Roundup of Reading for 2025

 

Here are the numbers.

Total books read was 180.

Total pages read was 56,266.

Audience

Adult            169

Teen                  3

Children's         8

Genre/Subject (Note that some books have more than one genre

Fiction                164     of which 69 were part of a series

Mystery                  55

Romance                56

Literary                  21

Historical                26

Fantasy                   16

Science Fiction        2

Horror                      5

Western                    1

Nonfiction                    14

Biography/Memoir        9

Essays                            2

Travel                             1

History                           3

Social History                2

True Crime                     1

Science/Social Science   2

Arts and Crafts                1

Translated from another language to English: 12

From French        3

From Arabic         1

From Japanese     1

From Dutch          1

From German       2

From Italian          1

From Chinese       1

From Hindi           1

From Spanish        1

Setting (some books will have multiple settings)

Other world                    5

Other real world             4

Canada                         20 

United States                93

Europe                          61

Asia                              13

Latin America                9

Africa                             6

Australia / Pacific          6

Where I got the books

Library                        75

Owned                        94    of which 44 of the print ones got gifted elsewhere

Borrowed                      3

Temporary (Netgalley) 8 

Author Gender

Male                            35

Female                       140

Unclear                          1

Both                               2

Format

Graphic Novel                1

Large Print                     2

Regular Print

ebook                            58

License to Bite

Finished December 30

License to Bite by Carrie Pulkinen

This novel is the start of a series set in New Orleans. Ethan Deveraux has been a vampire for about 30 years, but he's mostly just holed up in his house occasionally venturing out to work a little for money to live on or as a sidekick to the vampire who converted him.

Jane Anderson is in town with her best friend. She works as a social influencer, a bit of a disappointment to her father, the governor of Texas, and to her brothers who all have college degrees and professional jobs. But they do all love her, and are worried about her in New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

And rightly so, as the girls get pretty drunk their first night and are escorted home by Ethan and his sire. Ethan is struck by something about her and thinks she might be his lost love reincarnated and he finds himself possessive of her.

When her preoccupation with social media puts her in a deadly accident, Ethan finds himself making her a vampire to keep her from dying. As her sire, he must take responsibility for her learning the rules and the process she must follow to stay alive. That means registering her the next night and preparing her to get her license to bite. 

Jane is a rebel and a feminist. She's also a charmer, having watched her father in politics for years. She certainly doesn't like the term 'sire' and she doesn't like that the council consists only of old men. But she can work with that. 

The big threat is her fear of blood, making her pass out whenever she sees it. How in the world is she going to bite under testing? Especially with a representative of the world vampire council in town looking for infractions, eager to stake whoever slips up. 

This novel is humorous, fun, and a total enjoyment to read. Jane is smart, sexy, and ambitious. She has ideas for new revenue streams and is willing to use her clout to get things moving. And Ethan is ready to move on with his death, finding Jane both annoying and attractive. 

A December to Remember

Finished December 29

A December to Remember by Jenny Bayliss

Augustus Balthazar North, owner of North's Novelties and Curios in the village of Rowan Thorp has set off on his last adventure, dying in his van on an European mountain. He never really settled down, although he had charm enough to attract ladies and he never pretended to be anything he wasn't. Through his many liaisons he had three daughters, and they all spent a month every summer with him together.  

Maggie, the oldest lived in Rowan Thorp, her mother moving there to see if there was any long term relationship possible, and she ran a greengrocer that Maggie has now taken over. Simone's mother is very business-oriented and Simone is now a physiotherapist married to a therapist and the two are going through a rough patch after having several unsuccessful IVF tries. Star is a free spirit, similar to her mother, never settling down, growing up in a series of communes and in other group settings. She's just been evicted due to the actions of an ex-boyfriend. 

Augustus has set some strange conditions in his will, asking that his daughters work together to bring back the Winter Festival that the town used to have on the solstice. The other is that they find the 32 altered monopoly houses that Augustus has hidden in the shop. The shop has been around since the 1740s, with North's passing it down to the next generation, collecting interesting objects from all over.

The women hire Sotheby's to catalogue the items in the shop and possibly sell some of them at auction, and Sotheby's has sent a lovely young man who is very interested in Augustus' reputation as a collector, eager to see what treasures the shop holds. 

As the women look for the houses, research the festival which was held until several decades earlier, and get to know each other again, they also find community in Rowan Thorp, and find other reasons that the town is the place they want to call home. 

I really enjoyed all three sisters, who all have interesting lives that differ widely from each other, but are also good women. Each finds skills that contribute to their situation and that affect their personal lives in other long-term ways. There is humour, good will, and lots of good food as well.

A seasonal read that brings the feeling of joy and friendship out in a big way.

A delightful novel. 

A Dream of Death

Finished December 26

Dream of Death by Connie Berry

This is the first book in the Kate Hamilton Mysteries series. Kate is an antique dealer who lives in Ohio. She met her late husband at university there where he taught. He was from the Scottish island of Glenroth and Kate has visited a couple of times, but hasn't been back since his death three years ago. Their children are at university and she leads a busy life. 

When her sister-in-law Elenor calls her begging to her come she does, but it doesn't mean that she's comfortable about it. Her visitor coincides with the Tartan Ball, a late fall annual event. She's staying at the hotel that Elenor owned and ran, and where the ball takes place. 

Elenor doesn't fill her in completely about why she's asked her to come, but she has shown Kate a lovely historical casket, and given her a novel about a famous event on the island that a local historian has written, asking her to read it. 

At the ball a couple of announcements that Elenor makes don't go over very well with the locals, and Elenor ends up going back to her apartment in the hotel early. Kate is disturbed the next morning to find that Elenor is dead, and that her death was a copycat murder of one more than two centuries earlier, the woman the novel is about. 

With the local police dismissive of her ideas, Kate follows the clues that she sees through the eyes of someone who is aware of some history, but not a local herself. As she works out who she can trust, she finds herself confiding in the hotel's only other guest, a police investigator from England. 

I liked the historical aspect of the plot, as well as the information around antiques. This is in some ways a woman's story, both now and in the past, and Kate is a good observer. I'd definitely be interested in reading more in the series.

Live Fast

Finished December 24

Live Fast by Brigitte Giraud, translated by Cory Stockwell

This is an interesting novel as the author looks back on the accidental death of her partner, Claude, decades before. She recounts the chain of events that led up to the accident, and for each of them wonders what if something different had happened. It is something that I think anyone who has lost someone due to something that was preventable wonders, but seeing it all spelled out takes this to another level.

One can sense the loss that the death was, and how the present day event of leaving the house that the couple had just bought, but not yet moved to, would trigger this reflection. 

I was touched by the everyday events that she described and the way that small choices bring us to a different reality. 

An amazing read. 

You Belong with Me

Finished December 24

You Belong with Me by Mhairi McFarlane

This romance novel has a romance that we've come into at a critical moment and it deals with some interesting issues around communication, trust, and what happens when one of the pair is a celebrity. Edie is a woman who is good at her publicity job, but not as confident in her personal life. She tried to talk herself out of a relationship with famous actor Elliot Owen, but he shows up on her doorstep determined to make a relationship with her work. 

Edie had a recent experience where someone took advantage of her nature and compromised her, with Edie getting unfairly blamed for the situation. Since it involved co-workers, it spilled into issues at work, specifically bullying and mean girl attitudes. Her boss knew the truth and allowed her leeway to work from home, and recognizes her leadership potential. When she's assigned an employee from head office to report to her as a new satellite location manager, she's wary of what he's been told by her work bullies.

Edie also learns to deal with Elliot's agent and how she should deal with the publicity that news of her relationship will bring. Another interesting thing to deal with is his relationships with other cast, particularly those cast as significant others in an ongoing series. 

As Edie and Elliot learn more about each other and work out the new seriousness of their relationship, dealing with information leaks, crushes, and new opportunities puts strain on their long distance relationship.

A romance with a lot going on and some real issues at the heart of it. 

We Need No Wings

Finished December 19

We Need No Wings by Ann Dávila Cardinal

This novel really caught my attention and kept it. The main character is Tere Sanchez, an English professor at a New England university. She is currently on leave, almost a year after her husband was unexpectedly killed in an accident. She has been having a very hard time moving on. As the book opens, she is out looking after the garden that her husband loved so much when she found herself having a very unusual experience, she levitates. At first she thinks she might be going crazy, but after having more such experiences, and making some discrete inquires of an older aunt, she remembers that her family is said to be descended from the family of Saint Teresa of Avila, who was also known for levitation. 

On an impulse, she decides to travel to Spain, to Avila, and see what she can learn, both from the place and from a distant cousin who lives there. Her Puerto Rican Spanish will make it relatively easy to get along. 

She lets her son, who lives in California, as well as a university colleague who was a close friend of her husband, know that she's gone to Spain. Once in Avila, she starts by trying to find her relative, a task harder than she expected, and unexpectedly begins to make friends with some locals. The landlord at her apartment helps, as well as a young homeless man that she takes under her wing. When she decides to rent a bicycle, she also finds an friendship forming with the owner of the bike shop.

Her inquiries into Saint Teresa lead her to churches and museums, and give her insight into how women were treated then, and how little has changed in some ways. 

I loved this book and Tere's story of mid-life change. 

False Impressions

Finished December 16

False Impressions by Sandra Nikolai

This is the first book in a series featuring a ghostwriter and investigative crime journalist. Megan Scott and her husband Tom's marriage has been more stressful lately as their efforts to have children have been unsuccessful. Tom travels a lot for work, and is off on another trip as the novel begins.

Megan is starting a new project as a ghostwriter for investigative journalist Michael Elliott, and when they realize they knew each other years before, they begin to develop a friendship as well.

When Tom goes off for a retreat, Megan doesn't have any concerns until police arrive at her door telling her that he and his female companion are dead. The discovery of his infidelity at the same time as his death is confusing for Megan emotionally, and she relies heavily on Michael for support. 

It also puts her under suspicion for his murder, and the ties between her and the crime continue to grow. The police seem to have their minds already made up, and Michael and Megan begin their own investigation to find the truth. 

I enjoyed the premise of the novel and the plot. As the book began, some of the dialogue seemed stilted and awkward, but that improved as the book went on. While it took me a while to get truly interested, I was glad I stuck with it. A good read.

Baby Mine

Finished December 14

Baby Mine by Kennedy Fox

I picked this out of my free Kobo reads to meet a challenge and kept hoping it would get better and it just kept getting more cringy. Engineering student and part-time bartender Hunter is drawn to a woman Lennon that he sees while he's working at the bar. She's also a student, but not locally, and is there with friends. He means to ask for her number, but doesn't get another chance, and the next morning he finds that she came home with his roommate. As his roommate and Lennon get serious and then when Lennon finishes her degree and gets a teaching job nearby, she moves in the apartment, Hunter becomes a bigger and bigger jerk to try to keep her from being nice to him, which would make him want her more. Um, childish anyone?

Then his roommate dies in a motorcycle accident and the grief she is feeling, that he also shares, makes him change course and be pleasant, responsible, and caring. (He says, 'but he'd never have a relationship with her because she was with his friend') Sure. Her friends see possible coupledom and his friends warn him against what he's doing, so they see it too. 

Then she discovers that she's pregnant with the roommate's behaviour. What to do? This is where her background really comes in. She's from Utah and the middle of three daughters, all living near each other. Their parents, back in Utah, are a pastor and his wife, very conservative, didn't let the girls date in high school at all, think they are all still 'pure' and don't know that Lennon was living with her boyfriend. 

And no, these aren't spoilers. All but the religious background are part of the book description. It took me longer to get through than I'd thought it would and I almost quit a few times, but didn't want to waste the time I'd invested. This book is the first in a series and ends of a bit of drama that is unresolved. I'm just glad I'm done. There is a sequel should you be interested.

The plot is cringy, the writing isn't great. The dialogue is stilted. 

I Remember Beirut

Finished December 11

I Remember Beirut by Ziena Abirached

This graphic novel is a recollection of the author's memories from living in Beirut as a child during the Lebanese War. This is a collection of memories illustrated in simple yet bold black and white drawings. It includes maps that help bring the memories to life by showing the overall setting and urban geography of where she and her family lived. Because there are many memories of daily life from how they shopped and went to school, and the limited movement they did, I got a very good sense of what life was like for them.

The optimism she observed in the adults around here despite their situation comes through and I could see how her situation was normalized in this way. I also found it interesting how one memory leads to another, from the man who drove the neighbourhood kids to the closest stop the bus would come to to his one very long fingernail (with the illustration showing one of the ways he used it) to Florence Griffith Joyner's fingernails. This book flows wonderfully, and I found it insightful.

January Reviews for the 19th Annual Canadian Reading Challenge

 This is the place to add the links to reviews of books that fit this Reading Challenge that you finished in January 2026. I hope this new calendar year bring you reading joy.