Happy New Year!  Wow, we are in 2026!!!  It’s time for new goals, reading for sure and maybe more!  Let’s see what 2026 will bring.  But for now, here is how my reading year for 2025 went:

Goodreads says I read 65 books, but you can add three to that count as there were three short stories that are not on Goodreads.  So my actual count is 68.  My 5 star reads (not including re-reads)  were 12. For DNF’s (Did Not Finish) my count was three novels and one short story. One of those novels was a re-read attempt. For re-reads my novel count was 4 and two short stories.

**Please note that reviews for all but my number 10 read are already on this site. I am not at my usual computer and having some issues with getting this post ready due to WI-FI issues, so I am unable to include the link. But if you search the book on the site, you will find the review.**

Here are my Top 10 Reads of 2025:

10.  What Does it Feel Like by Sophie Kinsella
This was the last book I completed in 2025.  We just recently lost Kinsella in December to cancer and this is a fictional account of her story. It is an author dealing with brain cancer. When I heard she had passed away and had dealt with cancer and then wrote this fictional book, I just HAD to read it.  My review has not posted yet, but it will soon.  I didn’t cry reading it, but I definitely experienced feelings with this one. Kinsella is the author that got me reading all those years ago with Can You Keep a Secret? Needless to say I will remember this author favorably.

9.  Sonora by Jenni L Walsh
If you grew up in the early 1990s then you must have seen the Disney film Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken.  Sonora is the fictional account of Sonora Carter that expands on what you think you might know from the film.  I even felt called to listen to Carver’s memoir and even re-watched the film. Listening to this one gave me so much nostalgia. I loved it!

8.  My Next Breath by Jeremy Renner
Most of us know Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye from the Marvel movies and in some ways he is superhero in his own way by surviving a near deadly snowplow accident.  This memoir is the book he admits that he did not want to write but did.  I listened to the audiobook which he narrated and the audio is enhanced with the 911 call that occurred.  You can hear everything that happens with that call.  This is a powerful memoir.

7.  eMortal by Steve Schafer
I listened to the audiobook earlier in the year and starting it I would have never thought I was going to give it five stars and that it would end up in my Top 10 of 2025!  It went in a direction that I never expected and definitely had me thinking after I finished it.

6.  The Long Walk by Stephen King writing as  Richard Bachman
I listened to this one because I was going to watch the film and dang, it was something!  I ended up giving a book review and movie comparison. The film is dark and a one time watch for me, but it was good.  And the ending was switched up from the book. King was ahead of his time when he wrote this one a Richard Bachman. I don’t know if I would have ever read it if it had not become a film, but I am glad it did!

5.  #CrimeTime by Jeneva Rose and Drew Pyne
#CrimeTime is only available on audio, and it was so much fun!  Jeneva Rose wrote this one with her hubby Drew and they based it off of an event that occurred in an apartment that they no longer live in. There are so many connections in this novel including one of the main characters is named Chase, and they named their child that who was born in 2025.  I have only read of her novels, but I plan on reading more of hers. And she is such fun to watch on Instagram!  There will be more of Jeneva Rose read (or listened to) in 2026!

4.  The First Wish of Murray McBride by  Joe Siple
This is the final book in the Murray McBride series and a prequel to Five Wishes. It was touching prequel that gives more insight to the character of Murray McBride. This series is definitely worth a read! /span>

3.  Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
This book…. It gives so many feelings and emotions. It’s like Free Willy for a new generation. Who would have thought a novel about the friendship between an octopus and an older woman would be as wonderful as it was! It will also be a film that I will be watching! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator who voiced Marcellus is the perfect voice!  This novel is must read/listen!

2.  The Measure by Nikki Erlick
A simple yet also fascinating premise, The Measure focuses on eight different people and eight different decisions made based on string length which lets each person know about how long they have left to live. And with Julia Whelan as the narrator, I was loving this novel!

And my #1 Read for 2025 is………The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride by Joe Siple

This book was a book club selection that I had never heard of and it made me ugly cry in the last ten pages!  I loved it so much I had to complete the series of three books.  If you have never heard of it, you must look into it and then read it!  I adore it and think that everyone must read it.  It has joined my small stack of favorite books ever.

This is my list! I want to know what some of YOUR favorites were in 2025! Did we have any in common? Are there any of mine that you now are interested in reading? Let’s bring on 2026 and a new year of reading!!