January Reading Recap (2016)

We are already at the end of January which is crazy to think about.  I'm glad though as we are that much closer to spring which I am really looking forward to this year.  I think it is the lack of snow that has me not as thrilled about winter as I usually am.  If it must be cold (in my opinion) then there really needs to be snow on the ground.  Overall though it has been a pretty good month.  Lots and lots of reading happened.  I worked out for the first part of the month (let's not talk about the second half).  I managed to post quite consistently this month although I am still ridiculously behind on replying to comments.  In a nutshell, it was a pretty darn good beginning to the new year and I can't complain.

I was a reading machine this past month and managed to finish ten books.  Ten books!  Who is this girl?  I attribute most of my reading to focusing on staying off the internet more in the evenings.  It is crazy how much time I waste just on Facebook and Twitter combined.  Making a point to stay off of those sites and allowing myself to just enjoy my current read meant I finished a fabulous number of books.  I should probably do this all of the time.  Ha!  I'm not as caught up with reviews as I would like to be but I am scheduling posts two weeks in advance or more which NEVER happens.  I'm loving it although once the sports schedules kick back in for all of the kiddos I'm sure everything will go back to normal (and I will be behind once again).  Here are the books that I managed to finish in January:

• Snow Angels by James Thompson
• City of Light by Keri Arthur
• Beside Myself by Ann Morgan
• Kill Without Mercy by Alexandra Ivy
• In The Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming
• Cruel and Unusual by Patricia Cornwell
• Enraptured by Candace Camp
• The Girls She Left Behind by Sarah Graves
• The Hunter by Kerrigan Byrne
• If I Run by Terri Blackstock

I've got my reviews written up for a few more of these but they won't be posting until February.  I read SO many good books this month and I struggled to pick a favorite.  In the end I decided that I was picking two favorites rather then one (and even that was really hard for me).  My two favorite reads in January were:

Completely different but both books left me feeling almost sad when I finished.  They were both just so good and I wasn't ready for them to end.  City of Light begins a new series that I will be following and The Hunter is the second book in a series that I now need to read book one for.  I highly recommend them both and cannot say enough good things about them!

The end of this month also brings me to wanting to give an update on my #COYER progress.  I feel like I'm doing pretty well for this challenge as I've read a total of six books for this challenge.  Woohoo!  That is six less books on my e-reader which really feels like progress.  At least it does until I think about all of the books that I have added to it as well.  Hence the reason why I participate in this challenge in the first place.  Here are all of the books that I have read so far for #COYER:

• On Thin Icing by Ellie Alexander
• Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge
• City of Light by Keri Arthuer
• Kill Without Mercy by Alexandra Ivy
• The Girls She Left Behind by Sarah Graves
• The Hunter by Kerrigan Byrne

Plans for February include a ridiculous number of books which I will be sharing about later this week.  I've cheated and already begun reading from that pile (two of my January reads where from my February pile) but at least I am getting a head start.  I'm planning on getting motivated and back to my regular workout schedule.  Goals would be that 30 miles total of running like I had hoped to do in January and consistently doing the 30 Day Shred workout video as well.  Wish me luck that this month I will remain both focused and motivated for the entire month!

What was your favorite read in January?  What books are you hoping to read in February?  Do share!