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We shared in our post about reading goals that we both read over 100 books annually, and anticipate (and plan on) continuing to do so.  That said, we don’t plan to share in depth about that many books here. But who knows, we’ve certainly shared about more than four titles this month for Jane in January, even if you don’t count our post of 2019 favorites.  We do want to give you a peek into what our reading life looks like each month.  We may not bring you every title (like if it only gets one star because we didn’t enjoy it or appreciate it), but you’ll see anything we read and thought was ok.  Some of these titles you’ll see again in all of their glory with a post about them alone (ok, you’ll see quite a few of these again, with a much more in-depth perspective). If you have any questions about any of these titles, do let us know in the comments!  We may limit what we say if we’re planning a post, or you may get an earful because we aren’t!

Ashley: This month’s reading has been a new adventure for us. Not only have we been reading together as is our usual, but also with plans on sharing specific books with you in the near-er future than before! As we have gotten into the groove of sharing our reading lives with you, we want to give you an overview of what a ‘month in the life of’ looks like.

If you remember from our Best of 2019 post,  I shared a picture of my planner page that has my monthly “Reading Life.” I try to get on paper the books I plan to read. Most of the time I don’t end up reading a quarter of the books on my monthly list, but it is a list of books I want to have on my radar and close to hand for when I am ready to pick up a title. A lot of the books are usually nonfiction that I float between during cardio at the gym. Sometimes it’s a book, sometimes it’s a podcast, and I don’t decide until I’m actually at the gym.

This year more than other years, I am focused on restarting my Real Estate Business now that Canadian Adam and I are back in Nashville where we belong. My nonfiction reading, though usually focused on business, finance, and personal development, is going to focus on books that are recommended to bring about the best mindset and practices for that #RealtorLife. 

Besides our usual duo, we’re buddy re-reading Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses with a dear friend of ours and her mama. This will be a slow and glorious process (at least for us, hopefully for our friend and her mom too), so you’ll be seeing this amazing trilogy on our currently reading list for a while.  If you’d like to join in the reading, let us know! We are having so much fun already.  

Additionally, I like to read and join in at my local Barnes & Noble every month for their bookclub – but I skipped January. Check back next month to see if I get Dear Edward read by Tuesday, February 4th. We have also joined our first online bookclub with friends from our college days. Our first title isn’t chosen yet, but we will be adding these titles as 2020 progresses.

Nikki: To give some additional details to this list, I did finish Sanditon just not the rest of the items in the book, which is still in progress, ish.  I’ll probably take my sweet time to work through it, so it may be seen a couple more times in a review post.  I read Wedded in Winter – Wicked Winters #2 and an additional novella or two in Once Upon a Christmas Wedding (which isn’t currently available for purchase) and will be reading some more, but I may or may not finish this anthology in the coming weeks.  We’ll see if the themes are more winter or Christmas, which will likely impact how many more I read. Also, Willful in Winter (#4) was a December read – start with #1 because there is some back story that would have made parts of this title make more sense.  It was fine as a standalone, just would have been better in order. Wagered in Winter #5 came out this week and is waiting on my Kindle right now (Wild in Winter #6 is due out late February, which should complete the series, I think).  I’ve got some things to finish up, as you can see, but I’ll get to it soon, maybe.  Also, Goodreads says I’m two books ahead of schedule, one month into my reading challenge.  Oops. That may or may not average out and I’m not sure I care. I did read two nonfiction books, which exceeds my goal, and I rated every title I read.  Some I purposefully did not review because we want to share our thoughts first here with you dear readers! I’m calling January a win!

Ashley IN MEDIAS RES

• 3 Clients in 30 Days: 30 Day Top Producer Blueprint For Real Estate Agents  by Krista Mashore*
• Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping by and Get Your Financial Life Together by Erin Lowry
• The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan*
• Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters by Anne Boyd Rioux
• Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine  by Mike Michalowicz
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
• Crazy for Loving You by Pippa Grant*
• The Golden Hours  by Beatriz Williams*

Nikki IN MEDIAS RES

• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
• Sanditon, Lady Susan, & The History of England: The Juvenilia and Shorter Works of Jane Austen by Jane Austen 
• Once Upon a Christmas Wedding by Scarlett Scott, et. al 
• The Golden Hours  by Beatriz Williams* 

*Incomplete as of typing will update as the next 24 progresses

Ashley FIN

• The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
  Inspection by Josh Malerman
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
• Bruiser by Samantha Whiskey
• The Bluewater Billionaires Series:
• The Price of Scandal by Lucy Score
• The Mogul and the Muscle by Claire Kingsley
• Wild Open Hearts by Kathryn Nolan

Nikki FIN

• Art Matters by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Chris Riddell
• The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
• Inspection by Josh Malerman
• Sanditon (and some shorter works as well) by Jane Austen
• Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing As We Age by Mary Pipher
• The Bluewater Billionaires Series:
• The Price of Scandal by Lucy Score
• The Mogul and the Muscle by Claire Kingsley
• Wild Open Hearts by Kathryn Nolan
• The Wicked Winters by Scarlett Scott:
• Wicked in Winter #1
• Wedded in Winter #2
• Wanton in Winter #3

As you can see, our reading tastes, even in the snapshot of a month, do vary both for each of us and with what we read together.  No spoilers here on the specifics, but there was more than one buddy read that sparked a lengthy conversation when we were both finished! 

What did you read this month that you can’t stop thinking or talking about?