Tag: reading

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Ten Before the End

Ten Before the End

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?

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What I’m Reading – September 2025

What I’m Reading Now

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!

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Reading Habits

When do you read? 

The answer to this question has changed over time for me. For most of my life, I simply read all the time (meaning at any moment that I could sneak in even a few minutes.) 

While my son was growing up, my time to read did lessen somewhat, but I still read way more than most people do. These days I tend to finish 10-12 books a month, with one of those usually being nonfiction.

The most common time you will see me reading now is during mealtime. From childhood, I always had the urge to grab a book while I was eating. I had to suppress that during family dinner time, but now that I am single with an adult child, I almost always read when I eat.

Outside of that, my reading times are pretty random. I do read in the evenings or on weekends, but I also watch TV or movies and put together jigsaw puzzles, so I’m not as single-minded about reading as in the past.

I’m interested to know what other people’s reading habits are and how they have changed over time, and I would love it if you left me a comment with your thoughts on this.

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What I’m Reading – August 2025

What I’m Reading Now

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!

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What I’m Reading – June 2025

What I’m Reading Now

In the Woods by Tana French – this is the first in the Dublin Murder Squad series and was recommended to me by someone on Bookstagram. I am just a few chapters in and am warming up to it.

What I Recently Finished

Fiction

  • Plymouth Undercover by Pamela Kelley – Court Street Investigations #1
  • Found in a Bookshop by Stephanie Butland – Lost for Words #2 (I didn’t realize until I was partway through that it was the second in a series, but I don’t think it detracted from the book and I plan to read the first one now)
  • Not Quite by the Book by Julie Hatcher
  • How to Stuff Up Christmas by Rosie Blake
  • Secrets of a Shoe Addict by Beth Harbison – Shoe Addict #2
  • A Shoe Addict’s Christmas by Beth Harbison – Shoe Addict #2.5
  • The Door-to-Door Bookstore by Carsten Henn
  • More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova
  • Rise & Shine, Benedict Stone by Phaedra Patrick

Nonfiction

  • Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulley

Short Stories

  • The Bookstore Family by Alice Hoffman – Once Upon a Time Bookshop Stories #4
  • Death Row by Frieda McFadden

What I Added to my TBR

Fiction

  • The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae by Stephanie Butland
  • The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland – Lost for Words #1
  • Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell
  • Anne of Avenue A by Audrey Bellezza
  • On Fire Island by Jane L. Rosen – The Fire Island Trilogy #1
  • Modern Persuasion by Sara Marks – 21st Century Austen #1
  • Take a Moment by Nina Kaye
  • Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
  • A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle – Time Quintet #1
  • Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
  • Homemaker by Ruthie Knox – Prairie Nightingale #1
  • Loveless by Alice Oseman
  • Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts
  • Woodworking by Emily St. James

TBR Stats/Goal Updates

  • I currently have 161 books on my TBR. Of those, 16 are nonfiction and 145 are fiction.
  • I finished 4 more of my 25 in 2025 list, bringing that total to 22.
  • I have read 58 books so far this year (my goal is 75).
  • I have adjusted my nonfiction goal to 1 per month, and I have maintained that pace thus far.

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

I have also joined The StoryGraph to see what it is like. My handle there is bookwormtrish if you would like to be friends. I am still getting used to it, and my favorite thing so far is the detailed stats. Here is my May Wrap-Up from the site:

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What I’m Not Reading

background book stack books close up
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Pexels.com

I find it fascinating to see what other people are reading; I think it really gives you a glimpse into their personality. It can also be quite telling to find out what types of books people choose not to read.

There are several things that make me avoid a book most of the time.  Here are just a few of them:

  • Abuse – I find it very difficult to read stories that include any form of abuse, whether it be towards children, adults, or even animals.
  • World War II – I have read my share of books set in World War II and used to enjoy them as much as any other genre. Somewhere along the way I just found that they lost their appeal. A book has to be very intriguing in some other way to get me to overlook the wartime setting.
  • A secret that is threatening to tear people apart, or has already done so – is it just me or does 1 out of every 4 or 5 novels harbor some secret just waiting to ruin an otherwise wonderful life? I almost always pass on these.

I’m sure there are other things that deter me from starting a book – I have become more and more picky as I get older.  But sometimes taking a chance on an author I haven’t read before is worth it, so I occasionally overlook them and give a book a try.

What things stop you from picking up a book that you come across?  I’m interested to hear what other people think about this topic.