Happy new year, squiders! I hope you’re off to an encouraging start!
It’s time for my yearly reading stats post, which is interesting to me and maybe no one else, but I like numbers and so here we are.
Books Read in 2025: 53
Change from 2024: +3
Did a lot of reading in December. And not much else. Onward!
Of those*:
13 were Fantasy
8 were Mystery
6 were Science Fiction
5 were General Literature
5 were Nonfiction
2 were Historical Fiction
2 were Horror
2 were Romance
2 were Thriller
1 was an anthology
1 was Biography
1 was a short story collection
1 was Folklore
1 was Gothic
1 was Magical Realism
1 was Memoir
1 was Science Fantasy
*Some genre consolidation was done here. YA or MG titles went into the general genre. All subgenres of fantasy or romance, for example, also went into the general genre. And things like Mystery Romance or Fantasy Mystery went into Mystery or Fantasy respectively.
New genre(s)**: Nonfiction, Biography, Anthology, Folklore, Gothic, Science Fantasy
Genres I read last year that I did not read this year: Ghost Stories, How To, Mythology, Self-Help, Steampunk
**This means I didn’t read them last year, not that I’ve never read them.
Genres that went up: fantasy, science fiction, general literature, thriller, historical fiction
Genres that went down: mystery, horror, memoir
Fantasy has regained the top spot for the first time in a while, and I also did decent at reading science fiction this year as well. Horror wasn’t great (though I suppose the Gothic is technically horror, and the short story collection was also horror, so maybe we’re fine). Otherwise the normal genre spread as I read whatever catches my interest.
22 were my books
30 were library books
1 was a book I picked up at a hotel and so belonged to neither me nor the library
!! This is the best I’ve done in years! Good job me.
43 were physical books
10 were ebooks
Average rating: 3.5/5
We went back down a bit. There were a couple books this year that I only rated 2, so I guess the rest of the books kept the average up.
Top rated:
The Burial Tide (horror – 4.5)
The Teller of Small Fortunes (fantasy – 4.2)
The Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy 2024 (anthology – 4)
The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen (magical realism – 4)
Honorable mentions of 3.9: Haunted Ecologies (horror short story collection), Rest in Pink (mystery/romance), For Duck’s Sake (mystery)
Most recent publication year: 2025
Oldest publication year: 1899 (The Legend of the Treasure Seekers)
Average publication year: 2011
Books older than 1900: 1
Books newer than (and including) 2020: 28
Again, I think the increased focus on reading books I own has pulled the average year published (and the number of newer books) down a bit. We’re five years newer on the average than last year, though.
The first book I read this year was The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong (fantasy) and the last was The Burial Tide by Neil Sharpson (horror). Interesting note is that both made it into my top books of the year.
I’ve started the year with Rose/House by Arkady Martine and a book I bought forever ago but lost somewhere (and refound during our yearly winter break cleaning spree) called Weird Parenting Wins. I’ve also been reading a manga called The Promised Neverland and am currently on volume 9 of 20.
What were the best books you read last year? What books are you looking forward to in 2026? Any reading challenges you’ve set for yourself?
