January 2026 Reading Wrap Up

04 Feb 2026 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

The beginning of January gave me pneumonia, so while I didn’t feel well and missed work, I DID have more time to read. The second half of the month left me busier though, so I didn’t quite meet my goal of finishing 6 books for the month. These are the books I finished in January:

Since it takes me so long to get to reviews lately, I thought I’d give you a preview of what I thought by listing how many stars I gave my recent reads. Here are my ratings for what I read in January with purchase links:

When I set my reading goals for 2025, I estimated that I could read 6 books a month (72 for the year). Of course, being unrealistic about my reading goals, I then put 9 books on my to-be-read list for January. Even with that, I feel like I did well with my reading, having started 2 additional books from that list, and leaving only 2 that I haven’t started yet.

I’m currently enjoying the trade paperback edition of The Will of the Many by James Islington. I’m about 200 pages into this one. Then my audiobook journey through the Outlander saga continues with #7 – An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon (paid links). I have 26 hours left of 46, putting me around 43% of the way through the book. If I add my progress for these two books up, I think that should count as a sixth book for January.

The two from my unrealistic list that I didn’t get to were Quicksilver by Callie Hart and Alchemised by SenLinYu (paid links). I still want to read these books, so I’ll have to figure out where to squeeze them in.

I’m going to limit my list for February to only 6 books, and half of them are under 400 pages, so maybe I’ll manage to read them all? Of course I have to finish those I’m currently reading too. Here are the books I’m planning to read in February:

  • A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge – 613 pages, e-book – This is a classic science fiction novel that I received from Net Galley quite a while ago. I’m slowly catching up on my review reading.
  • The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow – 320 pages, hardcover – I have read a ton of stellar reviews for this book and am very excited to start it.
  • Grievar’s Blood by Alexander Darwin – 13 hr, 31 min, audiobook – This is the second novel in a series I started a while ago that was a mashup of fantasy and MMA.
  • The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett – 410 pages, e-book – This novel won both the 2025 Hugo and World Fantasy Awards for Best Novel. It is a selection for an upcoming book club discussion.
  • Pilgrimage: The Book of the People by Zenna Henderson – 255 pages, paperback – This is a selection for an upcoming book club discussion and is a classic published in 1961.
  • The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst – 384 pages, e-book – This is a cozy fantasy novel by the author of The Spellshop and was given to me for review by Net Galley. It will be published on March 31.

I did really well in keeping with my new rule to only buy the number of books I read in the previous month minus one. In December I read 5 books, and then for January I only acquired 4 new ones:

  • Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
  • The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
  • Pilgrimage: The Book of the People by Zenna Henderson
  • Graceless Heart by Isabel Ibanez (Fairy Loot)

You can see that there is significant overlap in my recent reading and the books I needed to obtain. I might have requested a book on Net Galley, but it hasn’t been approved, so it doesn’t count yet!

Coming up later this month on this blog are reviews of Slow Gods by Claire North, Katabasis by R.F. Kuang, and Detour by Jeff Rake and Rob Hart.

What are you reading this week? Are there any new books that you’re looking forward to reading? Let me know in the comments.

Book Review – Lessons in Magic and Disaster

02 Feb 2026 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I didn’t realize that Charlie Jane Anders had a new book out until I came across it while browsing NetGalley. I’d really enjoyed three of her earlier books, and you can find my reviews as well as purchase links below. Lessons in Magic and Disaster is her newest book and my review follows.

  • All the Birds in the Sky (review here / purchase here)
  • The City in the Middle of the Night (review here / purchase here)
  • Never Say You Can’t Survive (review here / purchase here)

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

In the vein of Alice Hoffman and Charlie Jane Anders’s own All the Birds in the Sky comes a novel full of love, disaster, and magic.

A young witch teaches her mother how to do magic–with very unexpected results–in this relatable, resonant novel about family, identity, and the power of love.

Jamie is basically your average New England academic in-training–she has a strong queer relationship, an esoteric dissertation proposal, and inherited generational trauma. But she has one extraordinary secret: she’s also a powerful witch.

Serena, Jamie’s mother, has been hiding from the world in an old one-room schoolhouse for several years, grieving the death of her wife and the simultaneous explosion in her professional life. All she has left are memories.

Jamie’s busy digging into a three-hundred-year-old magical book, but she still finds time to teach Serena to cast spells and help her come out of her shell. But Jamie doesn’t know the whole story of what happened to her mom years ago, and those secrets are leading Serena down a destructive path.

Now it’s up to this grad student and literature nerd to understand the secrets behind this mysterious novel from 1749, unearth a long-buried scandal hinted therein, and learn the true nature of magic, before her mother ruins both of their lives.

This book was one of a few unfortunate DNFs (did-not-finish) for me in 2025. I made it about a third of the way before I gave up. It wasn’t that it was bad, it just wasn’t for me, and I think there are probably people out there that will love this novel. Let me see if I can explain my reaction.

Jamie is the protagonist and discovers that she can perform rites that cause favorable events to happen for her. This magic has no instructions or teacher, but she has fumbled her way to a rudimentary functional understanding that allows her to produce vaguely predictable results. I found the initial descriptions of the magic to be inventive and in a way, earnest. I could truly believe that this magic worked for Jamie and her mother, and that drew me in at the beginning of this book.

However, the story became less about the magic and more about Jamie’s relationships and her thesis struggles. By itself, those ideas could make for a decent story, but I never liked Jamie and couldn’t get invested in her struggles. Much of the novel is taken over by her obsessive research into a mid-18th century novel that feels like it should exist, but doesn’t. I felt like I was not enough of a literature nerd to understand what was going on, and this aspect of the story bored me.

I think that the concept (for as far as I got) would have worked better in a shorter format. Despite not enjoying this book, I loved the author’s earlier books and would still pick up a future novel by her.

Have you read anything by Charlie Jane Anders? Which book was your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my book reviews here.

Book Review – The Keeper of Magical Things

27 Jan 2026 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I previously read and loved Julie Leong’s debut novel, The Teller of Small Fortunes, and you can find my review of it here (with a purchase link here). When I came across her newest novel offered for review on NetGalley, I requested it and was fortunate enough to receive it from the publisher. The Keeper of Magical Things is set in the same world as The Teller of Small Fortunes, but each could be read separately as there is no direct overlap in the characters or events (paid link). Read on below to see what I thought.

I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

Certainty Bulrush wants to be useful—to the Guild of Mages that took her in as a novice, to the little brother who depends on her, and to anyone else she can help. Unfortunately, her tepid magic hasn’t proven much use to anyone. When Certainty has the chance to earn her magehood via a seemingly straightforward assignment, she takes it. Nevermind that she’ll have to work with Mage Aurelia, the brilliant, unfairly attractive overachiever who’s managed to alienate everyone around her.

The two must transport minorly magical artifacts somewhere safe: Shpelling, the dullest, least magical village around. There, they must fix up an old warehouse, separate the gossipy teapots from the kind-of-flaming swords, corral an unruly little catdragon who has tagged along, and above all: avoid complications. The Guild’s uneasy relationship with citizens is at a tipping point, and the last thing needed is a magical incident.

Still, as mage and novice come to know Shpelling’s residents—and each other—they realize the Guild’s hoarded magic might do more good being shared. Friendships blossom while Certainty and Aurelia work to make Shpelling the haven it could be. But magic is fickle—add attraction and it might spell trouble.

This novel was easy to read and featured an immediately sympathetic character in Certainty. While the author’s first book took characters along a journey through different towns, this book leaves Certainty and Mage Aurelia stuck in the village of Shpelling.

A classic quest story takes characters on a journey that is often a literary device used to introduce them to new places and adversaries. In a novel like The Keeper of Magical Things, the story could stagnate by being set in a single locale, but instead, this book moves the plot along by having Certainty explore the village, greet its inhabitants, and grow her relationship with Mage Aurelia.

This novel does feature a romance, and it isn’t hard to figure out who is involved. The author adds several fun quirks to the story, like winged cats and a talking teapot, and the “useless” magical artifacts provide a way for Certainty’s creativity to shine. I also loved the cover on this one!

Overall this was a nice read that shows the importance of community and finding your niche when it seems like you’ll never fit in. I think I did like the author’s previous book a little better, but this was a quick and easy book to fall into and I’ll be looking out for more by Julie Leong in the future.

Have you read either of Julie Leong’s novels? Have you tried a cozy fantasy novel yet? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my reviews here.

Book Review – Twelve Months

12 Jan 2026 3 Comments

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I have been a fan of The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher for quite a while, so I was excited to receive an advance copy of his new book, Twelve Months (#18), courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I also had the privilege to hear the author speak and answer questions at a small club meeting this weekend. While we didn’t discuss the new book much, I might throw in some insights from the discussion below.

Twelve Months will be out on January 20th. You can pre-order your own copy here (paid link).

WARNING – While my review will be as spoiler-free as I can manage, it is impossible to not include spoilers from previous books in the series. If you have not read Peace Talks and Battle Ground yet, you have been warned.

I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, has always managed to save the day—but, in this powerful entry in the Dresden Files, can he save himself?

One year. 365 days. Twelve months.

Harry Dresden has been through a lot, and so has his city. After Harry and his allies narrowly managed to save Chicago from being razed, everything is different—and it’s not just the current lack of electricity.

Harry lost people he cared about in the battle, and that’s the kind of loss that takes a toll. Harry being Harry, he’s doing his best to help the city and his friends recover and rebuild, but it’s a heavy load. He needs time.

Time is one thing Harry doesn’t have, however. Ghouls are prowling Chicago and killing innocent civilians. Harry’s brother is dying, and Harry doesn’t know how to help him. And last but certainly not least, the Winter Queen of the Fae has allied with the White Court of vampires—and Harry’s been betrothed to the seductive, deadly vampire Lara Raith to seal the deal.

It’s been a tough year. More than ever, the city needs Harry Dresden the wizard—but after loss and grief, is there enough left of him to rise to the challenge?

This was a tough book for me to start. The opening pages see Harry dealing with the personal aftermath of the events of Peace Talks and Battle Ground. His guilt and despair made for some emotionally heavy reading. I didn’t want to relive the trauma of that previous book either! That being said, I have it on good authority that Karrin’s story isn’t over (spoiler).

Once I buckled down and set aside some time, I was drawn into the story. This book introduced a couple of new characters, my favorite of which was Bear the Valkyrie. She brings a no-nonsense attitude and some humor to what is otherwise a grim opening in this book.

Most of this book deals with how Harry and the rest of Chicago picks themselves up and goes on. Each person or group deals with their tragedies in a different way, and when their coping mechanisms overflow into violence or magic that hurts people, Harry must get involved. At the same time, he has to balance his deepening relationship with Lara Raith, and his desperate need to save his brother.

Butcher said that this was a hard book for him to write, one reason being that the timeline of the events occur over an entire year, in contrast to most of Harry Dresden’s adventures, where each book happens over a few days. This did stretch out the story and slowed down the pacing, but after the frenetic pace of Battle Ground, I think this was a necessary change in the structure of the books.

The action still ramps up and Harry faces some powerful entities and magic in this book. Many of Harry’s scenes are with Lara Raith, and we learn more about the White Court. I actually like Lara and I feel like Harry can trust her, but I also worry that I’m being tricked by her as much as he might be. I felt like Harry only understood half of the politics going on around him.

While Twelve Months doesn’t have Harry working to solve a case or quest for something at the behest of elder gods, this was still an enjoyable read for me. It was a necessary change of pace to let everyone reset before whatever comes next. Overall this was not my favorite in the series, but was much better than Ghost Story.

The Dresden Files series is intended to have four more “case” books, followed by a large trilogy to end the series, according to the author. Have you been a fan of the series? Which book is your favorite and why isn’t it Changes? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my book reviews here.

Books to Read in 2026

10 Jan 2026 4 Comments

by Clare in Books Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Every year I feel like my Goodreads to-be-read list contains many of the same books as the previous year. I tend to roll over the ones that I didn’t get to, thus producing a constantly growing pile (mostly virtual, at least). For 2026, I mercilessly pruned that list to reach a (somewhat) reasonable number. I prioritized books that I already owned as well as some stand-alones and series that I’ve already started. I have included my book club picks for at least the beginning of the year.

I also try to set my Goodreads challenge to a number that is a stretch for me, since it IS a challenge, after all. For this year, I set that to 72 books. I reached that number by thinking about how many books I can read in a month. I’m planning to average one a week and two audiobooks a month – so that is 6 books a month, or 72 for the year.

To accompany that, I was able to narrow my Goodreads to-be-read shelf down to 83 books. I KNOW that’s more that the goal of 72 books, but since all of this is fluid throughout the year, it doesn’t matter all that much. You can see all of my current picks in the graphic below:

For series that are longer than trilogies, I’m continuing to read Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, and hopefully getting back to the rest of the Dune books by Frank Herbert (paid links).

Some of these are continuations of series that I’ve already started. A few are NetGalley ARCs that I’ve already received, and others are books I’ve recently acquired. That brings me to a new rule I’m making for 2026 in an attempt to further prune my to-be-read list: I cannot acquire more books than I have read in the previous month minus one. So if I read six books in January I am not allowed to buy, borrow, request, or otherwise acquire more than five in February. Ideally it will be even fewer than that.

What books am I most excited about reading in 2026?

  • The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow – I have read several reviews of this book where readers compared it to the author’s earlier work, The Ten Thousand Doors of January. I loved that book and expect this new release to be spectacular. You can pick up a copy here (paid links).
  • Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman – I was not aware of this series until the past few months, but people seem to love it. I already picked up a copy of the first book, and you can get one here (paid link).
  • Quicksilver by Callie Hart – This book was recommended to me by a couple of friends and they keep asking if I’ve read it yet. We usually like the same types of books, so I’m excited to start this one. You can get a copy here (paid link).
  • Alchemised by SenLinYu – I wasn’t aware of the phenomenon around this book until its release, but received a gorgeous copy through my FairyLoot subscription. This is a looooong book (1040 pages), but I often love the detail and intricate storylines in such a hefty novel. Pick up a copy here (paid link).
  • The Tapestry of Fate by Shannon Chakraborty – This is the sequel to The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi which was one of my favorite reads of 2023. You can find a review of that book here. The new book is due out May 12, 2026 and I ordered the prettier UK edition (cover featured above) from Waterstones, which you can also find here.
  • Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkis Reid – This is more of a mainstream book, but the main character is an astronaut, thus my interest. It has also hit the bestseller lists and I’ve never read anything by this popular author, so I figured this is a good one to jump into. You can find a copy here (paid link).
  • A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab – This is the next book in the Shades of Magic series. I recently finished the first book – A Darker Shade of Magic – and named it one of my favorites for 2025. You can get a copy of the first book here and the second one here (paid links).

What books am I reading in January?

I started Slow Gods by Claire North and An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon both in the last few days of December. Slow Gods is a science fiction stand-alone that I received for review courtesy of NetGalley, and An Echo in the Bone is the next for me in the Outlander series and is an audiobook.

I’ve been home sick all week this week and needed to jump into something lighter, so I read Swordheart by T. Kingfisher already, finishing it yesterday. Both The Will of the Many by James Islington and Exit Strategy by Martha Wells are for upcoming book club discussions. Detour by Jeff Rake and Rob Hart is another NetGalley ARC which I need to get to since it releases in a few days.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is the collection of George R.R. Martin’s Dunk and Egg stories, which I have never read. The upcoming HBO series of the same name starts on January 18, 2026. I purchased a copy of this at New York Comic-Con because GRRM was doing a free signing and this is one of the shortest books on my list of the month.

The last two books for January are ones off my “most excited to read” list above. Somehow I ended up with nine books on this list for the month after trying to set a goal of six per month. I don’t expect I’ll get through all of them, but I’ll let you all know next month!

What reading goals do you have for 2026? Do you plan out your reading ahead of time? Or do you just start whatever book grabs you in the moment? Let me know in the comments!

2025 Reading Year in Review

27 Dec 2025 1 Comment

by Clare in Books Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

It’s the final day of 2025, and that means it’s time to look back on this year’s reading. I didn’t do too badly, finishing 47 books this year. I never seem to quite be able to hit 50, and despite my competitive nature, I’m not going to try to read 3 books today to hit that mark.

I also wanted to end the year by thanking all of you who read this blog! My audience here has been slowly growing, and 2025 marked the best year yet since starting this blog in 2012, with over 5,000 visitors and 7,000 views. December has been the busiest month of 2025, so I’m hoping that momentum will carry over into the new year as I post my backlog of book reviews.

Say what you will about Amazon, but I do always enjoy the statistics that Goodreads puts together with their Year in Books. From that, I discovered that the shortest book I read was The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal at 33 pages, while the longest was The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon at 1,443 pages (paid links).

Goodreads also tells me that the average book length that I read was 413 pages. This is a little shorter than last year’s average of 481 pages, but I did read more this year than in 2024. You can find my 2024 Reading Year in Review post here.

Books read in previous years:

  • 2024 = 36
  • 2023 = 48
  • 2022 = 39
  • 2021 = 43
  • 2020 = 39
  • 2019 = 43

I also looked back at my Books to Read in 2025 post to see how my reading for the year compared to what I had said I planned to read. Spoiler – it never matches up very well. Of the unrealistic list of 94 books, I read 22 of those. The remaining 25 books I finished in 2025 were added as the year went on. This happens because I have book club picks that come up, new releases I hadn’t thought about, Net Galley review ARCs, and plenty of spur of the moment reading decisions.

Without further rambling, here is a graphic of all the books I read in 2025 (in reverse chronological order):

Here are some additional statistics about what I read in 2025:

  • Science fiction or fantasy genre = 42
  • Historical fiction = 3
  • Mainstream = 2
  • Romantasy = 11
  • Cozy fantasy = 3
  • Non-fiction = 1
  • Classics = 0
  • Audiobooks = 9
  • Graphic novels = 0
  • Part of a series = 24*
  • Stand-alones (or could be read as one) = 23
  • Completed reading of a series OR kept up with the series as each book was published = 8*

* I counted individual books here.

What were the BEST books I read in 2025?

Here are my top three:

Two of these were very recent reads and I don’t know if that has left them at the forefront of my mind when I made these picks or not. They’re each different genres, with two being stand-alones and one the first book in a series.

  • The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong – COZY FANTASY / review here / purchase link here
  • Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh – SCIENCE FICTION / review coming soon / purchase link here
  • A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab – FANTASY / review coming soon / purchase link here

It’s always so hard to pick my favorites, but here are all of my other 5 star reads from 2025 (in a random order):

  • The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence – FANTASY / review here / purchase link here
  • Daughter of Redwinter by Ed McDonald – FANTASY / review here / purchase link here
  • Recursion by Blake Crouch – SCIENCE FICTION / review here / purchase link here
  • Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros – ROMANTASY / review here / purchase link here
  • Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead – HISTORICAL FICTION / review here / purchase link here
  • Grimm Curiosities by Sharon Lynn Fisher – ROMANTASY / review here / purchase link here
  • A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas – ROMANTASY / review coming soon / purchase link here
  • Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher – FANTASY / review coming soon / purchase link here
  • The Book That Broke the World by Mark Lawrence – FANTASY / review coming soon / purchase link here
  • Orbital by Samantha Harvey – MAINSTREAM / review coming soon / purchase link here
  • The Feeding by Anthony Ryan – HORROR / review here / purchase link here
  • The Nightshade God by Hannah Whitten – ROMANTASY / review here / purchase link here
  • The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab – FANTASY / review here / purchase link here

That’s it for 2025! Coming up in my next post, I’ll be looking ahead at my reading plans for 2026.

What are your favorite books you read in 2025? Let me know in the comments!

November, December 2025 Reading Wrap-Up

27 Dec 2025 2 Comments

by Clare in Books Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

As promised in my previous post, here is a summary of my reading for the last two months of the year. I made better progress in my reading by being more intentional about it and by also limiting my mindless screen time. Here are the books I read in November and December (paid links):

  • The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab – I enjoyed this one a lot but it took me a little while to get into it. You can find my review of it here, and a purchase link here.
  • Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh – this was a science fiction story that twisted my expectations and was maybe one of my favorite books I read this year. I’ll have a review up eventually (really!).
  • Katabasis by R.F. Kuang – I had been looking forward to this book from the author of Babel and Yellowface. It wasn’t my favorite book by the author and I’m working on a review.
  • The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler – this was a novella that we read for one of my book clubs and recently won a Hugo Award. I enjoyed it but was surprised that it won the Hugo.
  • A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon – this was the sixth book in the Outlander series. I’ve been gradually making my way through these in audiobook format.
  • Twelve Months by Jim Butcher – this is the new book (#18) in The Dresden Files series and I was really excited to get this as an ARC from NetGalley. This will be one of my first reviews in 2026 and the book is out January 20th. You can pre-order it here.

I also expect to finish The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi before the end of the month (paid link). I’m listening to the audiobook and have less than an hour left to go, so I’m counting that one as finished for the purposes of this post.

I just started A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab yesterday (paid link). This book is a pick for an upcoming book club discussion. If I read it faster than I anticipate, then I might also count this one as read in 2025. We’ll see how much free time I have in the next few days.

I’ll definitely post more about my upcoming reading plans in my Books to Read in 2026 post that will be up just after New Year’s Day, but here is a sneak peek of my next few planned reads (paid links):

  • An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon – I plan to start the next (7th) book in the Outlander series as an audiobook once I finish The Kaiju Preservation Society.
  • Slow Gods by Claire North – this is a science fiction novel by an author that will be new to me and was sent to me courtesy of NetGalley.
  • Swordheart by T. Kingfisher – this book was so pretty that I had to buy it a few months ago. I should probably read it and not just stare at it.
  • Quicksilver by Callie Hart – I’ve been told by a few people that I need to read this romantasy book, and I believe there is a sequel out now as well.

I have a few other books on my list for January, but I don’t know exactly which ones I’ll read. I’m trying to narrow down my to-be-read list for 2026, but that means I have to either make hard choice OR just find more time to read!

What books have you read this year that surprised you? Did you try to squeeze in any quick reads by the end of the year? Let me know in the comments!

Year-End News 2025

23 Dec 2025 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

We are in the final couple of weeks of 2025 and I wanted to write a post about what’s coming up soon on this blog, as well as post some recent news.

My year-end posts are always some of my favorite ones to write, and also seem genuinely popular with those who follow this blog. I’m planning to get a summary of my November and December reading out later this week. Then look for my 2025 Reading Year in Review post just prior the the last of the month. This is where I’ll put together my reading statistics for the year, as well as my picks for my favorite books of the year.

A preview of my Year in Books – I should add at least 2 more books before year-end.

Just after the first of the new year, I’ll have my Books to Read in 2026 post, where I tell you about my unrealistic goals for the year ahead – hah!

In other news, I sometimes write fiction, and I had a new piece of flash fiction (this means it is very short) published over at Abyss & Apex. It is a holiday-themed science fiction story called Salvage and you can find it to read for free at this link.

I’m planning to write more fiction in 2026. I should be drafting a few new short stories to start out the year. I’m also pulling out an old stand-alone romantasy novel loosely titled Channeling that I had started back before romantasy was a term. I have a good amount of prep work to do before I can delve into more of the writing on this one, but I think it has potential.

Other than that, I’d love to get some older short stories revised and submitted to magazines. This is the step where I always struggle. I can never seem to work each story into a final version that I like, but I know that at some point I need to just call it done for that story and send it out.

You should also see more book reviews coming soon. I do want to share my thoughts on these books, but I have such a back log!

What are you planning for your reading for the last week of 2025? Let me know in the comments!

Book Review – The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

28 Nov 2025 1 Comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , ,

I received The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab as a gift, although I had already been aware of the book (paid link). This is the first novel by this author that I’ve read. Read on below to see what I thought.

I read the hardcover edition of this.

Here is the blurb:

A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

This story was hard for me to get into initially. I really liked the author’s writing style, and that was what drew me in the most and kept me reading. I also enjoyed the character of Addie LaRue and wanted to learn more about the events of her life over three centuries. By the halfway point of the book (when the other main character has viewpoint chapters), I was more invested in the outcomes for both of them and loved the story from there on.

This novel is structured with chapters that jump between Addie’s past in early 18th century France and modern day New York (2013-2014), with other times and cities in between. It was important to pay attention to the dates, to help follow Addie’s story.

No one remember Addie, and thus she has no lasting impact on anyone else’s lives. This is her curse throughout the book, but I loved how she found ways around that as an artistic muse, even if it wasn’t the human connection that she truly craved.

This is much more of a character-driven story than a plot-driven one, which is why I think it didn’t grab my interest as strongly at the beginning, given that I generally like more action in my plots. In some ways, I think that the entire story could have been told in a much shorter format because of the scarcity of specific plot events that needed a number of pages to show. However, writing this story as a novel served the tale well because ultimately I think that spending more time with the characters increased the emotional impact of it.

Overall, I did truly enjoy this book and my comments above are intended to show my reactions rather than to criticize. I don’t know how I feel about the ending and would love to discuss it with someone since I think it is the type of conclusion that may give readers polarized reactions.

Have you read any other books by V.E. Schwab? Which one should I read next? Or — if you’ve read this book, let’s chat about the ending in the comments.

You can find more of my book reviews here.

Book Review – What Fury Brings

26 Nov 2025 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I picked up one of author Tricia Levenseller’s YA fantasy / romance books on a whim several years ago and have since found her novels to be comfortable and satisfying. When her debut adult romantasy novel, What Fury Brings, was announced, I had this on my to-be-read list and was fortunate to receive a copy courtesy of NetGalley (paid link).

I have reviewed two of the author’s other books (a duology) on this blog:

  • Blade of Secrets (The Bladesmith #1) – review here / purchase link here
  • Master of Iron (The Bladesmith #2) – review here / purchase link here
I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

There’s a shortage of men in the kingdom of Amarra. After a failed rebellion against the matriarchy, most noblemen in the country are dead. Now the women of Amarra must obtain their husbands (should they want one) by kidnapping them from other kingdoms.

Olerra, a warrior princess vying for the throne, is determined to prove her worth by kidnapping a husband. And not just any husband. To outmaneuver her treacherous cousin, she needs the best. Fortunately, the second-born prince of their greatest enemy is widely known for both his looks and his sweet, docile temperament. He’s the perfect choice to secure her claim to the throne.

Sanos, heir to the Kingdom of Brutus, has nothing but contempt for the idea of a society run by women. Trained from birth to fight, lead, and follow in his father’s overbearing footsteps, his path has always been set. Until he takes his younger brother’s place in a drunken prank and finds himself kidnapped, carted off to the Amarran Palace, and informed that he is to become the husband of Queen Potential Olerra. Sanos needs to escape before anyone learns his real identity, but the more he gets to know his captor, the less sure he is of what he truly wants.

This novel opens with a note from the author that serves as both a warning for sexual and violent content (18+), as well as an explanation of her motivation in writing this book, coming as a reaction to her own experiences with sexism and misogyny both in her career and in the wider sense.

The world that the protagonist, Olerra, inhabits is “a reflection of our own but reversed,” with women holding all of the positions of power in the government, the military, and in trade and anything else in daily life that matters to society. Men must remain meek and submissive, and a little bit of fantasy goddess-powered magic helps to ensure that this system stays in place.

When politics drives Olerra to capture a husband from a rival nation, the story shows how foreign it feels to Crown Prince Sanos to be placed into a role based solely on his sex and not his abilities. Of course, this is also a romance story, so the conflict between Olerra and Sanos cannot be all insults and abuse in the name of training him to be a proper Amarran husband. Fortunately Sanos is more enlightened and open-minded that many in his country. His reputation for being identical to his tyrannical father is a farce that he has kept up to protect his mother and sister from his father’s violence.

The main source of tension comes from Sanos’ hidden identity and the ramifications of its inevitable discovery. This kept me interested in the plot for its own sake, because I found the message exhibited by the female-dominated society to be more heavy-handed than it always needed to be.

In terms of the spiciness of the romance, this book is vastly more descriptive and takes everything further than the author’s YA work (as I would have expected). I think that the opening note from the author gives an adequate warning of the types of things to expect.

This is a stand-alone novel and the story concludes in a satisfying fashion, bringing the character arcs together for a dramatic final scene. While the ending leaves open the possibility of more books set in this world, it doesn’t require a sequel. Overall I found this to be a solid novel that moved quickly and provided characters to cheer for as they fought for their nations and families. Thank you again to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it.

Have you read any of Tricia Levenseller’s other books? Which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments!

You can find more of my reviews here.

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