OrderOfBooks January 2025 Newsletter
Welcome to January 2025! Happy New Year!
I hope everyone had a good New Year’s. My wife and both kids were ill with COVID, so we had to cancel the party we were hosting.
They all hung out together, while I stayed isolated in my office, doing nothing but having a drink and reading.
Best. New. Years. Ever.
It was a big month at our new site Book Notification. Launched in 2023, it allows you to get notified of new books by your favourite authors, track your “want to read” list, rate and review books, see what books you are still to read by an author, and so much more. We’re always adding new features and added two cool ones in December.
First, we launched a public book release calendar. We have always had a personalized calendar for users, only showing books by authors that they follow. But we wanted to expand that to a calendar listing all upcoming books. That was one of my favourite features of FictFact, and I loved browsing it.
Second, we launched an addictive feature called Reader’s Roulette. It’s a fun way to discover new books, series, or authors to read. Check it out.
December was a disappointing month for me, reading-wise. I read The Marriage Act by John Marrs. He’s one of my favourite authors but this one took forever. It’s part of The One universe which is a futuristic universe. This one was about the government essentially forcing and rewarding people for getting married.
It was a good book. My issue was there were four or five different narratives and each time the chapter changed, a new character was narrating and it’d take me a minute to remember who they were. Every single chapter I’d have to stop and think “Okay this is the person who has alluded to killing the social influencer” etc.
Not a great book to stop and start. I decided to read the next one in that series, The Family Experiment, and felt it suffered the same issue. I decided to hit pause on that one until I could sit down and read it in one sitting.
I started reading Normal People by Sally Rooney. Different style of book from what I usually read, but my wife and daughter both enjoyed it and were going to watch the adaptation. My wife suggested I read it and watch it too.
I was motivated to read it so I could watch the adaptation with them, however, they started without me and while I don’t know the specifics (I can guess), after one episode my daughter was like “Yeah – this is NOT the type of show I want to watch with my dad”. Yup – got it.
I still have that one on the go – will hopefully finish it soon.
I listened to You by Caroline Kepnes. I cannot stress this enough – if you’re going to read this book, listen to it. I don’t even know if it’s that good of a book, to be honest. I think if I read it, I’d feel differently. But I listened to this and the narration by Santino Fontana is INCREDIBLE. The best narration I’ve ever heard.
It’s billed as an erotic psychological thriller, and it’s about a man who becomes obsessed with a girl who works in his bookstore.
The narration was so good that it became one of those books that drove me to go for long walks in the freezing Canadian winter, just so I could squeeze an hour in. It’s so good that although I got the book via the library, I purchased it on Audible so the narrator would hopefully get some royalties.
It’s been adapted into a TV show by Netflix. I’ve done some light research and from my understanding, the first series stays true to the book, then it goes off in a different direction. So I’m undecided yet whether to watch the adaptation now or wait until I’ve read all four books. And as long as Santino is narrating, I will of course be listening to them. Already started the second book. Think I might stick with all four books first so as not to confuse matters.
Is anyone else struggling with season three of The Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix? I binged the first two seasons and loved them. This one seems to have all these unnecessary fancy camera shots and direction which keeps taking me out of the story. I started it back when it premiered and am only three episodes in.
I watched the adaptation of 11/22/63 after reading that last month. Enjoyed the adaptation a lot. Different in some ways but not in bad ways. It was a bit of a struggle to watch Franco, considering everything that has come out about him. But overall, a solid and enjoyable adaptation.
Alright, that’s about it for me this month. January should hopefully be a better month for reading. Head on over to Book Notification and start following your favourite authors. We have 15x the amount of authors that Order of Books has now, so if you are looking for a list of books by an author it’s best to always check there.
Each month we give away 5 $25 Amazon gift certificates to random subscribers.
To win all you have to do is be a subscriber. Nothing more! When we go to hit “Publish” we take a list of all of our subscribers, throw them into a random draw and those are the winners.
Our winners this month are:
Joanne S. from Peekskill, NY
Patricia Bar. from Dallas, TX
Terry T. from USA (email starts with terrytar)
Shad T. from Ashburn, VA
Susan from Martinsville, IN (email starts with susanc1)
All of you have been e-mailed. If you don’t see anything, check your junk folder or contact me.
Graeme
OrderOfBooks.com
Quotes of the Month
“Mine is a simple system: I read from morning till bedtime, with breaks for my job, family, meetings with friends, exercise, household chores and periodic review of my life’s greatest blunders.”
“We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?”
– Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
“A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”
“I’m not a vagrant. I’m a hobo. Big difference.”
– Lee Child, Killing Floor
Submit your own quotes; just hit reply. Book-related is great but happy to share non-book related too! Love seeing quotes from books! Thanks to Philip, Cindy, and Diane for this months quotes.
Book Recommendations
In this section, I give 3-5 random book recommendations from readers of the newsletter. They can be old books, they can be new. Feel free to e-mail suggestions to me. Just hit reply. If you wish to add a description for the book around the same size as the ones below that’d be great too!
The Boundaries We Cross by Brad Parks: I haven’t read this one myself yet, but Barbara wrote in to recommend it and I’ve read the rest of Brad’s standalones and loved them. Hopefully get to this one in January.
A respected teacher at an elite boarding school faces scandal, suspicion, and danger when he’s accused of a forbidden affair—and must find the missing student to clear his name.
You can’t go wrong with any standalones by Brad (I haven’t read his Carter Ross series yet).
The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown: This was Gareth’s debut novel earlier this year. Carol wrote in to recommend it, writing:
“It is simply wonderful- excellent world building, believable characters and a fabulous plot.”
A young bookseller discovers a magical tome, drawing her into a perilous battle to protect a secret library and its powerful books from dark forces willing to kill for their secrets.
And if you enjoy that, Gareth has his second novel coming out this year.
Miss Sharp Investigates Series by Leonie Swann: Carol also wrote in to recommend the Miss Sharp Investigates series after reading both books in it.
She wrote:
“The Agnes Sharp books are great little mysteries and hilarious- though I confess, being of a similar age (70+) may have contributed to my enjoyment. I listened to these via audible and the narrations are excellent.”
I don’t think age is a factor – it sounds more like if you’re a fan of the Thursday Murder Club you’ll like this series. In the first book, a group of spirited seniors at Sunset Hall must solve their neighbor’s murder while covering up a body in their shed, leading to a darkly comedic mystery full of mischief, secrets, and unexpected twists.
Author Jack Probyn: Erin wrote in to recommend this author, and unfortunately I forgot to ask if there was a particular series they recommended. They were very enthusiastic about Jack, writing:
“Please check out a young Brit author, Jack Probyn, He’s one of my new favorite and I think he’s going to have a great career with his crime thrillers! I’ve waited months to tell you about him!”
Looking at reviews, I’d say start with the DS Tomek Bowen series. In the first book, Death’s Justice, A mutilated body on Essex’s eerie coastline forces DS Tomek Bowen to confront a vigilante killer, uncover sinister secrets, and question everything he thought he knew about his brother’s murder decades ago.
Peter Ash Series by Nick Petrie: I’ve recommended this series before and I like to drag it out once a year as it’s one of the easiest recommendations I can ever make.
If you like Jack Reacher, read The Drifter by Nick Petrie.
I’ve read many, many books over the years which are similar to Reacher. None come close to Nick Petrie and his Peter Ash series. I’ve recommended this thousands of times and have gotten so much positive feedback.
January Book Of The Month
The Oligarch’s Daughter by Joseph Finder: It’s been far too long since Joseph Finder has graced us with a new standalone novel. His last standalone was Judgment in 2019, and his last actual novel was in 2020.
January 28th, 2025 will see the release of The Oligarch’s Daughter which I have had pre-ordered for a while purely due to it being Finder.
On the run from Russian operatives and a deadly conspiracy, Paul Brightman must uncover the secrets of his past and the oligarch’s daughter who changed his life to survive in a high-stakes game of betrayal and espionage.
10 More Notable Books Releasing in January
- The Note by Alafair Burke
- Downstate by Jeffery Deaver
- The Incident of the Book in the Nighttime by Vicki Delaney
- Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
- Grave Danger by James Grippando
- The Crash by Freida McFadden
- Holmes Is Missing by James Patterson
- The Conjurer’s Wife by Sarah Penner
- Never Say Never by Danielle Steel
- Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow
Brought to you by BookNotification.com where you can get updated on all the upcoming books by your favourite authors with your own personalized calendar! See the most popular book releases in January 2025.
January Charities
While I appreciate all offers of donations to show your appreciation for the site and newsletter, I’d much rather you do that by supporting some great causes. Each month I pick a few select charities broken down by our most popular countries or topics that you can support instead. Thanks! Feel free to donate to a similar charity but in your own area.
I rotate this list each month. Feel free to suggest a favourite charity – hit reply.
Pictures of the Month
posted by @emilybookedup on instagram – a book Xmas tree!
Submitted by Gayle. On the wall of the Oldish Restaurant, Cafe & Garden in Cairo.
Submitted by Norma.
Submitted by Norma.
Send in your own to site@orderofbooks.com or by replying! Images, jokes, etc. We’ll take it all! Bit of a backlog but working my way through it.
Your Thoughts!
Last month I asked of any books you had at home that you would never get rid of. The answers are later in the newsletter.
This month’s question is: what was the best book(s) you read in 2024?
Feel free to write a bit about them as well.
Out of all the books I read last year, these are the ones that really stand out:
11/22/63 by Stephen King: Just an absolutely incredible book, and one of my favourites ever.
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk: I’d never read this before and didn’t think it could be better than the movie. Boy was I wrong. Another one that entered my “best favourites ever” list.
Portals by Douglas E. Richards: A new-to-me sci-fi author I discovered this year. This was fantastic and I need to read more by him.
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston: The best thriller I read all year. Honorable shoutout to Home Is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose, even if I feel I am slightly biased due to it being such a cool cover.
The Policy by Bentley Little: I thought it was one of Bentley’s best books.
What about you? What are the best books you read in 2024?
E-mail us your feedback to site@OrderOfBooks.com or just reply to this e-mail, and we’ll pick the best comments and feature it in next month’s newsletter. Five people will also randomly win a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.
Reader Mailbag!
