Books of Amber

I know everyone was saying that January was going on forever, but now that it’s over, I kind of can’t believe it? I’m also not really looking forward to it now being the shortest month of the year because I never get much done in February!

For me, January was a pretty great month. I wasn’t too busy, I got a tonne of reading done, and I managed to balance “me time” with socialising quite well.

Quill and I met up with some friends in London at the start of January. We went to a food market where you grab a bench and then get food from whichever stalls you feel like eating from. I went for Lebanese, and Quill got Turkish and German. It was a really nice place to hang out, although it was expensive because it was in London!

At the end of January, we went to see Cirque du Soleil: Totem, and I had an incredible time. It was a birthday gift from Quill, and he unknowingly got us box seats, which was a nice experience! It was my second time seeing Cirque, and it definitely won’t be my last. I’m always in awe of the performers, and the soundtracks are always incredible!

I also went ice skating for the first time in a year, and I remembered how much I love it! We’re going to go again in February, and perhaps spend a bit more time in Oxford this time, because it’s a really nice city.

Other than that, I spent most of January reading, blogging, and Booktubing!

Books Read

1. Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus (review|booktube) ★★★★
2. Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay ★★★
3. The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky ★★★★
4. Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar ★★★
5. Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao ★★★★
6. Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson ★★
7. Rosewater by Tade Thompson ★
8. Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel ★★★
9. The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty ★★★★★
   
10. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo ★★
11. Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan ★★★
12. I’m Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya ★★★★
13. The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker ★★★★

Statistics

Okay, so I haven’t really decided how I want to look at my reading statistics this year so for now we’re just going to look at the basics. I’ll do a statistics round up some time in April so that it’s more in depth and interesting.

I read a total of 13 books in January, which I think is pretty damn impressive considering I’m also working full time, blogging, and doing Booktube. Go me! These added up to a total of 4302 pages, and 508 minutes. My average rating was 3.2, which I’m happy with because last year most of my monthly averages were below 3 stars!

I’ve also started keeping track of my Booktube statistics because I find it really interesting. I’m struggling to keep track of my blog stats because my damn website keeps crapping out on me, so I’ll work on that later. As of 1st February, I’m now at 3193 subscribers on my Booktube channel, which is up from 3161 subs at the end of December! Pretty good, I think.

From what I can tell, most people discovered my channel through my reading vlogs, then my thriller/horror recommendations video from October (which is still doing well!), and then through my review of Two Can Keep a Secret. I’m going to keep track of these analytics so I can see how people are finding my channel.

I’m also very pleased because my monthly views added up to 1368 in total, which was only down very slightly from 1513 in December. The difference is that I was doing Vlogmas in December, so of course my views were higher! I have to say though, that I’ve noticed in my years of blogging and Booktubing that January tends to be the busiest month.

That’s all for my stats! Let me know if you’d be interested in knowing anything else in future. I can incorporate my blog stats as well once I fix my website and it stops bugging out.

Looking Ahead

February is set to be a good month in terms of balancing life and socialising, which is what I wanted. We’re going to Windsor just before Valentine’s Day to see Ian McKellan do a talk, and we’re going to do some casual falconry that weekend. There’s a big family event happening towards the end of the month, but other than that I’m completely free! I’m hoping to do a lot of reading because I’m taking part in several readathons, and I want to continue to blog and Booktube as much as possible, because it’s a fun way to spend my time!

Let me know what your plans for February are in the comments below! Did you have a good reading month in January? Have you read The City of Brass because I’M STILL FREAKING OUT ABOUT IT.