January Reading Wrap Up 2025
Besides, trying to get off and stay off the internet since it's becoming an increasingly awful place to hang out means a lot more reading time. I majorly upped my reading in January last year when I quit TikTok, and that's happening again as I have taken myself off Twitter and try to use Instagram a minimal amount for keeping up with far away friends and running my bookstagram. Reading is one of the few things I genuinely love to do, so alongside language learning, writing, and reading Substacks, it's where I want to put my focus in the next few months. Reading is escapism, and that's what I need more than anything right now.
the stats and stuff.
So... that begs the question, what did I read in January? I read 16 books this month, mostly helped along by the book every 2 days rhythm that I held onto for about a week at the start of the month. That wasn't sustainable, but it was nice to spend almost the entire day reading while it lasted. I did some interesting things with my reading this month including reading some nonfiction in print instead of exclusively on audio. I also got a brand new Kindle that works so much better than my old one and proceeded to request and download a flurry of ARCs, which stoked my reading excitement.
I went through some phases with my reading this month. I got through library hauls, cleared the slate of 2024 ARCs I hadn't quite finished and started on my 2025 ARCs on my mission to stay a month ahead. I read a handful of audiobooks on topics I was actually interested in instead of picking up whatever audiobook was available. I also made a dent on my goal to read more "classics" if we can shelve Eve Babitz under that title the present moment (which I am). As I'll talk about in the second, this is also the first month I've really noticed themes in my reading.
Of the 16 books, 10 were fiction and 6 were nonfiction. My average rating for fiction reads was 3.8 stars with two new books I haven't stopped thinking about—Enter Ghost and Writers & Lovers. I had a 2 star read that really brought down the average here, but I won't share that one yet since I did actually write a review about the reading experience, which is rare for me. Of my fiction reads, 8 came from the library (both digitally and in print), 1 was an ARC, and 1 came off my TBR shelf of books I owned.As far as nonfiction, my average rating was 4.5, which was bolstered by two great nonfiction reads—You Didn't Hear This From Me and A Freewheelin' Time. All of my nonfiction books except 1 ARC came from the library. I read 2 nonfiction books in print, which is a rarity for me. The rest were audiobooks. I tried to be much more intentional with my audiobook listening this month, and I think that shows in my average ratings.
themes.
This is a new segment that probably will not be reoccurring, but I've realized a big theme of my reading this month has been books set in the '60s or reflecting on the '60s. It started with Didion & Babitz and then I went to the movies and saw A Complete Unknown, which led me to listen to the 2 books that helped structure the movie. I finished my reading month with Black Swans, which is Babitz's book mostly set in the 80s but heavily reflecting on the period before and the turn of events in backlash to the time afterwards. It was interesting to read all these perspectives on the period in conjunction and to see Babitz reflect on a time where it felt like major progress was going to be made that couldn't be backslid on to then watching the slide happen in front of her. Maybe in this mess of a current world, it's comforting to remember that there are major disasters in every decade and that even though we're in an ebb of worse or even worst, there will be another flow eventually. Or that's what I'm trying to tell myself. Also, the American education system is pitiful when it comes to educating us about most of history, so I learned a lot in this decades deep dive, even on major events that I feel like I should've learned about in school. I've never tried going back in time like this before with my reading and found it very rewarding.
new reading things for 2025.
My new reading things were abundant for starting the year. The big one is that I've decided to use a reading tracking app alongside my spreadsheet. Partly because I want an app to make me a wrapped at the end of the year and partly because I want a better way to keep track of my TBR than my Notes app. I started out using Fable and Storygraph since they seemed like the most popular. This was somewhat tainted when a week into using Fable the whole AI scandal unfolded on the bookish internet. I don't really want to support a company that uses AI adjacent to the book world. I kept using it in case it was somehow the superior platform, but keeping up 2 apps that do the exact same thing is a lot, and I've naturally found myself updating Fable less and less. I'll give a comprehensive overview of the two in a later post, but that's something I experimented with.
I also broke down and got my Matcha Kindle I've spent a year drooling over. My Kindle finally half-died and gave me permission to move on. It's the first time I haven't gotten a Paperwhite since my first kindle that had a physical keyboard, but at this point, the regular Kindle has all the features of the old Paperwhites and is far lighter and smaller than the current Paperwhites, which is my main priority when it comes to picking an e-reader. I'll also give you a comprehensive review later, but it's been a good reminder of the convenience of e-readers. It's so nice to seamlessly read in bed and has been much better for my wrist.
a little personal update.
If you've read this far into the post, I'd imagine you probably read the blog somewhat regularly. Maybe you've even kept up with me since I started book blogging as an 8th grader, so a more personal update is in order. I'm going to grad school! More specifically, I'm enrolling in the M.Phil in Creative Writing at Trinity College, Dublin. It's amazing to have the chance to go to such an amazing university that's internationally recognized. Particularly, for my readers out there, it will likely register on your radar most if you're a Rooney fan since she's made the school central to her books. I'm beyond giddy about this, getting to move to Dublin and study on this amazing campus, and beyond that, being selected for a small cohort of writers getting to devote all my time to writing. You might have seen me offhandedly mention moving to London in a few posts. Originally, I was going to attend a publishing program in London, but then this surprise news from Trinity came through mid-month, and it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. So I'm moving to Dublin, and I couldn't be more excited about the place, the program, or the opportunity.
I try not to talk about my personal writing all that much on here since it's a book blog about other people's writing, but you'll know that I've been at it a very long time if you've read the little updates in these blog posts, so this acceptance is absolutely surreal.
I finished the revision of my manuscript draft at the start of January, and it's off with readers now. I surprised myself starting a new draft a few weeks later. I don't know where it's going, but it's exciting to think about a new project after a solid 8 months with the last project.
goals check-in.
To finish off this very long first reading check in, I'm going to try to implement a new segment where I think about the goals that I made and contemplate them at the end of each month so I don't totally forget what they are by the end of the year. If you haven't seen it yet, here's my 2025 goals post. So let's take a look at how I did in month one.
Goal 1: Read 75 Books
I'd say I'm well on my way here. According to Storygraph, I'm 21% of my way to my goal, and I'm ahead by 10 books, so I'd say I've built myself a good cushion on my yearly goal. I'm hoping that I'll use this to not feel guilty in reading slumps and also to read some long books that will massively up my page count but will hamper my total books goal.
Goal 2: Try Out New Bookish Tracking Systems
Check! Definitely did that as I discussed above.
Goal 3: Read 3 Classics
I was trying not to push myself too hard here, but I think I can up this goal quite a bit. It's probably wrong that suddenly being accepted to a creative writing program makes me feel like I need to speed run the process of making up for lost classics time and an unfortunate selection by my teachers. But that's sort of how I'm feeling. I don't think it'll be bad to dip into the past either. I've been adding a lot more classics to my TBR lately including Middlemarch, Dubliners, Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast, All the Pretty Horses, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Emma, The Great Gatsby, Wuthering Heights. A part of me wants to look at these books like I do my language learning. Structure off a part of my day for this reading and then read other modern books on the side for fun (not that these won't be fun, but they will probably take more brain power).
Goal 4: Finish my physical TBR before I leave home and make a dent on my digital TBR
I've kept up with this too! Wow, I'm doing great with my reading goals. My personal goals are probably extremely jealous. But I did actively consider this. When I was excited about my Kindle at the start of the month, I got through my old holdover books gifted by publishers from 2024 and read my February ARCs. I only have one book that I own left to read on my digital TBR and then a slate of ARCs for the next few months to stay on top of. As for the physical TBR, I have about 5 books on that shelf I still want to read. I have 2 or 3 that I honestly just have no desire to read anymore that I purchased for $2 at the Book Nook on impulse that will simply return there. I'm not going to sweat it. Switching school plans means I lose almost 2 months with my physical TBR, but even so, I have more months here than physical TBR books, so if I can pick up 1 per month, I should be good to go on this goal. This month, I picked Writers & Lovers, and I'm so happy I own this one because it's a new sentimental read for me.
Goal 5: Enjoy UK Bookstores
Okay 1) nothing I can do about this now, and 2) we're going to amend this to Irish/bookstores in Dublin. I absolutely adore Books Upstairs and can't wait to return, but I'm also excited to find more bookstores in the city. I'm not going to check back in on this goal for another six months.
All The January Posts:
2024 Goals Check-In and 2025 Goals
New 2025 Releases I Want to Read
Should You Read or Watch Normal People?
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