Monthly Wrap-Up — January 2026

Books Read – January 2026

Books (Kindle or Print)

1. Winter’s Charms (Celia Lake) – reread
2. The Summer of the Great-Grandmother (Madeleine L’Engle) – reread
3. Mind Games (Nora Roberts) – reread; reviewed in 2025
4. Hidden Nature (Nora Roberts) – ARC; reread
5. Best Hex Ever (Nadia El-Fassi) – Library

Audiobooks

• American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation (Jon Meacham)
• Ruby Fever (Ilona Andrews) – Library (Hoopla)
• The Attenbury Emeralds (Jill Paton Walsh) – Library (Hoopla)
• The Late Scholar (Jill Paton Walsh) – Library (Hoopla)

Summary: My reading has really fallen off in the past few months. I think that is due to several factors: the current sociopolitical situation makes it hard to stay focused, particularly on new-to-me books; too much screentime (games, doomscrolling); and less free time (because of family vacations and working on decluttering.) My anxiety is also up, which compounds the focus issue and leads me to focus on the familiar and comforting.

That said, I finished 9 books in January, including 3 first-time reads and 6 rereads. I haven’t reviewed any of them yet. Of the books I reread in January, only 1 was a book I had previously reviewed on the blog.

Challenges

Here’s the breakdown of my reading challenges this year so far:

• Goodreads Challenge: 9/125. I am one book behind schedule.
• Audiobook challenge: Listened to 4/15; reviewed 0/15
• COYER Out to Lunch Again challenge: Read 6/20; reviewed 0/20. (My personal challenge includes actually writing the review.)
• Library Love Challenge: Read 4/12; reviewed 0/12
• NetGalley & Edelweiss Challenge: Read 1/10; reviewed 0/10
• Robin’s Recs: Read 1/6; reviewed 0/6

Other Goals and Resolutions

Unpack and reorganize my book collection: I took 4 boxes to the used bookstore and library booksale in January. Robin helped me cull about a quarter to a third of the books in the house, so I have a lot more boxes ready to take.

Catalog my books: I have temporarily suspended cataloging in favor of pruning, but I did finish cataloging my signed books. Physical books catalogued so far (since starting this project in 2025): 329.

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