January 2026 Reading Wrap Up

What a great start to the year!

Let's dive into the reviews!

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson - ★★★★☆

Another life changing read!

Mark writes this lesson in a way that just resonated so easily with me. It felt like he was just sitting there talking to me while I absorbed everything he said.

He gave real and practical examples of not giving a f*ck and how that can look in your life. I think giving these examples makes the content of the book so much easier to take in and put into practice yourself.

I came away from the book feeling inspired, alive, and just lighter. It felt like a weight of something was taken of my shoulders as I learned the lessons in this book.

Atomic Habits by James Clear - ★★⯪☆☆

This book had lots of good information, but it was a bit too much to absorb. Especially in an audiobook. Maybe I would have liked it a bit better if I had done the actual book and taken more time to absorb it.

The Curse of the Cole Women by Marielle Thompson - ★★★★☆

[NetGalley ARC]

This book hooked me right from the start. Right away you’re put in different timelines of each generation of Cole women and I loved seeing each one’s story connect to the others.

The premise of the book is that the Cole women are cursed by their ancestor to never leave their island, and for only 2 females to live at a time (mother and daughter). The story goes through timelines for Mabel, Rebecca, and Simone as they each deal with being outcasts because of the curse. I especially liked how it showed not only how each generation dealt with the trauma, but how that shaped the how the next generation dealt with it too. It does a stellar job of showing what it can look like when you give someone power over you.

Overall, it was an inspiring story with great writing that was easy to get into right away. It definitely left a lasting impact on me.

Prince of Glass & Midnight by Linsey Miller - ★★★★★

This book is an entirely new look at the classic Cinderella story, but without changing the story! There are so many other books with twists that make the ending different somehow, but this one stays true to the original tale while adding so much more. I was never a big fan of Cinderella growing up, but after reading this book it might be one of my favorite fairytales now.

The premise of the book is that a boy August lived in Fresne as a boy and was friends with a girl named Ella. The beginning of the book shows their life as children through letters written to each other until we get to the present day where the story starts. From there we have a mystery where the people of Fresne start losing their memories of people in their lives. Sent to investigate the mysterious memory loss, August returns back to Fresne where he confronts Ella once again and the two begin to rekindle their friendship.

There were so many things done well in this book. First, we get the Prince’s point of view of the story. Second, we see throughout the story how people never really leave us, even if forgotten. They are a part of who we are and nothing can ever truly change that. And lastly, there were lots of little ways that the story tied back to their childhoods that I felt were done really well.

Overall, a beautiful read the enhances a beloved classic in a way that truly captured my heart.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins - ★★★★☆

This is a great prequel to the hunger games series. Not only does it give us Snow’s origin and gives more complexity around his character to help us understand him, but there are many tie ins to the rest of the series which I enjoyed. Some were fun little Easter eggs but some were not as obvious and got me thinking about how the 10th annual hunger games influenced and impacted the events in the rest of the series. I honestly think that if the events in this book hadn’t happened, they never would have waited to the 74th hunger games to start a rebellion. It shows great depth of previous characters, the games, and the country as a whole. It also shines light on how different the capitol is from the districts early on after the war and that the animosity which was created during the war never truly went away.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - ★★★★☆

This was a very good opening for what I imagine will be a great series! I know so many people love the series and after the first book, I am excited to see where the story goes.

One thing I love about SJM’s writing is that she gives you just enough new information to keep the story going without the story becoming too crowded with plot developments or seeming too sparse for events happening, and she does this so well in TOG too. It was written with great pacing of events and the story feels like a completed piece of a longer story that is waiting to be told.

I will say that the romance felt a little bit out of the blue, but I think it’s because more time passed in the book than I originally thought. Either way, I can’t wait to see where this story is going to go!

Overall Wrap Up