Mid Year Check-In 2025
Are you on track to meet your yearly reading goal?
So far, yes! Normally I am playing catch up around this time of year. Despite having a pretty bad reading slump earlier this year, I am at 30 books read out of 52 which is pretty good for me. I think anything above the 52-60 range and I’m pushing myself too hard to finish books so this is a happy medium for me.
Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2025?
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar. Gorgeous cover, gorgeous prose, fantastic characters and relationships and such an intriguing magic system. I wish it wasn’t a novella because I couldn’t get enough of this world.
Worst Book You’ve Read so far in 2025?
Andromeda by Therese Bohman. None of the characters were likable, the plot feels non-existent and I just felt so bored the whole time.
Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2025?
Toss up between We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad and Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire. WLYB was the sequel I didn’t know I needed and I always look forward to the next book in the Wayward Children’s series.
New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To?
When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy, The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst and The Witch Road by Kate Elliot are all books I’d like to get around to reading that weren’t originally on my anticipated books list.Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2025?
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang and The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell are probably my two most anticipated books for the second half of the year. There’s a handful of others but those I’m extra-eager to get my hands on.
Biggest Disappointment?
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix. I normally adore Hendrix’s books but this one left me feeling unfulfilled.
Biggest Surprise?
James by Percival Everett. I don’t generally read a lot of classics (something I am trying to work on) so I was worried I wouldn’t enjoy this one much. However, it ended up being an amazing book and I’m so glad I picked it up!
Another book would be The Garden by Nick Newman. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was getting into when I started this book but I ended up enjoying it very much!
Favorite New Author?
Charlotte McConaghy. Eco-centric literary fiction with complex characters and amazing atmosphere? More of this, please! Also Amal El-Mohtar for her fantastic world-building and whimsical prose.
Newest Fictional Crush?
Is it just me or all these romantasy men getting awfully cookie-cutter? C’mon, give me something different to work with!
Newest Favorite Character?
Probably Joan Goodwin from Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid or all the characters in The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar, I’d love to read more books with these characters in them.
Book That Made You Cry?
It’s been a hot second since a book has made me cry, nothing so far this year! I thought maybe Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid would get me but it didn’t hit me in the feels quite as much as I wanted it to.
Book That Made You Happy?
Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. Maybe it’s because I’ve been waiting for this book to come out for literal years and reading it gave me such a big dose of childhood nostalgia, but I absolutely loved every second of reading this story.Favorite Book To Movie Adaptation You Saw This Year?
Not really a movie but I started watching The Summer I Turned Pretty (adapted from the book series of the same name by Jenny Han). It’s becoming a guilty pleasure of sorts though I don’t plan on reading the books (tried once and struggled massively).
Most Beautiful Book You Bought So Far This Year?
The River has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar - absolutely stunning cover. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy is a close second, there’s something so mysterious about it that makes me really drawn to the cover.
What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year?
Nothing that I absolutely need to read this year, but I’d love to check off the remainder of my most-anticipated books of the year. So far, I’ve read 12 out of 21 so I’m hopeful that I’ll get around to reading all of them!