Happy holidays!
2025 was a big year, so I’m excited to recap everything! This year I celebrated the 5th anniversary of Word Wilderness in April followed by a summer blog makeover. I’m still really happy with how everything looks and functions, so I’m so glad I took time to refresh everything. I also had my most consistent posting schedule ever with a new post coming out every other week for *almost* the entire year. Looking back, I missed a post in May, June, and late-posted my Kill the Beast review in December. Even with those breaks, 2025 was my most consistent blogging year.
There’s a lot to cover in this year’s wrap up, so feel free to jump to any section:
Life Updates
My cat, Kevin, turned 17 this year!
He is the bestest geriatric baby. His labs this year showed early kidney disease, which is unfortunate and also expected. I was mostly relieved his other tests came back normal. His vet was impressed with how well he is still grooming himself (although it would be more accurate to say how well he convinces anyone and everyone to pet and groom him).
This was a big year for Kevin. He moved back in with my parents, who got a new cat while he was gone!
The horror!
The betrayal!
Kevin was NOT happy and tried to bully the new cat for two straight months after moving back in. Both cats have settled down now, but they have more of a tenuous truce than any kind of affection for each other. Anything is progress, I guess?
In actual personal news, I completed my first semester of medical school this month! It’s busy, and I still find myself struggling to want to read after an entire day of studying. My goal for myself going in was to not study at all on Sundays, which I was able to do for most of the semester until the last month. What finally got me was I started studying with Anki and gave in to the pressure to maintain my streak!
A Year in Graphs
As usual, my goal was to read 40 books during the year, and this may be the first year I am just barely reaching my goal. I’m usually way over or several books away from reaching my goal. I did realize I had like 1 book before reaching my goal and quick reread my latest Sakamoto Days volume to get myself to 40…
Also, they changed the mood graph! It used to be a pie graph.
Compared to last year, I read a larger percentage of 500+ page books and books under 300 pages (so less of the mid-range books). Also of note, I read 53 books last year, so I just did less reading overall this year. I also read a larger percentage of slow paced books this year.
I only read 2 audiobooks this year, and as usual I’m at 100% fiction reads and 0% nonfiction (that always makes me laugh). Every year I start reading a nonfiction book I’m interested and I never finish it. I don’t even log them in my DNFs because I’m still telling myself I will go back and finish all of my abandoned nonfiction eventually…
The only surprise in the genre graph was magical realism, as I didn’t remember reading anything in that genre. Turns out The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, which I finished early in January fell into that category. That was also my only literary book (another genre I pick up about as much as I pick up nonfiction).
My most-read authors are always the authors who’s series I’m working through. I started a reread of Hunter x Hunter (Yoshihiro Togashi) at the beginning of 2025, read the entire Tide Child Trilogy (R.J. Barker), and am continuing to read Sakamoto Days (Yuto Suzuki) as it comes out.
One of my goals for this year was to keep up with tagging books as I read them so it wasn’t such a project to go back and tag things at the end of the year. I did well with this goal for most of the year, so there were only a couple books to go back and tag! I read a lot of series this year, so I sometimes only tag the first book.
I expected more of a pattern in my reading this year, but it looks like I was all over the place. In March I had a bit of a slump as I tried to get through The Chosen and the Beautiful, but my reading picked up a lot during Wyrd and Wonder. I was the most busy in October and November, so no surprises there.
Posts
Updates
- 5th Anniversary of Word Wilderness
- Safe Harbor: Wyrd and Wonder 2025 Wrap Up
- Word Wilderness 2025 Revamp
Reviews
- The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen
- Witch King by Martha Wells
- Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo
- Mini Reviews: The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin and Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
- Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
- Kingdom of the Gods by N.K. Jemisin
- Voyage of the Damned by Frances White
- Heart of Stone by Johannes T. Evans
- The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker
- Unbound by Christy Healy
- Unseen by Christy Healy
- Call of the Bone Ships by R.J. Barker
- How to Defeat a Demon King in 10 Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe
- The Bone Ships Wake by R.J. Barker
- The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri
- A Fae in Finance by Juliet Brooks
- Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee
- Kill the Beast by Serra Swift
Discussions
- Hello 2025! Updating my Goals for 2025
- Has The StoryGraph Surpassed Goodreads in 2025?
- Using Quotes in Book Reviews
- My Book Review Writing Process
- 10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Making a Self-Hosted Blog
Lists
Voyage of the Damned Read-Along
(a Wyrd and Wonder Event)
BONUS: TV Review
Reading Highlights
Most Surprising New Favorite:
The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker
It’s not too surprising that I loved The Bone Ships as I already know I love a good epic fantasy book, but it has been a while since a series was so good I finished all of the books back to back in the same year.
Most Thought-Provoking Read:
Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee
The Machineries of Empire series has such endlessly interesting villains and protagonists. Every book in The Machineries of Empire series had me dying to know what was going on in each character’s head, but Revenant Gun was the most shocking in terms of character choices. One thing I really love about this series, is the characters are allowed to misinterpret each other and get things wrong. It just makes reading it so much more exciting!
Books Recommended To Me:
Kulti by Mariana Zapata
My mom and I have a deal where we each read one of the other’s recommendation each year. This is the second year in a row she has had me read a Mariana Zapata book (technically I read 1.5 since I DNFed her other recommendation). So far, Kulti, a hilarious soccer rom-com, has been my favorite.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
I finished this book wayyy back in January, so I almost forgot it was recommended to me. It’s a slow-burn, introspective story about an immortal girl who refuses to give up on her dream of happiness. This isn’t a story I would typically pick up on my own as I tend to prefer adventure (haha, just look at my StoryGraph stats). I’m so glad I got to read it!
Books I DNFed:
Aurora’s Angel by Emily Noon
The story starts off very exciting with Aurora saving an Avian woman from a “cutters den” and agreeing to escort her back home. After, the story kind of fizzles out. Aurora and Evie travel together with no clear goal and very little tension in their relationship or external conflict. At 54% I decided I wasn’t interested enough the continue with the story.
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
Turns out, I still do not like The Great Gatsby, even if it’s rewritten by one of my favorite authors.
The Best Thing by Mariana Zapata
This was recommended to me by my mom, and although I’ve like others of Mariana Zapata’s books, The Best Thing was NOT for me.
There was wayyy too much dragging on of every single one of the narrators thoughts. Also, if I try to reach someone for months to tell them something vitally important and they still ghost me for over a year they are DEAD TO ME. THERE WILL BE NO SECOND CHANCES AFTER. THE SECOND CHANCE WAS WHEN I TRIED EMAILING AFTER YOU IGNORED MY TEXTS AND CALLS. NO MORE.
Providence Girls by Morgan Dante
This book addresses some dark topics and trauma. A few pages in, I knew it wasn’t for me.
The Courtesan’s Eye by J.C. Smith and Kate Hyers
Halfway through the book, I just didn’t feel any connection to the characters or the plot. The story starts with a shocking murder kicking off a mystery with an unlikely alliance. The morals of the characters all felt very black and white, which I tend not to like.
***
Each year I get a little more harsh with my DNFs, which I’m happy with. It’s been a goal of mine to stop forcing myself to read books I’m not enjoying, so it’s good to see progress.
Best Overall:
Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee
I read Raven Stratagem and Revenant Gun this year, and I think I enjoyed Raven Stratagem more. It might be too soon for me to decide about Revenant Gun… Both were fantastic though. The Machineries of Empire series has become one of my favorites of all time. It’s so good!
Final Thoughts
Last year I predicted I would be extremely productive during the first half of 2025 and then read/blog less as I got busier, which is pretty much how things turned out. Now that I’m in school, blogging is less of a priority. I’m going to be really busy this spring, so may not keep up with every other week posting. I will hopefully have time to catch up in the summer. It’s scary to think, but exactly 1 year from now I will be finishing up pre clinical courses and preparing to take Step 1 (*dun dun DUUUN!*).
Don’t be surprised when I review a ton romance in 2026! I always read more romance when life gets hectic.
I’m saving my 2025 challenge/goal wrap up for January when I set my goals for 2026, but I did want to celebrate that I had the most consistent posting schedule in 2025 than any other year!
How was your year? Did you meet all of your reading goals?
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