January 2026 Wrap Up

How are we already into February?!

January was a very typical month as far as reading goes. In 2024 I didn’t have any 5-star reads, and the same held true. Maybe I’m just not that great at picking out books at the start of the year, lol. I did a few audio books but most were e-books on my Kobo, the two self-help were audio books from my local library.

The Emily Wilde book was for the Goobers book club, and I didn’t actually get around to my ‘Books out of the Blue’ challenges, but I’m hoping to make up for that this month. I did work on my TBR, which is where A House with Good Bones comes in – but I thought it would be a 5 star read, and it was not. Through no fault of the author, it just wasn’t the book for me (details are posted in my regular reviews). As always these statistics are taken from my profile over on The StoryGraph, which I am using as an alternative to GoodReads.

Still, I’m counting 7 books as a huge win. I have some fantastic reads lined up for February, so maybe that elusive 5 star will be uncovered then. Happy reading!

3/5 Stars: Nobody Wants your Shit, the art of decluttering before you die, by Messie Condo

This was a strange book. Lots of swearing, it was hard to tell if it was because the author wanted to feel more edgy or what. The information presented wasn’t new, but it could act as motivation for the right person. I did not enjoy the way the book worked in absolutes. It talked about decluttering before moving – a lot – and I DO move a lot, but none of their information was relative to any of my moves, and in most cases was just outright incorrect. I think these types of books are difficult because there is no one true method to serve every person in every situation. Still, it passed some time. I borrowed this book from the library because it was available as I was searching, without a wait (and now I see why). Also, curious about the author’s name, is it their real name? Are they making a play on Marie Condo? I don’t get it. It’s odd.

3/5 Stars

3/5 Star Review: Automatic Noodle, by Annalee Newitz

This was a fascinating read about racism/acceptance/tolerance but presented in a really unique and yet still relatable way. It felt odd to read it given the state of the world right now, but also really good. The end was insanely abrupt, which is why I only gave it 3 stars, because it left a bad taste in my mouth to leave it like that. This was a novella so I wasn’t expecting too much, but it did affect my overall view of the book. Enjoyable read, but that ending messed with my brain.

3/5 Stars

2/5 Star Rating: The Primal of Blood and Bone, by Jennifer L. Armentrout

This book was horrible. It felt very off compared to the previous 6 books and I didn’t understand why. Cas was behaving like an obsessive abusive boyfriend and not like the lover that I had seen him as in the previous books. I think I am done with this series even if more books come along, because it simply was not for me any more.

2/5 Stars

2025 Reading Wrap Up

OK I know I’m a bit late posting this, but better late than never. 2025 has come and gone, and we’ve started the 2026 week – so let’s look over how it went in terms of books, for me.

First of all, I do have to say that I read far more this year than I expected and I think that’s because of a number of things. I joined an active book club, I kept a reading journal, and I was motivated and inspired by the books I had available. I also read a LOT of books from the library this year and that really helped to save money and keep costs down. If there was two ‘factors’ that really helped me read more in 2025, I would have to say it was the reading journal and the library. I’ll (of course) be taking advantage of both in 2026.

My goal was to read 25 books in 2025, and I read 51. I marked 5 books DNF because life is too short to read bad books (they are not included in the 51 books read). I avoided things like BookTok after attempting to dive in because it turns out that those types of books, those influencers, are NOT for me. That’s OK.

I spent around $300 on books this year, and read most of the ones I purchased (the rest I hope to finish reading in 2026). One of my biggest purchases was a 1-6 box set of Witch Hat Atelier, which came to $120 and I admit right off the bat this was for a ‘I want to collect it’ reason – though I did read and enjoy it a huge amount. I also saved more than $300 by borrowing books from the library, and this also afforded me the opportunity to explore authors I had not heard of before, along with browsing through a lot of Canadian authors which is something that I actively strive to incorporate in my reading each year.

In 2026, I want to be mindful of consumption. I’ve created some TBR lists and they include many books that I own that I have yet to read (a lot of them were gifts) and I want to continue to make use of the library. I am also participating in a few challenges this year, I’ve joined a second book club called Books Out of the Blue, (quite casual, I’m not too worried about the reads in this one) along with returning to the Goobers who Read book club. I love having communities of people to talk books with, and they are just good people.

My TBR pile has 11 books on it, a mixture of digital and physical books that I’ve had in my collection for a while. I did also pick up an art resource book, so I’m making my way through that. I am going to continue with my reading journal, though I haven’t quite gotten it set up the way I want, yet, that’s a future project. I did finish off the 2025 reading journal, and I really like how it turned out. I’ll also have to go and back date a bunch of posts for the December reading statistics and all of that good stuff. As far as ‘goals’ go, I’ve kept it simple. I’d like to read 26 books in 2026. I’m not sure if the 51 books read was an anomaly or not, but I also know that this is meant to be fun, and low pressure. I’m looking forward to sharing my 2026 reading journal once I get it all set up, and I’ll be sure to take some pictures and share more statistics in my 2025 one next week.