The only reason this didn‘t take me hours is because I just did the #12BooksOf2025 so I had managed to narrow it down.

But my three top reads of 2025 are:
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
Greenteeth by Molly O‘Neill
The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow

#MajicMonday @Eggs

My absolute favorite of Rachel Hartman‘s books.

Charl is a young boy trying to deal with a plague, protecting his mother, a dragon, and his sudden ability to see ghosts.

#MiddleGradeMonday @Karisimo @Daisey

My pick for December was an easy choice! This wildly funny romp through a world of fairy tales is both laugh out loud funny and emotionally resonant.

And if you can, I HIGHLY recommend giving the audiobook a try.

#12BooksOf2025 @TheEllieMo (Thanks so much to Ellie for putting this together this year! 💖)

#WeeklyForecast

My hold on my book for the #QueerBC came in last night and I can‘t wait to dive into it!

#BookReport

I am so grateful that work has been going smoothly enough that I‘ve been able to finish two audiobooks this week!

Time loops, romance, rewriting history, the power of stories to shape or ruin kingdoms, & probably the literary villain I hate most of all.

My favorite book of November has it all!

#12BooksOf2025 @TheEllieMo

(Honorable November mention goes to Of Monsters and Mainframes🖤🧡🖤🧡)

When Ishamelle‘s parents die, she decides to take control of her life, dress as a man, & get work on a whaling ship. Unfortunately, the captain is singly obsessed with a white whale.

A queer, feminist reimagining on a classic. Ishmaelle‘s character & her relationship w/ gender is very interesting. & I wanted more of Captain Seneca. But in the end, this fell flat for me. It felt summarized, & by the 3rd rape scene I just felt tired.🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑

I absolutely adored The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi a couple years ago, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the second book in May!

#SundayFunday Happy New Year, and here‘s to many good books with you all in 2026! Don‘t forget to tag me in your posts!

Joining in on all the fun! And come find me over on #Storygraph with the same username!

*rubs hands together in glee* This month‘s going to be so good. I can feel it.

#BookSpinBingo #BingoBoard

#BookSpin Villains by Necessity #DoubleSpin Snuff

#Roll100 Solarpunk Summers, Villains by Necessity, On Looking

#OokBOokClub Snuff

#BobWhiteBuddies Mystery of the Castaway Children

#QueerBC The Gap of Time

#ClearTheCozies All My Bones

#AuldLangSpine Silver in the Wood

#StorySpins Medusa

#AmericanGirlReads A Kingdom Strange

Last #MonthlyRoundup for 2025! And I finished on a strong note! There were so many good books this month and this past year. I can‘t wait to see what 2026 will bring!

Maddie is just getting into the swing of things after inheriting the local bookshop when she & the local priest dig up a set of bones in her front yard. When the priest is arrested for the murder, Maddie will do all she can for her friend.

Absolutely adored the setting of this Georgian bookshop! Loved the lack of a love 🔺, & the friendships Maddie has. She got painfully pushy @ the end, but this also subverted an expectation of mine.🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

Joy Harjo‘s newest memoir is my choice for October! Emotionally powerful and painfully resonant, Harjo always delivers!

#12BooksOf2025 @TheEllieMo

Forgot to post this yesterday, but my pick for September‘s best book is the tagged newly published collection of poetry and essays by one of my favorite poets, Mary Oliver.

Beautifully meditative, this was the perfect thing to read when I needed to slow down.

#12BooksOf2025 @TheEllieMo

I actually feel mildly prepared for January! I‘m sure that feeling won‘t last. #BookSpinBingo

For August, I‘ve selected this collection of dark, twisted, angry fairy tale retelling short stories.

Wonderfully creepy and full of rage, these were everything I wanted out of them.

#12BooksOf2025 @TheEllieMo

#Storygraph #2025Wrapup

I love that all three of my top authors were reading challenges! ❤️

#StorygraphStats #StorygraphWrapup

There were so many good books this month! And I got my nonfiction percentage even higher! 🎉🎉

Happy New Year! 🎉🎉🎉

I am so excited to see what 2026 will bring. As far as reading books I already own, that was also a goal last year and I read 38 books I own but hadn‘t read. Which is not bad!

On the other hand, I bought or received as gifts 43 new books this year. So my total number is now 203. 😅

#NewYearResolutions

A story of finding a cow that becomes a story of finding Sam Vimes while we meet many people of Ankh Morpork.

This was absolutely charming! I laughed out loud at several places, and I just adored when Lady Sybil shows up. This whole thing shows off the amazing growth we‘ve been seeing in Vimes over the last few books, and I adored this.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

Alfred is starting out on his own w/ a new job at a shipping company as a navigator. His offered housing is w/ a grumpy lighthouse keeper who maybe brings more opportunities that‘s Alfred had ever expected.

I really loved the concept of this book! It‘s a musical in novel form, & the songs were a lot of fun! The romance was a bit rushed for me, & I felt the historical setting was treated too shallowly, but a fun cast of characters!🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

I am so freaking thrilled for this #Roll100 line up!

36 - Solarpunk Summers edited by Serena Ulibarri
51 - Villains by Necessity by Eve Forward
100 - On Looking by Alexandra Horowitz

My book for #ClearTheCozies for January!

I‘ve already started it, and it is so charming! @julieclair

July‘s pick is my favorite read of 2025. A delightfully cozy fairy tale like story of a ragtag group going on quests, collecting magic items, fighting a great evil, & making a family all of them desperately needed.

#12BooksOf2025 @TheEllieMo

An absolutely fascinating and infuriating read on how the US is failing to support the most vulnerable of populations, people dealing with homelessness.

This was quite the eye opening deep dive into the circumstances that can result in people losing their homes, as well as the many different ways that the systems meant to address the situation fail. But it also puts forward different solutions from individual to systemic reorganization.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

For January, our first #AmericanGirlReads is Felicity Merriman, a spunky young girl living during the American Revolution.

Here are a few ideas for books to read for her!

I‘m going for a book about colonial times and reading the tagged book, a nonfiction book about the lost Roanoke colony.

June‘s pick is Naomi Novik‘s collection of short stories! From an atmospheric dark fairy tale, to the short story that eventually became Spinning Silver, to Dragon Rider Elizabeth Bennet, there was not a single miss in this collection for me!

#12BooksOf2025 @TheEllieMo

I don‘t really do New Year‘s Eve anymore, I like sleep too much. 😂

But every New Year‘s day, I like to do a little bit of as many of the activities over the year that have brought me joy. Reading, writing, baking, hanging out with family, chatting with friends.

This year may have been unprecedentedly bad, but I still managed to make joy for myself. & that‘s energy I plan to carry into 2026.

#MajicMonday @Eggs

Two young adult novels published together are my pick for May!

Emilie stows away on a sky ship intent on new discoveries and has some amazing adventures!

If you, like me, fell in love with the aesthetics of the Disney movie Treasure Planet, you‘ll find this right up your alley!

#12BooksOf2025 @TheEllieMo

#WeeklyForecast

Accidentally put my up next audiobook on my Book Report last night! Which should show how excited am I to get to it this week!

#BookReport

I read a couple really interesting non fiction books this week!

For April I have picked this Appalachian horror novel. A time displaced witch and a former mining employee fight back against a negligent mining corporation and a secret evil hidden deep within the mountain.

Beautifully atmospheric and deliciously creepy, it‘s filed under “botanical horror” on my Storygraph! 😂

#12BooksOf2025 @TheEllieMo

For March, we‘ve got an absolutely breathtaking graphic novel adaptation of one of my favorite fantasy novels! Ged‘s story of fighting against a darkness is beautifully portrayed in these illustrations!

#12BooksOf2025 @TheEllieMo

February‘s choice is a book about monsters. What makes a monster, and how can we stop the monsters when we don‘t teach the language used to identify what they do?

#12BooksOf2025 @TheEllieMo

Thanks for doing this @TheEllieMo !

January‘s pick is a Japanese fabulist tale of a mysterious restaurant where the customers can have a final meal with a lost loved one. A beautiful examination of grief and closure, with delicious recipes!

#12BooksOf2025

You ever thought to yourself that you need to know more about bats? Then this is the book for you!

In all seriousness, this was a lot of fun. Years ago, I read a bunch of these kind of micro histories, and I had forgotten how much fun it is to really sit down w/ someone wildly passionate about a VERY specific subject. It jumped around a bit too much within the sections, but it was a lot of fun & very informative! 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

I really loved this book! This had a whole slew of my favorite things in stories. Time travel, the power of stories, a lady knight, fantastical Arthurian vibes.

Probably my favorite book of Harrow‘s so far. 💖

#SundayFunday Hope you all are doing well, and let‘s hope for a better 2026! Don‘t forget to tag me in your posts!

After centuries serving as an undead knight to a tyrant, Rottgor decides to enjoy his retirement by starting a restaurant & adopting a child whose existence threatens the whole city.

A sweet story about changing your life, finding joy even when you don‘t think you deserve it. Loved the concept of city full of the dead & the livings. There were a few too many characters that felt unnecessary, but I‘d love to see more in this universe.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

Happy Christmas, or the season of fairy tale retellings! ❤️💚❤️💚 #BookHaul

It seems as if art departments are always underfunded, so the Bob Whites come together to run a bikeathon to raise funds for the arts @ the high school. But then there is vandalism & threatening calls.

Another fantastic story of the Bob Whites coming together to work for their community. A mystery that Trixie seems to fall into more, & real communication between friends! Also, love that I still have to look up words for Mart. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

I‘m finished getting ready to head over to family‘s for Christmas Eve in a bit, and I just knew this had to be my word for #WeirdWordWednesday !

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I hope you all are safe and warm, and with people you love!

Thank you all for making this site such a respite. ❤️💚❤️💚

I am making a commitment to increase the nonfiction I read in 2026.

And why not make it fun? Every month I‘m going to try & read a nonfiction book based on 12 of my favorite historical American Girl Dolls. #AmericanGirlReads

And then I thought, why not expand it? So I made a Storygraph challenge with some possible fiction & nonfiction prompts for each doll.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/decd114d-c3bf-4960-a1c3-b761b26...

The life of Madame Restell, one of New York city‘s most accomplished abortionists in the late 1800s.

This was a fascinating look at a unique woman. From such an impoverished life, she quickly became a wealthy woman while providing an important aspect of women‘s health care. Frustrating to read, as we are fighting the same goddamned fight, & also weird tone shifts, & unnecessary tangents, like an entire chapter on architecture.🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

I just used this one for my Sunday Funday post, and I really loved it! The description of the weather and everyone cozied up in the gorgeous inn was perfect for winter reading!

#MiddleGradeMonday @Karisimo @Daisey

1. Visited England with my mother! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
2. Started writing again! ✍️
3. One of my best friends got engaged! 💍

#MajicMonday @Eggs

#WeeklyForecast

I can‘t even begin to describe how excited I am for this Moby Dick retelling I‘ve got coming up! 🐳

#BookReport

What a fascinating range of books this week has been!

5,000 years after the Labyrinth, the Minotaur is working as a line cook in the American South. & all he wants is to live his life & make the connections all people crave.

Such an odd little book. Just the day by day life of the Minotaur. Paced pretty slow. Tonally, it flip flops between tits/ass jokes & melancholy examinations of the deep loneliness that affects those seen as Other by their community. Not sure how I feel about the end.🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑

Nate‘s just looking for a break after losing his job. Then he gets sort of kidnapped by a former Marine & a girl w/ too many secrets on the run from the government.

Fun road trip story, kind of like a queer Firestarter meets ET w/ interesting characters (especially Art!). The pacing felt off, particularly in the 1st half, & the narrative got a bit repetitive, but it‘s also a sweet story of finding family in the face of destruction.🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

This was a lovely little story about a mysterious inn, pirates, ghosts, and a hidden treasure.

I should actually continue this series!

#SundayFunday Have a happy Solstice or Christmas or anything that you choose to celebrate this week, and don‘t forget to tag me in your posts!