Wrap it up and move the eff on.

January 2025 was a nightmare. This is something that I will not change my mind about. Whatever could go wrong, went wrong. Work. Home. Hobbies. Didn’t matter. It was a huge pile of baggy pants that I’d much rather not have worn.

I read two books. Two!!! And I only enjoyed one of them. Neither of them were bingo challenge books and I found myself more and more disheartened as the month continued on like a battering ram. By the end of it, I felt like I’d gone more than a few rounds with Tyson. Whichever one you think of. Either packs a punch.

So here is my January Reading Wrap-Up, just for fits and giggles.

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is the kind of book that I should have found thoroughly enjoyable and brilliant. It’s right up my alley. It’s lyrical, descriptive, atmospheric and full of beautiful imagery and concepts. Two characters are chosen to have a dramatic duel of some sort, for some unknown reason, and there’s a circus, created by wonderful people, that arrives in random places without announcement, and is only open at night time. There are characters galore, all of whom are captivated and thrilled by the circus and its inhabitants. There are mysterious “magicians” and “illusionists.” There are characters who are captivated by the very essence of the circus. There is a plot, in all of the atmosphere, somewhere. It was a good book. But I have absolutely no idea what the reason for it was, or why the events were so important, or what the point of the narrative was.

Okay, that’s not entirely true. There are a few themes and tropes that are evident – found family, friendship, good, evil, true love. My point is, that all of that is swept up by the atmosphere, it’s all meaningless without the circus. Maybe that was the point. Anyway. It’s very atmospheric and chock full of gorgeous imagery, but it just missed floating my boat by an oar or two. I gave this a 3.5/5 stars, but that’s probably a bit unfair because the writing is almost as captivating as the circus.

An exploration of the macabre, where the seemingly mundane takes on a terrifying significance. . . .

A pregnant woman’s sketches on a seemingly innocuous blog conceal a chilling warning.

A child’s picture of his home contains a dark secret message.

A sketch made by a murder victim in his final moments leads an amateur sleuth down a rabbithole that will reveal a horrifying reality.

Structured around these nine childlike drawings, each holding a disturbing clue, Uketsu invites readers to piece together the mystery behind each and the over-arching backstory that connects them all. Strange Pictures is the internationally bestselling debut from mystery horror YouTube sensation Uketsu—an enigmatic masked figure who has become one of Japan’s most talked about contemporary authors

This is not the type of book that I would usually pick up, as intriguing as it sounds. It was recommended to me by Waterstone’s Dan at my local branch, and it was most definitely worth it. Interconnected stories lead to the unravelling of a mystery is as much as I want to say about it, because if you do pick this up, I don’t want to spoil it. It’s a quick read, and can be “dipped” into if you can resist reading it in one sitting. I couldn’t.

It was a solid 4.5 stars for me.

That was my January. Just those two and a humungous PITA of a life to go with them. Like I said, thank God it’s February.