Pauline's 2025 Reading

This is my 5th year doing the challenge. I will be doing the AlphaKIT, CoverCAT and ColourCAT this year. I also plan to read one non-fiction book every month. Like last year, my goal is to reduce my TBR of books I own.

Good luck with your 2025 reading!

>2 Tess_W: Thanks! :)

Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp : 4★
January ColourCAT : Green
January AlphaKIT : S
Non-Fiction

I have no idea why and when I acquired this book as I am not a parent and don't really deal with children. However, I found it in my cupboard of unread books and it met the criteria for 3 of this month's challenges, so decided to read it. (Also, I cannot throw away an unread book)

The first half of the book deals with biblical principles of parenting while the second half gives practical tips on dealing with children of different ages.

Good reading in 2025.

>5 mnleona: Thank you!

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino : 5★
January AlphaKIT : O & S

Yasuko thinks that she has finally escaped her violent ex but he unexpectedly turns up at her place of work wanting to get back together. She turns him away but he follows her home and forces his way in. A struggle ensues and he ends up dead. While she is debating what her next steps should be, her neighbour arrives and volunteers to help cover up the murder.

The story was different in that the reader knows up front who the murderer is while the police don't and are trying to solve the clues that they have. It is not that straightforward though and there was a surprising twist at the end. I ended up feeling sad for everyone though.

The Hive Queen by Tui T. Sutherland : 4★
January AlphaKIT : S

Cricket must try to prevent the LeafWings from starting a revenge war against the HiveWings. To do this she must find out the secret of Queen Wasps mind-control powers. In her quest to do so, she also uncovers the truth about her own parents and why she is different from the other HiveWings.

Happy New Year and good luck with your reading.

Have a great year of reading!

Enjoy your year of reading!

>9 lowelibrary: >10 thornton37814: >11 beebeereads: Thank you!

The Case of the Missing Finger by Cheri Baker : 3.5★
January CoverCAT

Ellie is ready to move on from grieving the loss of her husband. She embarks on a cruise and gets embroiled in a mystery when a fellow-traveler finds a finger in their cocktail.

The story and characters were quite entertaining but the book definitely needs better editing.

Happy new year, Pauline! You're off to a good start :-)

>14 susanj67: Thanks! Happy New Year!

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman : 5★
January AlphaKIT : O

A grumpy widower who would like nothing better than to be left alone until he can join his wife must deal with new neighbours who insist on being friendly.

Not the kind of book I usually read, but I enjoyed it.

Amari and the Despicable Wonders by B. B. Alston : 4★
January ColourCAT : Green

Amari is happy to have her brother back but annoyed that he is being over-protective and that he doesn't include her in the plans to take down Dylan. Despite having lost her magic, she still retains a connection to Dylan and so accidentally finds out about his plans to destroy the supernatural world and since her brother won't listen to her, she and her friends must deal with the threat themselves.

I liked this better than the second book. It is fast-moving and I ended up finishing it in one sitting.

The Poison Jungle by Tui T. Sutherland : 3★
January ColourKIT : Green
January AlphaKIT : S

Sundew finds out that there is more to the story of the Tree Wars than she had been told and that the real enemy is even scarier than Queen Wasp.

Sundew being angry all the time was a bit tiring, but overall I liked it.

The Land of Fire and Ash by Sarah Dalton Book 1 : 4★
January AlphaKIT : S

Read the first book in the set, The Dragon Wakes. It follows the lives of King Davead, two of his sons - Luca & Stefan, and his ward Reva.

Davead has outlawed all Menti (people possessing magical abilities) and has his army hunting and killing them because of a prophecy that he would be killed by a Menti. However, what neither his people nor his family know is that Davead himself is secretly a Menti.

When Luca discovers that he has magical powers, he is afraid that his father will kill him and flees to join a group of Menti refugees.

Reva had been betrothed to Luca but was given away as a reward to one of Davead's generals despite Luca's protests. When her husband is killed, she is discovered to be Menti and is captured and put to work in a Menti prisoner camp.

Meanwhile Stefan, Luca's younger brother, and least-liked by his father but most similar to him, covets the throne and plots to overthrow his father.

I found Davead considering Stefan a monster rather hypocritical since he himself does pretty much the same things as his monster son. But the book has some good character development and am looking forward to seeing how the series continues.

The Dangerous Gift by Tui T. Sutherland : 4★
January AlphaKIT

Scales and Sensibility by Stephanie Burgis : 3.5★
January AlphaKIT : S

A fun regency romance assisted by a wish-granting dragon