And just like that January has finished! It does not seem 2 minutes since we celebrated the new year, and here we are already one month down. Now having always dreaded January, I listened to Claudia Winkleman's advice about this usually dreary month and I can honestly say I now 'get' January. Just as in nature, January should be a time for sleep and hibernation, being cosy and resting after all the insanity of Christmas.

This was certainly reinforced when my husband and I got Covid. We couldn't work , so we rested. Took time to stay in bed with a cup of tea, watched non-taxing TV (hello Cobra kai!) curled up with black and white movies, did jigsaws and enjoyed the food we had been storing up like squirrels. Whilst it was a forced rest, it was much needed. I chose not to set New Years Resolutions, no new notebooks detailing the year ahead. I just stayed cosy and it was wonderful. I celebrated my birthday and I started a new job. It's been a good month.

Books Read and Reviewed in January

• Northern Lights by Nora Roberts
• The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict
• Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards
• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
• Teacher, Teacher by Jack Sheffield
• A Surprise for Christmas and other seasonal mysteries edited by Martin Edwards

Year to date

6 Books read so far

Favourite Book this Month

This is a hard one. It's between Oliver Twist and Jack Sheffield. I gave Jack Sheffield one more star than Oliver, but Oliver Twist was a wonderful read.

5 Star Reads

Jack Sheffield scored 5 stars from me this month. I did love the atmosphere of Oliver Twist though. Right book right time.

Big Reads

There are rather a lot of these sat on my TBR pile. 16/100 titles read.

Check out my BBC Big Read Challenge

To Be Read

• Books on Kindle (3 books)
• Big Read Books (6 books)
• Physical Books (12 Books)

By my reckoning this is 21 books........but I did buy a couple of books this month and it has been my birthday. I'm going to update My To Be Read post to reflect this very soon, so for February will have a better handle on what's going on.

Read my post To Be Read Pile 2022 Edition

Looking Forward To

I'm looking forward to my husband's birthday, embracing slightly later nights and my aim is to lean into February, just like I've done with January. I've got a few jobs around the garden to do. But all in all, looking forward to February. And I believe there may be a new Dr Ruth Galloway book this month. Yay!