new year: new books! the weekly reading book reviews of january 2026!
happiest of brand new years to you! let’s start it off with some new stories, shall we? :D
here are all of january’s weekly reading book reviews— posted every monday as thtey happened. complete with links to shop each title at bookshop.org (because we’re all about the indie bookstores, no?) ;)
✨ weekly reading book review january 2026: episode one!! ✨
this week i read:
☕️ MACBETH by wm. shakespeare
⚖️ MEASURE FOR MEASURE by wm. shakespeare ( 1/2 way through the canon since last january!!)
☕️ DEATH IN THE DRESSING ROOM by simon brett
☕️ FIREWORKS by matthew burgess & illustrated by cátia_chien
currently reading:
☕️ THE WITCH WHO STORMED THE PALACE by ryan graudin
perhapsedly to be reading next:
☕️ THE MERCHANT OF VENICE by wm. shakespeare (let’s go, #brushupyourshakespeare2026 !!)
☕️ DAYS AT THE TORUNKA CAFÉ by satoshi yagisawa
☕️ FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK by elissa sussman
☕️ SCARLET MORNING by nd stevenson
with visions of leftovers dancing dancing dancing….
❤️xo,
*hallie :)
✂️ & fret ye not: disaster hair to be fixed tomorrow by my gal melissa; plz & ty!! ❤️
✨☕️ weekly reading book review january 2026: episode two!! ☕️✨
(forgot to mention: the paintings & canvases behind me are because boukie*bear is repainting his studio & this is still the least*cluttered corner of our house… & p.s. happy birthday, @nathanbertlingstudio !! )
n’kay. the books i read this week:
☕️ THE WITCH WHO STORMED THE PALACE by ryan graudin
☕️ DAYS AT THE TORUNKA CAFÉ by satoshi yagisawa
☕️ ONCE FOR YES by allie millington
watched:
⚡️ HARRY POTTER & THE GOBLET OF FIRE
with LIVE, incredible music from the greenville symphony orchestra at the peace center !!
https://harrypotterinconcert.com
⏰ tick, tick…BOOM!!
on netflix starring #andrewgarfield as jonathan larson & directed by lin manuel-miranda !! (new entry on my fave movie list; can’t wait to re*watch!! & then make the hubs watch it with me, too!!)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8721424/?ref_=fn_t_1
currently reading:
☀️ DANDELION WINE by ray bradbury (1957)
miiiiiight read next:
☕️ BETH IS DEAD by katie bernet
☕️ THE SWAN’S DAUGHTER by roshani chokshi (terrific podcast interview on creative, inspired, alive here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creative-inspired-alive/id1749215729?i=1000743959165 )
☕️ THE HEALING HIPPO OF HINODE PARK by michiko aoyama
☕️ THE MERCHANT OF VENICE by wm. shakespeare
#brushupyourshakespeare2026
to the studio!
<3 xo,
*hallie :)
✨ weekly reading book review january 2026: episode three!! ✨
(i may be a bit unhinged in today’s episode; here’s me anyway…)
here’s what i read this week:
✨ DANDELION WINE by ray bradbury
✨ THE GUEST LIST by lucy foley
✨ THE AMBERGLOW CANDY STORE by hiyoko kurisu
✨ THE MERCHANT OF VENICE by wm. shakespeare
⚾️ MEET ME UNDER THE LIGHTS by cassie millerwrites (!!! comes out in march!!! go ahead & preorder now!!!!! )
watched:
✨ DIVA (1981; a film by jean-jacques beineix)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082269/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
✨ THE ARTIST (2011; directed by michel hazanavicius)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1655442/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
currently reading:
✨ AFTER DARK, by haruki murakami (if you want interwoven city stories, my taste leans more towards GOODNIGHT TOKYO by atsuhiro yoshida, imho)
✨ THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR by wm. shakespeare
the pelican shakespeare edition: https://bookshop.org/a/5254/9780140714647
(i have the folger shakespeare edition which i cannot find on bookshop.org...?) :)
prolly reading next:
✨ A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM by wm. shakespeare
✨ VERA WONG’S UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS by jesse q. sutanto (next week’s book club pick !!)
✨ LOUDER THAN HUNGER by john schu (+ a joyful, essential podcast listen middle grade matters !!)
podcast episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/middle-grade-matters/id1701358204?i=1000744979438
✨ oh! & i recently discovered the podcast HOAX! which is really fun!! :)
to the chiro, to the studio…
<3 xo,
*hallie :)
✨❄️ weekly reading book review january 2026: episode four!! ❄️✨
❄️ send in the snow muffins, ‘cuz here’s what i read this week:
❤️ AFTER DARK by haruki murakami (i also love even more atsuhiro yoshida’s GOODNIGHT TOKYO)
❤️ MS. BIXBY’S LAST DAY by john david anderson author
❤️ THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR by wm. shakespeare
❤️ ANATOMY OF AN ALIBI by ashley elston
❄️ reading next:
❤️ VERA WANG’S UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS by jesse q. sutanto (book club pick for wednesday…?!?)
❤️ A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM by wm. shakespeare (i’ve only ever seen One great LIVE production, but i maintain hope for more someday… !!)
❄️ then maybe….
❤️ INKBOUND: METICULOUS JONES & THE SKULL TATTOO by philippa leathley
☁️ FLOATING WORLD by axie oh
❄️ started watching:
❤️ NOBODY WANTS THIS on netflix
❄️ & weather-closure dependent, i miiiiight get to see….
❤️ THE OUTSIDERS (the touring broadway show) at the peace center....?!
keeping calm & caffeinating on,
❤️xo,
*hallie :)
golly, i read a bunch of great books this month!
here are a handful that i happened to enjoy the most:
in no particular order, except from the bottom to the top:
ANATOMY OF AN ALIBI by ashley elston
a page-turning mystery that surprised me more than once. everybody's got a secret or few and nobody knows the whole truth. or do they?
MEET ME UNDER THE LIGHTS by cassie miller
a YA debut coming in march from a librarian: the best people in the world! it's sports. it's theatre. it's romeo & juliet and rival baseball teams and forbidden love and enemies to lovers and banter and tears and ALL THE FEELINGS and i looooooved it. so why not go ahead and pre*order it today so future you gets #bookmail??
THE WITCH WHO STORMED THE PALACE by ryan graudin
i love a middle grade accessible fantasy. it's the second book in the series and a li'l bit KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE with more a faerie tale feel. (& kids obviously know more than grown ups who are stuck in their old, boring, wrong ways of doing things Just Because.)
DAYS AT THE TORUNKA CAFÉ by satoshi yagisawa.
interconnected stories of people at a hidden café at the end of an alley in japan. & just like LOVE, you find it when you need it.
THE AMBERGLOW CANDY STORE by hiyoko kurisu.
again: just past the temple is an ancient japanese shopping district that you only find it when you need it. and the half-human, half-fox spirit candy store shopkeeper might have something that isn't exactly what you wished for.
MS. BIXBY'S LAST DAY by john david anderson
the kind of middle grade novel that'll mean something different to everyone who reads it, and mean something different everytime you read it. funny and charming and a must-read for all ages.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM by wm. shakespeare
a perpetual fave of mine. it's mistaken identities. it's pining and usurping authority in the name of love. plus newbie actors and faerie nonsense all in the course of a weekend or less.
& not pictured cuz i forgot to bring it home from work:
VERA WONG'S UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS by jesse q. sutanto
found family amongst a group of people brought together by a (possible) murder. a body is found on the floor of a teashop in chinatown, san fran. and while the cops don't think anything is worth investigating, vera wong is on the case. again with all the feels, and made for a surprisingly insightful and stirring book club discussion for such an entertaining (and funny) book, too. (& i haven’t read it yet, but a lot of book clubbers already did and they also loved the sequel!)
what stories did you love this month?
all of my live theatre plans have been cancelled due to inclement weather, but i'm not one to complain about hermiting if the lights are still on to read & paint by….
with all my chubby, swirling snowflake love (& take-out leftovers),
xo,
*hallie
as ever, you can shop all my recs by category on my bookshop.org landing page: https://bookshop.org/shop/halthegal
make sure to follow me on instagram to see more bookish shenanigans & caffeinated hijinks here: @halthegal_storyart
and join the crayon box for monthly sticker mail direct from my studio, sneak peeks on new paintings, illustration process videos, and more artsy & publishing fun: patreon.com/halthegal