January Reviews: 19 Fabulous Novels #amreading #amreviewing

• What Have I been reading and reviewing in January?

19 Books! I’ve had a wonderful January. I’m sure I have broken some kind of record; I’ve never read so many books in one month in my life, and I’ve enjoyed them all thoroughly. This may have been due to the fact that I’ve been in bed a good few days with the flu, and enjoyed many cosy evenings reading by the fireplace, whatever the reason, I feel very inspired!

I’ve experienced passion, adventure, crime, love, fear, terror, madness, heartbreak, loss, forgiveness, distress, happiness, and laughter. I’ve travelled to the Scottish Highlands, an idyllic Irish island, The English countryside and London, Maine, New York, Boston, US small towns, an enigmatic lake in US, the wilds of Alaska.

So, I’ve had plenty of fun!

• The books I didn’t review.

I’ve read and reviewed 19 books. I’ve also started many others, but didn’t get past the ‘look inside’ pages, because I didn’t enjoy reading, so I didn’t finish, and therefore didn’t review.

I don’t review the books I dislike, for two reasons:

1) I didn’t finish them, so it seems unfair, who knows if the book improved?  Perhaps I wasn’t in the mood for that type of book on that particular day?

2) I don’t like sending negative messages into the world. What’s the point?

You may say ‘to warn readers’. Readers can read blurbs and 10% of the book for free, so in less than five or ten minutes, they’ll know if they want to buy it or not.

I’m not on a crusade to save readers, they are perfectly capable of saving themselves!

My aim is to point out the positive aspects of the books I enjoy, hoping that others will enjoy them, too, and I’m also supporting other authors.

• Why do I read?

1- To Unwind. A cup of tea or glass of wine depending on the day, and a book I enjoy is a wonderful end to a busy or boring day.

2- To Learn. I read to observe how other writers write. I check out everything! From formal aspects such as the blurb, the acknowledgements, whether the chapters have names or numbers, or both, to linguistic and literary aspects such as the use of dialogue tags, adverbs, prologue or epilogue, characterisation, plot development. I usually highlight along the way, so I go back and have a look later. It’s easy to do with the kindle app.

3- To Research. I read to try to understand why I (and other readers) enjoy reading the books I/they read. What makes a book compelling? It’s like an assignment. The best way to learn to write is not necessarily to read books on writing, it’s to read books critically and with an observant and open mind. I’m not only reading, I’m also learning to write, which is an ongoing process. And believe me, every single page I read teaches me something about my own writing process.

Going back to my reviews. There are far too many reviews to include in one post, so I’m going to be posting them over various days and weeks.

This is a peek of the reviews I’ll be posting:

The retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in the Scottish Highlands, two erotic romances, a disturbing tale of horror and madness, two romantic comedies, a sweet Christmas themed love story, a courtroom thriller, an Intense romantic trilogy set in Manhattan, an action packed romance set in Alaska, A disturbing psychological drama set in the UK, a contemporary family drama set in an American small town, A heartwarming love story of two families who have suffered loss through cancer, a romantic family drama set in Ireland, Crime fiction set in Maine, A historical romance set in Edwardian England, a sweet and humorous office romance, two thriller suspense novels.

Here are two of my favourite this month:

I’m penning mostly shorter, more concise and quicker reviews, because I need more time for reading and my own writing, and I believe they’re more helpful to readers and authors.

In some cases, I’ll be including short author spotlights or interviews, with my review.

If you’re very impatient and want to read my reviews straight away, my reviews are all here on amazon 

They’re also posted to my Facebook page Lucy Shares Lovely Books, where I let readers know what I’m reading, what I’m reviewing, and news about book promotions.

What have you been reading in January?