Birthstone Book Covers: January 2026

Another month, another bunch of birthstone colored book covers to showcase! It’s time for Birthstone Book Covers, this time posted at a reasonable time in the month.

Birthstone Book Covers is a fun monthly post created by Leslie @ Books Are the New Black. Each month, she features book covers that are either the same color of that month’s birthstone or include the color in the title.

January has one birthstone – Garnet. So shades of red for this month’s books!

Rules:

📚 Mention the creator (Leslie @ Books Are The New Black) and link back to her so she can check out your post.
📚 Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone.
📚 HAVE FUN!
📚 Nominate people if you want!

Wool by Hugh Howey
Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
A New Darkness by Joseph Delaney
The Bronze Beasts by Roshani Chokshi
Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab

What are your favorite books with red covers? If you participated in Birthstone Book Covers, which books did you choose this January?

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have the most amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 1/12 – 1/18

Right on time this week! Whew! Last week went by pretty quickly! I can’t believe it!

The blog activity was not as strong last week, especially compared to the week prior. But because of how many posts I got in the week before last, (Six!) I’m actually okay with my more lackluster posting from last week. For once. My reading on the other hand was much better.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!

Tuesday 1/13: Top Ten Tuesday

Last Tuesday, I participated in Top Ten Tuesday for the first time in a couple of weeks. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. The prompt for last week was Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026.

Wednesday 1/14: Can’t-Wait Wednesday

On Wednesday, I participated in Can’t-Wait Wednesday for the second week in a row. Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, not the greatest week in terms of blogging, but my novel reading was good. I wish both could’ve been good, but alas. Hopefully both books and blogging end up being up to par this coming week. 🍀🤞

In regards to blog posts this week, I want to do a book review (or two), participate in a couple of my weekly posts, and also join in on my favorite monthly post. For reading, I just finished up with The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah finally (you’ll hear my thoughts about it soon when I do a review), and I’m pretty sure I want to read the first volume of Love Me to Death by Toonimated next. After that, I want to read Water Moon and The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao, though I might not get to those two until this weekend or early next week. We’ll see.

Outside of books and blogging, my spouse and I started the new season of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. It’s a high fantasy anime that focuses on an elf with a long lifespan who seeks to learn to understand humans and connect with others, decades after defeating the Demon King with the group she journeyed with at the time. It’s a great story so far, if a bit of a slow-burn, and season two just started releasing weekly this past Saturday.

We also started watching The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife. It’s really cute and we’re really enjoying it. The world and characters are vibrant and interesting. It’s more episodic, but it’s still a lot of fun.

My spouse and I are also still trying to be healthier. I think it’s going okay so far, but I hope for us to improve even further with it.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

All the Books I Read Last Year | Reading 2025

Here it is! Part 2 of my reading wrap-up for the books I read during 2025. You can check out Part #1 here if you’re interested in the rest of my statistics from The StoryGraph and you haven’t already.

Anyway, I read 20 books, which were 6,379 pages all together. A decent amount of books. Not as many as I read in 2024 or 2023 as I mentioned in Part #1, but it’s still not bad. I’m hoping I’ll get back in the game this year, though, and that my reading in 2026 will be much better than it was last year.

2025 Reading Wrap-Up

The Books I Read in 2025

How many books did you read last year? How many did you like and dislike? What was your favorite and least favorite? Did we read any of the same books?

Anyway, last year was fine, and I did okay with my novel reading as well as posting on this blog. I think. I could’ve done better, though. Hopefully this year things will be different.

But yeah, as always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Monthly Wrap-Up: December Reading 2025

I’m a little later than I’d like to be with this wrap-up, but it isn’t as bad as the last two months, so I’m fine with it. But yeah, here’s my reading wrap-up for December 2025! I still can’t believe that 2025 is over and a new year has started!

December was pretty decent. It’s not my best month of 2025, but I read two books, which is better than most of the months last year, not to mention some of the Decembers of the past. So I’ll take it as a win.

Anyway, let’s just start talking about my StoryGraph statistics from last month!

December Reading 2025

I read 2 books and 438 pages

😶 MOODS: I had three Moods in December, which is one more than the month before. The Moods from this past month were: Adventurous, Hopeful, and Reflective.

👢 PACE: The books I read last month were both medium-paced.

🔢 PAGE NUMBER: The novels I read were between 198 and 240 pages.

📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction. As usual.

🎭 GENRES: There were a bunch of Genres on the graph this month, and I’m really happy about it. They were: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Magical Realism, Young Adult, LGBT+, and Graphic Novel.

📄 FORMAT: This pie chart was correct again this time. Both books I read were physical copies.

⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 4.5

📉 PAGES READ DAILY: My reading was pretty divided in December. I read a lot during the first week, didn’t read anything at all for the next couple of weeks, and then I read some during the last couple of days of the month.

Books I Read in December

★★★★★ • my review

★★★★☆ • my review

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So yeah, my reading in December wasn’t too bad. I managed to keep up the same pace of the two months preceding it, and end the year in a decent way in regards to reading. I’m also happy that I enjoyed the last couple of books that I read last year. It felt like leaving on a high note.

Regarding what I want to read next, I’m in between The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah and waiting for a book to be released in the next few days and reading that. I also would like to read Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao, as well as her new book also coming out this month. I’m not sure what I’m going to end up choosing next, though. We’ll see.

Anyway, as always, thank you for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my December reading in 2025. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Love Me to Death (Volume #1)

Happy Wednesday everybody! It’s been a few weeks since I last participated. But January once again has a fair amount of interesting looking new books.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings (and was previously hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where it was known as Waiting on Wednesday) to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. They’re usually books that have not yet been released.

This week’s book is:

Love Me to Death: Volume #1 by Toonimated! 💀🌹

I’ve only just discovered this recently, and have never read the original webcomic. But the premise seems fun and the art looks great!

Love Me to Death by Toonimated

Love Me to Death: Volume #1 by Toonimated

COMIC: Love Me to Death

LENGTH: 432 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novel, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Little, Brown Ink

RELEASE DATE: 13 January 2026

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Whoever said ’til death do us part wasn’t trying hard enough.

Toonimated’s wildly popular Webtoon is now in print for with a never-before-seen short story! For fans of Anatomy: A Love Story and Lore Olympus comes a graphic novel romantasy about the love triangle between a necromancer, a resurrected bride, and her very-much-alive groom.

In the city of San Guadario, necromancy has been banned for one hundred years. Every aspect of life, from buying food to getting married, requires a signature written in one’s own blood. If a necromancer were to sign, their identity would be revealed by the magic that courses through their veins. As a necromancer, Victor and his cute one-eyed cat must live a discreet life, constantly on the run.

Everything changes when the wealthiest patron in San Guadario hires Victor to resurrect his recently deceased, and impossibly beautiful, bride. The catch? Victor must perform an ancient ritual which eternally binds himself to this bride. After he brings her back to life, Victor finds himself magically entangled with the bride and groom and caught in the middle of more romance than he knows what to do with.

Adapted from the wildly popular webtoon series, Love Me to Death is a gorgeously illustrated saga that is bound to stop your heart.

Are you looking forward to Love Me to Death: Volume #1? What other books are coming out in the next few weeks that you’re looking forward to?

As always, thank you all so much for reading and have a fantastic day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 12/29 – 1/4

Another week, another wrap-up. Here we are, enduring the first full week of 2026. I can’t believe another year is over.

Last week, my blog activity was okay. I did like three posts, which is never a bad amount, but it’s especially good on a holiday week where I’m not able to get a lot of stuff done. My reading was fine too – I managed to get a book in. Yay!

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!

Tuesday 12/30: Top Ten Tuesday

Last Tuesday, I participated in Top Ten Tuesday for the first time in a couple of weeks. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. The prompt for last week was Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf.

Wednesday 12/31: New Year’s Eve / End of the Year Book Tag 2026

Wednesday was the last day of 2025. So here’s a late Happy New Year’s Eve!! 🎆🎇 I can’t believe that 2025 is actually over – what a crazy bad year it was. Hopefully 2026 is waayyy better!

I also did a Book Tag for the first time in… a year! The last time I did was was New Year’s Eve 2024. Wow! It was the same Book Tag too – the End of the Year Book Tag. It was created by Ariel Bissett over at YouTube. There are six questions, and the tag focuses on reflecting on the past year’s reading, as well as looking forward to future reading.

Thursday 1/1: New Year’s Day

Last Thursday was the first day of 2026. Happy New Year’s Day!! 🥂🍻🕛🎉 I hope that everyone has had a good start to the year so far! So far mine has been okay. I hope that it gets better and that the year ends up being better than last year was.

Sunday 1/4: To 2026 Post

On Sunday, I did my first post of 2026. It’s the same kind of puar that I usually do – in it, I reflect a little bit on the past year and I talk about my goals for the coming year. It was my To 2026 post.

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, I was decently active last week. The end of 2025 was alright, though it could’ve been better. It wasn’t as bad as the last few months have been, though, so it could’ve been worse. My start of 2026 has been okay so far, but I’m hoping that it gets even better.

Once again, I’m not sure what book I’m gonna go for next – I’ve just got so many options that I’m interested in. We’ll see what happens, I guess.

Regarding my blogging for this week… I want to get out my list for the Most Interesting Looking Books of January 2026, a book review, my reading wrap-up for December 2025, and my yearly reading wrap-up for 2025 as a whole.

Concerning stuff outside of books and blogging, it was kind of another relaxing week. Which, I expected, because that’s what we usually do the week of New Year’s. We also watched the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. And it was… okay. The first half of the season was definitely stronger than the second half, and the finale was very meh. It wasn’t the worst season finale I’ve ever seen or heard about, but it was nowhere close to being one of the best finales. And as someone who followed the show for almost ten years – ever since season one came out in 2016 – I wish it was better. It’s also hard to believe it’s finally over.

This coming week we’re going to try to start being healthier. Eating better… being more active… the works. So hopefully it works out and we start the year off strong.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

End of the Year Book Tag 2025

Hello all and Happy New Year’s Eve!! 🍾🎉 Since it’s the last day of the year, I thought I’d do the End of the Year Book Tag like I did last year. It’s just the perfect thing to do. Also, Leslie @ Books Are the New Black tagged everybody, which reminded me about it, sooo… yeah.

The End of the Year Book Tag was created by Ariel Bissett over at YouTube. There are six questions, and the tag focuses on reflecting on the past year’s reading, as well as looking forward to future reading. Once again, I’m kind of posting this at the eleventh hour, but oh well.

Anyway, here we go!

📖 Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish? 📖

No. I think I finished all of the books that I’ve intended to. Especially considering that it’s the last day of the year; had it been earlier, my answer here might have been different.

🎆 Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year? 🎆

This isn’t exactly a Christmas themed book, but it does take place just before it. Plus, there’s magical stuff going on, so it’s kind of got a holiday vibe on that front.

🕛 Is there a new release you’re still waiting for? 🕛

No, all the books I was looking forward to in 2025 have already come out.

📚 What are three books you want(ed) to read by the end of the year? 📚

Out of all three of these books, The Ashfire King is the one that I definitely wanted to read the most. Like, by a wide margin. But as the days crept closer to the end of the year, I realized I wasn’t going to have time, considering it’s size. Which is disappointing, because I got this book the day it came out way back in April. I’m definitely reading it next year, though – hopefully in January.

I’ve wanted to read This is How You Lose the Time War for a couple of years now, and after I got it for Christmas last year, I was determined to read it within the year. Which is why I read it in January – to make sure I read it in 2025.

This was another book that I’ve had my eye on for a while, as well as received for Christmas last year. I was also resolved about reading A Study in Charlotte in 2025, especially during the last third of the year after the really bad thing happened in my personal life. And I did, and I was very happy that I was able to read it.

💘 Is there a book you think that could still shock you and become your favorite book of the year? 💘

No, I don’t think so, not with the end of the year being hours away. Not to mention, I’m not going to read anything else this year, and I don’t believe I’m going to change my mind about anything in the meager time remaining of 2025.

🗒️ Have you already started making reading plans for 2025? 🗒️

Somewhat. As always, it’s nothing too specific, nor do I have a certain order I want to read any of these books in, if I don’t change my mind about reading them. I’m definitely planning on reading The Ashfire King very soon, though. I’ve sat on this book for more than long enough. I’m pretty sure I’m going to read this one next, but we’ll see.

So, I guess I’ll tag everyone who wants to do this tag again, even though it’s basically too late to do this tag at this point. Unless you’ve got some time and you’re quick, lol. This was a fun little tag, though, and I’m glad I managed to squeak this out.

As always, thanks to everybody so much for reading, and I hope that you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf

It’s barely Tuesday anymore, so I’m cutting it close, but I wanted to participate in Top Ten Tuesday one last time for the curtain closed on 2025. (Edit: Whoops, I crashed while finishing it up. Ugh, I have to back post again!)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf.

These are in order from least to most recently acquired. Surprisingly, only like one of them is from Christmas. It’s because I got the rest of them so recently – I didn’t want to clutter up my bookshelf with even more books I haven’t read yet, haha – so I didn’t really ask for any for Christmas. Almost all of them are gifts, though. Anyway, without further ado, let’s be off!

  1. What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher
  2. For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn
  3. Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura
  4. Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao
  5. How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe
  6. The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa
  7. A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
  8. Hollow by Karina Halle
  9. The Glass Scientists: Volume Three by S.H. Cotugno
  10. One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

What books have you recently added to your bookshelf? When and where did you get them? Which ones have you already read? Which ones are you looking forward to the most?

As always, thanks so much for reading, and I hope that you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

First Line Friday: 12/26

Happy Friday everyone! Two weeks in a row with this one!

First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.

What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?

If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:

📚 Take a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open it to the first page
📝 Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
📙 Finally… reveal the book!

Here are the first lines:

I have a heart for every year I’ve been alive.

There are seventeen hidden in the sand of my bedroom. Every so often, I claw through the shingle, just to check they’re still there.

Know the book? If not, here’s another hint or two…

Still not know the book? Here’s some awesome photos of books to look at while you consider it…

Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo!

(Didja guess it?)

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

LENGTH: 342 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Feiwel & Friends

RELEASE DATE: 6 March 2018

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Lira, a famous siren, must prove herself by stealing the heart of the man, a prince, threatening their race in this dark and action-packed debut. 

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most – a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen and or remain a human forever. 

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby – it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good – but can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re currently the most excited about?

As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 12/15 – 12/21

Another week has gone by already. And it’s nearly Christmas and the end of the year to boot! Wow. In any case, time for a wrap-up.

Last week was okay. I feel like I’m getting back in the swing of things, even though I still really haven’t been reading, which is somehow I hope to fix before the new year comes around. But my blog activity was good – I did a Weekly Wrap-Up and additional three posts – so I’m satisfied with that.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!

Wednesday 12/17: Can’t-Wait Wednesday

Last Wednesday, I participated in another Can’t-Wait Wednesday for the first time in a couple of weeks. Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.

Thursday 12/18: November Reading 2025

On Thursday, I posted my Monthly Reading Wrap-Up for November 2025. It was once again posted little bit later in the month than I’d have liked, but eh, I wanted to get my book reviews from that month out first. For those who don’t know, monthly wrap-ups are when I go over the books I read over the past month, as well as my stats over on The StoryGraph.

Friday 12/19: First Line Friday

Last Friday, I participated in First Line Fridays for the first time in a month or so. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words. It’s where you guess what book the post is highlighting based on the book’s first words.

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, that was all the stuff I did last week. As I said, I kind of wish I’d gotten around to reading something, but with how December usually ends up being in regards to that, I’m not that upset about it. I do want to at least read one more book before the year ends though, so hopefully this week and next week are different.

Considering what week it is, I’m probably not gonna get out more than three posts. One of those is definitely gonna be my review for the last volume of The Glass Scientists by S.H. Cotugno. Honestly, that one should’ve been out last weekend but, oh well. I also want to participate in one or two of my usual weekly posts, as well as my favorite monthly post – doing the latter being the most important to me out of the two. I can’t keep posting that one during the last couple of minutes on the last day of the month! That’s got to stop!

Regarding books, I’m kind of at a crossroads, which is keeping me from reading, which I hate. But sometimes this happens, unfortunately, and it’s the cause of half of my reading slumps: I can’t decide what to read so I end up not reading anything. Ugh. How annoying – I find the way my brain works to be a pain in the ass at times. I’m thinking maybe The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah, though. I kind of feel obligated to read that one before the year is out, since I’ve been stringing it along for about eight months now.

Outside of books and blogging, last week we cleaned the house. Yep, that’s right, it was Cleaning Week. Woohoo. My spouse and I are also generally trying to be healthier, but it being the holiday season and all, it’s kind of hard. So we’re going to wait until the new year starts before getting back into it. There’s just way too much going on this time of year for that kind of thing.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar