January 2026! What are you reading??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DNF Flashlight, by Susan Choi, at 25%. The story was dragging and the characters were all unlikable, with no signs of redeeming themselves.

Now reading Circe…. Liking it so far.

I loved Circe. Very easy read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am PP who was looking for something lighter and started “I hope this finds you well” which I heard about on here (can’t remember which thread). It’s ok so far. Not my favorite though to be fair I don’t typically like a super unrealistic plot device, which I knew was the whole point of the book so the fact I am even reading it is a recommendation I guess. About a quarter of the way through.

I also got that recommendation from here and I thought it was fine, but not great. It started out well and then kind of fizzled for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just finished Daughters of Shandong, The Alice Network and now My Friends - all good but My Friends a step above, IMO

I LOVED My Friends. Read the Beartown trilogy if you haven't already and you like Backman.

Also, if you haven't the Rose Code, it's my other favorite Kate Quinn book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Recently started the Once and Future Witches; I’m 70 pp in, it’s an easy read with some pretty prose yet also very tropey and trauma-laden; it might be a DNF (which is rare for me), but it is the bookclub select and I’m guessing everyone else will have loved it—so may see it through so I can have full perspective for the discussion.

I get that the tropes are partly related to fairy tale archetypal journeys, but some used here are just heavy-handed. And the book also has a pet peeve of mine: when authors go through the trouble of embedding a metaphor or allusion, but then they (or their editor) don’t trust you to connect the dots, so they go ahead and tell you what they meant just to be sure. I am curious about some of the new characters, though, and also don’t want to be cranky about the book so may try to get to part 2 (~20% in).

I read one of Alix Harrow's books at the end of last year and was surprised at how fresh her voice was--and the book was well-plotted and imaginative. But, ITA, that she could use an editor to pare back the "over-writing" & statements of the obvious and prevent her
(apparent) tendency to descend into overly precious storytelling.

I know that "cozy fantasy" is having its moment these days, but basically feel like she could be better than that!

I appreciate your POV-very validating! I decided “Once and Future Witches” is a DNF for me…

I just started “On the Calculation of Volume I” and am completely drawn in. My library doesn’t have part II yet, so I may be buying it soon!

And I’ve also picked up “Dark Renaissance,” which I’m really enjoying (reading Wolf Hall/Bring Up the Bodies plus Stoned last year has made it extra fun to jump into Elizabethan England at this point in my life).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just finished Daughters of Shandong, The Alice Network and now My Friends - all good but My Friends a step above, IMO

I did not like My Friends! That cutesy narrative voice drove me crazy. The friendships were also unbelievable and schmaltzy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished Daughters of Shandong, The Alice Network and now My Friends - all good but My Friends a step above, IMO

I did not like My Friends! That cutesy narrative voice drove me crazy. The friendships were also unbelievable and schmaltzy.

I’m listening to it at 1.5 speed. Not cutesy.

[Anonymous]

Just started The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason. Great premise. Strong writing.

The upthread conversation about Middlemarch also inspired me to listen to the audiobook (I read it years ago). It really is so good. In my mind’s eye Will Ladislaw is Timothee Chalamet.

[Anonymous]

Strange Houses . . . a murder mystery translated into English from Japanese. It's has a somewhat clever graphic gimmick where the characters speculate about floor plans, but maybe something is lost in the translation. I'm not finding it to be kind of weird and not very compelling.

[Anonymous]

Finished Karen Russell’s The Antidote last night. Wow. It starts off with a punch to the gut and circles back to it at the end. I was reading it in bed at night and when I finished it instead of turning off the light and going to sleep, I had to get up and walk around.

I highly recommend it, but fyi it is speculative fiction. I’m not sure I enjoyed it as much as Swamplandia!, but as a book it is probably more of a triumph.

[Anonymous]

I just finished The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny and really enjoyed it. Beautiful, compelling, and while it is long, I wasn’t tempted to abandon it. Highly recommend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny and really enjoyed it. Beautiful, compelling, and while it is long, I wasn’t tempted to abandon it. Highly recommend.

I loved it. My favorite book of the past year or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Strange Houses . . . a murder mystery translated into English from Japanese. It's has a somewhat clever graphic gimmick where the characters speculate about floor plans, but maybe something is lost in the translation. I'm not finding it to be kind of weird and not very compelling.

Okay, I'm done and I can't recommend this book. It's not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Slogging my way through Mona’s Eyes. It’s a chore.

I have been to bookstores 2x in the past month and this book is being heavily promoted. But the description seems tremendously boring. Kudos to you for alogging your way through and pls tell us if it’s worth the effort!

[Anonymous]

Katherine Anne Porter short stories.

[Anonymous]

The number of people who don't like what they're reading blows me away. DNF those books! Stop reading stuff you don't like!

I read The Once and Future Queen over the long weekend. It's getting some hype on social media and there was quite a line for it with my libraries in Libby.

It's probably "new adult" - more mature than YA. 571 pages, but it flew!