January wasn’t the best reading for the month for me. There were a lot of days in January when I didn’t read at all, I even went a whole week without reading a book at all! January dragged a lot for me and with everything going on in the world I found my form of escapism elsewhere, napping. I did manage to read 3 books in January which is my usual so I’m not disappointed with that number but I knew I could probably read more if I concentrated more, but it is what it is. All I can do is learn from my mistakes and do better next month.
Anyway, I started off the year by reading a book from one of my favorite subgenres, books written by therapists! I also read Rachel Harrison’s newest novel about vampires and I ended the month with a Japanese novel that’s been on my TBR list for a while.
Make sure to follow me on Goodreads to be updated on what I’m reading and on StoryGraph if you’re curious about my book statistics.
My star reading scale
★★★★★/5 – Loved it! Would reread and recommend it to others.
★★★★/5 – Kept me entertained. I would reread.
★★★/5 – Didn’t love or hate but would recommend to others.
★★/5 – Did not enjoy it and probably skimmed through most of it.
★/5 – I hated it and regret wasting my time with this book.
DNF – Did not finish. This will probably be rare because I like to finish every book I start.
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Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Dr. Julie Smith ★★★★★/5
Drawing on years of experience as a clinical psychologist, online sensation Dr Julie Smith shares all the skills you need to get through life’s ups and downs.
Filled with secrets from a therapist’s toolkit, this is a must-have handbook for optimising your mental health. Dr Julie’s simple but expert advice and powerful coping techniques will help you stay resilient no matter what life throws your way.
In Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? Dr. Julie Smith gives helpful advice for those who are trying to better their mental health. Books written by therapists are one of my favorite sub-genres. As someone who hopes to return to therapy one day, I find books like these helpful and insightful to reflect on. It’s funny that I started the year of January reading this as I feel like my mental health decreased throughout the month so I may need to already reread this! haha
You can purchase Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? here
So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison ★★★★/5
Sloane Parker is dreading her birthday. She doesn’t need a reminder she’s getting older, or that she’s feeling indifferent about her own life. Her husband surprises her with a weekend getaway – not with him, but with Sloane’s longtime best friend, troublemaker extraordinaire Naomi. Sloane anticipates a weekend of wine tastings and cozy robes and strategic avoidance of issues she’d rather not confront, like her husband’s repeated infidelity.
But when they arrive at their rental cottage, Naomi has something else in mind. She orchestrates a wild night out with a group of mysterious strangers, only for it to take a horrifying turn that changes Sloane’s and Naomi’s lives literally forever.
I was really excited to read Rachel Harrison’s latest release about vampires! I’ve read most of her books and I enjoy her writing. Her main characters tend to be very bland but there is always a secondary character that makes her books interesting. In So Thirsty, Sloane and her friend, Naomi, go on a trip to celebrate Solan’s impending birthday (I don’t remember if she was turning 35 or 40) and they end up meeting some sketchy people, and a night of partying changes both of their lives forever! I deducted one star because I thought the second half of the book was messy like there wasn’t a plot and the ending fell flat for me. I also thought the personal lives of the characters were neglected and I wished there was more context. Overall I enjoyed So Thirsty but it’s not my favorite book from Rachel Harrison.
You can purchase So Thirsty here
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami ★★★★/5
On a hot summer’s day in a poor suburb of Tokyo we meet three women: thirty-year-old Natsuko, her older sister Makiko, and Makiko’s teenage daughter Midoriko. Makiko, an ageing hostess despairing the loss of her looks, has travelled to Tokyo in search of breast enhancement surgery. She’s accompanied by her daughter, who has recently stopped speaking, finding herself unable to deal with her own changing body and her mother’s self-obsession. Her silence dominates Natsuko’s rundown apartment, providing a catalyst for each woman to grapple with their own anxieties and their relationships with one another.
Eight years later, we meet Natsuko again. She is now a writer and finds herself on a journey back to her native city, returning to memories of that summer and her family’s past as she faces her own uncertain future.
Breasts and Eggs is divided into two parts, in the first part Natsuko’s sister and niece visit her in Tokyo so that her sister can get a boob job. In the second part, eight years later, Natsuko is looking into alternative ways to become a single mother.
This was an interesting book to read after So Thirsty because in both books the topic of women aging was discussed. I’m only 31 and I know I’m still very young but it’s difficult not to pay attention to one’s aging especially when you’re a woman. In the second part, the topic of motherhood and pregnancy is discussed which is something women have to think about if they want to have kids. It made me think a lot about being a woman, especially a single woman as all the women who do have a child in this novel were single women. If you’ve read this book, I would love to know your thoughts.
You can purchase Breasts and Eggs here
Have you read any of these books? What did you read in January?
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