Classroom,One month to go until our lives change, Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020, 6 things I didn’t know about pregnancy.

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January Achievements and Highlights

Oops, just realised that I had left this section completely blank when drafting…doesn’t that say a lot, lol.

I started this month with lots of New Year’s Resolutions and it has already been a mixed bag meeting them.

I am proud of keeping going at work and growing our baby – it has been a real learning curve and I cannot wait to meet her!

Blog posts have been a bit thin on the ground, but I have managed to read a decent amount, including some books that I had been meaning to read for ages. I have managed to get most things in the house sorted out and am making progress in being organized (scheduling blog posts) and taking active steps to manage my emotions and happiness (ta-da lists, emotional first aid and listing good things at the end of each day).

Here’s to February being even better!

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January Favourites

Food/ Drink: Least said the better about this I think! So many people start the New Year with resolutions about eating more healthily. I, on the other hand, while eating pretty healthy meals have been unashamedly snacking in between meals too. I figure that being pregnant is a good enough excuse for now!

Skincare: Also not great this month. It has been busy at work and I have been trying my hardest to always drink enough water. I have also finally discovered moisturising creams which seem to work for my dehydrated skin in winter, although it is a constant battle to stop the dry skin cracking and flaking, Lifesavers have been massage oil for the bump and petroleum jelly to soothe the very dry skin.

TV/Film/Music: The Witcher TV series! I have yet to read the books and my main experience of the games has been watching my partner play them, but I have picked up rather a lot of knowledge about the world, meaning that I really enjoyed the series and can’t wait until the next one. If only I could stop singing ‘Toss a Coin to Your Witcher!” I thought it was a lot of fun and I love the fact that more series and movies based on fantasy books are being made.

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Posts I’ve Enjoyed Reading:

The Best Kids Books of 2019 from The Book Trust (published 5th December)

So many here that I’ve loved and all the others have been added to the TBR!

Favourite Middle-Grade Books of 2019 by Amy @ GoldenBooksGirl (published 4th January)

I agree with so many of Amy;s recommendations here and have added all others to the ever-growing to-be-read list…

The Language of Fairytales by Cerrie Burnell for The Book Trust (published 6th January)

I love fairytales, fairytale retellings and am always fascinated by the power they have – this article looks at some of the language used and how effective it can be to transport our imagination.

Favourite books of 2019 by Lily @Lily and the Fae  (published 12th January)

Once again, a massive list of books I ahve either read and loved or need to read!

Getting 21st Century Kids to Read More in The New York Times (published 14th January)

An interesting look at the use of graphic novels and highly-illustrated ‘bridging’ books to help encourage reading for pleasure.

Lisa Thompson shares her favourite historical hoaxes with The Book Trust (published 16th January)

I have actually read books about two of these hoaxes (Vermeer and Mermaid) because they fascinate me so much. Reading this makes me want to bump Lisa Thompson’s latest book up the to-be-read list!

10 Fascinating facts about thesauruses/thesauri for Thesaurus Day (published 18th January)

I didnt know most of these and I do love a thesaurus.

Cover Reveal and Excerpt from the sequel to The Gilded Wolves, The Silvered Serpents by Paste Magazine  (published 21st January)

I loved The Gilded Wolves so was very excited to see this cover reveal and excerpt – not long to go now!

Waiting on Wednesday: Special Edition by Lou @Book Murmuration (published 29th January)

Louise wrote the most beautiful and touching blog post, all about our baby who has yet to arrive. I will be printing this for Jellybean’s baby book so she can read how much she is loved, even before she arrives into the world.

How we pay attention changes the shape of our brains from Lithub (published 30th January)

This reminded me of the video below – watch it and see what you notice and what you miss! This is one video I wish that anyone hoping to observe a teacher’s lesson in order to judge them would watch before the observation – you see what you are looking for and miss lots more!

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What did you think of my monthly round-up for January?

How did your month go?

What are you looking forward to next month?

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Let me know in the comments!

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Also, please link your monthly round-ups below so I can catch up with your blogs!

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Thanks for reading!