January Mid-Month Reads

I can't promise that mid-month posts will always be a thing, but two weeks into the new year, I've already completed seven books and have three others in progress. I thought it best to break up this month's rundown.

If we look at the first half of January in terms of my reading resolutions for the year, I'm happy to say all a still safely being followed.

Heartless by Elsie Silver, Tangled in Tinsel by Trilina Pucci, and In the Weeds by B.K. Borison are all indie publications.

Finley Donovan Knocks them Dead is the second in a highly amusing mystery series.

The holiday season continued with three additional Christmas-themed books being read this month. Kiss Her Once For Me was by far the best of the three.

The hardest thing so far has been getting into the habit of rating my reads. Five-star reads for me are rare. Most fall into the 3-4 1/2 star range. Three stars meant I read it and it was firmly okay. Anything below three means I forced myself to finish the book, something I absolutely hate doing. I'd rather not finish a book rather than unhappily plow through it.* Four stars or higher means I enjoyed the book and the story and characters are likely to stay firmly in my memory and I'm likely to recommend the book.

That being said, here's how I ranked the first few reads of 2023 :

Heartless 4.25

I truly enjoyed this one and I'm anticipating the next book

In the Weeds 4.00

Another hit! Loved Beckett, only my resolution to diversify my reads is keeping me from diving into the third book in this series.

Kiss Her Once For Me 3.75

Again, my favorite post-Christmas holiday read

Finley Donovan Knocks Them Dead 3.75

A fun mystery series, will read the third eventually

A Cosmic Kind of Love 3.25

Samantha Young is hit or miss for me. Sadly this was more of a miss.

So This is Christmas 3.00

Another miss. I just wasn't as invested in the characters compared to the earlier books in the series.

Tangled in Tinsel 3.00

I probably should rank this higher. In terms of smutty reads, this was better than most . . .

Cheers,

C.J.

* That being said, I had one DNF for the month. I didn't finish it in time, it went back to the library and had a 22 week wait list. After much debate, I decided I wasn't invested in the story or characters to keep it in my currently reading pile.