January Wrap Up (2026)

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And somehow, we're at the end of January- what a relief! I'm genuinely so happy to see this month come to an end.  

But, with the end of a month comes the usual wrap up- the first one of 2026! 

I didn't get to as many books as I wanted to this month- I started off really well, finishing three books in sixteen days, and after that, I really struggled to keep up momentum. 

But I was determined, and I managed a fourth (finished literally last night). 

Without further ado, I hope you enjoy my wrap up. 

1. Eclipse (The Twilight Saga #3), by Stephenie Meyer

If I told you that I read this entire book in three days, would you consider Eclipse to be my favourite in the series? Because you would be bang on. 

There's nothing I love more in a series than a backstory of a side character, and Eclipse is full of them. 

Aside from that, it feels like things finally start changing in Eclipse, going from the full story being Bella's relationship with Edward, like in Twilight, or Jacob in New Moon, into something that's bigger than just them. 

It doesn't matter that this book isn't perfect. God knows, if The Twilight Saga was being published today, I doubt it would even get a look in against some of the other published works that we're reading today. But The Twilight Saga represents more than just a romance between a vampire and a human- it's a whole generation of readers, from my age to adults in their mid-to-late 30s. 

It represents a time in your life that is impossible to get back- except through books like this. 

It was such a pleasure to get to re-read this again. 

2. Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga #4), by Stephenie Meyer

So, I read this series for the first time maybe late 2010, early 2011, when I was twelve years old. So it's safe to say that, out of all of the film releases, I was most present for Breaking Dawn part 1& 2. So of course, this was the book I obsessed over the most. 

It's not my favourite of the series, mostly because of the switching different POV's, so it feels like it's moves a lot faster, but it definitely feels the most intense of all the books (of course it does Abi, the stakes are bloody higher- why am I wording it like this)?

Okay, I love this book so much, how about that? I can quote most of it by heart, I've read and re-read it that many times. Even the final battle is amazing in the books- despite it being less catastrophic than the film (I can still remember the synchronised gasp after Carlisle started running at Aro at the cinema- if you know, you know).

3. The Anansi Boys (American Gods #2), by Neil Gaiman 

I thought this was going to be a sequel to American Gods. I through the new protagonist was going to be related to Shadow of some sort. Boy, was I wrong. 

I thought Fat Charlie and his brother Spider would be making a jounrey to meet up with Shadow at some point, that Fat Charlie would develop something unexpected, and they'd all meet up, in one way or another. But there was no journey, just Spider turning everything on it's head for our protagonist. 

As always, Neil Gaiman's book was nothing like what I was expecting. Right now, that's what I love most about his works. 

I have no idea what I'm going to read of his next. 

4. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies #1), by Seth Grahame-Smith

THIS. 

I've been intrigued by this since a work colleague (who may or may not be reading this now) told me about it. 

Actually, even more so, since I found out it's a FILM as well. 

In theory, this book is right up my alley. 

I have always been into classic tales, especially those with a twist to them. So of course, as soon as I received it as a Christmas present, BOOM! On to my January TBR it goes. 

And then I realised that I couldn't read it for more than twenty pages at a time. 

The audiobook helped a great deal, and it was quite possibly the reason I managed to finish it before the month ended. 

Though if there's one thing you should take from this very long winded paragraph, is that you should not discourage yourself from reading this if you think you might enjoy it. 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is 80% of the original book, with some kick-ass zombie killing scenes, and conversations about said zombies. I did enjoy this book, it just didn't flow as much as I thought it was going to. Still a solid read, and I'm considering reading the conclusion, Dreadfully Ever After pretty soon (completely different author, takes nothing from the classic Pride and Prejudice, just finishes what the first book starts. 

Final thought: A very unique and imaginative novel. Glad I took the time to finish it. 

Okay! Those are all the books I finished in January! The books I included in my TBR that I didn't start/ finish will be rolling over to February, so keep an eye out for that TBR! 

As always, feel free to comment what you finished in January, and we can talk about it in the comments! 

I hope you have a wonderful evening, and I'll see you all soon! 

Byeeee! 

-Abi xxxxxx

Really, I'm even more confused now than I was before!

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And I'm back with another installment of my, flying by the seat of my pants story! 

I bet you all thought I'd forgotten about it, didn't you? 

I admit, all the Christmas/ end of year posts did put this on a bit of a back burner, but I always had the intention to go back and well, see where the story takes me. 

I hope to continue to expand the story, do some world-building, and eventually introduce some new characters (even though I don't even know their names yet). 

So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy (whatever ramblings inside my head make it onto the page). 

~Really, I'm even more confused now than I was before!~

What I walk into... goes straight past surreal to nearly impossible. 

I'm surrounded by blue. That's my first thought. The second is that I'm IMPOSSIBLY HIGH. 

If there's a God up here, please don't let me throw up. 

Before I can procress anything, I automatically reach for Gus' hand. Mine's dripping with sweat. 

He pulls away immediately. 

"What the? Oh Kid, stop that, your palm's all sweaty!" A deep, belly laugh escapes out of him. He's amused at my horror! 

"What do you mean, stop that?! There's no FLOOR!" I try to run, to move in any which way, just away, so I can make sense of what's happening and how we're somehow in the fucking AIR! 

Gus sighs, scratches his neck. "Look kid, or... look Charlie. You're safe, I promise. Nothing is going to happen to you. Look down." 

"That's the last thing I want to do, thank you very much!" Just keep looking at Gus, Charlie. Don't look down.

"Look Charlie. Just look. I've got you." He reaches for my hand. "Sweaty or not. I promise, we're not going to fall. Just look." 

And somehow, as quick as a chiming of a clock, I believe him. 

Taking one quick breath in preparation, I extend my neck outwards. 

What I see, it looks... magical. 

We're in the middle of a boundless sky, seemingly floating in space, but I also know for sure that it isn't, because I can see movement, when random gusts of wind appear. They come and go. I guess you could describe it as an invisible cloud. 

Below us, there are a number of similar invisible clouds, all criss-crossing in multiple directions. Very much like cars, but less noice, with the drivers swearing less. If I look close enough, they actually look like they're behaving pleasantly towards their peers. 

There's no way I'm anywhere near home. 

"You see? You're fine. There's no way we'll be falling." I'd almost forgotten Gus at this point. 

And then I remember why I'm here. 

"Gus, what is all of this? What am I doing here?" 

He taps my hand gently. "All in good time, my young chap. All in good time." Confident now, that I'm not going to pass out, he releases my hand. "Now. Do you want to hang round here a moment longer, or do you want to get where we're going?" 

I take one last glance at wonderous sky, the circular edges, the topsy-turvy vehicles and it's inhabitants, and turn back to Gus. "I'm ready." 

A slight smile plays on the corner of his lips. "Good. I hope you're not against a little bit of SPEED." Before I have a chance to react, we're going at a nosedrive- break point speed! 

Suddenly, we're running at the speed of light, so fast I can't even tell what's around me! We could be about to crash into a tree or a road, or even another cloud! 

"DON'T THINK! DON'T THINK ANYTHING- JUST SEE." I hear in the corner of my ear, so quick, and so quiet, I'm sure I imagined it. 

The blood is pounding in my ears, blocking everything else out, even my terrified screams. 

"DON'T THINK. DON'T THINK. DON'T THINK." 

I close my eyes, trying to block out everything: the urge to throw up, the urge to embarrass myself, sure that this will be the time that I piss everywhere- 

And then, something changes- the feel of it all. Instead of a mad sprint, the whole thing starts to... glide. 

We're light as air. No! Light as a feather. Suddenly, the speed doesn't seem so much anymore. 

"There you go my boy... nice and easy." 

The grim, chomping down on my teeth expression relaxes, just a little. 

"Open your eyes..." Quiet as a whisper I hear it. 

We're flying through a meadow. It's a meadow of these vivacious, bright yellow flowers that give off a particular scent... honey and ginger? I must be going out of my mind... 

"The flowers change. Right now, they're showing you plumeria, but in yellow, based off your essence and energy, and what they think will calm you. I find them most intriguing." 

"You're telling me," a chuckle escapes my throat, "can I touch them? I feel like I should..." I reach down, before Gus can say anything. 

"No, don't!" Gus shouts, way too late. 

"Ah! What was that?!" I gasp, holding my eye. 

"That is what happens when you don't wait until I answer! You just got blasted with seed water, you idiot!" At this point, he's struggling not to laugh, and not succeeding. 

"YOU!" I'm more annoyed than wounded now, and right when I'm thinking of pushing him off this godforsaken cloud- 

"We're here!" He stops dead. 

It's a building, is where we're at. Like a call centre, or a spa. It's light, like everything around her, but dome shaped, very circular. Glass windows, so I can see inside. I have no idea what we're here for. 

"Careful now. You might be a bit dizzy getting off. You have just flown for the first time, after all. 

Sighing, I stretch my leg out, feeling for the ground. "What a load of-" 

I'm on the floor. 

And somehow Gus is helping me up. 

A low chuckle in the back of his throat. "I told you!" He's full on laughing at me now. 

"Stop that!" I shout- but now I'm laughing too. 

This whole thing... I'm really going to miss this, whatever it is. 

"I can't believe this place! The clouds, the flying, how everything is so bright- this isn't heaven is it?" The thought occurs to me so suddenly, I know, straight away, that I'm right. 

Gus' expression changes from laughter to deep worry in seconds. "No, no, no it's not! Listen to me kid, it is not Heaven! You're not dead, neither am I- this is the Cloudlands! The place above Earth. There isn't God! 

"GUS! What are you doing clowning around! You deliberately disobeyed orders, and protocool! Get inside this instant!" Although I know nobody is with us, it sounds like there is, the voice is that loud. It's coming from Gus' headset. 

"Who was that?!" I say, louder than I should. Doesn't matter though, Gus is talking to mystery voice. 

"Yes sir, right away sir." Gus presses a button and turns to me. 

"Sorry about that. That was my Boss, Mr. Budgeswop. He's mad that I disobeyed him, and wants us inside the dome now." 

"Yeah I heard. What kind of a name is Budgeswop?" Smiles playing at the corner of my lips again. 

"Don't ask. But remember when I said that this place isn't Heaven?" 

"Yeah, course. Like two seconds ago." 

"Well, we might be dead after this. Let's go in." Gus leads the way. 

Oh, Joy. 

Okay, that's me done. I'm leaving it there or I'll be writing all night, with no end in sight. 

As always, I hope you enjoyed reading about the ramblings going on inside my head. I have no idea how I started up with this idea, if it's any good or where it's going, but for me at least, it's a nice little project to get my ideas out on paper. 

I hope you all have a wonderful evening and I'll see you all soon!

Byeeeee! 

-Abi xxxxx

Christmas Book Haul

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And since I got/purchased quite a few books in the Christmas period, I thought it would be fun to share them! 

Some of these are in my January TBR, so they won't be a surprise, but other than that, I bet they'll be a few that you won't expect! 

Without further ado, I hope you enjoy!

~Gifted~

As the title suggests, these are the books I was gifted by friends and Jordan. For 4/5 of these I gave them choices (three friends- one of them just went ahead and got me both options- you can decide how I feel about that)). 

1. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith

Is it bad that I've never actually read the original Pride and Prejudice? Never even watched the film. Yet when I heard about this, I knew it was the book for me. 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies opens with a plague sweeping the nation- and the dead are returning to life! Elizabeth Bennett is our fiesty heroine- determined to wipe out the walking dead- but she soon becomes distracted by the witty Mr. Darcy. Cue a number of funny, witty, romantic, badass scenes that deals with heartbreak, love, and of course, zombies, and we have our book. 

2. Watermelon (Walsh Family #1), by Marian Keyes

I've already talked about this one in depth on my January TBR, so I won't be going too much into it here. Instead, I'll bullet point it:

• Claire has everything she wants. Good job, wonderful husband, house, and a new baby. Then, hours after she gives birth, her husband tells her he no longer loves her and leaves, leaving a newborn daughter, a broken heart, and a postpartum body she can't bare to look at in the morror. 
• Trying to pick up the pieces that is her life, she decides to move back to Dublin, back to her childhood home. 
• Claire is forced to move on, to stand on her own two feet. 
• And that's when her ex-husband walks back into her life. 

Not complicated at all, eh?

I can't wait to delve back into this series (and hopefully continue with book 3 afterwards, haha). 

From here on out, you'll be seeing a lot of anticipated released from the last year. This is a first for me, because, for many years now, although I haven't deliberately gone against the curve of 'popular reading', I haven't really cared at all, when it was published. Whether it was 1950s, or 2000s, I've just read what I've fancied. So it's kind of nice to know that, in this instance at least, that my 'reading taste' is a bit more current. 

3. Strangers in Time, by David Baldacci

And yet, the first book on the list is a historical fiction, taking place in the blitz! Hor ironic! 

I've already described this book in my anticipated releases post last year (link is here) but I'll go through it once more, in case you don't fancy clicking. 

Strangers in Time follows Charlie; a walkabout orphan, killing time, avoiding bombs until he can go up against the Germans- not knowing if the next blitz might be his last; and Molly, once a young girl, having returned home from the country to a London she no longer recognises. 

The two orphans find eachother in chaos, and seek asylum in a lowly bookshop. The owner, widower, Ignatius Oliver, graciously allows them entry. 

But, aside from Charlie and Molly's individual troubles, Ignatius is harbouring a secret- a secret that led to the death of his wife. As the three become their own version of a family, the main question is this- will their problems tear them apart from the only family they have left?

4. Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke

I've had so many people recommend this book to me. Even Jordan's Mum mentioned it to me at one point. 

Piranesi is a fantasy, nominated for Readers' Favourite Fantasy in 2020. It really doesn't feel like this book has been out for five years. It really doesn't feel like a fantasy. 

But it is. And that's really the only concrete thing I know about this book. 

It sure sounds intriguing though. 

"Piranesi lives in the House. Perhaps he always has. 

Then messages begin to appear, scratched out in chalk

on the pavements. There is someone new in the House. 

But who are they and what do they want?

Lost texts must be found; secrets must be uncovered. 

The world that Piranesi thought he knew is becoming

strange and dangerous. 

The Beauty of the House is immeasurable;

its Kindness infinite."

Confused yet? Yeah, so am I. 

5. Katabasis, by R.F. Kuang

This screams acadamia, because it's Grad student Alice Law, endevouring to be the best- in the field of analytic magick, of course (couldn't be an R.F. Kuang fantasy without magic). 

But to be the absolute best, she has to find a particular person. That person happens to be (rather inconveniently) in Hell. 

What's worse is, her arch rival Peter Murdock is going after him as well. 

Hell is nothing like what the Philosophers say- it's topsy-turvy, it's dangerous, it's sadistic- and like it or not, if Alice wants to achieve her dream, her and Peter are going to have to work together if they want to survive. 

But will they survive without riping eachother to pieces first?

This has a feel of The Nevernight Chronicles to it, and as tough as I found the ending to that trilogy, I have a feeling that I'm going to like this a heck of a lot more. 

Anybody else read this? Want to share your thoughts? My comment bar is below. 

~Christmas Purchases~

1. Not Quite Dead Yet, by Holly Jackson

Holly Jackson's first adult murder mystery. 

Loved A Good Girl's Guide to Murder TV show- and was eager to start something of Holly Jackson's published works. 

This seemed perfect. 

We follows Jet, who is the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Woodstock, Vermont. At twenty-seven years old, it seems she is just waiting for life to start. 

I'll do it later, she thinks. She has plenty of time. 

Until she's violently attacked, on Halloween. 

The doctors say she has at best a week, until her head injuries turn into a deadly anneurism. 

Jet has never thought she has any enermies, but the violent attack is enough to open her eyes to who it just might be: her family, her ex-best friend turned sister in law, her ex-boyfriend. Her Childhood friend is the only one she can count on. 

She has one week to achieve maybe the most important goal in her entire life. 

Solving her own murder. 

2. Among the Burning Flowers (The Roots of Chaos #0.2), by Samantha Shannon

I'm so behind on this whole saga, I have no idea where this book takes place. 

All I know is I have to keep getting them. 

I will pick up A Day of Fallen Night and read this, and then re-read The Priory of the Orange Tree, because I loved the first release, enough to purchase the other two without knowing much about them. 

Samantha Shannon is one of the top fantasy authors in this day and age, and I feel so priviliged to be able to read about her vast worlds, her extensive characters, the heartbreak, the adventure, the romance, and most of all, DRAGON RIDING.

Dragon Riding. Should have led with that from the start. 

3. The Survivor Wants to Die at the End (They Both Die at the End #2), by Adam Silvera

I have no idea why I'm so excited by this book. It's an irrational want at this point to read any NEW Adam Silvera book- even one that promises to be as emotional as this one. 

I mean, the title pretty much speaks for itself. 

It feels pretty insensitive to give a description of my interpretation of the novel for this one. To be fair, it may not be. But I still don't want to risk offending anyone with the language I use (I'm just going to quote my blurb):

"What happens when you want Death-Cast to call?

Paz Darlo stays up every night, waiting for

the Death-Cast call that would mean he

doesn't have to keep faking his way through 

this lonely life. After a devastating day, Paz

decides he's done waiting around for Death-

Cast. If they say he's not dying, he'll just have

to prove them wrong. But right before Paz

can die, a boy saves his life. 

Alano Rosa is heir to the Death-Cast empire 

that encourages everyone to live their best 

lives, but he doesn't feel in control of his

own existence thanks to his father. And

with a violent organisation called the Death 

Guard threatening Alano, his End Day might

be closer than he thinks. It's time to live. 

Fate brings Paz and Alano together. 

But they must survive the tragic trials

ahead so no one dies at the end." 

I love Adam Silvera books, and I hope to love this too. 

Okay! Those are all the books I was gixted/ purchased over Christmas! If you got any too, please comment down below! I love to read your comments! 

Okay! That's everything I have for you all today! 

I hope you have a wonderful evening and I'll see you all soon! 

Byeeee! 

-Abi xxxxxx