I have been thinking for a while about my reading goals for 2026. In 2025, my main goal was to read 75 books in the course of the year, and I finished with 126. I also had a goal to read 12 nonfiction books, which I met exactly.
Early in the year, I came across the #25in2025 tag on Instagram and decided to participate by making a list of 25 books I wanted to read in 2025. By the end of June, I had finished that list, so I made another one for the second half of the year, which I finished in December.
I am really pleased that I met all my goals for 2025 and am looking forward to some more great reads in 2026. This may change as the year progresses, but here are the goals I am starting out with for 2026:
Read at least 100 books.
Read 6 nonfiction books.
Join Kindle Unlimited to read the books from my TBR that I can’t get from the library. (I have gotten a headstart on this one as I recently was able to get a three month free trial.)
A few weeks ago I posted a list of 10 books that I wanted to read before the end of the year. I am very happy to say that I was able to complete the entire list!!
It was touch and go for a minute because when I put The Seven Year Slip on hold, it had a several month wait. But it finally started moving and I was eventually able to borrow it this month.
Here are the books from my Ten Before the End list:
Funny Story by Emily Henry
The Paris Cooking School by Sophie Beaumont
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
A December to Remember by Jenny Bayliss
Modern Persuasion by Sara Marks
Loveless by Alice Oseman
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
An account I follow on Instagram shared a list of ten books they want to read by the end of the year and my first thought was that’s what I need to get my reading mojo back. I have only read two books so far this month, which is pretty low for me.
Here are the ten books I want to read before the end of this year:
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
A December to Remember by Jenny Bayliss
The Paris Cooking School by Sophie Beaumont
Modern Persuasion by Sara Marks
Loveless by Alice Oseman
Have you read any of these? Do you have books you want to get in before the end of 2025?
Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare – The Infernal Devices #2 – I was encouraged to read this series by a good friend who loves fantasy books. I used to read a lot of fantasy years ago but have gotten away from it in the last couple of decades. It’s well written and an interesting story.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett – I have seen this around for a while and was intrigued enough to check it out. The main character seems to be autistic-coded, which is interesting.
What I Recently Finished
Fiction
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang – The Kiss Quotient #2
The Emma Project by Sonali Dev – The Rajes #4
The Sandy Page Bookshop by Hannah McKinnon
Every Time You Go Away by Beth Harbison
The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore
Wedding at Bella Beach by Kate Wentworth – Bella Beach #7
Smells Like Tween Spirit by Laurie Gelman – Class Mom #4
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle – Time Quintet #1
Nonfiction
The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say about Human Origins by Peter Enns
What I Added to my TBR
The Storytellers by Sue Heath
Something to Look Forward To: Fictions by Fannie Flagg
The Road to Cardinal Valley by Earlene Fowler – Ruby McGavin #2
The Incredible Kindness of Paper by Evelyn Skye
Confessions of the Other Sister by Paige Harbison
Once Upon a Time in Dollywood by Ashley Jordan
If I Could Turn Back Time by Beth Harbison
Christmas Wedding at Bella Beach by Kate Wentworth
Butterfly Inn by Kate Wentworth – Butterfly Lane #1
Once and Again by Rebecca Serle
TBR Stats/Updates
I currently have 163 books on my TBR. Of those, 10 are nonfiction and 153 are fiction.
At the end of June, I created a focused reading list of 25 books I would like to read by the end of the year. So far, I have read 11 of those books.
I have read 89 books this year (my goal was 75).
My nonfiction goal is 1 per month, which I have met so far with a total of 9.
Here are some more stats from StoryGraph:
Feel free to add me as a friend on Goodreads or StoryGraph. I’m always looking for new recommendations!
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang – The Kiss Quotient #2 – I somehow read books 1 & 3 of this series but missed book 2! This is a fun romance featuring an autistic main character written by an autistic author.
What I Recently Finished
Fiction
Yoga Pant Nation by Laurie Gelman – Class Mom #3
Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center
Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory
After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Incense and Sensibility by Sonali Dev – The Rajes #3
The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland – Lost for Words #1
How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry
The Nantucket Restaurant by Pamela Kelley
Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand – Paradise #1
What Happens in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand – Paradise #2
More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa – Days at the Morisaki Bookshop #2
Nonfiction
Becoming the Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry by Beth Allison Barr
What I Added to My TBR
The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun – The Charm Offensive #1
Tilda Is Visible by Jane Tara
The Love Haters by Katherine Center
The Forever House by Veronica Henry
Right Place, Right Time by Ali McNamara
The Sandy Page Bookshop by HannahMcKinnon
Introducing Mrs Collins by Rachel Parris
Drunk on Love by Jasmine Guillory
The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory – The Wedding Date #1
The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory – The Wedding Date #2
The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory – The Wedding Date #3
Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory – The Wedding Date #4
Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory – The Wedding Date #5
While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory – The Wedding Date #6
The Storytellers by Sue Heath
Something to Look Forward To: Fictions by Fannie Flagg
TBR Stats/Updates
I currently have 165 books on my TBR. Of those, 11 are nonfiction and 155 are fiction.
Since I completed my 25 in 2025 challenge, I created a focused reading list of 25 books I would like to read by the end of the year. So far, I have read 6 of those books.
I have read 80 books so far this year (my goal was 75).
I read 1 nonfiction book this month, which is my goal. My total for the year so far is 8.
Here are some more stats from StoryGraph:
Feel free to add me as a friend on Goodreads or StoryGraph. I’m always looking for new recommendations!
I really enjoyed the #25in2025 challenge that I completed last month; it was a nice way to make sure I read some of the backlist books I had on my TBR. My TBR has grown quite a bit over the last couple of years, and sometimes picking what to read next can be overwhelming. Since I enjoyed that challenge so much, I decided to make myself a focused reading list for the rest of the year.
My focused reading list has 25 books on it. They are all fiction and are all readily available to me, whether through the library/Libby/Hoopla, already on my Kindle, or as a physical book on my shelf. The publication dates range from 2011-2024. I am not limiting myself to these books if there is something else I really want to read, and I am still planning to read one nonfiction book each month.
Here is the list (alphabetical by author):
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
At the beginning of this year, there was a challenge floating around Bookstagram called the #25in2025 challenge. The idea was to identify 25 backlist books from your TBR that you wanted to read this year.
I came up with my list in mid-January, and I am excited to say that I have now read all of the books! (To be totally transparent, I did replace two of the books from the original list when they were hard to track down.)
There were some really good choices in this bunch, and I am so glad I did it. Here is the list of what I read as part of this challenge:
Fiction/Romance
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Ordinary Life: Stories by Elizabeth Berg
What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg
How to Get a (Love) Life by Rosie Blake
How to Stuff Up Christmas by Rosie Blake
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The London Flat: Second Chances by Juliet Gauvin
Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison
Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison
Secrets of a Shoe Addict by Beth Harbison
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick
Rise & Shine, Benedict Stone by Phaedra Patrick
Lawyers and Lattes: Happily Ever After in Devon by Rebecca Paulinyi
Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin
Thrillers
Crime Scene by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman
Billy Straight by Jonathan Kellerman
Twisted by Jonathan Kellerman
Nonfiction
The Great Sex Rescue by Sheila Wray Gregoire, Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach, and Joanna Sawatsky
Reading While Black by Esau McCaulley
Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark by Janet Kellogg Ray
The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby
How to Fight Racism by Jemar Tisby
God and the Gay Christian by Matthew Vines
Have you read any of these? Did any of them stand out to you?
The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland – Lost for Words #1 – I recently read the second book in this series and wanted to go back and read the first one. I am just starting it, but I have heard good things about it.
Yoga Pant Nation by Laurie Gelman – Class Mom #3 – I read the first two quite a while ago and am finally getting around to reading this one. It promises to be a fun read.
What I Recently Finished
Fiction
In the Woods by Tana French – Dublin Murder Squad #1
Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod – Austentatious #1
Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev – The Rajes #2
While I plan to read more than 25 books in 2025, I want to make an effort to reduce the number of older books on my TBR. Listed below are 25 backlist books I am planning to read this year. The publication years range from 1998 to 2022, with 20 of them being before 2020. I am not participating in any official challenges for this, but I did make a shelf on Goodreads so I can keep track of my progress.
Fiction:
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Ordinary Life: Stories by Elizabeth Berg
What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg
Chestnut Street by Maeve Binchy
Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy
How to Get a (Love) Life by Rosie Blake
How to Stuff Up Christmas by Rosie Blake
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The London Flat: Second Chances by Juliet Gauvin
Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison
Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Billy Straight by Jonathan Kellerman
Crime Scene by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick
Rise & Shine, Benedict Stone by Phaedra Patrick
Lawyers and Lattes: Happily Ever After in Devon by Rebecca Paulinyi
Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin
Nonfiction:
The Great Sex Rescue by Sheila Wray Gregoire, Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach, and Joanna Sawatsky
In So Many Words 