Dear Readers, January was a good month for reading catching up on my TBR.  I read 8 books total with 6 books off my TBR list for January. I reread some old favorites, 3 horror, 1 mystery 1 classic. I read 8 books this month. 2 were five stars, 4 were four stars, and 1 was a three star. I chose not to rate or review 1 book due to the author’s actions. I read 3 books that are part of a book series. I read two book published in January of 2025 thanks to Netgalley.

Five Star Reviews:

The Wolf’s Hour by Robert McCammon is a powerhouse novel full of action, adventure, and horror. The story is about what would happen if a super spy was also a werewolf. The book is all about stopping a Nazi plot to release chemical weapons. McCammon’s take on the werewolf genre is fresh and new and this novel was written in the 80’s. In The Wolf’s Hour, a Werewolf can change at any time. The person’s body is always hot because the werewolf skin is underneath. The person must balance both a human diet and a wolf’s diet. Every time you stay a wolf, your human body ages more rapidly. Your lifespan becomes like that of a wolf, which lives to 35 on average. The novel is a masterclass in pacing as we get an interesting background with intense action. The story mixes a werewolf horror with the action and adventure of Indiana Jones combined with super spy James Bond. The Wolf’s Hour was published on October 12, 1989.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a classic adventure as Huck Finn and Jim the slave search for freedom. Freedom is the theme of this book. Jim is trying to escape slavery. Huck is trying to escape growing up under rules and his father’s tyranny. Pap, Huck’s father, wants freedom from the government. Huckleberry Finn takes place before the Civil War. Twain wrote the novel 25 years after that. The novel balances light and good fun with the darkness of death and child separation. The heart of the novel is Huck Finn and Jim’s relationship. I wanted to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn first. I believe it will help me appreciate James by Percival Everett, which I will read next month. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was published on February 18, 1884.

Four Star Reviews:

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix is historical fiction/horror in 1970 Florida at a wayward house. What is a wayward house? You might be asking. A wayward house is a place where unwed pregnant teenagers would stay. The mothers would remain until the baby was delivered and adopted. The mothers would never see the baby again and return to their “normal lives”. The system requires the mother to abandon all rights to the child. At the same time, the wayward house receives payment for the adoption. The young mother feels helpless until witchcraft is introduced. The themes are powerlessness and control. Even when witchcraft is brought in, the girls soon realize they have power but no control. This makes them feel powerless. This novel is a character piece and the characters for the most part are intriguing. Thanks, Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for the read. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls will be published on January 14, 2025.

Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane is a dark mystery in Boston. Darkness, Take My Hand is the second book in the Kenzie and Gennaro series. This book is a dark and gritty mystery involving the mob and dangerous serial killers. Darkness, Take My Hand is a tension filled thrill ride. Serial killers are playing a deadly game hunting the children of the parents who stopped them years ago. Lehane writes a great mystery. The reader can follow along and knows as much as the characters trying to solve the case. I like a mystery that gives the audience a chance to solve it and Darkness, Take My Hand does. Darkness, Take My Hand was published July 12, 1996.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley is a contemporary novel about time travel with romance. The Ministry of Time is Kaliane Bradley’s debut novel. There is no time traveling in the novel but there are time travelers. In present-day London, there is a division of covert government called the Ministry who specialize in Time Travelers. The Ministry has a weapon where they can move people from time who were alone and destined for death. And bring them to the present day to live and acclimate to our time. The novel is about time, choices, the future, and feeling out of place and time. The story deals with big issues but makes a lot of jokes while doing it. The ministry hires bridges who live with the time travelers. The bridge’s job is to acclimate the traveler to the present day. The bridges seem to barely be able to live and take care of themselves yet another person. The Time travelers show most of the bridges to live than the other way around. The Ministry of Time is light science fiction. It doesn’t delve deeply into time travel or the mechanics behind it. It has a few time travel tropes but the novel is pretty fresh in its approach. The Ministry of Time won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Science Fiction of 2024 and was nominated for Best Debut. The Ministry of Time was one of Barack Obama’s favorite reads of 2024. The Ministry of Time was published on May 7, 2024.

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay is a creepy horror about remaking a cursed film 30 years later. The novel is about transformation. It asks the question, can we make a transformation happen? Or are we made to transform no matter what? Masks are the big metaphor in the piece. The main star and our narrator is a masked man in the movie. In real life, he hides behind a mask of uncertainty and self-doubt. The story is set in the present day. It flashbacks to two different periods. In 1993, the first cursed film was being made. In 2008, the hype started for the cursed unreleased film. The reader also gets to see the full screenplay inserted into the narrative. There is some controversy about whether it is the original or if it was altered. Tremblay is very good at stringing the audience like a puppeteer pulling strings. The audience knows early on that the first movie ended in tragedy. All members of the cast and crew are dead except for the narrator. The novel is structured like a slow-burn mystery where everything is revealed at the end. Horror Movie was published on June 11, 2024.

Three Star Reviews:

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson is half historical fiction and half modern-day fiction. Good Dirt like Black Cake connects time and family with an object. In Good Dirt the object is a clay pot that is 200 years old. The book’s main theme of Good Dirt is what’s fractured can be repaired. A lot of the characters in the book are fractured and dealing with trauma. Ebby, Soh, and Ed are all dealing with the death of Baz 19 years ago. The death of Baz remains unsolved. The novel is not about solving the murder of Baz, though at the end we know who was responsible. The story is told through 12 perspectives that take place throughout time. The pacing of the book is great thanks to the changing narratives.I had a publisher reach out to me from Ballantine Books and give me a copy on NetGalley. Good Dirt was published on January 28, 2025.