January was a pretty good month for keeping up with my goals. Well…most of them, anyway. I did keep up with my writing and reading goals, so I’m calling it a win. I read 12 books for the month.

1.  The Fifth Petal, by Brunonia Barry. (Read to review.) I liked this book a lot:  elements of the supernatural, a mystery, and a town so vibrant that I want to visit.
2. A Mad Zombie Party, by Gena Showalter. (Read just because.) Loved this series. Loved these characters. Loved this book.
3. The Road to Enchantment, by Kaya McLaren. (Read to review.)  The New Mexico landscape is as much of a character as the actual characters. Deals with difficult times in an almost-lyrical way. Well-worth reading.
4. Dawn Study, by Maria V. Snyder. (Read to review, and because I love this series.) Very sad to see this series end. The wold, characters, magic system…everything is fantastic! Highly recommended. (But please, start with the very first book, Poison Study.)
5. Firstlife, by Gena Showalter. (Read just because.) It occurs to me that I had a thing for Gena Showalter this month…Fair enough. Unique concept, compelling characters, and awesome worldbuilding. I want to be Gene Showalter when I grow up (as a writer)!
6. Ink and Bone, by Rachel Caine. (Read just because.) I’m a huge Rachel Caine fan, and when she did an event nearby, I was so there! This first book was so good I had to hide the second one from myself (or I’d never get anything else done)!
7. Unpunished, by Lisa Black. (Read to review.) Not a bad book, but I would have been better off reading the first novel in the series…first.
8. The Sky Between You and Me, by Catherine Alene. (Forthcoming review.) So…I didn’t realize this is written in a sort of free-form/free-verse, stream-of-consciousness style. At first, I was off-put by this, but then the story really drew me in, and I enjoyed it a lot.
9. The Edge, by Fleur Camacho. (Read just because.) This has been hanging out on my Kindle for a while. I liked the premise, but the delivery felt a little bit patchy and underdeveloped. Plus, the world is based on something that I have a fundamental problem with—which is my problem—but did give me some reservations about the story when I realized it.
10. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad. (Classic book of the month.) Um…this pretty much made no impression on me.
11. Behold the Dreamers, by Imbolo Mbue. (My different-culture book for the month.) I’d heard some good things about this novel, and, for personal reasons, wanted to read it. I found it both inspiring and a bit sad, but very evocative. The dialect is so well-done and musical, that I could almost hear it! In my experience, it captures the Cameroonian mindset extremely well (Makes sense, since the author is from Limbe.).
12. Uninvited, by Lysa TerKeurst. (Spiritual book of the month.) Really fantastic book, about dealing with all sorts of rejection.

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