Last year, my New Year’s resolution was to read at least one chapter of a novel before I go to bed each night (unless there were extenuating circumstances, like illness or having had to leave the house to talk to people). I won’t say that I always achieved this, but it has certainly become more of a habit, and I’m hoping to continue it for 2025.

What I’ve been working on

I finished off the copy-edit of the quirky murder mystery that I started in December, which was a lovely project for the festive period. My first post-holidays copy-edit was a time slip YA fantasy heavily influenced by Norse mythology and the late Anglo-Saxon period. I moved on to the copy-edit of a psychological thriller set in the world of competitive dance, and the proofread of the sequel to a slice-of-life novella I worked on a few years ago will take me into February.

What I read for fun

My January read was the Illumicrate edition of Hammajang Luck, by Makana Yamamoto. I think the tagline ‘Ocean’s 8 meets Blade Runner‘ might be a little misleading, but I did enjoy it overall. There is a heist on a space station, and some of the characters have ‘mods’ – but the main focus, really, seems to be on creating a found family and moving on from difficult pasts. The world-building is potentially very interesting, although not explored to much depth, and the cast is possibly too large for all the characters to be well defined and complex. However, if you are looking for a light, fun comfort read, with good rep and a cultural background that isn’t often highlighted in mainstream fiction, this one is for you.