"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Monday, December 29, 2025

How I Did on My Yearly Reading Challenges

So how did I do on all my 2025 reading challenges?  
Here is my end of the year report:

As in the past, most of my 2025 reading goals and challenges are of my own making. Most of the challenges center around award books and that means there is a limited number of books I expect myself to read for each and sometimes there is crossover between them also. I also joined seasonal reading challenges. It was an exceptional reading year for me.

I.

Read: One book

Completed 4/1/2025: The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky
⭐

___________________________________________

II.

Read at least four books in this category

I read the winner, James by Percival Everett, last year.
1. The Optimist's Daughter by Welty (completed 1/22/2025)
2. The Magnificent Ambersons by Tarkington (Completed 5/18/2025)
3. Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson (Completed August 1, 2025)
⭐
____________________________________________

III.

Read minimum of two books. Winners announced in November.

1. I Do Know Some Things by Richard Siken (Poetry longlist)
2. The Teacher of Nomad Land: a WWII Story by Daniel Nayeri (Young People's Literature)



⭐
___________________________________________________

IV.

Read two books from 2025 list.

1. Tell Me Everything by Strout
2. The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden 
⭐

______________________________________

V.


Read one book. Winner announced Nov. 10, 2025

Audition by Katie Kitamura (finalist)
⭐

___________________________________________

VI.

Read three books

1. Brownstone by Teer
2. The Road Home by Rex Ogle
3. The Deep Dark by Molly Know Ostertag

⭐

_________________________________________________

VII.

Read 108+ books
Participate in Two Seasonal Reading Challenges

1st quarter update: 33 books read; all five 2024 leftovers completed.
2nd quarter update: 37 books read. Total for year so far: 70.
3rd quarter update: 48 books read. Total so far: 118
4th quarter update: 44 books read. Total for the year: 162

September-December Seasonal Challenges -- All complete.


⭐

_______________________________________________

VII.

Write reviews for all the book club choices. 23 in all.


⭐

______________________________________________

VIII.

Read five classics, minimum.

1. The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky
4. The Magnificent Ambersons by Tarkington
5. Sense and Sensibility by Austen
7. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
8. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
9. Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson
10. Grimms' Fairy Tales
11. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
12. Hamlet by Shakespeare
13. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
14. White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky
15. Persuasion by Jane Austen
16. Passing by Nella Larsen
17. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
⭐

_________________________________________________
IX.

Only five states/territories left to complete this challenge.

1. 2. 3. US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands: The Not-Quite States of America by Mack
4. Puerto Rico: When I Was Puerto Rican: A Memoir by Santiago
5. South Dakota: Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
⭐

______________________________________________

X.



🠋




A. 2025 Big Book Summer -- Goal to read four:
1. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, 453 pages
2. Watchmen by Alan Moore, 416 pages
3. The Antidote by Karen Russell, 432 pages
4. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, 468 pages
5. The Briar Club by Kate Quinn, 432 pages
6. Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe, 540 pages
7. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong, 402 pages
8. The Deep Dark by Molly Know Osterman, 480 pages
⭐
*********************
B. 20 Books of Summer 2025 Reading Challenge
I read: 48 books
⭐
****************************
C. Novellas in November- Goal to read twenty novellas throughout the year:
1. The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty, 180 pages
2. The Most by Jessica Anthony, 144 pages
3. Passing by Nella Larsen, 141 pages
4. Three Days in June by Anne Tyler, 165 pages
5. A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean, 161 pages
6. The Hearing Test by Eliza Barry Callahan, 162 pages
7. Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico, 157 pages
8. The Vegetarian by Han Kang, 188 pages
9. Candide by Voltaire, 144 pages
10. So Long, and Thanks for the Fish by Douglas Adams, 167 pages
11. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, 152 pages
12. How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Cruz, 195 pages
13. A Study in Scarlet by Conan Doyle, 123 pages
14. What Does It Feel Like by Sophie Kinsella, 133 pages
15. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, 165 pages
16. Theory and Practice by Michelle de Kretser, 192 pages
17. Audition by Katie Kitamura, 197 pages
18. Convenience Store Woman by Sataka Murata, 163 pages
19. The Teacher of Nomad Land: a WWII Story by Daniel Nayeri, 192 pages
20. White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky, 64 pages
⭐
_______________________________________________________________
54 Genres Challenge

I also did a personal challenge to read a book which represented all 54 of the genres listed on Storygraph. I did it, but it was tough. Some of the genres are just not that interesting to me, like economics or computers.  I will never do this one again, Here is the graphic! Get out your magnifying glass.




________________________________________________________________

It was a good reading year and I met all my challenges!

-Anne


-Anne
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Saturday, December 27, 2025

2025 Survey of Books




My Head Is Full of Books: 

The 2025 End-of-Year Survey of Books


 


  • Number of books read and completed:  162
  • Number of re-reads: 4
  • Genre you read the most: Literary fiction, 49
  • Number of books started but not finished: 1
  • Number of YA books: 13
  • Number of poetry books: 21
  • Number of memoirs, biographies, and nonfiction books, including children's:  38
  • Number of graphic or illustrated books read, not children's: 16


(Hyperlinks provided if you want to read more about specific books.)

 1. Best books read in 2025:

·  Fiction: Antidote by Karen Russell

2. Book(s) I thought I'd love, but didn’t:

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book: 

·  Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Mayhem in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe (Good)


4. Book(s) I "pushed" many people to read:

5.  Best series--

  • Starter: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (How to Train Your Dragon #1)
  • Sequel: Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout (Amgash #3)
  • Ender: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games #5) [Pending]

6. Favorite new author I discovered in 2025:

  •  Patrick Radden Keefe

7. Best book from a genre/type I don't usually read:

·  Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones -- Horror


8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year:

9. Favorite book club selection(s) based on the discussion(s):

10. Favorite book cover: 

11. Most memorable characters of the year:

12. Most thought-provoking/ life-changing books of the year:

13. Most beautifully written book read in the year:

14. Book I've never read UNTIL 2025:

15. Shortest and longest book read in 2025, not counting children's books:

16. Favorite passage(s) or quote(s):

  • “You know how you can remember exactly when and where you read certain books? A great novel, a truly great one, not only captures a particular fictional experience, it alters and intensifies the way you experience your own life while you’re reading it. And it preserves it, like a time capsule.”
    ― Lily King, Heart the Lover
  • “It is a strange miracle to be able to trace your own aging, your own mortality through someone who's living alongside you, someone who has survived eras at the same time as you have in some of the same places.”
    ― Hanif Abdurraqib, There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension
  • "The Golden Rule of Dragon Training is to ... YELL AT IT! (The louder the better,)"  --- Cressida Cowell, How to Train Your Dragon
17. Book which shocked me the most:

18. Best audiobooks of the year:

19. Favorite novella/short book:

·   A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean


20. Favorite book by an author I’ve previously read

21. Best book I read this past year based SOLELY on a recommendation or peer pressure:

·  Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

    22. Favorite classic book read during the year:

    23. Best 2025 debut: 

    24. Best world-building/Most vivid setting I read this year:

    25. Book which put a smile on my face/was FUN to read:

    · How to Read a Book by Monica Wood


    26. Books which made me cry:

    27. Hidden Gem of the Year? There are several:  

    28. Anything odd about this year's reading list:

    · I read 22 memoirs. The most ever.

    29. Most unique book(s):    

    30. Book which made me angry (due to the topic):

    ·   One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad


    31. Favorite short story collection -- 

    32. Favorite re-read of 2025: 

          


    33. My year in books at Goodreads.     A visual of all the books I read this year and a few stats. 




    1. Favorite Book Club selections of 2025.

    2. Best Audiobooks consumed in 2025. (Pending)

    3. Best Nonfiction of 2025 (Pending)

    4. Favorite novels (fiction) read this year:
    Antidote by Karen Russell
    Heart the Lover by Lily King
    Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
    Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
    The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich
    Sandwich by Catherine Newman
    The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
    Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
    How to Not Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz
    A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean


      

     


    1. Favorite reviews written in 2025

    2. Most popular reviews of the year based on stats:

    • Sandwich by Catherine Newman -- 4671 page views, 6 comments
    • The Wedding People by Alison Espach -- 3670 page views, 11 comments
    • Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar -- 2656 page views, 17 comments
    • The Names by Florence Knapp -- 2063 page views, 13 comments

    3. Best discussion/non-review post:   

    4. Best bookish event that you participated in?

    · Our community got three new bookstores after over a ten year hiatus. We lived in a book desert and now we can drink up books again!


    5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2025

    •  Participating in "Paris in July" Challenge. I had so much fun implementing French-related events in to my life, including making Coq au Vin (delicious) and watching the Tour de France several days. Check out everything I did for this challenge here and here.

    6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

    • Staying up for blogging. Blogging takes time and effort, and it is hard to keep going when I get few page views and even fewer comments. But I have joined some supportive on-line communities and the other book bloggers I’ve “met” keep me going.

    7. Most meaningful posts for me:

    8. Posts I wish got a bit more love:

    • Banned Books Week. Are You Ready? October 1, 2025 -- Every year I make a post like this, encouraging my readers to read banned books and support efforts to maintain our freedom to read/ stop book banning. This post had only 105 page views, and 3 comments.
    9. Favorite photo used on a blog post this year:

    My grandsons at church camp, playing with fire and making s'mores. Sunday Salon -- Family, Football, and Fun. September 28, 2025




      1. Bookish goals for 2026

      • Read a minimum of 100 books.
      • Write reviews for all book club selections.
      • Complete "My One Book" challenge: Moby-Dick
      • Read two of the five National Book Award winners. (Announced in November)
      • Read the Pulitzer Prize 2026 winner for literature (announced in March or April) plus read two past winners or finalists. 
      • Read the Booker Award winner or a finalist.
      • Read two Women's Prize winners or finalists (announced in April)
      • Read at least five classic books from my list. (See list here.)
      2. Books I didn’t get to in 2025 are now top priorities in 2026:
      • So Far Gone by Jess Walter
      • Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
      • Replaceable You by Mary Roach
      • Wreck by Catherine Newman
      • Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
      • The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

             

      3.  How did I do on my reading challenges or goals for 2025?

      • Read 100 books this year. ✔ (160+ books)
      • My Own Personal ‘National Book Award’ Challenge to read two of the five winners or finalists each year. ✔
      • Read the Pulitzer Prize winner and past winners:   ✔
      • Completed all books I listed as books I wanted to read in 2025: ✔- 
      • Read 5+ Classics ✔
      • Big Book Summer Challenge. Six completed ✔ 
      • I completed my 2025 'One Big Book' Challenge:  Brothers Karamazov ✔
      • Read 4+ novellas for Novellas in November: ✔


      -Gratefully turning the page on 2025.

       

      -Anne



      -Anne
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