january reads 2025
hullo, & welcome a NEW year of NEW stories & adventures! :D
here are all of january’s weekly reading book review videos… complete with title links to bookshop.org where you can learn more, or purchase the book and support indie bookstores across the country—all while conveniently shopping for books online. (i.e. everyone’s favourite mail: book mail!!)
happy reading, and as ever, let me know what stories you’re loving in the comments!!
xo,
*hallie :)
✨🥳 weekly reading book review january 2025: episode one!! 🥳✨
hullo! & welcome back to another year of reading adventures!
here’s what i read this week:
🐑 A WILD SHEEP CHASE by haruki murakami (more about it in last week’s episode)
💜 HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE by diana wynne jones [re*read for the i dunno how many times, but still even better than i remember even though i’m also hardcore in love with the miyazaki film]
🎭 ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL by wm. shakespeare (my first #brushupyourshakespeare2025 play! go VOTE on my last instagram post on the quote for me to illustrate!)
blog post here: https://www.halthegal.art/artist-blog/2024/12/27/brush-up-your-shakespeare-2025
🌟 MAGISTERIUM BOOK FOUR: THE SILVER MASK by holly black & cassandra clare (slim MG magic school/good/evil battle series from scholaastic!)
currently reading:
🧡 MAGISTERIUM BOOK FIVE: THE GOLDEN TOWER by holly black & cassandra clare
🎬 watched:
🎩 THE BARKLEYS OF BROADWAY (fred & ginger reunited; 1949)
miiiiiight read next:
🎭 ANTONY & CLEOPATRA by wm. shakespeare
💜 MY IMAGINARY MARY by cynthia hand, brodi ashton , & jodi meadows
🙈 I MIGHT BE IN TROUBLE by daniel aleman (my book of the month add*on!)
book of the month referral coupon: https://www.mybotm.com/4fk6zo9eig4
📖
what stories are YOU loving right now?!?!
😄🎬🎧🎤🩰📝
to the studio!
💖xo,
*hallie 🤓
✨📖 weekly reading book review january 2025: episode two!! 📖✨
this week i read:
🧡 THE GOLDEN TOWER (book 5 in the magisterium series) by holly black & cassandra clare
🖤 MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL, a play by t.s. eliot
💜 MY IMAGINARY MARY by cynthia hand, brodi ashton, & jodi meadows (a.k.a. the lady janies!)
💙 THE GRACE OF WILD THINGS by heather fawcett (!!! obsessed !!!!!)
CURRENTLY READING:
🎭 ANTONY & CLEOPATRA by wm. shakespeare
reading this week for book club:
☂️ HOW TO FALL IN LOVE IN A TIME OF UNNAMEABLE DISASTER by muriel leung
probably reading next:
🖤 THE LAST ONE AT THE WEDDING by jason rekulak
book of the month referral link (coupon for you, more books to review for me! for you!): https://www.mybotm.com/4fk6zo9eig4
eventually reading soon, & look how pretty:
💖 IMMORTAL by sue lynn tan
🩵 A SEA OF UNSPOKEN THINGS by adrienne young
what stories are you loving right now?!?
🎬🩰🎭📝📖📺🎧🎼
with papercuts to spare,
💜xo,
*hallie 🤓
✨📖 weekly reading book review january 2025: episode three!! 📖✨
here’s what i read this week:
🎭 ANTONY & CLEOPATRA by wm. shakespeare (#brushupyourshakespeare2025 )
😳 THE LAST ONE AT THE WEDDING by jason rekulak
book of the month referral link for $5 :)
🌳 THE BELLWOODS GAME by celia krampien
💙 THE WOOD AT MIDWINTER by susanna clarke
🎬 Watched:
💙 DAMN YANKEES (1958)
💖 GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953)
currently reading:
☔️ HOW TO FALL IN LOVE IN A TIME OF UNNAMEABLE DISASTER by muriel leung
miiiight read next:
💚 ORPHAN ISLAND by laurel snyder
🛍️ picked up a signed copy from the strand:
🍍 PINEAPPLE STREET by jenny jackson
what stories are you loving right now?!
🥰🎬🩰🎭🎨🎧🎶📝
with my snowy love who never got her by cherry cheesecake this trip,
💖xo,
*hallie 🤓
✨📖 weekly reading book review january 2025: episode four!! 📖✨
📚 here’s what i read this week:
☔️ HOW TO FALL IN LOVE IN A TIME OF UNNAMEABLE DISASTER by muriel leung (plz don’t make me talk about it. totally the last time i bring a book suggestion to book club without reading it first. ack!! 🙈🤪)
💙 THE CURSE OF THE EELGRASS BOG by mary averling
🎭 AS YOU LIKE IT by wm. shakespeare
📚 currently reading:
☕️ BEFORE WE FORGET KINDNESS by toshikazu kawaguchi
🎧 currently listening:
⚡️ HP & THE GOBLET OF FIRE by j.k. rowling
on libro.fm: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781781102664-harry-potter-and-the-goblet-of-fire
📚 reading next (er, maybe!!):
🗡️ MOMO ARASHIMA STEALS THE SWORD OF THE WIND by misa sugiura (yay MG fantasy!!)
🌊 A SEA OF UNSPOKEN THINGS by adrienne young
🎭 THE COMEDY OF ERRORS by wm. shakespeare
what stories are you loving & enjoying right now?!
🥰📖🎨🩰🎬🎭📺📝
with all my cozy rainy morning love (& valentines confetti in my pockets),
💖xo,
*hallie 🤓
fave reads of the month
it’s a shorter stack than usual, but my most enjoyable reads of january 2025 were:
🏰 HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE by diana wynne jones (classic re*read!!)
🩵 THE GRACE OF WILD THINGS by heather fawcett not as serious or depressing as the cover might lead you to believe; it’s brilliantly magical!!)
💖 MY IMAGINARY MARY by cynthia hand, brodi ashton, and jodi meadows— because i like my “historical fiction” snarky and made up for the better. 😹📝 🤖