Hello my lovely peeps🐥!
I wanted to say that January flew by because I didn't do much blogging, but January was just so slow this year. I overheard a colleague chatting with HR the other day about many times she thought of "Man. It's still January!" and I totally agree. It was such a weird month. As an accountant, I'm constantly counting down the days to the next dreadful close period and when I look at a month that way, it sure zips by. You close the books, turn around, and it's close again! But when I think about the month as a whole, it felt like January was endless!
January was full of journaling [and impulsive stationery shopping]
I brought another journal
I have a multitude of journals. Like many stationery collectors, I have a shelf full of half finished journals and notebooks. To be fair, I also have a pretty solid shelf full of completed journals too. Lots of pens. Several cases of stickers and washi tape to fill a whole drawer. Long story short. I shouldn't be getting another journal.
So anyway, I got myself another journal. I mean, sure I have a writing journal already. A beautiful golden journal, the color of our beloved morning star. It succeeded my other writing journal, the first writing journal I'd completed from front to back. Unfortunately, it went from an "occasional diary" with random fiction sections to a full blown replacement therapist and now it never sees the light of day.
This new journal was on sale (overstock) on Amazon (at 4 dollars the price couldn't be beat) and had a rich forest green color paired with a holographic design.
I name all of my journals. The yellow one is called Sunburst, only named so after not having one for weeks. I still haven't named the latest one yet. What do you think I should call this one?
And then came another journal
A few years ago, I was that wallet-always-closed type of person. I mean, I was [way too financially irresponsibly] happy to spend on family, but treating myself felt like a sin. Then my mum spoke some reason into me and told me that I have the money to spend on this "small indulgence ($15.00) of a treat, so why not just spend it and stop staring at it." Bad idea. Mom, you were supposed to be my impulse control! Thankfully, my impulses do lie in really small stuff like a washi tape roll or a pack of glittery pens.
So anyways…in came another journal. Because New Year means new journals apparently.
I thought, January is the perfect time to start a reading journal. I was never satisfied with how my old reading journals turned out, but after going through many many videos and Pinterest boards and planning out my spreads ahead of time, I think I rather like my reading journal this time. There's a spread for TBRs, ARCs, a monthly stats spread, and individual reviews, designed to look like library cards!
To save on paper, I intend to print book covers too, but only towards the end of the year when I make a collage of them and print all of the 2024 covers at once. I can't wait to see how it turns out!
I have a new little office corner!
And it came with a little bookshelf! Just kidding. Thanks to my baby bro for putting my Billy shelf together because I finally [finally!] have a new bookshelf. I have started to pile books on the floor and now they finally have a home...and more room for more books!
January Wrap Up
I had plans to read 5 books this month. I was on schedule for 3 of those books until pre-close happened at work and I stopped having time and energy to process any more words by the time I clocked out for the day. I missed two that were pushed into February (including my current read). I was pretty sad about it too. There's a spot in my new reading journal all ready for that last book of the month, but can't rush a good thing!
USER ERROR by RACHEL E. BECK
This was one of my most anticipated books to read as part of my 2023 TBR, but I never got around to it. However, the good thing about this little delay was that it was my first book of 2024 and it was amazing. What a way to start the new year off! Easily one of my favorite books of all time and I cannot wait for book 4.
Check out my review for USER ERROR here: [Link]
IMPOSTER NO MORE by JILL STODDARD, PhD
My heart needed to chillax after that wild ride of a first book of the year and no time like the best time present to read this nonfiction. I had put in a request for this ARC/copy a while back and it too was supposed to be part of 2023 and I never got around to it.
At the time of my request, I was seriously struggling with my new role as a senior accountant and studying (and failing twice) for my CPA. It was almost like a sign.
A very interesting read about a topic that I never thought to have a whole book on.
Check out my review for IMPOSTER NO MORE here: [LINK]
SERTRALINE DREAMS by OLI JACOBS
Believe it or not, I had been pronouncing this as "Seratonine" for the longest time until I actually started to read the book and realized it was Sertraline. And another believe it or not, but when I made a comment in my notes about "drug-induced fever dream" I also did not know Sertraline literally was a drug and that it did in fact sometimes bring some wild and even scary dreams.
My brain cells are free-floating and only occasionally bump into each other to pass on some smartness. It happens once a blue moon.
This was a fantastic book and I was thinking about it for weeks after I finished (granted, it's only been about 2ish weeks). I adored it for its bite-sized content and how horrifying it was. That train scene is still vivid in my mind and I just wrote about that spice cavern, in my journal, uhhh today. Literally today (5 Feb; when I drafted this post).
February Hopefuls & TBR of the Month
5 more hopefuls make it to the next chapter of the year~
Two had been slated for January only to be pushed. By the time I finally get this post up there, I'll have been done with one of them below February Hopefuls, right on time for its release too! Let's see how many books I'll finish this month. It's a leap year. I have faith!
LINGHUN by AI JIANG
First one up, LINGHUN by AI JIANG!
I adored reading I AM AI a while back and I'm looking forward to this book too. Yet another book that I promised to read in 2023 but never did, I am really looking forward to LINGHUN and have heard lots of good stuff about it.
It's actually my current read for this week so look forward to that upcoming review!
THE FUTURE LIES by JOHN BE LANE
Happy book birthday to THE FUTURE LIES, releasing today!
I won't spoil my thoughts on this too much as I'll be putting up the review for it in about 2 days, but I won't be forgetting this one anytime soon.
In fact, I won't be scrubbing some of the vivid horrors from my mind for a long time. I started this multiple times and couldn't seem to get across the first few chapters, Then it really started to roll. By around the 30% mark, I couldn't put it down. By the halfway mark, I felt this pit in my stomach. By the end, I was speechless.
A really good book to start the month off on. Let me just piece myself back together first.
DEVICE FREE WEEKEND by SEAN DOOLITTLE
*squints at Goodreads* Oh my gosh! My first non-Sandford [modern] mystery thriller in nearly a year!
That's right. Before this blog, my default genres were fantasy and mystery thrillers and my default authors were Michael J. Sullivan, Lee Child, and John Sandford. I typically really just stuck with these guys.
But ever since starting Cozy with Books, my author and genre list have exploded exponentially. I'm so busy exploring the vast world of books that I don't read as many thrillers anymore.
Though my favorite genre is slowly pivoting away from modern mystery thrillers to sci-fi (mainly Cyberpunk), I'm still quite intrigued by this read and eager to start.
TOXIC PREY by JOHN SANDFORD
Brother: "Don't pre-order this book. I'll get it for your birthday because it's releasing around the same time."
Too late. What I mean is...I couldn't wait.
It's not a reading year for Cozy little Esther if there isn't a new Sandford release in my yearly TBR. There's nothing to say here. I see Sandford, I click request on NetGalley. No questions asked.
Yes, I did a little squeal when I saw my approval email.
THESE MEAN STREETS, DARKLY by AUSTIN DRAGON
Get ready for a cyberpunk-filled March with me!!
A while back, I did a Sandford-themed month where I read and reviewed nothing but John Sandford (Series: Virgil Flowers) books in an attempt to catch up in the series.
Well, I'll be pulling a genre-themed month in March, and with my first book of March being book 1 of the LIQUID COOL series, I intend to end February with the prequel/short story THESE MEAN STREETS, DARKLY (Book # 0.5). 50 pages, squeezed into the last four days of this month.
I'm so eager to start my cyberpunk-filled month and I'm really looking forward to this combination of two of my favorite genres: cyberpunk and mystery!
That's that! Lots of books to read this month and lots of books planned for next month. Hopefully, with my stationery cravings satisfied, I'll be writing more than buying journals in these next couple of weeks and hopefully, this new journal will have a name by March. My creativity well is unfortunately dry at the moment though. What do you think I should name my next writing journal?
Happy February to everyone and hope you all have a fabulously bookish month!
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