The kids are finally back at school and the holiday madness has concluded. Of course, now it is time for resolutions. And while everyone else focuses on fitness goals and budgeting, we’re here with our massive TBRs only ever hoping to read even MORE books in 2026 than we did in 2025! Here are a few we’re looking forward to this month!
Serena’s Picks
Book: “The Poet Empress” by Shen Tao
Publication Date: January 20, 2026
Why I’m Interested: I feel like this one is on everyone’s list this winter. Some combination of the lovely cover art, the promise of a sprawling, political epic, and, of course, the focus on one woman’s journey to embrace reading and writing, something forbidden to them in this world. The book is being published by Bramble, a romance imprint for Tor, but looking at the book description, I’m not quite sure what to expect from this in that arena. From all accounts, it looks more like a straight forward political/historical fantasy novel. We shall see!
Book: “Dragon Cursed” by Elisa Kova
Publication Date: January 6, 2026
Why I’m Interested: While heaven knows we don’t need another dragon romantasy book right now, this one sounds interesting! Instead of yet more dragon riders, we instead have a world where people are dragon-cursed, a condition that leads them to becoming terrifying dragons themselves. And not the cuddly kinds. No, the kinds that kill everyone around them, friends, family, whomever. Of course, it being a romantasy, there’s the mysterious MMC who follows our heroine around and is likely more than he appears. But I’ve had a few fun surprises from this subgenre, so I’m hoping that this will be another one!
Book: “Enchanting the Fae Queen” by Stephanie Burgis
Publication Date: January 27, 2026
Why I’m Interested: This cover is absolutely ridiculous, and I can’t quite decide whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, our main character does throw literal glitter around when she performs magic. But on the other hand, well….Either way, I’m definitely excited for this one! I really enjoyed the first one in this trilogy and have since read two other novellas by this author, greatly enjoying those as well! Plus, Lorelei was an absolute delight in the first book, and I’m an absolute sucker for a “strong, stoic, and troubled” MMC, which, given our brief glimpses of the hero in the previous book, seems to be what we have here. Definitely excited to check this one out as soon as possible!
Kate’s Picks
Book: “All the Little Houses” by May Cobb
Publication Date: January 20, 2026
Why I’m Interested: Soapy thrillers are a favorite of mine, and this one sounds like it has all sorts of suds and drama with an eighties flair (and maybe some “Little House on the Prairie” shades?!). And while I still haven’t dove into “The Hunting Wives” or the salacious Netflix show that it inspired, I have heard a lot of talk about May Cobb and the absolutely unhinged characters she creates, so I thought that I should probably give her newest one a go and see for myself. Charleigh is a queen bee in her small Texas town, having worked her way up from humble beginnings to now being an envied wife to a wealthy husband, with a beautiful and bratty daughter to raise and social circles to maneuver. But when a new, strange, homesteading family moves to town and becomes the talk of the community, it sets off a chain of events that could ruin Charleigh and her daughter. I do love having especially ridiculous thrillers on my stack of books during the winter, so this one will hopefully be the perfect read for January.
Book: “Beth Is Dead” by Katie Bernet
Publication Date: January 6, 2026
Why I’m Interested: I really do love the 1994 film version of “Little Women”, and even used to help lead “Little Women” themed tours at the historic Victorian house that I worked at when I was with the Minnesota Historical Society. And while I do love the March sisters, I have always felt like poor Beth doesn’t have much to do outside of being angelic and then dying. But the thriller “Beth Is Dead” reimagines the story not only as a modern YA version of “Little Women”, it also makes it a murder mystery with the beloved Beth being the victim of a murder, with Jo, Meg, and Amy having to take it upon themselves to figure out what happened to their sister… and to find out if she may actually have had secrets, much like they all do. Maybe it’s a little morbid, but I’m VERY much into it.
Book: “On Sundays She Picked Flowers” by Yah-Yah Schlofield
Publication Date: January 27, 2026
Why I’m Interested: This one has been getting some hype lately from some pretty well known horror people, and while it was originally published a few years ago it is getting a re-release and it sounds likes it’s going to get the attention that it deserves. When a young woman named Jude flees her home to escape her abusive mother, she rushes into the woods and decides to move into an abandoned house with a dark history to start a new life. But years later a strane lady arrives at her doorstep, and the two women are drawn to each other. But it also awakens something dark inside of Jude. It sounds weird, creepy, Gothic, and metaphorical!
What books are you looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comments!
The Library Ladies 