Tuesday, December 30, 2025

2025: Year in Review

My reading was down from 2024, but I hiked 730 miles, watched 78 movies, and definitely have more houseplants. :)

I read 33 books, including my first two young adult novels in quite awhile (courtesy of my daughter's insistence). It was fun to revisit the world of Hunger Games. Of the rest, I liked You Dreamed of Empires, even though the names were frustratingly impossible, and Enter Ghost, which provided much-needed insight into what's happening in the West Bank. The God of the Woods was fun, and I appreciated learning about historic alpinism with Thirty Below.

Books read:

  1. The Book of Love by Kelly Link
  2. The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
  3. The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
  4. You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enrigue
  5. Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
  6. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
  7. Mina's Matchbox by Yoko Ogawa
  8. If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury by Geraldine DeRuiter
  9. A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
  10. Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy
  11. The Ministry of Time by Kailane Bradley
  12. Audition by Katie Kitamura
  13. A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko
  14. The Unicorn Woman by Gayl Jones
  15. In Ascension by Martin MacInnes
  16. Outline by Rachel Cusk
  17. Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
  18. The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
  19. Heartwood by Amity Gaige
  20. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
  21. The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz
  22. Eve Bites Back: An Alternative History of English Literature by Anna Beer
  23. The Door by Magda Szabo
  24. Lapvona by Ottesssa Moshfegh
  25. Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
  26. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
  27. Turn to Stone: A Memoir by Emily Meg Weinstein
  28. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
  29. Isola by Allegra Goodman
  30. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
  31. Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women's Ascent of Denali by Cassidy Randall
  32. So Far Gone by Jess Walter
  33. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
Goodreads stats:
  • Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was the most popular book I read; Turn to Stone the least popular.
  • I read 10,865 pages (though Goodreads only has 32 books listed).
  • Average book length was 339 pages.