January Reading

Hi All,

Hope you are well xx

Here’s my roundup of books I read in January. Unfortunately I only got through 3 books. Really struggled mental health wise last month but feeling much better now and I’ve actually already got through 6 books in February and it’s only the 5th!

So, what did I read last month?

The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Honestly - one of, if not the best book I have ever read. I really enjoyed The Hunger Games series and was really nervous about reading the prequel. I devoured this book in about 4 evenings. Every time I thought I knew what was going to happen, it went a different way, constant surprises. It explained so many elements from the original books.

In this book we go back to Corionalus Snow before he became our hated President Snow. Back to when he was late teens really. We see a very different side to him and a very different Hunger Games. We see how they develop and also he does which explains why he is the way he is later on.

I absolutely loved this book and for me it’s 5 out of 5 stars :-)

Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin

I really don’t know how I feel about this book. I read this pretty much due to all the hype I’ve seen about it on YouTube and for me, it just didn’t really live up to it.

It’s based around these toys - Kentukis, which are almost like Furbies I suppose but are controlled by someone in another house. You see snippets of different lives of the owners and controllers.

For me it just didn’t have enough to each person’s story. I loved the idea of it and I feel it could have gone a lot further. Maybe I was hoping it would be a bit darker than it was.

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

Again, I think I just expected more. I really did like this book though. It was a very sweet story and I really liked the individual characters. I feel we got to know their personalities well.

It’s about a housekeeper than looks after a professor who has short-term memory and whose world is focused around maths. We get to know her son, nicknamed Root.

It’s a lovely story and has a good ending. I would have just loved it to go on maybe a bit longer and to uncover more of his past. I would still recommend this book :-)

Roll on February and let’s see how much reading I can get done this month!