WWW Wednesday – A January Wrap Up

Happy Wednesday, bookish peeps! It’s been a while, but I hope your new year is treating you kindly!

Fasting with my church, school, and a new job has kept me busy since the start of the year. But I’m back with a wrap up for my top reads of January and a “must read” throwback review from December. 

So, pull up a chair and grab your snacks as I share my first check-in for 2022 on this WWW Wednesday!

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words and ask readers to answer the following questions:

1. What did you read last?
2. What are you currently reading?
3. What will you read next?

What did you read last?

I have deemed 2022 my year of “rereads.” 

For January, I started rereading Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles series and then moved on to one of my favorite “coming of age” books from high school called Big Girls Don’t Cry by Connie Briscoe. 

Meyer’s books have been a slight disappointment in my reread. However, I did find that reading the books in audiobook format helped bring Meyer’s characters alive more. Rebecca Soler is the audionarrator for the Lunar Chronicles series, and she does a phenomenal job with accents and distinguishing the characters’ voices from each other. Soler’s narration also helped drive home how close Meyer’s books are to the original Grimm fairytales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood (Little Red Cap), Snow White (Little Snow White), and Sleeping Beauty (Little Briar Rose).

Link: Have you read the Grimm Brothers’ original fairytales?

Honestly, if it weren’t for Soler’s performance, I probably would’ve tabled my reread of Meyer’s series by now. With Soler’s narration, though, things that irked me in my original review were made less egregious (e.g., Scarlet and Wolf’s love story). Unfortunately, Meyer’s series is still trope heavy in this second reading and has a firm spot in my “started with a bang and ended in a whimper” book pile. If you’re not a hardcore YA lover or into fairytale retellings, you may want to pass this series up.

Link: Read my original review of the Lunar Chronicles from my early blogging days

Thankfully, Big Girls Don’t Cry by Connie Briscoe was a reread that I enjoyed. Briscoe covers Black girlhood in all its imperfect and confusing glory through the story of Naomi Jefferson, who is growing up during the ‘60s. Readers get to see Naomi struggle with growing pains along with seeing how her character is impacted by the death of Martin Luther King Jr., colorism, heartbreak, gender discrimination in the workplace, and the loss of a loved one as she grows into adulthood. 

For lovers of Black urban cult classics, such as Flyy Girl by Omar Tyree and The Coldest Winter Ever by Sista Souljah, you’ll enjoy getting to know Naomi. I was happy to see that my rereading of Briscoe’s held against time. Briscoe places a lot of focus on Naomi’s career ambitions and gives space for readers to see Naomi fail and work through her reservations with working in corporate America and being “Black in America.” The only thing I would change is the development of Naomi’s love interests. If you enjoy stories built around character development and that have a slow burn romance, this is the book for you!

For my new reads, I got a chance to receive an ARC in November for How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days by K.M. Jackson, and I’d recommend this book if you enjoy the “friends-to-lovers” romance trope.

Jackson follows Bethany Lu Carlisle, Keanu Reeves’ superfan, as she receives the news that her long-time celebrity crush is engaged. For Bethany Lu, this is horrible news and is the last straw in a series of unfortunate events that cause her to struggle with the pressures of being an independent artist. Leaning on her friend, Truman “True” Erikson, for understanding, Bethany Lu sets out to win Keanu’s affection on a wacky road trip that has the sole purpose of getting Keanu to reconsider hanging up his bachelorhood for good.

Link: Have you checked out my author interview with K.M. Jackson yet?

How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days is perfect for anyone looking for a sweet romance or comfort read. Jackson shows an honest portrayal of a 35+ Black woman who doesn’t have it all figured out and is coping with mental health issues. The author does an excellent job of holding space for her character to fall apart and gives her the grace lean into her support system when she needs it. This departure from society’s belief that you have to have it all “figured out” by your 20s is refreshing. And the steamy romance between friends isn’t too bad either.

I’d highly recommend this book for any reader who’s into romance and books that have a “quest” element.

What are you currently reading?

January also saw me delve back into the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. This time around, I have been focusing on the graphic novels and short stories in the Tales From the Folly anthology that goes along with Aaronovitch’s novels. The graphic novel collections add context to what happens to Peter and the gang in between the novels, while the short stories act as “snapshots” in the characters’ lives.

I’m partial to the graphic novels over the books, though. In these graphic novels, the author goes into fuller details about The Nightingale and the wizards he worked with before the Rivers of London series officially started. Readers also get to see what Molly gets up to while Peter and The Nightingale are off fighting the bad guys in these books, which involves pastimes are different from what I’d imagined. If you think Aaronovitch’s series is hilarious in his full-length books, you’ll love reading his graphic novels.

I am also working my way through The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. One of my classmates recommended this book, and I’m happy I picked it up even though it’s super sad. 

Hannah’s book follows Elsa Martinelli as she and her family battle through life in the American Great Plains during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. Reading about how Elsa fights off her insecurities and the constant struggle to make a life for her children is painful. I’m about 70% through The Four Winds and am enjoying it, but I took a break to pick up a lighter read at the end of January.

What will you read next?

As a mood reader, I don’t know what I’ll be reading next. Do you have any recommendations? 

If you enjoyed this post, I’d love it if you like, comment, and subscribe. #AllOfTheThings

Happy reading!