Spoiler alert: I didn’t achieve my reading goals this year. I thought you should know that before we dive into my 2025 reading wrap-up. I didn’t read as many books as I wanted, and I achieved only two of the six goals I set. Plus, I also failed at those fun reading challenges like 25 books for 2025 and the A to Z reading challenge. Despite all of this, I’m here to tell you that this was the most successful reading year in my entire life. I’ll go ahead and elaborate.
2025 Reading Wrap Up
The Proof is in the Reading Statistics
Before we get into my philosophical meanderings, let’s reflect on the actual data and take a look at my StoryGraph reading statistics.
I read 105 books this year, 15 short of my yearly goal of 120. I read a total of 37, 503 pages. My longest book of the year was Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn, and the shortest was The Sublet by Greer Hendricks, an Amazon Original Stories novella.
When it comes to most-read genres, Storygraph and I have chosen to agree to disagree, since many of the books they’ve added to the romance genre category have a romance subplot, which does not make a romance.
When I look at my reading journal and categorize my books by their dominant genre, my top genres for 2025 were Contemporary, Literary, Thriller, and Fantasy. Top authors are Ling Ling Huang, B.K. Borison, Silvia Moreno Garcia, and Imani Perry, all of whom I read two books by.
My average rating for the year is 4.13 stars, which shows I have strong confidence in my taste in books and only read what I know I’ll enjoy. Consequently, I finished the year strong with a total of 47 five-star reads!
January and October were my best reading months. In January, I read the most pages, totaling 5,252. In October, I had the highest average rating at 4.5 stars. July was my worst month: I read only two books, and my average rating was 3.5 stars. Yikes!
I explored 81 new authors, reread three books, read 21 books in a series, and had only 2 DNFs for the entire year.
Despite not achieving my reading goal, considering what was happening in my life outside of books and reading, I feel like I had a fantastic reading year, and I’m so proud of myself.
My 2025 Reading Goals: The Good, The Bad, and The Downright Ugly
I had five reading goals for 2025: explore genres beyond contemporary/literary fiction, read two nonfiction books per month, complete an annual reading challenge, start collecting special editions, and read more ebooks on my Kindle.
I accomplished two of the five. I successfully stepped outside my comfort genre, read more sci-fi and speculative fiction, rediscovered my appreciation for horror, and dabbled in politics and sociology.
Additionally, I began building my collection of special editions. I even subscribed to Satisfiction Book Box, Cover Snob, and Black Raven Books, all subsidiaries of Satisfiction that specialize in platforming BIPOC authors and books. I’ve been beyond satisfied and happy with the quality and diversity they offer.
Yet the other goals fell to the wayside because life just does what it does. And honestly, as I look back at these goals, I can see that I wasn’t realistic or using proper planning to make them achievable. I kinda just threw randomness into the ether, hoping it would yield a return, but it just didn’t work in my favor.
My Yearly Reflection & Book of the Year
I don’t know if your reading journal includes an annual reflection, but mine does, and I find it so valuable for helping me strategize and plan better for the new year. Let’s roll through them.
Have I met my reading goals for 2025? Why or why not?
I did not reach my reading goals in 2025. While that initially makes me feel like a failure. I’m quick to reframe that thought. A glance at my goals and the lack of structure and proper planning reveals that I was trying to do too much.
In addition to overwhelming myself, I didn’t leave any room for flexibility, even after realizing over the summer that I was struggling because of travel and personal challenges. I wasn’t gentle and kind enough with myself to pivot and adjust my goals to fit the season of life I was in.
This is a significant lesson I’ve learned and will apply in the new year.
Which book made the biggest impact on me? How has it affected my life or thoughts?
Without a doubt, Junie had the most significant impact on me, as I’ve crowned it my book of the year. It hit because it explored the various intersections of identity and added a twist by exploring this typical condition we all experience in the narrative of an enslaved Black teenager who’s coming of age under the brutal weight of slavery and oppression.
Others determine her identity, leaving her with no autonomy, no control, and no say in the direction her life takes. Yet, in her own way, she resists by remaining carefree and imaginative, not acting or behaving the way a “proper” slave girl should. She dared to ask questions and challenge the status quo.
And, I thought coming of age in my young adulthood was challenging. Just imagine. Incidentally, my favorite quote of the year comes from Junie.
“The realization hits her. Wordsworth never spent his days preparing food, Keats never cleaned a chamber pot. Coleridge didn’t have to sneak around to read a book. Those who sought the sublime were white men with lives of leisure. They sought an unattainable beauty because they’d already attained everything else.”
So powerful.
Overall, how has reading influenced my life this year?
In 2025, books and reading helped me reunite with my inner teenager and heal many of the places within me that were broken. This allowed me to take an honest look at my life. Who I am, who I’ve become, and where I want to go from here. And, it’s inspired me to return to my core, authentic identity and build a life that my younger self would be proud of.
What do I hope to achieve through reading next year?
To continue the work I’ve been doing to make reading a sustainable hobby and, dare I say, turn my love of reading, books, literature, and writing into a career? Who knows?
How My Reading Grew in 2025 or Let’s Get Philosophical
Despite my apparent failures this year, I see it as a colossal success. I didn’t read 120 books, but I read 105, which is 17 more than what I read in 2024. In 2023, I read 42 books. So, I’m trending up and progressing each year, that’s a good thing!
I set five additional goals and completed two; while not ideal, there’s a lesson to be learned here. The lesson is that when setting goals, it’s crucial to put them realistically—taking into account lifestyle, external influences, and other areas of focus that make up a balanced life—and to acknowledge them when building goals.
And, to check in regularly. Performing weekly, monthly, quarterly, and mid-year check-ins allows you to react with flexibility and intention. Where you can pivot, or adjust as needed, being responsive to your needs and current situation.
Lastly, I’m most proud of having kept reading. Life became hectic. I was frustrated with work, felt plateaued and stuck in life, and was struggling with burnout, mild depression, and trying to figure out the next steps for my life.
Yet, despite the chaos around me. I managed to become disciplined and maintain my reading habit. In the past, I would’ve easily stopped reading and disconnected, but I didn’t. I kept going.
And coming back from a 15-year reading slump, I’m hopeful that I can and will continue to make reading a hobby I enjoy from this point on.
Furthermore, if I apply this discipline, focus, and intention to the other areas of my life that I’m feeling dissatisfied with. I know that I’ll reap similar success.
So, friends, I’m sharing this 2025 reading wrap up to encourage you by revealing the real, raw, and unfiltered reality of an average reader who works outside the home, faces life’s challenges, and still prioritizes making reading a sustainable hobby.
I feel like it’s so easy to see someone share that they read 100+ books and feel some type of way, and then start looking for ways to discredit them. Making baseless arguments like: “you didn’t retain anything, though” or “audiobooks don’t count as reading,” and whatever other ableist jargon you want to add to the chat.
Side rant: Like, honestly, though, who cares? Are you on a single-handed mission to quiz every person who’s read 100 or more books? Is someone with dyslexia using audiobooks to read really going to put you out? Does context really matter that much? Can we leave gatekeeping in 2025 and, in 2026, bring decentering our ego and realizing that not everything is about us? End rant.
Yet, it doesn’t erase the fact that these are real people, with real lives, going through real shit. And whether they used reading as a form of escapism and stress management. Or, they prefer a dose of literary critique with the books they consume. We’re all just doing our best to exist in this dumpster fire of a world that becomes more like a scene from (insert any dystopian novel here).
I sincerely hope that as you reflect on your 2025 reading year, you’re equal parts honest, critical, and gentle with yourself. Acknowledge areas you can grow and improve in and celebrate where you’re kicking ass and doing a phenomenal job. Then, as you set goals for this year, straddle the line between pushing yourself and keeping things manageable and sustainable.
And, if no one’s told you, I’m proud as fuck that you read this year. Whether you read 2, 10, 50, or 200 books, you’re doing the work of becoming a better you, and I know you’re going to make 2026 a phenomenal year.
Happy New Year, friends! Let me know how many books you read in 2025 and what your goals are for 2026 so we can celebrate and encourage each other!
