January 2025 – Reading Round-Up

As ever, my reading target for 2025 is to read 52 books in the year – averaging out to one book per week, or four books a month.

It rarely winds up going that way – I read loads in some months and then nothing in others, and then spend half of December panic reading to squeeze in the last 8 books or so.

Maybe 2025 will be different, you say?

Well I’m ahead of myself already so probably not!

I finished a total of nine books, so I’ve technically got an extra month’s worth under my belt for later in the year already. Potentially making my December less panicky – but there’s plenty of time between now and then for me to have a reading drought and get even further behind!

Books Finished

• Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures by Stephen Fry (Read half in audio and half from the hardback book)
• To Save Every One – 200 Years Of The RNLI (Hardback book)
• 365 Days Wild: A Random Act Of Wildness For Every Day Of The Year by Lucy McRobert (Paperback book)
• Goroth: Everybody Loves Large Chests Volume 7 by Neven Iliev (Audiobook)
• A Dream So Dark by L. L. McKinney (Paperback book)
• A Crown So Cursed by L. L. McKinney (Paperback book)
• Here’s To Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera (Paperback book)
• A Symphony Of Echoes: The Chronicles of St. Mary’s Book 2 by Jodi Taylor (Audiobook)
• Cryptids, Creatures & Critters by Rachel Quinney (Paperback book)

January may be four million years long, but it does always seem to be peak reading season for me.

Mini Reviews

Heroes is one I originally started probably in January 2024 or something silly, but it got put down and forgotten despite me really enjoying it. So I started it over just before Christmas, both reading the physical book and listening to the audiobook as well – occasionally both at once! I love listening to Stephen Fry, so I find the audiobooks a delight – however the actual book has pictures which is always a win. By dipping in and out of both, I got all of my favourite things!

If you want to explore a bit more of Greek mythology then I recommend picking this up (and the first book, Mythos) as Fry makes it all entertaining and manages to make it all a little less confusing. Obviously even he can’t make it not confusing at all, because it is quite frankly bewildering trying to keep track of who is who when they’re all related and have very similar names, but he does a better job of it than most.

*

I picked up To Save Every One during Betwixtmas but finished most of it in the first couple of days of January. A beautiful history of the RNLI from its founding right up to the present day, this was an easy read with countless pictures and illustrations covering every topic relating to the RNLI. The evolution of the boats, the people on the front line, the people in the background, the equipment they use and everything in-between is featured. The lifeboat teams truly do incredible and selfless work, and they are all a million times braver than I am.

*

I took about 20 days short of 365 days to read 365 Days Wild which was intentional. I was reading along with the changing of the seasons. This is a great little book for inspiring you to not only get outside, but also think a bit more outside the box for ways to ‘rewild’ your life a little bit and get in touch with nature.

I enjoyed dipping in and out of it, learned quite a lot, and added a few things to my ‘want to do’ list for the future. It was nice for it to be based in the UK as well – so often when looking for inspiration of wild things to do online guides and suggestions are tailored to other places and have species you’re never going to see in an English garden. This would make a great gift for anyone with an interest in nature, whether they’re an expert or a total beginner.

*

I never really know where to start with reviewing the Everybody Loves Large Chests series because they are… indescribable? Goroth is the seventh volume so it is also hard to not give spoilers for earlier editions, however I will say that if you love the D&D universe and a bit of silly NSFW LitRPG tickles your fancy, then you might want to check them out. The audio productions are brilliant and continue to make me laugh, wince, and facepalm in almost equal measure every time. (There was a bit of a dip, I think around book 4, but I am glad I stuck with it.)

*

A Dream So Dark and A Crown So Cursed are books 2 and 3 of the Nightmare-verse Trilogy, which is a modern alternate universe YA retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Action-packed and fast-paced, I really enjoyed this series – there was magic and swordplay, love and deception, and lots and lots of sass.

There was lots of wordplay which made me happy, and the cast of characters was varied and diverse – I struggled to pin down a favourite as they were all so different. This series is lots of fun and I really enjoyed them all.

*

Here’s To Us is the sequel to What If It’s Us which I really loved. This sequel was just as gentle and lovely as the first – there was heartache but it felt genuine. The characters were going through the sort of things that happen in life – relationships failing and rekindling, not knowing how you feel/what you want to do, friendships changing and evolving, sudden curveballs landing in your lap when you least expect it – and it was refreshing to not just be plain-storybook sailing.

That’s not to say it was all doom and gloom, quite the opposite in fact, and by the end it felt like I’d had a nice warm hug. Much like at the end of the first book. An adorable romantic duology that was a breath of fresh air after the high-stakes action in the last couple of books I had read. Arthur and Ben might be one of my favourite book-couples ever.

*

A Symphony Of Echoes took the St. Mary’s crew to 1800s London in the midst of Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror, unleashing even more chaos than even they expected.

I have talked previously about how much I love this series and the timey-wimey adventures it takes you on – this is the second full length novel and I enjoyed it as much as the first one (even if there weren’t dinosaurs in this one). Jodi Taylor’s unlikely heroes are just brilliant – much like in her Frogmorton Farm books, the leading ladies and their gaggle of companions are not exactly superhero material, but they get the job done reluctantly yet stubbornly, whilst making sure the universe knows how irritated they are about having to do it in the first place. It never fails to make me smile.

*

My final finished book of January was this little beauty. I knew it was going to be beautiful because I have been an adoring fan of Rachel’s art for a few years now, as anyone who has seen my house/planners/phone cases would probably attest as they are all adorned with their stickers and postcards.

I may have actually squealed when I saw the motorman on the inscription when it arrived.

Cryptids, Creatures & Critters makes a perfect addition to my shelf of myths and legends – easy to read, interesting and informative, and, of course, gloriously fully illustrated by Rachel and their friends.

If you like cryptids and mythical beasties and the like, this is a great, lighthearted book to add to any collection.

Currently Reading…

I am a little over halfway through listening to Troy: The Siege of Troy Retold by Stephen Fry which is book 3 in the series. I don’t have a physical copy of this one, so no pretty pictures this time round – but listening to Fry himself read it is joy enough regardless.

2025 Total So Far

January gets me off to a great start, with the total sitting at 9/52.

Onwards to February!