Some favorites for 2025

Given that I have done a truly atrocious job of tracking my reading this year or keeping up with the blog, this was a hard post to write! But here are my favorite things I read in 2025. It’s a short list this year because I really haven’t read as much as I did pre-baby. There are other lovely things I read, but these were the ones that really stood out.

Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

In this eternal year, it’s hard for me to remember what I read when. I didn’t do any reading round-ups somehow! Perhaps that’s a good new year’s resolution. But this is probably the most memorable and fun book I read this year. I was not sure I would be into it at first, but I’m so glad I picked it up. It’s a funny yet grim romp with a twisted ending that I enjoyed immensely, and I can’t wait to read book two. (Isekai, Fantasy, Horror)

The Fourth Consort by Edward Ashton

I enjoyed this book so much that I got it for my brother for his birthday. He’s very into science fiction – probably more than I usually am – and we read all of the John Carter of Mars series when we were kids together. This book has that vibe for me, though it’s not really treading the same thematic ground. It’s one of those really good alien stories with competing cultures and a man alone in a strange land, but the stakes for humanity itself are not particularly high. It’s just a somewhat imperfect guy dealing with his choices and what they make him. I loved it, even though it’s outside of my usual wheelhouse. (Science Fiction)

The Listeners by Maggie Stievfater

This was my favorite Appalachian novel I read this year, because it’s not 100% an Appalachian novel. It’s set in an imaginary and somewhat magical (in the very rooted sense) Greenbrier Hotel, which is right up the road from me (about an hour or so, which is not really that significant in rural America drive time). It’s also a World War II novel. One of the things about World War II is that we don’t get a lot of novels about what it was like in the US, much less the rural US, much less fantastical novels in this setting. It’s a well-researched and unique story that I absolutely loved. (Historical Fantasy, Appalachia)

The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott

I have a confession to make. All of my writer friends love Kate Elliott, and I have heretofore bounced off of her work. I believe this is a pacing thing – I tend to enjoy, per my StoryGraph, medium-paced reads. Elliott’s work is more fast-paced at the line level. So up until this year, I have not read any Kate Elliott! It is an oversight, a true gap in my reading, and I’ve been happy to correct it with two stories by the author this year. This one was my favorite. First of all, it feels super original. It’s a sort of urban fantasy/portal story, but following very different rules from anything I’ve read so far in the genre that make it almost feel like science fiction. It also features an middle-aged female protagonist on a quest to save her adult son (she’s a grandma, y’all, I love it) and unionization. I am obsessed. Please read it. (Urban Fantasy)

Thank you all for sticking around the blog this very slow year. It’s been a bit of a doozy. Lots of highs but lots of stress, too. I hope to one day find some balance again – maybe when I am sleeping consistently once more. Wish me luck!