January Wrap-up and February Reading Possibilities

 January was such a busy month and yet it already seems like a distant memory. Time can be funny that way. We headed to central New York after the holidays to spend a long weekend with my parents. Leaving was especially tough this time, knowing we wouldn't return until spring. It took a few more days to pack and close up the house in Connecticut before we began the trek to Florida. We got here just in time for the coldest weather in decades. There were actually snow flurries as close as Cape Coral - unbelievable! It's still unusually cold, but they're promising good weather for the upcoming week. Fingers crossed!

On the reading front, January was a a slow month, as usual.  

I started my project for the year - a chapter-a-day slow read of War and Peace along with a group at Footnotes and Tangents. All went well for a week, but I didn't keep up during our travels and ended up starting over. I caught up later in the month and am actually enjoying it now. The daily chapter summaries and notes are helpful, plus I even occasionally check in on the chat thread. I will note that I enjoyed the initial 'peace' section more than the current 'war' section!

BOOKS READ IN JANUARY 

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood 

             literary fiction - ⭐⭐⭐💫

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

                               MMD February selection, cozy mystery, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

                            

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 6 by Beth Brower

                                                         historical fiction, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

FEBRUARY READING POSSIBILITIES

Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books by Hwang Bo-Reum (finished)

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (in progress)

  

Grown Women by Sarai Johnson

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol 7 by Beth Brower

Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes by Leah Litman

How did January go for you? What was your favorite book?

The Sunday Salon: It's February!

Hello from the very chilly gulf coast of Florida, where it's early afternoon and our wind chill here on the island is still 29 degrees! Today we have all sorts of cold weather cancellations throughout the area - festivals, concerts, and even a library book sale. I've never seen anything like it. We also have an abundance of cold-stunned invasive iguanas lying around. They are basically paralyzed from the cold. This has prompted FWC to set up iguana collection sites around the state where homeowners can drop them off. Sounds like a good idea in theory, but I prefer to leave it to the professionals!

Recent reading//

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Volume 6

by Beth Brower

I've been raving about this series for months as I read them with a small group over at Modern Mrs. Darcy. These books just keep getting better and this is the best one yet! I own the set in paperback, but have also been listening to them on audio. The narration is excellent and all eight editions are available on hoopla.  This is my first 5-star read of the year!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Current reading//

Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books 

by Hwang Bo-Reum, translated by Shanna Tan

I enjoy books about books and reading, and just started this collection of short essays last night.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

The chapter-a-day slow read continues...

On the blog//

Top Ten Tuesday : 2025 Author Discoveries

In the kitchen//

I've got two new recipes to share this week. The first is an easy Korean-inspired Ground Beef Bibimbap  from skinnytaste. This is a slightly spicy one-pan meal ready in under 30 minutes. I'd never used Gochujang sauce before and liked its sweet/spicy flavor. I omitted the optional fried egg.

Since I had a bag of shredded carrots on hand, I tried Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal from Joy Bauer. The recipe is sweetened with maple syrup or honey (I used the maple syrup) and contains raisins and pecans. The recipe makes a 9 x13 pan, so I cut it into squares and put several servings in the freezer. I also skipped the cream cheese glaze in favor of a dollop of whipped cream. Delicious!

The week ahead//

I've got appointments scheduled with the dermatologist and dental hygienist... not fun, but necessary. At least I won't be missing out on beach time. It looks like highs will be only be in the upper 50s and low 60s all week!  We're also having friends over for dinner one night... it will be good to catch up.

How was your week? What have you been reading?

The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

 

Top Ten Tuesday : 2025 Author Discoveries

It's been a while since my last Top Ten Tuesday post, but I do like to highlight my favorite author discoveries each year. These are not necessarily debut authors. Many have been writing for years, but I first read them in 2025. Here they are, in no particular order:

FAVORITE AUTHOR DISCOVERIES OF 2025

Michelle Huneven - Bug Hollow, Search

David Nicholls - You Are Here

Marcy Dermansky - Hot Air

Virginia Evans - The Correspondent

Jeanine Cummins - Speak to Me of Home

Beth Brower - The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion

Nikki May - This Motherless Land

Charlotte Wood - Stone Yard Devotional

Gardiner Harris - No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson 

Johnathan Mahler - The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990 

Which authors did you discover in 2025?

Find more Top Ten Tuesday Posts at That Artsy Reader Girl

 

The Sunday Salon: January 25, 2026

Hello from sunny Florida. I hope all of you in the path of this monster winter storm are safe indoors, warm, and cozying up with a good book. It's actually warmer than normal here, but we're expecting a cooler week ahead.

I don't have the words to convey how angry and disheartened I am by the news this week, so will jump right into the book talk. 

RECENT READING

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood

This short novel, longlisted for the Booker Prize, is heavy on atmosphere and light on plot. The writing, as you'd expect, is very good and it's probably best read in just one or two sittings. I made the mistake of beginning the book before we left on our travels, setting it aside while we were on the road, and then picking it up again ten days later. The spell was broken. I own this book, and will likely pick it up for a reread at some point.

⭐⭐⭐💫

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

I really enjoyed this book! It's a bit lighter than my usual fare and has me thinking I should read more cozy mysteries. Vera made me laugh, but there were also times when I rolled my eyes at her antics. The plot includes a 'found family' element that I found heartwarming.  Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping [On a Dead Man], the next book in the series, has been added to my tbr list.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

CURRENT READING

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

I'm going to do it this year - finally read War and Peace! Every year I think about giving it a try and this year I learned about a slow, chapter-a-day read sponsored by Simon Haisell at Footnotes & Tangents. I bought the Maude translation, started reading on New Year's Day, and everything was fine for nearly a week. Our travels derailed this book, too. But once we got settled in Florida, I made the decision to start over and catch up. I managed to do that this past week and am slightly surprised by how much I'm enjoying it! We'll see if I still feel that way when we get to the 'war' parts.

There is a set reading schedule, a daily summary with historical notes and asides, plus a daily chat thread... which I've only looked at once or twice.  Wish me luck!

Are you in the storm's path? What are you reading this weekend?

 

My Year in Books: 2025 Reading Reflections and 2026 Intentions

Hello from Florida! It's been a couple of weeks since I last checked in here, but we've made the annual trek south, opened the house, and are settling in for the season. We arrived later than usual this year, but I'm very happy to be missing the snow in CT today! 

As promised, I'm back with one final 2025 reading wrap-up post. (I posted my 2025 favorites here.)  Today I'll share statistics and reflections from 2025, plus my intentions for 2026. I expanded my tracking spreadsheet last year and came up with some interesting (to me, anyway) bits of information. Feel free to skip right to the reflections and intentions.

2025 By The Numbers

57 books read 

79% fiction, 21% nonfiction 

11% books in translation

16% classics

16% rereads (an all-time high!)

45% new-to-me authors, 55% repeat authors

70% female authors, 30% male authors

format:

print/ebook only - 27%

audio only - 1%

read/listen combination - 73%

source:

own/purchase - 50%

library - 50%

year published:

frontlist (2024, 2025) - 54%

backlist (2023 and earlier) - 46%

2000s - 84%

1900s - 13%

1800s -  3%

length:

under 400 pages - 86%

over 400 pages - 14%

average rating: 

4.2  (Same as last year. I typically don't finish or rate books I'm not enjoying.)

2025 Reflections

2025 was my second year of skipping the goodreads challenge and, at this point, I'm ready to consider that a permanent change.

One book per week continues to be a comfortable reading pace and I think this year's numbers are slightly higher because I read several shorter books. However, without the goodreads challenge I am not actively avoiding longer books. 

I continued to stay active in the Modern Mrs. Darcy book club in 2025. Between the monthly selections, community reads and projects, and a small World Literature book club, MMD drove nearly 55% of my reading selections. Community reads were especially successful.

I did a lot of rereading 2025. This was especially enjoyable for classics (Mansfield Park, The Enchanted April, The Great Gatsby) but probably not necessary for book club selections I'd read just a year or two ago.

I leaned even more into read/listen combinations in 2025! I tried to obtain an audio version of every book I read and was mostly successful thanks to hoopla, libby, and audible. Most of the books I chose to listen to, I ended up also borrowing a print copy to check quotes, photos, maps, etc.

I was shocked by the number of new releases I read in 2025! No wonder there are still so many unread books waiting on my shelves...

2026 Intentions

My primary intention for 2026 is to read fewer new release while concentrating on backlist tiles, especially books I already own.

The slow, real-time read of Dracula with a few MMD members last summer/fall was a very successful reading experience. I'd like to try a slow or chapter-a-day read of War and Peace  in 2026. [Our travels this month have already set me back, but I am attempting to get caught up. I'm not fully committed yet...]

Try all of the MMD book club main selections, but feel freer to DNF if they're not working for me. I can always go back and finish them later if the author talk inspires me.

Continue making a monthly list of  reading possibilities. This helps guide my reading in a planned direction while still allowing for spontaneity. 

I'm feeling ambivalent about The Storygraph. I experimented with it last year and found it didn't add much to my reading life beyond an attractive monthly graphic. Plus, my reading community is all on goodreads. I think I'll give it up.

How did your 2025 reading year go?  Will you be making changes in 2026?

 

My Year in Books: 2025 Favorites

Happy New Year, friends! 2026 is here and I'm ready to share my favorite books of 2025. Overall, it was a very good reading year and I slightly exceeded my average pace of one book per week. I had a record number of rereads in 2025, including several classics, and initially decided not to include them when considering favorites... but I had to make an exception for The Enchanted April! 

By the way, the cold beach above is in Connecticut. We're still here, but you'll be seeing photos of palm trees and seashells soon!

FICTION FAVORITES

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Heart the Lover by Lily King

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower

(Vol 1-5 read, so far)

You Are Here by David Nicholls

Bug Hollow by Michelle Huneven

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

This Motherless Land by Nikki May

NONFICTION FAVORITES

A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan

No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson by Gardiner Harris

The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City, 1986-1990 by Jonathan Mahler

HONORABLE MENTION

Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection 

by John Green

 I have one more wrap-up post in the works. I'll share reading stats and reflections on 2025, plus my intentions for 2026. Look for that around mid month once we're back in Florida.

What was your favorite book of 2025?

 

A December Wrap-Up and January Reading Possibilities

Happy New Year's Eve! As we wind down the final few hours of December, I can't help but think about what an unusual month this has been. I spent much of the first half at home with an awful cold and sinus infection. We missed two holiday parties in one weekend, did most of the Christmas shopping online, and I never baked a single cookie! 

The holidays began early when our NYC daughter, son-in-law, and Winnie the Whippet arrived on the 20th for an extended stay. Our CT daughter and SIL joined us on Christmas Day, and for several other meals and activities, too. Everyone left yesterday afternoon... and I took a nap! Today we clean, regroup, and prepare for a quick visit to my parents (weather permitting) before our trek south.

Despite the sickness (or maybe because of it?) December turned out to be a pretty good reading month.

BOOKS READ IN DECEMBER 

The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990 by Jonathan Mahler

nonfiction, ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 4 by Beth Brower

historical fiction, group reading project, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas

nonfiction ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood

literary fiction, ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Merry by Susan Breen

holiday, ⭐⭐💫

Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews

holiday, ⭐⭐⭐💫

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5 by Beth Brower

historical fiction, group reading project, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

JANUARY READING POSSIBIILITIES

Sipsworth by Simin Van Booy (reread, in progress) 

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks

This is an ambitious list for January, typically a slow reading month for me, but we'll see how it goes. I hope to be back in the next few days with my 2025 wrap-up and list of favorites. But if I run out of time, look for it in mid-January instead.

How was your month? What was your favorite December read?