Hello and welcome to my wrap up for the first month of 2021! I ended up reading a lot of nonfiction, but honestly I really liked what I read. Who would have thought the year would have stated off like that? Anyway, here are the books I finished reading this month.
The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi by Richard GrantMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This short book ended up having a ton inside of it. It had the story of Price Abd al-rahman Ibrahima, a history of a town built on slavery. The author goes into the history without sugar coating like quite a few of the people who live there do. He discusses the relationships and views between many of the towns citizens and how varied they are on the topic of their history itself and racism. He also highlights that there has been progress, but a lot more needs to be done. This town in particular was a very interesting microcosm of society as a whole to read about. I really liked how the author went to the town itself and interviewed many people within the town. Older people, younger people, white, black and those who lived there for generations and those who recently moved in.
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Assassin’s Apprentice: The Illustrated Edition by Robin HobbMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed the start of this trilogy so much more than I thought I would. I thought it would be bogged down by world building, but it was done in such a masterfully natural way. I enjoyed the 1st period perspective, mainly because I enjoyed our main character Fitz so much. I am excited to continue this series next month.
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The Memory Police by Yōko OgawaMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I am not a huge fan of dystopian novels and have not been for a long time. I read this novel mainly because it was part of my challenge to read the shortlist for the 2020 International Booker Award. I have to say I am thrilled it was on this list because I loved it. It was a dystopian novel, but was more. It had elements of science fiction and fantasy as well. The writing was grand and I give huge credit to the translator because it seems a lot of the magic of this novel remained in the tale.
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Not Quite Out by Louise WillinghamMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Given review copy via publisher in exchange of an honest review.
I really enjoyed the story quite a bit, a more detailed review will be posted on my blog on February 16th!
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Tomie by Junji ItoMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have read quite a few of Junji Ito’s work and I have loved all of those very much. As with those, his imagination and ideas are very original and the artwork is wonderful. Unfortunately about 1/3 of the way through this I started to loose interest because the plot began to feel repetitive.
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- A Promised Land by Barack Obama, My rating: 5 of 5 stars
- Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other by Sam Heughan, My rating: 4 of 5 stars
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, My rating: 4 of 5 stars
- Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I managed to read a total of 9 books, 3,986 pages. Six of those books were fiction and the remaining 3 were nonfiction. I read 1 ebook, 1 audiobook, 5 hard cover and 2 soft cover books. I borrowed one of the books read this month from the library. I have 2 5 star reads, 6 4 star read and 1 3 star read.
What was your favorite book you read this month?
Bookish Luna 
Wow, looks like you read some great books this month. My favourite read in January was The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins 🙂
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Oh, I loved that book when I read it! Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
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I need to get back into Assassins Apprentice, I really enjoyed the first book and then never picked up the others which was a shame.
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I hope you do get back to it! I am picking the next one up in February. I am going to attempt to read one a month until I finish the trilogy.
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Looks like you had a good reading month! I hpe February is just as good!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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Thank you! I hope your reading month is just as wonderful in February!
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Sounds like you had a great reading month! (: I’ve been trying to chug through A Promised Land for two months now, but wow is it a heavy book! Hope you have an awesome start to the new month! ♥
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I hope you are able to finish it, the audio book was great if that helps!
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I am intrigued by The Memory Police. I’m not generally into sci-fi, but I’ve been getting more into it this year and last. I have The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue on my list for this year. And I loved Salt to the Sea! I hope your February is as great as your January 🙂
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I really liked it, dystopian science fiction usually isn’t for me, but I really enjoyed it. II hope your February is wonderful!
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You had a great reading month!! I hope February is just as good. I read some really good books this month but I think my favorite was Royally Screwed by Emma Chase but I also really loved A Quick Bite by Lynsay Sands and When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon.
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I will have to look into Royally Screwed since you liked it so much. I am glad you enjoyed them!
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Oh I hope you like it. It is a full on romance with lots of steam so be warned. Thank you!!
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Thank you for the warning! 😂
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I’m really looking forward to Not Quite out! Glad to hear you loved it, can’t wait to read your thoughts on it.
Hope you have a good Feb!
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We both read Tomie in January! I felt exactly the same way about it, too. The Deepest South of All Sounds so interesting. I’m adding it to my TBR.
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I am glad I am not the only one who felt like it was repetitive, but II really enjoy his other works that II have read. I hope you end up liking The Deepest South of All.
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