I stopped writing monthly reading wrap-ups sometime last year, though I can’t quite remember why. But since one of my reading goals of 2026 is to write reviews for all the books I read, bringing these posts back feels like a good way to do that, and a way to hold myself accountable.
I think I put too much pressure on myself to write long-form, detailed reviews for every single book I read, which is both time-consuming and sometimes, a bit unnecessary. Some books just leave me with more to say than others, and that’s fine. But even if it’s a few sentences or a few paragraphs, I still think it’s important to take time to reflect on the books we read and cast an analytical eye on them, before moving onto the next. So, here’s the books I read in January and some thoughts I had about them:
Buckeye - Patrick Ryan [3]
The intimate lives of two American midwestern couples are set against the backdrop of 20th century history, including World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
This was one of those books that I really don’t have too much to say about. It was good, not great, and I don’t think it will stick in my memory.
Ryan does a great job at setting up the novel and establishing all of the characters, both the town and its inhabitants feel fully fleshed out and you gain a deep understanding of what drives them. However, it does lose steam towards the end, feeling a bit saccharine and rushed as the story is wrapped up a touch too neatly. But it is a book that has universal appeal and you could really recommend to anyone, which is always handy to have.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson [3.25]
A disgraced journalist teams up with a brilliant, troubled hacker to investigate the 40-year-old disappearance of a teenager from a wealthy, dysfunctional family in Sweden.
I mainly read this because I want to finally watch the Fincher film (which I still haven’t watched at time of writing). I’m not really a thriller girl but this was a nice change for me, a chance to dip back into a genre I have tried before with varying levels of success. Undoubtedly, it’s an entertaining read. When I read thrillers I often ruin them for myself because I guess the twists, but with this I really didn’t know where it was going (how I avoided spoilers for such a popular story, I’ll never know).
The story itself does feel unnecessarily convoluted at times and the novel would’ve benefitted from a tighter edit, there are many parts that feel repetitive and are just relaying information from a different character’s perspective. It also kinda reads like ‘baby’s first discovery about how widespread sexual violence is against women and everyone needs to know it’s bad!’ like……yeah we know. But the writing was decent, a lot better than some thrillers I’ve read in the past. I probably will read the other books in the series just to find out what happens, but I’m not in a big rush to pick them up.
Common Decency - Susannah Dickey [4]
In an apartment building in Belfast, two women wrestle with the sorrows and spectres of love and loss.
Sometimes when you read books with two character storylines, one is better than the other - but that didn’t happen here. Both of the characters had interesting plot lines and their own struggles to reckon with, which were handled well with depth and heart. The exploration of grief through the character of Lily was a particular standout, and felt very moving and raw.
My main criticism is that it does feel like you are leading up to some kind of denouement throughout the book, but then it just fizzles out. However, Dickey’s writing here is excellent - witty, acerbic, and smart. I also found this strangely comforting, in the way that a piece of writing that affirms the universality and mundanity of the human experience always is.
Yesteryear - Caro Claire Burke [4]
A tradwife social media influencer wakes up one day to find herself living in the brutal reality of 1855 America.
Along with being just a fun, entertaining read that I flew through in about 2 days, Yesteryear also provides some great satirical commentary on the tradwife movement, religious fundamentalism, gender roles, and influencer culture.
Burke’s ability to craft a distinct narrative voice is masterful. The protagonist’s, Natalie, voice is awful to read but incredibly compelling. When I first picked this up, I planned to read a few chapters, and ended up reading about 100 pages in one sitting. The pace doesn’t really let up as we watch the life and persona that Natalie sets up at the start of the book slowly start to crack and splinter, and then completely crash down. The story is compulsively readable - at no point did I know where it was going.
Some of the novel’s themes could’ve been explored in more depth, it was very ambitious and sometimes Burke began to bring in other commentary that deserved a tighter focus. But overall, it does what it set out to do, and does it well.
Thank you 4th Estate Books for the advanced copy!
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott [3]
Set during the American Civil War, this classic coming-of-age story narrates the lives of the four March sisters on their journey to womanhood.
I feel like there’s nothing I can say about this that hasn’t been said a hundred times before. I never read Little Women as a child, so I don’t have that same nostalgic attachment to it as many others. But even so, I can appreciate the wholesomeness of this novel and its significance, especially as it eschewed many gender stereotypes at the time it was first published. One of the novel’s biggest strengths are how Alcott depicts the March sisters - they are all well-developed and each one has their own distinct personality and driving force.
It did turn out that my copy was only part 1 of Little Women, so I suppose I will read the rest at another point in my life. But I won’t let that stop me from finally watching the 2019 film adaptation!
Hooked - Asako Yuzuki [3]
A successful but lonely woman becomes fixated on and befriends a blogger known for her messy lifestyle.
This was less of a thriller and more of a character study of two lonely women living in Tokyo. The novel’s primary theme is female friendships and how hard these can be to form and cultivate, especially in adulthood. It touches on a lot of the themes we’ve come to expect from Japanese fiction through its exploration of women in contemporary Japan: rigid gender roles, marriage, parental expectations, loneliness, the struggle of human connection, work etc.
I wish the obsession theme had been expanded a little more, there is definitely an element of foreboding running throughout, but I was expecting it to lead up to something more explosive and unhinged. A few subplots and characters felt a bit random and didn’t add much to the overall storyline, and the book could’ve been trimmed down as it did become repetitive at certain points. I haven’t read Butter by this author which I know is very popular, but maybe I’ll give it a try.
Thank you 4th Estate Books for the advanced copy!
Wild Swans - Jung Chang [4]
An autobiographical account of 20th-century China, told through the lives of three generations of women: Jung’s grandmother, her mother, and herself.
Technically I finished this in February, but I read it throughout January so I’m counting it. This was such an enlightening read! I had always wanted to learn more about the history of China, specifically the rise of communism in the country and Mao’s China, and this blend of memoir and history was a great way to gain that knowledge.
It’s an undeniably brutal read - full of suffering, violence, and torture. The fact that the book is still banned in mainland China is testament to how much detail Chang provides about the atrocities that were enacted under China communist rule. Through the true stories of her own family and those she knew, Chang allows readers to see how political ideology and corruption can slowly reshape people’s beliefs, behaviours, and moral boundaries. At almost 700 pages it is a bit of a non-fiction tome, but if you’re interested in this period of history or just enjoy narrative non-fiction, I’d say it’s a worthy one.
I would love to hear what your favourite book/s was from January, so leave a comment and let me know 💌
The Names by Florence Knapp was heart wrenching and beautiful. I felt the three timeline “possibilities” set up was creative and well done.
Yesteryear is being added to my tbr now!!! In January I finally picked up This is How You Lose the Time War and it was worth the hype but I did wish the world was fleshed out more!