January 2021 Wrap Up Pt. 2

Well well well. It's the first of February. We did it! We made it through January 2021. With that in view, let's talk about what I read in the last half of January.

That Churchill Woman by Stephanie Barron - In the first couple of chapters, I was worried that this would be a trashy romance with a lot of adultery. I don't care for those. But I doubled down on my trust of Stephanie Barron and powered through. It turned out to be pretty good. I mean, yes, there is adultery, but it goes both ways and is entirely ok with the hubby, so it's tolerable. It's not even really a romance, as it turns out. I ended up liking it more than I thought.

The Dark Matter of Mona Starr by Laura Lee Gulledge - I really didn't want to read this. I was not interested in reading about depression. But I needed to get something read fast, and it was a graphic novel. It was better than I thought. I took issue with how abstract it was. I struggled to make sense of what was happening sometimes. It probably would make more sense if my depression was more tangible. I guess? The good part of it was that Mona realized she was not alone in her depression. When she opened up to people, she found out other people had other names for their depression or other ways of dealing with it, and she grew. It ended up being ok.

The Governess Game by Tessa Dare - I didn't think this was as fabulous as the first one in the series. It had some witty banter, but the romance was kind of meh. The two little girls who are wards of the Duke were pretty hilarious. The little one was very into disease. They had to have a funeral for her doll at least once a day. The governess got them interested in learning by calling it pirate training. That was cute. The Duke was pretty full of himself, in that he focused entirely on himself and his worth or lack thereof. Blah.

Diana: Princess of the Amazons by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale - I picked this up because I love Shannon Hale. This is aimed at children, so I didn't love it as much as I like her other stuff. It's a story about Wonder Woman when she was a little kid. It's cute. It's about learning who your true friends are. It was fine.

The Truth Project by Dante Medema - This is an award book that I read because it's written in poetry so I could read it fast. I read it in one day. It's about a high school senior who is doing her senior project on her DNA. It's the same project her sister did 2 years ago. Only when she gets her DNA back, her father isn't her father. This puts her in a tailspin. She goes into full research mode to find her biological father. It ended up being pretty darn good.

Giant Days Vol. 14 by John Allison - This is supposed to be the last one in the series, but it doesn't really have an ending. I mean, two of the three girls graduate and go on to careers. The third is in medical school, so she's got a few more years. And yet, the end wasn't really an end. So we'll see. I do love this series though. These characters are so great. And there is always some sort of paranormal chaos that must be dealt with. It's fun.

All Summer Long by Hope Larson - Once again, I was behind on my reading goals so I grabbed this little graphic novel. I really liked it. Bina just finished 7th grade and her best friend Austin is leaving for a month of soccer camp. She has no idea how she's going to fill the time. She ends up making friends with his older sister and decides to start a band. It was cute and fun.

#notyourprincess - This is a collection of essays, poetry, and art from Native American women in the US and Canada. I enjoyed this a lot. It isn't very big and it's aimed at Young Adult readers, but it is beautiful and poignant.

All Together Now by Hope Larson - This is the sequel to All Summer Long. It's the beginning of 8th grade and Bina has a band. But they can't agree on anything. The keyboardist and the drummer start going out. Then they kick her out of her own band. She is super upset when they do her song at a backyard party and she makes a big scene. Her best friend is being weird and she no longer has a band. She is really down. Of course, things turn around, but some real stuff goes down first. It's super cute.

Yes, I did read 5 graphic novels in this 2 weeks to keep up to my reading goals. You gotta do what you gotta do. I did read 14 books in January, though. So there's that. I'm hoping for (but not expecting) better reading in February.