2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Last year I read 84 books so I'm confident that I can hit 65, I didn't want to set my goal higher because this year I am making the conscious choice to read more classics and overall longer reads. This year I really want to try and branch out by reading different genres than I typically lean towards.
I'm hoping to also post reviews about each book I have read, but I don't want this to feel like a chore. I'm really hoping that I can have fun with this and discover different aspects of my personality and perhaps discover a new genre that I had previously written off.

January was a really hard month, I didn't feel motivated at all to read and couldn't find any joy in the things I was doing overall. It, probably, also didn't help that the books I chose to read didn't capture my enthusiasm.
I didn't pick up my first book until the middle of January, thankfully it was Doctor Sleep which I truly enjoyed. It felt familiar and I loved seeing where some of my favorite characters had ended up. To me it felt more like a comforting story of resilience than a horror, it definitely didn't have the same creepy factor that The Shining did, but I was glad it didn't.
My next read was American Gods which I struggled to get through. I just did not enjoy the characters or the story pace overall. For me, part of the problem was that I thought this was going to be an epic retelling of certain Greek gods and other legends mixed in, but the story was in fact much slower and pretty much no action.
That book just pushed me into an even bigger reading slump, to the point were I did not even want to pick it up to finish it.

Hopefully, Febuary is much better and I can get back on track!

Halfway through February and I'm definitely already doing better than January!
First, was Get a Life, Chloe Brown which I had been greatly looking forward to but unfortunately was a huge letdown. I still finished it, but I didn't connect with the characters and found the plot to drag on.
Thankfully my next book was Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators which was an incredible book that I finished in a day. This is a book that will stick with you for a long time to come, I mean I even had dreams about it. It's also a book that made me thankful for the few good guys in reporting we have, and all the things they were willing to sacrifice in order to get this story told. This story was just bonkers, I don't know how esle to describe it. I will definitely be reading She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement because I'm curious how everything unfolded over at Times.
My latest book read is Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything which was pretty good, but a bit too long for my taste. I also just personally prefer when books like this are more researched-based, and this book was definitely more anecdotal. It was definitely not a bad book, I learned a lot from it, but it could have been better for sure.
So far, I'm happy with my progress and I'm hoping I will get even more done!

I ended February by finishing an additional 4 books, for a total of 7; which I'm pretty content with!
I was starting to lose steam so I decided that I wanted to read The Deal which was just a fun and quick romance. I liked the characters and the story was fun and best of all got me excited to read again. I love a good sports romance, and this also had the added benefit of being an enemy to friend trope, one of my personal fav combos.
Next I finished up Sleeping Beauties, for this book I actually listened to the audiobook; the narrator did an excellent job and because of all the accents in the book I think listening to it rather than reading it really adds to the whole experience. That said, I personally didn't find the story compelling and found that it dragged on for way too long but I'm glad I chose to listen on audio.
I next read The Queen of Nothing, I absolutely loved the rest of the series so I'm glad I got to read this one. It went by so quickly, and it's definitely a series I am sad is over.
Finally, the last book I read for the month was Royal Holiday; this was another quick romance read which I absolutely adored. I loved how the characters were older, and I also love when a romance takes place abroad. That said, this didn't blow me away but I would still recommend it for romance lovers.

Wow cannot believe that March is already over, it has definitely been a crazy month that seemed to stretch on for ages.
I started off the month by reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd which I truly loved, and might (so far) be my favorite Hercule story. The plot was great, I didn't see the twist coming, but then again I usually am horrible at solving crimes! Another thing I loved was how fleshed out the characters all felt, and I found myself truly laughing at some of the more quirky characters. I think as usual reading this felt like a comfort read.
I then read Lean on Me which was a contemporary romance that dealt with being a caregiver to an ailing family member. While I appreciated the topic that was being discussed, I ended up giving this book 2 stars because of how drawn out and long it felt; not to mention the romance felt weak.
This month I decided to read She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement I wanted to read this book because I read Ronan Farrows' book about the Weinstein case and wanted to hear what the other reporters who broke the case had to say about it. While I do think that the subject that is being discussed is so important, I just couldn't sink myself into this book. I think part of it was how disconnected I felt from the reporters, and maybe that was their intention, but it didn't have the same impact as Farrows' book. It feels wrong to compare the two, but I can't really help it seeing as both books deal with the same subject.
After reading such a heavy book I decided to read something lighter, that would transport me out of this world. I chose to read The Wrath and the Dawn, which is a retelling of One Thousand and One Nights. I did enjoy this book, and I will probably be reading the sequel but I wasn't blown away and the characters didn't feel fully developed. Not to mention I found myself wanting to skip through the side characters plots.
After a sea of average books, I finally got a winner with A Very Large Expanse of Sea, a coming of age YA that dealt with Islamaphobia. I truly saw myself in Shirin, and yet I could not fathom going through what she had to go through. I smiled at parts of the book and felt my heart breaking at other parts. The only problem I had with it was how underdeveloped Ocean felt, I wish we could have seen more of his life because that would have been fascinating. Another minor issue was how towards the end it didn't really feel totally pulled together. Still, I loved Shirin as a lead and am happy to see more diversity in YA.
The last book I read was one that I had been plowing through for a long time, for a while I thought I might DNF it but I finally managed to finish A Farewell to Arms, I do feel odd not having loved it and maybe I am wrong for saying this but I do not see the hype around Ernest Hemingway's writing. However, maybe it was just this particular book I didn't love. I will say though that I think this felt like a real depiction of war; which is to say that it's not all harrowing battles, but instead real people just trudging along.
I think I am happy with how many books I was able to get through, there were days when I couldn't find the energy to pick up a book or felt too discracted to fully focus, but I think I did good and overall, I think the quality of the books wasn't bad.
Hopefully, in April I will get to read more 4 and 5-star books!

I started off April reading A Court of Thorns and Roses which I absolutely loved! I cannot wait to pick up the second book! I initially picked up this book because I have been wanting to read a book about fairies, and this fit the bill perfectly! Great plot, interesting characters and a good pace as well; I would definitely recommend it!
After I finished that book I was in the mood for an Agatha Christie novel so I chose The Big Four I enjoyed this, but it's not my favorite in the series. Not much more to say, I want to finish up the Hercule Poirot series, but I'm not in a rush since these are more of a comfort read for me.
Next up I read If I Never Met You, a contemporary romance set in an office. I usually love enemies-to-lovers trope, but this one fell short. It wasn't terrible, it just didn't feel intense enough for me and the romance aspect felt a bit lacking.
I decided to take part in the Big Library Read book club, and the pick was Funny, You Don't Look Autistic: A Comedian's Guide to Life on the Spectrum, I thought this was a wonderful selection. It's a very short book, but it does a great job of explaining autism (or the author's form of it anyway) and it did so in an easy to follow along way. I loved it, yes the author is still very young but why isn't it possible to have an autobiography at his age? I think you can learn something from anybody, regardless of how old they are.
My last book of the month was The Chief, since this month was lacking a serious romance I decided to give this book a try and I'm glad I did! I love a good historical romance, especially if they deal with highlanders!
Overall, I'm okay with how much I read especially since I was sick for most of the month! I think I managed to push through and I found some good series I want to follow up on!

I love Agatha Christie! Have you read a graphic novel about her life called Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie? It is both informative and real fun

Elena wrote: "I love Agatha Christie! Have you read a graphic novel about her life called Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie? It is both informative and real fun"

I love her too! No, I had never heard of that before I'm going to have to see if my local library has it! Thank you

I am all about magic this year. I hope that your reading goal is your little touch of magic.

Blagica wrote: "I am all about magic this year. I hope that your reading goal is your little touch of magic.
"

Thank you so much! Love that quote :)

I discovered one of my favorite books of the year in May, The House in the Cerulean Sea was magical, whimsical and poignant. I can't express in words how lovely this book was, but it was exactly what I needed this year-- if you need an escape this book is it. I still find myself missing all the characters and wishing there was more.
For the rest of the month, I was really craving romance so I started with The Billionaire Deal. Basically the title says it all, I liked this book it was easy to get into and the characters were nicely fleshed out. I do wish the plot had been a bit stronger towards the end but overall it was fine.
With the announcement of Midnight Sun I thought maybe now was a good time to give Twilight another shot. I remember trying to read this when it first came out, but I just couldn't get into it. I did manage to read it this time, but to be honest I don't understand the hype. I just didn't find the characters compelling, the writing was weak and the plot wasn't very engaging. I love romances and obviously love a good cheesy story, so I'm not bashing anyone who does love Twilight; I just wish I had been able to submerge myself in the story more.
After Twilight, I was still feeling like romance so I picked up Mr. Hotshot CEO. I thought this would be a really cheesy romance, (which I love), but it was actually a book that dealt with some pretty heavy topics. The set up wasn't the best, but after getting over that I think the rest of the story went along nicely and the plot kept me engaged. Overall, I'm glad I picked this up and gave it a shot!
After all that romance, I decided I should mix it up with a bit of mystery so I read You Let Me In which deals with mental illness and fairies. While I think the premise of the book is great, does the main character actually see fairies or is it mental illness, I'm not sure it was executed the best way. I found myself wanting to skip ahead or just getting bored. The main character wasn't really that engaging, and the plot was kinda slow and not that interesting.
After that book, I wanted to read something light and fluffy so I picked up Beach Read which was supposed to be a romance but I don't think it had much romance in it. The initial premise is that these two authors who right very different genres challenge each other to try their hand at the others' craft, but as the story went on I found that the initial plotline kind of got lost. The romance wasn't very strong, and the characters were sort of bland. I can't quite put my finger on it but the story just lacked a strong presence.
After that I read When Dimple Met Rishi which I had been eager to read. Although it was cute I wasn't all that impressed with the story, it just kind of fell flat and started to get stale in the middle. But it was a fast read and I did appreciate seeing a book that focused on how culture can affect relationships.
When I finished with that book, I decided to read As Kismet Would Have It which was a continuation of Dimple and Rishi's story but was super short! It was cute, and I liked the little twist at the end.
Overall, this month went pretty well and I'm happy that I found some good books.

I started off June by reading Ayden which was honestly not very memorable, it was just an okay romance.
Then I read She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman which is a book I had won in a giveaway a little while ago, I really enjoyed learning more about Harriet Tubman; she was a resilient hero but I was never taught much about her life. The book was well done, definitely good for middle graders.
This month I decided to finally tackle another Sarah J. Maas series that I always see getting talked about, Throne of Glass and honestly, although the characters were ok there wasn't much of a plot and the plot that was there was pretty boring to me. I don't think I will be continuing this series.
Next, I read another one of her books which was a sequel to a series I had started and enjoyed A Court of Mist and Fury. But honestly, this was another huge letdown. The characters were not my favorites, the plot was nonexistent and I really couldn't understand how the first book tied into this series it was almost as if she had decided to scrap the first book and start over LOL I won't be continuing this series.
Next up I decided to read a book that I had been really excited about, The Boyfriend Project. I did enjoy this book, but now I'm having trouble really recalling anything that was super amazing about it. The romance itself was pretty lukewarm, but the plot was actually pretty good.
I then decided to read Kindred because people have been recommending this book as an amazing sci-fi and boy were they right! I was blown away by the fast pace, the plot was incredible and moving; all the characters were so fleshed out and felt real. I just loved everything about it and definitely would recommend it! It deals with a lot of heavy themes, but I think you have to expect that with what the premise is.
I then moved on to another book that had been on my radar The Marriage Game, sadly this book was a disappointment and I had to really struggle to get through it. I could not find one redeemable character. even though I really wanted to like all of them. I think my main problem is that the main characters really had nothing in common, other than there culture, but even beyond that they really shouldn't have been together. I get the whole opposites to attract narrative, but when both characters are actually shitty it shouldn't work. The main guy was so terrible, and I think for me the reason was that he was constantly sexualizing women around him and then later he would try to be painted as an actual nice guy but yea no I wasn't buying it. The main female lead seemed incapable of running a successful business and extremely unprofessional, maybe it would have been better to show her interacting with her family more. But when she would interact with her family they would overshadow her, I don't know she just came off as super entitled and someone who couldn't actually pull off a successful business.
Finally, I finished off this month with The Wedding Party. I usually love Jasmine Guillory and this was no exception, it was just a fun charming read. The plot was pretty good, but I do think her writing could be stronger. The romance in this book felt pretty tame, and safe but I think overall it worked for the characters. Speaking of characters, Theo is a perfect example of how you create a character that is usually super uptight, and cold and makes him likable; I think The Marriage Game could have taken notes.

This month had a lot of bad books for me, I kept picking up books then having to DNF them because they just weren't holding my interest. I did manage to finish The Lightning Thief, which I did enjoy but I'm not sure if it was enough to convince me to pick up others in the series. I do wish I had read it when I was younger, maybe I would have enjoyed them more.
Next, I read Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art which was very informational and a pretty fascinating topic. I was dealing with a lot of anxiety this month, which is another reason why I didn't really feel like reading much.
The only other book I managed to read was You Should See Me in a Crown, it was a cute book; very cliche but still I liked seeing characters I normally don't see in Y/A.
Those were the only books I managed to finish this month, I think it was nice to take a break and not have to force myself to finish things I wasn't interested in. I definitely have gotten back into the swing of things, and hopefully, I can read a lot more going into August.

Wow, August was a rough month, but I did manage to find some pretty great books.
To start the month off I finally read Pride and Prejudice, I have no idea why exactly I put it off for so long, perhaps it's because I generally don't love classics but this book really floored me! I did not expect it to be as witty and charming as it was, I will admit that it was a tiny bit hard to get back into old-timey English (LOL) but beyond that, this has to be one of my new favorite books; I can definitely see why it has stood the test of time.
Next up I read, The Bull Rider's Return which was about a single mom who meets a rancher that helps her son, and afterward, she goes to thank him and they form a romance. I liked it, definitely a pretty cute typical romance. I'm definitely a sucker for cowboy and western romances in general, and overall, I enjoyed the characters; there just wasn't anything too thrilling driving the plot.
That was followed by Dirty Secret, I'm usually a sucker for hockey (or really any sports romance) and this one was good but not great. I actually am having a hard time remembering any of the plot lines or characters in this book.
After all that romance I decided to delve into a memoir, and I read The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir. All I can say about this book was that this is the first memoir that I finished and thought "wow, that was self-serving and preachy."
500 Miles from You, was a book that I fully expected not to like but it ended up being much better than anticipated. The way that the author wrote about the landscape and just the atmosphere, in general, was amazing, but truly I hoped that the characters had gotten equal character development and that just ended up not being the case (also very weak on the romance).
From there I decided to read A Curse So Dark and Lonely which is a Beauty and The Beast retelling. I absolutely loved the characters, wonderful world-building, and pretty fast-paced! The only thing for me was that I truly feel this should have been a stand-alone book (and, frankly, I will be treating it as such).
Overall, I had some good books this month and I definitely found a new favorite book!

Keep being awesome!

September was a bit of an anxious month for me, and I sort of fell out of reading. But I did manage to actually discover some books that I really enjoyed which was great.
I started off by reading The Fire Next Time, I've always heard such incredible things about his work so I finally decided to take people's advice. I listened to the audiobook, which was incredible, his work felt almost like a sermon; it was incredibly eloquent and poignant. Next up, I read The Perfect Escape a YA romance. For me this book fell a bit flat, there were areas where I found myself losing interest and certain parts of the book that felt rushed.
While I was reading that book, I decided to try reading a horror book. I'm definitely not a horror fan, I'm actually quite a coward, but this was a YA horror book so I thought it wouldn't be too scary. Clown in a Cornfield, I would describe as a slasher horror book, it reminded me of those older scary movies. Anyway, I'm definitely not the expert on the horror genre but this was a super entertaining book! It wasn't too scary, but it also kept up reading it (and I had a nightmare about clowns LOL). The writing was great, the pace felt nice and fast, and the characters were well rounded. Some aspects of it felt a bit far-fetched but meh overall it was a super entertaining read.
Lastly, I read Spinning Silver which I'm still torn about. It's supposed to be a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin but I think, for me, the constant shifting of narrators ended up leaving parts of the story a bit incomplete. Not to mention, that personally, I never really connected to certain plotlines and found myself trying quite hard not to skim through them.
Overall, I'm glad I found some good books and hopefully this upcoming month is much better.

I started off reading The Switch, which I thought was going to be a romance but, for me, it was definitely more of a woman's fiction. I think had it been advertised that way I would have liked this book so much more, but because it was promoted as a romance I judged it as one: and the romance fell flat. Still, I think it was a good fiction novel.
I finally got a chance to read On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, the writing was gorgeous but I think what kept me from loving it was the plot style. I just didn't really love how it kept jumping around, with little structure. Still, the writing itself was beautiful.
Then I read a few romances, Hot as Puck was meh; honestly, I can't remember anything about it. I didn't like either character and the chemistry wasn't there at all.
Next, I read Scoring With the Wrong Twin which was much better. I liked both main characters, although by the end I was getting annoyed by the female lead; I'm just personally not a fan of the whole "not like other girls" trope.
Still, I liked it enough to read the second book in the series, Scoring off the Field and boy was it bad. Just no chemistry at all and the romance was so slow to pick up. I didn't like either character and the plot was basically non-existent. I doubt I will pick up the last book in the series.
A romance that I absolutely loved was A Match Made for Thanksgiving, it was so short but I loved how sweet and well rounded the characters were! It kept me hooked and I was able to finish it in one sitting.
Lastly, I read Cemetery Boys which I wanted so badly to love but dang it just wasn't great. The two main characters were good, but the plot was incredibly predictable and very slow. There was just no excitement and the ending felt very anti-climatic. I don't think it's fair to give a book points just for diversity, especially when I think other books have done it far better. I def think more time should have been spent actually developing the plot. Still, I'm looking forward to more releases from this author and I'm sure they will get better.

I had a pretty good reading month!
I started off by reading Eat a Peach, a memoir about the food industry. I, normally, am interested in neither of those things but this book drew me in straight away and I was able to finish it pretty quickly. Super insightful, full of wisdom, and kept me engaged about an industry I knew nothing about.
After reading that really heavy memoir, I needed a fun cheesy romcom, and that's pretty much exactly what I got The Boyfriend Bet. It definitely wasn't the best YA romance I've read, but it was a quick read with a somewhat interesting plot.
Interior Chinatown was another book that really surprised me this month, I almost gave up after the first chapter didn't immediately draw me in, the writing style definitely threw me off at first, but wow am I glad I stuck with it. It was such an eloquent, funny, yet realistic insight into race in America.
Right after I started reading Winter Counts which was a book that I had really high hopes for, but maybe I just misread what type of book it was meant to be. I was expecting more mystery/thriller type of book and that's definitely not what this was. It was super slow-paced, very little happened even towards the end with the big climax it was not that exciting. The main character and his nephew were both great, but the side characters just felt a bit flat.
Next up I read In 27 Days, I first heard about this book on TikTok and decided to give it a shot. I did really love the premise, and all the characters were fantastic! However, the romance really fell to the waist side and just wasn't very good. Also, towards the end, the pacing really slowed down then dragged on for a bit too long. Had those two things been fixed it definitely would have been a favorite of mine.
Lastly, I listened to the audiobook Stalking Jack the Ripper which was very nicely narrated! This book was super hyped up, and to be honest, I don't see why. It was pretty bland, on all fronts. The romance was pretty cute, but overall my dislike for the lead female character kept me from being totally immersed. Also, the "mystery" was pretty obvious from the get-go. And even the "twist" was kinda meh, I think I just didn't care enough about the world these characters lived in to care about what ulimitaely happened.

I ended the year by having one of my best reading months, in terms of both quantity and quality.
I started off with Kasie West By Your Side one of my favorite YA authors, this was such a cute and adorable story; I loved how it dealt with very real mental health issues but also had other characters who were dealing with things. I definitely think more could have been done with Dax and his character but overall I found it pretty cute.
Next, I read Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas this was okay, I actually did like that there was a mystery going on at the same time as the romance but the ending wasn't very satisfying.
After that I read Temporary Wife Temptation this was another cute and easy read. Liked the premise, the romance was good and I enjoyed the characters.
I then went for a YA romance Rent a Boyfriend was a similar premise to the previous book, fake boyfriend turns real but this one was just not good. The writing was very choppy, the characters weren't well rounded and the parents were horrible.
After all that romance I then decided to read a mystery and settled on The Devil and the Dark Water, I listen to the audio book version which was good but now I am wishing I had read it instead so I could have kept up better with all the different characters. Wow, this book was fantastic!! The mystery was great, fantastic characters, and the twist was perfect!
When We Were Vikings was another of my favorite books of the month, I cried many times throughout it and found myself cheering for the main character.
After that I read Fix Her Up this one was ok, the main leads really didn't have much chemistry and to be honest, both were pretty shallow in their affections.
Then I decided to read His Only Wife, honestly, I had thought that this one was going to be a funny story but wow it was actually quite dramatic; maybe a bit too soap opera for me.
I then wanted a romance with a mystery element so I decided upon A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem which I actually liked a lot. The characters were great, it had a good element of mystery, the romance was good and overall it was entertaining.
After I had read that book I suddenly really wanted more historical romance elements, so I chose The Temporary Wife / A Promise of Spring this was two books in one, and both were pretty good. Both were stories that dealt with loveless marriages that bloomed into love, overall, I liked both but the second story was very sad and a bit too dramatic for it to draw me in. But still, it got me hooked on Regency-era romances.
Lastly, I read Love Her or Lose Her from the same series as Fix Her Up; again there was just something missing from this story. It was better than the first, definitely had its funny moments but the sex scenes were so awkward to read and I actually found myself skipping over them because they just didn't feel realistic. I'm not sure, the chemistry between these two wasn't there and their marriage problems felt too small compared to how long they had apparently been on the rocks.
Overall, I'm happy with this month and how many books I did manage to squeeze in before the end of the year!