As the skies get dark and the year winds down, it’s the season of reflection. As you read this, I’m likely drinking a mug of Poirot-themed tea, solving my Miss Marple puzzle, and looking forward to a bowl of desi tomato soup. A perfectly cozy end to an extremely busy year.
So busy, in fact, that I’m going to have to speed run the reflections a bit. It’s been a year of many milestones, and I’ve not really had the time to celebrate any of them. I’d like to take a minute to reflect on the books that most stood out this year – those I’ve already recommended, or lent, or otherwise shared most actively. And of course, it wouldn’t be a year-end wrap without some pretty charts…
A few data points…
Let’s actually start with those charts, just to set some context. I’ve had a bit of trouble with charting this year, as Goodreads seems to have double counted certain books I read, and completely ignored others. So I can confidently say that I have read somewhere between 173 and 192 books this year. My personal take is that it’s 180, but for the sake of chart sanity, you’ll see the lower end of the scale through this post. (If someone knows a Goodreads data engineer, please send them my way. I have Thoughts.)
Regardless, I was able to do a little bit of analysis. First question: genres. While I once again spent a lot of time in my “home bases” of mystery and fantasy, I was pleased to notice they were a little more in balanced than in 2024. Also exciting was the growth in my nonfiction reading, primarily driven by a newfound love of the right history. Picking up the right book in Rome this year really changed my reading habits (more on that later). “Other” was more varied this year, in part due to the specificity of the 52 Book Club Challenge. I definitely had to move out of my comfort zone, and I’m so glad for that.
Digging a bit deeper into those primary genres also reveals some interesting trends. My fantasy reading was a lot more varied this year than last year (and is the reason I can’t share my ratings charts, because there are too many subgenres!).
I read a lot more “cozy” fantasy this year than I have in the past, and somehow managed 17 fairy tale retellings to boot.Plus, I got into Chinese inspired court fantasy stories this year and really enjoyed the genre as a whole. My mystery side was a little less varied, though I read a little more historical mystery than usual. I’ve started to find the historical settings a bit more grounded / constrained than the plots in more modern stories, which often lends itself to more fair play.
Not much to say about my reading pace over the year, though I’ll share it here. April was a busy work travel + life events month, and then a bit of burnout recovery; my posting volume also suffered as a result. Ditto for September. I’m hoping this upcoming year will have a little more balance that allows me to build up a reading and posting buffer, such that I can be a bit more regular on this front.
I also got a bit curious about the recency of my reads, and you can see the results here. I read a LOT of new stuff this year, and this chart actually makes me want to go back to find older mysteries I haven’t read yet and see how they hold up. (Any recommendations?)
The books I can’t get out of my head
Next up is my favorite reads of the year. These are the books that I can’t stop thinking about – the ones that I’ve lent to friends and recommended to strangers. Each of them has impacted my reading and my preferences. And while I’ve written about many of them here, I want to take a minute to share the specific impact these books had on me – as a reader, and as a person. In order of impact, we have:
7. A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping
A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping is, in my opinion, cozy fantasy done right. It keeps to just the right scope and scale, filling its world with wonders without tipping into existential dread. It’s a book full of community and silly magical gags, with a cast I’d happily spend time with. It’s not a book to be taken too seriously—and that’s exactly the point.
6. The Raven Scholar
I couldn’t stop smiling while reading The Raven Scholar. Many have tried to tackle some if not all of these fantasy elements – the competition for power, the eight “houses” / divine affiliated societies, the socially awkward protagonist thrust into a murder mystery.
But Hodgson does what none of them could – create a compelling and interesting world with real depth of both cast and houses, and unveil it just a bit at a time. (It may help that I relate quite heavily to Neema. But I think I’d would have enjoyed it just as much from another perspective…) I recommended this to my partner over the holidays break and he absolutely inhaled it. Just a perfect version of the potential of this book – dark in the right moments, funny and touching in others, and full of a mysterious and intriguing world.
5. Katabasis
Babel was far and away my favorite book of 2022, and I was hoping that Katabasis would make me feel the same way. I’ve written a lot about this book already, so I won’t go into much more detail here.
R.F. Kuang writes books that feel intellectually stretchy—like a lively, engaging conversation with your most academic friends. Her character work is superb, and she consistently imagines worlds perfectly designed to explore her ideas. This is one of my most gifted, loaned, and recommended books of the year. If you have a math-inclined friend itching for something to wrestle with, this might be the one. (Plus if they want to believe in love again.)
4. Civilizations
My Thanksgiving read floors me every year, and 2025 was no exception. I likely wouldn’t have enjoyed Binet’s speculative history nearly as much without my earlier history phase—but I did have it, and so I loved every moment of exploring the what-if with him.
Civilizations reminded me of the depth and intricacy of historical political machinations, and how compelling they can be when told narratively. It also opened me up to longer arcs of real-world history, spanning decades or centuries—something I hadn’t meaningfully engaged with since high school. (I now have Islam’s Alexandria waiting patiently on my TBR.) This book reignited my curiosity about the history of civilizations in a lasting way. I can’t promise this will resonate the same way for you, but it totally reignited my curiosity about the history of civilizations.
3. Grand Forks
A book like Grand Forks was nowhere on my 2025 bingo card. If you’d told me last January that I’d read a book full of restaurant reviews of the local fare in North Dakota – and that it would make me cry – I would not have believed you. But I’m Marilyn Hagerty’s newest fan, and I wish I could read another 100 columns of her gentle yet snarky food reviews. Grand Forks and its personal human stories will live on in my mind forever.
2. Tress of the Emerald Sea
Strictly speaking, Tress isn’t a cozy fantasy – it’s somewhere between an epic fantasy and a modern fairy tale. But this is the fantasy book that made me feel the absolute coziest in 2025, and it’s one I actively look forward to sharing with other readers. (It’s also kid-friendly, which means my friends’ pre-teens now have a copy, as well our local Little Free Library.)
Sanderson has the perfect balance of humor, adventure, and genuine love for his cast. Reading Tress feels like watching a play where you can just tell the actors are having a good time. Tress of the Emerald Sea feels like literary play of the best kind, and I’d wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking for some engaging literary fun.
1. A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
How could I choose anything else? This is the book that launched my historical reading journey in 2025.
Emma Southon’s combination of meticulous research and wry humor is pitch-perfect. I learned, I laughed, and I found myself thinking more deeply about the nature of human life. Southon has a gift for selecting just the right historical details to illustrate her arguments, making the past feel immediate rather than abstract.
A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is directly responsible for many of my historical reading adventures this year—and it has fundamentally changed my reading life. I can’t wait to see what historical paths 2026 will bring.
Honorable mentions
A few additional books I loved, even if they didn’t quite make the “universal recommendation” cut:
- The Will of the Many & The Strength of the Few by James Islington: A bit too military for my taste, but a fascinating world
- Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin: A solid mystery with a delightful protagonist; I’d love to see more of her adventures
- The Railway Conspiracy by John Shen Yee Nee & S.J. Rozan: Traditional mysteries bridging Victorian London and China, with a hysterical Watson-like narrator
- Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson: Another excellent Secret Project—second only to Tress
- Fair Play by Louise Hegarty: a touching perspective on grief and a homage to the murder mystery genre
- Brunelleschi’s Dome by Ross King: Reading this while seated inside the dome itself gave it an unfair—but unforgettable—advantage
- The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman: I’ll gladly spend as many hours with the Thursday Murder Club as I’m offered
How far we’ve come
Last but not least, I’d like to spend a moment on milestones. 2025 was a surprisingly big year for this blog. We hit three years of existence (and four years of Advent of Mystery!). Post 200 was about a week ago. Over on Instagram, we just hit 5,000 followers. (That’s especially crazy when I remember that my high schools was les than 3,000 students and my university was even smaller.) I’ve written 49 posts, including this one, and just over 59,000 words.
Not only that – I finished my 52 Book Club Challenge in November, with over a month to spare. And that has led me to read so many new and different kinds of books, many of which have stuck with me enough that I want to share them with you all.
Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined writing this many words about this many books, with literally anyone reading them. Looking at the data and my favorite reads above, 2025 has clearly been a year of reading growth. I’ve branched out in my reading and my writing, across nonfiction and poetry and speculative history. And I’m more comfortable than ever in my own reading skin, sharing my new reading adventures with y’all and not worrying that my lack of expertise means I have nothing to share.
This blog remains an anchor in my life—but this year, it also became a vector for growth.
So I’ll end the year with a thank you. To you—especially if you’ve made it this far. I love writing this blog, shouting my garbled reading thoughts into the void of the internet. You make it feel worthwhile.
Stay cozy, and stay curious, my friends. I’ll see you in the new year.
2 responses to “Letters from the Reading Perch: Farewell to 2025”
This is soooooo good! Not sure what you are doing having an actual super demanding job. This is just splendid. Thank you for being you.
Thank you! It’s great to see you here 🙂