It’s no secret this has been a weird reading year with a lot of crappy months. The year started halfway decent and I was on track basically until we started moving. Somehow May had 10 books read even though we were packing and slowly moving things into our storage unit. Clearly June through August were big moving months for us – June was final packing and moving out at the end of the month, July we were in a rental house, and August is when we moved into our new permanent house. I’ve found myself being really lazy, not in the mood to read, and playing around a lot on my phone this fall. September is usually a bad reading month because I have my birthday, lots of plans, and often a vacation or two. We’ve had weekend plans or trips almost every single weekend since we moved into our house, which also has not helped my reading.
The other issue is that this year has been SO MID in terms of book quality. My average rating is 3.85 and usually it’s closer to 4 stars – my all-time rating is around 3.9. Doesn’t seem like too big of a difference but when I look at the star rating breakdown overall, I have a lot more in the 2-2.5 star range versus 3-3.5 stars.
Goodreads Goal
My number one goal between now and the end of the year obviously is to meet my Goodreads goal of 75 books. I’m currently four books behind, which is wild for me. I know there are a few shorter books I could read, including a graphic novel or two, but I do want to try to read the actual full-sized books on my TBR. Here’s my plan and what I need to do to get there.
Currently 56 books read out of 75 book Goodreads goal
Rest of October – 4 more books, 6 total
It’s realistic for me – based on the rest of the month and our plans – to read 4 more books in October and finish with 6 total. We’re halfway through the month and I’ve completed two, am currently reading two, and can hopefully read two more in short order. When October is done, I’ll be at 60 books read and need 15 more to complete my Goodreads goal…
November – 7 or 8 books
…therefore we’re looking at 7 or 8 books in November. We are VERY busy in November as always so I would guess it will be 7. My October has been full of spooky fall reads and I think that trend will continue in November. There are a lot of books on my immediate TBR that I hope to read.
December – 7 or 8 books (whichever not done in November)
I will need 7 or 8 books in December depending on how many I read in November. Again, thinking this will be 8. My reading kicks up in December because I can read during snowy days, sit by the fire, and enjoy the holiday vibes. On that note, I read a lot of Christmassy or holiday books in Nov-Dec, especially December for obvious reasons, so you’ll see a number of those during December.
Approximate TBR
October
I’m currently reading both of these and plan to finish (at least WE ARE ALL GUILTY HERE) in short order. I’m reading BRIGANDS & BREADKNIVES on my Kindle so I only read before bed and am reading it soooo slowly as a result. I keep falling asleep. There’s a good chance I stretch this one through the end of the month because the other two books I have on deck for October are physical copies. Finishing this egalley too early means I won’t have a bedtime book lol.
I’m convinced I’ll meet my October goal because of these two books. Once I finish WE ARE ALL GUILTY HERE, I will probably read THE CREEPING HAND MURDER to feel accomplished quickly lol. It’s a super short illustrated book where you solve the murder as the detective from reading through letters, images, etc. I think it’ll be a read-in-one-sitting kind of thing. I will then pick up MATE to finish off the month. My sister is going to grab it from me Halloween weekend so I need to finish by 10/31 at the absolute latest.
November
Fall Vibes
November is where I keep the fall vibes going with some books that just scream that season for me. IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY is so obvious because of the trees on the cover. THE ACADEMY features a new school year starting at a boarding school. ALCHEMY OF SECRETS is a historical fantasy, I think, and that’s perfect for the autumn. I also think I’ll try to read THE HEARTBREAK HOTEL – I don’t know for sure if it’s set in autumn but I think people have included it on “perfect for the season” lists.
Mysteries
December
Holiday Romances
I have four holiday books on deck for the end of the year including one egalley (THE CHRISTMAS KEEPSAKE). I’ll have to track the others down in some format at some point: GOOD SPIRITS, DATE NIGHT IN DECEMBER, and A LITTLE HOLIDAY FLING. I feel like I have way less holiday books on my TBR than usual this year so we’ll see if others get released or show up on my feeds. This is the loosest category on here for sure.
Other TBR / Getting Ahead
I have a review copy of THE LUST CRUSADE and am so pumped to read the third book in this companion series that I think is super underrated. The blog tour is in January so, like in years past, I plan to read this in December. WILD DARK SHORE takes place on Antartica (I think) so I just feel like a cold, atmospheric book should get done in December. For a little levity, we have WE MET LIKE THIS – I’ve put off West’s adult debut off too long! And finally, I really am trying to get into the Veronica Speedwell series soon and this should be the perfect time to get at least one more book off my 25 in 2025 list.
Reading Challenges
I participated in the Buzzword (Cover and Word) reading challenges this year, along with my annual participation in the 52 Book Club. I did a 25 in 2025 as well. Can I finish any of them this year? Definitely not. Well, probably not. We’ll see below. I’m going to look at the TBR above and see if I can squeeze some more out.
25 in 25
A Curious Beginning by Raybourn ✅
Heartstopper volume 5 by Osman 〰️
Jackpot Summer by Friedland ❌
People Will Talk by Scott 〰️
Remember Me Tomorrow by Heron 〰️
The Prisoner’s Throne by Black 〰️
The Songbird and the Heart of Stone by Broadbent ❌
The Spellshop by Durst ❌
The Wedding People by Espach ❌
We Solve Murders by Osman ❌
What Happened to Nina? by McTiernan ❌
These are the remaining books on my list. I put squiggles as kind of a TBD – I didn’t put them on my TBR list but could perhaps see myself reading those ones if the mood struck. I really hope to read A CURIOUS BEGINNING as planned above so that gets a check. The rest… I really just don’t see them getting swapped in for anything else.
52 Book Club
Pun in the title ✅
Genre one: set in spring 〰️
Prequel ❌
Climate fiction ✅
Latin American history 〰️
Told in verse ❌
Character who can fly ✅
Fairy tale retelling ❌
Shares a universe with other crossover ❌
Public domain ❌
Celebrity on the cover ✅
Set in the 1940s 〰️
Okay I’m a little surprised I may get a few more of these in before the end of the year! I’ll take the L on 5 of them and there are a few I’m not sure on. I don’t know if one of the historical fiction books is set in the 1940s, so we’ll see about that. I don’t think any include Latin American history but I guess I’ll see. I have a few genres left to use for “set in spring” but was originally targeting a fantasy or graphic novel. My other three were a contemporary set in summer, a mystery set in autumn, and a thriller set in winter. We’ll see if any of them are luckily set in spring and I just don’t know it yet!
THE LUST CRUSADE has a pun in the title. WILD DARK SHORE is climate fiction. MOCKINGBIRD COURT has a character who can fly (actually multiple birds in this one!). Another edition of THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB has celebrities on the cover because it’s a Netflix movie tie-in featuring the cast. Really happy to get four more for this year’s challenge!
Buzzword Cover Challenge
Pattern ✅
I have one category left for this one and I think there are a few books up there that could possibly qualify as a pattern or having a pattern on them, right?
Buzzword Reading Challenge
“Thing” ❌
Animals ✅
“With” ❌
“Never” ❌
I have MOCKINGBIRD COURT up there to check off the animal box. Unfortunately none of the other books contain the remaining three words needed. I ended up DNFing the book I started with “with” in the title so I’m not going to count it, despite wishing I could lol.
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