Hey!! Thanks so much for watching and I hope you enjoyed, if you could take the time to like this video on YouTube I would be forever grateful. Like Instagram YouTube has it's share of problems, and hitting that like button would be an amazing help. So thank you for showing your support.

For the last year I've become very picky about what I choose to read. I believe I'm very sure about my likes and dislikes at this point. I'm a Literary Fiction and Historical Gal. I really want to read my own books, but have bitten off more than I can chew, in past years, in requests. 

Going forward, perusing book websites to acquire more books will be in my past. I want to concentrate on reading what I've already obtained. My concentration will be put on the social media sites that are more of my lane and those are Goodreads and Booklikes. I'm a recovering Instagram scroller and Youtube time waster. This year I will have more focus and drive for what inspires me and allows me to thrive.

January 1

Flights of Fancy by Jen Turano

January 8

The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye

An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozi Obioma

The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benendict

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

Queen Victoria: Daughter, Wife, Mother and Widow by Lucy Worsley

January 22

Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia

The Wartime Sisters by Lynda Cohen Loigman

The Orphan Sisters by Shirley Dickson

January 29

We Cast A Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

House of Stone by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma

Originally posted on MissKatiEllen.

It’s official, we are already one month down into this crazy year, and this month I managed to pack in a crazy amount of reading!! If you haven’t already I would really recommend picking up Sally Greens series, I cannot wait to start reading the third. Completely hooked.

Now I’m a sucker for a book with a beautiful cover, guilty as charged, and when I saw these new covers in Waterstones I had to do it. These editions are by Coralie Bickford Smith, The Fox and the Star, and are gorgeous. They retail at £20, I bought Jekyll and Hyde for myself and the other for my mum as a birthday present. I also plan to buy her Withering Heights.

I really don’t remember buying this many books but clearly I did. Poor Unfortunate Souls is the last book by Serena Valentino, which I’m gutted about because I love the world she has created. With only two more books left to come in the Throne of Glass series, the final and a novella, I picked up the assassins bind up of the first 5 novellas. Also thought I’d grab the first in her other series, although I won’t start reading that for a while.

Don’t forget you can follow me on MissKatiEllen | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Goodreads

I read 7 books in January. I'm so proud of myself that I stayed focused and tried to read everyday. There were a couple books that I did have to put down, but I'm happy I did. Leaving books that aren't working for me is something I promised to do in 2017 and obviously with 7 books read it's working. 

I read;

Breathless by Beverly Jenkins                    4 stars

Man on the Run by Carl Weber                   4 stars

The Score by Kiki Swanson                         3 stars

The Mark by Kiki Swanson                          3 stars

Copycat by Kimberly Lawson Roby             3 stars

A Note Yet Unsung by Tamera Alexander   3 stars

Luxury & Larceny by Ty Marshall                2 stars

It was a good month and in February I'm expecting to read more and hopefully read more 5 and 4 star reads.

So January's books... 33 in all

Fiction: 

The Keeper's Price by Marion Zimmer Bradley et al. Reminded me of a lot of what I enjoyed about Darkover, I kinda want to revisit...

Nora Roberts featured a few times, Affaire Royale, Command Performance and Playboy Prince were actually a 3-in-one copy; Bay of Sighs is a newer book and I found it interesting. 

Small Gods the Graphic Novel made me want to revisit the book.

Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon was a good read, interesting to read a story set in China.

The Discerning Gentleman's Guide by Virginia Heath was a good historical romance, though the title did make me snigger a little.

One Week in the library was somewhat underwhelming, I wanted more.

Murder in Montparnasse by Kerry Greenwood was not the best Phryne Fisher story but not bad either, you learn more about Phryne's past.

Mistletoe and Murder by Carola Dunn, the framing story was a bit strained but an interesting murder mystery.

Paula Brackston's The Witch's Daughter is an interesting twist on the long-lived supernatural, for a change set in England.

Awakening the Shy Miss by Bronwyn Scott was an okay historical romance.

House of Shadows by Jen Christie was a time-travelling paranormal romance.

Captivating the Witch by Michele Hauf was a paranormal romance between a demon and a witch.

Witches of New York by Ami McKay took a long time for me to get into and then left me a little underwhelmed.

The Lie by C.L. Taylor was a story of learning about real friendship, and how things can go terribly wrong.

An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson was an interesting murder mystery featuring Josephine Tey and her friends.

Scarlet Widow by Graham Masterton featured some problematic sex.

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents: Terry Pratchett does the Pied Piper.

Bound by Duty by Diane Gaston was a good historical romance.

A-Force Presents volume 1 - the first new introductions to female superheroes. Very mixed but interesting.

Lucifer - Mike Carey Volume 1 - I prefer the TV series

Lady Emma's Revenge - Fenella J Miller - a murder mystery wrapped in a historical romance.

A Match for Marcus Cynster - Stephanie Laurens A man discovers that he doesn't need to belittle a woman to be strong, enjoyed this one a lot.

Lascar's Dagger by Glenda Larke - interesting world with a cleric discovering a dagger has a mind of it's own.

Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart - based on fact it's an interesting read.

Non-Fiction:

Sink Reflections by Marla "Flylady" Cilley I found underwhelming.

Not my shame by T.O. Walker almost broke my heart, a woman facing up to her abuse.

The Awakening by Colm O'Connor was a very reflective piece and I found it made me think a lot about living.

Other-Wordly by Yee-Lum Mak was charming, illustrated unusual words from around the world.

Healing Fatty Liver Disease - exactly what it says.