Reading update: January

Quality and quantity in the longest month of the year.

Someone on Pinterest clearly has been spying on me

Hallo, it's me, Laura King. The great thing about January is that because it's so long and so boring, you've plenty of time to read. Another great thing about January is that you have absolutely no money after Christmas so you've no excuse not to read. My favourite thing about January 2025 was how sick I was for the second half of it, where all I could do was nap, watch the Golden Girls (when I was up to having the TV on) and, you guessed it, read.

But really, the main highlight of this month for me was not only how much I read - particularly after such a bad time of it in late 2024, but by any measure I read far more than normal this month - but the quality of what I read too. I found myself inspired, writing a lot in my diary, and posting a bit more frequently on my Instagram as I finished books. I'm turning more and more away from social media (as you can imagine, especially with recent news etc) but I was reminded this month when I met up with some fellow online reviewers how these kind of reviews and this bookish content can really inspire me to read more, and think about books I've read in perhaps a different light, or consider books that weren't on my radar before.

I also thought about how some of the Instagramers and Substackers I follow post monthly reading recaps, and I thought that might be a fun thing to do over the next while here, on top of popping in now and then to tell you about a book I particularly wanted to rave about. In that vein, I'd like to tell you briefly about my January in books - a standout for quantity as well as quality!

Read right now!

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (reread): it's still the one! More to follow in a dedicated newsletter issue soon.

Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt: out in April, the first novel from poet and author of the memoir All Down Darkness Wide. A beautiful, lyrical novel that is a masterpiece in longing, luscious prose. I attended a lovely proof party for this novel hosted by Penguin Ireland, and I didn't remain cool at all when I asked Seán to sign my book, but at least he was cool enough for both of us.

She's Always Hungry by Eliza Clarke: the first book I started this year, highly anticipated short stories from the author of Boy Parts and Penance. I think my favourites are all those that are playful or gross or strange, in content or structure, and I feel that while there are no bad or weak stories in the collection, these are where Clarke shines.

The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride (reread): breathtakingly good, with prose that could seem jarring but instead is energising and engrossing. I loved the experience of revisiting this on audiobook ahead of the follow up which is out in a few weeks.

Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin: out in April, Griffin's first book for adults but full of the clever, weird, and human magic that readers of her fiction for younger people will love. It is stunning.

Highly recommended

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman: Existing fans will find a lot to love in this new book; in fact it hits many of the same beats as the Thursday Murder Club with similar character types, humour, and style, but no complaints about that from me.

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (reread): This really held up and I recommended to so many people again as I was reading it - for the Rory Gilmore at Chilton vibes if nothing else.

So Thrilled for You by Holly Bourne: A thrilling, sharp, intense novel about female friendship, relationships and motherhood that will ring true with many readers, and is Bourne's best work yet.

The Favourites by Layne Fargo: I had a whale of a time reading this new novel which is like if you put Wuthering Heights, Daisy Jones and the Six, and the show Spinning Out in a machine and churned out an addictive, if ridiculous, fever dream of a read.

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske: the final installment of the series beginning A Marvellous Light, which is a romance/ fantasy series set around the end of the 18th century. I thoroughly enjoyed all three novels in this series on audiobook, and can recommend as a fun time.

Recommended

Show Don't Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld: I really enjoyed these stories, out in February, while I was reading them, but I find her shorter work doesn't stick particularly well in my head after - I think her characters need time to really live in.

Gunk by Saba Sams: debut novel coming out in May from the author of the brilliant short story collection Send Nudes, about two women who work together in a nightclub, and a pregnancy that brings them together. In all, not my favourite, but there's something so pleasing about reading Sams that I still enjoyed it page by page.

The Paris Express by Emma Donohue: a new historical novel out in March about a real story of a train derailment in Paris in 1895. I love what this has to say about modernity and society, but there were too many characters for it to work well for me.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut: really interesting to read such a groundbreaking novel in science fiction and postmodernism, and I got a lot out of it, but I don't think I especially enjoyed it.

Not for me

For the first month in ages I didn't abandon a book I wasn't enjoying! Maybe because I chose well, or maybe because I had more time and energy to be patient, I found a lot to admire even in books I didn’t love as much.

Thank you for reading, and I'll see you again soon for another installment of LauraEatsBooks.