Hello February! January has become a month full of joy mixed with a drop of sadness for my family since my father passed six years ago. We have always had a lot of January birthdays in the family, and my dad had one in January as well. But my brother threw himself the deferred 60th birthday party he wanted in the summer but couldn’t have because that’s busy season for him. The party was on what would have been my father’s 95th birthday, and it was so much fun. Friends from our old neighborhood came out, all of his employees, his girlfriend and her family all showed up, and we all had a really good time there. Additionally, we had the family Chanukah gathering at our house, and had to do it in two batches because one brother was sick and couldn’t come as planned.

As for my life priorities, every single one of my tarot readings indicate that this year is heading in a positive direction for me. It seems like this is going to be a year of intense personal growth for me, and I’m sure there will be bumps in the road, but as my family taught me, I can just find a solution and keep it moving. Side note: My father was constantly coming up with ideas for inventions, or even creating them, like the cardboard box used to funnel autumn leaves into leaf bags, or while he was in a displaced persons camp at fourteen years old with his immediate family after WWII because it wasn’t safe for them to go home, and he created little hot plates out of discarded cinderblocks, so that people could cook meals.

I want to step up my commitment to taking care of my physical and mental health. I’m beyond grateful for the cheerleading team that I have amassed, both genetic family and found family, with a special shout out to the Gobs sisterhood for keeping me sane in a hectic month, and being some of the best sisters I could have ever asked for. But, it feels like playing a game of whackamole to try and get better in all areas at once, because I’m always missing something. Now you know why instead of making resolutions or goals, I wanted to stick to intentions and priorities, since I don’t feel like I messed up and ruined the year if I don’t hit my mental targets. It’s like the journaling—I find it easier to do when it is focused on a topic or prompt, even if that’s a tarot card reading, and it doesn’t have to be done daily, although I’d ultimately like to build a regular daily practice of reflecting on my thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

As for books, based on my January numbers, I appear to have gotten over the hump of my reading slump. I got through a lot more books last month than I have in a long time, and I certainly can’t complain about that. Also, I’ve stayed consistent with my posting schedule for the entire month. Here are some of my January highlights:

• I finally squeaked past 1k followers, and that’s amazing. I remember being excited about my first follower, and I still get like that for each new follower.
• I actually managed to read some fun reads that I haven’t agreed to review. I might or might not review them on my blog, but I read them anyhow.
• Even with the fun reads, I still read and reviewed a bunch of ARCs.
• It seems that I fell down the rabbit hole with nonfiction reads, and have realized there are so many avenues I want to explore through nonfiction.

Here’s my breakdown of monthly totals for January: 

January Totals:

• Books read: 20
• Books DNF’d: 1
• Pages read: 2,707
• Hours listened:  155.33 hours
• Average pages: 87.32
• Average hours listened:  5.01 hours

Genres Read in January:

• Biography and Memoirs: 1
• Contemporary: 1
• Fantasy: 5
• Historical Fiction: 3
• Mystery: 5
• Sci-Fi: 3
• Science and Nature: 2

Backlist vs. New Releases:

• Backlist books: 11
• 2025 releases: 9

Fiction Vs. Nonfiction:

• Fiction: 17
• Nonfiction: 3

Format Read:

• Print: 3
• Digital: 4
• Audio: 13

Age Range:

• Adult: 20
• YA: 0
• MG: 0

My favorite book of the month was: The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by H.G. Parry.

There was something about this book that really spoke to my soul, and wove beautiful writing with an incredible story.

Here’s what I read in January:

1. The Vanishing Bookstore by Helen Phifer (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
2. The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by H.G. Parry (Publisher ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
3. Blacklight Born by Alexander Darwin (Publisher ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
4. Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues by Jonathan Kennedy | Goodreads | Amazon
5. Outspoken: My Fight for Freedom and Human Rights in Afghanistan by Sima Samar and Sally Armstrong | Goodreads | Amazon

1. An Enchanting Case of Spirits by Melissa Holtz (The Gin and Tarot Club #1) | Goodreads | Amazon
2. The Lost House by Melissa Larsen (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
3. A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
4. Babylonia by Costanza Casati (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
5. The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso (The Echo Archives #1) (Publisher ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
6. Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
7. The Bookstore Keepers by Alice Hoffman (Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories #3) (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
8. Everybody is a Liar by Liv Constantine (Libro ALC) | Goodreads | Amazon

1. The Empress by Kristin Cast (Towerfall #1) (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
2. Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
3. Those Fatal Flowers by Shannon Ives (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

1. The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman | Goodreads | Amazon
2. Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham | Goodreads | Amazon

1. The Combat Codes by Alexander Darwin (The Combat Codes Saga #1) — reread
2. Grievar’s Blood by Alexander Darwin (The Combat Codes Saga #2) — reread

1. Justinian’s Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe by William Rosen

How did your month go?