Reading in 2025

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General Reflections
2025 Book Stats
Favorite Books
Previous Years

General Reflections

I read a lot of books in 2025 but it doesn’t feel like an accomplishment. Reading is a defense mechanism for me. It’s not great living in the United States right now. So far, I haven’t been directly impacted by the horrible policies my government is now promoting. However, I’m worried about vulnerable friends and family and I’m also not naive enough to think it won’t eventually directly harm me. I’ve never been a huge fan of dystopian fiction and I’m even less fond of it in real life.

I spent a lot of the year thinking I wasn’t reading much. It wasn’t until I looked at my log in November that I realized I was actually ahead of my reading in 2024. I think there’s a couple of reasons for this:

  • As I mentioned, reading is a defense mechanism for me. I read a lot of fluff this year trying to keep myself calm enough to function. Some people watch TV or play video games to relax. I read. I strongly believe that neither approach is superior. We are all just doing our best to survive.
  • In November 2024 I joined a monthly library book club. For the most part, this book club picks books wildly different from what I would pick on my own. I stay because I think it’s good for me to try different things. However, this also means that two days before the book club meeting I hunker down and finish the assigned book in a day or two. As a result, these books are in addition to my regular reading rather than replacing it.
  • My work had a summer book club. Normally, I do terrible at these. However, this one had the right amount of structure and freedom that I stuck with it. Like the library book club, much of this was in addition to what I was already reading.

I had one friend ask me how I read so much even though I have kids and work full-time. It’s a combination of factors:

  • I’m a fast reader.
  • Reading is my one hobby.
  • I have a highly curated social media feed and most days I limit doomscrolling. For the most part, I don’t watch/listen to news. I have a selection of RSS feeds from newspapers that cover local, US, and international news and I scan them to stay up-to-date.
  • I rarely force myself to read a book. If I notice that I’m not reading because I’m avoiding a particular book, I stop reading that book.
  • In addition to buying books, I borrow a lot from my public library. The library is a wonderful way to try new authors and genres without feeling the pressure to finish a book because you spent money on it1.
  • It’s fairly common for me to be in the middle of 3-5 books at one time, one of which is usually an audiobook.
  • I read physical books, digital books, and audiobooks. I generally prefer physical books over eBooks. However, if none of the physical books are currently speaking to me, I’ll search for an eBook. I also listen to audiobooks while doing household chores, cooking, or exercising.

2025 Book Stats

I ended up reading 118 books this year. Because book lengths vary, it’s hard to directly compare book counts from year-to-year but StoryGraph estimates that I read 17% more pages this year than last.

My book logging has evolved through the years. At the moment, I use LibraryThing to catalog my personal library but StoryGraph to log my reading. This past year, I was better at logging both when I started and finished a book as well as what format I was reading. According to StoryGraph, it took me an average of 9 days to finish a book. 48% of the books I read were physical books, 31% were eBooks, and 20% were audiobooks.

I also had a goal of rating more books but that one fell by the wayside. I think it’s too hard for me to give a book one rating. I think I’d do better if I had the ability to rate books by multiple criteria.

According to StoryGraph, my top genres were Fantasy, Science Fiction, LGBTQIA+, and Mystery. Though, I’m a bit dubious about its definition of LGBTQIA+ as a genre. For example, it includes Bennett’s A Drop of Corruption in this genre and while there are certainly queer elements in the book, I did not feel like it was an essential component of the story. On the other hand, the book wouldn’t have been the same book without the fantasy and mystery elements. That said, when people ask for recommendations, being able to filter by LGBTQIA+ is very useful. Though, from that perspective, it would also be useful to be able to filter by a number of other characteristics.

Favorite Books

You can see my full list of 2025 books here. However, below were some that I either particularly enjoyed or I’m still thinking about them. I’ve listed them below in roughly the order I read them.

Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Physical Book

This is a great beach read. Kwan offers a voyeuristic glimpse into the lives of the ridiculously wealthy while also discussing the impacts of classicism and racism.

Metal from Heaven by August Clarke
Genre: Officially fantasy but feels more like science fiction to me
Format: eBook

I’m not sure I liked this book but it was definitely an experience. I was a little surprised it wasn’t a Hugo Award finalist as I had been hearing a lot of buzz about it. Regardless, this is not a cozy read. One blurb says it’s an “anti-capitalist howl of rage” which is pretty accurate.

The Dragonfly Gambit by A.D. Sui
Genre: Military Science Fiction
Format: Physical Book

I really enjoyed this novella. I have a soft spot for military science fiction and I found the twist at the end immensely satisfying.

Firescaping Your Home: A Manual for Readiness in Wildfire Country by Adrienne Edwards and Rachel Schleiger
Genre: Non-Fiction Home Improvement
Format: Physical Book

According to StoryGraph, this is the least popular book I read this year. However, I think it’s a great book for anyone who owns a home in a fire-prone area. There’s a lot of detailed recommendations on the best way to prepare your home for a wildfire.

Voyage of the Damned by Frances White
Genre: Fantasy Mystery
Format: Physical Book

This is one of those books where I kept reading even though I knew I should go to bed. A bunch of young aristocrats are journeying together on a ship when they start being murdered. Ganymedes Piscero has a secret and was planning to get himself disgraced and kicked off the ship to avoid anyone finding out. However, he decides he needs to figure out what’s going on. It reads like a YA book to me, though apparently it isn’t.

Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker
Genre: Cozy Horror
Format: Physical Book

I love books about houses, particularly if the houses aren’t evil. I also used to watch a lot of reality home decorating/house buying shows. This book follows Mara who is working as a production assistant on a home makeover/ghost hunting show so naturally I would be inclined to love this book.

A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara
Genre: Fantasy Mystery
Format: Audiobook

This was a really fun story. I also loved that the protagonist was a pregnant, soon-to-be-divorced woman who just happens to have a job collecting people’s souls. It’s not a perspective you see in a lot of books.

Star Trek: Lower Decks—Warp Your Own Way by Ryan North illustrated by Chris Fenoglio
Genre: Science Fiction, Graphic Novel, Choose Your Own Adventure
Format: Physical Book

This graphic novel was delightful. I haven’t watched many Lower Decks episodes, nor do I read many graphic novels. However, I loved choose your own adventures as a kid and I also really liked several of the Star Trek series. This graphic novel is a fun combination of both Star Trek culture and a choose your own adventure story. It also won the 2025 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Novel or Comic.

Penric and the Bandit by Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Fantasy
Format: Audiobook

This is the 13th book in the Penric and Desdemona series (part of the broader The World of the Five Gods Series). At a minimum, you should read Penric’s Demon before trying this one. The Penric and Desdemona books are comfort reads for me. Objectively, I think Penric is way too overpowered at this point but I don’t care. Penric is a person who cares and has enough power to help people when they need help.

Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy, Romance
Format: eBook

Ezra’s family owns a funeral home which is really inconvenient because Ezra can see ghosts. This is a sweet journey of discovery and romance with a side of intense family drama.

The Mystery of Three Quarters: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie Hannah
Genre: Mystery
Format: eBook

Normally, I’m a bit skeptical of books written after the author’s death. However, I’ve really been enjoying Sophie Hannah’s take on Hercule Poirot. They feel like a refreshed variation of the classic mysteries.

Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff
Genre: Romance, Cozy Horror
Format: Audiobook

Tanya Huff has been writing great SFF for decades. This is her newest book and it’s charming. A teacher takes a side job as a private investigator and goes to the little town of Lake Argen to figure out what happened to a woman’s grandson. The town is full of mysteries, such as why one can get 5 bars of cell coverage in the middle of nowhere.

Six Angry Girls by Adrienne Kisner
Genre: YA Fiction
This is a delightful book about an all-girl mock trial team which forms due to one girl being dumped by her boyfriend and the other being dumped by her long-time mock-trial team. In addition to mock-trial, there’s a fair amount of anatomical knitting.

Calypso by Oliver K. Langmead
Genre: Science Fiction, Epic Poetry
Format: eBook

The only reason I read this book was because it was nominated for the 2025 Hugo Awards. I’m very literal minded so a lot of poetry doesn’t make sense to me. However, this was an amazing epic poem telling the story of Rochelle, an engineer who wakes up on a generation ship and discovers that everything has changed.

If you read this book, do yourself a favor and hunt down a hard copy. If you don’t want to buy it, and your library doesn’t own it, request it via ILL from your library. The formatting choices make reading this poem in ebook form very challenging.

Blanche Cleans Up by Barbara Neely
Genre: Mystery
Format: Audiobook

This is the third book in the Blanche White mystery series. I’ve really enjoyed every book in this series. Blanche is a Black housekeeper who keeps ending up in the middle of murder investigations. There’s a lot of discussion of racism and how it impacts people in this series and it provides a very interesting perspective that is different from a lot of other mysteries I’ve read.

Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn
Genre: Thriller
Format: Audiobook

This is the second in the Killers series but I think it works fine as a standalone. The protagonists are four older women who are professional killers. In this book, someone is murdering agents and the women need to find out who before they end up dead.

James by Percival Everett
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: Audiobook

This is a retelling/expansion of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I picked this book up to fill the “book with a top rating on a crowd-sourced review site (e.g., Goodreads)” slot for the summer book club. Previously, I had heard a lot of good things about it but I didn’t particularly like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and so I was reluctant to try a retelling. However, everyone is right. It’s very good.

Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove
Genre: Science Fiction, Horror
Format: Audiobook

This was one of my favorite science fiction books of the year. The two main protagonists are AI and they reminded me that I didn’t use to hate all AI2. Demeter is an AI controlling a spaceship. However, her passengers keep getting killed in various horrible ways. She is determined to prevent future accidents and joins forces with a motley team to find justice.

I listened to the audiobook and it was mostly good. However, some chapters start with about 5 minutes of the narrator reading ones and zeroes. If you listen to the audiobook, I recommend some strategic skipping of those sections.

Valor’s Choice by Tanya Huff
Genre: Military Science Fiction
Format: eBook

I read this book to fulfill the “Book you’ve read before” category in the summer book club. The Confederation, made up of various alien races, invited Earth to join because they needed more soldiers to fight “the Others”. Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr has been assigned to a diplomatic mission to protect diplomats trying to get a non-Confederation planet to join their Confederation. She’s told it should be an easy job. Naturally, nothing goes according to plan.

Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, some Romance
Format: Physical Book

Kingfisher is one of my favorite authors, particularly her fantasy books. I really love her pragmatic characters and this book is no exception. Anja is a poison specialist and has been drafted by the King to figure out why the princess is sick. When the King asks for help, you can’t say no, so Anja does her best to figure out what’s going on.

The Two Lies of Faven Sythe by Megan E. O’Keefe
Genre: Science Fiction (Space Opera), Mystery, Romance
Format: Audiobook

This book was a lot of fun. Faven Sythe has a mystery to solve and teams up with notorious pirate Bitter Amandine. They go on a journey and discover a conspiracy with large ramifications.

The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi
Genre: Military Science Fiction
Format: Physical Book

This is the 7th book in the Old Man’s War series. I haven’t read any of the others3 but I thought this one worked well as a standalone novel. Clearly, it would benefit from me knowing more of the backstory but I still thought it was a really fun read. I’m a sucker for a badass female character and this book delivers4.

Esperance by Adam Oyebanji
Genre: Science Fiction, Mystery
Format: Audiobook

This book is definitely going on my Hugo ballot this year. One of my work colleagues recommended it and it’s fantastic. Abidemi Eniola arrives in England and has access to exceptionally advanced technology. She’s on the hunt for some people and it’s unclear what she plans to do when she catches them. Over in the United States, there’s a series of impossible murders that has Detective Ethan Krol baffled. Everything eventually comes together in an amazing ending.

A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith
Genre: Historical Mystery
Format: eBook

This mystery is set in Temple, London, in 1901. Because the Temple is so insular, it feels like a secret society murder mystery. I also really enjoyed barrister Gabriel Ward character. The story was well written and a lot of fun.

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi (2023 edition)
Genre: Non-Fiction
Format: Physical Book

This was a book my library book club read. I thought I had read the young reader’s edition with Calvin several years ago but I was getting it confused with Stamped. In any case, this was a really interesting book to read. One of my favorite aspects was that I read the 2023 edition and Kendi updated it with footnote comments. I thought it did a really great job of showing how it’s ok for us not to be perfect and we all should continue to learn.

Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Genre: YA Mystery
Format: eBook

I don’t read a lot of YA so I’m not sure why I picked this book up but it was really good. Sade Hussein is a new boarding school student. Weirdly, Sadie’s roommate disappears soon after her arrival and Sadie is sure there’s a mystery the school is trying to cover up. Then, a student dies. In some ways, the tone reminds me of the Truly Devious series. Do read the content warnings before starting this book.

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
Genre: Fantasy Mystery
Format: Physical Book

The first book in this series won the 2025 Hugo Award for Best Novel. However, I think this book would be fine as a standalone. Yes, there’s a lot of unique world building to catch up on but that’s also true if you start with the first novel. Regardless, this is another Ana and Din mystery. It took me several chapters to get into the book but once I did, it was a really fast read even though it’s a pretty thick book. It was really interesting to learn a bit more about Ana’s background.

Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Format: eBook

I stumbled across this book when nothing I already had in the house felt right and this was exactly the book I needed the night I picked it up. Theodora Ettings was cursed by a faerie and has no hope of getting married. However, she goes to London to support her cousin finding a rich husband. Then, she runs into the ill-mannered Elias Wilder and his friend who is trying to solve a mysterious illness infecting children in the work house.

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
Genre: Romance, Mystery
Format: eBook

After Thanksgiving, I started reading a bunch of Christmas-themed books. Most of them were pretty good but this one is my favorite. It involves authors and a country estate with secret passages and a missing mystery author. It was a delightful read.

Vanya and the Wild Hunt by Sangu Mandanna
Genre: Juvenile Fantasy
Format: eBook

I found this book while looking for a Harry Potter alternative. To be fair, I think this is a little closer to Percy Jackson than Harry Potter but it does have some similar elements. It’s a good story that follows Vanya, a girl who can hear some books talk to her, and then discovers her parents were once part of an organization that kept the world safe from monsters. For some reason, her mother refuses to go back but reluctantly sends Vanya to school to learn how to use her own abilities.

Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood
Genre: Myster
Format: Audiobook

This is the second in the Marlow Murder Club series and it’s always fun to tag along with a Judith Pott’s and her insatiable curiosity. I had read the first book in the series but the hold lines were so long for the second that I forgot about it until I heard there was a TV series based on the book. I bought the first season of the TV series to watch on the train on the way home from our winter vacation.

Royal Gambit by Daniel O’Malley
Genre: Fantasy
Format: Physical Book and eBook

This is the 4th book in The Checquy Files. I think you should read The Rook first (which I adored) and it would add, but not be essential, to read Stiletto. Royal Gambit is my favorite book in the series since The Rook. I felt the middle two got a little ponderous but this one is back to being a quick fun read.

The Inheritance by Ilona Andrews
Genre: Fantasy (Science Fiction??)
Format: eBook

This was the last book I finished in 2025. It was a perfect vacation/airplane read. Earth is being invaded and Adaline, mother of two, uses her Talent to help the government repel the invasion. Except when something goes wrong, the person who is hired to keep her safe abandons her in an alien environment where her chances of survival are nonexistent.

Previous Years

  1. Though, if you can afford it, do donate money to your library. eBooks and Audiobooks are insanely expensive for them to buy. ↩
  2. Ok, I don’t hate all AI but I think we don’t require enough excellence from the “AI” we currently have. In my opinion, we’re accepting too many compromises in accuracy, ethics, and the environment. ↩
  3. I have started Old Man’s War twice. I have yet to finish it. I’m thinking that possibly I just need to skip that book. ↩
  4. No, I don’t care whether or not it’s realistic. This is fiction. I also greatly enjoyed the John Wick movies which are also gloriously unrealistic. ↩