38. Story of My Life

By Lucy Score (541 pp)

I bought the actual paperback of this book and it's very pretty with illustrated edges (I don't know what the real term is.) This a contemporary romance by a popular author that I was not familiar with. The story is about a successful romance novelist who goes through a nasty divorce and loses her writing mojo so she impulsively moves to a small town where she crosses paths with the Bishop family including sexy brother Cam and there is an immediate attraction. They decide to have some no strings fun and if you're a romance reader you can guess what happens next. It took me a little bit to get into the book -- I didn't get the tone right away and the heroine felt messy for the sake of messy and the hero seemed grumpy for the sake of being grumpy. But as the story went on, it was really funny and cozy with lots of great side characters and I enjoyed a great deal.

This is my last book of 2025. I only read 38 books but I read quite a few longer books and met my vague goal of 15k pages.

Happy reading in 2026.

37. Hamnet

By Maggie O'Farrell (372 pp, ebook)

I might be on track to read 40 books this calendar year. We'll see how the last couple weeks go. I had a mishap that has led to it being uncomfortable to sit for long so I'm not sure I can read as much as I would like since my favorite reading position in slouched in bed or on the couch. Bob gave this book to Mom and I know she really liked it. We talked about possible seeing the movie when Mom was in town so I hurried to read it. It is a fictional interpretation of what happened to Shakespeare's only son who died at 11 and is told through the POV of his wife who in this story has some supernatural tendencies. It's a very literary style and initially I enjoyed it but to be honest, it got a bit tedious for me. Didn't love it as much as I wanted to and as of this writing, I have not seen the film.

36. The Magpie Lord

By KJ Charles (271 pp, ebook)

This was another Fated Mates deep dive episode. What a treat to discover this author. The book is a Victorian fantasy romance. Lord Crane has inherited his family's estate/title after his father and brother both die under magical circimstances. But also they were terrible people. Lord Crane also suffers from a magical problem and needs to hire a magician named Stephen Day to figure it out. Only Stephen has a bitter past with Crane's family and comes to the job reluctantly. This story has powerful magic, creepy bad people, magpies. Sweet romance to see these two fall for each other while trying not to. Can't wait to read more books by this author.

35. Beggars in Spain

By Nancy Kress (451 pp, ebook)

I have had this on my to read list for decades. It was published in 1993 and the original novella won a Hugo and a Nebula. The novella was developed into a novel which is what I read. It's set in the future and genetic abilities allow people to modify their children to be born not needing sleep. (An infant that doesn't sleep, can you imagine?) But they have greater intellectual capacity, too. There's a lot going on in this book but basically the question is about the sleepless and their special capabilities v sleepers who are less productive and the rifts this creates between the two groups. A lot of complex questions considered. Overall I enjoyed it but it did get a tad long for me.

34. The Compound

By Aisling Rawle (304 pp, ebook)

The book is vague about the details but the real world is in a grim state. The story is about a shallow but beautiful young woman who is competing in a reality show in a fancy compound. The competitors have group challenges to win things for the house such as food and basic necessities. The individual competitors also have challenges to win things they need or luxury items. Also: every night the competitors need to be paired up with someone or they are kicked out. I found it riveting. The TV show has a whiff of Hunger Games about it -- they will let the partipants go far to win. Recommend.

33. The Gospel of Z

By Stephen Graham Jones (292 pp, ebook)

It always amazes me when writers find new ways to write super disgusting details. This book delivers! The writing is a sort-of dreamy style and it's about a world that's been living in a zombie apocolypse for years. The MC is obsessed with a woman he's managed to connect with but she disappears. There are intense military people, a creepy church, and lots of hairy zombie missions. Recommend!

32. The Earl Takes All

By Lorraine Heath (384 pp, ebook)

Fated Mates podcast did a deep dive on this book code name "the gorilla twins" so I had to read it before my listen. This is an amazing historical romance that is hard to describe in a sentence or two. A beautiful lady is married to the earl. He and his twin go off on an adventure and there's a tragedy and the non-husband returns. But he has to pretend to be the husband because a baby is on the way. Must read for romance fans -- this book is a quite a ride.

31. Life and Death

By Stephenie Meyer (400 pp, ebook)

This is the last Stephenie Meyer I hadn't read. I watched the movies during October and went back and found this. It's Twilight with the genders swapped except for only a couple of characters. This did not work for me at all. The whole time I kept trying to translate which character was which rather than read the book as is. The things your average reader liked about the series are gendered. We like seeing Edward be so protective of Bella, throwing her on his back and climbing a tree, straining against the urge to kill her. It's not the same with Edythe and Beau. Edythe throwing Beau over her back and climbing a tree wasn't the same buzz. And it was weird but I didn't buy Edythe's infatuation the same way I did Edward's. But also: I kept picturing Edythe as Alice.

30. Neon Gods

By Katee Robert (384 pp, ebook)

I am updating this in late December but I read this book in October. Am I really that far behind in my updates? This is an author I heard a lot about and I like to give everything a try. This is a super spicy modern retelling of Hades and Persephone. I really liked the connection between the main characters and their loyalty to each other in the midst of a dysfunctional environment. I didn't think the Olympus re-telling totally worked -- it was more like using that for shortcuts in character creation but if you'd renamed everyone Steve and Kaylie no one would have noticed. Fun to read. Definite recommend for people who like their romance reading with high heat.

29. This Bird Has Flown

By Susanna Hoffs (368 pp, ebook)

I was a huge Bangles fan back in the day and I had no idea Hoffs had written a novel. The algorithm fed it to me. I love books with musicians. This is the story of a musician who had one huge hit 10 years ago that was a cover of a lesser song from a huge artist. She's been foundering since. Her manager invites her to come to England to buckle down and write some new songs and she meets and makes out with a stranger on a plane. Then my musician book quickly became a romance novel which was unexpected but I didn't mind. Except the MC is a grown ass woman and she approached this relationship like a teenager and is jealous and nosey -- I struggled with her. Her beau is charming but has secrets of his own and everything unravels and then the book turned back into a musician story with a dramatic set piece involving the huge artist. I liked the writing and characters and enjoyed the book even with the frustrations described above.

28. Off Balance

By Domanique Moceanu (256 pp, ebook)

If you know me, you probably know that I am a huge gymnastics fan. This is a memoir by one of the Magnificent Seven, the first US team to win an Olympic gold medal (1996) in a real nailbiter competition. Domanique's story is heartbreaking. Her family of origin was dysfunctional and while her initial gymnastics coaches were wonderful, she started training with the Karolyis who were abusive and terrible. She tried to comeback in her 20s and US gymnastics treated her like garbage. She was way ahead of her time. This book came out in 2012 before anyone was calling out the Karolyis and I don't think she got a lot of support at the time. Also doing elite gymnastics in her 20s and trying to compete again. Oh, also, as an adult she found out she had a sister with disabilities who her parents gave up for adoption. They had a lovely reunion. From her story, it sounds like she has created a wonderful family and works as a coach. She also advocates for young athletes for their mental and physical health. Good for her.

27. Dreaming of You

By Lisa Kleypas (384 pp, ebook)

Is there a better chaser for a long, violent vampire book than Dreaming of You? This is a historical romance where the MC Sara is a bold young woman who writes fiction and is not afraid to get into the grit for her research. She is researching a debauched gambling den when she meets the dark and damaged owner Derek Craven. My romance podcast Fated Mates has an annual event celebrating Derek Craven (That link is NSFW, grown ups only.) I didn't know the book and finally had a chance to read it and enjoyed it immensely. I love MCs that do unexpected things without fear and I love when a broken man falls for the lady in spite of himself. Recommend.