January 2026 Reading Wrap Up
Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!
Wow, the first month of 2026 is already behind us! Although it felt like it lasted a whole year on its own. So many horrible things happened, life hardly feels real at the moment. To anyone who is personally affected by the current US administration, I am so sorry, and I am praying for your safety and well-being. Fuck ICE.
I don't know how to properly transition from something like that, so...
In the month of January, I read 8 books: 4 novels, 3 novellas, and 1 nonfiction. It was a month of rereads for me! Half of the books I read were rereads, though 3 of those were purposely meant to help me in continuing the series. The last one was just for fun, because it'd been a couple of years since I'd last read it and I was craving my favorite story. Only one book was translated, sadly. 3 were from my physical TBR! Technically they were all from my shelves, but obviously rereads don't count toward my TBR, and the last one was a book that I bought in January.
You might notice that I've stopped using the CAWPILE rating system. This is just because I found that it was hard for me to truly calculate my rating based on the CAWPILE system. Sometimes a book felt like a 4 star read, but breaking it down through the system turned it into a 3. And then I would try and tweak the numbers in order to get that 4 star. Which obviously is not what the CAWPILE system is trying to do. So I'm going back to just plain stars, and rating how I feel.
Okay, let's get into the books!
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Novels
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Translated from the Spanish by Lucia Graves
Genre: Historical Fiction, Adult
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating: 4.25 stars
Page count: 482 pages
Day(s) read: 1.01 - 1.10
Final thoughts: Book 1 in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series.
I first read this wayyy back in 2019, and I knew that if I was going to continue on in the series, I needed to reread. And let me tell you I was absolutely right, because I had forgotten maybe 90% of this book! 7 years is a long time, I guess. I really only remembered the barebones plot, the very tip of the literary iceberg, if you will. The book follows two characters, essentially: Julian and his story, and then Daniel and his story, twenty years later. Julian's tale felt like something out of Shakespeare, or Greek tragedy. It was just so...well, tragic. Daniel's story is mainly about discovering Julian's story, but his own separate plot felt eerily similar to Julian's (in a very deliberate way, of course) that it was almost anxiety-inducing. Would Daniel be doomed to follow in Julian's footsteps, or would he be able to break free of that path and carve out his own ending? I really enjoyed my time with this story, reacquainting myself with the characters and with 1950s Barcelona. I'm excited to continue on with the series!
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Adult
Means of reading: Mixed Media
Star rating: 5 stars
Page count: 1178 pages (54 hrs 6 mins audio)
Day(s) read: 1.04 - 1.27
Final thoughts: I've truly lost count of how many times I've read The Lord of the Rings, but I don't even care because it's my favorite book of all time. No contest. Every time I read it, I get something new out of it, or I see a detail that I missed before. I've never felt so attached to a story, except maybe Percy Jackson. Along with reading it physically, I also listened to the audiobooks that are narrated by Andy Serkis, aka Gollum from the movies. His voices were excellent, naturally. I feel like every time I read it, I end up with new favorite characters and a new favorite book. This time around, my ranking of the books is as follows: The Fellowship of the Ring, then The Return of the King, and last The Two Towers. That's also my ranking of the movies, but that's never really changed from childhood. I actually kind of struggled with The Two Towers this time around, the split narrative seemed to lessen my enjoyment a bit. As for my favorite character, it's Frodo, hands down (my favorite character in the movies is Pippin). As I get older, I'm finding myself relating more and more to Frodo.
Genre: Mythology, Adult
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating: 3.5 stars
Page count: 286 pages
Day(s) read: 1.10 - 1.11
Final thoughts: Book 4 in Stephen Fry's Mythology series.
I think it's finally happened. I think I might have burned myself out on Greek myth retellings...for now, anyway. Or maybe I just don't like Stephen Fry's writing style...the point is, I didn't enjoy this book, sadly. The thing I liked best about this book is that Fry included parts of stories not included in the original Odyssey, in order to build a fuller picture. So we got chapters on figures like Agamemnon, Orestes and Elektra, Aeneas making his way to Carthage, Helen and Menelaus waylaid on their journey home to Sparta. Stories that added more context to the Greek world after the Trojan War. I also appreciate that he added in what (supposedly) happened after the end of the original Homeric epic. There are a lot of conflicting stories, from other poets and playwrights of the time, as to what happened after the end of The Odyssey. All that being said, however, it still doesn't compare to Homer (as pretentious as that sounds) and I think that's my main issue.
Genre: Dystopian, Adult
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating: 4.5 stars
Page count: 311 pages
Day(s) read: 1.17 - 1.24
Final thoughts: Well, I'm traumatized now. Okay, maybe not traumatized, but I feel extremely uncomfortable, and scared out of my wits. This book was horrifying on so many different levels. How am I supposed to go about business as usual with this book forever logged in my brain, huh? Margaret Atwood, you certainly know how to make an impression, that's for damn sure.
One thing I found incredibly fascinating about this story is that the totalitarian regime of Gilead was relatively new, only about 10 years old at the time of Offred giving her account. Most dystopian novels take place decades after the revolt/war/cataclysm, and the protagonist is someone who was born into this society, never knowing anything else. But Offred, and pretty much everyone mentioned in the book, had a whole life in the "before," and that is such an integral part of her story. I think that was such an interesting choice that Atwood made. If anything, it made it all seem that much scarier because you can see exactly how things fell apart.
Novellas
Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary, Adult
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating: 4.75 stars
Page count: 169 pages
Day(s) read: 1.27 (ONE DAY READ)
Final thoughts: Book 1 in the Wayward Children series.
I decided to reread this book in preparation for Through Gates of Garnet and Gold, since that is a continuation of Nancy's story, and this is the book where she is first introduced. I would say that this is my second favorite book in the whole series, right after In An Absent Dream (I just love the Goblin Market in any and all adaptations of it). One thing that I think really helped this book stand out is the mystery aspect of it. Normally I don't love mysteries, but since this is a novella and everything is condensed down, I didn't feel bored by the story (which is what usually happens for me with mystery novels). This was such a strong start for the series.
Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary, Adult
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating: 3.25 stars
Page count: 160 pages
Day(s) read: 1.27 (ONE DAY READ)
Final thoughts: Book 3 in the Wayward Children series.
Similarly to Every Heart a Doorway, I picked this book up for a reread because Nancy makes a brief cameo, though honestly I don't love the rest of the book. Nancy's chapter is the best part, in my opinion. I've never loved Sumi as a character (which I find slightly ironic because she's in practically every book in the series, and clearly Seanan loves her) and Confection as a world gives me anxiety, so it makes sense that I don't love this book. I actually think this might be my least favorite in the series? Either this one or Mislaid in Parts Half-Known. I'm not a fan of the whole world-hopping aspect.
Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary, Adult
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating: 3.75 stars
Page count: 148 pages
Day(s) read: 1.28 - 1.29
Final thoughts: Book 11 in the Wayward Children series.
I was really excited about this book, because Nancy is one of my favorite characters in the whole series (along with Christopher, my sweet skeleton boy) and so I was looking forward to seeing her and the Halls of the Dead again. Unfortunately, I was kind of disappointed. This book also had a mystery element, which I was liking at first, but it was solved way too quickly and turned from a mystery into the classic "defeat the big bad" storyline. Not to mention that the answer to the mystery just wasn't satisfying at all. Without going into spoilers, the person behind all of the problems is another character that I've just never cared for, and I'm getting rather tired of her popping up and causing problems. Like, no offense Seanan, but come up with a new villain, I beg of you. This book kind of just felt like she was recycling characters and plotlines because she couldn't think of anything new. Maybe if it happened earlier on in the series, but after 11 books it feels a bit repetitive. That being said, I'll still be picking up these books because when they're good, they're fucking phenomenal.
Nonfiction
Genre: History, Politics, Adult
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating: 5 stars
Page count: 128 pages
Day(s) read: 1.16 - 1.17
Final thoughts: I decided to pick this up now because it felt like a very timely book to read. In fact I would go as far to say that everyone should read this right now, at least in the US. It's extremely important for today's political climate. I don't really have much to say about this, since it is so short and more like an essay than anything else. I'm definitely glad to have read it and have this knowledge under my belt. I certainly learned a lot and it gave me a chance to really think about what's going on politically and culturally. I just don't really have a lot to say in terms of a book review.
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Total page count: 2,862 pages (54 hrs 6 mins total audio)
Favorite book of January: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
No DNFs this month
No unfinished books this month
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And that's all for January! I am begging, pleading, on my knees hoping for February to be better. The world is on fire and we need some rain.
I'd love to know what your favorite book of January was. Leave a comment below, or DM me on Instagram (link in sidebar under the heading "Socials").
Until next time, friends!
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