January READS || Faves, DNF's, & Reading Goals Update
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- I am sharing all of the books I read in January! It was a good reading month despite a high number of DNF's. And I have an update on my reading goals and how well I did to read off my shelves. How many books did you read off your shelves in January?
I upload new videos on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and occasionally on Sundays.
VIDEOS MENTIONED:
2025 Reading Goals -
Read My Shelves Challenge -
BOOKS MENTIONED:
Love Begins in Winter by Simon van Booy - amzn.to/4aRBaeU
Reading with Patrick by Michelle Kuo - amzn.to/3ExCOpD
The Song of Hartgrove Hall by Natasha Solomons - amzn.to/4104mgs
A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro - amzn.to/3WFIlAH
Bright Young Dead by Jessica Fellowes - amzn.to/3WKZjOk
Passion and Affect by Laurie Colwin - amzn.to/4hkpJ1v
Every Living Thing by James Herriot - amzn.to/4aJ39xg
Persuasion by Jane Austen - amzn.to/3EoRjMy
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1 by Beth Brower - amzn.to/3WLw51A
Letters of Note: Cats Compiled by Shaun Usher - amzn.to/40YJ02N
The Woods in Winter by Stella Gibbons - amzn.to/4gs3lCn
The Deadly Mystery of the Missing Diamonds by T.E. Kinsey - amzn.to/4gpyXsb
There Is A Tide by Agatha Christie - amzn.to/4hJp61i
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder - amzn.to/40XRYxn
Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim - amzn.to/4jG5NYB
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman - amzn.to/4jLNmSy
Audrey Hepburn: A Little Golden Book Biography by Emily Easton - amzn.to/3Q3bmmd
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher - amzn.to/40MqedR
The Bee and the Fly by Lorraine Tosiello & Jane Cavolina - amzn.to/4hEcqJ6
Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley - amzn.to/3CwqWnr
Dear Hugo by Molly Clavering - amzn.to/3WP9YYf
Kate & Friday by Kim Fay - amzn.to/3WLtjtf
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JOIN MY 2025 EMMA M. LION READALONG
Emma M. Lion Readalong Announcement: • ANNOUNCING The 2025 Em...
#booktube #books #reading #cozybooks #bookcommunity #januaryreads
A pleasure participating in your Jane-aury!
I’m so glad you participated, Vero! It was lovely having you. 😊❤️
I read all the Herriott books and loved them, but never heard of Every Living Thing until today. I'm going to chase that one down!
It’s just as lovely as all the others! 🥰
📝Great reading month! I'm very intrigued by There is a Tide! And I'm so excited for Kate & Frida!
If you read There Is A Tide, let me know! And you are going to love Kate & Frida! 😊
Bummer that you had so many DNFs (esp. the 2nd Mitford book!), but I’m glad you ended up having a good reading month overall! The number of books you read each month is amazing!
I have to admit that I didn’t love my first reading experience of Persuasion, but that’s only because I watched a movie adaptation in the middle of reading the book, and it made me impatient to get to the swoony happily-ever-after ending. 😂 I was enjoying the book before I watched the movie, so I plan on re-reading Persuasion soon. I also really loved The Woods in Winter and I was so charmed hilariously brusk Ivey (although I did NOT care for her “friendship” with the roaches), and I wish the book didn’t end so abruptly. Great selection by you and Rebecca!
I am so glad you enjoyed The Woods in Winter - you definitely weren't alone! It had very mixed reactions. And Persuasion will be there whenever you are ready to go back to it.
Congratulations for achieving your January reading goals🎉🎉
Thank you! 😁
What a great reading month. Thank you for sharing your reading goals too. I enjoyed being a part of Janeuary and I am loving the Emma M.Lion readalong ❤
I am participating in the read from your shelves challenge, BUT, there is an annual book fair where I live, which takes place every January; so the number of books on my shelves actually increased this month, because I could not resist the temptation of getting some good second hand books at great prices. Not a great start to the challenge for me. Hopefully I can get back on track. ❤
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the readalongs! And that’s ok about reading your shelves. I wouldn’t be able to pass up a book fair either! 😁
@ Thank you Jen, I appreciate it ❤️
I have been looking forward to your review of The Bee and the Fly. I'm so excited to read it now! I also look forward to Jane Austen at Home. Thank you for the great recommendations!
You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy them! 😊
Congratulations on meeting your reading goals in January! Off to a great start! So many good books!
Thank you so much! January was a good month for my reading goals. 😊
A couple of interesting books there that I will look up at the library. 📃📚
I hope you enjoy them! 😊
Just looking at your list makes me want to read a lot of them!!!
If you do, I hope you enjoy them! It was a good reading month. 😁
Jen I’m totally with you on the skipping the mysteries that don’t pay off quickly and aren’t satisfying and moving onto better ones! For instance, I discovered Cadfael at long last! Never liked the series, but finally read an Ellis peters book and I am wild about this series! Such good writing.Great stories. So I’ve cleared mass spaces on my shelves for her 21 Cafield books.😊
Isn’t it so good when you find a new mystery series to love? That is the best feeling! Enjoy Cadfael!
I was disappointed to miss Jane-uary, but there was just so much going on in life. I did want to thank you for the epistilary video. I'm halfway through The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, and I love it! Those WW2 references are really grabbing me as my sophomores are currently studying the memoir, Night.
Thanks for the recommendations!
I’m so glad you are enjoying Guernsey! It’s such a lovely book. Hopefully you can join in for next year’s Jane-uary! 😊
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I ordered The Woods in Winter❄️. Look forward to reading.
I hope you enjoy it. 😊
Jen, Congratulations on your January accomplishments!🎉🎉 I am proud of myself for completing all 3 of your group reads. Persuasion was a challenge due to the old fashioned English but amazingly I got use to it. I look forward to Vol. 2 of Emma M Lion. I have borrowed Understood Betsy but have yet to read it. I bought the Letters of Cats on Pango for .99! It’s waiting to be read. I’m intrigued with Bee & Fly, Dear Hugo, Jane Austen at home and Elizabeth and her German garden. More to add to my tbr. Since the Newbery, Caldecott and other Youth book awards were announced last week, I am busy attacking those. Thanks again for a wonderful video. It’s always a joy to watch you.
I am so glad you participated in and enjoyed the group reads! I had so much fun doing them. 😊
I need to take a look at all the award announcements especially with Middle Grade March almost upon us!
I reread “Jane Austen at Home” by Lucy Worsley for Jane-uary as you said, it’s fantastic. It’s a must-read for Jane Austen fans and/or for enthusiasts of British social history. And thanks to you, I read and enjoyed my first Laurie Colwin, “Happy All the Time.”
It makes me so happy that you enjoyed your first Laurie Colwin book! She’s not for everyone but she really speaks to me.
And I can see rereading Jane Austen at Home and using it for reference going forward when I reread Austen’s novels.
I recently listened to Love and Saffron and loved it so much❣️ Looking forward to Kate and Frida!!
Me too! I think you’ll really enjoy Kate and Frida. 😊
My best read for January (besides Emma M Lion) was listening to The Morville Hours audiobook for Miranda Mills’ Cosy Book Club. I’ve owned that audiobook for many years (I don’t think it’s available anymore?) and started it multiple times, but got through it last month. It was lovely. I’ve gone on to purchase the ebook of The Morville Year to read at some point in the future. I’m not much of a gardener (I prefer pots of plants on my patio) but she has SO much more in this book! Have you tried it, Jen?
I have not read that one but was curious about it when I saw Miranda had picked it foe her book club. I will definitely check it out. Thank you!
I have just finished listening to The Bermondsey Bookshop by Mary Gibson and loved it, and think you would too. 🖌️📚❤️
Thanks! I will check that one out. 😊
Loving Emma M Lion and your book chats,thanks
Thank you! I’m so glad to hear that. 😊
I adored Understood Betsy. I was so pleasantly surprised by that one when I read it aloud to my kids a few years ago. Might be time for a reread on my own! I will have to check out Elizabeth and Her German Garden. I really enjoyed The Enchanted April. Jane Austen at Home was really interesting. I enjoyed that one a lot too. Have you read her bio of Agatha Christie? I just put it on my TBR.
I think you’d enjoy Elizabeth and Her German Garden, it was lovely. And I have read Lucy Worsley’s Agatha Christie biography. It was very good.
I loved Elizabeth and Her German Garden! I combined audio with Kindle, it was so fun. I have a brown thumb, for sure. Also really loved Dear Hugo - I am also a Molly Clavering fan, I only have 2 left unread.
I meant to read Jane Austen at home but my January was especially unpredictable, I wasn't able to read as much as I would have liked. But ... I was reading! Once again I have to remind myself that it's not a competition.
I'm catching up with your booktube channel, now to listen to your anniversary celebration. One year! Good for you. And us.
I’m glad my brown thumb is not alone! 😁 Tell me which Molly Clavering I should read next…
It’s sometimes hard to remember that reading isn’t a competition. Especially when there are so many book out there I want to read! And so little time.
@@jensreadinglife I really liked Susan Settles Down. Not because of the name!
@@susanmay4215 that is one is going next on my list! Thanks! 😊
Thank you Jen! I have more books to add to my wish list. Be well, Karin
You're welcome, Karin! I'm so glad you found some books to add to your list!
You had quite the January of reading! Some books just don't hit right. I am glad that I got to dip into Jane Austen with Persuasion.
I am glad you gave Austen a try as well! Do you think you’ll read more by her?
I’m so excited about the release of “Kate & Frida” by Kim Fay. You’re right that the release date is March 11th.😀
You are going to love it! It’s so good. 😊
Loved reading Persuasion with your group during Jane-uary! An Austen I had never read, thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you!
I'm so glad! It was lovely to have you! 💗
Fun reviews! 🖊️ ✍️
Thank you so much! 😊
I love rereading books! I have read and reread Rosamunde Pilcher’s books.. I have a whole set of Lenore Mattingly Weber’s Beany Malone books. Have read and reread them, too. ❤
I’ve only become a big rereader over the past few years but now it’s an essential part of my reading life. Rosamunde Pilcher is the best! I haven’t heard of the Beany Malone books but now you’ve made me curious about them.
I read the Beany Malone books when I was about 10 or so and enjoyed them very much. I remember how much Norbert loved peppermint stick ice cream!
I need to get that Lucy Worsley book! I finished 6 books in January (down from last year) but that also meant I did more knitting!
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Reading and knitting sounds like a wonderful way to have spent this past month! 🥰
Understood Betsy- I so love it! And if you know that DC Fisher was one of the first people to introduce Montessori education to America you can see how much of the Montessori philosophy of independence and hands on learning are woven into it. Her Montessori book is called Montessori for Parents.
Someone else commented about her connection to Montessori education which I didn’t realize! That is so fascinating. I actually looked into becoming a Montessori teacher when I was just out of college but never made it happen.
What a reading month! congrats on the many you checked off your list! sorry you didn't click with the Natasha Solomon book - have you read House of Tyneford? Love those Herriot editions - make me think of the most recent Creatures PBS series 🥰. Thanks for the heads up on the TE Kinsey book, adding it to my kindle. 🖋📃🫖
I actually did read and liked The House at Tyneford though that was about 15 years ago! The Herriot covers really do look like the intro to the new series, don’t they?
@@jensreadinglife hope you are enjoying the Creatures season airing right now. Did you know that there was a Mrs Polifax movie ( from like 1999 ) with Angela Lansbury? It popped up on my You-Tube feed yesterday? Love Angela Lansbury..
@@JacquelineCaron yes! I came across it when I was going down my Mrs. Pollifax rabbit hole. I definitely need to watch it. I love Angela Lansbury as well!
Wow, so many gains toward your goals. Reading is a new pastime for me so my goal is one book per month (your book club picks.) I struggled through The Woods in Winter. But, I also ended up reading eight other books including Persuasion. 📖
That sounds like a fantastic reading month! The Woods in Winter was a struggle for me too. I just never really connected with it. Here’s hoping our February book is much better! 😊
My reading month was a good start to the year. I read 6 off my shelves and I read my first in a presidential biography challenge with Washington:A Life by Chernow. It was a doorstop but much more interesting than expected. It was a good start to a big challenge!
I have a friend reading through all the presidential biographies - that is quite the project! And that is great that you read 6 off your shelves. Yay!
@@jensreadinglife I got the idea from Heidi at My Reading Life. She's great and reads quite a bit of nonfiction and nature focused books. She's been working on the challenge for 10 years and is up to FDR...so I have a long way to go. But you learn so much by going through things chronologically. I thought it would be a good way to learn more US history and get some perspective. We will see how it goes!
@@tamarayork8654 I wish you all the luck!
Thanks, Jen! I appreciate your sharing about Understood Betsy, and I am super intrigued and glad to know about this book. Perhaps a bit of a random fact here, Dorothy Canfield Fisher was instrumental in helping bring Montessori education to the U.S. She was one of the first people to visit Italy from the States to meet Maria Montessori in the early 1900s-ish, and the elements you mentioned within the book mirror Montessori principles... so this is new and fascinating to me. I can hardly wait to read the book! (And we owe both of these women, clearly ahead of their time, a great deal for their work in service to children.)
Also, I am so glad to know that Kate and Frida has helped up against Love and Saffron. This is another book I can hardly wait to read. I'm currently reading Lonesome Dove and Miss Buncle's Book, obviously so different, but I needed something light to balance my month-long read of L.D.
As always, thank you!! 📚🫶
Thank you for sharing all that about DCF! I did not know about her Montessori connection but that is so interesting.
I would love to know what you think of Lonesome Dove when you finish it - I read it a couple of years ago. And Miss Buncle is the perfect palate cleanser!
Slow reading Jane Austen at Home and read 18 books in January - 5 off my TBR! 😃
That’s fantastic! 😁💕
Persuasion was one of my 25 in 25 challenge. So I decided to read it in January too.
I'm doing well so far in my challenge, but I have so many huge books to get through. Currently halfway through The Count of Monte Cristo, hoping to finish it this month 😅
The Count is a huge book! That is impressive! I’d love to read it someday but I have other classics I want to tackle first. 😊
I had picked two books off my Kindle to read in January-Lucy Worsley's Jane Austen at Home and Stolen by Ann-Helene Laestadius and put them both down as they were kind of slow going. I read Agatha Christie's Sleeping Murder which I enjoyed. Now I am reading Before the Fact by Francis Iles which was used by Alfred Hitchcock for the film Suspicion which I am enjoying. The book that I will read next will be Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. I hope that I will have the patience to pick up the ebooks that I stopped reading later.
For some reason I struggle to read nonfiction on my Kindle. I really need either the physical book or audiobook to fully take it in. I’m not sure why that is but it’s something I’ve learned about myself over time. 😊
Before the Fact sounds like it would be good. And I still haven’t read any Ruta Sepetys but hope to rectify that this year. Happy reading!
I just got my copy of Vol. 1 of the Unselected Letters of Emma M. Lion today and am psyched to read it! I'm going to have to try another Austen book that's NOT P and P. I've tried it twice--got up to chapter 9 at one time and didn't see what the fuss was about. Another booktuber suggests that one might start with Emma so I might try that one instead and see what I think. I had no idea Dorothy Canfield Fisher wrote any adult novels. I'm going to have to look into those as I loved the Betsy series when I read them as a kid. Letters of Notes CATS is one I def. will check out as I'm nuts about cats! I'm so glad that Kim Fay is out with a new one. I loved Love and Saffron so much--I had a few tears at the end, which almost NEVER happens with me. I heard you and some others talk about L & S and tried it. Also, am reading Miss Buncle's Book which is quite the delight!
I hope you enjoy Emma if you try it. And I’m so happy to hear you are reading and loving Miss Buncle! Be sure to read Miss Buncle Married as well. I loved it just as much as the first book!
I must admit that I dnf'd The Woods in Winter, which is a shame as I love Cold Comfort Farm. I also love Understood Betsy - I am so glad you did too. I agree about Jane At Home - every Jane Austen fan should read it. And I remember being very disturbed about the ending of There is A Tide.
My own reading focused on self-publishing as I am writing my first book. But I did love The Way of the Wolf, the first in series about a female werewolf. Very different sort of book for me, but just right for me this month.
How exciting that you are writing your first book! May I ask what it’s about?
@@jensreadinglife Yes, it is about different ways we can engage with the Bible - reading it, praying it, etc. I think it will end up being more of an overview of all the different options but we will see. Thank you for asking!
@@MLLatUtube That sounds really interesting. Best of luck with it!
I loved "Love and Saffron" by Kim Fay, I will have to check this out.
It was just as wonderful! I hope you enjoy it. 😊
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I’m reading “Love and Saffron” (for the 1st time 🥰) and I really like it!
So, tell me; do you think you would ever try to make any of the recipes?
Every time I read a book with recipes it makes me want to try to make them but I never have! Maybe I should do that as a vlog sometime…try to cook a recipe from a book! 😁
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Overall, my January reading month wasn’t as good as it should have been, quantity-wise. I’m not taking advantage of every reading opportunity that I have, and I have gotten into the terrible habit of preferring to zone out and watch YT videos or something on a streaming platform to relax in the evenings instead of reading.
My Read Your Shelves Challenge was going okay until I stumbled upon some delightful-sounding Daphne du Maurier books and brought them home, much to the chagrin of my unread books. So now I’ve awakened the book buying monster and now I’m trying to silence that little devil that constantly sits on my shoulder and suggests browsing book websites when I have a free minute or 5. I need to restart my 5K reading challenge!
I always say quality over quantity! And I am equally guilty of zoning out on my phone or watching videos instead of reading.
The Daphne du Maurier books sound like a great find! And I need to know about your 5K reading challenge - do share!
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👋 where do you get your physical books from. I am not much of an audio book person. So enjoy your videos!
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I get my physical books from quite a few different places - local bookstores, LFLs, my library bookstore and book sales, Barnes & Noble, Book Outlet, Thriftbooks, Blackwells, and more. I have a few links in my description box for some of these that you can check out. 😊
@jensreadinglife thank you!!
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📝✏️ I read I who have never known men by Jaqueline Harpman and I gave it 6/5❤. I DNFed The Golden Cup by Marcia Willett at p50 something. A high and a low for me this January!
I just looked up I Who Have Never Known Men and that sounds fascinating. How dark/bleak is it? I may have to add it to my TBR.
I did not find it too dark. It’s not gory or no gratuitous violence or anything like that at all. I felt the feels and ive been thinking about it ever since I finished. I will read it again this year.
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I read 6 books in January. I am trying to be more patient and not be so quick to DNF a book. Did not DFN a book in January.
That's amazing! Good for you! 😊
While listening to the first part of the video, I thought "oh, please don't get burned out doing too much". That said, maybe you could incorporate your 'read a chapter' with the selections from your 'owned book selections'. Not as emotionally involved as a DNF.
I recently read Agatha Christie's 'Sparkling Cyanide ' and felt the same way about the final chapters as you expressed. It's been made into a movie more than once, but not a satisfying book. Interesting to see how much she was pushed to publish.
That’s a great idea about doing the Try A Chapter for the books I’ve pulled to read from my shelves this year. Especially the ones I’m unsure about. You have inspired me! 😊
@jensreadinglife thanks Jen - I recall the Try a Chapter video as being very upbeat 🤗
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Netflix is doing a new little house series. I did a video on that!
I saw the announcement on Melissa Gilbert’s Instagram page. I’ll have to check out your video too. I’ll be so curious to see how it holds up to the original.
@ I was tagging people I knew read little house but I forgot about you!!
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OMG, that ending in Taken at the flood! It made me so angry! And yes. So out of character for Poirot.
Right??? I mean what was that? So disappointing.
Right??? I mean what was that? So disappointing.
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I (sadly) DNF’d “The Woods in Winter” for the same reason you mentioned, I didn’t care for Ivy, and I was a bit confused at what was happening. I also wasn’t excited to pick up the book at all, so I decided it wasn’t for me.
My 5 star book in January was “The Art Thief” by Michael Finkle ✉️❤
It’s definitely the right move to DNF (or at least set aside) a book if you’re not excited to pick it up! The Art Thief sounds fascinating! Have you read The Feather Thief? If you want another crazy true crime theft, definitely give that one a read. It is bonkers (but in a good way! 😂).
@jensreadinglife I will have to look that up, I love a good bonkers book 😂
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