January got off to a flying start with reading, although, according to my kids, I cheated by reading quite a few picture books!
The first book I finished was Victoria and the Rogue by Meg Cabot. Meg Cabot wrote The Princess Diaries, which I haven’t read, but I have seen the movies. This book was OK, however I wasn’t all that impressed with the book and didn’t like the main character.
In total, I read 10 picture books! Many of these were read to kids in my life, including my cousins girls, but some were just for me. I read This Book is Red to my teenage sons in the middle of KMart. They were laughing so hard I just had to buy it. Other favourites included There is no Dragon in this Story, What the Dinosaurs did last night, Run Like a Rabbit, and Waiting is not easy.
I read Totally Epic by Jo Stanley, a book about a junior female AFL team, and Kizmet and the Case of the Smashed Violin by Frank Woodley. Both of these books are middle grade books and were highly enjoyable. I had wanted to read one of Jo Stanley’s books ever since I heard her talking about them on the radio, and I didn’t know that Frank Woodley wrote kids books (he’s one of our favourite comedians).
On our way to camp, my son and I enjoyed some audio books once again. We listened to all of Ride Like Hell and You’ll Get There by Paul Carter, and half of Horrie the War Dog by Roland Perry.
Even with reading all these books for kids, I managed to read four novels. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan, which I loved, Not Quite Nice by Celia Imrie, Daddy’s Little Girl by Mary Higgins Clark, and The Trip of a Lifetime by Monica McInerney, a gift from my son for Christmas, which I also loved.
All up, I read 19 books in January and 7 books towards the PopSugar reading challenge! I also have three books on the go, including the unfinished audio book.