Monthly Wrap Up – January 2019

It has been quite a month! Quite an unexpected start to a brand new year, I must say! I had a lot of reading goals for December last year and I did not succeed. Reading all the books that I got from NetGalley plus finish the Peridale cozy series by the end of 2018 – did not happen! I am not complaining though. Some other issues took priority over reading but I still managed to read 5 books from Christmas to New Year. Not bad, eh?

I accepted a lot of blog tours in December and spent most of this month (January) reading the books for these blog tours. Also, I guess I set a record (on The Book Decoder) by hosting 9 blog tours this month! According to my Goodreads list, I have read 15 books this month. Not bad at all! Past two weeks have been a bit hectic so I could not read a lot of books. My grandmother passed away two weeks ago. She was 95. She used to read a lot of crime classics – Sherlock Holmes, James Hadley Chase and Perry Mason to name a few. I then introduced her to a couple of Poirot and Miss Marple books and she said, “I no longer like Holmes. Poirot is the best!” So, anyways, yesterday was the 12th-day rites (according to Hindu custom) and I had plans to finish the book that I started reading two days ago. Hardly a couple of chapters left so by the end of today I will be done with it.

I haven’t set any reading goals as such for this year. I have randomly set the Goodreads Reading Challenge to 120 books. With British Crime Classics Challenge and Bev’s Vintage Mystery Challenge, I will be reading a lot of crime classics. I also have plans to read a couple of Ruskin Bond’s books. I have a Kindle Unlimited subscription so I should make use of that too. And this means, no checking Edelweiss or NetGalley *cough cough*every*cough*day*. It’s time I do something about that cough O’mine! And after all this talk, I would still like to say “I haven’t set any reading goals as such for this year!” 😉

The writing bug in me is.. err.. bugging me a lot???… the good kind of bugging, you see. There are good bugs and then there are some bed bugs. Okay, I must stop talking, or is it typing? nonsense and boring you to death! When I can read and review books, why can’t I write one? I wouldn’t say I am the best writer because that isn’t true. But hey, I have written some really good ones on my other blog. So I will be exploring my writer side this year. (Kitty was ROFLing when I typed this. She thinks all I can do is eat and sleep. Well … ) Do you think I should post some short stories here? Or should I continue writing them in my other blog (which is currently being neglected)?

Aren’t monthly wrap-ups supposed to be about the books that I read this past month? And here I am, telling you guys stories! Speaking of stories, here’s the link of one of the stories that I wrote a couple of months ago. Victoria, who is not Ray Bradbury, came up with an interesting writing prompt and I decided to try my hand at writing a hilarious piece. So, waddya think?

I am wrapping up this post with the links of the book reviews that were posted this month.

The first post that I made this year was a review of The Case of the famished parson by George Bellairs. I loved his writing style. It is funny, sarcastic and the same time, witty. However, the second book that I read – Corpses in Enderby – did not manage to pique my interest a lot.

Vivian Conroy is one of my favorite authors. I love her storytelling and writing style. Cornish Castle Mystery Collection was a charming set of cozies.

Another masterpiece by Vivian Conroy

Murder in Belgravia was another fantastic book that I read this year. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

The second installment of A Book and a Tea Shop mysteries by Vivian Conroy (writing as Joy Avon). I liked it better than In Peppermint Peril (book #1).

Reckless by David Putnam was an interesting story.

Review posts this month include :

Blog Tour posts this month:

I will be done with Crime in Leper’s Hollow by George Bellairs by the end of the day. I also read Grand Slam Murders by R.J. Lee, The Novel Art of Murder by V.M. Burns, The Gun also Rises by Sherry Harris, Cocktail Bar by Isabella May and Street Cat Blues by Alison O’Leary this month. These five books are scheduled for a tour in February. I am yet to read Running From Arrows – tour stop on 15th of Feb.

I also made some changes to my blog. I have included an About page. Review Policy and other pages are included as links in the About page. What are my reading goals for February? I want to read at least five crime classics and maybe one or two masterpieces by Ruskin Bond. And then, there are a couple of books from my TBR.

Thanks for reading!

10 thoughts on “Monthly Wrap Up – January 2019”

    1. Haha, yes. Nine in a month is a bit too much I suppose. 😉 It’s better if you read in peppermint peril before reading sweet tea. They can be read as standalone but the first book gives an introduction to the characters.

  2. I loved And then there were none .. Glad you had a awesome month .❤Happy reading for the for the month of February.

  4. You have certainly had a busy month! I was sorry to hear of your grandmother’s passing. I’m glad she got to enjoy the Agatha Christie books.

  5. My condolences. I must say I’m envious of her though: 95 and still discovering new books! I hope when my time comes I go out reading a new book.

Comments are closed.

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑