Reading Recap January 2024

 Oh man I'm already behind! Here are the books I read in January!

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson: Great way to start out the year with this fun whimsical fantasy about a girl who is off to rescue the boy! And the sea is lethal, but also magic. There's pirates and witches and zombies and a talking rat. It's got it all! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt: I heard so much about this book last year so was excited to read it for our book club pick in January. And wow, but it lived up to the hype. Just my kind of book with the focus on characters, a tiny mystery, heart warming relationships, and yeah, a thinking smart octopus added in! It was great and earned my first 5 star of the year. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Beauty Reborn by Elizabeth Lowham: This is an interesting retelling of Beauty and the Beast where our girl has been abused by the character we will recognize as Gaston. And when she finds the beast, she is terrified of much more than the fact that he is a beast. Most of the story is familiar but with that added element that our girl has to overcome. I really enjoyed it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Place by Emily Henry: This is a book I waited months for and it finally become available so I jumped right in. Sadly, it wasn't as great as I hoped it would be, in fact, it pretty much made me crazy. One of those romances where the people aren't together for reasons we as readers can't understand. Like I still don't get why. And wow, but everything was so sad and depressing. Not a happy place at all. ⭐⭐

The Trial by Franz Kafka: Pretty sure this was my first Kafka read and now I know what everyone is talking about regarding him. WEIRD stuff! This is a story about a dude who is accused of a crime and has to go to trial for a year. He has no idea what he did, or why this is happening, and no one else does either. But he does all the stuff he needs to, which is very complicated and confusing. It's obviously a statement to the bureaucracy we have to deal with in this world.  It was... an experience reading it. ⭐⭐⭐

I feel like this was a pretty good start to the year! Books ranging all over the place!