Wow. I read a ton of books this month. I told myself that I was going to slow my reading game a bit this year. Accept fewer ARCS, spend more time outside, pull from my TBR, work on some writing projects and catch up on TV shows. Funny thing is, I have done all of the above, but the TV shows and movies thing is where I am struggling. I find it more and more difficult to focus on them. I tend to want to grab my phone and scroll while watching, which ends up in me going down a rabbit hole and then I start doom scrolling and the anxiety kicks in. I don’t feel the need to pick up my phone while reading, so, here we are. Still reading a butt-ton of books each month and my mental health is better for it.

This month I knocked three books from my “25 in 2025 TBR Challenge” list, I read three that satisfied some of my 2025 reading prompts, and three that satisfied my January monthly reading prompts. Here are my favorite books of the month and how I rated all of them:

5 Star:

• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (This satisfied my 2025 reading prompt of “Read a banned book”)

4 – 4.75 Star:

• The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon (This satisfied my 2025 reading prompt of “Read the first book in a new to you series”)
• The Darkest Child by Dolores Philips (This satisfied my January reading prompt of “Read a book set during the civil rights era”)
• I Think They Love You by Julian Winters
• Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel
• This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan (This book was from my 25 in 2025 TBR Challenge)
• One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon (This book was from my 25 in 2025 TBR Challenge)
• What Happened to the McCrays? by Tracey Lange
• The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune (Review will post on 2/3)
• Isaac’s Song by Daniel Black (Review will post on 2/5)
• The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon (Review will post on 2/6)

3 – 3.75 Star:

• The Block Party by Jamie Day (This satisfied my January reading prompt of “Read a book set during a celebration”)
• Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars (This satisfied my January reading prompt of “Read any author’s debut book”)
• The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. MacLean (This book was from my 25 in 2025 TBR Challenge)
• The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (This satisfied my 2025 reading prompt of “Read a book that was made into a movie”)
• A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall
• Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros (No review, but I gave this 3.5 stars)
• First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison (Review will post on 2/4)

2-2.75 Star:

• Clever Little Thing by Helena Echlin
• Cross My Heart by Megan Collins (Review will post on 2/7)

1-1.75 Star:

• The Family Inside by Katie Garner (I finished this one, but didn’t bother with a review.)

I have a few ARCs that I need to read this month and Book of the Month was banging with their selections (I ordered several). I still have some selections from last month to catch up on. Needless to say, I anticipate another full month of reading. We’ll see if I get to all of these.

Besides the books pictured above, I also plan to read the following:

• Unromance by Erin Connor (January Aardvark pick)
• The Other March Sisters by Linda Epstein, Ally Malinenko and Liz Parker (ARC)
• A Circle of Uncommon Witches by Paige Crutcher (ARC)
• Rose of Jericho by Alex Grecian (ARC)
• This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead (ARC)
• Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine (Aardvark pick)