Jan-uary Book Tag

I was talking to Cat from the Strawberry Post about this the other day since I was planning to post this tag on New Year’s Day but didn’t manage time-wise. I know that tags aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m wiped out from waking up in the middle of the night and worried about the content. The next couple of posts will be on the simple side so that I can recover from the burnout. I wish I had a pair of fully functioning hands, but I have to work with what I have. The cherry on top is WordPress won’t let me copy and paste my own graphics; sorry, I will stop moaning and get to the tag. The creator is Jan Agaton, and I linked the 2025 version.

What was the last (& first, if you remember) book you read last year?

Surprisingly, even after reading 700-plus books, I still remember my first read of 2024. It is The Last Phone Booth in Manhattan by Beth Merlin and Danielle Modafferi. It is a holiday contemporary romance with magical realism, so you do get a little bit of everything. The last one was Walking Away from Midnight by Tom Kane, which I wasn’t fond of and gave it two stars.

Goodreads Blurb:

Avery Lawrence thought she had it all—a charming fiancé, a Broadway-themed star-studded engagement, and a picture-perfect life. But when her fraudster of a fiancé’s true identity is exposed and he’s hauled away in handcuffs, Avery’s world comes crashing down faster than the chandelier in Phantom of the Opera. Left stranded on Christmas Day outside the federal prison without her cell phone or wallet, Avery stumbles out of the cold and into the last phone booth in Manhattan. With nothing left to lose, Avery is directed by a mysterious voice on the line to the doorstep of the college boyfriend she thought she’d moved on from over six years ago.

When a second encounter with the phone booth leads Avery to a life-changing audition for Marley Is Dead, a new musical based on Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, Avery is blown away by the striking similarities between the show and her own life. Convinced the phone booth is somehow responsible for reuniting her with “the one that got away” and reigniting her acting career, maybe she will finally have the chance to rewrite her future. But as she grapples with the ghosts of her past and the uncertainty of her present, Avery must decide whether to follow her heart or pursue her dream.

Goodreads Blurb:

“It’s an enigma, wrapped in a blanket of secrecy, bound with a web of deceit.”In the summer of 1939, Jessie Fordham graduates from Cambridge University with a mind buzzing with academic achievements but a heart burdened by family strife. Jessie is travelling to her parents’ summer house, le lac de minuit, the midnight lake, nestled in the tranquil French Ardennes. Yet, Jessie dreads the impending months, haunted by memories of a fractured childhood spent evading confrontations with her father, Albert, and stepmother, Armel. Suspicions of their clandestine affair during her mother’s illness linger, casting a shadow over family bonds.

As tensions simmer beneath the idyllic facade of midnight lake, the Fordham family reunites against the backdrop of looming war. With the spectre of conflict hanging heavy in the air, Jessie’s world is upended when Germany’s invasion of France in May 1940 thrusts her father, Albert, into the heart of diplomatic turmoil as Britain’s Military Attaché to France.

Summoned to the British Embassy in Paris, Albert entrusts Jessie with a perilous safeguarding a crucial secret and delivering it to British intelligence in London. Charged with the safety of her siblings and household staff, Jessie finds herself entangled in a desperate gambit to navigate the treacherous landscape of wartime Europe.

With Dunkirk as their beacon of hope amidst the chaos, Jessie must summon every ounce of wit and courage to protect her charges and safeguard her father’s clandestine mission. From the dense foliage of the Ardennes Forest to the battered streets of Dunkirk, Jessie’s journey is a testament to resilience in the face of adversity, where loyalty, sacrifice, and the bonds of family are tested to the limit, amidst the tumult of war.

What is your first read this year?

I picked up Tell Me Where She’s Buried by Patrick Logan, which was a last-minute buy of 2024, but I’m glad I got it since I enjoyed it.

Goodreads Blurb:

Eleven years ago, Los Angeles was terrorized by The Sandman, a serial killer who claimed at least twelve women’s lives. Young FBI Agent Constantine ‘Con’ Striker stopped him, but not before enduring a devastating personal loss—his twin sister, Valerie, was one of the victims.

Or so he believes.

Even after a decade on death row and confessing to twelve murders, The Sandman denies knowing Valerie Striker. Desperate for closure, Con demands the killer reveal where his sister’s remains are buried. But The Sandman refuses to talk.

Con’s obsession with finding his sister has cost him nearly everything he his marriage is in tatters, his career is on the brink, and he’s burned through partners faster than he changes his clothes.

Now, rookie agent Alex Frost joins Con on a new stopping the piracy of Hollywood films before their release. As they investigate, they uncover a web of darkness and complexity far beyond simple theft… and more deadly.

When they discover a connection between the pirated films and Valerie’s disappearance, Con believes he’s on the brink of finally finding out the truth.

But the stakes have never been higher.

Share 3 of your reading goals this year.

The three at the top of my head are:

• Participate in fewer readathons (this one I said last year but didn’t do it.)
• Don’t force myself to read when I’m not in the mood
• Be okay with my book reviews being shorter

Share 3 of your most anticipated titles.

Goodreads Blurb:

Forty years ago, a young woman and her infant daughter were found buried in the cold Icelandic snow, lying together as peacefully as though sleeping. Except the mother’s throat had been slashed and the infant drowned. The case was never solved. There were no arrests, no conviction. Just a suspicion turned into a the husband did it. When he took his son and fled halfway across the world to California, it was proof enough of his guilt.

Now, nearly half a century later and a year after his death, his granddaughter, Agnes, is ready to clear her grandfather’s name once and for all. Still recovering from his death and a devastating injury, Agnes wants nothing more than an excuse to escape the shambles of her once-stable life—which is why she so readily accepts true crime expert Nora Carver’s invitation to be interviewed for her popular podcast. Agnes packs a bag and hops on a last-minute flight to the remote town of Bifröst, Iceland, where Nora is staying, where Agnes’s father grew up, and where, supposedly, her grandfather slaughtered his wife and infant daughter.

Is it merely coincidence that a local girl goes missing the very same weekend Agnes arrives? Suddenly, Agnes and Nora’s investigation is turned upside down, and everyone in the small Icelandic town is once again a suspect. Seeking to unearth old and new truths alike, Agnes finds herself drawn into a web of secrets that threaten the redemption she is hell-bent on delivering, and even her life—discovering how far a person will go to protect their family, their safety, and their secrets.

Set against an unforgiving Icelandic winter landscape, The Lost House is a chilling and razor-sharp thriller packed with jaw-dropping twists that will leave you breathless.

Goodreads Blurb:

Stephanie and Jasmine have nothing and everything in common. The two women don’t know each other but are on the same plane. Stephanie is on a business trip and Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship. After a few days, they text their friends the same exact messages about the same man—the messages becoming stranger and more erratic.

And then the two women vanish. The texts go silent, the red flags go up, and the panic sets in. When Stephanie and Jasmine are each declared missing and in danger, it begs the questions: Who is Trent McCarthy? What did he do to these women— or what did they do to him?

Goodreads Blurb:

Rosie Lachlan wants nothing more than to find The One.

A year after she was dumped in her wedding dress, she’s working at her parents’ bridal salon, anxious for a happy ending that can’t come soon enough. After receiving a life-saving heart transplant, Rosie knows her health is precious and precarious. She suspects her heart donor is Daphne Thorne, the wife of local celebrity author Morgan Thorne, who she begins messaging via an anonymous service called DonorConnect, ostensibly to learn more about Daphne. But Rosie has a secret: She’s convinced that now that she has his wife’s heart, she and Morgan are meant to be together.

As she and Morgan correspond, the pretense of avoiding personal details soon disappears, even if Rosie’s keeping some cards close to her chest. But as she digs deeper into Morgan’s previous marriage, she discovers disturbing rumors about the man she’s falling for. Could Morgan have had something to do with his late wife’s death? And can Rosie’s heart sustain another break—or is she next?

Which goals did you reach/not reach last year?

The list of self-publishing books I read wasn’t reached, which I’m not happy about.

Are there new releases this year you’ve heard of that you have no desire to read?

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros since, by unpopular opinion, I’m not a fan of Fourth Wing.

What are some reading habits you want to change this year, if any?

To make notes while I’m reading the book since after I forget some details.

Are there any adaptations you’re excited about?

There might be some that I don’t know about yet, but as of right now, nothing caught

Favorite bookish memory of last year?

• The romance readathon
• Awesome reading sprints

Carryovers from last year that you still plan on finishing?

I have a bunch from bookhauls I want to get to at some point.

Tagging:

Cat from the Strawberry Post

Alex