2025 ⤴
reading goal: 25 books - at least 5 non-fiction books
reading reality: 11 books - 9 fiction, 2 non-fiction
if a single book spans more than one month of reading, it is catagorized in the month I finished it.
january
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
book club pick
vampires in Mexico City!
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
Death is one of the best Discworld characters, and his story in this book is superb. my complaint, as always, is that I don't much care for the wizards and I can find them tedious. nonetheless, a strong entry in a series full of strong entries.
february
Piglet by Lottie Hazell
This one came recommended when I looked up Nightbitch at the library. The prose is elegant, and I found the first third of the book compelling, but I don't think it is daring enough! There is always a sense of holding back, which is at odds with the supposed ravenousness of the character. Lottie, if you write more books, I will give them a chance.
Curvy Girls Can't Date Best Friends by Kelsie Stelting
book club pick
we all read a different Curvy Girls novel in book club, hand-picked for us by Em. about as run-of-the-mill as these things get, but the mill is efficiently producing goods and there is a market for them. *shrug*
march
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady
I saw Fern on Taskmaster and thought she was extraordinary. I wanted more. I found this book. I was delighted to find that this is an exceptional book, unflinching and vulnerable and interesting.
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
book club pick
this book: oh, you think I won't go there? bitch, I will go there.
april
Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
book club pick
yes, we watched the 1985 TV miniseries during our meeting. a perfect book, a perfect adaptation. when we talk about Canadian literature, we should talk more about LM Montgomery.
may
Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green
I've been listening to John talk about tuberculosis for more than a year. two years? I don't know. but despite that, this book was still full of new information and revelations. I hope that for people who thought (as John did and I did) that TB was an illness of the past, of 19th-century women coughing blood into handkerchiefs, that this book will serve as an introduction to the ongoing work to end TB in the modern day. because we can. and we should.
june
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
book club pick
after several previous attempts, I finally finished P&P! much like Lizzie comes to gradually know and love Darcy, I gradually came to understand and appreciate Lizzie and Darcy both. I don't feel the same immediate draw to Elizabeth Bennet that I do to dear Cathy Morland in Northanger Abbey or my beloved Anne Elliot in Persuasion. but the story is so rich, and the last third especially is a delight as the drama unfolds.
august
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
book club pick
...not my top pick in the "magical school" subgenre.
september
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
book club pick
I wanted it to be weirder!
on the shelf
books I started but didn't finish and may or may not return to.
Moonbound by Robin Sloan
Robin writes my favourite newsletter, and also wrote one of my favourite books, Sourdough, so I preordered this one despite the pitch being outside my typical field of interest. Robin is a skilled writer and storyteller; I have high hopes!
Jaws by Peter Benchley
book club pick
to-read pile
- The Broken Places by Frances Peck (« I know her!)
- The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
- Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen