January Wrap-Up

January Snapshots

Apparently, I was terrible at Instagram in January. This is what I posted. Go me.

1. Resolution regrets. January started with New Year’s resolutions (of course). I decided to give up caffeine and exercise more. I immediately regretted that decision. I felt pretty terrible for about two weeks. The withdrawals are over now, but I’m still having psychological symptoms. I used to start my day by drinking delicious caffeine, which made me happy and awake. Now I start the day with ice water and 10 minutes of vigorous exercise, which makes me pissed off and sore. I’m so bad at being healthy, guys! Also, I have rug burns on my elbows from tipping over while doing side planks. So, that’s fun.

2. Top secret reading. I spent January judging the Cybils Award, which meant that I couldn’t talk about the books I read. I’m still judging, so I still can’t talk about books. I can’t even tell you the best book I read in January. I’m about ready to explode with bookish thoughts. I’ve never been good at keeping my opinions to myself.

My Cybils stack. "Blindingly red" was a popular color for books in 2018.

3. Babies make life easier, right? If you’ve been around this blog lately, then you might know that my sister is pregnant. The baby is due soon. (It might already be born. I wrote this post last week and scheduled it.) Anyway, my sister and I live together, so there’s going to be a baby in the house. That’s probably going to change a few things about our lives. I apologize in advance if I force you to look at excessive numbers of baby photos. I’m excited to see the actual kid. Those 3D ultrasounds are nightmare-inducing.

I attempted to take some artsy black-and-white photos of my sister and rediscovered that I'm hopeless at photography. The baby's name is Brooke. If she actually comes on February 10th, it means that doctors are really good at predicting these things. She's pretty much the only event on our calendar for February.

Wayward Googlers

Here are a few amusing Google searches that led people to Read All The Things! last month. I’m sorry to the unfortunate souls who ended up here instead of finding what they were Googling for.

“I love to read and I love to do and d.” Um . . . yeah . . . same here. I think. 

 “recommendations of thigs fall part.” I’m impressed that you spelled “recommendations” correctly but not “things.” You should run for president. 

 “Top 50 villain the thing they do.” Actually, this is an epic idea for a blog post. Has anyone made a list of the 50 best villains in literature (and the things they do)? I’d read that list and share it on all the socials. 

 “The shooter says goodbye to his love.” Probably a solid plan. If you’re going to shoot someone, you might not see your love for a long time. 

 “Dystopia on TV blog.” Are dystopias still a thing? I hope so. I like them, but I haven’t seen many around lately. Well, except for the ones on the news.

Books I Read

In January, I read 11 books.

The Power by Naomi Alderman

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

The Doughnut Fix by Jessie Janowitz

The Orphan Band of Springdale by Anne Nesbet

The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Skylark and Wallcreeper by Anne O’Brien Carelli

Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood

Most-Viewed January Reviews

1. Copenhagen || The Mothers

2. The Last Time We Say Goodbye || How It Went Down

Most-Viewed January Non-Reviews

1. Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books of 2018

2. Top Ten Tuesday: Most-Anticipated 2019 Young Adult Book Releases

3. Discussion: My 2019 Resolutions

All The Things!

Number of unread books on my TBR shelf = 45 books.

I’m currently reading = Arcadia by Iain Pears.

What did you do in January?