monthly tbr january 2025
monthly tbr january 2025

What are you reading in January 2025?

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Let’s make a list of books to read in January 2025!

What better way to welcome in the New Year, than with a fresh stock of fun fiction! What are you most looking forward to reading in January?

The Fishbird Central Book Club Pick for January 2025 is …

“The Spellshop” by Sarah Beth Durst

You don’t need to ‘sign up’ or have ‘special elite access’ to join the Fishbird Central Book Club. Just read along with our chosen book for the month, and let us know how you like it! 

We’ll talk a little more in depth about the Book Club and our thoughts on the monthly book pick in our Fishbird Central Newsletter. We’d love to chat with you in the newsletter comments!

Join us as we read some great new titles and tick off some reading prompts! Book reviews are published in 3’s as we finish and find them friends 🙂

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We encourage you to always source books from your local independent bookshop. However, we understand this is sometimes not practical based on location or budget.

Therefore, this post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means, if you click on the link and purchase the book from that link, I get a few dollars at no extra cost to you! This way we can both restock our TBR stack! 😀

Happy Reading, Friends! 

IN THIS POST
Series or Standalone?:

This is a standalone novel.

'The Spellshop' Back Blurb:

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people, and as librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she hasn’t had to. She and her assistant, Caz, a sentient spider plant, have spent most of the last eleven years sequestered among the empire’s precious spellbooks, protecting the magic for the city’s elite. But a revolution is brewing and when the library goes up in flames, Kiela and Caz steal whatever books they can and flee to the faraway island where she grew up. But to her dismay, in addition to a nosy – and very handsome – neighbour, she finds the town in disarray. The empire has slowly been draining power from the island, and now Kiela is determined to make things right. But opening up her own spellshop comes with its own risks – the consequence of sharing magic with commoners is death. And as Kiela starts to make a place for herself among the townspeople, she realises she must break down the walls she has kept so high.

Grab yourself a copy:

‘The Spellshop’ by Sarah Beth Durst

Series or Standalone?:

This is Book 2 in the ‘Assistant to the Villain’ series.

'Apprentice to the Villain' Back Blurb:

Evie Sage has never been happier to be the assistant to The Villain. Who would have thought that working for an outrageously handsome (shhh, bad for his brand) evil overlord would be so rewarding? Still, the business of being bad is demanding, the forces of good are annoyingly persistent, and said forbidding boss is somewhat…er, out-of-evil-office. But Rennedawn is in grave trouble, and all signs – Kingsley’s included – point to catastrophe. Something peculiar is happening with the kingdom’s magic, and it’s made The Villain’s manor vulnerable to their enemies … including their nemesis, the king. Now it’s time for Evie to face her greatest challenge – protecting The Villain’s lair, all of his nefarious works, and maybe (provided no one finds out) the entire kingdom. No pressure, Evie. It’s time to step out of her comfort zone and learn new skills. Like treason. Dagger work. Conspiring with the enemy. It’s all so…so…delightfully fun. But what happens when the assistant to The Villain is ready to become his apprentice?

Grab yourself a copy:

‘Apprentice to the Villain’ by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Series or Standalone?:

This is a standalone novel.

'Murder by Degrees' Back Blurb:

Philadelphia, 1875: It is the start of term at Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Dr. Lydia Weston, professor and anatomist, is immersed in teaching her students in the lecture hall and hospital. When the body of a patient, Anna Ward, is dredged out of the Schuylkill River, the young chambermaid’s death is deemed a suicide. But Lydia is suspicious and she is soon brought into the police investigation. Aided by a diary filled with cryptic passages of poetry, Lydia discovers more about the young woman she thought she knew. Through her skill at the autopsy table and her clinical acumen, Lydia draws nearer the truth. Soon a terrible secret, long hidden, will be revealed. But Lydia must act quickly, before she becomes the next target of those who wished to silence Anna.

Grab yourself a copy:

‘Murder by Degrees’ by Ritu Mukerji

Series or Standalone?:

This book is a standalone novel.

'The Full Moon Coffee Shop' Back Blurb:

Under a glittering full moon, a Kyoto coffee shop with no fixed location or fixed hours appears only where and when it’s needed. It is run by talking cats serving the finest teas and coffees, delicious desserts and age-old astrological wisdom. The Full Moon Coffee Shop attracts customers who have lost their way in their life, from a down-on-her-luck screenwriter to a failed video game developer. In the middle of the night, the feline guides will set them back on their fated paths.

Grab yourself a copy:

‘The Full Moon Coffee Shop’ by Mai Mochizuki

Series or Standalone?:

This is a standalone novel.

'The Ledge' Back Blurb:

When human remains are discovered in the forests of regional Victoria, the police are baffled, the locals are shocked, and one group of old friends starts to panic. Their long-held secret is about to be uncovered. It all began in 1999 when sixteen-year-old Aaron ran away from home, dragging his friends into an unforeseeable chain of events that no one escaped from unscathed.

Grab yourself a copy:

‘The Ledge’ by Christian White

Series or Standalone?:

This is Book One in the ‘Three Dahlias Mysteries’.

'The Three Dahlias' Back Blurb:

Three rival actresses team up to solve a murder at the stately home of the author who made them famous – only to discover the solution lies in the stories themselves. In attendance: the VIP fans, staying at Aldermere; the fan club president turned convention organiser; the team behind the newest movie adaptation of Davenport’s books; the Davenport family themselves – and the three actresses famous for portraying Lettice’s 1930s detective, Dahlia Lively. National treasure Rosalind King, from the original movies. TV Dahlia for thirteen seasons, Caro Hooper. And ex-child star Posy Starling, fresh out of the fame wilderness (and rehab) to take on the Dahlia mantle for the new movie. Each actress has her own interpretation of the character – but this English summer weekend they will have to put aside their differences, as the crimes at Aldermere turns anything but cosy. When fictional death turns into real bodies, can the three Dahlias find the answers to the murders among the fans, the film crew, the family – or even in Lettice’s books themselves?

Grab yourself a copy:

‘The Three Dahlias’ by Katy Watson

Series or Standalone?:

This is Book 4 in the ‘Caleb Zelic’ series.

'Those Who Perish' Back Blurb:

Deaf PI Caleb Zelic has always been an outsider, estranged from family and friends. But when he receives a message that his brother, Anton, is in danger, Caleb sees it as a chance at redemption. He tracks Anton down to a small, wind-punished island where secrets run deep and resentments deeper. When a sniper starts terrorising the isolated community, the brothers must rely on each other like never before. But trust comes at a deadly price.

Grab yourself a copy:

‘Those Who Perish’ by Emma Viskic

Series or Standalone?:

This is a standalone novel.

'Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop' Back Blurb:

Yeongju did everything she was supposed to, go to university, marry a decent man, get a respectable job. Then it all fell apart. Burned out, Yeongju abandons her old life, quits her high-flying career, and follows her dream. She opens a bookshop. In a quaint neighbourhood in Seoul, surrounded by books, Yeongju and her customers take refuge. From the lonely barista to the unhappily married coffee roaster, and the writer who sees something special in Yeongju – they all have disappointments in their past. The Hyunam-dong Bookshop becomes the place where they all learn how to truly live.

Grab yourself a copy:

‘Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop’ by Hwang Bo-Reum

Series or Standalone?:

This is a standalone novel.

'When No One is Watching' Back Blurb:

Sydney Green is Brooklyn born and raised, but her beloved neighbourhood seems to change every time she blinks. Condos are sprouting like weeds, FOR SALE signs are popping up overnight, and the neighbours she’s known all her life are disappearing. To hold onto her community’s past and present, Sydney channels her frustration into a walking tour and finds an unlikely and unwanted assistant in one of the new arrivals to the block—her neighbour Theo. But Sydney and Theo’s deep dive into history quickly becomes a dizzying descent into paranoia and fear. Their neighbours may not have moved to the suburbs after all, and the push to revitalise the community may be more deadly than advertised. When does coincidence become conspiracy? Where do people go when gentrification pushes them out? Can Sydney and Theo trust each other—or themselves—long enough to find out before they too disappear?

Grab yourself a copy:

‘When No One is Watching’ by Alyssa Cole

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