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2025 Reading Wrap Up
This year, I was very bad about doing my monthly reading updates. A lot has happened in my real life, which I may post about later, but for now let's just say that some things had to fall through the cracks and my reading blog was one of them. I do think regular blogging helps me formulate my thoughts about books in a more coherent way, so I'd like to do better about it this year. Articulating my thoughts about the books I read is not one of my skills, so let's keep working on it!
No separate top ten lists this year, either--we're just going to do one post with the best, the worst, and some reflection on what I read and why. And then onward to 2026! I've made this year's spreadsheet and everything.
TOP SIX BOOKS OF 2025
In no particular order:
Doctor D'Arco, Sorcerer of London by Kathryn Colvin
As the prose of popular books becomes worse and worse, and the romances become more and more generic, I really appreciated everything Kathryn Colvin brings to the table here. This is an actual slow burn, like hundreds of pages before they kiss slow burn. This is a book with style. I don't think the length and the description heavy prose are for everyone, but they were definitely for me. Also: this book contains a villainous love interest who is not revealed to have been secretly good the whole time. He's just a guy who did questionable shit. And I love him for it.
The West Passage by Jared Pechacek
This is a weird book. But it's weird in a good way: it feels unlike anything I've read before. I thought the world of the book was very compelling, and because I didn't have any reference points to help me predict what was going to happen, I was constantly being delighted by what happened next. I also appreciate that there's no substantive romance, and I thought the lowkey eldritch horror of the Ladies was fascinating.
Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
I saw a lot of hate for this one but you know what? Fuck the haters, I love R. F. Kuang.
Kuang really excels at creating imperfect and compelling protagonists. Our protagonist here is pretentious, neurotic, full of internalized prejudices--and when she finally manages to do the right thing, when she finally shakes off her shackles and becomes a hero, it is so satisfying to read. I also loved the book's depiction of chronic illness!
There is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
I was not expecting this to be as compelling as it was. It's a horrifying book, but also ultimately a hopeful one. I'm only peripherally familiar with the SCP-verse, but this book makes me want to explore the genre a lot more.
Prophet by Sin Blache and Helen MacDonald
I don't even know how I ended up buying this or what made me pick it up, but it's another really weird book! I find it really difficult to explain what the book is even about--suffice to say it's a thriller, a sci-fi horror, and a queer romance all in one. I think it bends genre in interesting ways.
The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho
I think it is very hard to write romances that are realistic and still feel like romances. So often this is a genre where we just pretend being a billionaire is unproblematic or whatever. But Zen Cho manages to depict class difference and sexism and how capitalism ruins everything and still create a romance that you get invested in and root for. This is a pretty serious book--I think the title and the cover definitely do it a disservice, it is not a romcom--but it was one of my favorite romances this year.
WORST FOUR BOOKS OF 2025
Tristan by S. Legend
Whatever the opposite of being horny is, that's the feeling this book inspires in me.
Why does this book treat dom and sub like they are not just personality traits but the only personality traits a person can have? Why is this book populated entirely by porn-brained cardboard cut outs? Why all the weird incest vibes? Like if this is your kink, go off, but this is Not For Me.
A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
I kind of feel bad putting this on my list, but you know what, just because a book is queer doesn't mean it can't be bad.
This reads to me like a very preachy Becky Chambers. It has a lot of interesting ideas that are presented in the most boring way possible. It's one of those books where I think the author and I are probably aligned on a lot of issues, but the author is just not able to make a compelling book out of all the ideology she is espousing. Again, I am not opposed in theory to a book where humans have to explain pronouns to aliens, or to societies where all parenting involves polygamy, but at some point the book has to be engaging.
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
I liveblogged this one so I won't keep screaming about it, but like...Yarros is a hack and these books are embarrassing.
Silver Elite by Dani Francis
This book is my roman empire and all my friends are going to be subjected to my powerpoint about how bad it is. Dani Francis is now my archnemesis.
STATS
Okay, let's go through some statistics!
This year, 23% of my reads were rereads. There was a LOT of Agatha Christie, because all of her Poirot novels were on sale at one point, and also I went through a Pride and Prejudice phase where I reread a bunch of my faves. Poirot and P&P variations are among my comfort books, and it's been a rough year, so I'm not surprised those featured so heavily.
92% of my reads were digital. Also not surprising, though I would like to change this next year because I have a lot of unread physical books and I have access to a great library. I did get a new e-reader this year because of Amazon's fuckery re: downloading Kindle purchases, and I hope to actually use it more this year instead of reading on my phone or on my laptop.
Finally--9% of my books were from my backlist, which for me means it was a book I had owned for more than six months. I don't track the age of the books I buy physical copies of, only e-books, but even so that's a pathetically low number. I have hundreds of unread books and I really need to read more of them.
My best reading month was August, where I read 35(!!!) books, and my worst month was June where I only read 2. Ultimately I didn't reach my goal of 200 books, but hey, we'll try again this year.
2026 RESOLUTIONS:
No separate top ten lists this year, either--we're just going to do one post with the best, the worst, and some reflection on what I read and why. And then onward to 2026! I've made this year's spreadsheet and everything.
TOP SIX BOOKS OF 2025
In no particular order:
Doctor D'Arco, Sorcerer of London by Kathryn Colvin
As the prose of popular books becomes worse and worse, and the romances become more and more generic, I really appreciated everything Kathryn Colvin brings to the table here. This is an actual slow burn, like hundreds of pages before they kiss slow burn. This is a book with style. I don't think the length and the description heavy prose are for everyone, but they were definitely for me. Also: this book contains a villainous love interest who is not revealed to have been secretly good the whole time. He's just a guy who did questionable shit. And I love him for it.
The West Passage by Jared Pechacek
This is a weird book. But it's weird in a good way: it feels unlike anything I've read before. I thought the world of the book was very compelling, and because I didn't have any reference points to help me predict what was going to happen, I was constantly being delighted by what happened next. I also appreciate that there's no substantive romance, and I thought the lowkey eldritch horror of the Ladies was fascinating.
Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
I saw a lot of hate for this one but you know what? Fuck the haters, I love R. F. Kuang.
Kuang really excels at creating imperfect and compelling protagonists. Our protagonist here is pretentious, neurotic, full of internalized prejudices--and when she finally manages to do the right thing, when she finally shakes off her shackles and becomes a hero, it is so satisfying to read. I also loved the book's depiction of chronic illness!
There is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
I was not expecting this to be as compelling as it was. It's a horrifying book, but also ultimately a hopeful one. I'm only peripherally familiar with the SCP-verse, but this book makes me want to explore the genre a lot more.
Prophet by Sin Blache and Helen MacDonald
I don't even know how I ended up buying this or what made me pick it up, but it's another really weird book! I find it really difficult to explain what the book is even about--suffice to say it's a thriller, a sci-fi horror, and a queer romance all in one. I think it bends genre in interesting ways.
The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho
I think it is very hard to write romances that are realistic and still feel like romances. So often this is a genre where we just pretend being a billionaire is unproblematic or whatever. But Zen Cho manages to depict class difference and sexism and how capitalism ruins everything and still create a romance that you get invested in and root for. This is a pretty serious book--I think the title and the cover definitely do it a disservice, it is not a romcom--but it was one of my favorite romances this year.
WORST FOUR BOOKS OF 2025
Tristan by S. Legend
Whatever the opposite of being horny is, that's the feeling this book inspires in me.
Why does this book treat dom and sub like they are not just personality traits but the only personality traits a person can have? Why is this book populated entirely by porn-brained cardboard cut outs? Why all the weird incest vibes? Like if this is your kink, go off, but this is Not For Me.
A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
I kind of feel bad putting this on my list, but you know what, just because a book is queer doesn't mean it can't be bad.
This reads to me like a very preachy Becky Chambers. It has a lot of interesting ideas that are presented in the most boring way possible. It's one of those books where I think the author and I are probably aligned on a lot of issues, but the author is just not able to make a compelling book out of all the ideology she is espousing. Again, I am not opposed in theory to a book where humans have to explain pronouns to aliens, or to societies where all parenting involves polygamy, but at some point the book has to be engaging.
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
I liveblogged this one so I won't keep screaming about it, but like...Yarros is a hack and these books are embarrassing.
Silver Elite by Dani Francis
This book is my roman empire and all my friends are going to be subjected to my powerpoint about how bad it is. Dani Francis is now my archnemesis.
STATS
Okay, let's go through some statistics!
This year, 23% of my reads were rereads. There was a LOT of Agatha Christie, because all of her Poirot novels were on sale at one point, and also I went through a Pride and Prejudice phase where I reread a bunch of my faves. Poirot and P&P variations are among my comfort books, and it's been a rough year, so I'm not surprised those featured so heavily.
92% of my reads were digital. Also not surprising, though I would like to change this next year because I have a lot of unread physical books and I have access to a great library. I did get a new e-reader this year because of Amazon's fuckery re: downloading Kindle purchases, and I hope to actually use it more this year instead of reading on my phone or on my laptop.
Finally--9% of my books were from my backlist, which for me means it was a book I had owned for more than six months. I don't track the age of the books I buy physical copies of, only e-books, but even so that's a pathetically low number. I have hundreds of unread books and I really need to read more of them.
My best reading month was August, where I read 35(!!!) books, and my worst month was June where I only read 2. Ultimately I didn't reach my goal of 200 books, but hey, we'll try again this year.
2026 RESOLUTIONS:
- Read at least 50 books off my backlist. This is again e-books I've owned for 6 months or more.
- Finish or get caught up on at least three series. I have way too many sequels sitting on the shelf unread. Some of them are like 3 years old.
- Read 10 nonfiction books. I do not read enough nonfiction and I would love to change that.
- Review everything I read. Even if it's a couple of sentences, I want to try to actually post on Goodreads or Storygraph about all the books I've read.