2025 Reading Challenges Conclusion

2025 is nearly over! 2026 is looming to be conquered next! I had a lot of challenges this year. Let's see how I did!!!

Goodreads -  140/140 books. Success.

Romance Reading Bingo - 25/25 boxes. Success. 

2025 Library Love Challenge - 36/36. Success. Bonus win....using the library I saved $423.88

➜ Winter Semester: Jan. 1st, 2025 – April 30th, 2025

Book	Type
Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati	ebook
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson	audiobook
Lord Dashwood Missed Out by Tessa Dare	audiobook
Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh	ebook
Tangle of Need by Nalini Singh	ebook
King of Flesh and Bone by Liv Zander	audiobook
The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright by Tessa Dare	audiobook
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson	audiobook
Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce	audiobook
The Charm School by Susan Wiggs	ebook

➜ Summer Semester: May 1st, 2025 – Aug. 31st, 2025

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson	ebook
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez	audiobook
Highland Flame by Mary Wine	ebook
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez	audiobook
Between a Highlander and a Hard Place by Mary Wine	ebook
The Key Ingredient by Susan Wiggs	ebook
The Inn at Blue Hollow Falls by Donna Kauffman	ebook
Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez	audiobook
The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray	ebook
A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher	audiobook
Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh	ebook
The Situationship by Abby Jimenez	ebook
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie	ebook
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie	audiobook

➜ Autumn Semester: Sept. 1st, 2025 – Dec. 31st, 2025

Accomplice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer	audiobook
The Queen of Rot and Pain by Liv Zander	audiobook
Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli	ebook
Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh	ebook
The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch	ebook
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss	ebook
A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong	audiobook
Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong	ebook
The Poisoner's Ring by Kelley Armstrong	audiobook
The Lump of Coal by Lemony Snicket	audiobook
Happy and Merry by Lisa Scottoline, Francesca Serritella	audiobook
Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie	audiobook

2025 #Audiobook Challenge - .65/75+. Failure. 

Close but no cigar. I just can't beat this challenge. :/ 

Here is my first audio of the year vs. my last audio of the year

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge - 26/16-25 books. Success.

TECHNICALLY, I read well over 25. I just stopped counting them. I was on a mystery/thriller kick this year. I think (if I do this one again) I may up the number ;) 

2025 #TBRChallenge - 12/12. Success.

OVERALL:

I pretty much accomplished all my reading goals! I fell a little shy on the audiobook challenge, but it was close. I could try it again next year, but we'll see. 

Good year overall! 

Audiobook Review: Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie

Author: Agatha Christie

Narrator: Hugh Fraser
Title: Hercule Poirot's Christmas

Series: Hercule Poirot #20

Genre: Mystery, Classics, Thriller
Format: Audiobook
Published: December 19, 1938
Where I Got It: Borrowed from library

Summary: 

In Hercule Poirot's Christmas, the holidays are anything but merry when a family reunion is marred by murder — and the notoriously fastidious investigator is quickly on the case. The wealthy Simeon Lee has demanded that all four of his sons — one faithful, one prodigal, one impecunious, one sensitive — and their wives return home for Christmas. But a heartwarming family holiday is not exactly what he has in mind. He bedevils each of his sons with barbed insults and finally announces that he is cutting off their allowances and changing his will. Poirot is called in the aftermath of Simeon Lee's announcement.

Review:

What better to read during Xmas then a murder? Love me some Poirot!!!!

Hercule is on the case! For this family, the holidays are no longer holly and jolly. This family reunion is marred by a murder. Lots of suspects and lots of motives because the wealthy head of the family announced he was changing his will. 

I felt like I had read this because things seemed SO familiar. Which is okay. It was nice revisiting one I had read forever ago. I thought I remembered who the murdered was, but I pleasantly re-surprised. Gasp!

I did remember one big twist so that was nice ;) I still didn't like this particular twist. I won't spoil anything. 

This was a lovely listen. The narrator did a lovely job. 

What a way to end the year! Love this author and def recommend Hercule. 

4 stars for me. 

 Challenge(s):

- Audiobook #65

- Library Love #34

Book Review: The Charred Grape by Caroline Baccene

Author: Caroline Baccene

Title: The Charred Grape

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Short story

Format: ebook

Pages: 36

Published: March 5, 2025

Where I got It: My shelf (Amazon)

Summary: 

Rachael, a hardworking single mom, juggles the chaos of making ends meet as a waitress at the beloved restaurant The Charred Grape and always strives to be the best mother she can for her young son, Leo.

When the restaurant is bought out and taken over by a new owner, Rachael and the rest of the staff are understandably more than a little nervous. Will they lose their jobs? Will new management be so unbearable they'll be forced to quit? Will their loyal customers accept this change of hands?

Those nerves turn into something else entirely as the days pass and Rachael learns more about her new boss and also becomes friends with the new chef. What starts as an easy and carefree back-of-the-house and afterhours friendship quickly seems to be turning into something else, but can Rachael find space in her busy, high-stress life for romance?

Review:

A nice short story while decompressing after the Xmas chaos of joy.

Rachael is your atypical hardworking and single moms. She is juggling her job and her private life. When the restaurant she is working at is bought out and taken over by a new owner, Rachael and the staff are concerned for their jobs. However, things turn to hope when she is offered a promotion and she becomes close to the new chef. 

This was short and sweet. Lovely to read over a couple of coffee like me.

Rachael was a sweet pea. She deserves the best. 

The chef (I can't remember his name) was meh. I didn't like his reaction at the bar. He just jumped to the worst conclusions even though she had mentioned her son before. Like...what?

Rachael is a gem and deserved better. I hope he groveled at some point. We didn't really get to see that. It was a quick fix and next thing we know it was the epilogue. I would've liked to see him grovel JUST a teeny bit.

I'll give this 3 stars. 

Short and sweet to read over your coffee. 

 

Audiobook Review: Happy and Merry by Lisa Scottoline & Francesca Serritella

Author: Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella

Narrator: Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella
Title: Happy and Merry

Genre: Short Stories, Anthology, Humor, Essays, Nonfiction
Format: Audiobook
Published: October 26, 2012
Where I Got It: Borrowed from library

Summary: 

Just in time for Christmas comes a collection of the very best holiday essays from the bestselling Mother/Daughter writing duo. Whether their shopping for matching reindeer dog sweaters or having second helpings of egg nogg, Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella will keep you warm with their humor and heart. So give yourself some holiday cheer in the midst of all the shopping, cooking, wrapping, and baking madness…you deserve to get a little Happy and Merry!

Review:

Randomly saw this as a nice "short" for the holidays on my Libby app. So why not? I listened to this while doing some chores. 

We'll divide and conquer this review...

Thanksgiving

I really liked this one. It had a nice message. It was very sweet. 5 stars. Nice start!

Holiday Guilt

Interesting look at the holiday guilt. Interesting way to think. I did chuckle a bit. 4 stars. 

Thank You

*scratches head* I can't fully remember this one. Did I zone out? Errrrrr. 1 star.

Busy Signal

This one had me chuckling a bit. It does make you try to appreciate the life we have now and not be so impatient. Nice messaging for sure. I'll stamp it with 5 stars. 

Twas the Night Before

This was okay. I liked it. I think it needed...more. It felt like it was the beginning of a nice piece. 3 stars. 

Lisa Hits the Eggnog

Some humor. Some nice messaging. 4 stars. 

And Many Happy Returns

Not memorable for me. I barely remember this one, and it was the finale. I remember the ending! The beginning and middle? Maybe it needed more or something. It just didn't stick with me. But I'll give it a 3. 

Overall

Some holiday humor and some important messages that we need to remember. Like being patient and taking it day by day, and being kind to others. Also, thank your local soldier. There was a lot of "life could be worse! You could be away from your family member who is a soldier for this country, far, far away." Oof. Thanks for that. Yes, nice to be thankful to be home, and yes, thank your servicepeople. 

After some complicated math...I'll stamp this with 3 stars. 

 Challenge(s):

- Audiobook #64

- Library Love #33