In January I read six books including several nonfiction books.

Books:

Christmas at Hogwarts by J.K. Rowling is a picture book version of Harry’s first Christmas at Hogwarts with beautiful art by Ziyi Gao. The text used is from the 12th chapter of the Sorcerer’s Stone. This is great for Harry Potter fans and kids just getting into the Wizarding World.

The Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren is the first book in the start of a cozy paranormal mystery series. We follow Lucy who travels to Oxford to visit her grandmother but her knitting shop is closed and she is supposedly dead. It turns out that Gram was murdered but turned into a vampire to save her and Lucy is trying to figure everything out. A fun story but I don’t think that I will continue with the series.

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson is a book about the last crossing and the sinking of the Lusitania and how this helped bring the United States into World War I. Like all of Erik Larson’s books this is a very easy read and could be a good introduction to the topic.

The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom by Shari Fanke is Shari memoir about the true story behind the 8 Passengers YouTube channel and vlogs and what happened. Given the topic it’s hard to say that I enjoyed this but I’m glad Shari got to tell her story and this is a cautionary tale for all family vloggers.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is the first book in the Empyrean series and I have a full review posted. We follow Violet Sorrengail as her mother has ordered her to join the Dragon Riders at the Basgiath War College instead of joining the scribes. I loved this even though I didn’t think I would and I would recommend trying it.

The Rebel Romanov: Julie of Saxe-Coburg, The Empress Russia Never Had by Helen Rappaport is Rappaport’s newest nonfiction about Romanov history. This follows Julie of Saxe-Coburg who marries Constantine, the grandson of Catherine the Great and who Julie ends up leaving everything for her own freedom. Julie is not a historical figure that I’ve ever heard of but Rappaport makes Romanov history very interesting and readable.