10 Books About Books and Reading I Have Read

I recently realized that I have read quite a few books about books and the reading life, so I decided to pick out ten to share with my four readers. The books are not listed in any particular order, and I am including links to the reviews so readers can learn more if they wish. 

Paperbacks from Hell: the Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction.

Words Onscreen: the Fate of Reading in a Digital World.

 A Pound of Paper: Confessions of a Book Addict.

 Book Love.

 

Browsings: a Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living With Books.

 The Card Catalog: Books, Cards, and Literary Treasures.

 The Bookshop Book.

 

 

 The Public Library: a Photographic Essay.

 

 

 The Library at Night.

 The Reader's Book of Days: True Tales from the Lives and Works of Writers for Every Day of the Year.

 

 

 

Brooklyn Public Library 250 list: how many have I read?

I recently came across this list of "250 for 250" book list from the Brooklyn Public Library. It is a list to celebrate the 250 years of the United States. The nice thing about this list is that it is pretty inclusive, and it is more then the usual "American classics." Anyhow, I decided to see how many of those books I read. Did not too well as I have only read 39. However, as often happens with lists like these, there may be authors I have read a different book not mentioned on the list. For the most part, what I did read are books I had to read for school be it school or university later on. There are a few I read voluntarily and/or for fun. Anyhow, here is my list of what I have read: 

• American Born Chinese. 
• The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.
• Walden.
• Nickel and Dimed.  
• Jurassic Park.
• Saga.
• Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook.
• Letter from Birmingham Jail. 
• Fun Home.
• Ellison, Invisible Man.
• Their Eyes Were Watching God.
• Common Sense.
• And the Band Played On.
• On the Road.
• Atlas Shrugged.
• Frog and Toad Together.
• The House on Mango Street.
• Ceremony.
• Collected Poems of Langston Hughes.
• Gender Trouble.
• Maus.
• The Godfather.
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
• The Lottery and Other Stories.
• Orientalism.
• Fahrenheit 451.
• Neuromancer.
• Parable of the Sower.
• Leaves of Grass.
• The Joy Luck Club.
• The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
• Fast Food Nation.
• War Against all Puerto Ricans.
• The Great Gatsby.
• Catcher in the Rye.
• Phillis Wheatley Complete Writings.
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
• Kitchen Confidential.
• March. Book One.

 

I am sure some of my readers have read more than I have from the list, so feel free to share in the comments how many books from the list you've read. Maybe you want to just share a favorite or two that you have read. Or tell me which ones you had to read in school or college versus ones you read for pleasure and fun. 

 

 

The top new-to-me authors I read in 2025

Again, this is another prompt I took noytes in the notebook then forgot to come back and post it here on the blog. So here we go, via That Artsy Reader Girl, my top new-to-me authors I read in 2025. Book links go to my reviews on this blog: 

 

Charlie Claire Burgess, Radical Tarot.

 

 

William J. Barber, II, White Poverty.

 

 

Cory Doctorow, The Internet Con.

 

 

Garry J. Shaw, Cryptic.

 

 

 

Chuck Collins, Burned by Billionaires.

 

 

Courtney Weber, Hekate: Goddess of Witches. 

 

 

 

 

 

Media notes: Roundup for May 2026

 

 

  

 

Welcome to my somewhat random selection of the movies and series on DVD and/or online I watched during May 2026.

Movies and films (links to themoviedb.org or Wikipedia for basic information unless noted otherwise). Some of these I watched via TubiTv.com or other online source. The DVDs come from the public library (unless noted otherwise). In addition, I will try to add other trivia notes, such as when a film is based on a book adding the information about the book (at least the WorldCat record if available). 

• Don't Breathe (2016. Horror. Thriller.Crime). Plot description: "A group of teens break into a blind man's home thinking they'll get away with the perfect crime. They're wrong."  I had not heard of this one before until Tubi showed it as a suggestion to watch. The trailer looked good enough. It's one of those in the genre of badass guy minding his own business when outsiders decide to mess with him for some reason, and hell then breaks loose for them. The small gang has specific rules: they mostly steal small valuables, no cash, to avoid charges of grand larceny if they get caught. However, the rumor the blind man has a large amount of money in the house, due to a legal settlement he got, is too much of a temptation for them. We get a bit of background on the thieves, very little, as they plan the heist, but let's be honest; these are not people deserving of sympathy given their crimes. An interesting detail, to me at least, is some of the ways the Blind Man knows or can tell there are people in his home whether from hearing or a good sense of smell. This was an unexpected thriller for me. Good amount of suspense and tension throughout. Plus, just when you think things can't get worse, we get a twist at the middle of the film revealing how far the Blind Man will go. Good performances from Stephen Lang as the Blind Man and Jane Levy as Rocky. The pace moves well, and it keeps going. The ending act may feel a bit drawn, but it still works well. This film keeps you at the edge of the seat, and while I am not sympathetic to the thieves, you do end up wondering if any of them will make it or not. This is pretty good, and I would recommend it. I understand there is a sequel, and I may try to find it. 4 out of 5 stars. Watched 5/2. 
• 2018 (Thriller. Action. Adventure. Indian film. Also known as 2018: Everyone is a hero). Plot description: "A disaster film set during the 2018 Kerala Floods where people from all walks of life faced catastrophic consequences and put in collective efforts to survive the calamity." Watched via TubiTv, which had the film dubbed in Spanish. I did not realize that until I started watching the film. Not an issue for me, though I admit I have not watched a Spanish dub in a while. Film starts introducing the various characters in the story, folks from various walks of life. Soon it starts raining, but initially it is just the usual rain, so life goes on. Until the rain continues, a new low pressure front moves in, and disaster comes with an unprecedented storm. Once the disaster is apparent, the people start rallying to help each other. Overall, a good drama, though the film can feel a bit long at times; it has a 2-hour and 28 minutes run time. Some moving moments, including the ending. We mostly follow the various small stories as people come together in the face of the floods. 3 out of 5 stars. Watched 5/10.
• Basis of the film was the 2018 Kerala Floods. Note from the looks of it, flooding in the area seems to happen often, but this year was particularly bad.
• The Moon (2023. Science Fiction. Drama. Disaster film. South Korean. Alternate title: Deu Mun). Plot description: "One astronaut, Sun-woo is left stranded in space. Facing another fatal catastrophe, the Naro Space Center turns to its former managing director Kim Jae-guk to help bring Sun-woo back home safely."  Tubi recommended this one as similar to something else I watched, but I can't recall similar to what now. Anyhow, sounds pretty good so took a chance on it. I've been happy with many of the Asian films I've been finding and watching on Tubi. The movie is a pretty good drama, though the tension of the United States refusing to help, comes across as just mean. Not just mean but outright mean and petty (though for the U.S. not surprising). Then there is the tension between Kim and the current director, who seems a bit more worried about his ego than doing the right thing and looking good for his superiors. Meanwhile, as for the mission, just when you think Sun-woo can get a break, something else worse happens. This is a reason the movie feels long; the writers kept adding obstacle after obstacle, but it does keep the tension of the film going strong. The suspense is quite good as we all wonder will they manage to get Sun-woo back home. And if that is not enough, there is a twist or two revealed. Overall, a solid thriller that keeps you on the edge to the very end. 4.5 out of 5 stars. Watched 5/16.
• Dracula 3000 (2004. Horror. Vampires. Science Fiction). Plot description: "On a routine mission, a salvage ship discovers a transporter vessel that vanished a century ago, unveiling a mystery far greater than they imagined." The movie is OK. A bit of Dracula retelling with a small touch of Alien,  but without the horror. This had potential, but it failed to capitalize on it. So we get a cheesy, somewhat slow science fiction film that is barely a thriller. The ending was also a bit abrupt. In the end, it was OK, so 2 out of 5 stars barely. Via TubiTv. Watched 5/24. 
• To leave no doubt this is a Dracula film, there are nods and details back to the original book. The transporter ship is the Demeter, and its Captain is named Abraham Van Helsing. The intern is named Mina, and of course Count Orlock is Dracula.  The system the ship is lost in is the Carpathian system.
• The captain of the Demeter, long dead by time the salvage ship finds them, left recordings that we see every so often in the film. This kind of goes back to the letters we get in the novel.  

 

Television and other series (basic show information links via Wikipedia unless noted otherwise). Some of these come in DVD from the public library. Others may be via YouTube, which, as noted before, I keep finding all sorts of other old shows in it, often full episodes:

• Gordon Ramsay's Secret Service (2025. Reality. Restaurants. Cooking). Plot description: Since often when Ramsay visits, restaurants try to clean themselves up before he gets there, this time he infiltrates restaurants with help of an insider to see what really happens. He enters a place after hours, sees the real messes, then later returns to help them. The insider's identity is not revealed until the end of each episode. This is a short show of only one season with 14 episodes, so I took a chance. If you like other shows where a celebrity expert goes in to fix a business, or you have seen other Ramsay shows, you may like this one. This one is OK. Fairly fast paced, though it takes days in the reality to fix a place. Some drama, as you expect in this kind of show, not as much as other Ramsay shows like say Hell's Kitchen. I thought the nicest episode was the one for the Eritrean restaurant and its very sweet matriarch owner. Overall not a big deal but entertaining enough. 
• A bit of the fun in watching the show is trying to guess who the insider is before an episode ends.  
• Also a small fun detail is to see what fake business name they give Ramsay's surveillance truck every week.
•  Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back (2018-2020. Reality. Restaurants. Cooking). Plot description: The premise here is Ramsay will attempt to fix a restaurant and get it back on track in 24 hours. To do so, his team and him travel in a giant truck that serves as command center and mobile training kitchen. Before fixing the place, he visits it undercover, wearing a disguise, often with guests, to assess the place. If you liked shows like his Secret Service (see above) or maybe Kitchen Nightmares (I tend to prefer his original British show, but 24 Hours is closer in style to the American version of Kitchen Nightmares), you may like this one. I saw Tubi had it, read a bit about it, took a chance and started it at the end of the month. It has three seasons, and I finished the first season, then about halfway into the second season by end of May. 
• Kojak (1973-1978. Action. Crime. Drama).  The classic police drama procedural with Telly Savalas in the title role as Lieutenant Detective Theophilus "Theo" Kojak. I continue this month starting with Season 5, episode 3. TubiTv lost the series at the end of April, but I managed to find that the Roku Channel had it on their stream, so I finished the series over on Roku in May. Overall, it is very much a 1970s series, but the stories are good for the most part, and many of the themes still hold up well. 
• Again, in actors you have seen elsewhere, Armand Assante appears in season 5, episode 6.  
• In season 5, episode 16, Shelley Winters is the guest star as a not so good con woman who happens to be sister in law to Captain McNeil.  
• In episode 19 of season 5 we see Jeff Conaway. Some of us know him later as security chief Zack Allen in Babylon 5. 

 

In 2025, my year in books tag

I saw this prompt over at Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub, and I wrote notes for it in my notebook. I then, as life often happens, forgot to post it on the blog here. I recently was looking through my writing notebook and found it, so I decided to go ahead and post it now. I suppose late is better than never. Prompts are as provided; the books are ones I read last year. Links go to my reviews of the books. 

• 2025 was the year of . . . Lies that kill. 
• In 2025, I wanted to be. . . Be More Vader. 
• In 2025, I was. . . Talking with the Tarot. 
• In 2025, I gained. . .  Fulfillment. 
• In 2025, I lost. . .  The Diary of a Bookseller. 
• In 2025, I loved. . . Hekate: Goddess of Witches. 
• In 2025, I hated. . . Ghost Station. 
• In 2025, I learned. . . The Internet Con. 
• In 2025, I was surprised by. . . Why I Love Horror. 
• In 2025, I went. . . (to the) Eerie Archives (Volume 3). 
• In 2025, I missed out on . . . (being) Hoodwinked. 
• In 2025, my family were. . . Burned by Billionaires. 
• In 2026, I hope it will be . . . Cryptic. 

 

If you did this tag and posted it, feel free to share a link with me, and I will go over and check it out. I am always curious what other people are reading out there. Or if you got any comments, feel free to write them down below.  

 

  

7 Tarot and esoterica books I read in 2025

This is the last of my top books read series for 2025. I will note that I did not plan on the number 7, but that is the total at the end of the year. This does not include any companion books that came with a cartomancy deck. Overall, I'd say I read some pretty good books in this category. Links go to my reviews. 

The list: 

 

Tarot Spreads

 

 

 

Radical Tarot

 

 

 

Tarot for Self-Care

 

 

 

Tarot in Other Words

 

 

 

Talking with the Tarot

 

 

 

Tarot for the Magically Inclined

 

 

 

Hekate: Goddess of Witches

 

 

So, have you read any of these? Or read any other books in cartomancy and esoterica? Feel free to share in the comments. 

 

 

 

 

 

7 graphic novels, comics, and manga I read in 2025

To be honest, this was a very low year for me in terms of reading graphic media. I tend to read a bit more in this format, but 2025 was a hard year as a whole. Here is what I managed to read in graphic media for the year.  

The first three volumes I read during the month of May 2025, and I wrote three short reviews in one post.   

 

Star Trek:Day of Blood

 

Star Wars Doctor Aphra, Volume 6: Unspeakable rebel superweapon

 

Star Wars, Volume 7: the Ashes of Jedha

 

 The rest in the list have individual reviews, and I provide the links in the title: 

 

Harley's Little Black Book

 

 I always enjoy Conner and Palmiotti working on a Harley Quinn volume, so naturally I had to pick this up. This series is always good fun.

  

Eerie Archives Volume 3

 

 

Eerie Archives Volume 4

 

The Eerie Archives series, along with other EC Comics Archive series published by Dark Horse, are always  good and entertaining option for me. I have been borrowing them from the public library a bit at a time, and they are always worth it. I hope to read more of these in 2026.

 

 

 

Captain Harlock Classic Collection, Volume 3

 

I finished the Captain Harlock Classic Collection series in 2025. If you've watched the animated series, you'll probably enjoy this as well. 

 

How about readers out there? Any good graphic media you read that you want to tell me about? Have your read any of these? Feel free to comment. 

Next week I wrap up my specific lists of books read with my list of Tarot and esoterica books I read in 2025, so feel free to come back and check it out. Again, thank you for reading and stopping by. 

 

 

 

 

 

4 fiction books I read in 2025

Yes, that title is accurate. After I looked over my reading list for 2025, I realized I had not read much fiction last year. I can summarize my year in fiction as follows. I read 2 Warhammer 40,000 omnibus editions, a book from the Horus Heresy series, and one standalone novel. 

Here then is the list: 

 

Iron Warriors Omnibus

 

In terms of fiction, this was the highlight of the year, and I rated it four of out five stars. From my review: "If you are ready to root for the 'bad guy,' this collection is a good option. If you've read the Ultramarines series, and you want to read more about their enemy, this is a good option as well. It makes a nice supplement or companion to the Ultramarines series. However, you can read this book without having read the other series." 
 

 

Ghost Station

 

This was my disappointment for the year in terms of fiction, and in terms of books overall for the year. It sounded so good, and it ended up so bad. This one got a one out of five stars rating from me, and that is rare, which indicates how poorly the book performed. Feel free to read the full review. 

 

Honour Imperialis

 I often enjoy most Warhammer 40,000 omnibus editions and anthologies because they often provide a sampling on a theme, faction, and/or events. This edition focuses on the Astra Militarum, also known as the Imperial Guard. The volume features three novels and four short stories by different authors. As often happens in collections, quality can vary. For me, only one of the novels was really good, and one of the short stories was pretty good too. Still, I did appreciate the variety. 

 

Prospero Burns

 

This is book 15 in the Horus Heresy series. I am slowly reading my way through the series, and I do intend to read to the end. However, books like this one do not make it easy. Dan Abnett wrote it, and I feel this is not his best. I've read some of his other stuff, which is better. He is considered one of the better writers for Black Library, but as I said, this book does not exemplify that. This one also earned only one out of five stars for me. Feel free to read the full review. The series has 64 books, so I still got a long way to go. There is a sequel to the original 64 books recently published, but I am not worrying about that now. We'll see when I get to the end of the series. As of this post, I did finish book 16, Age of Darkness, which is a short fiction anthology. I'll have a review of that here soon. 

 

Overall for me I would say this was not a good year for fiction. In addition to these, I dropped at least one other fiction anthology, but that one I still kept in my TBR list. I just did not feel like reading it at the time, so I may go back to it later. Still, I am holding hope for 2026.  As I mentioned, I finished Age of Darkness as the year opened. I am currently reading The Rose at War, a Warhammer 40,000 collection featuring the Adepta Sororitas, also known as the Battle Sisters, and so far the book is good. I also have a couple of other novels on my TBR list I would like to read in 2026. Stay tuned and come back to see what else I read and review in 2026. 

How about folks out there? Any good fiction you read that you want to share and recommend? Have you read any of the books I read on this list? Feel free to comment.  

Next week I will be posting my list of graphic novels, comics, and manga I read in 2026.  

 

 

My Top 7 nonfiction books read in 2025

I recently wrote and posted my full reading list for 2025. It was a lean year for me in terms of reading books, but I did manage to read some good books. In the next few weeks I will be writing out and posting my lists of top books I read in various categories. Let's start this week with my top seven in nonfiction. As I mentioned in my reading list, I read 37 nonfiction books, and today I am picking out my top seven. These are books that I rated 4 or 5 stars out of 5 stars, and they are books that stayed with me. This list is in no particular order. Links to my reviews are included. 

 

White Poverty

 

As I wrote in my review: The book "affirms something I believe strongly: if only we could unite against the oligarchs and robber barons, truly unite, we could truly change things." This book also made my list of "recent reads that I rated 5 stars" I wrote back in July of 2025, so even back then I knew this book would be one of my top books for the year. 

 

 

Bad Law

 This is a book I really liked and one that is necessary in the Hard Times we live in. 

 

The Internet Con

 

From my review: "In this small book, the author explains how major Internet companies became the monopolistic behemoths they are now. He also explains how these large companies manage to hold us hostage, making us stay with them even as we hate them and perhaps hate ourselves for staying." Doctorow then goes on to provide advice on how take back control. 

 

This Book is Yours and Free to Keep

 As I wrote in my review: This book is "a powerful document of the human spirit. It is also an important book about the [Appalachian] region and the impact of the prison industrial complex in the region."

 

Why I Love Horror

 From my review: "If you are a horror fan, this is a must-read book. If you are curious about horror, this is a good book to learn about the genre and what motivates some of its current writers to keep on writing it. The book is truly a great sampling of modern voices in contemporary horror." 

 

Burned by Billionaires

 

From my review: "If you want to learn more about how billionaires got where they are now, how they stay there, and what they do to keep their dynasties going, then you need to read this book." 

 

Hekate: Goddess of Witches

 As I note in my review: "If you feel the goddess may be calling you, if you are curious and interested, this can be a book for you." I will add this is a book that has stayed with me. 

 

And this is my nonfiction list. Have you read any of these? Do you have any top nonfiction works you recommend? What are you currently reading in nonfiction? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know. Next week I will be looking at the fiction I read in 2025. 

 

 

 

Reading List for 2025

Welcome to my end of year report and 2025 reading list. Before we get to the book list let me write down some end of year thoughts. 

2025 was a seriously hard year. It made 2024 look like a walk in the park, and 2024 was bad. Even before I did the tally of books read for the year, I already knew I read a lot less than previous years. In the big picture, the Pendejo In Chief and his Party of Stupid regime have been terrible for the United States to the point the rest of the world is basically staying away from this country. Closer to home, some stress from work and changes in the workplace. Last summer we also had to travel out of state for a funeral. Overall there is a constant tense energy in the air. Best I can do is take it a day at a time and make sure I do my best to care for myself and those close to me.  

On social media, these days my two primary places are Bluesky, which during 2025 starting taking some serious turns towards enshittification, and Mastodon; I am on the mas.to server, but you can connect with me there if you are on any of the many Mastodon servers. I am keeping my eye out for other social media options in part in case I need to leave Bluesky and in part because I do like trying out new sites. 

I still keep my presence on Facebook, mainly due to my library's FB page which I help maintain. I know my superiors are leaning to deleting it, but they also still use it for announcements and outreach, and despite low stats, anecdotally I know students still in FB do see our stuff. For now, I am hanging in there and only logging into Facebook when necessary. 

I do have a LinkedIn I have not used in years, but I am afraid I may need to start using it, in part because our college has gone all in on LinkedIn and their learning modules, so I may need to get more active on it in part to access the learning modules and show students how to use them. So far, I have not needed it. We'll see how that may go. 

Overall, I am keeping my social media relatively minimal, mainly Bluesky and Mastodon. Reminder you can always find me here on the blog, at least for now. 

On blogging, this blog remains my primary blog and site.Here you can find book reviews, cartomancy reviews, some book and reading related content, and a few miscellaneous posts. If interested, I usually post here on Fridays, but I may post other days as needed. 

My professional blog, Notes from a Simple Librarian, remains open, but I am not worrying about it much. I may do a post here or there if I find something in librarianship I want to write about or make a note on some LIS reading I may have done, but otherwise it's mostly dormant at this point. While I do continue reading the LIS literature, I don't always have the time to make notes and post them on the blog. I am not reading as much in the LIS literature as I could be reading, but it is what it is. I am doing the best I can in terms of keeping up with the profession. Overall, I've made peace with that. 

My second blogging focus is on Alchemical Thoughts, my cartomancy and commonplace book blog. I continue to enjoy writing about parts of my cartomancy and magic craft journey on the blog. Despite the clusterfuck that was 2025, I still managed to do some writing over there on my cartomancy and magical craft, doing and posting spreads, and other writing and commonplace notes. If interested, I tend to post to this blog on Wednesdays, other days as needed. 

On things I've mentioned previously: 

• My politics/social issues/activist stuff moratorium has softened quite a bit. Given the Hard Times, I feel I cannot completely tune out politics/social issues/activist stuff. I still try to keep tuning into that to a minimum, but I cannot completely tune it out. One way for me to do my part is to keep learning and educating myself, so I am reading more books in those areas. 
• My boycott against the publishers that sued Internet Archive, their imprints, and any other defending those publishers continues strong. I do not foresee ending it any time soon, and while I know I am only one librarian and reader, I am making my displeasure known. On a positive, as I mentioned last year, is that I have discovered many new to me independent publishers putting out some very nice work I want to read. I still have the intention of writing a bit more on how this boycott has worked for me. We'll see if I find the time. 
• A reminder: Want to see what movies and media I watched? Click on the blog tag for "Film and television."  I do brief reviews of movies and media I watch, mostly movies that are new to me, i.e. not brand new (think back list).  

As one year ends and a new one begins, I am grateful to my four readers who support me and keep coming back to read what I write and/or share it with others. Thank you, and I hope you keep coming back. If you can, feel free to bring a friend or two.  

 

So here is the 2025 list. If you see a book title with an asterisk (*), that is a book I reread. If I have written a review for a book, it is on this blog. 

 

January: 

 

• Graham McNeill, The Iron Warriors Omnibus (Warhammer 40,000).
• Elaine C. Kamarck, Lies that kill. 

 

February: 

• Peter Mohrbacher, Angelarium: Oracle of Emanations (kit with card deck and book).

 

March: 

• William J. Barber II, White Poverty.
• Leiji Matsumoto, Captain Harlock the Classic Collection, Volume 3. 
• Jackson Lanzig, Star Trek: Day of Blood.
• Simon Spurrier, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Volume 6: Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon.
• Kieron Guillen, Star Wars, Volume 7: The Ashes of Jedha.
• Michele Santamaria and Nicole Pfannenstiel, Information Literacy and Social Media.
• Barbara Moore, Tarot Spreads. 
• Pamela Chen and Ashley Cassaday, Steampunk Faerie Tarot (kit with card deck and book).
• Alana Fairchild, Crystal Mandala Oracle (kit with card deck and book). 
• Charlie Claire Burgess, Radical Tarot.

 

April: 

• Bill J. Leonard, Appalachian Mountain Christianity.
• Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, Harley's Little Black Book. 
• Lawrence R. Samuel, Literacy in America. 
• Minerva Siegel, Tarot for Self-Care. 
• Mark Ryan, et.al., The Wildwood Tarot (kit with card deck and book).
• Archie Goodwin, et.al., Eerie Archives, Volume 3. 
• S.A. Barnes, Ghost Station. 

 

May: 

• Various authors, Honour Imperialis (Warhammer 40,000). 
• Aaron Sigmond, Cigars: a Biography.

 

June: 

• Marcus Katz and Tali Goodwin, Easy Lenormand (kit with card deck and book).
• Colette Baron-Reid, The Enchanted Map Oracle (blue edition. Kit with card deck and book).
• Elie Mystal, Bad Law. 
• Dan Abnett, Prospero Burns (Horus Heresy, Book 15). 
• Christian Blauvelt, Be More Vader. 
• Cassandra Snow, ed., Tarot in Other Words. 
• Darkness Prevails with Carman Carrion, Appalachian Folklore Unveiled. 

 

July: 

• Cory Doctorow, The Internet Con.
• Alec Macgillis, Fulfillment. 

 

August: 

• Samantha Rose Hicks, Talking with the Tarot. 
• Jim Davis, Garfield Fat Cat 3-pack, Volume 14.*
• Connie Banta, et.al., This Book is Free and Yours to Keep. 
• Shaun Bythell, The Diary of a Bookseller.
• Randy Crutcher, Cosmic Cat Wisdom Cards (kit with card deck and book).
• Paul Kepple, Housewives Tarot (kit with card deck and book).
• Tom Gauld, Department of Mind-Blowing Theories. 

 

September: 

• Jack Chanek, Tarot for the Magically Inclined. 

 

October: 

• John O'Conner, The Secret History of Bigfoot. 
• Mara Einstein, Hoodwinked. 
• Becky Siegel Spratford, ed., Why I Love Horror. 

 

November:  

• Garry J. Shaw, Cryptic. 
• Laura and Sandra Caputo, Otherworld Oracle (kit with card deck and book). 
• Chuck Collins, Burned by Billionaires. 
• Adam Szetela, This Book is Dangerous! 
• Bill Parente, et.al., Eerie Archives, Volume 4. 

 

December: 

• Pietro Alligo, Joker Tarot (kit with card deck and book). 
• Courtney Weber, Hekate: Goddess of Witches. 
• Stephen Starring Grant, Mailman.  

 

 

Number of books read in 2025: 50, including 1 re-read.  

 

 

Number of books read in 2024: 83, including one re-read (the 2024 list).

Number of books read in 2023: 80, including 3 re-reads (the 2023 list). 

Number of books read in 2022:  82, including 5 re-reads (the 2022 list).

Number of books reading in 2021: 69, including 3 re-reads (the 2021 list).

Number of books read in 2020: 80, including 5 re-reads (the 2020 list).

Number of books read in 2019: 72   (the 2019 list).

Number of books read in 2018: 74, including 2 re-reads (the 2018 list).
Number of books read in 2017: 84 (the 2017 list).
Number of books read in 2016: 92, including re-reads (the 2016 list).
Number of books read in 2015: 123, including 2 re-reads (the 2015 list).
Number of books read in 2014: 152, including 2 re-reads (the 2014 list).
Number of books read in 2013: 173, including 2 re-reads (the 2013 list).
Number of books read in 2012: 117, with 6 re-reads (the 2012 list).
Number of books read in 2011: 119, with 3 re-reads (the 2011 list). 
Number of books read in 2010:  119, with 6 rereads (the 2010 list).
Number of books read in 2009: 98, with 5 rereads. I believe this is the first time I started to actively track rereads. (the 2009 list).
Number of books read in 2008: 111 (the 2008 list).
Number of books read in 2007: 85 (the 2007 list).
Number of books read in 2006: 106 (the 2006 list).
Number of books read in 2005: 73 

 

Commentary and thoughts on numbers:  

 

As I mentioned, I felt that I read less this year, and sure enough, I read quite a bit less in 2025. One reason is just have to look around at the current clusterfuck. I also did pick up a few omnibus editions and other long books that took me a long time to read. Heck, I am still slowly getting through Alhazred, which is seriously long. I am carrying that one into 2026, and with luck may finish it this year. Yet I've also just been tired between work and the world around me, so felt like reading less, or often just fell asleep at end of day after reading a page or two in a book. It was a rough year for reading, yet I am grateful I did still read the amount of books I did. We'll see how 2026 goes. At this point, I am not making predictions on how many books I may read in 2026. I will just keep reading, and we'll see at the end of 2026. Oh, a positive note: I did complete all of my reading challenges for 2025. As of this writing, I am still deciding which reading challenges, if any, I may do for 2026, so stay tuned. 

 

The numbers: 

 

 

 

Annual reading report elements: 

 

Numbers: 

 

Re-reads: 1, the Garfield book, which was a comfort read. 

 

Best reading month: March with 10 books. 

Worst reading month:  A tie between February and September with 1 book each. September makes sense as it is very busy season in an academic library. February was just not that good last year. and it is also somewhat busy time at work. 

 

Books read in print: 37

E-books reading (includes galleys): 13

Read in audio: 0. 

 

I prefer print, and that preference remained strong in 2025.  

 

Graphic novels (includes comics): 8

Manga: 1

 

I usually read a few more graphic novels, comics, and/or manga, so that is another small sign of how bad 2025 was for the reading mood.  

 

Fiction (not including manga nor graphic novels): 4

Nonfiction:  37

 

I am more a nonfiction reader than fiction, and this year is no exception. For me, I can pick up nonfiction a bit easier because it feels like I can drop it and pick it up again easier if I get interrupted. Fiction tends to require more concentration to follow a plot. However, fiction tends to work better for me when I need some serious escapism. At least two of the fiction books I read were omnibus editions that contain more than one novel, so technically if I had picked up the individual works, my fiction number could've been higher, but that is a small detail. Lately, I've been trying to read short stories to see if I can get into fiction a bit more. So far, not too successful as I pick up a short fiction collection, read a story or two, then can't seem to get back to it. It feels like a symptom of the malaise of the Hard Times. However, I am not ready to give up yet. One bit of fiction I do enjoy is Warhammer 40,000; I tend to stick with those, so there is that. I will just keep trying other fiction a bit at a time. As for nonfiction, I have plenty of choices to read. 

 

Library books: 

 

• Berea branch, Madison County Public Library:1
• Eastside branch, Lexington Public Library: 11
• Hutchins Library, Berea College: 12
• Interlibrary Loan: 0.  

The Lexington Public Library tends to have a larger selection of comics and graphic novels. However, their key feature for me is that they offer unlimited renewals. As long as no one else recalls a book or puts it on hold, I can keep renewing it. As a slow reader I find that feature very helpful. Madison County Public Library needs to get with the program; they still restrict loans to two renewals. For me, even though it is a bit of a drive, it is easier to make the trip to the Eastside branch once a month or so while I also go do the monthly Costco run. I can just stock up on a few books out of Eastside which can last me for a while and not worry about having to rush them back. In addition, in 2025 I started making more of an effort to read some of the books my library gets. Those are more academic, so I balance those with what I borrow from the public library. In addition, reading books from my library allows me to get a better sense of what is coming into the collection, and once in a while it is useful for research consultations when I can recommend to a student a book on their research topic that I have actually read. 

 

In terms of e-book options, I have access to Madison County Public and Lexington Public holdings through Libby. In addition, Madison County Public also has Hoopla. However, I have not felt a need to use Libby nor Hoopla as much given I can find plenty to read in print. So most of my e-book reading is either galleys or a book or two I may own. 

 

Books I own: see my list of reading challenges for 2025. I read 24 books I own last year, which is pretty darn good for me.  

 

Books borrowed from anyone (not family) or recommended by others: 0.

 

Other numbers of interest to me:

 

• Erotica: 0. The Hard Times are just awful when it comes to reading erotica. I may have read a short fiction piece here or there, but nothing worth mentioning. As I wrote at the start of 2025, I have a feeling 2026 will not be better in terms of improving the mood to read erotica. Having said that, an observation, it seems some erotica writing has declined, at least the publishing of anthologies and collections. I am sure plenty of it is being written in forums, Literotica, and similar places but I am just not seeing actual more traditional publications in erotica as I used to see a few years ago. I may out of curiosity look into that, but it is not a priority at this moment. 
• LIS and reference: 3. One of them is an LIS book. The other two are not technically LIS, but their topics are relevant to the field, so they get included here. 
• Tarot and Oracle (includes deck companion books): 16. 
• Other esoterica/pagan/spirituality: 1.
• Netgalley: 2. Netgalley this year implemented Thorium and the associated DRM that goes with it. I tried it out, and to put it charitably, it is a pain in the ass to use. It's so bad I have decided I am no longer requesting anything new out of Netgalley. I will post reviews for some older items, that I may have a copy via a library, but otherwise Netgalley is pretty much dead to me. 
• Edelweiss Plus: 8. This has become the reliable way to get e-book galleys for review. Their system, Adobe, works. I am not a fan of Adobe's DRM, but compared to the clusterfuck that is Netgalley's new system, it works. I pray to the Cosmic Joker Edelweiss does not follow Netgalley's way because at that point they'll be dead to me too. While I enjoy reading newer works as ARCs, it is not an essential thing for me, and I have plenty of books I can borrow to keep reading and doing reviews.   
• On a side note, EBSCO, one of the big library database vendors, just went with Thorium for their e-book DRM. I usually don't read e-books from my library because they are on EBSCO, J-Stor, or some academic publisher, and they are all a pain in the ass to download and read when compared to the ease of using Libby. My electronic resources librarian tells me that very few patrons actually download a full e-book from our holdings. Mostly our patrons may download a chapter here or there for research, but no one is really reading whole e-books from our collection. But that is another story for another day. 
• Other books offered for review, i.e. not Netgalley nor Edelweiss Plus. These books come from a publisher, author, editor, etc. that offered me a book or that I requested. Once in a while a book comes in unsolicited, so I may be on someone's list, which is fine: 1, and it was a duplicate since I got it via Edelweiss Plus for review. Happens sometimes.  
• Books in Spanish: 0. This was not even on my radar in 2025; that's how bad the year was. 
• True crime: 0. This was not on the radar much either. In addition, it seems a good amount of books in this genre are published by publishers on my boycott plan, so they tend to be a bit harder to find for me. 
• Food and drink: 0. Also not on the radar. 
• Poetry: 0. Not even a priority at this point, and to be honest, not sure if I will pick up any poetry in 2026.
• Appalachian and regional: 3. I am adding this category this year. This is not an area that is within my reading profile, but I do make a small effort to read a bit in this area given my place of work and our student population. Three for the year is pretty good. 
• Books that broke the politics/social issues/activist moratorium: 10. As I mentioned above, the moratorium is softening, and I am gradually stepping away from it. In the Hard Times, I do need to be informed, and I need to be able to share what I learn with others.   

 

This time last year I was reading the following books. Links go to the reviews: 

• William J. Barber II with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, White Poverty. (As you can see, I started the year breaking moratorium here).
  
• Various authors, Honour Imperialis (Warhammer 40,000. This is an omnibus edition of three novels by different authors plus a few short stories). 
• Xueting Christine Ni, ed., Sinophagia: a Celebration of Chinese Horror. I ended up dropping this one, but I am still keeping it in the TBR list to try again later. 
• Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, Harley's Little Black Book. 
• Barbara Moore, Tarot Spreads. 

 

As we start 2026, I am reading the following books: 

 

• Ellen Datlow, ed., Christmas and Other Horrors: a Winter Solstice Anthology.
• Danie Ware, The Rose at War (Warhammer 40,000. An omnibus with some short stories and novellas featuring the Adepta Sororitas). 
• Hu Anyan, I Deliver Parcels in Beijing. 
• Soma Chaudhuri and Jane Ward, eds., The Witch Studies Reader.  
• Donald Tyson, Alhazred: Author of the Necronomicon. This is a carry over from last year, and I hope I can finish it in 2026.  

 

Finally to wrap up, here are a few bloggers I have found who do end of year reading lists and surveys: 

 

• Counter Craft offers their best books they read in 2025, that were NOT published in 2025.
• Feed Your Fiction Addiction has their end of year book survey. Sadly, they just announced they are closing down their blog after 2025.  
• Based on a True Story has their wrap up. 
• Jessamyn West has her 2025 reading list and commentary. 
• Literary Saloon points out to a few people who still do end of year reading posts.  

 

As I have mentioned before, finding other bloggers doing this is challenging given there are few active blogs out there that provide good writing consistently. It seems every year one or two blogs I follow go extinct. As for me, I will keep on blogging as long as I can. 

If you made it this far, thank you for reading and stopping by. I wish you all a safe, happy, and prosperous 2026, and may you find many good books to read. 

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday Post 2025: Books and reading

Welcome to my third holiday post for 2025. 

 

In case you missed them, here is the first post looking at  "Traditions, Manners, and Miscellany" and the second post looking at "Gifts, strange things, and other shopping." 

 

Today I am looking at books and reading. I will look at some book lists, and see if there are any books I may have read and/or any books I would like to read down the road. If I read a book and reviewed it, I will add a link to the review so you can check it out as well. If I mention a book for my TBR list, I will include a WorldCat link so you can find it in a library near you. I will also add any other stories about reading during the holidays season as I find them. 

Even though I track a pretty broad range of sources on my feed reader, I know that I miss some things. Doing this post allows me to get an idea of what is out there that I may not have seen, and maybe it may also be of interest to my four readers.  

 

Big lists

  

This is what the title says: the big lists, you know, the ones everybody looks at and usually get covered in the media from the legacy media to every other book writer. I usually include these to remind myself of what other media thought were the big book deals of the year. I may or not have read anything from the big lists since I tend to read other things, but one never knows. Let's have a look in no particular order. 

• Amazon's best books of 2025. Like them or hate them, one has to acknowledge the outsized influence that the Big A has on books, reading, and publishing. Their page has lists in various categories such as a Top 20, their editors' picks, and lists by categories. I can say I have not read anything from their Top 20 selections, and I am at peace with that. 
• Barnes and Noble is not as big as they used to be, but still big enough to look at their 2025 best books list. They also offer lists in various categories, and to be honest, they offer more categories than the Big A.   

 

 Lists from Newspapers, Magazines, Periodicals, and other Websites

  

This is a look at print and online media ranging from large and popular publications to smaller ones. It is a very selective sampling of what is out there, and for the most part these are general lists. 

• Time Magazine has their 100 must-read books of 2025,  which odds are good meant I did not read a single one in 2025 because I rarely read must-read books. After looking at the list, sure enough, I have not read a single one. However, there are two books on the list I have on my current TBR( to be read) list: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter and The Martians. 
• The New York Times has a list of 10 best for the year. To be honest, compared to other lists, this one seems a bit measly. 
• The Associated Press has their must-reads of 2025. It has a blend of fiction and nonfiction, and for the most part fairly predictable. Still, from their list, Careless People by Sarah-Wynn Williams, the whistleblowing account of a former Facebook worker, may be the one for the TBR here. Although to be honest I am not sure I want to read yet another book on the malfeasance and corruption running rampant in social media and technology companies. I may need to order it for our library though. 
• I am sure every other librarian, including me, looks at Publishers Weekly best books lists, and here is the one for 2025.   The Buffalo Hunter Hunter made this list too; it made quite a few end of year lists, and from what I hear it is well deserved. Aside from that, nothing really catches my eye from this list. 
• Here is Esquire's list of 35 best books for 2025.  
• From their list, I will say Jane Austen is not on my usual reading horizon. I had to read some of her works as an English major, and that was more than enough for me. However, the book Jane Austen's Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney, which is about a book collector seeking the women writers that had an influence on Austen does sound interesting. I tend to like books about the book trade, antiquarian books, and history of books, so I am adding Romney's book to my TBR list.
• Yes, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter made this list too.
•  Colossal offers their list of favorites for 2025. Most if not all on their list I had not seen before, and some they describe as whimsical. An example of whimsical would be the book Fresh Sets: Contemporary Nail Art from Around the World. That book shows once again that you can really find a book on just about any topic. On a side note, on checking Worldcat, for my location, I see at least two libraries in Kentucky already have it, so I may consider requesting it on Interlibrary Loan. 
• Here is the list of best from Foreign Affairs. These are selected by their editors and reviewers. If you are a bit more into politics and current affairs, some of the books here may be for you.
• The Kyiv Independent offers a list of Ukraine-related books for the year, timely given current events at the moment.  
• Libby, the library service, also has a list of best books for 2025. If you have a library card in the United States, make sure you check to see if you library uses Libby for ebooks, audiobooks, and other media. I certainly recommend it both as a librarian and as a reader. 

 

 Lists by genres 

  

These are lists for specific genres and formats. Again, they are not listed in any particular order.  

• Literary Hub lists their best audiobooks for 2025.  I do not listen to audiobooks very much, but I do enjoy having someone read a book to me once in a while. For audiobooks, I tend to favor nonfiction as it feels easier to follow and to interrupt if I have to pause listening. From their list, Alton Brown's Food for Thought: Essays and Ruminations is the one catching my attention for the TBR list now. 
• Want more audiobooks? LibroFm has a list too.  
• Literary Hub also has a list of 100 notable books from small presses. For me, one of the positive things to come out of my (selective) publishers' boycott is discovering and reading more books from small and independent presses. Also note that Lit Hub's list serves as a counter to the New York Times 100 notable books list for the year. Most of the books on the list seem to be literary fiction or creative nonfiction, but there are one or two other genres that may be of interest. From the list: 
• Costs of Living: A Whisper House Press Horror Anthology sounds interesting. I am trying to read a bit more horror these days, so I am always looking for good anthologies as I find short stories a bit easier to read lately. 
• Speaking of horror, also adding  Dead Red and Razor, a novella, to the TBR list.
• In nonfiction, The Sound of Exile: European Jewish Refugees in Shanghai 1938-1941 may be one I need to order for our library.
•  From CrimeReads:
• List of best books in crime fiction, mysteries, and thrillers.  
• Their best of noir fiction. 
• Here is their espionage fiction list.
•  Times Now (India) has a small fantasy and science fiction list for the year.
• Gizmodo got 20 science fiction, fantasy, and horror authors to pick out their best books in those genres for the year.  Naturally, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter made the list. 
• In history: 
• History Extra, part of the BBC, has a list of 37 best history books for the year.
• From their list, I already checked out from our library A Short History of the Gaza Strip.  While I know the basics of the history, I figured reading an up to date history would help me understand things better. 
• The list has one or two other "short" history books I may consider reading down the road.
• Black Perspectives, from the African American Intellectual History Society, presents a list of the best in Black history books for 2025.  There may be some items here I need to order for our library. I did go ahead and check our catalog, and from their list of 10 we have 4 at this moment.
• For horror, The Lineup has a list.  
• KCRW has a list of best cookbooks for the year. This list caught my eye in part because it mentions Barons, which I read and reviewed.  Note that Barons is a book about the food industry but it is not a cookbook. 
• Ministry of Pop Culture has their list of best books in pop culture. List features fiction and nonfiction.  
• Words Without Borders offers their selection of "the Best Books in (and on) Translation We Read in 2025."
• LGBTQ reading: 
• For folks who may enjoy sapphic fiction, I Heart Sapph Fic offers a list of top 5 for the year.
• OutSmart magazine has their list of must-read queer books for 2025.
• Them has their "32 Best LGBTQ+ Books of 2025." They state their list offers from "horror to heartfelt romance (and sometimes both at once)."

 

 Some miscellaneous lists for fun

Here are a few other lists on various topics just for fun. Maybe you will find something of interest here. Basically these are things that did not quite fit the above categories for me.  

• It is not often I see a list of books in cryptozoology, so I had to include this list of top books fro Cryptozoonews.  The list does feature books for adults and juvenile readers.