Hello, everyone! I have returned from my month-long travels (it seems crazy that after such a long build-up it’s now all done) and I get to share with you what I got up to reading. As expected, I read less whilst travelling but I read some GREAT books and I can’t wait to share them with you!

In total, I only read three books. I did think I might read more but I’m slowly plodding through a very big book at the moment and I was crazy busy. So I guess that accounts for it! Now, let’s see what I read.

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Scythe
by Neal Shusterman

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia
Author: Neal Shusterman
Published: November 2016
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 435 {hardback}
Audiobook Length: 10.5 hours

Will I continue the series? YES

This was such a great read via audiobook. I was super excited to dive into it because I’ve heard so many great things about it, and it certainly did not disappoint. I cannot wait to continue the series and find out what happens next because this had such a spectacular ending.

Review to come

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Enchantée
by Gita Trelease

Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Author: Gita Trelease
Published: February 2019
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 480 {paperback}

This was such an interesting read. I was sent this one for review and really enjoyed it. It was a bit of a slow-burner for me but had such a rich setting being in the lead-up/during the French Revolution (1789). The characters were really interesting too! I’ll have my review up on the 1st of March for this one as there’s a big blog tour organised for it, so keep an eye out for that.

Review coming in March

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The Wicked King
by Holly Black

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Author: Holly Black
Published: January 2019
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Pages: 326 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? YES

This is another book that I was sent for review and OF COURSE I dove straight into this one. This is the sequel to The Cruel Prince which was simply amazing. I’m enjoying this series so much and the cliff-hangers are simply to die for.

My review

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• I wrote a review:
  • The Wicked King by Holly Black
• I talked about January 2019 new releases to get
• I did my December book haul
• I did my December wrap up

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Genres Read:

Pages Read:

Total: 1,241

Progress Towards Goodreads Challenge:

6%, or, 3/50 books

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So January was obviously a very exciting and adventurous month for me. I was travelling around Europe for one month with my family for part of it and Jayden for the other part. Let me tell you a bit about it.

First of all, we went skiing in France which was super awesome and cool. We were doing that for two whole weeks and it was glorious. So much snow, so much cold, but so much fun.

Then I went on to Switzerland with Jayden. We stayed in Geneva for a few days as a stopover before heading onto our next destination. Geneva is so nice! It’s very Parisian looking and there is SO. MUCH. CHOCOLATE. I was in heaven.

We then made our way over to Ireland and stayed with family for one week down in Cork (southern Ireland) and went to many pubs and pantos and had a great time. Then we made our way up to Dublin (capital of Ireland) and met up with one of my best friends there.

Dublin was awesome, it’s one of my favourites cities and we exhausted doing absolutely everything we could in the space of two days there. The Kilmainham gaol is something not to be missed, for sure.

Movies I Watched:

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World: 2019, 9/10 stars

This was as amazing as anticipated. I love this series so much and you may recall that I powered through watching all seven seasons of the mini TV series that’s available on Netflix. It’s just crazy how well this whole story has been done.

Mary Poppins Returns: 2018, /10 stars

This was another great film that I got to the cinema to see. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from this one (I didn’t pay very close attention to the trailer) but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I particularly loved the final scene and film.

Aquaman: 2018, 6/10 stars

I wasn’t going to watch this but Jayden was very enthusiastic about it so I decided to give it a crack. And look, it wasn’t as terrible as I had anticipated and was actually quite funny. But sheeshkebabs, so many issues with this film.

The Grinch: 2018, 7/10 stars

Okay, THIS, was amazing. I went to see this after Christmas which was strange but I wasn’t expecting to completely love it like I did. It’s honestly so well done and so worth watching.

Life of Brian: 1979, 6/10 stars

This was extremely strange and funny. I prefer Monty Python’s The Holy Grail to this one but the ending to Life of Brian is beyond hilarious. It’s a great film to watch and have a solid laugh at.

Smallfoot: 2018, 7/10 stars

This was unexpectedly good. I’d been wanting to see it but had been unable to recruit any game friends to come to the cinema for a kids film with me. So I watched it on the plane over to Europe and seriously! This is a great little film.

The Man Who Invented Christmas: 2017, 8/10 stars

I had been quite keen to see this one when it was advertised but I just sort of never got around to it. But it’s so good! The way they portray Charles Dickens writing A Christmas Carol was really cool and I love that all the characters in his mind were brought to life by real actors following him about and talking to him as though they were real.

Ready Player One: 2018, 9/10 stars

This was AWESOME. I wasn’t sure what to expect because I feel like this movie did not make waves at all when it was first released. But it’s so good! It’s so engaging and different and I cannot wait to read the book now and see what that’s like.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: 2018, 6/10 stars

This was interesting and I really liked it, but I wasn’t blown away by it. I really enjoyed the story but the acting of the Nutcracker was not . . . great. I’m a big fan of Tim Burton’s style, especially with his Alice in Wonderland, but I didn’t think this was quite up to that level. Nonetheless! Worth a watch!

Johnny English Strikes Again: 2018, 8/10 stars

Honestly? I so thought this would be a flop. But no. This was as hilarious as every other Johnny English and I cackled my way through it. It’s so, so funny that you simply must make sure you set aside some time to watch it and enjoy yourself.

Ferdinand: 2017, 6/10 stars

I feel like I’ve been trying to watch this one for the longest of times. It’s such a cute and innocent film, I really liked it. I just thought it was a great little story whilst a good bunch of characters and really enjoyable! Nothing to blow you away with but a great film for a chilled out afternoon.

TV Series I Watched:

Secrets of Great British Castles, series 2

I was so excited to finally watch the second series of this. I watched the first when I was in America but it’s not available on Netflix in Australia. So when I was in France and saw that it was available there I got very excited and watched the entire second and final series. It’s so interesting!

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, series 2

I continued watching some of this but between how busy I was and binging on my castle show, I only watched a couple more episodes. This series is outrageously funny and I’m glad I finally jumped on the bandwagon.

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Tick! January done! 

What was your favourite book that you read in January? 

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~~ Kirstie ~~

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