Goals for 2026 | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 1/20/26

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Please check out her website for more TTT topics!

This week’s topic is:

Goals for 2026

(Bookish or not! Share your reading goals, personal goals, etc.)

Go back on a book buying ban because I really need to save for some upcoming trips! *I don’t feel confident in accomplishing this goal* LOL
Request LESS books on NetGalley. I read more than 200 books in 2025. I think the highest I ever read was 170+.
When I have no time to read books that are offered to me, I’ll just do a spotlight on the book on my blog and socials.
Be more brave to show my face in my videos? 😅
I need to get another bookshelf.

What’s on your TTT?

Find me here: Instagram (bookstagram📚) | TikTok | Etsy | youtube

Silk & Iron by. Alexis Calder | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Silk & Iron (#1)

Author: Alexis Calder

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 385

Publication Date: 1/20/26

Publisher: Alexis Calder

Categories: Romantasy, Fantasy, Romance, Indie Author

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Alexis Calder for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The emperor. The prince. The enforcer.
I want them all dead. Until I fall for one of them.

After losing all my family to the rebellion, I lost hope. When my ex-boyfriend begs me to pose as the prince’s betrothed, I know it’s an opportunity the rebellion won’t ever get again.

I’m sent with the goal of finding out how to kill an immortal emperor, but I don’t want to wait on someone else to get my revenge. I want the emperor, the prince, and the enforcer all dead.

But the palace is full of secrets. And I’m not the only one playing a game of life and death; lies and betrayals. The closer I get to my goal, the closer I get to one of the men I vowed to kill.

And I’m not sure I can bring myself to harm him. But there’s nothing stopping him from killing me as soon as he finds out who I really am.

I’m playing with fire and I want this whole empire to burn.

But nothing is as it seems.

Just when I think I have nothing left to lose, I find out how much I have to live for.

And when faced with losing the only hope I have left, I must decide how far I’m willing to go to watch this empire burn.

Silk & Iron is a slow burn, spicy enemies-to-lovers romantasy full of court intrigue, betrayal, and deception. Mind the cliff.

Content Warning: violence, death, mentions of sexual assault, torture

+~ Sabina is undercover as a princess and is supposed to be marrying Caiden, the Prince of Pendralia, but what she is really there to do is kill his dad, the emperor because they killed her family. There is court intrigue, but not as much as I was expecting. There are a lot of scenes of Sabina getting close to her ladies-in-waiting, which was fun. But I just wanted more danger.

+~ The world building is the usual for a romantasy: warring kingdoms, princess used for an alliance, secret identity of the princess, a rebellion trying to kill the emperor, magic that keeps him alive. But only certain people have magic in this world. I wanted more from the world building. As for the characters, I just felt like none of them stood out, I wanted more depth. Also, there is magic but we learn a little more about it near the end.

+~ There is a slow burn, forbidden romance between Sabina and Brevan, her guard/enforcer and who is Caiden’s right hand man. And when I say slow, it is slow, and I didn’t even feel the chemistry between them. There are two spicy scenes but because I didn’t even feel their connection, I wasn’t really invested in them.

+ The ending has a wild twist and probably was the most interesting part of the book because it was unexpected.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I thought this was an okay read. I wanted more depth to the characters, more chemistry in the romance and more world building. But if you are someone who doesn’t like heavy world-building in romantasy and wants something easy to read through, definitely try this one. The ending was very unexpected so I might read the next book.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Author Website

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Kingdom of Blood and Salt by. Alexis Calder | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Night Terror by. Vincent Ralph | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: Night Terror (Bleak Haven, #2)

Author: Vincent Ralph

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 240

Publication Date: 1/20/26

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Young Adult, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Horror

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Who the hell holds up a bookstore? That’s what Noah asks when his favorite spot is suddenly targeted by masked attackers.

But these people don’t want a ransom. They are searching for Bleak Haven’s very own urban legend – The Burning Book.

When something with a thirst for flesh creeps from its pages, Noah must team up with the other hostages and try to escape the mall without turning their town into a bloodbath.

Content Warning: death, violence

I thought this book had much more action than book one, Dead Fake. I enjoyed that it was fast paced and had a zombie coming after a bunch of kids in a mall!

I still think I’m not the right audience for this series because I’m older and yes, it reminds me of R.L. Stine Goosebumps, but again, I have just grown out of it.

But I think teens would enjoy this series.

Final Thoughts:

I think teens and younger young adults who like YA Suspense/Horror would really enjoy this.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Dead Fake by. Vincent Ralph ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Weekly Wrap Up | 1/18/26

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ What a week! Most of it was worrying about getting concert tickets. After giving up, and 2 hours of trying, I got tickets to the second show! My kids, a college friend and her hubby, and one of my other good friends are coming along, it will be the first concert for my kiddos – they love Bruno Mars.

+ But that’s not all…this week is BTS presale week. Now, I’m not BTS Army, but I am obsessed with Jung Kook, more so after going to South Korea with my sister. I think it’s funny that it was my family trip to Philly/New York that started my sister listening to K-Pop because she drove me car when she house sat for me and the station that popped up in my car was the K-Pop station! 😅 She’s been obsessed ever since. But it’s actually on our trip to South Korea last year that I learned how much of a BTS fan she was – I was shocked! So I’m the one usually going to concerts and she’s not, so she kind of designated me as the ticket buyer. I told her it’s going to be IMPOSSIBLE…but you never know. If we can’t get any for this year, we will try for 2027 dates. I would prefer 2027 because honestly, I did expect a BTS tour but I thought an announcement would come in March?

+ It actually got COLD here in Hawaii…and I mean 65 degrees in the morning and 75 by noon. 😅. I know, that isn’t cold to everyone else, but to us tropical islanders, it’s freezing! 😂

Blog Posts:

Oxford Blood by. Rachael Davis-Featherstone | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026 | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 1/13/26
New Book Releases This Week | 1/13/26
WWW Wednesday | 1/14/25
Fallen Stars by. Imani Erriu | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
King of Ravens by. Clare Sager | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Let’s Talk Bookish: Book Blogging Slumps | 1/16/26
The Night Ship by. Alex Woodroe | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dead Fake by. Vincent Ralph | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Books I Finished

Crown of War and Shadow by J.R. Ward
The Cure by. Perdro Urvi
Wicked Onyx by. Debbie Cassidy
Silk & Iron by. Alexis Calder
Dragon Cursed by. Elise Kova

Currently Reading:

A Promise of Lies by. Claire Sager
A Curse of Crimson Tears by. Julie J. Morris
Dawn of the North by. Demi Winters
Keeper of Lost Children by. Sadeqa Johnson
Goodbye and Everything After by. Mae Coyiuto

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

Football

People We Meet on Vacation (Netflix) – I read this book a few years ago but watching it definitely brought me back to the book. I thought it was cute, it’s a good adaptation and I was reminded me of Poppy’s self-journey. I gave the book 4 stars – and I think the actors did a great job showing how different their personalities were, but how much they were also best friends – I love their friends to lovers/second chance romance. I also love that they had one of my favorite Robyn songs (Hang with Me) in the movie.

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Instagram | Tiktok

Dead Fake by. Vincent Ralph | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating:

Title: Dead Fake (Bleak Haven, #1)

Author: Vincent Ralph

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 256

Publication Date: 1/20/26

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Young Adult, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Horror

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Would you Swipe to Die?

When the new craze takes over Bleak Haven High, Ava Wilson refuses to join in. As the niece of an infamous murderer, it’s the last thing she needs.

The mysterious website allows people to view their own ‘death’ – an AI generated version of their final slasher-movie-moments. But, when some of her classmates’ deepfakes are replicated in real life, Ava can either catch the killer…or be the next victim.

Content Warning: death, murder

There’s been a trend at school called Swipe or Die, where there are AI produced videos of how someone will die. It’s been called a deep fake when someone finally does actually die, someone close to Ava. Ava is the niece of a murderer so she’s had an interesting life and family – and this cuts close to home.

I think teens and younger young adults will like this one. It has teenage friendship drama. There is mystery, suspense, horror, and a surprising twist.

For me it was an okay read but I kind of lost interest in the middle, only because I think I’m not the target audience. I think I would have enjoyed this when I was a teen though! I was always reading R.L. Stine in my younger years.

Final Thoughts:

I think teens and younger young adults who like YA Suspense/Horror would really enjoy this. I will be reading book two since I was gifted an arc so I look forward to reading that one.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Night Ship by. Alex Woodroe | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating:

Title: The Night Ship

Author: Alex Woodroe

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 224

Publication Date: 1/20/26

Publisher: Flame Tree Press

Categories: Horror, Thriller, Apocalyptic

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Flame Tree Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

An apocalyptic world turned into a pitch-black sea of nothingness, but smuggler Rosi and her crew of survivors aren’t alone. Something hungry lurks below…

Driving a logging truck through the Romanian mountains, smuggler Rosi and her crew come across a radio signal that hints at impending doom. As the world goes completely dark, their truck becomes a vessel sailing across a sea of nothingness.

But they’re not transmissions trickle in through the radio from similar isolated islands across the country, from amateur radio hobbyists and police cars and customs facilities.

Attempting to rescue survivors and find a way out, the group save more lives, but soon discover that something hungry lurks below, and it’s sending up agents – and transmissions – of its own.

Content Warning: death

I was asked to read and review this book and I took a chance on it even though it’s out of my comfort zone. I do read dystopia but not so much ones like this one.

It’s the end of the world, Rosi is with a few people and they are in a truck getting transmission radio signals and hearing people all over talk about being alone, that this is the end and they just want people to know they are out there.

How is the world ending? I’m not sure – something with vines? I was confused most of the time. They were running from something, but even they didn’t know what it was. I felt like this world-building was very vague. But I did feel the tension from beginning to the end of the story.

It’s also a short story, way under 300 pages, but I just felt like there wasn’t much there for me to feel invested in the characters or what was happening since I was confused. I did get that this took place in Eastern Europe, and I got a hit of some politics in the story, but again, not enough that I knew anything concrete.

Final Thoughts:

I think this was a well-written story but not something the kinds of stories I usually read, so I felt it was an okay read for me. But if you like apocalyptic stories, where you don’t get the answers right away – you might like this one.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Let’s Talk Bookish: Book Blogging Slumps | 1/16/26

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly bookish meme originally created by Rukky @ Eternity Books and hosted by Aria @ Book Nook Bits, where every Friday, bloggers write discussion posts based on a weekly prompt and Dini @ dinipandareads has cohosted since the beginning of 2025.

This week’s topic is:

January 16: Book Blogging Slumps (Danielle @ Poetry Books YA)

Prompts: People frequently talk about reading slumps, but what about blogging slumps? What gives you motivation for blogging? What makes you lose motivation? Have you ever gone through one before? How did you break out of it? What advice would you give to a book blogger who’s in one?

**********

People frequently talk about reading slumps, but what about blogging slumps?

I don’t usually have a blogging slump but at the end of the year when I am so busy in the holiday rush, sometimes it’s easy for me to forget to post.

What makes you lose motivation?

I think sometimes when I wonder if people are even reading my blog, I question if I should keep it up. But honestly, this is helpful for me to keep track of books I read – so even if I had no one reading, I actually go back to my posts a lot to check something or re-read a review before reading a sequel and it kind of helps.

Have you ever gone through one before? How did you break out of it?

I think I went through one 2 years ago? But I just kept making post and scheduling them ahead of time – this helps me get ahead of any lost of motivation.

What advice would you give to a book blogger who’s in one?

I see a bunch of bloggers take mini breaks during the year and I think it helps them!

January 2026 Topics:

January 2: Top Reads in Five Words/Sentences

~~Prompts~~: What were your top 5 (or top 10) reads in 2025? If you had five words or sentences (your choice!) to describe each book and convince other readers to pick it up, how would you describe your 2025 favourites?

January 9: Bookish Trends of 2025

~~Prompts:~~ Looking back on the past year, what bookish trends have you noticed? Are certain tropes, types of blogging, or other book-related content becoming more popular? If you did this post last year (Bookish Trends of 2024), do you notice any trend changes from that post? What changes do you foresee in 2026? What bookish trend would you most want to see become popular, or come back?

January 16: Book Blogging Slumps (Danielle @ Poetry Books YA)

January 23: Underrated Books (Leyre @ Read You Leyre)

Prompts: What makes a book “underrated”? Did you read any books in 2025 that you think are underrated? Did you read any books with underrated tropes (or micro tropes) or genres? What are some of your favourite “underrated” reads from 2025 and of all time?

January 30: Freebie!

Prompts: You made it to the end of the month—congrats! For the fifth Friday of the month, pick your own topic. You can check out our blogs for inspiration (Aria and Dini) or write about something else you’re interested in!

King of Ravens by. Clare Sager | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: King of Ravens (Upon a Broken Throne, #1)

Author: Clare Sager

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 480

Publication Date: 1/27/26

Publisher: Forever

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Series, Hades/Persephone Retelling

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Forever for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

He’ll do anything to keep her. She’d do anything to escape.

Rhiannon is dying—of what, she doesn’t know. Kept protected by her family in their remote seaside cottage, she spends her days searching for a cure. Her world is torn apart, however, when a fae King of the Dead invades her home.

Cold and cruel, Drystan offers her a choice: descend to the underworld as his bride or watch her family die. Trapped in a twisted bargain, Rhiannon is thrust into a world of withered gods, scheming courtiers, and ancient magic, but she refuses to be a pawn in a game she never agreed to play. She attempts over and over to run away, until Drystan offers her a new bargain: escape his deadly labyrinth, and he will set her free. Fail, and become his bride.

But in a court where every promise has teeth, Annon must make an impossible choice: return to the home she’s always loved or claim her place in a world where she might finally belong.

Content Warning: violence

I always enjoy a Hades/Persephone retelling and I definitely saw elements of it in King of Ravens. This is book one in a series that I assume will be exploring the Underworld. Annon/Rhiannon, is a chronically ill woman in her early thirties who is given to Drystan, an Unseelie Fae and King of Death, as his bride. He doesn’t know that she is ill, but that doesn’t matter because Rhiannon is determined to find her way back home.

Rhiannon is human, which doesn’t go well with the Unseelie, but she holds her own at Drystan’s court. She even makes a friend with her maid, Min. I feel like the beginning of this story where Rhiannon is acclimating to Drystan’s world moved slowly. But I appreciated the chronic-illness representation. I wanted more court politics.

Drystan offers Rhiannon her an option: find a way out of his labyrinth and she gets to go home to the surface. If she loses, she belongs with Drystan in the Underworld forever. She has two weeks to do this and there is danger in the labyrinth but also she befriends a creature called The Collector. Speaking of Labyrinth – there were times in the book that it reminded me of the movie!

The romance is a slow burn with tension growing between them. And when it really takes off, the spice is spicy. I did like it when Drystan and Rhiannon spent more time together as they build an emotional connection.

There are a few twists at the end, one I suspected, the other I felt came out of nowhere but it did feel a bit rushed. We barely get to know anything outside of Drystan’s land, so the ending was kind of a surprise.

Final Thoughts:

I wasn’t feeling this story in the first half of the book because I felt like it moved too slow and wasn’t giving me enough information. Rhiannon gets taken to the Underworld and isn’t really given instruction from Drystan on what to do or what he expects of her, so thank goodness for Min. We don’t get to know Drystan much either. But I think everything picks up in the middle, with the labyrinth, and the romance and spice. I do feel like I just wanted more from the story though, hopefully book two will have more depth.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Fallen Stars by. Imani Erriu | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Fallen Stars (The Heavenly Bodies, #2)

Author: Imani Erriu

Format: audiobook and paperback

Pages: 544

Publication Date: 11/25/25 (first published 2/14/23)

Categories: Romantasy, Series

In this stunning sequel to the viral TikTok sensation Heavenly Bodies, Elara searches for a way to save her star-crossed lover and defeat the Stars out to destroy her.

“Stars will fall.”

Elara is vengeful. Her love, Prince Lorenzo, is in a deep sleep, trapped between the realms of life and death. Her enemy has vanished, and with him, Enzo’s only hope of returning to the waking world, leaving Elara with a life she has never wanted and new powers she cannot control.

Now a disgraced queen, Elara must find a way to save Lorenzo while also seeking the lost Titans, a league of gods who ruled the world long before the Stars. But there is a darker power at play, one that even the King of the Stars is afraid of. With enemies at every turn, Elara must tread carefully if she has any hope of waking her soulmate and fulfilling her promise to make every Star fall.

Content Warning: death, violence

There are four parts to this story and multiple POVS by Elara, Adrian and Merissa. But I felt like there are two main parts of this story – when Elara is walking in dreamscape trying to find Lorenzo and then the other part when Adrian comes into this story and it takes it in another direction of water adventures. There is a lot that goes on in this story, most of it coming in at the end, but I did feel like at times there was too much going on.

One thing I loved about book one is Elara and Enzo’s love story. They are apart for Part One, but I felt like Elara was holding her own with her friends, Merissa, Leo and Eli. Eli is a Star but on their side, and I found him an interesting character with a past we don’t know much about. When Elara reunites with her soulmate, there are some challenges because she can’t control her shadows. And though there is spice, it was very interesting and creative spice, which at times seemed awkward because of timing. Also because the story doesn’t focus on falling in love, it did feel like something was missing. Obviously, they will die for one another. But then they started calling one another “soulmate” and it triggered my pet peeve of the word “mate” being overused.

Also, there’s is not only one love story taking place. Adrian becomes one of the main characters of this story. He’s a pirate, he is drawn to Elara but he doesn’t know why. He meets someone, a mermaid and there is some spice between them. Adrian being a pirate, really pulled this story into a water adventure because he’s a pirate, and they encounter creatures in the sea. That was very interesting but definitely something I wasn’t expecting.

As for the conflict between the Stars (Ariete) and Celestes (Elara-Moon, Enzo-Sun), it seems like there is a truce for a little while because they have to defeat the Dark (and when they revealed who the Dark is I was like huh? Who is that? Because there are so many characters to remember! 😆 Then I remembered). Also, I’m assuming Elara will be finding other Celestes (or Elementals) in book three. So not only is the world expanding but the character list is also.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I thought this story was kind of choppy with a lot going on, especially at the end. I feel like it was the book that was helping transition Elara/Enzo’s love story into the next phase where maybe someone like Merissa will have her time to shine. I did like having the world expand and the ocean adventures. I liked meeting new Stars, and characters like Adrian, but the list is getting long and I am bound to forget somebody. Maybe a characters list can be included in the next book? I think the ending is intriguing where Merissa’s POV comes in so I will be definitely reading book three to see what happens with her but I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I did book one.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Heavenly Bodies by. Imani Erriu | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

WWW Wednesday | 1/14/26

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

Today I am going to be in the Ticketmaster war for Bruno Mars tickets – hopefully for the Vegas show. 😩 I’ve seen him at every tour except for his first album – and he only has 3 albums and then the collab for Silk Sonic (I did see that show in Vegas). So may the ticket Gods be with me today! 😅 May the odds be in my favor!

And this is why I am back on a book buying ban again. It doesn’t help that BTS concert ticket presales are next week also and my sister really wants to go, so I’m trying to get tickets for her.

Any concerts you are dying to go to in 2026?