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.

26. Empire of the Vampire (Book 1)

By Jay Kristoff (800 pp, ebook)

I was in the mood for a big fat vampire book and I got one. This is set in a world where the sunrise has disappeared and if people don't have enough problems staying alive, there are also vampires. It's maybe like 1500s Europe (?) Our hero, Gabriel, a silversaint which is a powerful vampire killer, is in prison and telling this story to a vampire historian. There are overlapping timelines and found family, love story, super violent actiony parts where lots of people die. I enjoyed it but it became a repetitive beat for me that the characters had to do something almost impossible, and then everything went wrong and there was lots of gruesome fighting and then a brief reprieve to pull the remaining characters together and then do it again. Definite recommend for people who like epic dark vampire stories.

25: Spawn 2: More Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies

By Deborah Sheldon, ed. (306 pp, ebook)

I bought this because one of my Clarion West classmates Carol Ryles has a story in it called: In War with Time for Love of You. It is worth buying this anthology just for her story. It's set in space and it manages to balance science-y stuff, creepy body horror, and heartbreak. Like any story collection, some are fantastic and some didn't work for me at all. They all have scary baby things but Carol's is the only sci fi. People have great imagination for creepy pregnancy stories.

24. The Hawthorne Legacy

By Jennifer Lynn Barnes (380 pp ebook)

I had to wait 4-5 weeks to get Book 1 from the library so I ordered this one ahead of time anticipating that I would want to continue with the series. This follows the pattern of the first book with new questions to answer about why Avery Grambs is connected to this family. The character relationships continue to develop. It also felt choppy and the characters felt thin and I wasn't sold on the romance. I think these are aimed at a younger reader than I -- they are very popular but I don't expect to continue with the series.

23. The Inheritance Games

By Jennifer Lynn Barnes (386 pp ebook)

I listened to an interview with the author who studies why people connect with stories and I wanted to read her fiction. This book is about a young woman, Avery Grambs, who learns she has been chosen to inherit billions from complete stranger, Tobias Hawthorne, who has chosen her over his own family. She is swooped up and taken to the family mansion where she has to live for 1 year to collect the fortune. The family is in the mansion, too. They need to solve riddles and puzzles to figure out why Avery was chosen and Avery needs to adapt to her new circumstances and the danger that comes with it. It's a fast read. I know the technique of short chapters ending on a question keeps readers going but after awhile it felt choppy and I thought the characters were a little thin. Still fun.

22. The Shards

By Bret Easton Ellis (608 pp ebook)

I haven't read Ellis in decades and I'm going to guess I bought this book because I read a review that said it was great nostalgia for people who grew up in S. California in the 80s.

Ellis is the same age as I am and the descriptions in this book: the clothes; driving around naming all the roads: Valley Vista, Mullholland, Beveryly Glen; the music; the movies; the clubs; the kinds of things we did when we were teenagers, were all heavy duty nostalgia. The only difference is I wasn't rich and didn't do drugs. The story is about a fictional Ellis in rich people high school with a close group of friends and dealing with rich people problems, drinking, drugs, dysfunctional families. It's dark and suspenseful. I'm going a terrible job of describing it. It did get long for me but it's a page turner.

21. Deep End

By Ali Hazelwood (464 pp ebook)

Another romance! My friend told me I had to read this so I learned how to use the Libby App and waited until it was my turn.

I love Ali Hazelwood's writing and enjoyed this book a lot. She writes a good steamy scene that doesn't sound like every other steamy scene. The main character Scarlett is a college student and competitive diver. She meets Lukas who is also a college student and champion swimmer. There's a lot going on that's too much for a capsule review. I liked these main characters and the swimming/diving world. There were other characters that didn't quite work for me but overall -- do recommend.

20. Lady for A Duke

By Alexis Hall

I read some craft books and didn't finish anything for a bit but my brain is unhappy when I'm not reading so I picked up this historical romance.

I love everything I've read by Alexis Hall and recently learned he has a book coming out next year: Hell's Heart: Sapphic Moby Dick. In space.

Put it on your list.

This one is about Viola Carroll who pretends to die at Waterloo so she can live as her true self even though she has to give up her title and old life. For story reasons she reconnects with the family of the best friend she left behind at Waterloo and who is suffering from his experience as a soldier. Feelings happen. So romantic. Love it.

19. Mexican Gothic

By Sylvia Moreno-Garcia

This is a terrific atmospheric novel about a young woman who goes to her cousin who has married and moved to a mysterious house in the Mexican forest. The house is rundown, her cousin's new family is creepy and controlling, and the whole place is foggy and moldy and falling into ruin. As the story opens, the main character Noemi is a party girl and maybe kind of shallow but as the story develops she is fearless and dogged against dangerous forces. Recommend.

Okay! I am back in writing mode and my reading is probably going to dwindle to almost nothing for awhile. More info to come.

18. The Arctic Fury

By Greer MacAllister (408 pp, ebook)

A friend reviewed this book just as I finished The Terror. This book is also a fictional tale related to the Franklin Expedition. In this story, an all woman expedition has been hired to find out what happened to the men and hopefully rescue them and bring them back. The story is divided between a murder trial for the woman who led the expedition and the story of the expedition and how it unfolded. It's really good. I wished for a little more time on the ice and a little less court room and a little more characterization. But it's a clever alternate history. If you have never read it, check out this short story by Ursula LeGuin, Sur about an all woman expedition to the South Pole. That story was published in 1982 and made a big impression on me as I was first thinking about being a writer.

17. Legends and Lattes

By Travis Baldtree (296 pp, ebook)

I loved this book. An orc from fantasy adventures is tired of battles so she settles down in a city and invents a coffee shop. "Bean water" the characters call it. Coffee exists but is not common in this place. They add frothy milk. They find a friend who has invented cinnamon rolls. A bard comes along who wants to sing and play music. You can't imagine how satisfying this all is. Sure, there are problems, but there's always an old loyal friend or a brand new friend who wants to help. Recommend.

16. The Terror

By Dan Simmons (769 pp, ebook)

I do not know what to say about this book. Anyone who follows these notes will not be surprised that I thought this was long. It's a fictional account of John Franklin's failed expedition to find the NW passage in 1845. The story is already horrific with the endless winter darkness, freezing temperatures, being trapped in the ice, and scurvey, but the author has added an extra horror element. Long as it was, I enjoyed it and found it page-turning. Great characters and great depiction of this unforgiving environment. Until the end. The end turns into one of the white men from the expedition going Native--not even just going Native but turning into some sort of revered spirit-governors--and some cultural appropriation of Inuit stories and I was completely turned off. Although, I admit, I am now watching the TV series.

15. Theory of Bastards

By Audrey Schulman (397 pp)

This book is set in a vaguely futuristic setting where people rely on implants for information rather than smart phones -- but otherwise the world is one we recognize. The main character is Francine who vists an ape sanctuary to study bonobos to investigate her theories about reproduction. There is a lot going on in this story that I can't summarize in a couple of sentences. She makes connections with the staff and the bonobos and then something terrible happens and they have to try to survive. It's hard to categorize but if you like animal behavior with some dystopian tossed in with complex characters - this is for you. I will add that the book cover completely fails this book. Even the back copy and the summary on Goodreads do not capture how smart and captivating this story is.

14. The Cold Millions

By Jess Walter (337 pp, ebook)

Jess Walter is always great! This book is about two brothers in Spokane, Wa in the early 1900's. The brothers have few resources and live amongst others who are struggling for work, decent pay, and some respect. They get involved with the labor movement and variety of characters: cops, vaudville performers, wealthy jerks. A great portrayal of a certain moment in history.

13. Yellowface

By R.F. Kuang (319 pp, ebook)

Wow! This was nothing like I expected. It's about two young authors on the rise, Athena Liu and Juniper Hayward told from the POV of Juniper. Athena is a huge literary hit and Juniper barely noticed. Juniper is present when Athena dies in a freak accident and can't help but run off with Athena's freshly finished manuscript about Chinese laborers in WWI. Juniper publishes the work as her own and has huge success but also lots of folks questioning why this writer is telling this story. There is a lot going on with respect to publishing and ethnic identity that I appreciated. The writing is wonderful. I think the story went a bit off the rails at the end but I still enjoyed it. I have this author's fantasy trilogy in my TBR stack and hope to read soon.

12. A Daring Arrangement

By Joanna Shupe (384 pp, ebook)

Another romance! Life as been a little extra hairy lately so often romance is all my brain can deal with. This one is set in the Gilded Age in New York. The heroine, Honora, has been sent to America to get her away from an ill-advised romance with an artist. She tries to find a terrible American man to show interest in so her father will so appalled he will bring her home. Julius is rich but has a reputation for poor behavior. But this is romance so you know how things end up.

11. The Best American Short Stories 2011

By Geraldine Brooks(Editor), Heidi Pitlor (Series Editor)(386 pp, ebook)

I love these collections and almost always have one started in my ereader and drop into it every once in awhile. This is another great collection and I should have taken notes so I could highlight the stories I liked especially. I do remember I loved Elizabeth McCracken's story "Property" about a man who recently lost his wife. It hit that mixture of funny and sad that I love. George Saunders's "Escape from Spiderhead" is in this collection as well as Claire Keegan's "Foster" which are both terrific and worth tracking down and also completely different from each other. There's also a story, "A Bridge Under Water" by Tom Bissell who is a writer I discovered via a Best collection and really admire.

10. Susan, You're The Chosen One

By Lauretta Hignett (268 pp, ebook)

I picked up this book because it's a urban fantasy adventure with a middle-aged heroine. Susan has a great job and perfect husband and then it all unravels in a terrible way and she's living in a tiny apartment and trying to keep it together when these gorgeous people show up to tell her she's the chosen one. She is not convinced until all kinds of magical things happen and she needs to accept her role in this adventure. This is a really fun book and my favorite part is how Susan uses her experience in the corporate world to deal with the fantasy beings and situations.

9. What I Did For A Duke

By Julie Ann Long (384 pp, ebook)

I typoed the title as "What I did for a Duck" and I almost left it because it's funny. My romance podcast Fated Mates did a deep-dive episode on this book. I checked my archive and I already had it (haha. My book buying habits are hilariously disorganized.) I loved this book. It's about this mysterious Duke Moncrieffe with a dark reputation who decides to ruin a particular young woman as revenge. The woman, Genevieve Eversea, is more than he expected and things progress as you would guess in a romance. Fun characters. Snappy dialogue. Must read for romance fans.

8. Wild Robot

By Peter Brown (320 pp, ebook)

I knew this book was aimed at younger readers but it was a little younger than I expected. I can't remember the last time I read a middle grade book. It's about a robot that washes ashore on a forested island and doesnt know its purpose. But as it learns to survive it makes friends with the environment and the animals. It's very charming with lovely illustrations. I haven't seen the movie yet but it's on my list.

7. The Searcher

By Tana French (451 ebook)

I've read all the Tana French books except for the one that came out last year. I enjoyed the Dublin Murders but was less enthusiastic about The Witch Elm. This one is about a Chicago police detective whose marriage falls apart and he moves to rural Ireland to get a fresh start and a new perspective. A troubled thirteen-year old befriends him and eventually asks for help locating a missing sibling. The book is a slow burn with lots of atmosphere, intesting characters, and a real sense of an outsider moving into a small community. Yesterday was rainy and I enjoyed a lazy afternoon reading the last half of this book. I haven't done that in a long time.

6. Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

By Sarah MacLean (397 pp)(ebook)

Sarah is one of the hosts of the Fated Mates podcast. I have had this book on my ereader for awhile and decided to give this a try. It's a historical with another pair of terrific main characters. Lady Calpurnia remains unmarried and decides there's no longer any reason to live by the rules. She makes a list of things she'd like to do like kiss someone and visit a gambling den. She's had a crush on Gabriel St. John, a Marquess, forever and inadvertently gets him involved in her rule-breaking and things progress. Fun book.

5. Lord of Scoundrels

By Loretta Chase (375 pp)(ebook)

The ladies of Fated Mates podcast did a special episode about this book. It might have been a replay when it came up in my podcast app. I checked and it was onsale so I grabbed it. It is a historical romance with amazing main characters. Jessica enters the story to try to rescue her doofy brother from himself and Sebastian, the Marquess of Dain. As soon as they meet sparks fly and Dain keeps thinking he will win the upper hand and coming up short. Very fun romance.

4. Pleasure of a Dark Prince

By Kresley Cole (452 pp)(ebook)

I had to clear out the scary aftermath of reading In Cold Blood. This is the third book in my Kresely Cole 3 pack and I think I liked this one the most. In this one Lucia who is under some sort of curse and Garreth a shape-shifter end up on a dangerous adventure that involves a boat in the Amazon where Lucia needs to find a mythical object. There are lots of adventures and fun banter.

3. In Cold Blood

By Truman Capote (343 pp)(ebook)

Another book that's been in my to read pile forever. This is a non-fiction book published in 1966 about real murders that happened in rural Kansas in 1959. The book was groundbreaking in that it used fiction techniques to tell a true story. Four members of a family are found brutally murdered on their farm. The story tells the story of the victims and the story of the murderers. The writing is really good and the story is terrifying. The murders were so senseless and sad.

2. Less

By Andrew Sean Greer (273 pp)(ebook)

I used to keep track the Pulitzer fiction winners and make sure to read them but it's slipped away from me the last ten years or so. I picked up this knowing nothing about it except for the award and it was a wonderful surprise. It's about modestly successful novelist who sets out on a trip around the world so he can avoid his boyfriend's wedding. It is funny and relatable and he experiences quite a variety of adventures. I think my favorite was the ancient restaurant in Japan. Love this writer's writing and plan to read him again.

1. Project Hail Mary

By Andy Weir (496 pp)(ebook)

I loved this book. I did not enjoy Artemis and haven't paid attention to this author since then. This book is about a guy who wakes up and has no idea who he is or what's going on -- and gradually figures out he is on a space ship, his shipmates are dead, and he is on a last chance mission to save humanity by going to another solar system. I read about 25% and wondered how this was going to be an entire book. No spoilers but I very highly recommend for people who like books in space and like The Martian -- having to solve problems with science. I see it is going to be a movie with Ryan Gosling and I can't wait.