Month: January 2026

WWW Wednesday: January 7th, 2026
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WWW Wednesday: January 7th, 2026

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It’s time for another WWW Wednesday! This is a bookish meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words where bloggers answer the 3 Ws:

  1. What are you currently reading?
  2. What did you recently finish reading?
  3. What do you think you’ll read next?

If you’d like to learn more about any of these books, click on the cover to be taken to the Goodreads page.

Current Reads

  • Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman: I’m reading this as part of a buddy read on Instagram where we’re trying to read the whole series (at least what is out so far!) in 2026. Of course, long before the buddy read was even mentioned, I had seen this book everywhere. I’ve not dipped my toes too far into the LitRPG genre, but I feel like it’s something I could really love. So far, this has been a fun, fast-paced read and I’m excited to read more!
  • Supermarket by Bobby Hall: I’m trying to get back into reading e-books again, so I decided to try and tackle my Kindle library. This is the oldest book on my Kindle TBR and it sounded weird. Now that I’m about a third of the way into it, I can confirm it is weird, haha. I’m still trying to decide if it’s the kind of weird I like or no.
  • The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones: My library hold for this audiobook finally came in and I’m so glad it did! This audiobook is fantastic so far! I’m loving the story of revenge and grief. The narrators area absolutely killing it, too. Am I feeling a five star?? It’s early days, but I’m getting that vibe!
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Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books of 2025
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Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books of 2025

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Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish back in June 2010. It is currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and, as is stated on the blog, it was “born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.”

Hello, reader!

I know I already talked about five of my top books of 2025, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a top ten! I mentioned in that other post that I had quite a few five star reads last year, so I’m taking the fact that the Top Ten Tuesday topic this week is your top ten reads of 2025 as an excuse to promote some more. I also haven’t done a TTT in awhile and wanted to get back into the groove, ya know?

That being said, it’s time to share my ten best reads of last year!

  • The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells: This cover is actually a placeholder for the entire series, which I binge re-read in 2025! Yes, I realize this is kiiiind of cheating. No, I do not care.
  • Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid: This book made me sob while trying to get my kid ready for school😭 It’s my own fault for listening to the audiobook while making his breakfast. Beautiful work, though.
  • Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker: God, if Cora was real (and she wouldn’t absolutely hate it), I’d want to give her a hug. This book got under my skin in the best way!
  • The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty: Adventures on the high seas with an older woman as our protagonist! I was already on board (haHA) just reading the synopsis, but the writing, the characters, and the story completely won me over.
  • A Mastery of Monsters by Liselle Sambury: If you want to read a book that will make you simultaneously rage and cheer, you might want to look into this one. It’s the first book of a series and I’m so excited to see where it goes!
Continue reading “Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books of 2025” →
Anticipated 2026 Book Releases
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Anticipated 2026 Book Releases

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Hello, reader!

As we enter the new year, I have, of course, been thinking about what I’m looking forward to in 2026. Being who I am as a person, books were near the top of the list! There are a ton of books releasing this year that I can’t wait to get my grubby little hands on but, today, I want to share my top 15 anticipated releases of 2026.

Going through my list, the big thing that stands out is that there are a lot of sequels or continuations of series that I’m eager to read this year. There’s also a lot more romance I’ll be talking about today than there would have been even a year ago. Dipping my toe into the genre has definitely left a mark! I definitely need to work on focusing on more diverse reads, but I think this list is a decent mix.

But enough talk! Let me share which 15 books I can’t wait to read in 2026.

  1. Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett (pub date: Feb 17th)
    • I still haven’t read the Emily Wilde series, but I constantly hear how whimsical it is. And then I heard about this book and, like… come on! It’s like it was written to appeal to me in particular! Cats and whimsy and coziness? Please give it to me now 🥺
  2. And Now, Back to You by B.K. Borison (pub date: Feb 24th)
    • I read First Time Caller, which is the first book in this companion romance series, and absolutely loved it! The romance was so well-paced and sweet and I adored the main couple. I also adored Jackson, who was a background character in the first book and is now getting his own! I’m hoping it’s just as heartwarming as the first book.
  3. The Astral Library by Kate Quinn (pub date: Feb 17th)
    • I’m not a huge historical fiction girlie, but historical fantasy has really been pulling me in lately. I actually have a couple of books by this author on my TBR, but this one has immediately knocked them down the priority list, haha. It’s a portal fantasy centered around books that is set where I live… that’s three of my favorite things all in one book!
  4. A Clash of Carnivores by Liselle Sambury (pub date: Aug 4th)
    • This is the sequel to A Mastery of Monsters, which was my favorite read of 2025! You know I’m chomping at the bit to pick this one up. This is a young adult fantasy that is dark and beautiful and thought-provoking in the best way. I cannot wait to see what August, our main character, gets up to after the events of the first book.
  5. The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke (pub date: Apr 7th)
    • I was already interested in this mystery novel before I even found out that one of my favorite authors, V.E. Schwab, is the “Evelyn” of Evelyn Clarke! The premise is what hooked me… there’s six authors on a private island tasked to finish the final book of a famous but deceased author and, of course, death ensues. Sign me up!
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2026 Reading Project: Netgalley Catch Up
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2026 Reading Project: Netgalley Catch Up

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Hello, reader!

As I was making plans to get back into my blogging groove, I found myself also making plans for reading projects I wanted to work on in 2026. One of those projects is getting my sad Netgalley account back to looking somewhat respectable! I don’t think I uploaded a single Netgalley review in 2025 😅 That’s why this is the first project I’d like to tackle in 2026!

Before I start on my journey, let’s take a look at what my Netgalley stats look like currently.

Current Netgalley Stats

First of all, the “all-important” feedback ratio. I’m currently sitting at an 81%, which actually surprised me, haha. That’s 115 of 142 books that I’ve reviewed so far.

I’m sure that the fact that I haven’t really been requesting books at all and, therefore, haven’t been getting new, approved e-ARCs has certainly helped with keeping that ratio from tanking during my Netgalley hiatus. There were a few books I accepted in 2025 that were pre-approved, but thankfully that hasn’t ruined the ratio just yet. So that’s one stat I’m not so worried about at the moment.

Continue reading “2026 Reading Project: Netgalley Catch Up” →
Let’s Talk Bookish: Top Reads of 2025
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Let’s Talk Bookish: Top Reads of 2025

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Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly bookish meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and Dini @dinipandareads! This meme has a discussion format, where participants get to talk about certain topics, share opinions, and spread the blogging love by visiting other posts. You can learn more about this meme here!

LTB Topic of the Week
Top 2025 Reads in Five Words/Sentences

Prompts: What were your top 5 (or top 10) reads in 2025? If you had five words or sentences (your choice!) to describe each book and convince other readers to pick it up, how would you describe your 2025 favorites?

What were your top 5 (or top 10) reads in 2025? If you had five words or sentences (your choice!) to describe each book and convince other readers to pick it up, how would you describe your 2025 favorites?

Though 2025 feels like a jumbled mess in my mind, according to Goodreads, I had an incredible reading year. My average rating for 2025 was 3.8 stars! I do remembering enjoying pretty much everything I picked up, though, looking at my reading log, I still didn’t dole out a ton of 5 stars. I’ve been getting a lot more stingy with those lately. That being said, I did have more than 5, but have picked the five that have stuck with me the most to share here.

Continue reading “Let’s Talk Bookish: Top Reads of 2025” →
First Lines Friday: January 2nd, 2026
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First Lines Friday: January 2nd, 2026

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First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?  If you want to make your own post, feel free to use or edit the banner above, and follow the rules below:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

If you’re using Twitter, don’t forget to use #FirstLinesFridays!

Hello, reader!

We’ve made it to the end of the week and, quite honestly, I don’t know which way is up, haha. This has been a topsy-turvy couple of weeks and I’m kind of glad I don’t have any significant plans going into the weekend. Before the weekend fully hits, though, it’s time for another First Lines Friday post!

The book I’m featuring today is one I’ve just started during my lunch break at work. I’ve had a hold on the audiobook for a minute and it finally became available! And, I’m going to be honest with you, the only reason I’m listening to it is because Richard Armitage is one of the narrators 😂 That man could read me a grocery list and I’d rate it highly! Still, I’m intrigued by the opening of the story and am hoping that continues.

Now, let’s see if you can guess what I’ve started by just the first few lines!

The Line(s):

“It wasn’t love at first sight. I can admit that now. But by the end, I loved her more than I thought it was possible to love another human being.“

The Build Up:

The Reveal:

Continue reading “First Lines Friday: January 2nd, 2026” →
Book Tag: New Year’s Book Tag 2026
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Book Tag: New Year’s Book Tag 2026

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Hello reader!

Happy New Year to you all 😊 I hope everyone had a safe, fun New Year’s Eve and are having a relaxing start to 2026. As happens every time we move to December to January, I’ve been thinking about what I want out of this next year. I know for a fact that I want to get back into the groove of book blogging! 2025 was a bit of a crazy year here in my household and yours truly felt like she was drowning under the chaos on the best of days. But our life is starting to find a more chill balance and I feel like I can finally take a deep breath and get back into hobbies that I used to enjoy!

That being said, doing the New Year’s Book Tag seemed like the perfect fresh start for my little blog! I found this on Ashley’s (@BooksAre42) blog and it seemed like kismet. I’m not sure who the original creator might be, but if you know, please drop a comment! Now, let’s get to the tag.

How many books are you planning to read in 2026?

In previous years, I would always up my reading challenge by five if I managed to reach my goal. In 2025, my goal was 60 books and I absolutely smashed that goal by reading 98 books! You would think I could be bold and pick a goal closer to the 90 range, but reading is my favorite hobby and I find keeping my reading challenge lower helps keep it that way, haha. So, my goal for 2026 will be 65 books!

Name 5 books that you didn’t get to this past year but want to make a priority in 2026.

Hahaha, I could definitely list more than five 👀 I barely read anything from my 25 in 2025 list, so I’m going to go with five books from there:

Continue reading “Book Tag: New Year’s Book Tag 2026” →