End of January already

 I think January has gone quite quickly, perhaps because we've been busy doing things around the house and starting to get those jobs ticked off.  The kitchen has been painted but I'm waiting for window blind to arrive and for Mark to put up a shelf at the weekend, and we are still waiting for the flooring to come in stock, (fingers crossed in a couple weeks), so not quite complete.  In the meantime, the shower/utility room prep and painting can be started next week, It's probably a good thing that the flooring wasn't in stock because now we can have them both fitted together and save the cost of two fitting charges.

I've managed to read five books this month, two on my Kindle and three physical books.

 I've taken to sitting with a coffee at lunchtime and reading a chapter or two, I don't normally read in the daytime but I've enjoyed having that hour sitting quietly so I'm going to try and keep it up.

A Midwinter's Tale - Lili Hayward was our Book and Pudding club choice, (not the one I voted for).  It was ok but I generally don't go in for cosy reads, It was all very predictable and neatly tied up at the end.

I'm continuing to work my way through Jodi Taylor's Chronicles Of St Mary's series, What Could Possible Go Wrong is book six. There is never a dull moment as you follow Max and her colleagues travelling back in time to witness key events in history.  This time Max is responsible for training the new recruits and we travel with them to the great pyramids, to witness the burning of Joan of Arc and the battle of Bosworth. And In true St Mary's style, If something can go wrong It will.  These books are proper adventures and have a bit of everything, never a dull moment, and the fact that this is the second time around of reading the series just shows how much I love them. 

The Psychopath Next Door - Mark Edwards. Ethan and his family have moved to a new area for a fresh start, and when Fiona moves in next door she seems nice, friendly and she and Ethan's daughter, Rose, get on really well. What they don't know it that Fiona is an ex prisoner who has an agender and see's something of herself in Rose.  It was an easy read and It kept it's pace all the way through.

Our Beautiful Mess - Adele Parks.  Connie is looking forward to having her three daughters home for Christmas, Fran, the oldest is the last to arrive with her new boyfriend, Zac in tow and announces she is pregnant.  Connie Is wary of Zac, there is something in him that reminds her of the man she had an affair with early in her marriage.  The story then unfolds with Fran and Zac mostly at the centre of It.  I enjoyed it, the pace was fast enough to keep you interested, a couple of the characters could have been developed a bit more but on the whole a good read.

Animal Farm - George Orwell has been on my TBR shelf for a long time, I think most people or aware of the book, a farm taken over by it's overworked and neglected animals In the hope of bettering their lives, but all things can never be equal, can they? I think this book is a relevant today as It was back when It was published in 1945.  I did (do) have a problem with talking animals though, lol.

My library book club book was a DFN, I managed to read about a quarter and then questioned why I was wasting my time reading something so uninteresting, I wasn't alone, only one person finished it and apparently we didn't miss anything so I'm glad I didn't waste my time.  I used to feel I had to finished a book I'd started, not anymore.

Do you re-read favourite books? and have you read anything this month that you would recommend?

-X-