January wrap-up!

Hello friends, welcome to the first wrap-up of 2021! January was a pretty chill month for me; I had an intensive course, but it was super interesting and was not reading-heavy at all. So I managed to get a lot of reading a watching done!

So without further ado, here’s my January wrap-up.

Books Read

• In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado: 5 stars
• The Subtweet by Vivek Shraya: 5 stars
• Vi by Kim Thúy: 4 stars
• The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware: 4 stars
• Red River Girl by Joanna Jolly: 4.5 stars

I had such a great reading month! I really enjoyed everything I read this month, and started the year off with a bang.

Currently reading

• Meanwhile, Elsewhere edited by Cat Fitzpatrick and Casey Plett: I’ve been working my way through this sci-fi short story collection, which is written by trans authors about trans people. It’s been hit or miss so far: some of the stories are really fantastic, some of them are really interesting but not my thing, and some of them have been terrible. But I’ve enjoyed reading this overall and am excited to continue.
• All the Young Dudes by MsKingBean89: okay look. This is a marauders-era fanfiction that is 188 chapters and over 500k words long, so I’m counting it in my currently reading. It’s really good and I’m really enjoying it and I’m wondering why I stopped reading fanfiction.
• Freedom Is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis: I’m listening to this on audio and really enjoying it so far! Davis is such a talented writer and makes things so clear. I think I’m going to listen to it twice to really absorb everything.
• Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese: I’m really, really enjoying this book. It’s super interesting and the characters are fantastic.

Things watched

• The Trial of the Chicago 7: I watched this with my family the other day and loved it. It was super interesting and well-done, and really funny while remaining poignant. I loved how it was largely focused on the trial (obviously, it’s in the name). It was super frustrating to watch, but I’m glad to have watched it.
• Bridgerton: look. Regency-era enemies-fake-dating-to-lovers, bad boy/good girl is all I’ve ever wanted. So needless to say, I’ve loved this despite only watching the first couple of episodes.
• The Bachelor: last year, my friend Shenille and I watched the Bachelor together. And though we can’t be together this year, we’re still watching it and telling each other our thoughts. We generally watch the episode and then FaceTime after to catch-up, and it’s been really great. This season has been super entertaining so far, so if any of you watch it, please let me know your thoughts!

Reviews posted

• Last third reviews

Other bookish posts

2020 reading wrap-up // 2020 favourites // Least favourite books of 2020 // New-to-me authors I read in 2020 // 2021 reading plans // Backlist books I want to read in 2021 //

Other news and highlights

• My family had a cocktail party for New Years Eve, with just the four of us. We drank a lot of champagne and cocktails, ate a lot of fondue, and sang very loudly and poorly. Even though it was a smaller gathering than usual, it was still a great time.
• My siblings and I went skiing one day at the beginning of the month, and it was really great! The snow wasn’t amazing, but we spent time on the double black diamond area, which wasn’t crowded at all and had good snow.
• Like I said, January was super chill. I took a course on cannabis law, which was really interesting, and wrote a paper on expungement of cannabis possession charges.
• I got my grades from last semester back, and got my first A+ ever. Last semester was the hardest semester of law school yet, and I’m just so proud of myself for doing so well.
• My boyfriend and I went for a lot of walks because we can’t see each other because of lockdown, and went skating a couple of times.
• My siblings and I also diligently followed the Olivia Rodrigo/Joshua Basset/Sabrina Carpenter drama, so if anyone would like an explanation let me know, I know more than I should.
• I ended up having a week off at the end of the month, and went on a bit of a puzzles and audiobooks binge, which was honestly great. I listened to one whole audiobook in like 10 hours, and just sat and did a puzzle, and then did the same thing the next day. 10/10, would recommend.

How was your January? How has the start of school/work been going? How is everyone holding up in our never ending lockdown? Let me know!

Ally xx

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