Books Read 2025

Summing up a year in a couple of paragraphs is always one hell of a challenge, but here we go: We hit and passed the one year mark on owning our own house, and honestly it's been pretty good. We're looking to put on a new roof this spring just because of the age alone, but truly there have been zero major repair issues. We picked a house with good bones, I guess, but not like the T. Kingfisher book because that would be less good.

There were the usual ups and downs, I took a shot at an opening for full time at the library, and it went to somebody with the same credentials and work history who'd been waiting for a full time position longer. I was told that was literally the only determining factor in the end, so keep applying and it's a matter of when not if. Apparently I was one of a very small handful of interviewees though, and it was a tough choice, so that's at least nice to hear.

I'm not going to talk about politics or the state of the world too much right here, but most of the bad in our lives this past year comes from that. We've all been stressed a lot, in this household. I have nightmares. We contribute where we can but we're also leery of getting directly into the protests just because I am increasingly afraid of being arrested just for existing as it is. We did paint protest signs for others. And we worry. We worry a lot. An additional form of stress came to us at 4am on Black Friday in feline form, and we ended up with an unexpected foster cat over Christmas- very sweet, but she also loathed our 16 yr old cat with a violent rage, so she was incompatible with our household. She has now gone off to be fostered by a guy involved in returning a missing local shop cat that was a big thing in the local news earlier this year. She was stressful while she was here, but we do miss her a little now that she's gone. On the note of missing someone, one of my favorite co-workers is leaving to move several hours away and work in a library there. Her last day was last week, and I spent much of the week out sick with the flu, so that was kind of dismal. I am now recovering, albeit still with an ugly cough. And of course, I got books for Christmas! My to-read pile waxes and wanes, but it's always pretty high after the holidays so I have a lot to look forward to reading in the new year!

But here's the recap of 2025:

The Chancellor and the Citadel (GN) - Maria Capelle Frantz

How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England - Ruth Goodman

Snapdragon (GN) - Kat Leyh

The Wild Robot - Peter Brown

When Among Crows - Veronica Roth

The Particolored Unicorn - Jon DeCles

Black Unicorn - Tanith Lee

Rainbow! Volume 1 (GN) - Sunny

Paladin's Grace - T. Kingfisher

The Flintstones Vol 1 (GN) - Mark Russell

Paladin's Strength - T. Kingfisher

The Ballad of Black Tom - Victor LaValle

Gold Unicorn - Tanith Lee

Red Unicorn - Tanith Lee

Painting with Watercolor, Pen, & Ink - Claudia Nice

No Country for Old Gnomes - Delilah S. Dawson

The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe - Theodore Gray

Redder than Blood - Tanith Lee

Sunhead (GN) - Alex Assan

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear - Seanan McGuire

All Creatures Great and Small - James Herriot

Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story (GN) - Sarah Myer

Bad Dream: A Dreamer Story (GN) - Nicole Maines

Eartha (GN) - Cathy Malkasian

The Glass Dragon - Irene Radford

Lockjaw - Matteo L. Cerilli

The Rainbow Goblins (picture book) - Ul De Rico

Paladin's Hope - T. Kingfisher

The Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M. Auel

The Wonderling - Mira Bartok

The Valley of Horses - Jean M. Auel

Dealing With Dragons - Patricia C. Wrede

Cat Gods, Goddesses, Deities, and Demons - Natalie Bovis

The Electric State - Simon Stålenhag

Over the Garden Wall Vol 2-5 (GN) - Pat McHale

The Mammoth Hunters - Jean M. Auel

Once Was Willem - M.R. Carey

The Middle Ages: A Graphic History (GN) - Eleanor Janega

Gift From the Sea - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

The Plains of Passage - Jean M. Auel

We Shall Be Monsters - Alyssa Wees

Ghost Roast (GN) - Shawnelle Gibbs

Twelfth Grade Night (GN) - Molly Horton Booth

The Library of Ever - Zeno Alexander

Arsène Lupin: Gentleman Thief - Maurice LeBlanc

MASQUERADE (picture book) - Kit Williams

Afternoon of the Elves - Janet Taylor Lisle

Finn Family Moomintroll - Tove Jannson

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest - Aubrey Hartman

The Crumrin Chronicles Vol 3: The Wild & the Innocent (GN) - Ted Naifeh

Kariba (GN) - Daniel Clarke

The Wild Robot Escapes - Peter Brown

The Shelters of Stone - Jean M. Auel

The Wild Robot Protects - Peter Brown

The Green Children of Woolpit - J. Anderson Coates

Witch for Hire (GN) - Ted Naifeh

Paladin's Faith - T. Kingfisher

Birth of the Firebringer - Meredith Ann Pierce

Woe: A Housecat's Story of Despair (GN) - Lucy Knisley

The Beekeeper's Apprentice - Laurie R. King

The Door in the Wall - Marguerite de Angeli

Tehanu - Ursula K. Le Guin

Dragon's Blood - Jane Yolen

Dark Moon - Meredith Ann Pierce

The Son of Summer Stars - Meredith Ann Pierce

The Art of Comic Book Writing - Mark Kneece

Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 (GN) - David Peterson

Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 (GN) - David Peterson

Mouse Guard: The Black Axe (GN) - David Peterson

And the Trees Crept In - Dawn Kurtagich

Hotel Dare (GN) - Terry Blas

Over My Dead Body (GN) - Sweeney Boo

Forever Home (GN) - Jenna Ayoub

The Grave Issue: The Supernatural Wars - Jesse Stimpson

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law - Mary Roach

Cottons: The Secret of the Wind (GN) - Jim Pascoe

Cottons: The White Carrot (GN) - Jim Pascoe

Dasher (picture book) - Matt Tavares

The Legend of St. Nicholas (picture book) - Dandi Daley Mackall

Pet Sematary - Stephen King

What Stalks the Deep - T. Kingfisher

Watership Down: The Graphic Novel (GN) - James Sturm

The Stolen Child - Keith Donohue

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking - T. Kingfisher

Sleepless Vol 1 (GN) - Sarah Vaughn

The Medieval Imagination: Images in the Margins - Margot McIlwain Nishimura

Sleepless Vol 2 (GN) - Sarah Vaughn

The House with a Clock in its Walls - John Bellairs

Stepsister - Jennifer Donnelly

The Good Neighbors Vol 1-3 (GN) - Holly Black & Ted Naifeh

Searching for Dragons - Patricia C Wrede

Calling on Dragons - Patricia C. Wrede

A Book, Too, Can Be a Star - Charlotte Jones Voiklis

Talking to Dragons - Patricia C. Wrede

Apocalypse Taco (GN) - Nathan Hale

Evil-ish (GN) - Kennedy Tarrell

Silverwing (GN) - Kenneth Oppel

Irrational Fears (GN) - Ursula Vernon