Books of the month: January 2016

Pick of the month

I was a bit out of touch for the last half of last year so I relied on the end of year roundups from fellow book bloggers to re-populate my reading wishlist. One such recommendation came from Raven’s Top 5 Books of the Year and, in its turn it has become my first contender for favourite read of 2016. Doug Johnstone’s THE JUMP is unforgettable and understated and its story takes unexpected turns. I adored it and its unlikely, grief-stricken heroine Ellie.

I was lucky enough to have some other terrific reading during the month and can recommend any of the below books that are marked with an asterisk.

The rest, in reading order 

• *THE DEFENCELESS, by Kati Hiekkapelto
• DEATH COMES eCALLING by Leslie O’Kane
• *RESURRECTION BAY by Emma Viskic (Aus)
• *MURDER IN THE MYSTERY SUITE by Ellery Adams
• *SMALLBONE DECEASED by Michael Gilbert
• *A COLD DAY FOR MURDER by Dana Stabenow
• RESTLESS by William Boyd (book vs adaptation)
• *THE FIFTH GOSPEL by Ian Caldwell
• THE LOST SWIMMER by Ann Turner (Aus)

Progress Towards 2016’s Bookish Goals

Challenge	Goal	Progress
Australian Women Writers Challenge	Read 25 eligible books, review at least 20 of them	Read and reviewed 2 books
Reading US Fiction Challenge	Read 6 books by new to me authors set in different states of the US	1/6 achieved
Personal – Reduce TBR	Have a TBR of 100 or less by the end of 2016 (starting point 145)	TBR = 144 at end of month
Personal – Buy Australian	Buy no physical or eBooks from non-Australian stores	So far so good
Personal – Read older books too	Participate in at least 6 of the monthly Crimes of the Century challenges hosted at Past Offences	1/6 achieved

I’m pleased with my start to the year from this bookish perspective as most challenges are on track. Though I’d like to have reduced that TBR a bit more. In my defence I read 8 books that I owned prior to the start of this year…but I also added some new books thanks to holiday book vouchers and did read several library books (these of course are never counted in my TBR so reading them does nothing to reduce my mountain).

Looking ahead

February started with a week of exhausting gastro bug and no reading (honestly all I did for 5 days was feel sorry for myself and doze through endless episodes of Lewis and Endeavour via a local streaming service) but I’m feeling better now. A big haul of library books includes Helen Garner’s THIS HOUSE OF GRIEF – my first true crime read in many years – and a new book by Antti Tuomainen, whose last novel, THE HEALER, was a favourite read of 2013

What about you? Has your year’s reading gotten off to a good start? Anything in particular taken your fancy? Is there a new release due out that you’re especially looking forward to?