Wrap Up: January & February 2020

Its time for another wrap up! Ignore the fact its late.

This is going to be wrap up for two months, January and February, because I didn’t make a wrap up post for January.

 

What happened in January and February?

January wasn’t really a month for blogging for me, it was more about planning. I spent most of January planning for the now finished blog series in February, The Black Experience. The Black Experience was a month long blog series in honour of Black History Month about uplifting Black stories and voices.

January was a bit stressful with planning The Black Experience, clinical posting at school and being sick for majority of the month, but I had some amazing moments. I don’t talk much about real life or school here but, in January I went to the cinema for the first time (yes, i’m that much of a homebody, and about that perpetually broke) for a movie marathon with my ex-roommates, worked in obstetrics and gynaecology unit, which I mostly enjoyed and saw some deliveries (babies are cute, but i’m still undecided about the pregnancy business). January while it might have been frustrating some times was still a good month.

February was a lot more stressful than January. The Black Experience went live and I published 26 posts for almost everyday of the month; continued clinical posting but in other units and fields (my anxious ass finally vaccinated children 😭, i’m so proud), was sick again, developed a new theme on bookstagram and had to move rooms.

Doing The Black Experience in February was really fun, especially with some posts where I allowed myself reach peak weirdness. I worked with some amazing authors, and bloggers; people I admired and didn’t ever dream of working with. I won’t say it wasn’t without its problems though. It was a bit stressful to get back from the community or the hospital, take care of myself and post, especially when WordPress and my network provider were hellbent on creating problems for me. I had posts deleted before or just after they were published. I once woke up at midnight with bad cramps to see the post for the previous day deleted. I cried being in pain, having this happen and being stressed working in the hospital without any break after the previous academic year.

My mental health wasn’t so great either. Having no break after the previous year, the anxiety that comes with planning a huge project, especially with it being my first project, the stress of moving, losing someone I cared for and my mental health already being unbalanced for months made my mental health a wild thing.

On the bright side, Harmattan lasted till mid February this time! Its been a while since my favourite season lasted this long, at least in my state. For the first time in over four years, I had dry, chilly air till mid February, feeling the chill every morning and the seeing the sun up made me smile and made things a bit better.

I read 22 books in these two months, that’s almost a third of what I read last year.

I enjoyed some of the books, some I didn’t and I dnf’d one book and it felt amazing.

• The Wicked King by Holly Black

5 stars| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Like The Cruel Prince last year, TWK was my first read of the year. I read it in one sitting. This book is perhaps my favourite book of the series. I left my shocked, stomped on my heart and said I deserve no rights.

• The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

5 stars| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I love, love, love QoN. I love the entire series even, its one of my favourite series ever. QoN was the final book we deserved. It ended me, destroyed me and rebirthed me. I’m Holly Black trash. The revelations, the closure. I’m doing a reread of the entire series soon.

• Conquest by Celeste Harte

4 stars| ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I can say I started this year with amazing books. Conquest is a beautiful book. The setting, the characters and the little undertones got to me. I loved Conquest, a futuristic fantasy novel with dragons, royalty and a kind of royalty

• Throw Like A Girl by Sarah Henning

3.5 stars| ⭐⭐⭐★

TLAG was a cute book. The story itself was more ok, but what I was impressed with was the knowledge of the sports the author hard. I literally felt like I was in book, watching the match. I also enjoyed how the characters, were genuine teenagers, real and messy

• Wicked and The Wallflower by Sarah McLean

4 stars| ⭐⭐⭐⭐

In case you didn’t know, I love Sarah McLean. She’s one of my favourite historical romance authors, I’m absolute trash for her books. This book absolutely didn’t disappoint. Devil and Felicity were sweet.

• The Neighbours by Nicole Gill

DNF at 25%

I wasn’t feeling this book. The main character made me angry most of the time and it seemed too slow.

• That Can Be Arranged by Huda Fahmy

5 stars| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lets talk about one of my favourite books of this year. This graphic novel is so cute, funny and relatable, I read it alk in one sitting. No feelings, heart full.

• Temptations of A Wallflower by Eva Leigh

2 stars| ⭐⭐

I can’t remember much of this book, but I can remember not being very impressed

• A Duke By Default (Reluctant Royals #2) by Alyssa Cole

4 stars| ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I loved this book. I loved Tavish and Portia. I love seeing Portia work on and discover herself. I absolutely loved this book. The amazing mental illness and neurodivergence rep, the characters. I loved it.

• Royals (Royals #1) by Rachel Hawkins

3 stars| ⭐⭐⭐

Royals was just a cute book. A little cliche, but cute.

• Marriage of Inconvenience by Debbie Macomber

2 stars| ⭐⭐

This was a reread. I read this book in high school and I loved it then. Now, I wonder what crack fourteen year old was on, because I dislike it now.

• Stand-In Wife by Debbie Macomber

2 stars| ⭐⭐

Same thoughts as for Marriage of Inconvenience.

February

• Can’t Escape Love by Alyssa Cole

4 stars| ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I loved this book. I enjoyed the disabled and neurodivergent rep. I’d recommend this novella to anyone looking for a short, sweet read.

• Muslim Girl by Umm Zakiyyah

2 stars| ⭐⭐

I read this book for Iqra trials in February and I feel terrible because how much I dislike this book. I have so much to say and its best I finish the review.

• Indigo by Beverly Jenkins

5 stars| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am a newly converted fan of Ms Bev. Indigo was my first ever audiobook and I loved it. I loved the narration, the story itself and the characters. Its of my favourite books ever.

• Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

4 stars| ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The only thing I can say is IGNIFEX!!!! This was such an unexpected Beauty and Beast retelling and the heartbreak 😭

• Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge

2.5|⭐⭐★

It was pretty average and a little disappointing after reading Cruel Beauty.

• The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert

3 stars| ⭐⭐⭐

The process of me becoming Talia Gilbert trash began last year with Get A Life, Chloe Brown, and I haven’t looked back since then. The Princess Trap was a really good book, even though I rated it 3 stars. I loved the rep and the characters. I love the male main character and that’s more than I can say for most romances.

• A Girl Like Her (Ravenswood #1) by Talia Hibbert

5 stars| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I can’t explain how much I love this book. I loved the characters so much, Ruth and Evan are sweetest couple ever. Evan is one of my favourite male characters. He’s so thoughtful and sweet. AGLH has amazing autistic and depression rep as well as commentary on abusive relationships. This book is just amazing.

• Untouchable (Ravenswood #2) by Talia Hibbert

4 stars| ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I basically loved all the books in this particular series. I loved Untouchable. It had great depression and anxiety rep. I also loved the conversation it had about sex. It was an amazing book.

• Through The Storm by Beverly Jenkins

3.5 stars| ⭐⭐⭐★

After reading Indigo, I wanted to see if Raimond had his own story. I liked Through The Storm, but I didn’t love it like I did Indigo, but its a great book.

• That Kind Of Guy (Ravenswood #3) by Talia Hibbert

4.5 stars| ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I LOVE this book so much. If I have to talk about books that made me feel seen, That Kind Of Guy is of them. Its the second book with a demisexuality I’ve ever read and its so important to me. The demi rep, how Zach felt made me so happy. I’m going to make a post of my favourite quotes from this book, because sometimes when reading I felt I could cry. I’m now unchangeably a Talia Hibbert stan.

★Blog Tour: Throw Like A Girl Review

★#Diversereadsof2020: 20+ Books By Muslim Authors Releasing In 2020

★The Black Experience: Introductory Post

★1st Blogiversary And Post Of The Year

★The Black Experience: Debut Black Releases In 2020

★The Black Experience: Books by Black Authors in 2020 (Part 1)

★The Black Experience: Debut Author Corner

★The Black Experience: Race Isn’t A Trend

★The Black Experience: The Need For More Black Representation

★The Black Experience: Favourite books by Black Authors

★The Black Experience: The Case For Black Mediocrity

★The Black Experience: Fantasy Books Inspired By Caribbean & African Lore

★The Black Experience: Being An African Blogger

★That Can Be Arranged [ARC Review]

★The Black Experience: Books by Black Authors in 2020 (Part 2)

★The Black Experience: Favourite books with Black characters in love

★The Black Experience: Favourite Black Content Creators

★The Black Experience: The Danger Of The Single Story

★The Black Experience: Books with Black Aromantic characters/ by Black Aro Authors

★The Black Experience: Being Black And Muslim

★The Black Experience: Anime recs with Black Characters

★The Black Experience: Unicorn At The End Of The Rainbow — Black Muslims In Media

★The Black Experience: Graphic Novels/Comics With Black Representation

★The Black Experience: Classifying Nigerian Music Genres As Book Genres

★The Black Experience: Books With Black Characters That Made Me Feel Seen

★The Black Experience: Tokenism In Literature — Black Bodies As Love Interests And Sidekicks

★The Black Experience: Queer Books By Black Authors

★The Black Experience: Colonial Mindset — The Nigerian Case

★The Black Experience: Books By Black Authors In 2020 (Extra)

★The Black Experience: The Òrìṣà Inspired Book Tag

Plans for March

This month, I intend to catch up on all my ARCs; continue participating in the #Iqratrails, supporting Black, Muslim, queer and other diverse stories. I also plan on putting out more reviews and catching up on my outstanding reviews, and finally using mg new TBR system.

I also want to get back into writing, I’ve missed it, and give more attention to my critique partner, who has been so understanding these past few months.

I hope all my plans go well.

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What are your plans for this month?

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