New year, same me… the me that doesn’t post on the blog for an entire month, but still pops in to drop a monthly recap. I’m trying, y’all.
I had high hopes to get back into the swing of bloggy things in January, but that clearly didn’t happen. I feel like there’s a fine line between not putting too much pressure on myself and motivating myself to actually create content for the blog. And if I’m being honest, I’m still trying to find it. In the meantime, I hope you’re following me on Instagram — @kimberlyfayereads — because that’s where you can find regular content.
Moving on…
By the Numbers
- Total number of books read — 12 (+5 DNF)
- Contemporary romance: 15
- Erotic romance: 1
- Young adult: 1
- Format —
- Audiobooks: 10
- eBooks: 4
- Print books: 3
- Library books: 6
- Review copies: 11
- New-to-me authors: 5
- Re-reads: 1
Top Reads
I narrowed it down to 5 books for the purpose of this blog post, but I actually had 9 5-star reads in January. Here are the others in case you’re interested: The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, The Plight Before Christmas, Under One Roof, and The Guncle.

Reading Challenges Update
First up, the Goodreads Reading Challenge! I started the year off strong.
My goal for the 2022 Tackle My TBR Reading Challenge is four books each month. I read 11 in January. (Well, several were DNFs but I’m counting them.)
Total: 11/48
- Her Pretend Christmas Date (Jackie Lau) ★★★★ 🎧
- Dashing Through the No (Tara Sivec) ★★★★ 🎧
- Going for the Goal (Sara Rider) ★★★★ 🎧
- The Wedding Ringer (Kerry Rea)★★★★★ 📖
- The Belle and the Beard (Kate Canterbary) DNF 📱
- The Guncle (Steven Rowley) ★★★★★ 🎧
- Sweethand (N.G. Peltier) DNF 🎧
- The Holiday Switch (Tif Marcelo) DNF 🎧
- East in Paradise (Tif Marcelo) DNF 🎧
- Weather Girl (Rachel Lynn Solomon) ★★★★★ 📖
- Xeni (Rebekah Weatherspoon) DNF 🎧
The only other long-term challenge I’m doing this year is #12Reads12Friends (created by @bookwormgram). The gist of this one is you solicit recommendations from friends and select twelve of them to read. Yes, that’s one per month. January did NOT start off strong. I DNF’d the book.
Total: 1/12
I had SO MANY good recs this year that I decided to make a mini TBR with no time constraint from many of those recs. I read two of them in January and they were both 5-star reads. So maybe I need to do a better job at picking from the recs in the future…
- The Wedding Ringer (Kerry Rea) ★★★★★ 📖
- The Guncle (Steven Rowley) ★★★★★ 🎧
While not an official challenge, per se, one of the things I’m doing this year is tracking how much money I’ve saved by using my library cards. I have a feeling my mind is going to be blown when I see the yearly total. (Of course, it’s not a perfect science for a lot of reasons, but it’s still fascinating to track. (I’m also a total nerd who loves a good spreadsheet, so in case you’re interested in my tracking, enjoy.)
January savings: $254.98
2022 total: $254.98

Looking Ahead
February is my birthday month and, while that should be exciting, 2+ years into the pandemic I just can’t muster up any excitement over it. Fortunately, chill birthdays are my favorite, so I can expect more of the same this year.
February releases I’m excited about
If you want to know more about what’s going on in my world, follow me on Instagram. Depending on what you’re looking for, I have three to offer you: a bookish one (@kimberlyfayereads), a non-bookish one (@kimberlyfaye_) and one for my Etsy shop (@createdbykimberlyfaye).
Stay safe and healthy!

Let’s Chat
How did your January go?
What are some of your favorites you read?
What are you looking forward to this month?
I do like that you count the DNFs toward your TBR challenge, because really, that is taking them off of your TBR! I know what you mean about not wanting to put too much pressure on yourself, it’s more important to enjoy what you’re doing. I think if you aren’t, then you’ll quit completely. I am following you over on Instagram too!
Lisa Loves Literature