Michele's Monday Picks #86

Angela is so generous to let me pop in with my series, Michele’s Monday Picks!  I’m not a blogger or bookstagrammer, but I love getting excited about new releases with the rest of you.  Here I’ll be sharing new books I’m really looking forward to!

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Carnival Fantastico

By Angela Montoya

Expected Publication: February 3, 2026

From Goodreads:

An unputdownable romantasy following a young woman posing as fortune-teller at a magical traveling carnival, where the handsome boy who once broke her heart resurfaces and warns her that the carnival is more sinister than it appears.

Welcome to the Carnival Fantástico, a spectacle of magic and mischief, and the perfect haven for a runaway. Using her tricks and razor-sharp wit, Esmeralda becomes the carnival's resident fortune-teller, aiming for the lead role in the Big Top Show. Success would mean freedom from her former employer, the commander of the King’s army.

Ignacio has defected from the army and is on the hunt for evidence of his father’s corruption. But the last thing he expects to find on his father’s trail of lies is the only girl he's ever loved, spinning false fortunes at a traveling carnival.

Perhaps fortune has thrown them together for a reason. They strike a deal: she’ll help him expose his father if he helps her secure the main act. But old feelings don’t die easily, and the commander’s secret isn’t the only thing they'll need to confront.

I have really enjoyed this author’s other books and thought this sounded fun! Do you think you’ll be picking this one up?

2025 Goals Recap

I'm still ruminating on my 2026 goals, so I thought it would be a good idea today to recap and reflect on our 2025 goals!

• Read my 2025 preorders in 2025.  I didn't get to two of my preorders, although they came out in November, so maybe that's ok?
• Use my library more.  My goal was to try to get 40% of my reads from the library and I ended at 38%.
• Read 75 books.  I read over 100 books, so goal accomplished!
• Attend two bookish events.  I was lucky enough to attend three bookish events - the Hazel Gaynor release party, the Morristown Festival of Books, and the local Prologue Event for a new romance bookstore, Charmed & Bound!
• Complete 30 states in the Literary Escapes Challenge.  I only managed 29 states.

Here is a check-in for Michele's goals:

• Read 225 books – Completed at 263!
• Read books from a wide variety of genres – Completed! Romance went from 50% of my total for 2024 to only 31% in 2025.  I definitely read more historical fiction and really picked up on my middle grade books.
• Don’t be afraid to DNF books or take a break from certain authors – Completed! I left some series unfinished and didn't continue with some authors I had read pretty regularly up until now.
• Utilize my library more – Completed! I borrowed more books in 2025 and they were a bigger percentage of my overall reads.
• Buddy read with my daughter and husband – Halfway completed!  My husband didn’t do much reading in 2025 (although he has a goal of 15 books in 2026!) but I did read an entire Stuart Gibbs series with my daughter throughout the year.

How did you do on your 2025 goals?

2025 Reading Year in Review!

I recently shared my favorite books of 2025, but what about everything else?  I read 40,484 pages over 115 books and my average Goodreads rating for the year was 3.7.  Let's take a look at some stats from my 2025 reading!

As always, backlist books dominated my reading!

Same as last year, I read significantly more female authors than male authors.

Romance is still my most-read genre, although the percentage has been on the decline for the past two years.  I'm reading much more broadly, which is great for me! (The two slices that are unlabeled represent horror [1 book] and fantasy [3 books], which for whatever reason weren't showing up on my chart!)

More than half of my reads came from my unread shelf (and if you saw the piles of books I get from my sister, you'd understand!).  I do try to use my library a lot, especially for Henry's books.

Wow, my Kindle was very neglected this year!  I cancelled my KU subscription, so that probably contributed a lot.  But, I did get in a few audiobooks, mostly during solo walks and long car rides.

What stands out from your year of reading?

My Favorite Books of 2025!

Hi, everyone!  You may have already seen my post over on Instagram, but today I wanted to officially share my favorite books of 2025!  It truly is a good mix of genres and really reflects my reading this year - romance, YA, fantasy, historical fiction, and nonfiction!

Sally's Lament by Mari Mancusi

From Here to the Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presly and Riley Keough

The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abe

The Jewel of the Isle by Kerry Rea

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Waiting Game by Nicola Clark

Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

The Ship Beneath the Ice by Mensun Bound

Dating After the End of the World by Jeneva Rose

Is She Really Going Out With Him? by Sophie Cousens

What were some of your favorite books in 2025?

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Month in Review: December 2025

 

Happy New Year!  Let's recap December really quickly - we went to a holiday light show at a farm, and it was awesome!  Unfortunately, Henry got sick the next week and I had to miss my company Christmas party. Then it felt like I was sick for half the month, with a cold and then a stomach bug right before Christmas.  We took Henry to meet Santa, and it did not go well!  There were lots of tears.  We spent Christmas Eve at my dad's house with most of my siblings and their families, and then my in-laws came over on Christmas Day.  After that, we traveled up to Newport, Rhode Island for a trip with my sister, brother, and their families.  My mom, dad, and stepmom also came up, so it was a special trip.  We haven't all been able to get together, especially with the kids, in quite a long time.  We stayed in a big townhouse with a view of the beach.  We took a stroll on a snowy Cliff Walk, took in a holiday lights show, toured historic mansions, and rang in the new year together.

The Books

Promise Me Sunshine // A Merry Little Lie // The Christmas Cookie Wars // Christmas Fling

Date Night in December // Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon // Boleyn Traitor // Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder

 

 The Secret Bridesmaid

The Posts and Reviews

Nonfiction Recent Reads

Michele's Monday Picks #84

Holiday Recent Reads

Michele's Monday Picks #85

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Catch Her If You Can

Holiday Recent Reads

How are you doing?

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Blog Break

 

It's hard to believe, but 2025 is just about over!  I'll be taking a break from the blog to enjoy these last couple weeks.  Thanks for stopping by!  Happy holidays, happy new year, and I look forward to talking books again in January!

Holiday Recent Reads

 Christmas Fling by Lindsey Kelk (2025)

Through a series of unfortunate events, Laura finds herself pretending to be Callum's girlfriend over the holidays at his family's home in the Scottish Highlands.  Their feelings for each other start to grow, leading them to wonder how much is real and how much is fake.  I tend to enjoy Lindsey Kelk's books.  They are heartfelt and humorous and just have this ease to them.  They flow nicely and nothing feels too hard.  Christmas Fling was no exception.  I loved watching the growing feelings between Laura and Callum, and the way she stood up for him against his family, despite barely even knowing him, was touching.  When Laura's friends show up at the gathering, the story went a bit off the rails for me; I could have done without the extra characters and drama, but overall, this was a decent holiday read.  4 stars

Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman (2025)

Grace and Henry both lost their spouses earlier this year, and now that the holidays are approaching, their mothers scheme to get them together.  Neither feels ready to date, but could a growing friendship blossom into something more?  This sounded quite different from my normal holiday reads, so I was excited about this story, and a lot of it worked for me!  I liked how Grace and Henry bond over holiday movies, which I think is something very relatable.  I enjoyed how they come to rely on each other, without even realizing it.  I found myself gravitating more towards Henry - Grace was a tad too blunt for me, and not as funny as she thought she was.  But Henry, his struggles, his sadness, all of it, felt so real to me.  Watching him work through his grief and finally see a light at the other side was so touching.  Like I said, Grace was not as likable a character for me, and a revelation about her deceased husband felt very unnecessary, but I did appreciate that her journey was different from Henry's, especially in light of the fact that she had two children to care take of.  4 stars

* This post contains affiliate links; I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.