January 2025 Wrap-Up

 I ended up taking a break from blogging this month but I'm back now and looking forward to a new year of reading and blogging. This month started the new year off with some rereads of a couple favorite series, a few new to me series, and the resumption of buddy reads for a couple of long series that I started last year. I was also able to throw in a few spontaneous, unplanned reads that were mostly romance. 

First I finished these two books that I had started in December-

 

The Seaside Homecoming (On Devonshire Shoes #3) by Julie Klassen

Review to come.

 

The Fall of Neverdark (The Echoes Saga #4) by Philip C. Quaintrell

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Mild language

 

The rest of what I read-

 

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Magical Realism, General Fiction
Content: Mild language

 

This was our book club pick for this month. It isn't my usual type of book, so I'm really surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I loved Marcellus and Tova. An octopus nearing the end of his life, and a woman in her twilight years befriending each other sounds like a very weird type of book, but it worked. Such a charming and heartwarming story.

 

 

  

Magic Burns (Kate Daniels #2) by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Content: Strong language, Some gory violence

 

This was a reread for me. My husband and I are reading this series together and we listened to the Graphic Audio version of this book on a road trip. It also included the short story Soup from the Curran POV Collection. 

 

Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels #3) by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Content: Strong language, An almost sex scene with some moderately graphic details, Some gory violence

 

The third book in our reread of this series. We listened to this on our road trip as well. Originally I gave this 4 stars but I changed it to 5 after this reread. The Graphic Audio version included the short stories Midnight Games, Hot Tub, and Kate's Origin from the Curran POV Collection.

Silenced Girls (Agent Tori Hunter #1) by Roger Stelljes

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
Content: Strong language, Fade to black sex scene

 

This was a good first book in a new to me series. The main character irritated me a little but she grew on me. I especially like the detective she works with in the book who will also be a regular character in the series.

The Billionaire's Secret Marriage (Limitless #1) by Tamie Dearen 

My pick it for me book for January. Review to come.

 

The Maid's Diary by Loreth Anne White

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Content: Strong language 

 

This was enjoyable, but with the exception of one twist, I figured it out pretty early on. Also this is a standalone so it didn't make sense to me that the author chose to build out the stories of the detective's family so much, and one or two other things that just didn't matter to the plot of the story. It would have made sense to do that if this had been the first book in a series.

 

The Start of Us (Change in Plans #1) [Also titled An Unlikely Alliance] by Rachel John

Review to come.

 

Destroyer (Foreigner #7) by C.J. Cherryh

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi, Space Opera
Content: Strong Language 

Another good installment in the series, but for some reason this one didn't keep me as engaged as most of the others. The character Ilisidi is hands down the best character in this whole series, and she brightened up this book as soon as she came onto the page. I think maybe I'm a little fatigued with this series. It's a long one for sure but I do want to keep going anyway. 

 

When Stars Fall at Midnight (The Midnight Stars #1) by Tess Thompson

Series review to come.

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Content: Strong language, Sex that is not very descriptive

 

 

When Stars Rise at Midnight (The Midnight Stars #2) by Tess Thompson

Series review to come.

 

 

Kingdom of Bones (The Echoes Saga #5) by Philip C. Quaintrell

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Torture that is mostly nondescript

This one was probably my least favorite book of the series so far. Lots of bad things happening to the characters and not much comic relief. The end, however, saved it for me.

 

 

When Stars Dream at Midnight (The Midnight Stars #3) by Tess Thompson

Series review to come.

 

The Second Generation (Dragonlance: The New Generation) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Fade to black sex

I enjoyed my reread of this and kept my rating the same. 

January 2024 Reading List

I've got 7 books on the list for January, plus the PIFM book which hasn't been chosen yet. We're resuming our buddy read of The Foreigner Series by C.J. Cherryh this month, and also my reread/buddy read of The Dragonlance books. This is one that I'm on the fence about rereading so we'll see if I actually end up reading it again. I'm also looking forward to starting a couple of new series this month, both are relatively short series so they won't be ones I'm reading all year long. I had to reign myself in with the buddy reads. There were more I wanted to participate in.

Reading with my book club-

 

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt 

For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope that traces a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.

Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

 

 

Reading at Fantasy Buddy Reads-

 

The Second Generation (Dragonlance: The New Generation) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Years have passed since the end of the War of the Lance. The people of Ansalon have rebuilt their lives, their houses, their families. The Companions of the Lance, too, have returned to their homes, raising children and putting the days of their heroic deeds behind them.

But peace on Krynn comes at a price. The forces of darkness are ever vigilant, searching for ways to erode the balance of power and take control. When subtle changes begin to permeate the fragile peace, new lives are drawn into the web of fate woven around all the races. The time has come to pass the sword -- or the staff -- to the children of the Lance.

They are the Second Generation.

 

Destroyer (Foreigner #7) by C.J. Cherryh 

The seventh novel in Cherryh’s  Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences…

It has been two years since the starship Phoenix left Alpha Station on a rescue mission where over four thousand human spacers were under attack by a hostile alien race. Now, exhausted from their journey, the crew of the Phoenix yearns for home. But when the ship makes the jump into atevi space and contacts Alpha, they learn the that supplies to the station have been cut off; that civil war has broken out on the atevi mainland; that the powerful Western Association has been overthrown; and that Tabini-aiji, Bren Cameron's primary supporter and Ilisidi's grandson and ally, is missing and may be dead.

With no one left to lead the Western Association, Ilisidi and Bren know that the survival of their allies lies in their hands. And with the atevi world at war, the only safe landing strip lies on the human colony at Mospheira. Although there are many dangers inherent in bringing a powerful atevi leader such as Ilisidi onto human lands, Bren realizes they have no other choice.

But even if they safely survive their landing, will Bren and Ilisidi together prove strong enough to muster the remaining shards of the Western Association and regain control of their planet?

The long-running Foreigner series can also be enjoyed by more casual genre readers in sub-trilogy installments. Destroyer is the 7th Foreigner novel, and the 1st book in the third subtrilogy.

 

 

 

Kingdom of Bones (The Echoes Saga #5) by Philip C. Quaintrell

 

THE WORLD HAS FALLEN INTO RUIN. MYTH AND LEGEND HAVE PROVEN TRUE. MONSTERS HAVE RETURNED TO ILLIAN.

Orcs, an ancient fiend thought lost to history, have risen from The Under Realm. Their hunger for total dominance has plunged Illian into war, pushing the survivors to Namdhor, the last refuge of man at the top of the world.

For those who stand up to this foe, they do so in darkness. Ash clouds smother the skies, blocking out the sun as the orcs rampage across the land.

Behind it all, manipulating from the shadows, The Black Hand fuels the war on both sides. The Crow, the one who was promised, has seen the future and works in the depths of The Bastion to forge a new weapon, a weapon that can stand against the dark at all costs.

Gideon Thorn is adrift, his order decimated, and his oath to protect the realm meaningless. The Master Dragorn faces his greatest test yet, balancing his duty to the people and his duty to his order.

Inara Galfrey has a choice to make as the realm’s darkest hour approaches. Malliath and Asher cannot be ignored but holding fast to her courage could save the world. It could also spell her end.

Doran Heavybelly finds himself at the throne of his father. There are realms of hell he would rather visit than the halls of his ancestors. Shackled and bound, however, the dwarf has no choice but to face his past…

 

 

Reading with The Mystery Book Club-

Silenced Girls (Agent Tori Hunter #1) by Roger Stelljes

She moved far away to try and forget her past. A past that would seep back in when she least expected it and crushed her soul over and over. She tried to keep the evidence packed away in boxes high up on a closet shelf like carefully packing away a tragic part of her life. As if sealing the boxes, was sealing away a time in her life she desperately wanted to go back and change. Until one day a mysterious letter arrives from an unknown sender that unravels everything.

FBI Special Agent Tori Hunter returns to her hometown of Manchester, Minnesota for the first time in twenty years to investigate the disappearance of a woman who is gone without a trace. She is desperate to solve a case that will cause her to confront her own painful past and question the motives of friends she thought she knew and trusted. It will plunge her and the other detectives into the crosshairs of a dangerous killer while in search of the truth. 

 

The Maid's Diary by Loreth Anne White

Kit Darling is a maid with a snooping problem. She’s the “invisible girl,” compelled to poke into her wealthy clients’ closely guarded lives. It’s a harmless hobby until Kit sees something she can’t unsee in the home of her brand-new clients: a secret so dark it could destroy the privileged couple expecting their first child. This makes Kit dangerous to the couple. In turn, it makes the couple—who might kill to keep their secret—dangerous to Kit.

When homicide cop Mallory Van Alst is called to a scene at a luxury waterfront home known as the Glass House, she’s confronted with evidence of a violent attack so bloody it’s improbable the victim is alive. But there’s no body. The homeowners are gone. And their maid is missing. The only witness is the elderly woman next door, who woke to screams in the night. The neighbor was also the last person to see Kit Darling alive.

As Mal begins to uncover the secret that has sent the lives of everyone involved on a devious and inescapable collision course, she realizes that nothing is quite as it seems.

And no one escapes their past.

 

 

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

No one knew they'd moved in together. Now one of them is dead. Could this be the perfect murder?

56 DAYS AGO
Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin the same week Covid-19 reaches Irish shores.

35 DAYS AGO
When lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests that Ciara move in with him. She sees a unique opportunity for a new relationship to flourish without the pressure of scrutiny of family and friends. He sees it as an opportunity to hide who - and what - he really is.

TODAY
Detectives arrive at Oliver's apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.

Will they be able to determine what really happened, or has lockdown provided someone with the opportunity to commit the perfect crime?

 

 

 PIFM Book-

To be determined.

Favorite Books of 2024

 These are the books I loved reading the most in 2024. I'm adding something from each of my favorite genres except sci-fi because I didn't feel like I read anything that really stood out in that genre this year, although the Foreigner series by C.J. Cherryh has continued to grow on me with each book..

Fantasy-

 

Esrahaddon (The Rise and the Fall #3) by Michael J. Sullivan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Mild language

 

A hero to some. A villain to many. The truth forever buried.

The man who became known as Esrahaddon is reported to have destroyed the world’s greatest empire—but there are those who believe he saved it. Few individuals are as divisive, but all agree on three facts: He was exiled to the wilderness, hunted by a goblin priestess, and sentenced to death by a god—all before the age of eight. How he managed to survive and why people continued to fear his name a thousand years later has always been a mystery...until now.

From the three-time New York Times best-selling author Michael J. Sullivan, Esrahaddon is the final novel in the Rise and Fall trilogy. This latest set of stories sits snugly between the Legends of the First Empire series and the Riyria books (Revelations and Chronicles). With this tale, Michael continues his tradition of unlikely heroes who must rise to the call when history knocks, demanding to be let in. This is the 19th full-length novel in a body of work that started in 2008 and spans four series.

 

This is the third and final book in the Rise and the Fall Trilogy. The trilogy that bridges together The Legends of the First Empire and The Riyria Revelations and Chronicles, and it's the one I've been waiting so long to read! Since I finished The Riyria Revelations series, I've wanted to read more about Esrahaddon. He was such an interesting character, and this book did not disappoint me. I loved everything about this book. I did think it started out a little slow, but when it got going it really grabbed me, and once I got to the last quarter of the book, it was impossible to put down.

As usual with a Michael J. Sullivan book, the characters were all great. I loved the goblins. I truly came to love Hekkebah, Niblick, and Mashie. They were such a pleasant surprise. I also enjoyed reading more about the gods, Uberlin, Trilos, and Muriel and some of the revelations about them, particularly Muriel.

There was so much unexpected humor in this book. I found myself giggling quite often as I read. Not only that, but it had me feeling all the emotions. The end left me wanting more, even though I had the full story. I had to go back and reread Esrahaddon's parts in The Riyria Revelations after I finished this.

“I’m not a philosopher, but I know that worth isn’t found in a sword or the skill to wield it. Worthiness comes from the heart, from courage in the face of adversity, from fighting a battle you know you can’t win with dignity.”

 

 

 

Mystery/Suspense- 

 

The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Content: Strong language, The unpleasant recollections of a serial killer that include raping and torturing his victims (although not much detail is given)

 

I was the girl who survived the Nothing Man. Now I am the woman who is going to catch him...


At the age of twelve, Eve Black was the only member of her family to survive an encounter with serial attacker the Nothing Man. Now an adult, she is obsessed with identifying the man who destroyed her life. Supermarket security guard Jim Doyle has just started reading The Nothing Man —the true-crime memoir Eve has written about her efforts to track down her family’s killer. As he turns each page, his rage grows. Because Jim’s not just interested in reading about the Nothing Man. He is the Nothing Man. Jim soon begins to realize how dangerously close Eve is getting to the truth. He knows she won’t give up until she finds him. He has no choice but to stop her first …

 

This is the first book I've read by this author and it definitely won't be my last! I found this book to be a very compelling read with a couple of twists I didn't see coming. That being said, I did figure out some of it ahead of time, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book at all. Going into this we know who the killer is, the mystery lies elsewhere here, and the thrills lie in the fact that you're in the killer's head reliving the killings as he reads the book that's written about him. The whole time I was anticipating when he would finally go after Eve. 

The Housemaid (The Housemaid #1) by Freida McFadden

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Content: Strong language, Physical and Psychological Abuse, Confinement

 

There's something about this author's writing style that grabs me and doesn't let go. I could not put this book down! You would think that it would be a 5 star read if that was the case, but there were some things that didn't come off as completely believable to me. Story wise it should probably get a 3 but it's getting a 4 for the sheer entertainment value of all those twists and turns, even the ones I predicted correctly. I'm adding a spoiler tag for things that didn't work so well for me. Be prepared for major spoilers if you look. See my original post here for the spoilers.

Romance-

 

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Romance, Historical Romance
Content: Clean

 

Celia Mardham's first London Season should have been a great success, but a near fatal riding accident has left her with a pronounced limp which means she cannot even curtsy, let alone dance.


Condemned it seems to spinsterhood, her mother Lady Mardham makes one last effort. She draws up a list of guests for a country house party, picking only young ladies who will not be rivals, as well as some potential suitors.


Among the gentlemen is Lord Levedale and when he meets Celia he sees her , not the limp. However, a number of accidents, misunderstandings and spiteful interventions litter the path ahead, and may succeed in driving them apart for good.

 

This is the second book I've read by this author and I must say, I'm hooked! I gave the other book 3.5 stars, but I would have given it 4 if not for a couple of annoying things the main character did. I went into this one hoping I would like it even better because I really enjoyed this author's writing style which reminds me a bit of reading a classic. Little did I know I would end up giving this book 5 stars! I rarely give out 5 stars, especially to romance books, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. 

I loved the characters, particularly the main character Celia, and I love the way this was written. We get a peek into the different characters perspectives on things that are happening and it was great. I just loved Lord Levedale and the fact that he saw Celia right from the beginning and not her injury. I enjoyed getting to know the minor characters as well as the main ones. Celia's mother was a piece of work though! 

There was some nice witty dialog that I also enjoyed, and it was particularly funny when it was at the expense of the more unsavory characters, like this paragraph that was during an archery competition:

"All that mattered was that she won and was the centre of attention. Had one inquired of several members of the party, they would have preferred her to be the centre of attention by being the target."

That was so unexpected that it had me bursting out laughing! 

People have said this author's books remind them of Georgette Heyer, whose books I've been aware of for a long time but never tried, so I decided to give one of her books a try next to compare. I'll post a review of that book later.