January Book Blanket Update
Wow, January has been a great start to my reading year! I have managed to read a total of 21 books this month and there have been some great ones!
Books Read This Month
(Title, Author, Format, Rating)
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros, Kindle/Physical, 4.5 stars
The Answer is No by Fredrik Backman, Kindle, 3.5 stars
Home Front by Kristin Hannah, Physical, 4.25 stars
Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage, 4 stars
Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer, Audiobook, 4 stars
Swift and Saddled by Lyla Sage, Kindle, 4.5 stars
The Haunting of Brynn Wilder by Wendy Webb, Audiobook, 3.75 stars
Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Audiobook, 3.5 stars
The Keepers of Metsan Valo by Wendy Webb, Audiobook, 4 stars
The Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb, Audiobook, 3.75 stars
Lost and Lassoed by Lyla Sage, Kindle, 4 stars
The Stroke of Winter by Wendy Webb, Audiobook, 3.5 stars
The End of Temperance Dare by Wendy Webb, Audiobook, 3.25 stars
Five Survive by Holly Jackson, Physical/Audiobook, 2.5 stars
The Vanishing by Wendy Webb, Audiobook, 3.25 stars
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros, Kindle, 4.5 stars
The Good Samaritan by John Marrs, Kindle/Audiobook, 3.5 stars
Salt & Broom by Sharon Lynn Fisher, Audiobook, 4 stars
The Crash, Freida McFadden, Kindle/Audiobook, 3 stars
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, Physical, 3 stars
Great and Precious Things by Rebecca Yarros, Audiobook, 4 stars
Best Book of the Month:
Iron Flame and Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros.
The Empyrean Series has my heart at the moment. The excitement I felt at the release of Onyx Storm is not something I've experienced since the Harry Potter books as a child. It has been a truly amazing experience, to feel that hype, excitement and positive energy about a book series again. If you have yet to delve into the world of the Fourth Wing then I really recommend it! I have seen people describe it as Dragon Smut and whilst yes there are definitely dragons and sure there are also some spicy scenes they are in no way smut. The world building, epic fantasy, action, relationships, history and characters in this series are truly incredible.
If you have yet to start this series, what are you waiting for??? That being said book 4 is not due out until around 2027 🙃
Worst Book of the Month:
Five Survive by Holly Jackson
I started reading this as a physical book but I found it so tedious and the characters all so unlikeable that I switched to the audio version to see if that would help. It didn't. The storyline had the potential to be fantastic as it was different to anything I've read before but it just fell flat.
There was nothing that I liked about any of the characters and I didn't really care who the sniper was or why they were there. I also worked out part of the twist within the first 50 pages which was really disappointing!
Audiobooks
I have completely fallen in love with audiobooks and yes I absolutely do count them towards my reading goal. Reading is reading in whatever format you choose - this is a hill I will die on!
Audiobooks are great for when I'm working because instead of mindlessly watching Netflix I can listen to my latest read instead and be so much more productive. A large part of my work is obviously sitting down and crocheting and this does mean that I can watch a lot of TV but I'm really trying to limit that this year and limit my screen time in general. Since switching to audiobooks whilst working this month I have found that my concentration is better and I'm crocheting faster because I'm not so distracted by the telly.
When I posted a mid-month update of the books I'd read so far I got quite a few DMs from people asking where I listen to my audiobooks so here is a little breakdown for those also interested.
I have an Audible subscription - this gets me on credit (book) per month and there are also a lot of free books included in the Audible Plus catalogue.
I currently have a Kindle Unlimited subscription and there are a lot of books on KU that come with the audible narration. When you borrow the book from KU the audiobook is added to your Audible library.
Spotify now offer 15 Audiobook Listening Hours to those with a premium subscription. They do have a good selection of audiobooks to choose from but any hours you don't use are not rolled over to the next month and I don't like that. Also it will just cut off mid chapter if you run out of hours, so frustrating!
Libby - this is a FREE app which you can download and then link to your local library (Use your local library services people!) and then you can borrow audiobooks that your library have available in their catalogue. This is very much going to depend on your library service, unfortunately the offerings from my local library aren't great but some people seem able to get an amazing selection from theirs so it is definitely worth checking!
If you know of any other apps/platforms through which you can get audiobooks please do let me know!
Blanket Progress
I have managed to stay up to date with making my squares this month. They are all made and all joined together (not a single end has ben weaved in but that's okay!)
As I was making the squares for the books I realised that I needed to add in some extra colours and alter my ratings key a little. I tend to rate books between 3 and 4 stars, it seems to be my default but within that there can be quite a range and so I decided to add in colours for 3.25, 3.75 and 4.25 stars. I use Fable to track my reading and they allow you to do the quarter star ratings so now my book blanket can reflect those too.
Bookish Community
Do you love reading too? I'm assuming that if you're reading about my book blanket plans then you do! If you want to join with me in making a book blanket then be sure to tag me in your content @brambles.and.hart and use #BookBlanket2025 and #Booksandcrochet. I'm hoping to find a whole community of people who love both books and crochet like me!
I will be sharing updates of my book blanket on my Instagram/TikTok and my monthly wrap ups here on the blog so do follow along.
I'll be back with another update on my book blanket at the end of February so be sure to keep an eye out for that. I wonder if I'll be able to read as much in Feb?
Happy reading and crocheting!
Shelley ♡
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