January 2026 Reading

I expected to read more in January than I did.  However, I did finish four books.

Audio first.  I continue to listen to the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander.  In January, I heard The Castle of Llyr.  It was a better book than I remembered it being from my last reading.  I haven’t said this yet, but the actor doing the reading for the audiobook is really good and I think that contributes to my enjoyment.  My only complaint is one that feels like an anachronism; if the book were written nowadays, I think that Eilonwy would have been a self-rescuing princess.  Of course, I am going to carry on and finish the series.  I love spending time in Alexander’s world with his characters.

 

One reason I don’t go into bookstores very often is that when I do, I buy stuff.  In my defense, finding out that there is a new T. Kingfisher novel is a good reason to buy stuff.  Hemlock and Silver is a fascinating riff on the Snow White story.  I love the way Kingfisher writes women who don’t perhaps match societal expectations for how they look.  I also love that the fantasy world of this book is a desert world.  The archetypes play differently there.  The book is scary, but not too scary.  Two thumbs up.

 

Christmas brought me my next Terry Pratchett.  (I will be sad when I eventually run out of new-to-me books, but I will console myself by rereading from the beginning.)  Unseen Academicals is perhaps one of my favorites now.  It has more plot than the average Pratchett.  Plus it’s about the intersection of academics and sports.  I laughed a lot.  The only bad part is that I’m done and I have to wait for my birthday for the next one.

 

After the intensity of the holiday season, I wanted something familiar to read.  It just so happened that I had another edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll on my shelf, this one the 150^th Anniversary Edition with illustrations by Salvador Dalí.  [The illustrations did not illuminate much for me and Dalí was a fascist.  I don’t think he had much feel for the text, myself.]  I will always enjoy some time with Alice and her adventures.

 

January total:  4

Spring 2026 total to date:  4

Year to date 2026:  4