Happy January 31st! I’m not going to finish another book tonight, so I’ve called it. This is my January Reading Wrap-Up. And what a month this has been. From an upsetting exposé on a favorite author to inane politics to a polar vortex that kept DC snowy and frigid for nearly three weeks to the recent air tragedy, this has been a weird and stressful month.

On the upside, I had a stellar reading month. Because I escaped hard into books this month. I’ve been super motivated by my Off My Shelf Reading Challenge. I’ve been so motivated by it, I created a Part 2 Off My Shelf challenge. Both challenges are on StoryGraph here and here.

January Reading Stats

• Total Books – 48
• DNFs – 7
• Off My Shelf – 12
• 5 star reads – 2
• 4 star reads – 6
• Audiobooks – 25
• Paperbacks – 12
• Hardbacks – 2
• E-books – 9
• Rereads – 7 (that I tracked for the StoryGraph January 2025 Pages Challenge. There were a few more, but I didn’t track all of them.)

Despite starting out the month with not 1 but 2 DNFs (one paperback and one audiobook), I rallied and found some good and great reads this month. If I can read at least half as many each month going forward, I’m going to have to increase my annual reading goal and maybe create a few more bingo boards.

And now for my January highlights.

Favorite Read

Hands down, and maybe most surprisingly, my favorite read of the month was Ward No. 6 and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov.

I bought this book ages ago for the classics section of my library. How long ago is unknown because I never remember. The edition I have was published in 2003, and it’s quite possible I have had it that long. My classics shelf has two sides—(1) classics I have read and loved, and (2) classics I think I should read. I have a lot of books on the should side.

This book sat in the should read section because I expected a classic, a Russian literature classic to boot, to be dense, esoteric, and well, frankly, not my cup of tea.

Well, I was wrong. Happily so, so wrong. And now I’m kicking myself for not reading it sooner.

I totally understand why Chekhov is considered the greatest short story writer of all time. I found Chekhov’s stories to be highly readable and relatable. This collection includes stories written between 1885 and 1902, and yet most of these stories are still relevant today.

I only wish I could read this book in the original language. Because I’m reading translations, I will definitely pick up another edition translated by a different translator to compare and contrast. Either way, this book is staying on my classics shelf but now on the read and loved side.

Happiest to Finish Read

That honor goes to Don Quixote by Cervantes. Another classic that has been in the should read section of my classics shelf, and has been there far longer than Chekhov has.

It was originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, but has since been combined into 1 long work. The edition I have clocked in at 940 pages, although I’ve seen editions that have over 1000 pages. Either way, definitely a chunkster. Considered to be the best-known book in Spanish literature, it is credited to to be the first novel, the founding work of Western literature.

This is a book that I have previously picked up, but never got past the first few pages. So this time, I decided to read a minimum of 50 pages every day. My logic was 1000 pages (give or take) divided by 50 = 20 days, which seemed like a doable way to tackle this chunkster. I started reading it on January 5. A couple of days, I read more that 50 pages, and when I got to page 800, I just went for it. So, I finished it 13 days later on January 17.

While I appreciate its historical literary significance, I found I lost steam with the repetitiveness of his ludicrous conduct. Like being stuck in a revolving door. Maybe it was the translation I read. By the time I got to part 2, the story had lost its charm. I mostly ended up feeling bad for Don Quixote because everyone wanted to have a go at having fun at his expense. Then he just dies at the end hating himself for all his adventures.

So I’m happy that I finally read and finished it and really happy that this book is Off My Shelf and into a little free library.

Most Disappointing Read

The biggest disappointment of the month was Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton. Maybe it was too hyped. I had so many people recommend this book and I thought it would be right up my alley. Sadly, not so much.

I started this book at the beginning of October. The premise was intriguing and the beginning showed promise. However, as the story progressed, I lost interest and found that I was forcing myself to go on—not a good sign. So, I put it aside. I came back to this book this month and restarted it. Sadly, I only got 2 chapters further than the last time.

I liked that this book is primarily told from the perspective of a crow. I appreciate the message (or maybe messages) that Buxton attempts to communicate. But even though the crow has a distinct and unique personality, S.T. isn’t a likable character (apparently, much like his former human). While I can deal with unlikable characters, what I didn’t like was that this book is overwritten and filled soooo many metaphors. While metaphors can aid descriptions, their overuse partnered with too many lines like “crumble-cheese turd burger,” “yard demolishing fuck trolls,” “pubic badger,” “butt-splosion of information,” and “scrotum-sanitizing mouth” became a bit much.

I also didn’t care for the random POVs from all the many other non-human characters. I flipped through the two-thirds of the book to finish reading these POVs, and we only get any kind of conclusion on Genghis cat, Winnie the Poodle, the polar bear. They rest simply came nowhere throughout the book and disrupted the flow of the story. These short bursts of personalities don’t add anything to the plot. On top of that, the animal alliances seem arbitrary and contradictory, especially considering Buxton’s heavy moralizing on the connection of the natural world. Her optimism about the natural world feels slightly naïve and preachy as it attempts be a not-so-subtle morality tale on every injustice and environmental crisis.

Which leads to the next issue. The plague doesn’t make sense.

it was a virus. . . . mans creation [from] the internet. . . . it started with the addiction. . . . It was a virus that spread through the systems, through the network, chips, watches, phones, tablets. Through eyes, skin, and synapses.

W.T.F. In a book that has some sort of fantasy element or some sort of imagined thing, I can go with the flow as long as that element makes at least a modicum of sense. I don’t need it to be perfect, but I need it to make sense within the context of that world. And this one just didn’t. Moreover, this tech addiction virus apparently seeped into every human’s skin changed everyone into Cassowaries and giant spiders. Um, again, W.T.F.? And why? Maybe I missed something since I DNF’d it, but how did this add to the story at all?

In short, the science is messy and seems to attempt to add another not-so-subtle morality tale on the overuse of tech and the dangers of climate change (among other environmental crises). I stopped reading it at page 84 (chapter 12) and skimmed through the rest of the book. I marked it as a DNF, got it Off My Shelf, and put it on my PangoBooks bookstore.

Favorite Romance

I read a lot of romances this month. A lot. When there’s stress, I turn to romance.

In fact, I think about half of my reads were romances. And I read a variety from sweet to steamy/spicy, a few being rereads. But my favorite of the month Love, Utley by S.J. Tilly, book 1 in the Love Letters duology. (There’s also a prequel, Tackled in the Stacks, and then Book 2, Dear Rosie, which I also loved (but it deals with much heavier issues, so please review the content warnings). This was a surprise fave read because I went into it with low expectations since this was a freebie on audible. (Yes, I try not to support that business, but it’s hard given how many audiobooks I go through in a month.)

I love a good second chance romance and Maddox and Hannah’s story did not disappoint. Fifteen years is a long time, but I think it gave these two a chance to grow up to have a real chance at a relationship instead of being young and dumb. Because likely, given Maddox’s career, it would not have worked out when they were 22. While they had their history from college, they also got to know each other again as adults, which was lovely. Yes, the miscommunication went on for a bit, but it worked. But they did finally have a grown up conversation, which I think showed the transition from college students to adults.

The only ridiculous thing is that there are 121 chapters and two epilogues, which seems to be the author’s thing. Some of the chapters are less than a minute (on the audio version). Each chapter is a different POV, usually switching between Maddox and Hannah (although a couple chapters were by side characters). Some of the POV shifts are in the middle of a scene, first getting one perspective and then the other. I think what would have been better would have been just to have the POV shift without actually having a chapter change. But that’s a minor point. I just thought it got a bit over-the-top to have chapter one hundred and X.

Bonus, this story is performed by two amazing narrators, Andi Arndt and Jacob Morgan.

Up Next in February

New month, new stack of books!

I’m still working on my first Off My Shelf bingo board (12 down and 12 to go). Since I have a lot going on in February (including an international move, but more on that later), my goal is to read at least 4 in February. Then I’ll start on my Off My Shelf Part 2. Come join my Off My Shelf challenges on StoryGraph here or Part 2 here.

I’m starting February with my Off My Shelf non-fiction pick The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein, which I already started. Tomorrow I plan to start The Hollow Places for Off My Shelf outside my comfort zone. Then I’m participating in a Robin Hobb Realm of the Elderinlings book club that starts with Assassin’s Apprentice. While I have read the first trilogy, I only read the first book of the second trilogy and none of the rest. So I’m looking forward to this book club/buddy read.

What books did you enjoy this month? What books are on your TBR for February?

Links to Bookshop.org are affiliate links. Read more about affiliate links in my Terms of Use. All other links are for your convenience.