My Month Is Booked: January 2025

Welcome to the first My Month is Booked linkup of 2025! :]

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The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson, by Ellen Baker – This follows the life of Cecily Larson, who is dropped off at an orphanage at the age of 4 and is eventually sold to a traveling circus. A historical fiction that switches between past + present (as she grows up, to her “present”-day 94-year-old self in 2015, and centers around Cecily’s life and family + the secrets that come to light when her family decides to surprise her with a home DNA test.

I was initially drawn to this book because the audiobook had an aerialist on it! The main character is not an aerialist though, so the cover was a bit of a tease. (It’s fine.) It was an interesting read though, especially great if you like family dramas!

The Golden Couple, by Greer Hendricks + Sarah Pekkanen – In an attempt to save her marriage, the wife hires a former-therapist who’s lost her license due to her unconventional techniques. Slowly throughout the book, little clues are shared that reveal that everyone is hiding something. But to what extent!?

There were bits that felt slower-moving, but I did feel invested up through the end. There are definitely some twists in this book that I didn’t anticipate. :]

Art for Your Sanity, by Susan Hensley – This was a quick read about art journaling interwoven with the author’s personal experiences/stories that led her to start/continue with it. I was personally hoping for more prompts and ideas/inspiration but this isn’t exactly a book meant for that, which is totally fine!

I am somewhat of a perfectionist who is simultaneously trying to get back to her creative side again + am not really an “artist,” so honestly, the overall message from this book was very much needed — it does not have to be perfect, and as long as you have fun creating, it doesn’t matter what the end product looks like. You have several pages going at once where you add to it as time goes on + it is a safe space for you to work out your thoughts, process emotions, brainstorm, capture memories. There is no “right” way to do it, as long as “you do you.”

Metallic Watercolor, by Elisabeth Götz – I got an ARC for this from NetGalley! I’ve been trying to teach myself watercolor (very sporadically, e.g. I try once every few months), so I figured this one would be a fun one to pick up.  It starts off with an intro on the basics (e.g. materials/tools + techniques) + even offers a QR code for traceable designs to get you started. The projects + tutorials provide a great progression and are easy to follow.

There were unfortunately some formatting issues on this book that made it impossible to read ~33% of the pages, but from what I could read, I did really enjoy this book. The actual book should be in print on the 14th of this month!

Got any book reviews from this month? Link em’ up below and make sure you visit others in the linkup too for reading inspiration! :]

• How many books did you read last year? (I made it to 73! Definitely my best yet since sophomore year of high school, when I decided to try to read a book a day (I think I made it to 200+ that year…).
• Do you have a goal for how many books you want to read this year? I chose 40 but I’m probably gonna try increasing this depending on how the year goes…
• What are you reading now? I’m in the middle of Wicked (went to watch the movie with my parents last month! I’d love to see the musical again) + The Measure.