The Little Princesses

 Book 17 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from January 26 - February 5

The Little Princesses

by Marion Crawford

published 1950

4 stars

Typically I don't research a book prior to reading.  I'll see whatever review or cover that caught my eye enough to add it to my TBR, I'll read the book, I'll write and post my review, and then I'll read others' reviews (especially 1 star and 5 star reviews) to see what else is being said about it.

This book is an exception.  The text of the book was published in 1950 but my edition had a forward from 2002 with information and I also read other articles about it because I was curious.  So to add context to the book, the author was completely shut out by the Royal Family after its publication.  She had to move out of the home she had been gifted by the King and was never spoken to again.  After decades of service to them, I'm sad that nothing softened with time (she didn't die until 1988) but I also understand how the book could feel like a breach of privacy even if it was mostly positive.

As for the book itself, it was a fascinating look behind the scenes at a different time.  The author humanized the family which doesn't sound like a bad thing but felt intrusive to them.  Now they may strive for "authenticity" but that was definitely not the case back then.  

****************************

Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 17th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I received for Christmas 2025 (my goal is to read all my Christmas 2025 books by the end of 2026)

- Title starting with 'L' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)

The Devil in Oxford

 Book 16 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from January 25 - 30

The Devil in Oxford

by Jess Armstrong

published 2025

3 stars

After reading the first two books in this series after seeing them while browsing at the library, I sought this third one out to read shortly after.  Now I'm reminded why I don't read new books very often...I now have to wait to see if/when there will be a continuation of the series.  The good news is this didn't end on too much of a cliffhanger.  In all 3 books the main mystery of each book was solved in that book and the continuing questions are from the characters' personal relationships and lives.

For this particular book, I didn't like the mystery as much.  Characters withholding information made it longer and muddier than it needed to be and I didn't fully understand the ending; lots of moving pieces had to come together for it to work out the way it did and there were too many coincidences.  This felt less like detective work and more like 'right place right time' (or 'wrong place wrong time' depending on which character you were).

Quote from the Book

"A sense of unease settled in my chest....Not that I had any reason to be unnerved - only a murderer on the loose, multiple people following me, hallucinations of spectral dogs, and I'd accidentally fallen in love with a man I'd utterly rejected. Truly, my life was going precisely to plan."

******************

Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 16th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- Title starting with 'D' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)

My Lady's Choosing

 Book 15 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read on January 27

My Lady's Choosing

by Kitty Curran & Larissa Zageris

published 2018

3 stars

I'm new to the "interactive" genre but I checked this out from the library after enjoying my first interactive book Can You Solve the Murder?  This book is a romance, not a mystery, and I read it through 4 different paths to see different options.

Overall, I'm definitely seeking out more interactive books, although I think I prefer mystery to romance.  The benefit of romance is that I didn't have to pay as close attention and the stakes felt lower but the downside is the choppiness of the paths meant it went from "nice to meet you" to "ok we're having sex" pretty quickly which could be jarring.

For this book, I appreciate the options of male or female partners for the female main character.

*******************************

Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 15th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

The Secret to Superhuman Strength

 Book 14 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from January 24 -26

The Secret to Superhuman Strength

by Alison Bechdel

published 2021

3 stars

Making a memoir in a graphic novel format makes difficult topics more accessible.  That's not as much of a theme in this book compared to her other books but there were still struggles sprinkled in.

I thought it was fine but it felt a little long; I would've liked the focus to stay more on her with deeper dives.

*********************************

Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 14th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

The Only Woman in the Room

 Book 13 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from January 18 - 25

The Only Woman in the Room

by Marie Benedict

published 2019

3 stars

I read The Only Woman in the Room after my daughter read it and passed it along to me.  She did a school presentation on the book and Hedy Lamarr that she will show me now that I've finished it.

The subject: fascinating.  I was barely familiar with Hedy Lamarr and her inventions and I definitely want to know more.

This particular book: meh.  I was left wanting more information and there were gaps glossed over that seem like big deals.  It's tough because it's not like I think the book should've been longer and there was a big time period to cover but I don't feel like I came away from the book with much more knowledge than I started with.

So I like the book for intriguing me to learn more but I think I'll stick to non-fiction as I continue to learn about her.

************************

Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 13th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

Our Souls at Night

 Book 12 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from January 22 - 24

Our Souls at Night

by Kent Haruf

published 2015

3 stars

Our Souls at Night is a small book that felt longer because of the richness of the storytelling.  There weren't a lot of words but there was a lot under the surface.

I decided on 3 stars in the final few chapters because it seemed so sad and unnecessary to separate them that way and it also felt out of character based on their behavior up until that point.

**************************

Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 12th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

The Second City

 Book 11 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from January 10 - 19

The Second City: The Essentially Accurate History

published 2019

2 stars

This oversized book felt cumbersome but read quickly.  I read it for a day, didn't pick it up again for about a week, and then finished it in a day.

The formatting was rough for me in the first few chapters.  Throughout the whole book there are lots of sidebars and text boxes highlighting specific people but in the first chapter it would be regular text stopping in the middle of a sentence, turning the page to find a page with completely random info, turning the page and completing the sentence.  The first time it happened I thought I had missing pages because it was so jarring.  It happened multiple times so by the time I got to the second chapter I went through and read all the extra stuff first and then went back and read the text of the actual chapter.  It settled down and was less of an issue after the first few chapters but didn't start off on the right foot.

The content was fine but I would've liked a little more finesse in the storytelling and not so much "this person said this", a new person started, "this person said this", etc.

I considered rating it a neutral 3 stars because a bigger fan might find this more interesting but decided on 2 because of the issues mentioned above.

*******************************

Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 11th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I received for Christmas 2025 (my goal is to read all my Christmas 2025 books by the end of 2026)

- A book I own that is leaving my house for a new reader to find (my goal is to declutter and make progress on whittling down my shelves/boxes of books in my house)