In my blogs, I talk a fair amount about what I am writing, but I also do quite a few book reviews and talk about what I am reading.
What I haven’t done is list all the books I read across an entire year. In 2024, I had a goal to read 24 books. That felt like a lot, because I was writing and I was packing to move and getting ready to retire from my day job and write full time.
In 2025, I did retire, and I have a lot more time to write AND read, but I still set my reading goal at 25 books in 2025 to play it safe. I ended up reading 55.
I’ll drop in the full list here in case you want to see actual titles, and below, I will break out the different genres. It’s a little fuzzy, but you can see the names of the books and authors.
Here’s the genre breakdown. Also a little fuzzy – though readable. (Note to self to read up on how to import better pictures)
My top genre was Young Adult Fantasy – appropriate since I write it. Though if you count all the Thriller books I read under one genre umbrella, they surpass my books under the Fantasy umbrella by six books. I think that’s because I consider thrillers my popcorn escapism reads. With a fantasy, I am looking for something a little deeper, requiring me to engage more with the text.
Now to announce my favorite book of the year.
To eliminate impossible choices and the appearance of favoritism, I am excluding books from authors I know personally as candidates for my favorite pick of the year. I love my writer friends’ books and I am not able to choose one over another, though you should definitely check them out! [Authors in the list above that I am acquainted with include: DD Black, Kathryn Carraway, Heidi Herman, Robert Dugoni, Kitty Tolsma Anderson, and David Beaumier.]
So that leaves authors I am not acquainted with in the running for my top pick. As you may have figured out from the lead picture, that is ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures,’ by Shelby Van Pelt. I reviewed it earlier in the year, and it held strong to take the title.
My favorite fantasy pick from a nonacquaintance would have to be Connor Rennick’s ‘Electric Blue, Plague Green,’ an ARC that I read last summer, and it was such a refreshing surprise.
In 2026, I plan to read at least 52 books for one per week, and this coming year, I am trying out some reading challenges. I’ll do a separate post about my TBR list later. If you have a favorite read from 2025 to recommend, or a favorite book challenge for 2026, be sure to comment!
Thanks for reading!
