Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: January 2025

Back again for another fun month of book suggestions? Here are the things Kristin and I have been reading since the last wrap-up. Be sure to tell us if you see any of your favorite reads, something on the never-ending To-Be-Read list, or if you know of a comparable title we might enjoy. Thanks again for reading! Write on.

Kamryn:

I’ve actually done quite a bit of reading since the Yearly Reading Wrap-Up due to some Christmas presents, so let’s get started.

My first read of 2025 was the latest Rick Riordan book, Wrath of the Triple Goddess, which follows Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood in their ongoing quest to get Percy’s three godly college recommendation letters. As you know from Riordan’s Trials of Apollo series, Percy does eventually achieve his goal and get to college, so this series of books serves as kind of a fun spree of side adventures for the original trio. Wrath of the Triple Goddess is the kind of book I’d describe as a “Halloween special” where you get lots of seasonal hijinks, a disastrous attempt at mythical pet-sitting, and Riordan’s usual hilarious style of writing. A very fun adventure to add to the Percy Jackson catalog.

My second read was a nonfiction book written by Broadway and TV actress Sutton Foster, Hooked: A Memoir in Crafts. Known for her hilarious comedic timing and belting voice, Sutton Foster is a household name for anyone big into theatre, but this novel details her life in an extremely personal and poignant way, explaining how having an ever-present creative outlet through crafts like crochet, cross-stitch, and drawing helped Foster through difficult family relationships, anxiety, fame, and achieving the person she wanted to be. This book could be hilarious or heavy, but draws from firsthand experience the healing power of creativity. Foster also includes personal recipes and crochet instructions, which I thought was a very nice touch.

My current read to round out January is a new addition to Cornelia Funke’s masterful fantasy series Inkheart. Inkworld: The Color of Revenge is a new story set five years after the third book, Inkdeath, following the evil Silvertongue, Orpheus, in a plot of revenge against Dustfinger due to his scorn in the original series. Orpheus sets in motion an evil enchantment that makes many of the heroes of the first series vanish, which leads to the story mostly following Dustfinger and the Black Prince as they attempt to return the others from the magic that’s captured them. I’m a little under halfway through reading it, so I’m still not sure how exactly this story will play out, but it’s very nice to dive back into Funke’s wonderful prose and enchanted worlds. Coincidentally, I reread the original Inkheart trilogy not too long ago, which served as a good refresher for picking back up with this new addition. If you haven’t read them and you’re looking for excellent fantasy, go grab a copy of Inkheart. Just make sure you don’t read it out loud.

Kristin:  

Hello, so I confess that I am still currently reading a few novels and haven’t actually finished anything. So I thought I would take this space to rant a little bit and I hope you either agree or find it entertaining.

Let's talk book categories. 

A common complaint in the bookstores and libraries are that the books are inappropriate for children/teens. Firstly, a lot of times parents must first be in the right section to begin with and categories have corresponding ages. Specifically Young Adult  (YA)  which seems to be the messiest which is ranged for 12-18 year olds. Anyone younger than that should be in Middle Grade (MG) or lower.

Here’s another problem: 12-18 is such a wide range of cognitive development. And what may be okay for a 17-18 year old may not be suitable for a 12-13 year old. Getting out of elementary years into middle school and being on the cusp of adulthood are going to be very different audiences. 

YA is an over-saturated category and many adults choose to read in this age range even though technically they are not the target audience. This may be because adult category books may feature too much explicit  gore, violence, or sexual content, or may be written in a way that’s easier to understand. All are perfectly valid reasons and not something I’m complaining about. The issue is that authors are now trying to fit a lot of novels that border on the line of being too violent or sexual or whatever the case may be into Young Adult and its becoming hard to distinguish what’s appropriate for those younger YA readers. 

New Adult is a thing, but it’s also not very popular sadly. So my solution: add a category in between MG and YA that’s T for teens. This range would go from 12-15 year olds leaving YA 16-18. This feels more appropriate of an age range and those younger audiences could read higher level books that’s MG without being too explicit for them.

  I also just in general wish books could be more specific on the books themselves or on the authors website with a page dealing with potentially themes and triggers where potential readers (and/or parents) can make informed decisions on if that book is appropriate. This would have saved me a lot of grief at Christmas this year but that’s neither here nor there. 

These are just my opinions and obviously adding a category in between MG and YA is not so easy, would likely be a librarian and bookstore nightmare, but I do feel strongly about encouraging readers of all ages to find a book that’s for them. 

That’s all for this year! Be sure to let us know what you’ve read and we’ll see you in February! As always, write-on!