Reading is my first love and is what inspired me to become a writer, so that I could tell my own stories and bring as much joy to others as books have always brought me. I’ve done this reading roundup before in 2020 and 2023, and I’ll be using the shorter questionnaire that I did in 2023.
1. How many books did you read this year?
11 books (3,803 pages read according to Goodreads).
The shortest book was XOC: The Journey of a Great White (a graphic novel) and the longest was Babel: An Arcane History.
The most well-known was probably Remarkably Bright Creatures and the least-known was XOC.
The most recently published book was A Gentleman’s Gentleman (2025) and the oldest published book was XOC (2012).
2. Did you reread anything? What?
I didn’t reread anything, unless you count fanfiction.
3. What were your top five books of the year?
Babel by R.F. Kuang – linguistics as magic, meticulously researched alternate history, found family, ethical quandaries
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao – beautiful language and imagery, very inventive settings, earned ending
Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou – mythology and mystery, the ties of sisterhood, fated love
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske – scientific-based magical theory, self-acceptance, intelligent plotting
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (translated by Stephen Snyder) – ethereally thoughtful, subtle dystopian horror, a meditation on what it means to be human
BUT I did enjoy most of the other books I read as well, so feel free to check out my Goodreads account for the list of the other books I read (and my reviews on them).
4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?
Out of the 11 books I read, 10 of them were by authors new to me, including all of my top 5 books. I am hoping to read more from these authors, but we shall see!
5. What genre did you read the most of?
Speculative fiction remains my go-to genre to read, though every book I read was very different from each other including literary science fiction, a murder mystery involving the end of the world, historical fantasy, and mythological fantasy. I also read a lot of queer fiction, both speculative and historical fiction.
6. Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?
I have a very long list of books to read and very little time to read it, so this is a given. My husband and I started a “book club” to read and discuss books we’re both interested in, so I’m currently in the middle of one of these books as well as one other that I’m hoping to finish soon.
7. What was your average Goodreads rating? Does it seem accurate?
My average Goodreads rating is 4.6, which is very accurate. I generally rate books highly if I manage to finish them. Also, with my limited time to read, I try to pick books that come highly recommended, and these books are usually recommended for good reason.
8. Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?
I did! I wanted to read at least 6 books in 2025, so I far surpassed that goal. I also wanted to read more women authors and more queer fiction. Out of the 11 books I read, 9 were by women authors (including all of my top 5 picks) and 3 had main queer characters/relationships (with another 2 that had side queer characters/relationships).
9. What reading goals do you have for next year?
I’m going for at least 6 books again in 2025. I would like to try to read more diverse genres and authors as well. Feel free to let me know your book recommendations that you think I might like.