My 2025 Reading Wrap
Got worms? I mean book worms, of course!
I admittedly felt like I didn't read enough in 2025, but then I took a look at my StoryGraph and realized that I did a pretty dang good job of keeping my nose in a book. Overall, I read 26 books and DNF’d five titles. Plus, I read a lot of required reading for a Women’s Literature course I took at my local community college. My eyeballs did a lot of work!
My 5 Star Books
Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh
On Writing: A Memoir to the Craft by Stephen King
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby
All Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
Goblins & Greatcoats by Travis Baldree
We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
Other reads that may not have been 5 stars (for me) but were still enjoyable are pictured above, except for Drowned Country by Emily Tesh and Slow Productivity by Cal Newport, I forgot to copy/paste those covers into my little graphic.
I feel like overall, everything I finished reading in 2025 was a solid 3 stars or better. I have a silly reading rule: if something doesn’t popoff and hook me by chapter 5, I just DNF, because with over 800 titles on my TBR, I don't care to read something I don’t love.
My DNF List
Into the Dark We Go by DG Woods - I really wanted to like this story, but it just didn’t hit for me.
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver - I couldn't get past the letters/correspondence format, maybe it would be a better audiobook for me?
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden - Ugh, I really wanted to like this, but I tried to enjoy this as an audiobook, and it just wasn’t doing it for me. I felt lost a lot and probably would like this one if I gave it a second chance, but in physical form.
Woman, Eating by Clare Kohda - Meh. Just kinda boring.
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, with Sarah Moses - This book is wild; I want to revisit it, life just got in the way.
Side Note - I also read some career self-help books this year (Let Them by Mel Robbins & Dare to Lead by Brene Brown). Not even linking them, bleh. It was a solid reminder that self-help books written by privileged white women are not for me. But hey, at the time I needed a life jacket at work, so there is that.
The above-mentioned self-help book by Cal Newport, however, was good, had substance, and I feel like I took away a few nuggets from it.
2026 Goals & Must Reads
In 2026, I would like to read at least 26 titles, and as part of my vision board’s Q1 Winning Habit, I plan to read daily for at least one hour. So I think I can make it happen, and maybe even a little extra!
Books that I must, must, must dive into in 2026:
Everything else I subject my eyes to will be at the whim of my Libby ‘available now’ filter on my TBR tag. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.
Until next time (book)worms!
— R