Monthly Recap: January!

This was a really good way to start off the year! I had a blast reading some really awesome books as well as some great manga series! I also FINALLY finished Cannery Row by John Steinbeck after reading it for two whole months (spoiler: it wasn’t worth it!). I also got to go back home to Orlando and meet my best friend’s baby!! I was only supposed to go up for the baby shower but he showed up a whole two months early (him and mom are both doing great even though he was a preemie). I had a lot of fun up there and I got to see my other best friend too! And we got to exchange Christmas presents which was really fun. I got some really great bookish gifts from my mom that are amazing! I’ll add some pictures so you guys can see. This first two pictures are the front and back of a Banned Books t-shirt that my mom got me. The third picture is a tote bag with little library carts on it!! I use those every day at work and now they can go everywhere with me!

These were my favorite books that I read for the month of January:

• Final Girls by Riley Sager (finished)
  • This was one of my favorite books that I’ve read so far this year. It was a fantastic thriller and a great mystery. It was just an all around very entertaining read and I could not put it down. If you are a lover a puzzles this one would be fantastic for you. The book is about the girls that are left behind after mass murders; Lisa, Sam, and our MC Quincy. All is fine and dandy in their lives (as much as it can be after you survive a massacre) until one of the Final Girls, Lisa, commits suicide. Is it suicide like the police say it is or is there a plot to kill the Final Girls one by one? Read the book and find out!
• Tom Strong, Book 1 by Alan Moore (finished)
  • Finally something by Alan Moore that I didn’t loathe! This was a fantastic comic book about Tom Strong and how he came to be. I really liked this. It reminded me of Captain America but I honestly hate Cap and Tom Strong is way more likeable to me. Tom Strong is a better Captain America in my eyes. But if you like superhero comics then this one will be right up your alley too.
• Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy (finished)
  • I’m sure by now most people know what Dumplin’ is about since they just made it into a Netflix movie. I have not seen the movie but I really, really wanted too but I couldn’t watch the movie until I had read the book (I’m one of THOSE people). I seriously could not put this book down! What I loved most was that Willowdean was a real ass person. She most definitely screwed up multiple times and didn’t fix things because it was to awkward (SAME). She loved her mom but her mom was nowhere near perfect. I just liked the fact that the relationships in the book seemed very realistic. I have the second book, Puddin’, checked out from the library and I’m hoping to start that one soon.

Now onto the Worst Books of the month! As usual, these are only my opinions and I’m not being paid for them.

• No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! Vol. 2 by Nico Tanigawa (finished)
  • I tried with this one, I really did. I gave it two volumes but it’s just so bad. The main character is very unlikable and not in a way where you can learn to love them, she just sucks. She’s consumed with wanting to be popular but doesn’t really do anything about it?? And then complains about not being popular?? Also in this volume she wanted to become a bitch so that she could become cool. It was strange to say the least.
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier by Alan Moore (finished)
  • I think we all know how I felt about this book. Compared to the other volumes this one fell very, very short of what I was expecting. At times it was tedious to get through and could be boring as all get out. Other times it seemed like there was to much going on to be able to keep up. It was the worst of the volumes by far.
• Ghost Stories of an Antiquary Volume 1 by Leah Moore (finished)
  • I swear I am not picking on the Moore family. I liked one of the stories in this a lot, one was pretty good, and the other two were just meh. For that reason it landed in the Worst category this month. I feel like if I don’t even like 50% of the stories in a comic book then what was the point of reading it?

That is it for this month guys! I would love to hear what you were reading and loving this month! Did you go anywhere or do anything fun? Leave me a comment here or let me know on Twitter!