HOB's 2025 "Best Book of January" Nomination Thread

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

🏆 HOB's 2025 "Best Book of January" Nomination Thread! 📚

Greetings, literary adventurers! 🧭📖 Welcome to the first chapter of our year-long book odyssey!

It's time to kick off our "Best Book of January 2025" contest! Here's your chance to nominate the book that rocked your world this month. 🌟

How to Nominate:
1. Post your chosen book in the comments below.
2. Include the title, author, and why it captivated you.
3. One nomination per member, please!

Rules of Engagement:
📚 Any book finished in January 2025 is eligible.
📚 All genres, lengths, and styles are welcome.
📚 Audiobooks, e-books, and good old-fashioned paper all count!

Spread the Book Love:
🗣️ Share a favorite quote or moment.
❤️ Tell us why this book stole your heart.
🔥 Convince us why your pick should be crowned January's champion!

What's Next?
On February 1st, we'll unveil the tournament bracket. Then, let the voting games begin! 🏹

Voting Details:
🗳️ Polls will be posted with links for easy voting.
⏰ Voting will conclude on February 15th.
🏆 The winner will be announced shortly after!

Voting Schedule:
🗳️ Round 1: February 1st - 4th
🗳️ Quarter-Finals: February 5th - 8th
🗳️ Semi-Finals: February 9th - 12th
🗳️ Final: February 13th - 15th

Remember, your passionate pitch might just sway fellow readers to pick up your book and vote for it!

So, bibliophiles, what's it going to be? Which January read deserves a shot at the title of HOB's Best Book of 2025?

Let the nominations commence! May the best book win! 🏅📚✨

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Nominated Books

I Who Have Never Known Men
The Favorites
Indiscretion
The Eternal Ones
This Motherless Land
The Appeal
The House of Mirth
Listen for the Lie

[Princesspint]

In Too be updated

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

I'm nominating....

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

Quick Synopsis:

Deep underground, thirty-nine women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only a vague recollection of their lives before.

As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl—the fortieth prisoner—sits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground.

My Thoughts:

This was a powerful read! The novel's power lies in its refusal to provide clear answers to the myriad questions it raises. The unanswered questions are the point. The point of this unnamed human's life. The point of every life. They are the questions, the fundamental questions about the nature of life. Of identity. Of purpose.

Favorite Quote:

"I want to know everything there is to know. Not because it's any use, but purely for the pleasure of knowing..."

[Catherine]

I would like to nominate by Layne Fargo

The book was AMAZING and the writing was so good.
Clace gives the best review ever of this book and I cannot compete, but I will link anyways.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Best quote ever-
“The thing is, when pushing your limits is all you know, when it seems normal to you...it's hard to remember you even have limits. Until you run right into them.”

Listen to Always by Bon Jovi- It is literally Heath

[Shan ~A~]

I would like to nominate by Vi Keeland.

It's the only book that I've felt deserved 5 stars this month besides the reread I did, and I promised not to count rereads into this.

Vi Keeland is a one click author for me, so I don't even have to think to decide to read and/or buy her books. Half the time I don't even read what they are about, I just jump in.

Before I give a book 5 stars, it has to stir up a few emotions while I’m reading. If an author can make me laugh out loud and also tug at my sentimental side, that’s when I know it’s a winner!

[Bernadette]

I haven't read any 5-star books this month. I can nominate my favorite book of the month though if you need nominations.

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

it doesn't have to be 5 stars, just your favorite of the month!

[Yasmine]

My favourite read this month was The Eternal Ones by Namina Forna!

It was an amazing ending to the Gilded trilogy and without any spoilers, the ending was no let down! It had me very emotionally invested and I was afraid that the series would not be wrapped up nicely, or leave thousands questions open and it really didn't disappoint so I'm very happy with that :D It also set my reading mood for the new year into a high setting, which has allowed me to look forward to reading more again.

[Bernadette]

I nominate This Motherless Land. I did not do my own review, but I pulled some comments from other reviews which provide a good summary of the book:

A young girl, from Nigeria, who loses her mother and brother in a fatal car crash, is sent by her distraught father to live in England with a resentful aunt and cousins.
Taking place from the 70s to the 90s, we're swept along on this whirlwind tour of Funke and Liv’s lives—watching as they drift apart, collide, reconnect, and try to make sense of family, love, loss, lies, and hard truths. Their relationship is layered, bound by blood and a deep-seated need for connection, especially when both their families have failed them on so many levels, both physically and emotionally.

The book raises questions about identity. Who you are, where you belong, what is your home – all are pertinent in this increasingly global environment. It also highlights the role of choices and challenges in altering the trajectory of our life.

The writing is powerful and thought-provoking, tackling several relevant contemporary issues such as gender discrimination, racism, white privilege, parental death, parental abuse, mental health, drug abuse, and many more. The hard-hitting points are sometimes covered in a sugary coating, but this doesn’t reduce their impact. Despite the darkish storyline, the author still manages to insert humor and light-hearted scenes into the narrative.

[Maria (a)]

I'd like to nominate The Appeal by Janice Hallett.

Hallett uses the epistolary format really well to create a three dimensional world with so many various threads that every second reading this is worth it. I found it fascinating how the various secret that run through the tight-knit community develop and evolve, and the characters were amazing. This was a real pageturner for me.

[Claire]

I had one five star read
Edith Wharton
Through witty conversations and lifelike characters the author describes the life of Lily, who lost her family and has to find a way in New York society to maintain herself financially.
The book is clearly written in a very agreeable style with lots of dialogue. While the author uses a lot of wit in her writing, at the same time you feel a dark shadow that grows darker all the time.

[Angie ☯]

I would like to nominate:

Listen for the Lie was a great read! It was my first 5 star year of 2025…and I’ve stingy with those!

The characters in the book are all over the map; some are certifiable, some are obnoxious, and some are just plain fun! There are a bunch of different characters, but I have two favorites.

Lucy, our main character, has a very snarky manner and an off-beat sense of humor, which I Iove. At the start when we were “hearing” the voice in her head, I thought she was off her rocker, until we learned where the voice was from!

Then there is Beverly, Lucy’s grandmother – and the only person that thinks Lucy couldn’t have killed Savvy – and a hilarious, hippy! I thought it was so funny how she guilted Lucy into coming home for her birthday party just to get her there to talk to Ben!

The story picks up 5 years after Lucy’s best friend Savannah (Savvy) is murdered. Almost everyone in her hometown thinks that Lucy killed her. Because a podcaster, Ben, picked up the story and is trying to discover the truth about Lucy, people everywhere think Lucy is guilty.

Now, most mysteries like this lead me right to the mystery, but not this one! I suspected several people, but I didn’t figure out the truth. I will not talk about the story because I don’t want to spoil the journey for anyone!

[Ashley, The Tipsy Challenger]

Brackets Announced!