For 2025, I decided to keep in simple. Here are the goals I am setting for myself:
1. Read 75 books
2. Read 50 books from my physical shelves
3. Read the entire Bible
4. Read 10 non-fiction books I own (physical or e-books)
5. Participate in the two book clubs I am a member of, but don't feel obligated to read every book. In fact, try to read those I already own if they are selected.
I definitely read a lot more books than I anticipated. My Goodreads goal was set at 75, yet, I ended up with 132 books read. This is second only to 2020, when I read 135 books while isolating during the pandemic.
My most read genre was just like last year fantasy - 41 books.
I read 57 books from my own library and 75 books were borrowed from the library or Kindle Unlimited.
In terms of medium: 33 were in paper, 42 e-books and 57 audiobooks (definitely more audio and e-books this year!)
I read 101 adult books, 17 YA and 14 middle grade.
A few books did make a lasting impression. A list of my favorites is below.
Well, here we are, the last day of 2024. I will do a separate end-year reading stats post, but on a more personal note, 2024 had some major ups and downs for me. In terms of downs, my father passed away in the very beginning of 2024 and a good friend of mine lost her battle with breast cancer in the fall. Also, my daughter after doing great for most of 2024, had a set back in her chronic illness earlier this month. It will take a while to get her back on track. In terms of positives, I went to Europe twice: in May, my daughter and I took my mom to London for her 70th birthday, and then in August, we went on a family vacation to the Greek islands which was truly magical!
Now, in terms of my December reads, the beginning of the month was a bit of a struggle with reading, but it did pick up around the holidays. I mostly tried to focus on holiday-themed books. Here are some highlights:
1. In Deep was a very informative non-fiction about the concept of "deep state", its origins and myths surrounding it. I found it very helpful.
2. The popular romantasy When the Moon Hatched did not work for me at all. I really struggled to get through it. I did not connect to the characters at all and found the storyline dragging.
3. My favorite Christmas read was Waiting for Christmas by Lynn Austin. The plot was very Dickensian centering on an orphan boy trying to get re-united with his lost baby sister and missing father. I definitely see myself re-reading this one sometime in the future.
November was a bit slow for me for reading. I read 9 books and most of them were fairly short. A few highlights:
📚 Lone Women was a re-read for me. It is a great historical fiction novel with some magical elements set in the 19th century Montana
📚 Cultish is an amazing non-fiction that explores the role language plays in cults. It also defines cults fairly broadly to include not only religious cults, but also workout studios, MLMs and social influencers
📚 The Faithful Dark was a very unique fantasy based in a world that is built around religion. The world is very catholic-like. I really enjoyed it.
📚 The Woman in the Library is a mystery novel where I enjoyed the setting more than the story itself. Most of the novel takes place in the Back Bay Area of Boston which I love and the first chapter is set in the iconic reading room of Boston Public Library
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I finished October with 12 reads (not counting 3 books I gave up on). Here are my favorites of the month:
📚 The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt was unexpectedly delightful and funny. It is very short (60 pages?) so can be read in one sitting. It is better to go in blind and be pleasantly surprised
📚 Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio is a dark academia/mystery novella. It fit great with seasonal vibes and her writing is always superb
📚 The Changeling by Victor Lavalle is another perfect October horror story. This is the third book I’ve read by this author and I five-starred every single one
📚 Regrettably, I am About to Cause Trouble by Amie McNee features witches (or wisewomen) and is set in the 16th century England. If you like Anne Boleyn and Tudor England, this one is definitely worth a read. I was a bit distracted by the language choices: sometimes the author would use archaic syntax more in line with the time the book is set in, and other times, it read too modern for historical fiction. But I still really enjoyed it overall. The author’s background is also quite fascinating so please make sure to check out the author’s bio.
September was a solid reading month with 11 books totaling 3,583 pages. I also hit 100 books for the year! Favorites:
📚 This Summer Will be Different by Carley Fortune is not only a favorite for the month, it is now joining the ranks of my all time favorite books. It is not highbrow fiction, but it is heartwarming and wonderful and I loved every minute of it. I borrowed a copy from the library to read and as I was reading I had a strong urge to annotate and underline - something I NEVER do in books: So I ended up ordering a copy for myself so I can reread and highlight all my favorite passages
📚 Yellowface by RF Kuang is a compelling read about the present day publishing industry. It was a hard read but an important one. If you are going to read it, do it now. It is very much of the present day and will not age well with all its references.
📚 Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko is a great choice for dark academia lovers. It is beautifully written and I am definitely picking up the sequel soon.
📚 James by Percival Everett is a retelling of Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s perspective. I really liked this book and highly recommend it.
📚 A Crane Among Wolves by Jane Hur is a historical fiction novel set in the 1500s in Korea. I had never read any historical fiction set in Korea in that time period so found it truly fascinating.
📚 Finally I read a couple of thrillers this month. My favorite of the two was The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn - great mental health representation and an ending that I did not see coming
August was another great reading month, although I did slow down towards the end of the month while on vacation. Ironically, I am one of those people who tends to read less on vacation not more.
Overall, I read 12 books, half of them were audiobooks, and the other half - a mix of e-books and paper books. I did not finish any non-fiction this month.
I definitely have several favorites:
- Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds is a YA book written in verse that tackles the hard topic of being caught in a vicious circle of vengeance and violence with seemingly no way out. It is a short book that packs a powerful punch. I also really appreciated the author's note at the end.
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler provides a glimpse into an apocalyptic world filled with violence and struggle for survival. It was especially eerie to read since the events of the future described in the book happen in our present - starting in 2024 and spanning 3 more years. Kindred is still by far my favorite book of hers, but this one is definitely worth a read.
- The Book of Thorns by Hester Fox was one of my highly anticipated new releases. I read a novel by this author last year and really enjoyed it. She tends to write historical fiction but with some mystical/magical twist to them. I am definitely planning to read her backlist and follow her future releases. This one follows the story of two sisters separated in childhood and is set in England, France and Belgium in early 1800s when Napoleon makes his last attempt to recapture power.
- The Push by Ashley Audrain was a very disturbing but utterly unputdownable psychological drama/thriller. It took me a long time to pick up this book. I had heard great things about it, but was apprehensive of the subject (it tackles motherhood, death of a child and raising a difficult child). I did discover that I find thrillers much more enjoyable and less anxiety inducing if I listen to them on audio. I definitely recommend this one and will plan on listening to more thrillers this fall.
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I finally read this classic dystopian tale and I absolutely loved it. Atwood spins a very nuanced story written in a beautiful prose that is so rare to come by these days. She is a real master and this is definitely worth a read. I don't understand why some reviewers find this boring. I absolutely loved it.
The rest of the books I read were OK. with the exception of The Veiled Kingdom and The Hunted Heir (which are part of the same series) - they were terrible (I should give up on TikTok sensations).
