Month: December 2025

2025 Reading Wrap Up

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I was a terrible blogger the second half of this year, but with a new year on the horizon I’m feeling optimistic about 2026!

I read 132 books for a total of 35,642 pages. Four of them rereads. My most read author was Michael Connelly as I devoured the Lincoln Lawyer series from beginning to end. I started my Reading the World challenge and made it only to Israel. I’m in Japan now. I read 20 new to me authors and did a fantastic job of reading from my own shelves. Without further ado…

My Top Ten

1 The Lincoln Lawyer series by Michael Connelly (my list and cheating is allowed). Mystery series
2 Cormac McCarthy’s The Road: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Manu Larcenet. Graphic novel
3 The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. Historical fiction
4 The Reader by Bernhardt Schlick. Historical fiction reread
5 Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. Historical fiction
6 Life and Other Inconveniences by Kristan Higgins. Fiction
7 Dear Martin & Dear Justyce by Nic Stone. Companion fiction books for teens
8 The Breath of the Soul: Reflections on Prayer by Joan Chittister. Nonfiction
9 The American Story: Conversations with Master Historians edited by David Rubenstein. Nonfiction
10 Around the World in 60 Seconds by Nusseir Yassin. Nonfiction

My only regret from this reading year is that I wish I’d wish I’d read more nonfiction so that becomes my goal for 2026. What about you?

How Do I Say Goodbye

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How Do I Say Goodbye by Dean Lewis made me cry when I heard it the first time. It also hits a little harder now. My dad died suddenly a week before Thanksgiving. I’ve always called him an energizer bunny or said he had nine lives, but at 78 his time came. He was my protector, provider, and role model growing up. He was loud, a jokester, and always lending a helping hand. He took me on trips, accepted my friends as family, and showed me that book smart wasn’t the only kind there was. I hold that view of him while still seeing the complicated relationship we were in these past ten years. I’ve already felt levels of grief over the loss of who we were making this sudden end feel not quite real.

The holidays were spent on the road traveling home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Memorial, and a wedding. A busy time spent with family, the people who knew and loved him. It was exactly what we, my mom and Jason and Gage, needed. Now the quiet of January looms.