Comfort Reads Only | January 2023 Wrap-Up

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Happy 2023, everyone! Somehow, January felt incredibly short and like it dragged on forever. My January was a bit of a mixed bag. I officially graduated with my bachelor’s degree, had a lot of uni work for my master’s, and struggled with my mental health. So, as I tend to do during stressful times, I gravitated towards easier, comforting reads. Without further ado, let’s get into my January 2023 Wrap-Up!

The Books I Read in January

The Fixer – Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Related: My Review of The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Working Hard, Hardly Working – Grace Beverly

Next, I listened to Working Hard, Hardly Working by Grace Beverly.

I had put myself on the waitlist for the audiobook at my library months ago and entirely forgot about it! So I was pleasantly surprised when I got the notification that it was available for me to read. I tend to read productivity books when I’m stressed because a) they’re easy to read and b) give me a sense of control over my life that I find reassuring when I’m actually stressed and overwhelmed to Mars and back.

Working Hard, Hardly Working is a fun, all-encompassing, and self-aware productivity guide. Grace Beverly offers insights and advice for today’s working world for young people while also acknowledging her privileged position and specific experiences. I honestly wish more self-improvement authors had that kind of awareness! Her writing is passionate, energetic, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. I had a great time with this book and immediately stole Grace’s to-do table method to organize my tasks.

Overall, I think if you like Grace Beverly already or are looking for an accessible and fun guide to sustainable productivity and self-care, this might be the book for you!

Finally, I (re)read the Murderbot Diaries! I read Network Effect and Fugitive Telemetry and then immediately went back to the first book in the series. Seriously, I love Murderbot and these books are quickly becoming new all-time favourites!

Rereading the first books was incredibly fun and I had a way easier time understanding the world-building and keeping characters apart than during my first read. If you haven’t read these books yet but are a fan of novellas, science fiction, and snarky non-human protagonists, this is your sign.

Do you follow my bookstagram yet? If not, just click here and you can come to say hi!

A Personal Update

I’m still figuring out how I want to do these Wrap-Ups this year, but for now, let me give you a bit of a personal update.

First of all, welcome back! Happy 2023, I hope you had a good start to the year and I’m excited to have you back on the blog. Admittedly, I feel a little bit rusty when it comes to blogging because I haven’t done it much in the last months. After finishing my bachelor’s thesis, all my routines and rhythms pretty much went out of the window.

Honestly, I still don’t really have a solid routine and I’ve found it very hard to make time for blogging and social media. There are a bunch of posts that I wanted to write in January and never actually wrote. I’m hoping to get them done in February, even though some of them are a little more New Year’s themed.

The biggest update in my personal life is that I have officially graduated! Which in my case just means that I got the grade for my thesis, filled out forms, sent emails and now have an official certificate that I am in fact a graduate. Honestly, it felt very anticlimactic. I got my thesis grade on December 23 which was an unexpected Christmas present because I got a really good grade! At least my stress was worth it, I guess.

I don’t have any reading goals for 2023. In fact, one of the posts I wanted to write is a little discussion post about why I chose not to set any reading goals this year! I’m probably still going to write it even though we’re already one month into the year. Time is an illusion and all that.

Some Closing Words

And that’s it for my January 2023 Wrap-Up! I kind of forgot how much fun these are to write.

This year is the year of only vibes, no expectations. And while I really want to get back into blogging consistently, I can’t make any promises. That said, I would love to know what kind of content you’d like to see on the blog! Are there any of my posts that you particularly enjoy? Anything you want me to change or try? I’m open to any and all suggestions as I figure out what bookshelfsoliloquies is going to look like in its third year!

I’m sending you a lot of love and I hope you have a great February! 💜

Let’s Chat!

As always, I love hearing from you in the comments! Let’s have a chat about our reading months.

⭐️ What was the last book you reread?

⭐️ Are there any specific genres you gravitate towards when you’re stressed?

I hope you have a lovely day,

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