Hi everyone
Happy new year!
2025 had its ups and downs, like every year, but I’m grateful to say there were no major problems in our family. Instead, it was a year filled with lots of fun together; family time, cozy evenings with just my husband and me, catching up with extended family, and, of course, plenty of me-time with a book nestled in bed or on the couch.
For me, reading is my perfect way to recharge; curling up with a blanket and a cup of tea, especially when the world outside is cold and rainy. And in 2025, I did a lot of that.
I read a total of 95 books in 2025, not counting the books I didn’t finish.
Series I started reading:
- Robin Hobb: The Rain Wild Chronicles
- Benedict Jacka: Inheritance of Magic
- Brian McClellan: Powder Mage
- Jen Williams: The Winnowing Flame
Series I continued reading:
- Ben Aaronovitch: Rivers of London
- Patrick Rothfuss: The Kingkiller Chronicle
Series I finished reading:
- Katherine Addison: The Cemeteries of Amalo
- Becky Chambers: Monk and Robot
- Shelley Parker-Chan: The Radiant Emperor
- Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter: The Long Earth
- Dennis E. Taylor: Quantum Earth
Series I started and finished reading:
- Jonathan French: The Lot Lands
Series I quit reading:
- Joe Abercrombie: The Age of Madness
- Trudi Canavan: Millennium's Rule
- Glen Cook: Chronicles of the Black Company
- Fonda Lee: The Green Bone Saga
- Tasha Suri: The Books of Ambha
- Rebecca Thorne: Tomes & Teas
- Martha Wells: The Rising World
Here are all the books I read this year with a link to the review.
- Benedict Jacka: An Inheritance of Magic
- Eowyn Ivey: To the Bright Edge of the World
- Fredrik Backman: A Man Called Ove
- Grant Snider: I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf
- Rebecca Thorne: Can't Spell Treason Without Tea
- Jonathan French: The Grey Bastards
- N. K. Jemisin: Emergency Skin
- Greg Pizzoli: Worstje en zijn vrienden
- Sam Harris: The End of Faith
- Sarah Andersen: Adulthood Is a Myth
- Philippa Perry: The Book You Want Everyone You Love To Read
- David Dalglish: A Dance of Blades
- Darren Hardy: The Compound Effect
- Julie Leong: The Teller of Small Fortunes
- Joe Abercrombie: The Trouble With Peace
- Terry Pratchett: The Last Continent
- Becky Chambers: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy
- Neil Gaiman: The Ocean at the End of the Lane
- Bessel van der Kolk: The Body Keeps the Score
- Richard Matheson: A Stir of Echoes
- Peter Brown: The Wild Robot Escapes
- Terry Practhett & Stephen Baxter: The Long Mars
- Jim Butcher: Furies of Calderon
- The Poetry of Emily Dickinson
- Harriet Muncaster: Isabella Maan gaat naar de kermis
- Harriet Muncaster: Mirabelle heeft een slechte dag
- Paul van Loon: Birthday Surprise
- Shelley Parker-Chan: He Who Drowned the World
- Rachel Joyce: Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North
- Stephen Aryan: Of Gods and Men
- Jonathan French: The True Bastards
- Trudi Canavan: Thief's Magic
- Brian McClellan: Promise of Blood
- Yuval Noah Harari: Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
- Peter Brown: The Wild Robot Protects
- Christian White: The Nowhere Child
- Terry Pratchett: Carpe Jugulum
- David Dalglish: A Dance of Mirrors
- Marie Brennan: The Waking of Angantyr
- T. J. Klune: Under the Whispering Door
- Tommy Orange: Wandering Stars
- Glen Cook: The Black Company
- Vernor Vinge: A Fire Upon the Deep
- Katherine Addison: The Tomb of Dragons
- Brandon Sanderson: Tress of the Emerald Sea
- Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter: The Long Utopia
- Lori Gottlieb: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
- Brian Jacques: Redwall
- Mark Manson: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
- Cameron Johnston: The Maleficent Seven
- Ben Aaronovitch: The Masquerades of Spring
- Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- Jonathan French: The Free Bastards
- Terry Pratchett: The Fifth Elephant
- Grant Snider: The Art of Living
- Delia Owens: Where the Crawdads Sing
- Dennis E. Taylor: Not Till We Are Lost
- Jen Williams: The Ninth Rain
- Patrick Rothfuss: The Narrow Road Between Desires
- Werner Herzog: Of Walking in Ice
- Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter: The Long Cosmos
- Benedict Jacka: An Instruction in Shadow
- Debbie Mirza: The Covert Passive Agressive
- Brian McClellan: The Crimson Campaign
- Claire Keegan: Small Things Like These
- Sequoia Nagamatsu:Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone
- Lindsay C. Gibson: Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
- Leslye Penelope: Daughter of the Merciful Deep
- Ilona Andrews: A Questionable Client
- Ilona Andrews: Magic Strikes
I already have a list (of course I do!) with about 25 books I definitely want to read in 2026. But aside from those, I plan on reading whatever I want. Because reading should be fun, not a chore.
In 2025, I reread some children’s books with my eldest daughter and even read a few of her favorites just because I wanted to. It reminded me that there’s no “should” in reading. Never let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn’t read! I try to live by the saying: “You do you.”
Do you have any book recommendations for me? Or did you read something amazing in 2025 that I could add to my list for next year? Let me know in the comments; I’d love to hear from you!
Wishing you all a wonderful 2026 filled with incredible books and cozy reading moments. Here’s to another year of adventures between the pages!
Happy reading
Helena
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