#WOYBS? What’s On Your Bookshelf? – January 2025

It’s time for the monthly What’s On your Bookshelf? link up .

I’m looking forward to you sharing what you’ve read at our monthly link up co-hosted with my friends Deb from Deb’s World, Donna from Retirement Reflections and Joanne Tracey – Author. Remember to check out what has been on their bookshelves as well.

My reviews cover books read and listened to over the last month. I have much to share so you might need to make a cuppa and take time to enjoy reading through my post.

Book Reviews What’s On Your Bookshelf? – January 2025

I indulged in my love of reading over the holiday period and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I even learned about a new plot device.

Do you know what ‘Found Family Trope’ means?

Found Family Trope is prompt #22 in the 52 Book Club Reading Challenge and I had to google the meaning of the phrase. I was interested to learn what it meant and also happy as my first book that I have finished in 2025 fits nicely into the prompt. Win-Win! (You can read my review of Very, Very Lucky by Amanda Prowse further down in the post.) This is one of the reasons I enjoy the challenge as I learn about different writing techniques and also am stretched to read different genres.

The found family trope is a plot device in books and fiction where a group of unrelated characters come together as their own family based on shared experiences and connections, rather than by blood or relation

Setting Reading Goals for 2025 – Do you do this?

I have never really given much consideration or thought to reading goals. I definitely plan my health and fitness and shared goals with my husband regarding the coming year and what we want to achieve together. Recently I read a post from Jennifer Jones Bookish Goals for 2025 | Jennifer’s Best Bookish Blog and she inspired to think about my reading and perhaps set some goals.

My Reading Goals for 2025

• Participate in the 52 Book Club Reading Challenge – this will be my third year
• Continue reading classics with my Stunners Classic Book Club friends and take time to ‘study’ more about the author, themes and plot devices.
• Borrow a physical book from the library at least once a month. I usually download books which are great for travelling.
• Read at least 3 non-fiction
• Being more Mindful when reading – Take time to reflect more on books that I’ve enjoyed rather than commencing a new book automatically. Remembering it isn’t a race but an opportunity for enjoyment
• Improve my review writing skills
• Read and study one Shakespeare play – I am keen after listening to Judi Dench’s ‘The Man Who Paid the Rent’ late last year.
• Attend one author talk
• Explore what Storygraph is all about – Jen mentioned it in her post.

Reads this month which I highly recommend

I certainly had my fair share of 5 star reading over the holidays and it was wonderful to have time to indulge in some fabulous books.

Very, Very, Lucky – Amanda Prowse – 5 stars
Prompt #22 – Found Family Trope

What a delightful, heart-warming yet poignant book to start 2025.  I’ve read several of Amanda Prowse’s books but this one I think will become one of my favourites.

Emma, forty-something, is struggling to juggle her chaotic life and just about keeping all the balls in the air, most of the time.  She is overwhelmed with looking after her family, an aging mother who requires care and trying to make time for her husband, Brendan.  The one person who grounds her is her lifelong friend, Roz.

Thurston Branch, an eighty-something farmer, is grieving his wife of 62 years, Mary who has recently died.  He can’t conceive life without his beloved Mary and is determined to do something about it. He is a lost soul.

Meeting by chance, Emma and Thurston become friends and confidants.  When Emma receives some devastating news, Thurston helps Emma and her family and in doing so finds peace and purpose for himself.

The characters are relatable and I definitely found myself reaching for the tissues in some parts and at other times felt warmth and happiness. 

The story confronts difficult issues such as death, loss, love and mental health but don’t be deterred. It is beautifully written and with alternating chapters between Emma and Thurston, I quickly felt I knew them as friends rather than characters.

I’ve rated Very, Very Lucky 5 stars because for me it captured me. I didn’t want to put it down and definitely didn’t want it to finish. 

A Year of New Adventures – Maddie Please – 5 stars

I’ve read several of Maddie Please books and was not disappointed by A Year of New Adventures. I thoroughly enjoyed the book which made me laugh out loud – something I don’t often do when reading.

Billie Summers is coasting along in life. Her boyfriend has left her and taken someone else to the US for a holiday, which Billie had paid for, she is writing a book but can’t seem to finish it, working part-time in her Uncle’s bookshop and running the odd Book Writing Retreats for budding authors with her best friend. Life could be better.

Enter Oliver Forest, a grumpy, (successful) author who attends one of Billie’s retreats and makes her reconsider her life.

I adored Billie and although the book is a Chick Lit, Romance there was so much more to the story and her character. Such as overcoming fear and taking new adventures.

It’s a 5-star from me!

Swimming to Lundy – Amanda Prowse – 5 stars

I’ve read many of Amanda Prowse books and Swimming to Lundy I think might just be my favourite.

Tawrie Gunn has put her life on hold since her father went out in his boat and never came back 20 years ago. She is caught in the middle of grief with her Mum relying on alcohol to blot out her loss and Tawrie’s grandmother also still grieving the loss of her son.

Tawrie takes up swimming with the Peacocks a group of swimmers, well just two really, an older couple who swim every morning in the ocean. It is during her swims that Tawrie talks to her father and shares her daily life with him.

This is such a heart-warming story of love, loss, relationships and letting go. It is set between two characters in two time lines. Tawrie in current day and Harriet 20 years ago.

Put this one on your list.

Round Robin – Elm Creek Quilts #2 – Jennifer Chiaverini – 5 stars

This was a surprise packet for me and I haven’t read book 1, The Quilter’s Apprentice,  in the series. The Jennifer Chiaverini has written many books around quilting and I’d not heard of her books before. This was a lovely read about women coming together, sharing their love of quilting but also forming friendships, each woman facing her own personal issues. The group begins a Round Robin quilt for their fellow quilter, Sylvia and reinforces that friendship is one of the most important treasure we can have.

I will go back to read The Quilter’s Apprentice although Elm Creek Quilts #2 can be read as a standalone

Stunners Classic Book Club

The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde – 4.5 stars

We are kicked off our Stunners Classic Book Club 2025 with The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. This is one of Wilde’s best known books and although I went in with reservations about the Gothic genre, I enjoyed the book for the most part. There was a chapter where I felt there was just too much detail and I actually skimmed over most of it. I felt it wasn’t required. Oscar Wilde is said to have come up with the idea when he sat for portrait and wished he could stay young forever and is almost biographical in some ways. The book started as a Novella with more detail and focus on homosexual relationships but when published as a book the publishes requested he make it more appropriate for women readers.

Set in Victorian, The Picture of Dorian Gray is about a young man blest with good looks and an engaging personality. When a friend and artist, Basil Hallward, paints his portrait, Dorian is so taken with the image that he wishes he could retain his good looks forever and the painting should be the image that ages. He trades youth for his soul. From that moment Dorian is torn between living a virtuous life or one of moral decline. The story is about good vs evil and the characters of Sir Henry and Basil Hallward are portrayed as the ‘Devil’ and the ‘Angel’ in regard to their influence over Dorian.

I will definitely be reading more of Oscar Wilde’s work.

52 Book Club Challenge 2025

I am participating again in the 52 Book Club Challenge 2025 and have managed to tick off one of the prompts plus learn something new!

Here is the link to the guide which explains all the prompts and how it works, if you would like to join in the 2025 challenge.

Cook Books

These are some of the books that have been on my bookshelf during the month. What’s been on yours? I would love you to share with me your recommendations.

Dates for the Diary 2025

The What’s On Your Bookshelf? Link Up dates for 2025 are listed below. Make a note in your diary as a reminder as we would love to have you join us.

The link for What’s On Your Bookshelf (WOYBS) is open on the third Friday of each month at 8 am (AEST) – that makes it sometime on the third Thursday of each month if you’re in the northern hemisphere…

January 16/17
February 20/21
March 20/21
April 17/18
May 15/16
June 19/20
July 17/18
August 14/15
September 18/19
October 16/17
November 20/21
December 18/19

Happy reading and remember to pop over to read what books have been on my co-hosts shelves.

 Deb from Deb’s World, 
Donna from Retirement Reflections 
Joanne Tracey – Author

The next #WOYBS Thursday February 20/Friday February 21. I’m looking forward to seeing and reading What’s Been on your Bookshelf? during the month.

Women Living Well After 50

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