Iron Gold – Wonderfilled Reads

January Wrap-Up: Reviews, Reading Challenges, etc.

I’m actually proud of starting off the new reading year fairly strong. My main goal this year was to not let myself get bogged down by trying to cram as many books into it as possible. I want to actually focus on what I really want to read, even if it’s a long book (which were the majority of my reads this month). And if January was any indication, I think I’m doing a pretty good job so far. Isn’t it a nice feeling when you take the pressure off yourself?

Books Read

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly – physical book, buddy read with Geronimo Reads
City of Lies (Poison War, #1) by Sam Hawke – physical book
Furyborn (Empirium Trilogy, #1) by Claire Legrand – audiobook, reread
The Last Magician (The Last Magician, #1) by Lisa Maxwell – physical book
The Wicked City by Beatriz Williams – physical book
Iron Gold (Red Rising, #4) by Pierce Brown – audiobook, reread
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern – physical book
The Lioness of Morocco by Julia Drosten – audiobook

Total Books Read: 8

Overall in 2020: 8

Reading Challenge Updates

POPSUGAR

A book published the month of your birthday – The Wicked City
A book with “gold”, “silver”, or “bronze” in the title – Iron Gold
A book with a four-star rating on Goodreads – The Lioness of Morocco
A book with a main character in their 20’s – The Starless Sea

Goodreads Challenge

Total: 8

Previous Total: 0

Blog Posts

Book Reviews

WWW Wednesday

Discussions/Misc.

Did you get a lot of reading done in January? Were you able to read all of the books on your TBR? Did you read any new favorites? What book did you like the least? What do you plan on reading in February?

WWW Wednesday – January 22nd, 2020

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

The Three W’s are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

City of Lies (Poison War, #1) by Sam Hawke – physical book
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly – physical book, buddy read
Furyborn (Emipirium Trilogy, #1) by Claire Legrand – audiobook, reread

I’ve FINALLY started on my reread (or listen) to Furyborn, so I can refresh my memory on what happened in the first book before moving on to the sequel. I do remember absolutely loving it though! I’m not the biggest fan of the audio narrator so far, but I don’t think it will affect my experience too much.

I also am picking back up with City of Lies after putting it aside last week for The Starless Sea. I think I’m finally able to really buckle down and focus on this fantasy world. I’ve also started on Lilac Girls that I’m buddy reading with Britt @ Geronimo Reads. I’m fully expecting to need tissues beside me at some point. I’m a little over 100 pages into it and am already completely drawn into the lives of these three badass women.

What did you recently finish reading?

Iron Gold (Red Rising, #4) by Pierce Brown – audiobook
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern – physical book

I absolutely freaking adored The Starless Sea! It was so much more than what I was originally expecting, as I didn’t particularly like The Night Circus. However, this book was so whimsical and basically an ode to the magic of stories, that I connected with it immediately. My full review will be posted tomorrow!

I also finally completely my reread (or listen) of Iron Gold and I’m so glad I chose the audiobook route for my reread of the entire series. The narrators are all amazing and I felt a completely different connection to the story this time around. It was truly a fantastic experience and highly recommend anyone interested to check it out. I can’t wait to dive into Dark Age next.

Side Note: I did attempt to listen to the audiobook of The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad, but unfortunately I knew I wouldn’t connect with the writing style within the first 20 minutes. So I’ve decided to DNF that novel for now.

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy, #1) by Katherine Arden – physical book
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough – physical book
Suggested Reading by David Connis – audiobook

What are you currently reading? What books did you finish this week? What are you planning on reading next? Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, what did you think of them? Leave a link to your WWW Wednesday post in the comments below!