2025 Reading Wrap Up

 

I had a interesting, emotional filled, action packed reading year filled with mystery, fantasy,  science fiction, non fiction, thrillers, dragons, and romance. I traveled through outer space to the Antarctic to Eastern Europe to fictional lands in the middle of the ocean. I read 93 books, out of which 15 were rereads and only 7 were ebooks. Plus 34 were new to me authors.  Which means I did a great job at clearing my shelves, only I don't remember which ones were new versus dusty.  Guess I should have kept better track of that.  And now that I look back at the books completed, I'm contemplating changing some from 4 stars to either 5 stars or 3. What a conundrum. 

The stories (in no particular order) that really stood out this year were:

Stuart Turton's 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - a fantasy mystery which kept me on my toes keeping track of the characters and the storyline. Very convoluted, but intriguing and unique mystery which went all over the place.  Was everyone in on it?  Too many people, secrets, behind the stairs politics, above the stairs agreements, black mail, murder, and love affairs.  The characters never quite knew who to trust. Loved the description and imagery.  

and from one of my favorite writers, Cassandra Clare’s Sword Catcher - the beginning of a 4 book series which is full of dark magic and secrets and was excellent. The story captured me from the very beginning and held my attention the whole way through. Made me mad, confused, glad, and sad. Who would rue the day?  To be continued in the next book, The Ragpicker King which fortunately I have. 

The Last Love Note by Emma Grey - A story about grief, love, loss. A story about powering through, resilience, humor, honesty, and family.  Never letting go, but moving forward, finding your way without the love of your life, and somehow falling in love again with the one was right in front of you all along.   I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more. One of those stories I'll have to get in paperback to read again.

I discovered Fredrick Backman this year and will definitely be reading more of his stories. My Grandma Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry was such a sweet, heartwarming, hilarious, intense, imaginative story.  Made me laugh, made me cry, made me wonder, as well as want to shake a couple adults for their attitudes. All the feels. At first, all the bickering between everyone turned me off. But once I got past that, the story took off. 

Plus Britt Marie was Here turned into a very moving story.  She’d  lived her life for some one else and lost herself in the process.  She’s socially awkward, a bit ocd, and maybe a little autistic (imho). She ends up in a small town, full of misfit, oddballs, juvenile delinquents, and more and finds her backbone as well as a found family. It’s sad and funny and the ending is a bit vague which left me wondering. 

I finally gave in and read Robin Hobb’s Assassins Apprentice #1 in the Farseer Trilogy which was  excellent. Hobb’s writing is really good and flows and her world building, empathy, and emotions were so well done, you’d think you were watching a movie. Looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy, then exploring Ship Traders.   

Oh my goodness! I couldn't put down Dean Koontz The Forest of Lost Souls.  One woman pitted against a megalomaniac and his cohorts and small town politics.  Full of mysticism, nature, good and evil with wonderfully written characters and descriptions. Once I started it, had to finish, reading long into the night. Well worth losing sleep over. 

A unique fantasy/science fiction story by a new to me author was Gareth Brown's The Book of Doors in which a woman finds a book and stumbles upon a door which opens a world of travel, lying, killers, time loops, and all kinds of trouble. For every emotion, there is a book which in the wrong hands can either reek havoc or in the right hands bring healing. Full of chilling twists and turns that captures your attention and keeps you hanging on for the ride. 

And Dan Brown does it again with The Secret of Secrets in the Robert Langdon universe.  His girlfriend unwittingly captures the attention of the CIA and steals her ideas and her book about human consciousness and death experiences to create spies out of the  people on the edge of life who can see what's happening around them before they come back to their bodies. Fantastic story full of science, mystery, history and even the Golem created by a 16th century rabbi in Prague.  

And last but not least, two non fiction reads: 

All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum and me written by a museum guard, Patrick Bringley, which gave me an appreciation for art and how to look at it. It was a delicious read with made me want to back to New York and explore The Met for several days. 

and Victoria Erickson's Edge of Wonder: Notes from the Wildness of Being  - A little non fiction book of  beautiful poetry written in a way that was inspirational, warmhearted, made me think, and really spoke to me. No iambic pentameter for me. LOL! So good, I wanted to buy a dozen extra copies and send them out as gifts. 

I'd love to gather all these authors in a room and listen to them for days.  

February Reading Wrap Up

 

What do all my books have in common this month:  They are either about people finding themselves,  working through grief, or searching for that elusive happily ever after and realizing real life is better.  I read 8 books of which 6 were physical, 2 were ebooks, 4 were new to me authors  and a total of 2603 pages.  I enjoyed  journaling spoilery thoughts about every single one, what I liked, what I disliked, etc.   

What You Are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama: The story was charming and revolved around books which helps the readers solve real life problems. A young girl on her own, learning how to cook and care about herself and take joy in life.  A working mother who faces all kinds of trouble after her baby is born. An accountant learning you can make a new start. An unemployed 30 year old man finally discovering what he was good at. And a retiree figuring out what he liked and enjoyed. Ordinarily I don't like books that reflect real life, but since the story involved Japanese culture and society, it made it more interesting. ****

Bookshops and Bone Dust by Travis Baldree:  Charming and entertaining, Bookshops and Bonedust is the prequel to Legends and Lattes which I haven't read yet, full of anthromorphic animals or not human, in which Viv the orc helps Fern, a rattkin, who is a walking, talking, foul mouthed rat with a pet dog who is a cross between a dog and a bird, fix up her bookstore while trying to solve the mystery of a necromancer. ****

Bonded in Death by J.D. Robb: #60 in the In Death series in which she hits it out of the ballpark.  We learn new things about Summerset and his history and those who were involved in the Urban Wars. *****

The Last Love Note by Emma Grey: A story about grief, love, loss. A story about powering through, resilience, humor, honesty, and family.  Never letting go, but moving forward, finding your way without the love of your life, and somehow falling in love again with the one was right in front of you all along.  I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more. e, ****

Starter Villain by John Scalzi:  Silly and ridiculous and entertaining with intelligent cats, foul mouthed dolphins, and a bunch of villains who try to threaten and cajole their way to a fortune after they’ve dug themselves in a hole, but the starter villain is smarter than they think. ****

You are Here by David Nichols: Some strangers, some friends begin a coast to coast walk from the Irish Sea to the North Sea of England and work through life issues in the process.  The story represented two very flawed, hurt, people not trying to get over bad relationships, until they were put together on this walk.  Was there too much angst, bitterness?  Not exactly. There was a just a right amount of humor to balance the story along with the revelations.  I liked that it didn't end with a happily ever after with all sins forgiven, but a 'let's try' together vibe.  ****

Comfort and Joy by Kristin Hannah:  Joy walks out of her own life, onto an airplane, crashes, walks away from the wreck, and has a bonding experience with a man and his child living deep in the woods. Yet, something is strange about the whole thing. Is is all real or in her imagination?  Once I finished the story, I want to read it all over again.  At the beginning it didn't seem like it, but Comfort and Joy is a charming Christmas story about hope and finding happiness.    e, ****

The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore:  Sloane, Maisey, Mateo, Greg, and Arthur. What do all these people have in common.  They've all experienced grief, or trauma in their earlier lives that have caused them to hide their true selves, burying themselves in other peoples lives, their children, their work, their books until one day Sloan decides to become involved in an angry old man's life.  From there, it snowballs, in a good way, until each one together, give each other the strength, the power to make the changes necessary to accept their pasts, and move on into the future. ****

Reading Log as of February 15th

 

J.D. Robb's 60th In Death - Bonded in Death - arrived so I dove in and she hit it out of the park with this one. I really enjoyed the heck out of this episode of Eve and Roark, and learned some new things about Summerset, and those who were involved in the Urban Wars. Fascinating and definitely a five star read. 

Another five star read was The Last Love Note by Emma Grey which was equally good. A story about grief, love, loss. A story about powering through, resilience, humor, honesty, and family.  Never letting go, but moving forward, finding your way without the love of your life, and somehow falling in love again with the one was right in front of you all along.   I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more. One of those stories I'll have to get in paperback to read again. 

Finished John Scalzi's Starter Villain which was silly and ridiculous and entertaining with intelligent typing cats, foul mouthed sentient dolphins, and a bunch of villains who threaten and cajole their way and try to steal a fortune after they've mismanaged and overspent themselves into a hole.  

I'm currently reading Naomi Novik's Black Powder War, #3 in the Temeraire series.  Was going to dive into a Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon but think will stow it on the back burner while I read Alan Moore's The Great When which James surprised me with on Valentine's Day.  

"If this London is what they call the Smoke, then that place is the Fire...

The year is 1949, the city London. Amidst the smog of the capital stumbles Dennis Knuckleyard, a hapless eighteen year-old employed by a second-hand bookshop. One day, on an errand to acquire books for sale, Dennis discovers a novel that simply does not exist. It is a fictitious book, a figment from another novel. Yet it is physically there in his hands. How?

Dennis has stumbled on a book from the Great When, a magical version of London beyond time and space, where reality blurs with fiction and concepts such as Crime and Poetry are incarnated as wondrous, terrible beings. But this other, magical London must remain a secret: if Dennis cannot find a way to return this book to where it belongs, he risks repercussions, such as his body being turned inside out (or worse).

So begins a journey delving deep into the city's occult underbelly and tarrying with an eccentric cast of sorcerers, gangsters, and murderers – some from legend, some all too real, and all with plans of their own. Soon Dennis finds himself at the centre of an explosive series of events that may alter and endanger both Londons forever..."

Les Miserables has taken a back seat to other books this week so need to let it let it ride in the front passenger seat. It's been yelling dibs for a few days. LOL!