January 2026 Wrap Up

Books Read:

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister (2025)  4/5 stars

This thriller gripped me from the beginning and never let go.  Was it realistic, or plausible, or even believable?  Nope.  But it was totally compelling, completely engaging, and thoroughly enjoyable.

On Wings of Devotion by Roseanna M. White (2020)  4/5 stars

The Codebreakers, book #2 

This Christian novel of romantic suspense follows one of the characters introduced in The Number of Love (my review here).  I had really enjoyed that one, but to me, it didn't feel like WWI.  The author made a much more believable atmosphere with this book, and the plot was gripping, interesting, and even moving.  I enjoyed it tremendously.

Mr. Campion's Farewell by Mike Ripley (2014)  4/5 stars

Mr. Campion series, book 1

This is a continuation of Margery Allingham's Campion series and it felt so much like one of the original adventures that it was hard at times to remember that it wasn't.  This is the second one of Ripley's that I have read and it certainly won't be my last.

 

The Story of the Glittering Plain by William Morris 1890/1891 (first published as a magazine serial)  4/5 stars  (my review here)

Israel Zangwill

The Big Bow Mystery by Israel Zangwill (1892)  5/5 stars

also published as The Perfect Crime

I absolutely loved this mystery.  The writing is witty, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, the build up nicely done, and the solution clever.  I've seen negative reviews that don't take into account the fact that this is an early locked-room mystery, written well before it was a popular trope, and that the solution would have been novel and shocking at the time.   I highly recommend it for fellow fans of Victorian novels and early detective stories.

Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth (1800)  4/5 stars  (my review here)

The Ivory Child by H. Rider Haggard (1916)  4/5 stars

In this adventure, Allan Quatermain must defeat a massive god-like elephant, help a win a tribal war, and rescue an Englishwoman from an ancient cult.  It's a great yarn, well-written like all of Haggard's Quatermain novels, and even moved me to tears three times.  It was completely engrossing, and though some attitudes are dated, I enjoyed it immensely.  

Audiobooks Completed:

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932)  4/5 stars (my review)

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1935)  4/5 stars (my review)

On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1937)  4/5 stars (my review)

By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1939)  4/5 stars (my review)

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1940)  4/5 stars (my review)

Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1941)  4/5 stars (my review)

Did Not Finish:

The Mistletoe Countess by Pepper Basham

This is a popular book in my corner of bookstagram, and I was on the library waiting list for some time.  Unfortunately, I didn't care for the female main character's over-the-top naivete combined with her mature reactions to the male main character.  It's hard to explain, but suffice it to say that it wasn't to my taste.  This is a reminder to me that I've already tried it, so when it pops up on my radar again I won't feel like I'm missing out. 

Six by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Wilder in 1885, around age 18

This month I decided to reread the Little House on the Prairie series on audiobook.  I managed to read six of the eight, running straight through them with pure pleasure.

Wilder wrote from her experiences as a child living in Wisconsin, travelling West to Missouri and Kansas, and finally settling in the Dakota territory.  She was a gifted story-teller, bringing events vividly to life and creating memorable books.

So far, they've all been 4 star books for me and, despite dated attitudes, very entertaining.

Little House in the Big Woods 

Little House series, book 1

This sweetly written, gentle glimpse into the past is a pure pleasure to (re)read. 

Little House on the Prairie  

Little House series, book 3

Despite Ma's vehement dislike of Native Americans, it's still an enjoyable read, full of fascinating information and slices of life from a time so unlike today.

On the Banks of Plum Creek 

Little House series, book 4; Newbury Medal Nominee

Sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, this is another enjoyable book with memorable characters and situations that details a way of life so far removed from ours now.

By the Shores of Silver Lake 

Little House series, book 5; Newbury Medal Nominee

It stars off depressing, and sensitive readers may have a hard time with the first couple of chapters.  (I know I did.)  However, it gives an interesting account of what went into settling the Dakota territory as the Ingalls family leaves their comfortable house at Plum Creek, near to a town, to go further West for a  homestead claim.

The Long Winter 

Little House series, book 6; Newbury Medal Nominee

This is one of my favorite books of the series, as, despite the dangers and deprivations of the harsh winter, the Ingalls family pushes through with determination, cheerfulness, and resilience.   It's a memorable story, serious but still enjoyable.

Little Town on the Prairie

Little House series, book 7; Newbury Medal Nominee

Following that long winter, the Ingalls family enjoys two prosperous summers, and two mild winters.  Laura makes good friends in town and works hard toward earning a teacher's certificate.  It's a more lighthearted story than previous ones, with less focus on homesteading than on the life of a new town.  It's another well-written and entertaining book, though with some dated attitudes.

Top Ten Tuesday: Discoveries in 2025

 Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

Today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is "Bookish Discoveries I Made in 2025".  Here are my favorite of the new-to-me authors I found last year.

1. Celeste Baxendell, a no-spice romantic-fantasy author, was a top discovery of last year.   This Rotting Heart (my review) and Ties of Starlight  (my review) were both five star reads for me.  That's all I've read by her so far, but I highly recommend both.

2. Mike Ripley wrote a continuation of Margery Allingham's Campion series.  I first read Mr. Campion's Christmas in December and loved it enough to continue the series this month.  I'll definitely be reading more of his Campion stories.

3. I first enjoyed the Western non-magical fairy tale retellings by Rachel Kovaciny (her site) last year, as well.  So far, I've only read two of her series and one stand alone, but loved them all. 

4. Roseanna M. White writes Christian historical fiction.  I first read The Number of Love in February, and enjoyed two more of her books last year. 

5. I stumbled across Gladys Mitchell last year, too.  She was a Golden Age mystery writer, sadly neglected now, with a morally gray main character, Mrs. Bradley.  If you decide to try these out -- some of which are very good -- you MUST start with the first one, Speedy Death, to appreciate Mrs. Bradley to the fullest.  

6. Dorothy Eden was a popular gothic romantic-thriller writer who wrote a large amount from the 1940s through the 1980s.  I just discovered her last year when I was in the mood for just such novels, and devoured seven of them.  Yes, they are often silly and melodramatic, but I found them a great deal of fun.  Cat's Prey and An Afternoon's Walk were my favorites. 

Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth

Maria Edgeworth

Castle Rackrent 

Maria Edgeworth 

1800

4/5 stars

  

This short novel is the rambling account of four generations of an Irish landowning family told in first-person by a long-serving retainer. 

The often unreliable narrator is well-written, and Edgeworth used the vernacular to great effect, while still painting a vivid, intelligible picture of the characters and situations.  The satiric footnotes and word definitions added so much to the overall tongue-in-cheek humor.  

I had expected a more serious book, given that the subject is irresponsible and negligent landlords, but I laughed out loud several times and found it to be quite enjoyable overall.   

My only complaint was the brevity of the tales of the first three Rackrent lords.  Had that been expounded on, with the same wit and style, it would have been a five star read for me.

- read for The Classics Club and Reading Through the Centuries -

The Story of the Glittering Plain by William Morris

The Story of the Glittering Plain 

or The Story of the Glittering Plain which has been also called the Land of Living Men or the Acre of the Undying 

William Morris

1890/1891 (first published as a magazine serial)

4/5 stars

This is a fantasy taking place in a mythical medieval time about the knight Hallblithe, who goes in search of his kidnapped betrothed. Following her trail, he meets with pirate-warriors and eventually accompanies one of them to the Glittering Plain, a utopia of sorts where youth is regained for eternity. After a year of disheartening adventures, he escapes this land and continues his quest to be reunited with his love.

I wouldn't consider this an allegory, though it reminds me a great deal of both Spenser's Faerie Queene and George MacDonald's Phantastes. Through my own fault, no doubt, I failed to perceive the pro-socialist message that is reportedly part of this tale, and saw only a chivalrous tale in the reminiscent of both the King Arthur stories and Greek mythology.

Morris chose an archaic prose style, fitting for the subject and creating an unearthly effect.  The characters were two-dimensional, but again, that was fitting for this type of story.  Overall, I enjoyed it a good deal, especially his descriptions and storytelling and look forward to reading more of work in the future.

- read for both the Mount TBR challenge and the Key Word Reading Challenge (link to both) -

My 2026 Goal and Three Reading Challenges

My goal for this year is a big one: to spend no money on books.  

This is huge for me, and I know it's going to be hard, but I have a huge backlog of Kindle books to read and quite a few nonfiction paper books, and I need to focus on whittling down all these unread treasures.  With the 1000 or so unread e-books, plus access to a good library system, I'm not going to run out of reading material.  

I may have to adjust my goal in regards to audiobooks later in the year, depending on how quickly I run through what I own.  We'll see how that goes.

Since I own so many, I have forgotten a lot of what I have.  To help me out, I made a Lucky Dip TBR jar.  I typed out and cut into strips over 150 authors/titles of Kindle books.  When I need a bit of help deciding what to read next, I'll just pull one out and see what I get.

Another way I'm going to help myself read what I own is to participate in a these three challenges.  I'll probably not be able keep up with them all but it's fun to have a little prompt when I'm thinking about what to read next.  I'll come back to the page I made for these challenges and add the books I read for the prompt.

2026 Key Word Reading Challenge by Chapter Adventure

The point of this one is to read a book with a certain word in the title.  The graphic below shows the monthly choices.

Calendar of Crime by My Reader's Block

This challenge is for mystery books only.  This spreadsheet shows the ten topics to pick from for each month.  I've got an enormous amount of Golden Age mysteries to read, so this might be a fun way to whittle them down.

Mount TBR by My Reader's Block

This challenge is just to encourage reading books already owned.  I'll be working toward the Mt. Ararat level.  

Challenge Levels: 

Pike's Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s 

Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile/s 

Mt. Vancouver: Read 36 books from your TBR pile/s 

Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR pile/s 

Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 60 books from your TBR pile/s 

El Toro*: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s (*aka Cerro El Toro in South America) 

Mt. Everest: Read 100 books from your TBR pile/s 

Mount Olympus (Mars): Read 150+ books from your TBR pile/s

2025 Year in Review

In 2025,  I read 88 books and listened to 41 audiobooks. I love stats, so it was fun to see that I read just over 38000 pages, with 300 as the average. I rated 14 books as 5 star reads (see below) and gave an average of 3.7 stars.  On Goodreads I was a top 5% reader and also top 5% reviewer.

My top favorites of the year were The Prisoner of Zenda (reread) and it's sequel, Rupert of Hentzau (new-to-me). I had loved the first one, and because I loved it so much, I never wanted read the second. I just couldn't imagine how it could measure up. It did! They are both SO good, and I highly recommend them.  (reviews are here)

 Here are my other five star books this year (most of which were rereads): 

-The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (reread) 

-The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. -Tolkien (reread) 

-The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (reread) 

-This Rotting Heart by Celeste Baxendell  

-Ties of Starlight by Celeste Baxendell 

-The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Dolye (reread) 

-Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope (reread) 

-Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope 

-The Lost Queen: The Life & Tragedy of the Prince Regent's Daughter by Anne M. Stott 

-The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery (reread) 

-The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones 

-Medieval Horizons: Why the Middle Ages Matter by Ian Mortimer

-The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation by Ian Mortimer 

I read a LOT of great indie spice-free fantasy (and will gladly give recommendations), but mysteries were still my most-read genre. Overall, it was a stellar year of reading. 

How was it for you? Remember, if you read more than 4 books, you beat the median and had a great year!