The hundred-year-long month that was January is over, but I'm still hiding at home from the absolutely brutal cold. Which should just mean more time for reading and writing, right? Here are some books I read and enjoyed in January:
|
In the midst of The Horrors, I think a lot of us are reaching for books (or shows or movies) that help soothe our souls, that comfort and nourish and keep us sane so we can face what's happening and do what we can to help. Books that are soul-soothing can be very different depending on who you ask—some people want cozy, fluffy books, others want to escape into other worlds or read something nostalgic from their childhood. Even my comfort reads can be all over the place—sometimes I want something utterly cozy and angst-free and other times I want to read, for example, a KJ Charles where the bad guys are killed horribly by magpies. Both can be quite soothing. I've stuck to books that are more gentle or cozy for this list—lots of found family, some dreamy worlds, some magic, some romance, even a cute eldritch horror. As always, there are so many wonderful books and it was tough to narrow any kind of list down, and I'm sure I'll think of a bunch more that I should've included later. *sigh*  
The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend (I'll beg forgiveness in advance for sometimes going over the sentence limit!). Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your TBR. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ. I'm working through edits and getting To Know a Dragon Spy, the second Dragons of Ivria book, ready to publish, so I thought I would share some snippets from the book. Here's a description of the book: Felix is a prince, cousin of the current king, ward of the old king. Knowing he would never sit on the throne, he set himself to become something else—the king's best spy. Aside from a trusted few, people know him as a frivolous, flirtatious prince. They don't see the keen mind behind the silks and jewels or the love of family and quiet behind the charming smile. They certainly don't know he is the eyes and ears of the king. Months later, he still blames himself for missing the plot against Ivria and its king, and he's going to find the last few members of the conspiracy out there. If the commander of the king's guard will get out of his way. Alan is commander of the king's guard, a role he set himself on a path for when he was very young. He takes his duty seriously, so seriously there is little room for anything else in his life, even more so now with the heightened danger to the royal family—not the things he used to enjoy or family or even love. He buried his attraction to beautiful Prince Felix long ago, but when he finds out Felix is more than he appears, Alan immediately becomes suspicious. Is Felix working for the king or against him? Alan can't let himself be fooled by a pretty face, especially one that hides so much. But the real danger is closer than Felix and Alan realize, and they'll have to get over their animosity toward each other—and deal with the desire that sparks when they do—if they're going to survive it. This snippet follows directly after last week's.
The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend (I'll beg forgiveness in advance for sometimes going over the sentence limit!). Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your TBR. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ. I'm working through edits and getting To Know a Dragon Spy, the second Dragons of Ivria book, ready to publish, so I thought I would share some snippets from the book. Here's a description of the book: Felix is a prince, cousin of the current king, ward of the old king. Knowing he would never sit on the throne, he set himself to become something else—the king's best spy. Aside from a trusted few, people know him as a frivolous, flirtatious prince. They don't see the keen mind behind the silks and jewels or the love of family and quiet behind the charming smile. They certainly don't know he is the eyes and ears of the king. Months later, he still blames himself for missing the plot against Ivria and its king, and he's going to find the last few members of the conspiracy out there. If the commander of the king's guard will get out of his way. Alan is commander of the king's guard, a role he set himself on a path for when he was very young. He takes his duty seriously, so seriously there is little room for anything else in his life, even more so now with the heightened danger to the royal family—not the things he used to enjoy or family or even love. He buried his attraction to beautiful Prince Felix long ago, but when he finds out Felix is more than he appears, Alan immediately becomes suspicious. Is Felix working for the king or against him? Alan can't let himself be fooled by a pretty face, especially one that hides so much. But the real danger is closer than Felix and Alan realize, and they'll have to get over their animosity toward each other—and deal with the desire that sparks when they do—if they're going to survive it. This snippet is from the beginning of the book: January 16th is Appreciate a Dragon Day, so it seems like a good day to share some dragon book recs. I've loved dragon books for...well, probably forever. And there are so many good ones! I didn't go all the way back to books I read as a child or when I discovered the adult fantasy section in Barnes & Noble when I was twelve, which limited things somewhat but really not enough. I'm sure I've left off fantastic books that I will immediately think of and regret. For now, some dragon books I've enjoyed, mostly but not all romances:
I've already written my favorite books of 2025 post (that's over here), but I wanted to share some books I read in December too, as I usually share a monthly reading post. I mostly read holiday themed books—some rereads of favorites, some that I started but weren't working for me, and some new books that I enjoyed:
Well, 2025 has been A Year. And it feels both as if it has lasted a decade and passed in the blink of an eye, or at least these last few months of it did. I don't want to catalogue all the bad things that happened this year, that continue even as the new year approaches. There were good things too—communities coming together to protest and protect each other. I can only hope for better, for good things for us all in 2026. While my attention span for reading was up and down, as it has been since covid, I did read a lot of really good books in 2025. I had a lot of trouble narrowing down a list—it's my list, so I suppose I could've just kept adding to it, but I wanted to keep it somewhat manageable! 
The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend (I'll beg forgiveness in advance for sometimes going over the sentence limit!). Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your TBR. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ. I'm sharing another snippet this weekend from The Merchant's Love. It's as close as I have to a holiday book at this point, and I often describe it as a warm hug in book form. In it, Faelen, a bookish royal, and Maxen, a merchant, fall in love over books and baked goods as fall turns to winter. In this snippet, Faelen and Maxen have been at a family Midwinter holiday dinner. I love reading holiday romances, so when I sat down to plan this year's Christmas romance rec list (and last week's Hanukkah list!), I had far too many fantastic books to choose from. I'm sure I'll think of twelve I should've included (as usual) as soon as I hit post, but nevertheless, here are a few Christmas romances I enjoy. 
The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend (I'll beg forgiveness in advance for sometimes going over the sentence limit!). Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your TBR. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ. I'm sharing another snippet this weekend from The Merchant's Love. It's as close as I have to a holiday book at this point, and I often describe it as a warm hug in book form. In it, Faelen, a bookish royal, and Maxen, a merchant, fall in love over books and baked goods as fall turns to winter. In this snippet, Maxen is shopping for a Midwinter gift for Faelen and has decided to buy him hair combs, since Faelen uses them in his long hair. Maxen's younger brother is with him and has some insights too. The Selene they mention is their sister. (The snippet is a bit long—sorry!) |
AuthorAntonia is a writer and a reader and a copy editor/proofreader. She loves books, travel, art, photography, baking, pasta, and shoes. Archives
October 2025
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed