My first three reads of 2026 have been major wins! And I’m so happy and thankful for that!
The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine was a fun, charming middle-grade mystery set in a department store. What a wonderful setting! I absolutely loved the four main characters that made up the amateur sleuthing friend group, and the storytelling felt like it was written long ago with all that old-fashioned charm and heart that too many books are lacking these days. 5 stars, and I’m definitely looking forward to the next one in the series.
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 1 by Beth Brower was my official dive into the much beloved and talked about series. After hearing endless good things about it for a few years now, I decided to give it a try myself. I find a lot of hyped-up books just aren’t my cup of tea, but this one absolutely was. It was written so wonderfully…it felt like I was really reading the journal entries from a young woman back in the 1800s. It was funny and clever and just thoroughly enjoyable. I must get my hands on book two very soon! 5 stars.
Wormwood Abbey by Christina Baehr was another book that I’ve seen several trusted bookish folks talk about a lot over the last while. I really wanted to give it a try because it sounded so fun, but it had some fantasy elements…and I’ve never read anything like that before. Again, I wasn’t sure it would be my cup of tea…wrong was I! I absolutely, completely loved it! Edith and her family were some of my favorite things about this story…just the emphasis on family really shined through for me. And that’s a major winning factor in my book! The fantasy elements were fun, but not overwhelming, so for a newbie to the genre, like me, it was sheer perfection. Charming, mysterious, cozy, adventurous, sweet family relationships, awesome setting and descriptions, delightful storytelling and writing style…it was all there. And yes! I must get to book two soon! 5 stars!
Have you read and loved these books as much as I did? I’d love to hear your thoughts on them. And if you’ve read anything exciting so far this year, tell me about it!