January in review

Ah, January. What a month it's been.  I've had some real highs and lows these past few weeks. I'm glad to have survived January mostly intact.  It's been lovely going to publishing events and meeting up with other lovely bookish people. But my personal life has been all up in the air and I'm finding it difficult to maintain my blogging/booktubing/twitter schedules. So you'll forgive me, I'm sure, if things are a little sparse around here in future.
And while I'm not always in the mood to blog, at least I am still reading.  Let's look at the books I've read this year so far...

Books Read in January:

1. Salvage by Keren David (5 stars)
2. Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre (4 stars)
3. Fifteen Days Without a Head by Dave Cousins (4 stars)
4. Fortunately, the Milk... by Neil Gaiman (4 stars)
5. Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller (5 stars)
6. How to Love by Katie Cotugno (4 stars)
7. Night Beach by Kirsty Eagar (3 stars)
8. The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay (4 stars)
9. Keeping You A Secret by Julie Anne Peters (5 stars)
10. Stay Where You Are and Then Leave by John Boyne (4 stars)
11. Ten Tiny Breaths by KA Tucker (4 stars)
12. A Little Too Far by Lisa Desrochers (3 stars)
13. A Little Too Much by Lisa Desrochers (4 stars)
14. Kiss the Sky by Krista and Becca Ritchie (4 stars)
15. A Little Too Hot by Lisa Desrochers (3 stars)
16. Fear of Falling by SL Jennings (2 stars)
17. Going Under by S Walden (3 stars)
18. Relentless by Cassia Leo (3 stars)
19. Ruining Me by Nicole Reed (1 star)

Total: 19

Total for 2014:19

2014 started off really well... I was reading great books and really loving reading. And then things started going wrong for me personally and within my family and I ended up on this New Adult kick that I should have abandoned and didn't.  That last book though: it cured me of my NA compulsion. 

Before that though, I did read three five star books and a bunch of 4 stars reads too.  I've been reading a lot on my Kindle and it's been nice to start the year with some no pressure free reading! 

What was the best of the bunch though?

January Book of the Month:

Salvage by Keren David

Ooh, no question about it. I absolutely loved Salvage by Keren David from the first page right to the last. I thought the characters and their relationships were all wonderfully written and it was a really interesting story of a brother and sister who had grown up apart and how much had changed with their different circumstances.

Books reviewed in January:

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by AS King
Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown
After Math and Redesigned by Denise Grover Swank


Non-review posts during January:

Doing Things Differently in 2014

Psychology in YA - Identity
Top Ten Bookish and Bloggish Goals in 2014 
New-to-me authors in 2013 and UKYA paranormal recommendations
Follow my #booktube channel?
Reading the Not-Quite-Blockbuster Books 5

UKYA in 2014

UKYA in January

Waiting on Wednesday: Banished by Liz de Jager
Waiting on Wednesday: Dead Silent by Sharon Jones

This is a feature that I hope to continue with in 2014. If you are an author of UKYA (or MG!) being published this year who would like to guest post (or interviewed, though this is less likely!) on Fluttering Butterflies, do let me know!

British Books Challenge update in January

Salvage by Keren David
Fifteen Days Without a Head by Dave Cousins
Fortunately, The Milk... by Neil Gaimain
Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre

Total in January:4
Total in 2014: 4

I don't want to put any pressure on myself with reading challenges this year ... but I also really want to read to as many books by British authors at the same time. Tough one.  Still, 4 books this month isn't bad. Feels like a good start to the year.  


Personal challenge to read 10 non-review books a month:

Fortunately, the Milk.... by Neil Gaiman

Total in January:1
Total in 2014:1

Again this year, I'm hoping to cut down on my TBR pile by reading some of my own books. So while I mostly read non-review books in January, 98% of the books I read this month have been e-books.  Which I'm not counting for this personal challenge.

What was your favourite book that you read in January?