January fought hard, but I fought harder

Besides it being my dear mother's birthday, January is BY FAR my least favorite month.

If you are teacher, you know one of the reason$$$.

Not to mention that the weather is terrible- it's been rainy or tornadoes. Basically perfect for reading, which I have done a lot of.

9 books to be exact!

Here are my January reads:

For my A-Z challenge, I completed A, C, E, F, N, and Y.

I had to DNF two, but you don't want to hear about those. Let me tell you about my favorites.

American Wife- I read Sittenfield's "Prep" a long time ago and enjoyed it and read her most recent book, "Romantic Comedy," and realllly enjoyed it. This has been on my TBR for a long time so I decided to add it to my A-Z list. Sittenfield took the life of American First Lady, Laura Bush, and fictionalized it. I thought that was an interesting take and Sittenfield does an excellent job of creating and diving into a character. 5/5 ⭐️

Spare- Oh you didn't have a book about Prince William at your bedside table that you would look at before you went to bed when you were in middle school? Then are you even a royal lover like me? Because of my mom, I have been following the royals my whole life and yes, I now realize it's a little weird but whatever. I couldn't wait to read this. Parts of it were very interesting- about Diana, royal life in general, his thoughts on anxiety, his love story with Megan. But I can agree with everyone that he needed an editor- he was like a hummingbird flitting from one subject to the next. I've heard that it's better on audio and I would like to try it out. 4.0/5.0 ⭐️

You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey- If you haven't watched Amber Ruffin's show you are missing out. I personally believe that she should take over for Trevor Noah for the The Daily Show, but they won't ask me. I have never laughed and been enraged before, but there is always a first for everything and that first is with this book. Amber and her sister Lacey talk about what it's like being black in majority white places. The book will make you angry, make you think about if you have asked stupid questions, and hope that you won't stand around silently if someone does something racist in front of you. If you ask yourself if you should read it, the answer is yes. 5/5 ⭐️

The Anthropocene Reviewed- Only John Green could look at humanity through the lens of a Dr. Pepper review. 4.5/5⭐️

Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone- I am sucker for the main character talking to the reader and reader, this book does that. I did not figure out the mystery because I was absorbed in the story, although I will say that it does get a little convoluted at times (which family member are we talking about? which dead person are we talking about). But if you enjoy mysteries (and I have heard if you specifically love Agatha Christie novels, which I haven't read yet 😬), you will enjoy this. 4.5/5⭐️

If this is January, I can't wait to see what February books brings. Hopefully less rain, though.

My name is Laura. I am a librarian and review books on The Alabama Take. You can follow me at bamareads on Instagram where I also talk about books. I really like talking about books.  It’s nice to be here. :)