{"id":29234,"date":"2026-01-31T01:00:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T05:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/?p=29234"},"modified":"2026-03-02T01:39:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T05:39:04","slug":"monthly-blog-review-january-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/monthly-blog-review-january-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Monthly Blog Review: January 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posts<\/h2>\n

Book Reviews<\/strong>
\n\"\"\u2665 Becoming Violet<\/a> by Elouise Field (2.5\u2605)
\n\u2665 In Mad Hands<\/a> by Jon Athan (4\u2605)
\n\u2665 Odette\u2019s Tea Room<\/a> by Cat Voleur (4\u2605)
\n\u2665 The Wood at Midwinter<\/a> by Susanna Clarke (2.5\u2605)<\/p>\n

Game Reviews<\/strong>
\n\u2665 Bookshop Simulator<\/a> (3.5\u2605)
\n\u2665 Destiny Child<\/a> (3.5\u2605)
\n\u2665 Hookah Haze<\/a> (4\u2605)
\n\u2665 Lemon Cake<\/a> (3.5\u2605)
\n\u2665 TCG Card Shop Simulator<\/a> (4.5\u2605)<\/p>\n

Comic Reviews<\/strong>
\n\u2665 Out of Skin<\/a> by E.M. Carroll (4\u2605)<\/p>\n

Other Posts<\/strong>
\n\u2665 10 Great Horror Cover Artists \u2013 Part 3<\/a>
\n\u2665 November 2024 New Release Horror Books<\/a>
\n\u2665 Yearly Blog Review 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Books Read<\/h2>\n

I’ve been in a big slump but I did manage to finish a few short books and play a handful of video games.<\/p>\n

Books<\/strong>
\n\u2665 In Mad Hands by Jon Athan (4\u2605)
\n\u2665 Mon Amour by Cat Voleur (3\u2605)
\n\u2665 Odette’s Tea Room by Cat Voleur (4\u2605)\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

Games Played<\/h2>\n

\u2665 Anomalous Coffee Machine
\n\u2665 Bookshop Simulator
\n\u2665 Date Everything!
\n\u2665 Hookah Haze
\n\u2665 No, I’m Not Human
\n\u2665 TCG Card Shop Simulator<\/p>\n

\n

Life and Other Things<\/h2>\n

Books Hauled<\/h2>\n

\"\"eARCs (Author\/Publisher)<\/strong>
\n\u2665 Rideshare by James Kaine & Timothy King<\/p>\n

Ebook Purchases<\/strong>
\n\u2665 ITCH! by Gemma Amor
\n\u2665 Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura
\n\u2665 Normal Things: And Other Collected Works by Cat Voleur
\n\u2665 Odette’s Tea Room by Cat Voleur
\n\u2665 Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling
\n\u2665 Slit Mouse by Jae Mazer
\n\u2665 Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay
\n\u2665 The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sookfong Lee<\/p>\n

HumbleBundle Ebooks<\/strong>
\n\u2665 A Companion to Wolves by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette
\n\u2665 A Passage of Stars by Kate Elliott
\n\u2665 A Woman of the Iron People by Eleanor Arnason
\n\u2665 \u00c6stival Tide by Elizabeth Hand
\n\u2665 Agents of Dreamland by Caitl\u00edn R. Kiernan
\n\u2665 All the Pretty Little Horses by Mira Grant
\n\u2665 An Apprentice to Elves by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette
\n\u2665 Audrey’s Door by Sarah Langan
\n\u2665 Black Helicopters by Caitl\u00edn R. Kiernan
\n\u2665 Black Light by Elizabeth Hand\"\"
\n\u2665 Burning Girls and Other Stories by Veronica Schanoes
\n\u2665 Catseye by Andre Norton
\n\u2665 Child of Venus by Pamela Sargent
\n\u2665 Chimera by Mira Grant
\n\u2665 China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh
\n\u2665 Countdown by Mira Grant
\n\u2665 Coming to You Live by Mira Grant
\n\u2665 Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
\n\u2665 Fathom by Cherie Priest
\n\u2665 Feedback by Mira Grant
\n\u2665 Glimmering by Elizabeth Hand
\n\u2665 Gryphon in Glory by Andre Norton
\n\u2665 Horn Crown by Andre Norton
\n\u2665 How Green This Land, How Blue the Sea by Mira Grant
\n\u2665 Icarus Descending by Elizabeth Hand
\n\u2665 Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear
\n\u2665 Larque on the Wing by Nancy Springer
\n\u2665 Metaphase by Vonda N. McIntyre
\n\u2665 My Real Children by Jo Walton
\n\u2665 Nautilus by Vonda N. McIntyre\"\"
\n\u2665 Necessity by Jo Walton
\n\u2665 Points of Departure by Pat Murphy
\n\u2665 Please Do Not Taunt the Octopus by Mira Grant
\n\u2665 Probability Moon by Nancy Kress
\n\u2665 Probability Sun by Nancy Kress
\n\u2665 Revolution’s Shore by Kate Elliott
\n\u2665 Rise by Mira Grant
\n\u2665 Shadow Gate by Kate Elliott
\n\u2665 Skin Folk by Nalo Hopkinson
\n\u2665 Spirit Gate by Kate Elliott
\n\u2665 Starfarers by Vonda N. McIntyre
\n\u2665 Stone Mad by Elizabeth Bear
\n\u2665 The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy
\n\u2665 The Crystal Gryphon by Andre Norton
\n\u2665 The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell by Mira Grant
\n\u2665 The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy
\n\u2665 The Family Plot by Cherie Priest
\n\u2665 The Female Man by Joanna Russ
\n\u2665 The Gate of the Cat by Andre Norton
\n\u2665 The Jargoon Pard by Andre Norton\"\"
\n\u2665 The Just City by Jo Walton
\n\u2665 The Keeper by Sarah Langan
\n\u2665 The Missing by Sarah Langan
\n\u2665 The Quantum Rose by Catherine Asaro
\n\u2665 The Philosopher Kings by Jo Walton
\n\u2665 The Price of Ransom by Kate Elliott
\n\u2665 The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson
\n\u2665 The Shadow Hunter by Pat Murphy
\n\u2665 The Tempering of Men by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette
\n\u2665 The Tindalos Asset by Caitl\u00edn R. Kiernan
\n\u2665 The Toll by Cherie Priest
\n\u2665 Traitors’ Gate by Kate Elliott
\n\u2665 Transition by Vonda N. McIntyre
\n\u2665 Trey of Swords by Andre Norton
\n\u2665 Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson
\n\u2665 Venus of Dreams by Pamela Sargent
\n\u2665 Venus of Shadows by Pamela Sargent
\n\u2665 Ware Hawk by Andre Norton\"\"
\n\u2665 Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang by Kate Wilhelm
\n\u2665 Winterlong by Elizabeth Hand
\n\u2665 Zarsthor’s Bane by Andre Norton<\/p>\n

Physical Purchases<\/strong>
\n\u2665 After the Burn by Ronald Kelly
\n\u2665 Half His Age by Jenette McCurdy
\n\u2665 Irish Gothic by Ronald Kelly
\n\u2665 Kare First Love Vols. 5-7, 9-10 by Kaho Miyasaka
\n\u2665 Lonely Castle in The Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
\n\u2665 Misery by Stephen King
\n\u2665 Pod by Laline Paull
\n\u2665 Somewhere South of Hell: Book1 1-3 by Ronald Kelly
\n\u2665 Song of Kali by Dan Simmons
\n\u2665 Sugar by Mia Ballard
\n\u2665 The Devil’s Backbone by Laurel Hightower, Red Lagoe, & Ronald Kelly
\n\u2665 The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
\n\u2665 The Need by Helen Phillips
\n\u2665 The Obituaries Issue #8 Dark Times by Aron Beauregard, Kristopher Triana, Daniel J. Volpe, & Briane Keene
\n\u2665 The Bees by Laline Paull
\n\u2665 We All Rot Eventually by Mia Ballard<\/p>\n

Amazon First<\/strong>
\n\u2665 Read Between the Lies by Jesse Q. Sutanto
\n\u2665 The People’s Library by Veronica G. Henry<\/p>\n

\n

Next Month<\/h2>\n

I have no idea what February holds in store for me. I hope that I can go to this year’s AuthorCon but we shall see!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posts Book Reviews \u2665 Becoming Violet by Elouise Field (2.5\u2605) \u2665 In Mad Hands by Jon Athan (4\u2605) \u2665 Odette\u2019s Tea Room by Cat Voleur (4\u2605) \u2665 The Wood at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3217],"tags":[],"book-author":[],"book-illustrator":[],"book-series":[],"book-publisher":[],"book-genre":[],"book-source":[],"book-format":[],"class_list":["post-29234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-monthly-blog-review"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/blogreview_jan2026-header.png?fit=1080%2C540&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29234"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29254,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29234\/revisions\/29254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29234"},{"taxonomy":"book-author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-author?post=29234"},{"taxonomy":"book-illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-illustrator?post=29234"},{"taxonomy":"book-series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-series?post=29234"},{"taxonomy":"book-publisher","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-publisher?post=29234"},{"taxonomy":"book-genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-genre?post=29234"},{"taxonomy":"book-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-source?post=29234"},{"taxonomy":"book-format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-format?post=29234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}