Books I've Read So Far In 2025
With half of the year having slipped by, I thought I would talk a little bit - without too many spoilers for upcoming Saturday Morning Post reviews - about what I've read this year so far.
At the time of this posting, I started 40 books so far in 2025. I did not finish 8 of those, so I read 32 books as of now. Last year I read in total 48 books, so I'm reading at a slightly faster pace than last year. I am also ahead in the number of books I DNFed, since the total for all of 2024 was 5 and I'm already at 8 only half way into the year. There is a simple explanation for the jump in DNFs that I'll touch on in a minute.
First the books I read. Below is the list of the books I've reviewed to date The first number in the listing is the Saturday Morning Post number of the review. I still have 15 more Saturday Morning posts written for the rest of the books I've read, or attempted to read. Clearly, I'm going to have to start releasing "Extras!" posts again, since I'm now nearly four months behind my reading in posting my reviews. I like a backlog, but I don't need four months worth.
Below is a list of the books which I've read so far this year, and have posted reviews of. The most recent review is on the top. The number before the title is that Saturday Morning Post (Number)
BlogPost # Title -Author-grade
113New York Minute Stephen Aryan C
112An Infamous Army Georgette Heyer C
111Convenient Marriage Georget Heyer DNF 31%
Emma Jane Austen DNF 6%
110Winter Journeys Audrey Driscoll B
109What Comes of Attending Commoners Ball Elisabeth Aimee Brown DNF 55%
108The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol 7 Beth Brower A
TheUnselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol Beth Brower A
107The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol 5 Beth Brower A
TheUnselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol 6 Beth Brower A
106The Old World, Book One, By the Hands of Men Roy M Griffis C
105The Wizard’s Butler Nathan Lowell DNF 29%
104The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol 3 Beth Brower A
TheUnselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol 4 Beth Brower A
103The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol 1 Beth Brower A
TheUnselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol 2 Beth Brower A
102John Nuclear at the Perihelion Palace Berthold Gambrel B
101The Devil’s Cub Gerogette Heyer B
100Brother Cadfael’s Penance B
99Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen C+
98The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer B+
97The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer B+
96Friday’s Child by Georgette Heyer A
95Mansfield Park by Jane Austen B-
94These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer B+
93Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett DNF (40%)
92The Toll-Gate by Georgette Heyer B
91Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer B+
90The Dawning of Everything by David Graeber & David Wengrow DNF
Despite a DNF to start the year, as you can see, my reading year took off strong, even with the 4 books I DNF'ed. The list includes lots of "B"s, and then we get to those 8 Emma M Lion A books. with their "A" grades. And I enjoyed the first Georgette Heyer books as well. However, my most recent reads of her books have not fared as well going forward.
However, like the Heyer books, all my reading has taken a turn for the mediocre. Going through the list of the upcoming reviews, I see that I have another 4 DNFs, to bring the yearly total to 8, with only 4 "B"s and no "A" books. The remaining books, 10 books in all, are "C"s of one sort or another with one movie review. In short, not a single book to write home about in the last couple of months. The saving grace of this period of book reading, was that I had gone back and reread the Emma M Lion series. Just as good, if not better, the second time around. No doubt it casts a long shadow.
Much of this downturn can be explained by the fact that I am exploring books that are out of my usual orbit of reading. This includes a number of classic authors and books, as well as some odd one-offs. For example, one book was suggested by neighbor, as well as several suggested by one or two of the booktubers I follow. And it also includes a first draft of a book by an author that I did not expect to like, but was curious anyway. There were also two books I reread that did not live up to my expectations. In short, my reading has been somewhat all over the bookish landscape, sampling this and that, mostly based on recommendations and a "What the heck" attitude. Prospecting is a risky venture. Sometime you discover gold, other times... "C"s and DNFs
I must confess I'm getting rather weary of "C" books, and fruitless quests to find new authors to read. I have a book on hold at the library from a new author recommended to me, but beyond that, I've grown rather leery of the recommendations I've been coming across on booktube. I think I'm in the mood to start pulling out some old favorites from my shelves. What's the point of having a library if not to keep the books you love, close at hand to reread again?
As a bonus feature, below is a map I came across of fictional London's St Crispian's as featured in The Uncollected Journals of Emma M Lion by Beth Brower.
Source: https://emma-m-lion.fandom.com/wiki/St._Crispian%27s
