Hi everybody, welcome to my January wrap-up, and I hope you all had a great start of the year!
My January was pretty uneventful. I had a few chill weekends, which were very welcome after a very busy end-of-year period. I got some reading in and found a new series to obsess over. And I watched a very anticipated book-to-movie adaptation. So without further ado, let’s get into the wrap-up!
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1)
Well, if the first book that you read in the year sets the tone for the rest of the year, 2026 is gonna be… quite out there haha 🙂 This series got on my radar after Leslie at BooksAreTheNewBlack and Dini at DiniPandaReads raved about it in 2025 and I gave it a try myself now and… I get the hype!
This is hilarious and out there, while also being a bit dark and providing social commentary. So, a nice balance. At times, the talking of game stats and rules lost me a little bit, but I still got very invested in the wellbeing of Carl and Princess Donut (who may be one of my new favorite characters) and am eager to continue the series! 4 STARS
Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #2)
As I said, book one got me very invested in the wellbeing of Carl and Princess Donut, and book two added Mordecai and Mongo to that list. I still sometimes zone out a bit when there is a lot of stats talk, but overall, I am loving this. In fact, I haven’t been able to stop talking about this series. 4 STARS
Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer (Assistant to the Villain #1)
I’ve been reading this for months and that’s only because I was having some trouble picking up a physical book (especially in the winter period when it’s dark in the evenings and I tend to fall asleep the moment my butt hits the sofa, and especially physical books make me feel sleepy even faster). But my sleepiness issues aside, I actually really enjoyed this read, it’s quirky and cozy and fun and swoony and I immediately started book two after finishing this one. 4 STARS
Brimstone by Callie Hart (Fae & Alchemy #2)
While I loved Quicksilver even more upon my re-read in December, I had a bit of trouble staying invested in the sequel. I’m not quite sure why exactly that happened, but I had the feeling the plot was all over the place while at the same time, not much was happening at all? The writing also felt very confusing, and there were so many characters who didn’t really contribute anything. I feel very mixed about this book, but I’ll definitely continue the series to see were it goes. 3,5 STARS
Top Ten Tuesday
Best Books I Read in 2025
Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026
My (Ever Chill) Bookish Goals for 2026
New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2025
Can’t Wait Wednesday
The Name Game by Beth O’Leary {Can’t Wait Wednesday}
WWW Wednesday
WWW Wednesday: 21 January 2026
Hilary Duff – Roommates
I’m not gonna lie, I’m so glad Hilary Duff is making a comeback! My little millennial heart is so thrilled. I used to be the biggest fan, and I’m loving her new songs. I’ve also had her old songs on repeat this month so yeah…
I was a bit behind on new TV show releases at the end of last year, but I think I made good progress on catching up in January ðŸ¤
Stranger Things S5
While season 5 may be my least favorite season of them all, I still really enjoyed it and I will miss this show and characters dearly.
Nobody Wants This S2
I love this show, but I didn’t really love either Joanne or Noah in this season. Honestly, I was more invested in Sasha and Esther’s story line. That said, I do appreciate how the show gives such an honest look on love and relationships and I will definitely tune in for season 3.
Fallout S2
Loved this, still such a good show! (Still a few episodes to go that aren’t out yet)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians S2
Loved this as well, despite there being a bit more changes from the book (that I can recall).
People We Meet On Vacation
I was so excited for this one and it did not disappoint! This was such a fun rom-com! I will say that it’s been a few years since I read the book so that may be why the changes made (and there were changes made) didn’t bother me that much. Also, the casting was perfect as Emily Bader and Tom Blyth made an amazing Poppy and Alex!
The year started off pretty quietly for me. I got sick with a bad cold in the first week of January and the symptoms (especially the cough) have lingered a bit so I kept my weekends pretty chill on purpose to recover more quickly. I also tried to work on my sleeping schedule and go to bed when I noticed I was getting sleepy, instead of just falling asleep on the sofa and then getting annoyed at myself. Some days that meant I went to bed before 9PM, but oh well. Am I feeling less sleepy and tired now? Not yet, but we’ll continue working on it 😅
THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS MONTH:
- We are now officially past the 10 darkest weeks of the year! I am enjoying watching the days slowly become a little bit longer again every day.
- The weather has been nice-ish here. We had a bit of snow, but the roads were clear so that was good because that makes me anxious otherwise. Instead I got to enjoy the coziness of the snow and even got a few walks in. And then we also had a few nice sunny days that made me feel like spring is almost here, so that also made me happy.
- I had my 10 year blogoversary! Can you believe I’ve been blogging for 10 years already?
THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:
- Probably binge-watching the new season (part 1 at least) of Bridgerton!
- Reading a few anticipated releases: Enchanting the Fae Queen, Dawn of the North, A Practical Guide to Dating a Demon, and Now Back To You!
How was your January? What did you read? What did you listen to and what did you watch? What are you looking forward to in February?
This sleepiness in winter is something I’m dealing with as well. And there’s just no point in battling it, nothing helps. I have tried everything possible for years. I just fall asleep on the sofa at 7-ish only to wake up in the late evening/in the middle of the night and realize I’ve wasted another evening. Shower, bed, sleep. Thankfully I immediately fall asleep again once in bed, but can’t wait till this ends in April/May.
Yes, that’s my experience exactly! I indeed can’t fight it, my only options are to just go to bed when I start to feel sleepy (even if that’s super early) or try to fight it only to fail and fall asleep and then wake up later annoyed at myself. April/May is usually when it gets better for me too, when the days are longer again. Hope we’ll both feel less sleepy soon though! 🙂
I loved Quicksilver but haven’t read Brimstone yet! Probably too because I don’t like the new covers LOL
Oh yes, the old Quicksilver cover was so pretty, I’m so bummed they changed it too! I hope you’ll enjoy Brimstone more than I did when you dive in though 🙂
I guess I’m going to have to bite the bullet and read Dungeon Crawler Carl. It’s everywhere!
I was hesitant to start Dungeon Crawler Carl as I wasn’t sure it would be my kind of story, but I ended up loving it! I’m on book 3 now and still obsessed 🙂 Hope you’ll love it too if you decide to give it a try!
Lindseyyyy! I’ve been loving Hilary Duff’s new songs too. I was a really huge fan of her (and still am!) 😀
Ah yay! I’ve been listening to all her new AND old songs on repeat the past few weeks, it’s such a nostalgic blast from the past 😀 And on top of that, I started watching Younger on Netflix, so it’s really been a lot of Hilary Duff (and I have no regrets :D)
Donut is just impossible to resist – and she would say that’s absolutely as it should be!
Haha so true! 😀
I can’t wait to start the first Dungeon Crawler Carl book. I am super glad we are past the darkest part of the year, it’s nice when it’s not pitch black outside when I leave work.
I hope you’ll love Dungeon Crawler Carl! And yes, I am so happy for every day that we have a minute more light – and I’m indeed looking forward to those days when I can drive to and from work in the daylight 🙂
I really liked Percy Jackson, although yeah, some of the changes they made were strange! We watched People We Meet on Vacation, even though I never read the book, and I actually really liked it! So sorry you got sick, there’s always something going around! And going to bed before 9pm is definitely not a bad thing sometimes!
Percy Jackson and People We Meet on Vacation were both great adaptation, even if there were some changes. I do try not to focus too much on the changes and just enjoy this “new” version of the story 🙂 Though as a lover of the books, not noticing the changes is also impossible 😀 I think almost everyone I know got sick in January, so it definitely seemed to be going around. And I definitely don’t mind going to bed early 😀