December: What I Read

 BIG NEWS GUYS! I am switching from Goodreads to StoryGraph, so find me there as SarahJedd (totally wild username, I know).

Rage by Linda Castillo: This is #17 in a series, which I did not know. I kept with it because I thought maybe I found a new series... but no. **2025 **audio

A Promised Land by Barack Obama: Listened in the car with Ben. Will definitely read the second volume if it is ever published. **audio

Algospeak by Adam Aleksic: You guys gotta read this! About how internet speak is changing language-- loved it **audio **2025

Democracy Awakens by Heather Cox Richardson: SHE IS SO SMART **audio

Her One Regret by Donna Freitas: An entertaining and totally forgettable mystery. **2025

The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers: I liked this one about an imagined affair quite a bit **2025

What She Saw by Mary Burton: A serviceable  thriller. **Audio **2025

Before I Forget by Tori Henwood Hoen: This is a sweet novel about providing end-of-life care for a parent. **2025

An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister: So entertaining. So many tropes. **2025 **kindle

The Bright Hour by Nina Riggs: A brutal meoir about a young mom dying of cancer. Beautiful. 

The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick: I wanted to love this one because I did love The Measure. *kindle **2025

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch: I waited for this for SO LONG. It was pretty good, but I am not sure why it was so very well reviewed. **2025 **audio

Good Material by Dolly Alderton: HILARIOUS. You should read it. **audio

The Unveiling by Quan Berry: Hi, this is TERRIFYING and really smart. **2025 **Audio

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino: DELIGHTFUL. READ THIS. I LOVED IT. **2025 **Kindle

Best Laid Plans by Sarah Hart-Unger: TREMENDOUS, you guys! It is so helpful and a joy to read because you can really hear SHU's voice. It was also fun to read so many blog friends in there!!

The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand: YES YES YES YES-- this is terrific. **2025 **audio

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong: I loved this books so much, and I hope you all read it so we can discuss. **2025 **kindle

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan: This is as good as everyone says it is. **Audio

Heart the Lover by Lily King: YES YES YES. BOOK OF THE YEEEEAAAR. **2025 **kindle

Stats this month:

20 books

kindle: 5

Audio: 10

Books: 5

Stats this year:

BTY 187

Book books: 92

Kindle books: 20

Audio books: 81

2025 books: 135

2025 BOOKS OF THE YEEEEEAR

 

1. Heart the Lover by Lily King
2. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
3. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
4. Culpability by Bruce Holsinger 
5. I'll Come to You by Rebecca Kauffman
6. The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff 
7. Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
8. Flashlight by Susan Choi
9. The Compound by Aisling Rawle
10. Woodworking by Emily St. James

I read 184 books (as of this second-- I will likely finish with a couple more because we are traveling, and I always read a ton in trips. Thanks to Goodreads, here they aaaaaaall are.

August: What I Read

Fine, but not my faves

16.  The Call To Serve: The Life of an American President, George Herbert Walker Bush: A Visual Biography by John Meacham: This was definitely a coffee table book that we listened to in the car (only 3 hours long!), but we liked it a lot. **Audio

15. The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius by Kendra Adachi: This was really helpful to read before my September planning date with Jack

14. The Tenant by Freida McFadden: Delightfully awful. **2025

13. We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes: This was adorable. **Audio **2025

12. Sunny Side Up by Katie Sturino: This is SO CUTE and a good antidote to the usual diet culture pablum. **2025

11. With a Vengeance by Riley Sager: This is my least favorite Sager book ever, but also, it is an interesting Murder on the Orient Express kind of clever little experiment. Liked it, eventually.

10. Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson: Charming, but the plot was really far fetched. **2025

Getting Better

9. You Like it Darker by Stephen King: He is SO good at short stories. **Audio

8. How To Lose Your Mother by Erica Jong-Fast: This is terrific, and you should read it. **2025 

7. The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka: I loved this-- you should read it. **Audio

6.The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware: I didn't even know I had been waiting for this sequel, but I guess I WAS! **2025

BOTY maybes

5. Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley: I loved this story about an unconventional marriage -- the pandemic is a huge part of this book, so avoid it if this bothers you in novels **2025

4. Heartwood by Amity Gaige: This is a great read-- some suspense, great characters-- loved it. **2025

3. Audition by Katie Kitamura: WOW-- this book is great/disconcerting. The narrative just changes mid way through in a way that made me question the idea of performance and the roles all of us play in our lives that are dictated by circumstance. And my reading comprehension for a hot second there. Liked it a lot. **Booker prize longlist **2025

2. We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter: A new Karin Slaughter SERIES!!! AND there's no Sara Linton! Kathleen Early reads the audio book-- love her, too! **2025 **audio

1. The Compound by Aisling Rawle: I could not pout this down. Reality TV meets Lord of the Flies-- so good-- perfect pool read. **2025

STATS

BTM 16

Book books: 9

Kindle books 0

Audio books 7

2025 books: 12

BTY 128

Book books: 72

Kindle books: 3

Audio books: 53

2025 books: 76

I am going to miss this reading view

July: What I Read

 Looking back on my July reading, I am not wild about any of. WOW. With that opening line, this blog post is sure to be a smash. **Eye roll**

Reading view most of the month

Meh

The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes: I am kind of into this YA thriller series **Audio

Everything Sweet Is Bitter by Samantha Crewson: This has good reviews and generated a lot of pre-pub buzz, but I did not love any of the characters, and the story was kind of boring/ trope heavy. **Audio **2025

Veronica Ruiz Breaks the Bank by Elle Cosimano: Cute. *Audio

Mark Twain by Ron Chernow: Ugh I WANTED to like this because I think Twain is fascinating, but it was SUCH a slog. And! Chernow was extremely preoccupied with the Clemmons family as enslavers in the south and he wanted to, like, repudiate Twain in a weird way. But then! He would say something that totally erased race and class-- like Tom Sawyer was the picture of American boyhood-- and it was just so WEIRD. Also! Twain had a thing for young girls.

The Accidental Favorite  by Fran Littlewood: Ok. The premise is good (read the cover flap), but it didn't bowl me over. **2025

Great but old

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles: LOVED IT SO MUCH. *Audio

Best of the month, which is a lower bar than usual, I think

The Maid's Secret by Nita Prose: This series is growing on me. *2025

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn: Audio book is **chef's kiss** *audio  **2025

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister: Good, but I was expecting better from this author. **2025

You Don't Belong Here by Megan Miranda: A serviceable thriller **2025

Next to Heaven by James Frey: Trashy and delightful and quirkily written-- big fan. THIS review sums up the Fey controversy nicely. **2025

El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott: Ditto (also some good characters) **2025

So Far Gone by Jess Walter: I liked this, but I was expecting to be blown away. **2025

STATS

BTM 13

Book books: 7

Kindle books 0

Audio books 6

2025 books: 10

BTY 112

Book books: 63

Kindle books: 3

Audio books: 46

2025 books: 64

June: What I Read

 

What was this doing on my holds list?

Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine

Good-- not great-- reads

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay: Some flaws, but largely super entertaining. **2025 **Audio

The Love Haters by Katherine Center: Very contrived. **2025

The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins: Not rocket science but some solid advice here.

All That Life Can Afford by Emily Everett: I felt like I already knew this plot. **2025

Retreat by Krysten Ritter: A good poolside thriller. **2025

All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman: The terrible main character eventually gets un-terrible. I liked this one a lot, it turns out. **2025 **Audio

BOTY contenders:

The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb: We listened to this on our way home from South Carolina, and it is SO SAD. We googled reviews, largely agreed with them, and liked the book anyway. **2025 **Audio

King of Ashes by S.A. Crosby: Loved this one. Thrilling! Well written! Great characters! Some Harry Crews vibes. LOVED. **2025

The Strange Case of Jane O. by Karen Thompson Walker: Oh this is so good. It made me think a ton about memory and the fever dream that Covid seems to be in the rearview mirror. **2025

Never Flinch by Stephen King: I love Holly Gibney. **2025 **Audio

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid: Ahhhhhhh, yesssssss. **2025

STATS

BTM 12

Book books: 7

Kindle books 0

Audio books 5

2025 books: 10

BTY 99

Book books: 56

Kindle books: 3

Audio books: 40

2025 books: 54

May: What I Read

May was a great reading month for me!

I was really happy to read more with my eyes than my ears, and I am glad a Kindle book made it in. I might try reading more of these at the pool...

I read 21 books this month, and here they are from worst to best:

OK reads

Fractured Fairy Tales by A.J. Jacobs: I read this to help Jack cut a storytelling piece for nationals, and it was super cute. 

The New Menopause by Mary Claire Haver: Women of a certain age should read this. I am turned off by the author's supplement business, which felt kind of MLM-y to me, but otherwise this was great. 

The Galveston Diet by Mary Claire Haver: LOVED THIS and am trying to follow it. It has been hard for me to eat enough fat (old habits die hard) to get the macros right, but I am working on it.

People of Means by Nancy Johnson: This was just OK for me-- a story about a mom's college activist years and then her daughter's. **2025

Good reads

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult: LOVED IT.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware: Another backlist gem. **audio

Society of Lies  by Lauren Ling Brown: A good but not great thriller.

The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner: An enjoyable summer book. **2025

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach: This is wild, and you should read it.

A Well-Trained Wife by Tia Levings: About a blogger's escape from Christian patriarchy and her abusive marriage-- riveting. **audio

Saltwater by Katy Hays: I expected to love this thriller but I only just sort of liked it. **2025

Liquid: A Love Story by Mariam Rahmani: This is funny and sad and quirky and sweet. I love any book that tears down academia. **2025

Great reads

Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano: This was ADORABLE. This series has had some ups and downs, but book 5 might be my favorite. **2025 **Audio

One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune: A May 2025 book! This is a sort of sequel to her Every Summer After but features Charlie's story (although you do catch up with Sam and Percy). Loved it. **2025 **Audio

Andromeda by Therese Bohman: So sad and spare. **2025

Early Thirties by Josh Duboff: I loved this breezy, chatty book about friends in the surprisingly small NYC media scene. It reminded me of being young and the sense of possibility that entailed. **2025 **Audio

The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop: She reads this herself-- you gotta listen! **Audio

BOTY contenders 

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins: SO GOOD YOU GUYS I LOVED IT. **2025 **Audio

The Favorites by Layne Fargo: OH YESSSSSS-- this is about Olympic ice dancers, and it has been optioned by Netflix... **2025 **Audio

Every Tom, Dick &Harry by Elinor Lipman: I adore this author, and this book was as delightful as I hoped it would be. **2025 **Kindle!!

The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff: A May 2025 book! And maybe the best book I have read this year. It's a story of a couple through their marriage told form their perspectives as well as their daughter's. I cried at the end even though I was poolside. **2025 

STATS

BTM 21

Book books: 12

Kindle books 1

Audio books 8

2025 books: 12

BTY 87

Book books: 49

Kindle books: 3

Audio books: 35

2025 books: 44

April: What I Read

I read 22 books this month, 18 of them from 2025, and 2 of them from THIS VERY MONTH, and I bought ZERO BOOKS. My library game is SO STRONG (that I haven't cracked my Kindle since February **whomp whomp**)

The House of  my Mother by Shari Franke: Shame on me for reading this. **2025

Crush by Ada Calhoun: This book is buzzy, but I did not love it. **2025

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall: Another solid shrug from me, but I am in the minority because I think everyone else loves this one. **2025

Universality by Natasha Brown: I liked but did not love this slim little zinger of a book. **2025

The Switch by Beth O'Leary: THIS ONE IS REALLY ADORABLE. I know everyone was talking in someone's comments about how some of her books are bad, but this one is super cute. **Audio 

The Crash by Freida McFadden: I think we have been over how much I adore these awful books. This was my first time reading one of her books as opposed to listening, and the experience was equally enjoyable **2025

Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer by Dylan Mulvaney: The stated goal of this book is to bring more trans stories to the mainstream, and she does it! **2025

 We Could Be Rats by Emily R. Austin: Honestly, you guys, I feel bad that I don;t like her books very much. **2025

The Weekend Retreat by Tara Laskowski: A really enjoyable thriller with terrible people doing bad things to each other. **Audio

The Love We Found by Jill Santopolo: I loved The Light We Lost, so of course, I liked the sequel. **2025

Playworld by Adam Ross: I liked this book, but it also reminded me why I usually do not read dudes. **2025

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pilego: Liked this Clue-inspired thriller a lot. I didn't really care about any of the characters, though, and I wish I did. **2025

The Adults by Alison Espach: LOVED this one. I love this author, I guess. The main character is a MESS, and I was nervous the whole time-- this is a vibe I really like. **Audio

Table for Two by Amor Towles: Look at me loving 2 short story collections this year! This one is wonderful, BTW. **Audio

Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: So, okay, you guys. Adichie has come under fire for being a TERF. She denies the claim but also has said some things about women qua women that sound pretty essentialist. And! This book is really good with compelling characters and POVs that change in all of the ways you want them to-- and this is SO HARD, to write with several compelling and unique voices. I really really enjoyed it. BUT ALSO she defines her characters in a whole bunch of ways by their experiences as women in women's bodies-- the blood, the pain, the power inequality-- all of the things are "essentially" women's experiences, so it's hard to unsee the TERF allegations even as her own explanations put a more nuanced point on her initial remarks. She clearly sees gender as grounded in sex, so it makes sense that she would see nuance between cis and trans women-- and is recognizing this difference always hostile? Is noting that women who have been raised as women from birth and women who arrived at womanhood differently might have different lived experiences exclusionary on its face? I am unsure. **2025

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy: This book reminded me so much of Jane Harper and not just because of the Australian accents-- it was the way the physical setting was also a character. This book is SAD, so beware. ** Audio **2025 

A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler: This is a WI author who is more than "just" a WI author, and I really like his stuff. **2025

Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green: This is terrific. And now I know so many random factoids. **2025 **Audio

Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez: Loved this. Maybe my favorite one by this extremely readable writer. **Audio **2025

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry: This was not my very favorite book of hers, but I really loved it. **2025 **Audio

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson: LOVED loved loved this one! You gotta read it! **2025 **Audio

Woodworking by Emily St. James: OH THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD. I literally cannot imagine reading a better book this year, so maybe I should just stop now?  You should definitely read this-- the author writes for Yellow Jackets, and the HS girls in this story are wonderful. I loved it so, so much. **2025

BTM: 22

Book books: 13

Kindle Books: ZERO **shame shame shame

Audio books: 9

2025 books: 18

BTY 66

Book books: 37

Kindle books: 2

Audio books: 27

2025 books: 32

January: What I Read

Not my Favorites:

Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash: I just don't have the attention span for another WWII book it seems.

James by Percival Everett: It appears I am not smart enough for this book.

Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia: Listen, I really wanted to like this because I have huge ethical and labor rights concerns about AI. But, this book was based off of an excellent long-form article the author wrote, and there just wasn't enough there there for a book. Or she couldn't weave all the threads together?

Reboot by Justin Taylor: Solid meh, but the concept was terrific. **audio

Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While also in an Actual Cult) by Bethany Joy Lenz: Meh. But great title!

 Backlist Beauties:

Ward D by Freida McFadden: I like her books better the more terrible they are, and this one **chef's kiss** **kindle

What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman: A perfectly serviceable, page-turning thriller.

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen: THIS IS TERRIFIC. **audio

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen: Maybe I should read more books by dudes? **audio

The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery: Darling. *kindle

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand: HOW DID I MISS THIS ONE? **audio

These Titles Are so Last Year

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould: SO SCARY! Also YA, which I didn't realize until no one was having any sex even though they had Feelings. **audio

The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Fei-Fei Li: WELL THIS WAS TERRIFYING.

After Annie by Anna Quindlen: This is really wonderful-- you should read it. **audio

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer: YES! I loved this so much!!!! 

My First 2025 Book!!

What Happened to the McCrays by Tracey Lange: Hockey! Romance! Sadness! Liked it a lot.

Book Books: 8

Kindle books: 2

Audio books: 6

2025 books: 1

BTD: 16

(Dorothy is reading the book)