Wayward Reviews

Hello my lovelies,

Welcome to my first update of the year. I’ve been thinking about how my reading has been going, and the honest answer is: slower than I hoped.

I started January with good intentions and quiet optimism, imagining more time curled up with books. Instead, life arrived all at once. A sudden rent increase led to the decision to move, followed closely by the uncertainty of a potential redundancy and an upcoming consultation. Alongside all of that, I’m preparing for a friend’s wedding in Dubai next month — an Indian wedding filled with colour, celebration, and three Sangeet dances I’m currently trying to commit to memory.

This month has become a balancing act of packing boxes, managing stress, and practising choreography in between everything else. It hasn’t been calm, and it certainly hasn’t been slow.

Still, there’s something comforting in the fact that I haven’t stopped reading entirely. I’m moving through two books at a gentle pace, not quickly enough to finish them this month, but steadily enough to remind myself that reading doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Showing up, even imperfectly, still counts.

For now, that feels like enough.

So here is my current update.

Currently Reading:

Here are my current thoughts about these books:

Fairy Tale I’m listening to this one as an audiobook, and I have to say the narrator is excellent — he really brings the story to life. I’ve just reached chapter four, with around twenty-two hours still to go. So far, the story feels less like a traditional novel and more like a screenplay for a TV series. This is my first experience reading Stephen King, so I’m not entirely sure whether this is his usual style or something he’s leaned into more in his recent work. At the moment, I’m a little undecided. I don’t hate it, but I can’t say I’m fully enjoying it either. For now, I’m somewhere in the middle, curious enough to keep going but not yet convinced.

Zhara I’m reading this one in hardback, and it’s a book that’s been sitting on my shelves for years. I think the reason I kept putting it off was a lingering apprehension about it being YA. Over the past few years, I’ve found myself increasingly disengaged from the genre. That said, and this is very much a that said, I’m genuinely enjoying it. The blend of Asian culture and mysticism is captivating, the two main characters are easy to root for, and the pacing feels just right. I believe I’ve reached chapter eleven, which feels like solid progress. Unfortunately, I left the book at a friend’s place, so I won’t be finishing it as soon as I’d hoped. Still, I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I’ve connected with it, and I’m looking forward to picking it back up when I can.

So there you have it, how are you getting on this month with your reading?

Let me know in the comments below.

Till next time.