What can I say about January? It was a challenging month, with freezing temperatures and worry about the LA fires, the government transition, my upcoming surgery, and settling my dad’s affairs. I chose books pretty randomly this month and seemed to gravitate towards magic and fantasy – with good reason.
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What I read in January:
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
- The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
- The Wedding People by Allison Espach (audio)
- Glinda of Oz by L. Frank Baum
- A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
- The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz
- You, with a View by Jessica Joyce
- Beyond the Wand: The Magic & Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard by Tom Felton (audio)
My favorite reads:
I loved The Wedding People. It had everything I like in a book – complicated relationships, family issues, unlikely friendship, and a great mix of humor and sadness. I also loved the setting. My family spend a day touring Newport, Rhode Island last year, including the Breakers. And this book perfectly skewered the ridiculousness of overplanned, overexpensive weddings while not minimizing the feelings involved.
I also loved A Sorceress Comes to Call, not surprising since I think Kingfisher is one of the best fantasy writers out there. The magic used in this story was absolutely terrifying, and the characters were fantastic.
You, with a View was a nice surprise, and one of those books I read at exactly the right time. It’s about a young woman who’s grieving the loss of her grandmother. She meets her grandmother’s first love, and she explores her grandmother’s past through a collection of her letters as she travels through the Southwest. It was a sexy and creative romance that hit all the right spots for me as I’m working through my grief for my dad and coincidentally, reading his own collection of love letters.
And you can read my thoughts on Beyond the Wand here.
Disappointing reads:
The Sweet Life in Paris was a bit disappointing. I was expecting more narrative and less recipes, and I never felt like I got to know the writer. I enjoyed his writing about the people of Paris, but occasionally I found his reflections a bit snide.
I’ve been wanting to re-read some Harry Potter, and Beyond the Wand sparked my interest in the book and movie for Book 6, since that’s where Draco Malfoy gets some real character development. I remember people didn’t love Book 6 when it came out, and it was surprisingly slow. It’s key to the story of Voldemort, and has some great parts. But Harry is surprisingly annoying – he’s obsessive and insensitive a lot of the time. And his romance with Ginny doesn’t feel real.
The Familiar was a great historical fantasy but didn’t work for me on audiobook at all. I didn’t start understanding the story until I started reading the e-book, or maybe that’s when it picked up. I think the names were just too confusing on audio.
On the blog:
I wrote about the last three Oz books, Tin Woodman, Magic of Oz, and Glinda of Oz, for Ozathon 2024. I wrote about my year in reading, my 2025 reading goals and challenges, and the best authors I discovered in 2024. I also reviewed Tom Felton’s memoir Beyond the Wand.
Books for challenges:
- Nonfiction: The Sweet Life, Beyond the Wand
- Rereads/Ozathon: Glinda of Oz, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Jewish Genre Reading Challenge: The Familiar
- Backlist: The Sweet Life, Beyond the Wand, You with a View, Glinda of Oz
What I’m reading now:
As usual, I’ve started way more books than I should have. I’m listening to two nonfiction audiobooks, and reading two e-books, The Ministry of Time and Eowyn Ivey’s Black Woods, Blue Sky (an ARC coming out next week).
What’s coming up:
I have two more ARCs to read in February, Fagin the Thief by Allison Epstein and Swordheart by T. Kingfisher.
Added to my TBR:
I spent some time cleaning up my TBR, and I plan to continue that effort. I also added a number of classic titles by Jewish authors to support the Jewish Genre reading challenge, books by Chaim Potok, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Bernard Malamud, and Henry Roth. I’m interested in other suggestions, classic or otherwise.
Things that made me happy:
Are you feeling like you need something comforting right now? I’m a little addicted to a game on my Switch called Wylde Flowers, which is one of those “cozy” games that combines farming, fishing and cooking with getting to know the neighbors in a small island town. There’s also spells and potion-making and some darker themes including grief. It’s kind of a silly use of time but just what I need right now. For fans of Yonder and Grow.
That’s my January wrap-up. Hope your reading year is off to a good start!
