Ramblings of an over-caffeinated nerd

Hope you’ve all had a fantastic holiday season. Mine has been very chilled out though didn’t exactly go according to plan. I ended up with symptoms of Tonsillitis on Christmas Eve but couldn’t get antibiotics until Boxing Day, so have had a week of bed rest and pain management. I haven’t been able to indulge in my usual festive treats or drink my bottle of Baileys! I’m feeling better than last week though am still on antibiotics for a couple more days.

I should’ve been out last night celebrating the new year with friends but opted to stay in to further aid my recovery. It’s given me a little bit of time to plan out my blog posts for the month, including my January TBR. 📚

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

This is my local book club’s pick for December, which we’re discussing tomorrow! I definitely should’ve started this sooner but will be listening to the audiobook all throughout today and tomorrow to get it finished before our discussion tomorrow evening. Butter is based on a true story, following a journalist attempting to interview a serial killer by exchanging cooking recipes through letters.

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

I think a lot of people in my life believe that I’ve already read this book, oops! A couple years back I picked up The Broken Binding Special Edition of Legends and Lattes and have posted a few pictures and videos of it on Instagram, which is probably why my friends think I’ve finished it. I really should get to it as I own the special edition of the prequel too. Legends and Lattes is a low stakes, cosy Dungeons and Dragons inspired fantasy where a half orc barbarian hangs up her battle axe to open up her own coffee house.

Endless Novelties of Extraordinary Interest by Doug MacDougal

This is my non-fiction pick for January and I’m actually reading it for work. I’ve been tasked with researching a topic of my choosing to present to the rest of my team as a public speaking exercise. I’ve chosen the voyage of HMS Challenger 1872-1876 as it’s recognised as the birth of modern Oceanography and its discoveries continue to shape ocean climate research to this day. I did my BSc in Marine Biology and am a huge ocean science nerd so I’ll take any opportunity to yap about my special interests. 🌊

The Steel Prince Volumes 1-3 by V.E. Schwab

Two of my reading goals for 2025 (spoilers) are to get back into reading comic books and to catch up on all the V.E. Schwab books I haven’t gotten to yet. The Steel Prince comics came out a few years ago and are the official prequels to the Shades of Magic trilogy. These comics follow Maxim Maresh – Rhy Maresh’s father and King – while he was a young Prince in Red London during his struggles against the pirate queen Arisa, decades before the events of A Darker Shade of Magic.

And that’s my TBR for January! What book from your TBR are you most excited to start in 2025?

Happy reading! 📚