10 Books to Read in January

 

We made it through the busy holiday season, and now January has arrived, bringing cold weather and possibly snow, depending on where you live. If you’re in the Northeast like me, you’re probably anticipating a snowy—or at least chilly—January, which makes for excellent reading weather. What’s better than canceling plans and curling up with a good book? Here are the books that have caught my eye this month.

 

1. Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston (1/13)

 

"A tense, feverish thriller about two women’s lives that are forever intertwined when a murder threatens to expose them both."

 

 

2.  Anne of a Different Island by Virginia Kantra (1/20)

 

"A woman learns to be the heroine of her own life in this heartfelt novel inspired by Anne of Green Gables."

 

 

3. Skylark by Paula McLain (1/6)

 

"A mesmerizing tale of Paris above and below—where a woman’s quest for artistic freedom in 1664 intertwines with a doctor’s dangerous mission during the German occupation in the 1940s, revealing a story of courage and resistance that transcends time."

 

 

4. Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven (1/6)

 

"A novel about America’s favorite TV family, whose perfect façade starts to crack."

 

 

 

5. The Storm by Rachel Hawkins (1/6)

 

"Hurricane season can be murder."

 

 

 

6. The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave (1/6)

 

"Laura Dave continues Hannah Hall’s pulse-pounding journey in the riveting and deeply moving sequel to the The Last Thing He Told Me."

 

 

 

7. My Husband's Wife by Alice Feeney (1/20)

 

"A psychological masterpiece that will leave you questioning everything you know about love, identity, and revenge."

 

 

 

8. The Odds of You by Kate Dramis (1/6)

 

"Once is chance. Twice is fate." 

 

 

 

9. Most Eligible by Isabelle Engel (1/13)

 

"Miss Congeniality meets The Bachelor in this action-packed rom-com debut about an investigative journalist who sneaks onto reality TV only to fall for the wrong guy."

 

 

10. A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James (1/20)

 

"Siblings return to the house they fled eighteen years before, called back by the ghost of their long-missing brother and his haunting request to come home."

 

 

Let me know which books are on your January TBR list in the comments below.

 

Best Books of 2025

 

Every year it gets harder to narrow down my “best books of 2025” list, and this year is no different. I was surprised by how many great audiobooks I listened to--way more than last year! This was such a fun discovery. I've linked to my reviews when possible and a ⭐ next to the title, means it was a 4.5/5 star read!

 

Adult Fiction:

 

1. Wreck by Catherine Newman ⭐

2. Broken Country by Claire Leslie Hall ⭐

3. Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

4. Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman ⭐ 

5. Conform by Ariel Sullivan (Review to come) 

6. The Favorites by Layne Fargo 

 

 

Audiobooks:

 

1. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans ⭐

2. Heart the Lover by Lily King

3. Buckeye by Patrick Ryan ⭐

4. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

5. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

6. The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff 

Beach Reads:

 

1. One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

2. Under the Stars by Beatriz Williams ⭐

 

 

Young Adult:

 

1. Falling Like Leaves by Misty Wilson

2. Rebel Witch by Kristin Ciccarelli

 

Backlist:

 

1. Why We Love Baseball by Joe Posnanski

2. Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

3. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt ⭐

4. Wild Love by Elsie Silver

5. Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

6. Quicksilver by Callie Hart 

I’d love to hear which titles made your own “best of” list, so let me know in the comments below.

Shop All Books Here:

 

Happy Holidays!

 

Happy Holidays! I hope you find time to enjoy a good book and relax amidst the hustle and bustle. I’ll be popping in a few times before the New Year to share my favorite books of 2025, and I can’t wait to hear which books made your list. Thank you for all the support, the comments, and the wonderful bookish discussions we’ve shared this year. I’m looking forward to 2026 and all the good books that await us. 

Happy Holidays,

Mini Reviews: Holiday Edition (II)

The holidays will be here before you know it, but there's still time to curl up with a festive read. Today I'm sharing two new reviews that would be perfect additions to your holiday.  

 

 

The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan 

Pages: 320

Genre: Adult Fiction/Holiday

Pub. Date: October 14, 2025

Publisher: HarperCollins

Source: Publisher for review

Other Books By Author: The Cafe by the Sea,

The Christmas Bookshop, and  

Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

 

Goodreads says, "Mirren Sutherland stumbled into a career as an antiquarian book hunter after finding a priceless antique book in her great aunt’s attic. Now, as Christmas approaches, she’s been hired by Jamie McPherson, the surprisingly young and handsome laird of a Highland clan whose ancestral holdings include a vast crumbling castle. Family lore suggests that the McPherson family’s collection includes a rare book so valuable that it could save the entire estate—if they only knew where it was. Jamie needs Mirren to help him track down this treasure, which he believes is hidden in his own home.

But on the train to the Highlands, Mirren runs into rival book hunter Theo Palliser, and instantly knows that it’s not a chance meeting. She’s all too familiar with Theo’s good looks and smooth talk, and his uncanny ability to appear whenever there’s a treasure that needs locating.

Almost as soon as Mirren and Theo arrive at the castle, a deep snow blankets the Highlands, cutting off the outside world. Stuck inside, the three of them plot their search as the wind whistles outside. Mirren knows that Jamie’s grandfather, the castle’s most recent laird, had been a book collector, a hoarder, and a great lover of treasure hunts. Now they must unpuzzle his clues, discovering the secrets of the house—forming and breaking alliances in a race against time."

 

Mirren Sutherland is an antique book hunter thrown into a new job set in Scotland. She is tasked with helping Jamie McKinnon, a laird of a Highland clan, find his grandfather's rare book. His grandfather, a known hoarder and book collector, has been known to hide things and leave puzzles behind, and that's the case with this rare book. Jamie needs it as it should be worth a lot of money, which will help repair his family's estate as it is in a state of disrepair. Mirren is all about this task, until Theo Palliser, another known book hunter and rival, shows up on the train enroute to Scotland. This isn't a coincidence; Theo always shows up when there's treasure to be found. All three of them find themselves hunkered down in the Scottish estate during a snowstorm, looking for the rare book. Fans of Jenny Colgan and literary mysteries will especially appreciate The Secret Christmas Library.
 
It's not the holidays without reading Jenny Colgan's latest festive novel, and what is better than reading a book set during a snowstorm over the holidays in Scotland, all while searching a crumbling estate for treasure? Sounds like the perfect setting for a compelling literary mystery. My only gripe is that I wish there were some more holiday vibes, as it seemed very light in this department; however, the setting made up for it in the end. The Secret Christmas Library is a delightful holiday read for booklovers; the kind that is perfect for curling up by the fire.

 

 

 

The Mistletoe Kisser by Lucy Score

Pages: 336

Genre: Romance/Holiday

Pub. Date: October 21, 2026

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Source: Personal Copy

Other Books By Author: Things We Never Got Over

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

Goodreads says, "Ryan Sosa, grumpy former corporate accountant, has had it up to here with surprises. He didn’t see getting fired coming. And he certainly didn’t anticipate flying across the country to the world’s hippie-est, happiest, most annoying town to save his great-uncle from some mysterious emergency.

Not only is there actual snow on the ground, but the town of Blue Moon appears to have decked its halls with elves on psychedelics. But he doesn’t have time to be snarky about the impending Winter Solstice and Multicultural Holiday Celebration—whatever the hell that is. Not when he’s got a farm to save, a free-range sheep that he may or may not have nudged with his stupid microscopic rental car, and some small-town veterinarian telling him she can’t take the animal off his hands.

Dr. Sammy Ames has a practice to manage and a fundraising crisis to attend to. She doesn’t have time to deal with a big-city grouch who doesn’t remember being her first kiss ever. Especially not since he wants to dump a sheep named Stan on her. So not happening. No matter how cute—and naked—Ryan is when he’s drunk.

Besides, as soon as he solves his uncle’s problem, he’ll be on the first flight out of Blue Moon, never to return again.

It will take a Winter Solstice Miracle or perhaps some matchmaking interference from the Beautification Committee to get these two to see eye-to-eye under the mistletoe…unless they got the Wrong Ryan after all.

 

 

Dr. Sammy Ames lives in the idyllic town of Blue Moon, and she is the beloved town vet. When Ryan Sosa enters her practice with an injured sheep, things start to get interesting this holiday season. Ryan is in town as his great-uncle called to ask him for help with an "emergency." Ryan, a corporate accountant who just got fired, decides to pick up and head to Blue Moon, despite not really wanting to set foot back into the "hippie" town. Ryan's uncle owns a farm, and he is in a financial bind. Who better to help him than Ryan, then? Ryan thinks he may have injured a sheep, which is why he finds himself at the vet, but Sammy can't believe that Ryan doesn't remember that they shared a first kiss many years ago! Even if they become friendly again, Ryan plans to hightail it out of Blue Moon the first chance he can, so why even entertain a possible relationship? But despite their best efforts, these two opposites share an undeniable chemistry in Lucy Score's holiday rom-com, The Mistletoe Kisser.
 
Who doesn't enjoy a grump/sunshine trope, especially during the holidays? I really enjoyed Score's portrayal of Sammy and Ryan's relationship and the witty banter. Plus, the adorable small town of Blue Moon was just wonderful and a perfect setting for a holiday story. It reminded me of Virgin River in that everyone knows everyone, and it's a bit rural in the best way possible. The Mistletoe Kisser took me by surprise this holiday. I really, really enjoyed it; it was the perfect rom-com to curl up with this holiday season if you like your romances to be a bit spicy and not closed-door. I enjoyed it so much that I am considering checking out book one in the Blue Moon series. 

 

Have you read The Secret Christmas Library or The Mistletoe Kisser? Let me know in the comments below.  

 

Audiobook Review: Heart the Lover by Lily King

Genre: Adult Fiction/Audiobook

Publisher: Audible Audio

Source: Personal Copy 

Pub. Date: September 30, 2025

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

Goodreads says, "You knew I’d write a book about you someday. Our narrator understands good love stories—their secrets and subtext, their highs and their free falls. But her greatest love story, the one she lived, never followed the simple rules.

In the fall of her senior year of college, she meets two star students from her 17th-Century Lit class: Sam and Yash. Best friends living off-campus in the elegant house of a professor on sabbatical, the boys invite her into their intoxicating world of academic fervor, rapid-fire banter and raucous card games. They nickname her Jordan, and she quickly discovers the pleasures of friendship, love and her own intellectual ambition. Youthful passion is unpredictable though, and she soon finds herself at the center of a charged and intricate triangle. As graduation comes and goes, choices made will alter these three lives forever.

Decades later, Jordan is living the life she dreamed of, and the vulnerable days of her youth seem comfortably behind her. But when a surprise visit and unexpected news brings the past crashing into the present, Jordan returns to a world she left behind and is forced to confront the decisions and deceptions of her younger self.

Written with the superb wit and emotional sensitivity fans and critics of Lily King have come to adore, Heart the Lover is a deeply moving story that celebrates love, friendship, and the transformative nature of forgiveness. Wise, unforgettable, and with a delightful connective thread to Writers & Lovers, this is King at her very best, affirming her as a masterful chronicler of the human experience and one of the finest novelists at work today."

 

The narrator, whose name isn't mentioned until the end of the novel, is at college in a 17th-century literature class swept away by two intellectuals, Sam and Yash. As she falls into their world, there's no turning back. After a date with Sam, she visits the Victorian house they are staying at for a professor who is on sabbatical at Oxford. The bookish house, the intellectual conversations, and obscure card games (hence the title of the book!) all lend themselves to an academia vibe that any former college student can appreciate. But as she spends more time with Sam, she realizes it's Yash she has strong feelings for, and after she and Sam break up, their story unfolds. At its core, Heart the Lover is a romance, but it explores the regret of things unspoken, the choices we make, sharing our truths, and finally letting go. Lily King's Heart the Lover captures a college romance that will stay with readers; it's one of the best audiobooks of the year.  
 
King effectively portrays an all-consuming college romance in Heart the Lover. I enjoyed following the journey of Sam, Yash, and Jordan. The characters refer to her as Jordan, a nickname inspired by Gatsby's friend, Jordan Baker, because like Jordan, she was an avid golfer and previously had a golf scholarship. The ups and downs of their relationship are well depicted, and the story continues beyond college, exploring unspoken truths and the mistakes they made that haunt them till this day. Ultimately, it illustrates how their time together in college profoundly changed their lives.

One thing is for certain: Lily King is an excellent writer. My issues with Heart the Lover have nothing to do with King's writing, as I thought it was very well done. My only issue with Heart the Lover is the fact that I wish I had read Writers & Lovers before picking this up. I didn't realize it was a companion novel (as it wasn't marketed that way at all!), and I think it would have resonated better with me had I read that one first. Readers certainly don't need to read Writers & Lovers first; however, I recommend it to fully capture some of the reveals and allusions.
 
While I could have done without a love triangle and illness used as a plot device, I overall enjoyed Heart the Lover and recommend it to fans of Ann Patchett.  A memorable audiobook!