December 2025. What are you reading?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished The Everlasting by Alix Harrow and wow, it's my favorite book of the year. It felt so epic in scope and scale. Really loved it.

I picked this up from the Lucky Day shelf based on this post and it was really fantastic. Unexpected how much I liked it.

I just finished 10000 Doors of January, also by Harrow. It was charming. Harrow is a surprisingly good writer stylistically - which is not always the case for sci-fi/fantasy authors (not really a dig, I happily read all the genre, from lowbrow to highbrow)! Ultimately, it was a little twee and pat for me - but still enjoyed it. If anyone has another “must read” rec from her works, I definitely be interested for 2026!

Np, oh good, I have that on my book shelf - bought it because I liked how it looked so glad to hear it was enjoyable enough!

[Anonymous]

Listened to Hamnet, took three tries before I could get into it, but well worth the effort. It is so well written. Anyone else read Careless People, a memoir of sorts. I found it a fascinating read. Liked the Andy Weir book. Looking forward to trying some of the suggestions here - maybe The Correspondent next?

[Anonymous]

I downloaded a book called "14 days" and didn't finish it before my 21 day libby loan expired.
The premise of the book is that it is early days of the pandemic and the tenants of an apartment building in NYC gather on the rooftop every evening to bang pot and pans and cheer for the first responders working at the hospital across the street from the apartment building. Then the tenants stay on the rooftop and swap stories.

The book is a collection of short stories written by 36 well known authors including Margaret Atwood, Grisham, R.L. Stine, Celeste Ng, the lady who writes the Outlander books, the lady who writes the magic tree house books, others.
Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston were the editors who tried to tie all the short story contributions together. The money raised from the book went to supporting struggling authors during the pandemic.
I found it a bumpy ride. Some stories were good, but it seemed disjointed to me.
I got through about 80 percent of the book. I was relieved when my libby loan finally expired today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished North Woods based on recommendations here and really liked it. It did take me a while to get into. The initial vignettes did not grip me, but glad I stuck it out and loved the ending.

I started North Woods a few days ago after hearing people rave about it on here and I am struggling a bit to understand the hype. It’s different, for sure, but it’s not really gripping me yet. I’m about 100 pages in, should I give up if I don’t love it yet?

I am taking a break to go back to the Wedding People (which I had put down because suicide is close to home for me) and I’m so glad I pushed past the beginning. I am really loving it now

For me the book picked up after the story with the seance. I think it was at or around 150 pages?

I also loved the Wedding People!

Ok I finished North Woods! It was not my favorite but I am sure that’s partly because I don’t tend to like supernatural books. I LOVED Wedding People, will be on my best of 2025 list for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished Philippa Gregory's Boleyn Traitor, about Jane Parker Boleyn who served 5 queens and died along with Katherine Howard. It was well done.
I like Tudor era novels and am going to start Jo Harkin' The Pretender, about Lambert Simnel.

I read The Pretender earlier this year and will be interested in your thoughts!

I am having trouble getting momentum. Just got to the beginning of being in Oxford section.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Listened to Hamnet, took three tries before I could get into it, but well worth the effort. It is so well written. Anyone else read Careless People, a memoir of sorts. I found it a fascinating read. Liked the Andy Weir book. Looking forward to trying some of the suggestions here - maybe The Correspondent next?

Yes, liked careless people and loved the correspondent.