My January 2026 Round Up

- what I did this month -

Hello, friends, and welcome back to The Kindness Cafe and to my second January Round Up! I’m so thrilled to be in 2026 working on my reading, writing, and life goals. There’s a lot to get into, so let’s get started!

What I’ve Been Reading Recently:

Premeditated Myrtle (Myrtle Hardcastle #1) by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Quick Plot Summary: Twelve-year-old Myrtle Hardcastle loves mysteries, solving crimes, spying on people through her mum’s old telescope, and reading her father’s law books in order to become the first female prosecutor in her little town of Swinburne, England. So when her plant-breeding next-door neighbor dies suddenly of mysterious circumstances, Myrtle decides to investigate with her governess, Miss Judson. She finds that her neighbor was murdered…and must figure out who did it, why, and how she can bring them to justice…right under her police father’s nose.

This was an incredible book that I couldn’t stop reading. I loved Myrtle and Miss Judson, and the plot was so tight and precise I had a hard time guessing who the murderer was. I’d definitely recommend this one!

Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Quick Plot Summary: Alice is enjoying a nice sunny day in England when she spots a White Rabbit with a pocketwatch dashing through the countryside and into a hole shouting “I’m late!” Curious Alice follows after him and finds herself in an upside-down world where things are absurd and make absolutely no sense!

I’ve read this classic before, but this was the first time I really got into it thanks to reading it for a book club I’m in. I had a lot of fun rereading this book as I picked up on some of the riddles and jokes that I didn’t catch when reading the book at an earlier age.

What I’ve Been Listening To Recently:

“Susan and Lucy” by Priscilla Sab is one of the best, most thought-provoking songs I have ever listened to. This song caught me and wouldn’t let me go (and also I love the Narnia reference!)

“Man in Room 39” by The Arcadian Wild is an underrated song from their collection, and I really love listening to it. The harmonies and lyrics are some of my favorite parts!

When searching for a video, I stumbled upon quite a few acapella cover versions from different groups, if you’d like to check those out as well!

A Writing Update:

I have quite a few updates about my writing, which I’m excited to share!

• First off, my online writing community managed to write over 1 MILLION words in only a WEEK this month! I contributed just over 5 thousand to that count, which was so much fun. I still can’t believe we did it.

• I surpassed Project Royalty’s first draft’s word count at 32K, then promptly hit 35K words in the book’s second draft.

And my writing’s still going strong, which is awesome! This month was super productive for my writing, and I’m so proud of myself! I’ll post the overall January word count on my notes on the first day of February.

A Life Update:

Quick question: does January ever feel like it’s been about three years by the time it’s over? Because it’s been feeling like that for me.😅

Despite the long month, I’ve been working on schoolwork, listening to great music, and watching lots of TV and movies, including the second season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the reality show The Traitors. I also made lefse (Norwegian potato pancakes – kind of) for the second year in a row, and they came out delicious!

I’d love to know about your adventures in January down below!

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