It’s that time of year again, another reading year has come and gone. I felt this was a successful reading year. I’m getting closer to finally finishing my TBR. At the time that this post is scheduled, I have three books left. Looking ahead to 2026, I want to read more comics, finish my TBR, and approach reading differently than I have in the past. For this post, I utilize Perpetual Page Turner’s End of Year Book Survey. Here are my answers to the questions.

2025 Reading Stats:

Number of Books Read: 62

Number of Re-Reads: 3 – (The Kiss Quotient, Geekerella, and Volume #1 of Manhattan Projects)

Genre You Read The Most From: Romance

Library Savings: $480

I read 62 books in 2025, which is less than what I read last year. Last year, I would average two, sometimes three books a month. This year, I focused on reading two physical books every month. While I love to read, I have other hobbies, and I wanted to dedicate time to them. I didn’t want reading to become a chore. I re-read more books this year than I did last year. When I finish my TBR next year, I want to prioritize re-reading books I own. As far as the genre I read from the most, I quickly scrolled through all my books, and I feel romance is the correct answer. Finally, my library savings. $480!??!!? That’s a lot. I calculate this by reviewing the books I read and counting how many of them I rented from the library, whether as a physical book or through Libby. The number was 32. I multiply 32 by $15 as I feel the cost of a book varies between $10 – $18. This was way higher than last year, which is a good thing! I want to continue utilizing my local library.

Best in Books

Best Book You Read in 2025?

I had two books in mind for this. The first was A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher, and the second was Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent. It’s a tough call, but ultimately I decided to give it to Six Scorched Roses. I LOVED this book. I like how some romantasy series have these short novellas in between stories. This book was less than 200 pages, and I was invested from start to finish. It’s nice to have shorter books in between the longer books I read.

Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More, But Didn’t?

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley. I have talked about Lucy Foley a lot, as I have enjoyed every book she has written. The Midnight Feast, I rated one star on Goodreads. I was shocked; this didn’t feel like a book she wrote. This felt like a one-off.

Most Surprising (In a Good Way or Bad Way) Book You Read?

Told You So by Mayci Neeley. Mayci is one of the women on the show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, so I think it would be easy to discount this book because of that. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought. Mayci goes into detail about her abusive relationship, finding out that she was pregnant and losing her baby’s father. That’s a lot for anyone to go through. This book reads more like Mayci’s private diary, so it felt personal while I listened to the audiobook. I am glad I read this and enjoyed it way more than I thought I would.

Favorite New Author You Discovered in 2025?

T. Kingfisher. I have seen her books pop up, and every reader raves about her. I bought A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, and it was so good. It was a cozy fantasy about a young girl who’s a wizard, and her familiar is a sourdough starter. This lived up to all my expectations, and once I’m finished with my TBR, I will go through the rest of T. Kingfisher’s books and pick out the one I want to read next.

Most Action-Packed/Thrilling/Unputdownable Book of the Year?

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates. I tried to read another Darcy Coates book a few years ago, and ended up DNFing it. I had this book on my TBR and listened to the audiobook. This book, shit really hits the fan. It’s a thriller where a group of people are stuck in a blizzard. They arrive at a cabin and see a severed head on a stick. After that, people start dying, and everyone’s messy secrets are revealed. If an audiobook entices me to want to clean my house, you know it’s going to be good. I used every excuse I could to listen to this. Darcy Coates may be an author whom I listen to rather than read as physical books, and I’m okay with that.

Favorite Cover of a Book You Read in 2025?

The books in the Castle Knoll mystery series by Kristen Perrin are so aesthetically pleasing. The first book in the series was sky blue and orange, while How to Seal Your Own Fate is green and yellow. These are books I own because I like the series, but also, the covers are gorgeous.

Most Memorable Character in 2025?

I’d like to nominate Veronica Speedwell from the Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Raybourn. These books don’t end up nominated for awards in this survey, but I always look forward to reading them. Veronica is such a fun character to follow, and she’s so quick with her clapbacks. She could be the permanent answer for this question, and I’d be fine with that.

Book You Can’t Believe You Waited Until 2025 to Read?

The World of Critical Role by Liz Marsham. I received this book as a gift in 2022, but didn’t read it until this year because I wanted to wait until I finished The Mighty Nein campaign, which I did. This book is a love letter to TTRPGs, but also to Critical Role and how the show came to be. This is a book I’d page through again in the future.

OTP Of The Year?

I have so many choices since I read a lot of romance. I decided to go with Hallie and Hayden from Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe. This book was so stinking cute. Hallie and Hayden were a great couple, and I wish their supernatural show were real. I’d watch it. I have Mallory’s second book on my TBR to read next year.

Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

I’m going to nominate Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros for this. Fourth Wing is popular, and as such, I wanted to see what the hype was all about. Fourth Wing blew me away. I had originally rented this from the library, loved it so much that I bought my own copy, along with Iron Flame, the second book in the series. I don’t really care for Xander much as a character, but the dragons are the real stars of this book. I liked reading about Basgiath and how Violet’s family is intertwined with the college. I have heard mixed feelings about the other books in the series, but I’m committed to finishing the series.

Book That Was The Most Fun To Read?

Vox Machina: Stories Untold was a highlight of my reading year. This is a book of short stories featuring some of the NPCs from Critical Role’s first campaign, Vox Machina. The Trinket story had me close to tears in the best way. It’s a bear protecting children, of course, I’m going to get weepy about it. The Mighty Nein short story book comes out next year, and I already have it tagged on Libby.

Your Blogging/Bookish Life

New Favorite Book Blog?

I discovered Thtgrlreads on Instagram first and then subscribed to her YouTube channel shortly thereafter. She focuses primarily on romantasy and dark romance, with the latter being a sub-genre I’m not normally into. Some of her book recommendations I have saved because they sound interesting. One book she recommended was A Wrecking of Salt and Fire by E.K. Condos, which features pirates and an enemies-to-lovers romance. Sign me up. I was obsessed with Pirates of the Caribbean, so this seems like something I’d like. If you see me reading more romantasy in my future, it’s probably because of Thtgrlreads.

Best Bookish Event That You Participated In?

I went to two adult book fairs, one in winter and one in summer. While both events were packed and I didn’t buy anything, it was cool to go. Minnesota has a strong book community and a ton of small bookstores to support. I am glad that I was a part of it, and I hope that more book fairs pop up in the future.

Looking Ahead

One Thing You Hope to Accomplish in 2026?

Finish my TBR!

To end this post, there were a few books that I read that I loved, but I couldn’t find the perfect award to nominate them for. I decided to list them out below because I wanted them to get mentioned at least once.

• A Thousand Miles by Bridget Morrissey
• Even Though I Knew The End by C.L. Polk
• The Showgirl by Nicola Harrison
• The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner
• Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
• Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid