How has your week been? What have you been reading lately? We’re down to the end of the first week of 2025, and I started the year reading A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage, Asia McKay, which is interesting so far. Now on to the 10+ bookish links I bookmarked recently.
one+ New Year, new books, and as usual there’s round-ups at the Best books of January 2025, as chosen by the Amazon Editors. I see Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, Grady Hendrix is on that list, and also on my list to read soon.
two+ For genre lovers, are you looking forward to any of the books on LitHub’s 20 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books to Look Forward to in 2025? I’m eyeing Death of the Author, Nnedi Okorafor. Her books are always so bold and inventive. Also from Goodreads Guide to Out-of-This-World 2025 Fantasy and Science Fiction and Readers’ Most Anticipated Horror Novels for 2025 I saved so many books I want to read.
three+ Barnes & Noble Monthly Picks January 2025 has books already published (backlist books if you will), and among their list is Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher – a favorite from My Year in Novellas #NovNov24. This is your sign to read it if you haven’t yet.
four+ Also Barnes & Noble Most Anticipated Fiction of 2025 makes me think I’ll be spending all my coins on books this year. I exaggerate … but what a year people?! Stephen King is coming out with another book featuring Holly Gibney – Never Flinch. That’s an auto-buy for me.
five+ The 2025 Tournament of Books Book Bracket Shot List has been revealed, and is set to begin on March 6. I haven’t read many of the books, but it’s nice to see books from a husband and wife in the list – James, Percival Everett and Colored Television, Danzy Senna.
six+ What is your book cover ick? There’s so many interesting comments on that thread. I shared Favorite Book Covers of 2024 a few weeks ago, but my book cover ick is probably the stickers on books – like Oprah Book Club selection, or New a Netflix Movie, type thing. Why can’t this be on the back?!
seven+ On January 1, 2025, books published in 1929 enter the U.S. public domain. Here’s 20 of the best books entering the public domain in 2025. “Books by William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Mahatma Gandhi, and John Steinbeck enter the U.S. public domain.”
eight+ Have you set your Goodreads reading challenge number of books you want to read goal yet? Maybe I’m just noticing this for the first time, but I hadn’t realized that they also have “side quest challenges” you can unlock throughout the year – 6 of them. Buzzy Books – for reading a reader favorite (one of The 144 Most Read Books of the 2024 Reading Challenge); Epic Quest – read one of the most loved fantasy titles by readers (one of The 60 Most Popular Fantasy Novels of the Past 3 Years); Era the Explorer – read one of the most popular historical fiction novels (from A Look Back at Five Years of Historical Fiction Hits); and 3 Mystery Bookmarks that will not be revealed until February & March – Celebrating Black History Month, Sugar and spice and Celebrating Women’s History Month.
nine+ Have you thought about the reading challenges that you’ll be participating in this year? We have updated our Huge Round Up of 2025 Year Long Reading Challenges and The Most Popular 2025 Reading Challenges on StoryGraph. Here’s some tips on How to Crush Your 2025 Reading Challenge Goals. If you’re looking for a short reading challenge, The Japanese Literature Challenge runs from January through February, 2024. Read as many books as you like, which have been translated from Japanese, although only one is “required.”
ten+ It would be great if all the books we read were great, but alas, I’ve read my fear share of duds this year. What about you – what are some of your Worst Books of 2024?
In case you missed it, I recently published My Favorite Books Read in 2024 … My 2024 Book Bracket and the Book That Won the Year … and 10 Award Winning Fiction Books in 2024
—- Cheers to the weekend and week ahead!
