Monthly TBR – January 2025
Today’s first monthly TBR of 2025 comes to you with the whiff of a fresh start still in the air. My reading goals are still new and shiny…
Okay, enough of the pretentious rubbish!
Welcome to my first monthly TBR of the year. I’m excited to share my planned reads for January. I’m hoping to kick-start the year with some solid 5* reads and some ticks in the ol’ reading goal boxes. Start as we mean to go on, right?
The first two books on this list are carryovers from 2024. I picked these up in the hopes they’d see me right into 2025 and get me hyped for more great books. From there, I plan to pick up book club’s choice for January and some highly anticipated reads.
Shall we take a look?
Fixed Reads
The Priory of the Orange Tree
My first carryover from December is my audiobook listen of The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon.
It’s been a good while since I listened to fantasy in audiobook format. Despite my reservations about retaining detail given the format of the book, I’m doing pretty well. I suspect it helped that I picked up this audio at a time when I could really dedicate some time to getting introduced to the world and the narrative. Usually, I’m piecemeal with picking up audiobooks. However, I had some time off around Christmas last year and I made the most of it!
As of this monthly TBR post, I have just 7 hours of audio left. This book is nearly 26 hours long, so I’m really getting to the conclusion anyway. I think that’ll help motivate my towards this very close finish!
Fool’s Errand
My second carryover is Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb. This book was my only physical read at the end of the year. It was also a mood read I picked up in the final days of December. Knowing I wanted a pretty much guaranteed 5 star read to start 2025 with, Fool’s Errand made logical sense.
Fool’s Errand is living up to its predecessors in the wider series. I’m really enjoying being back in the world of Fitz. He’s one of my favourite characters so far. Although things have moved on a little since the first trilogy, I’m also loving the familiar surroundings.
As of this monthly TBR post, I’m 400 pages into the book. With less than 200 pages left to completion, I’m again hoping this spurs me into action and another finish.
Shuggie Bain
Next, my plan is to pick up our book club pick, Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. We meet on the 29th January, but I don’t want this to be a last minute read.
To my mind, Shuggie Bain falls into my goal of reading out of my comfort zone. I don’t think it’s a book I’d have discovered and read of my own volition. However, that’s exactly why being part of a book club is valuable. It exposes me to new books and ideas.
To my knowledge, this book addresses a number of social issues. I’m looking forward to seeing what those are and being able to discuss those with our group. When I first put feelers out for members, I thought I might have to be a bit more involved in leading discussions. That’s proven not to be the case at all, which is a bonus. It also means we can dig into topics like this quite easily.
Mood Reads
A Darkness at Sethanon
Whilst finishing series is hot on my resolutions radar, my first intended mood read on this monthly TBR is the final instalment to The Riftwar Saga. I started with Magician back in 2017. It’s been a series I’ve picked up sporadically, so I’m going to have to remind myself on events of the prior books before I jump into this last one.
It’ll be good to give myself a check mark on the completion of series goal nice and early. This one can’t be taken off me later, as the series is published in full.
Firefight
Another series progression pick, although not yet a completion, is Brandon Sanderson’s The Reckoners series.
I first read Steelheart in 2020, but unlike The Riftwar Saga I have a decent recollection of what’s happened so far. No refreshers needed here!
Firefight is the second part of a trilogy. Reading Firefight will then enable me to pick up the last instalment in the near future, and that will be another completion.
I always look forward to picking up more Brandon Sanderson books. It made sense to add one to my first monthly TBR of the year to hype myself up. He’s such a diverse fantasy author; how he’s managed to write so many books in the genre (and overlapping others), all with their own magic systems and rules, amazes me. It’s what I look forward to when reading his books.
What else can he come up with?
Rose Under Fire
In my Top Ten Tuesday – Winter TBR post, I shared that I wanted to read Rose Under Fire. Again, this is another book that’s part of a series. However, I don’t believe these books tie together in the same way that a traditional series does. Each has their own main characters, but there are overlaps.
I loved Code Name Verity, another book in this series. It was the perfect introduction to Elizabeth Wein’s writing. Verity was a character I could get behind even before we got to see all aspects of her. Now, I’m intrigued to read other historical stories! Whilst I’m not so fussed on the sound of The Pearl Thief (book 3), I may be inclined to read book 4 (The Enigma) if I enjoy Rose Under Fire as much!
We’ll have to see…
The Bone Collector
The last book to feature in this monthly TBR is technically part of a series. However, it’s not one I’ve already started and I intend to read the book as a standalone.
The Bone Collector has been on my TBR for a long time! Of the 211 books on my TBR right now, there are only 12 books that have been on it longer. Even then, some of those only stand as they haven’t been published yet…
I enjoyed watching a TV series featuring the events of this first book a few years ago. It’ll be exciting to see if the book is even better. I hope so!
Summary
This monthly TBR is AMBITIOUS. But, it’s a new year and I’m excited to get reading. Plus, it’s cold and miserable in January. What else have I got to be doing?
Thanks for reading today’s monthly TBR. Are you planning to pick up any particular reads in January?
