My January Reading List!


I’m hoping to start the year off with a bang and as January is the dullest, most depressing month of the year, I’m really going to push myself with my reading list!

Weirdly enough, all these are e-books that I own. I normally read the e-book first and if I love, then I get the physical book as well as space is at a premium on my shelves and house! Also these will knock some off my Beat the Backlist Challenge which makes me happy!!!

I’m not sure if I am going to make lists every month because it seems sometimes they work for me and other times they don’t….but start off how you mean to go on and all that jazz!!!

So my (very ambitious for me) list is:


🎧 The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden


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🎧 The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune



🎧 Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo


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Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (buddy read with Sophie @BewareoftheReader)


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Fire Night by Penelope Douglas


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The Night Country by Melissa Albert



Tales from Hinterland by Melissa Albert (arc)



Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa



The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones


Skyhunter by Marie Lu



From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout


Have you read any of these?

What’s on your tbr for January?

Closing the Chapter: December 2020

Welcome to Closing the Chapter! I hope you had a great reading month?

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and are getting ready for the arrival of 2021? We had a lovely Christmas only marred slightly by the dreaded c word and held our family gatherings on Zoom instead of in person and we went back into Tier 3 because of the new strain.  When will this ever end?  

My reading month started off strong and although I did veer off my tbr list slightly, it was such a great reading month (apart from the 2 dnf’s!)

📚 Physical/e-books


How The King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black
See my review here.

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
See my review here.

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Bound by Blood Anthology by Cora Reilly
See my review here.

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The Charmed Wife by Olga Grushin
See my review here.

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Depends on Who’s Asking by Lani Lynn Vale
See my review here.

Famine by Laura Thalassa
See my review soon!

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
See my review soon!

🎧 Audio

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Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer
See my review soon!

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Truthwitch by Susan Dennard were both unforts dnf’s for me.

What did you read in December?

Audiobook Challenge 2021 – I’m in!

Grab your earbuds and join hosts Caffeinated Reviewer and That’s What I’m Talking About for the 2021 Audiobook Challenge! Choose your level and rock your ears off!

I did this challenge for 2020 and it really started me on my audio journey so I’m hoping for 2021 that I can listen the hell out of some great books!

This year I’m starting out cautiously and going for the achievement of Socially Awkward which is 15-20 listens (but secretly hoping I can best that and go for Binge Listener but we shall see!)

Anyway, the details are:

Challenge Details

  • Runs January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021. You can join at any time.
  • The goal is to find a new love for audios or to outdo yourself by listening to more audios in 2020 than you did in 2018.
  • Books must be in audio format (CD, MP3, etc.)
  • ANY genres count.
  • Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
  • You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads, Facebook, LibraryThing, etc.
  • If you’re a blogger grab the button and do a quick post about the challenge to help spread the word. If you’re not a blogger you can help by posting on Facebook or Tweet about the challenge.
  • Updates plus a giveaway will be posted twice during the year. The first update will be July 2, 2021, and the last update will take place on December 30, 2021.

Achievement Levels

  • Newbie (I’ll give it a try) 1-5
  • Weekend Warrior (I’m getting the hang of this) 5-10
  • Stenographer (can listen while multitasking) 10-15
  • Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me) 15-20
  • Binge Listener (Why read when someone can do it for you) 20-30
  • My Precious (I had my earbuds surgically implanted) 30+
  • Marathoner (Look Ma No Hands) 50+
  • Over-Achiever (Power Listener) 75+
  • The 100 Club (Audiobook Addict) 100+

Don’t forget to use the hashtag #2021AudiobookChallenge on social media to alert others of your listens and progress!

My December Haul!


Ooo December I thought, I won’t be getting many books in December. I can make a head start on my tbr and get the total down before 2021 hits.

Well. It didn’t quite pan out like that. Does it ever?

I did get some money for Christmas and I am going to get some books with it but….I need to sit down and see what I want first, you know, strategically plan so there are no Christmas books here….yet!

📚 Physical/e-books


The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

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Depends on Who’s Asking by Lani Lynn Vale

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The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness

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City of Fallen Angels and City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

📑 Arcs

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Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert

🎧 Audio

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The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

🧚‍♀️Fairyloot


Master of One by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett

So tell me what you hauled in December and what you got for Christmas!

Do you IG?!

Enquiring minds want to know (and I’m always looking for bookish accounts to follow!)
I post daily and am practicing with my photos to make them better and better. Practice makes perfect I think the saying goes!

If you would like to drop me a follow, my user name is CJRTB_BB and the long link is: https://www.instagram.com/cjrtb_bb

I took part in Best Reads of 2020 with a few IG friends and these are some reads I chose and pictures I made:

Let me know what your IG is as I would love to come and take a look!

My user name is CJRTB_BB

Long link is: https://www.instagram.com/cjrtb_bb

Blogmas: My Best Books of 2020…..

Well here we are, nearly the end of the year.

But what a year it’s been. Probably the most worrying, surreal year of my (and countless others) life!

I began plotting Blogmas posts very early on in the year because Christmas brings me so much joy and I really needed that at some points!

Another thing that brings me joy is reading…and these are my ‘best books’ of 2020 (not necessarily released then, I read then!)

You can see my half year update here.

Here are the books from the 2nd half of the year (and there are a few!!!):

Mirage by Somaiya Daud

See my review here.


Viper by Bex Hogan

See my review here.


The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

See my review here.


Shielded by Kaylynn Flanders

See my review here.


Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

See my review here.


Fable by Adrienne Young

See my review here.


The Illuminae Files

See my reviews here, here and here.


Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

See my review here.


Well that’s it. Loads of absolute gems in 2020 to make up for the cruddy year in real life!!!!