Month: January 2026

Book Review | Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Posted January 17, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in—both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. When her family is struck by tragedy, Daunis puts her dreams on hold to care for her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother’s hockey team.

After Daunis witnesses a shocking murder that thrusts her into a criminal investigation, she agrees to go undercover. But the deceptions—and deaths—keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home. How far will she go to protect her community if it means tearing apart the only world she’s ever known?

For the Reading Challenge(s):
TBD

The Reason

This book keeps turning up and catching my attention, so I decided to finally read it!

The Quotes

“We love imperfect people. We can love them and not condone their actions and beliefs.”

“When someone dies, everything about them becomes past tense. Except for the grief. Grief stays in the present. It’s even worse when you’re angry at the person. Not just for dying. But for how.”

“People say to think seven generations ahead when making big decisions, because our future ancestors—those yet to arrive, who will one day become the Elders—live with the choices we make today.”

“Some boats are made for the river and some for the ocean. And there are some who can go anywhere because they always know the way home.”

The Narrator(s)

Isabella Star LaBlanc. She did an amazing job! I was completely immersed in the story.

My Thoughts

I went into the story blind and was very surprised to find it was a contemporary young adult story. I had initially assumed it was historical fiction, but I also really loved reading about Indigenous people in our contemporary times and how that looks like for them. It was very eye-opening. I thought it started a little slow, but at the same time, I love how that set the stage for us. It got really interesting once the whole criminal investigation thing was revealed to the MC, Daunis, and the stakes got a lot higher after that. I’m not sure how to describe how I feel, but the story felt very real and emotional to me. The author did mention in an afterword that she was inspired by real events. I love that there was so much to takeaway from the book; about self-love, romantic love, the respect for tradition and culture, the strength and resilience of people who have not been treated very well. I am so glad I finally read this.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026

Posted January 12, 2026 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 49 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026

All the books I’ve chosen for this topic are by authors I’ve read and loved before and I feel pretty confident that I’ll love these ones too! I’m so excited for them! However, I made a promise to myself that I would prioritize some of the older books on my TBR, so I’m going to pace myself and try to be a good TBR reader.

Top Ten Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026

  1. Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett – Expected publication date: Feb 17, 2026. I loved the Emily Wilde series, and based off of this new title, I think I love it already.
  2. Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman – Expected publication date: Feb 10, 2026. I love the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by the same author, and Book 8 is supposed to be out May 12 but there wasn’t any cover design out yet, so I went with this unrelated book instead and I’ll probably read it too!
  3. All Hail Chaos by Sarah Rees Brennan – Expected publication date: Feb 17, 2026. The first book in the series, Long Live Evil, surprised me by how much I ended up loving it, so of course I’m reading this second one!
  4. Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher – Expected publication date: Mar 24, 2026. I love so many of Kingfisher’s works, she’s an automatic read for me.
  5. The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer – Expected publication date: Apr 7, 2026. I mean, a witch with the power to go into books and interact with the world? It’s my dream!
  6. The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss – Expected publication date: Apr 7, 2026. I love a good mystery/thriller, and this one sounds so good.
  7. The Shippers by Katherine Center – Expected publication date: May 19, 2026. Just assume that I’ll read anything Katherine Center writes. I love her books!
  8. Platform Decay by Martha Wells – Expected publication date: May 5, 2026. This is Book 8 in the Murderbot Diaries series, which I love and must continue with!
  9. Whistler by Ann Patchett – Expected publication date: Jun 2, 2026. I loved Bel Canto and I feel like this one will make me feel all the emotions too.
  10. The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden – Expected publication date: Jun 2, 2026. Arden’s writing gives me such mystical and magical vibes. I need this.

Are you anticipating any of these books? Have you read any books by these authors? What books are you looking forward to?

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Book Review | The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Posted January 10, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

The Turn of the Screw is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James that first appeared in serial format in Collier’s Weekly magazine (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898 it appeared in The Two Magics, a book published by Macmillan in New York City and Heinemann in London.

A very young woman’s first job: governess for two weirdly beautiful, strangely distant, oddly silent children, Miles and Flora, at a forlorn estate… An estate haunted by a beckoning evil. Half-seen figures who glare from dark towers and dusty windows- silent, foul phantoms who, day by day, night by night, come closer, ever closer. With growing horror, the helpless governess realizes the fiendish creatures want the children, seeking to corrupt their bodies, possess their minds, own their souls. But worse-much worse- the governess discovers that Miles and Flora have no terror of the lurking evil. For they want the walking dead as badly as the dead want them.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
The Classics Club
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #4: Has a dustjacket [my copy from the library had one!])

The Reason

I’ve been curious about this book for a while. It was available from my library and was relatively short, so I thought why not.

The Quotes

“Of course I was under the spell, and the wonderful part is that, even at the time, I perfectly knew I was.”

“To gaze into the depths of blue of the child’s eyes and pronounce their loveliness a trick of premature cunning was to be guilty of a cynicism in preference to which I naturally preferred to abjure my judgment and, so far as might be, my agitation.”

“An unknown man in a lonely place is a permitted object of fear to a young woman privately bred.”

The Narrator(s)

Simon Vance, and Vanessa Benjamin. Simon Vance does the prologue, and the rest of the story is predominantly narrated by Vanessa Benjamin. She was wonderful.

My Thoughts

I finished this book in one sitting because it was relatively short and it kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going on and what was going to happen. The story was very confusing, very ambiguous, you don’t get many questions answered, and in fact, the deeper in you go, the more questions you have that don’t get answered. But somehow it worked for me.

To be clear, I think I love the effect of this book more than I actually love the story, but I also think that’s by design. The phrase “the turn of the screw” meaning to add insult to injury, and/or to make something already bad even worse, I feel like James is playing with us. Getting us invested in the story, making us curious, bringing us on a journey, and then leading us to a non-destination that is absolutely dissatisfying and curse-worthy.

You end the book with more questions, in disbelief, wondering if that was it and why the hell you spend the last few hours reading the book at all. You question everything you read in the book, wondering what you missed, wondering what it meant, wondering if any of it was real or true or the ramblings of a madwoman. Well, at least I did. I am both pissed off I read the book and marveling at the brilliance of it, so as I said, I’m not as taken by the story as I am by what it’s doing to me. I feel like I’ve been punked and I kind of like it.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Lady Astronaut Universe series (Books 1-4) by Mary Robinette Kowal

Posted January 9, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Lady Astronaut Universe series by Mary Robinette Kowal

On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the east coast of the United States, including Washington D.C. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space, and requires a much larger share of humanity to take part in the process.

Elma York’s experience as a WASP pilot and mathematician earns her a place in the International Aerospace Coalition’s attempts to put man on the moon, as a calculator. But with so many skilled and experienced women pilots and scientists involved with the program, it doesn’t take long before Elma begins to wonder why they can’t go into space, too.

Elma’s drive to become the first Lady Astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions of society may not stand a chance against her.

The Reason

I’ve been eyeing this series for a while and was able to get the books on an Audible deal.

The Quotes

“It’s hard to convince people that catastrophic weather changes are coming on a nice day.”

“Even geniuses can be stupid when they’re scared.”

“There is something magic about takeoffs. I know people who are afraid of flying who say that the takeoffs and landings are the only hard parts, perhaps because that’s when the act of flying is most apparent. I love the way you get pushed back into your seat. The weight and the sense of momentum press against you and the vibrations from the tarmac hum through the yoke and into your palms and legs. Then, suddenly, everything stops and the ground drops away.”

The Narrator(s)

Mary Robinette Kowal herself. I loved it. I love the story, I love her narration, I loved it.

My Thoughts

Book 1 – The Calculating Stars
It wasn’t what I expected but it was very good, very nuanced, and I love that the FMC, Elma York, was introverted and flawed and yet had to step up and take charge. It’s set in the past so all the prejudices of the time was intact, but they had to adapt to new developments for the sake of survival. I love how racism and sexism was addressed and worked on. I love that things were difficult for the FMC, and she didn’t always know to do the right thing. It was really good!

Book 2 – The Fated Sky
I liked this one more than the first book. The characters became more developed for me, and I love that they are actually in outer space this time. One of the highlights for me was also the platonic relationships developing between the characters. I hated Parker in the first book, but he was so much more nuanced in this book, and the way his and Elma’s friendship developed was really beautiful to see. This might be my favorite of the series. Maybe.

Book 3 – The Relentless Moon
This one follows Nicole instead of Elma, and I really enjoyed the story itself, but it was incredibly painful when something difficult happens near the end. I had to stop reading for a moment and take a break with another book because it was really painful to feel all that emotion “on the page” and in the narrator’s voice. I think it really shows how amazing the author is, both for the storytelling and for the narration of those intense emotions.

Book 4 – The Martian Contingency
We come back to Elma for this story, and it was also another great story. She and her husband and other people are now on Mars and starting a new chapter. There was some very interesting subplots and backstories that we find out about, and there were also some Parker and Elma interactions, not many, but they were fun for me. I’m not sure I like the ending but it makes sense in a way, the stories from the first book until this one span many years, and goals and priorities change. It’s a good series and I loved it all.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars for all of them!

Have you read this series? Would you read this series? Did you like it or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Stoner by John Williams

Posted January 9, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Stoner by John Williams

William Stoner is born at the end of the nineteenth century into a dirt-poor Missouri farming family. Sent to the state university to study agronomy, he instead falls in love with English literature and embraces a scholar’s life, so different from the hardscrabble existence he has known. And yet as the years pass, Stoner encounters a succession of disappointments: marriage into a “proper” family estranges him from his parents; his career is stymied; his wife and daughter turn coldly away from him; a transforming experience of new love ends under threat of scandal. Driven ever deeper within himself, Stoner rediscovers the stoic silence of his forebears and confronts an essential solitude.

John Williams’s luminous and deeply moving novel is a work of quiet perfection. William Stoner emerges from it not only as an archetypal American, but as an unlikely existential hero, standing, like a figure in a painting by Edward Hopper, in stark relief against an unforgiving world.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
The Classics Club

The Reason

One of my in-person bookclub members praised this book very highly, and it became our December BOTM.

The Quotes

“In his forty-third year William Stoner learned what others, much younger, had learned before him: that the person one loves at first is not the person one loves at last, and that love is not an end but a process through which one person attempts to know another.”

“A war doesn’t merely kill off a few thousand or a few hundred thousand young men. It kills off something in a people that can never be brought back. And if a people goes through enough wars, pretty soon all that’s left is the brute, the creature that we—you and I and others like us—have brought up from the slime.”

“In the University library he wandered through the stacks, among the thousands of books, inhaling the musty odor of leather, cloth, and drying page as if it were an exotic incense.”

The Narrator(s)

Robin Field. It was great, I was very much immersed in Stoner’s world and I thought the narration was perfect.

My Thoughts

I was surprised by how invested I got into Stoner’s life. He’s an ordinary person, not special at all, and he doesn’t do anything special either. He was the most passive person but there were occasional times when he fought hard, and then nothing again, it’s interesting and perhaps true to life. The book follows him throughout his life and we see him through all his ups and downs. There were times you think he might achieve great things or do something extraordinary, times when you hurt for him and celebrate with him, times when you wish you could reach into the book and shake him and tell him to make better choices. There was a lot to think about and I think the writing is absolutely beautiful.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Emma by Jane Austen

Posted January 9, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Emma by Jane Austen

‘I never have been in love; it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall.’

Beautiful, clever, rich – and single – Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen’s most flawless work.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
The Classics Club

The Reason

I wanted to try more of Austen’s works! And it was a buddy read.

The Quotes

“I lay it down as a general rule, Harriet, that if a woman doubts as to whether she should accept a man or not, she certainly ought to refuse him.”

“Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.”

“I always deserve the best treatment because I never put up with any other.”

“There are people, who the more you do for them, the less they will do for themselves.”

“Nobody, who has not been in the interior of a family, can say what the difficulties of any individual of that family may be.”

The Narrator(s)

Wanda McCaddon. I enjoyed the narration.

My Thoughts

Emma is my third Austen book, and I think while I can enjoy Austen’s books, I could also just take them or leave them. They are good, to be fair, and very reflective of the era they were written in, the social expectations, culture, and prejudices. I’d say Austen is quite progressive for her time, and I can enjoy her books as historical and cultural studies, but I can’t enjoy them as romances because it’s hard to accept the ways gender norms and cultural expectations were viewed at the time.

I do love Emma for what it was though. I didn’t find many of the characters in this book likeable, but I do find them interesting and funny, and somewhat relatable. I quite enjoyed the read and got really invested in the drama in a very gossip-y, low-stakes way. I think Austen’s books in general are very well-written and easy to read. It is a little difficult sometimes to ignore the classism, misogyny, issues with age difference, etc. but unfortunately, it’s accurate to the times and culture it was written in, and I try to take that into account and not judge the story based on that. These issues are probably the reason why I could take or leave Austen’s works though.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Best Books I Read in 2025

Posted January 5, 2026 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday / 44 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Best Books I Read in 2025 

I read so many good books in 2025, it was so hard to choose! It’s a blessing though, I think, and I’d rather have too many good books than not enough to choose from. I also reread several favorite books that may or may not have a higher standing than some of the books I’ve listed here, but I didn’t think I should add them to this list in order to be fair to first time reads. The one exception is Dungeon Crawler Carl – I read the first two books the year before, but reread them, and the rest of the five books for the first time in 2025.

Top Ten Best Books I Read in 2025

  1. Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman – This is hands down my favorite books read in 2025. I know I’m cheating because it’s a whole series but it’s technically one story, and all seven books (so far) are so good! If I didn’t give the series a spot, it would be all seven books in seven spots on this list, and we gotta give the other books a chance!
  2. Lady Astronaut Universe series by Mary Robinette Kowal – Another cheat because it’s also a series. There are four books so far, and they are tangentially related but I really loved them and had to include them. I didn’t realize they were alternate historical fiction and initially expected something more sci-fi, but I loved what I got! I especially love how much attention to detail Kowal gave the story, and how nuanced the issues with societal and cultural prejudices were presented. It was very well-written.
  3. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville – This book is incredible and lives rent free in my head. There is so much to it; the worldbuilding, the characters, the emotions! OMG, the emotions! It was difficult to read at times because of how intense it got. It’s one book I know I want to reread because I know I’ll get more out of it, but not any time soon because I need to recover from the first time I read it!
  4. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – I tend to not remember much of the details of books I read, especially if it was a while ago, but I remember impressions, and this book really packed a punch. It’s especially painful for me to see small and vulnerable people getting hurt by big, authoritarian people, and this book made me rage and cry.
  5. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann – Another story that highlights racism, genocide, oppression, and the injustice of powerful people towards vulnerable people. Except that this is a true story and I hate that it happened and is still happening in less obvious ways. It hurts to see the evil that people are capable of, and especially with the current political climate we live in, that they get away with because other people allow them to, and even condone their actions. It frightens me and I really hope history doesn’t repeat itself.
  6. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman – This was a beautiful book about found family, which everyone knows I have a soft spot for. I can understand the despair and loneliness Ove initially felt and why he was so curmudgeonly at first, but I love seeing the journey of how things changed for him. It was such an emotional read for me.
  7. A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher – I love Kingfisher’s books because I love fairytale retellings and the kind of stories she writes in particular, but some are better than others and I think this is one of them. I’m not very familiar with the original fairytale it’s based on (Goose Girl) but I love this story on its own. I especially loved the characters because they were all so different but so strong in their own ways.
  8. Christine by Stephen King – I was good and only put one Stephen King book on my list. I was so surprised by how much I loved this one. I never prioritized this book from his vast catalog because I was not very interested in cars, but of course, it’s not about the car, it’s about the story and the way he tells it. King is a master at creating the most interesting characters; I love how even the side characters stand out and reminds us of real people in our lives. I love the way he writes the relationships between the different characters in the book and how relatable they are in different ways. The characters are always the best part of any King book.
  9. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer – I don’t know where to start with this. The fact that it’s a true story and such a tragedy made it really hard to read, but also so hard to put down. It doesn’t matter that it happened years ago, Krakauer wrote it when it was relatively fresh for him and even though he tried to be objective, his emotions are obvious on the page. I had so many thoughts and feelings while reading this that I write about more in the review, but oof, I’m still processing even now.
  10. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng – I love this book because of how subtle and nuanced the issues with classism and racism are. Don’t get me wrong, it’s also pretty blatant, but there are so many little details; the micro-aggressions, that you don’t see and don’t realize unless you’re living it or it’s pointed out to you. The topic of motherhood and what makes a good mother is also explored deeply here, and it’s emotional. I’m both traumatized and healed by this book.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Monthly Wrap Up | December 2025

Posted January 5, 2026 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 1 Comment

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

December 2025 Wrap Up

Happy 2026, everyone!!

I had a busy, but good, December and I feel very happy and hopeful for the new year. I do feel like I’m constantly playing catch-up with my blog posts and book reviews though, and I am truly sorry for neglecting my blog and all of you who have been very patient with me.

My intention is to catch up with all my reviews for December, and I really want to participate in the Top Ten Tuesdays and Sunday Posts more regularly this year. I also really love the End of Year Book Surveys and booktag memes, and I’ll try to do them throughout this rest of this month.

I’m making new year resolutions for better time management and I’m going to do better in 2026!

My December 2025 TBR Intentions

I was trying to take it easy in December so I only had four books on my TBR intentions, and I cannot believe that I completely forgot to read one of them! I forgot I had it on my list! Oh well, I’ll read it this year. 😅

  1. Emma by Jane Austen
  2. Stoner by John Williams
  3. The Wedding People by Alison Espach
  4. My Friends by Fredrik Backman

Books Read in December 2025

  1. The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
  2. The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal
  3. The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
  4. The Martian Contingency by Mary Robinette Kowal
  5. The Wedding People by Alison Espach
  6. Emma by Jane Austen
  7. Stoner by John Williams
  8. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
  9. Starter Villain by John Scalzi
  10. Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

Notable Books This Month

The Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal were really good! I didn’t expect them to be alternate history because the title made me think sci-fi, not history, but it made a whole lot of sense and I really like the stories that she told with each of the individual books.

Stoner was also another standout, and it’s interesting that it is because the MC is such an ordinary, unremarkable character, who’s just wanting to live a simple life. I love that we follow him throughout his life and see him through his ups and downs; the challenges that he faces, the good times he enjoys, his occasional bursts of brilliance, his passion about certain issues and then his passivity on other issues. It’s just such great writing.

January 2026 TBR Intentions

Other than BOTM obligations for January, I’m also wanting to get to some of the books on my TBR that I didn’t manage to get to last year.

  1. Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
  2. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
  3. The Women Are Not Fine by Hope Reese
  4. The Glass Château by Stephen P. Kiernan
  5. The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
  6. The Will of the Many by James Islington
  7. The Strength of the Few by James Islington

How was your month in December? How was your year in 2025? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful 2026 with lots of great books!

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