2023 Key Word Reading Challenge [January Check-In]

January is here! The first month of the 2023 Key Word Reading Challenge. The Key Words for January are – Crown, Girl, Whisper, Black, Heart, Guide, All, Ever. Check in with us on Goodreads, at Instagram with the hashtag #MonthlyKeywordGXO, on Storygraph or at the “linky” bottom of this post.

Monthly Key Word

Here’s what we plan to read this month…

KIM – I plan to read The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Axie Oh. It’s a mythological fantasy book about a courageous girl and a sea monster responsible for the raging storms plaguing her people. I’ve had on my TBR for a year now. I’ve actually never read anything by this author but I’ve heard really good things. Some readers have said in their review that this is their favorite book by Oh so far!

Deadly storms have ravaged Mina’s homeland for generations. In an attempt to appease him, each year a beautiful maiden is thrown into the sea to serve as the Sea God’s bride, in the hopes that one day the “true bride” will be chosen and end the suffering. Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village—and the beloved of Mina’s older brother Joon—may be the legendary true bride. In an attempt to save her, Mina throws herself into the sea and is swept away to the Spirit Realm. Mina finds the sea god caught in an enchanted sleep and must find a way to free him.

TANYA – My choice for this month is a book that was on My #20BooksofSummer (2022) Reading List and I never got to it – Black Cake, Chamaine Wilkerson … and then I see it made Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2022.

In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.

Link up with the book(s) you read for the 2023 Key Word Reading Challenge below.