It was a nice bounce back from last year’s drop. I read 43 books this past year, at least within shouting distance of 52. Lots of unusual books this year because I joined a book club at work. I have really mixed feelings about that, not going to lie. Time to read is so limited and so precious that I don’t love reading things that I generally would not consider. But I have (so far) capitulated to the social pressure to be involved. Here are the books I read:
January
All the Light We
Cannot See
– Anthony Doerr
The Life of King
Henry the Fifth
– William Shakespeare
The New
Testament
– Various
The Diabetes
Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally – Jason Fung
Notes from the
Underground
– Fyodor Dostoevsky
February
Lessons
in Chemistry
– Bonnie Garmus
The Soulforge – Margaret Weiss
Supercommunicators – Charles
Duhigg
March
An Extraordinary
Union
– Alyssa Cole
The Doctrine and
Covenants
– Various
Shadows in
Flight
– Orson Scott Card
The Maya – Michael D.
Coe & Stephen Houston
April
Life As We Knew
It –
Susan Pfeffer
The Pearl of
Great Price
– Various
Into the
Labyrinth
– Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickman
The Berry
Pickers
– Amanda Peters
The Little
Prince
– Antoine de Saint-Exupery
May
Brothers in Arms – Margaret
Weiss & Don Perrin
The Good
Mothers: The True Story of the Three Women Who Took on the World's Most
Powerful Mafia
– Alex Perry
June
The Last Shadow – Orson Scott
Card
The Radium
Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women – Kate Moore
The Seventh Gate – Margaret
Weiss & Tracy Hickman
All Quiet on the
Western Front
– Erich Maria Remarque
July
Dragons of
Autumn Twilight
– Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickman
The Life of King
Henry the Eighth –
William Shakespeare
The Silent
Patient
– Alex Michaelides
Project Hail
Mary – Andy
Weir
August
The Old
Testament
– Various
Minoan Crete: An
Introduction
– L. Vance Watrous
Well of Darkness – Margaret Weis
& Tracy Hickman
The Book of
Mormon
– Various
September
Till We Have
Faces
– C.S. Lewis
Dragons of
Dwarven Depths
– Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickman
October
The Glass Castle – Jeannette
Walls
The Book of
Mormon
– Various
The Dead and the
Gone
– Susan Pfeffer
A Brief History
of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture – Sarah B.
Pomeroy, et al
November
Guardians of the
Lost
– Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickman
The Lion’s Den – Katherine St.
John
Before We Were
Yours
– Lisa Wingate
December
The Old Man and
the Sea
– Ernest Hemingway
Dragons of the
Highlord Skies
– Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman
The Girl on the
Train
– Paula Hawkins
I
think I have to begin with the most impactful book of the year, and one of the
most impactful in my life, which was The Diabetes Code. For those who have not heard, in January I
got the dreaded Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis.
I got this book and the associated cookbook, read it, and scrupulously followed
the advice. I have now had three consecutive
A1C tests at normal levels, not even in pre-diabetic range. To say I am a believer in Dr. Fung’s thought
and system is an understatement, having now been a guinea pig. Who would have thought this disease, that we
are repeatedly told is genetic, progressive, and incurable, is actually diet-based,
preventable, and reversible? That has
been my experience, in any event. Lots
of relief because I was pretty spooked given the negative outcomes in my family
history.
Many
of the books we read for book club I disliked.
This may be because I am not the target demographic, but I think my
gripes about each are legitimate. I
particularly disliked Lessons in Chemistry and An Extraordinary Union. I did quite like Life As We Knew It, The
Berry Pickers, and All the Light We Cannot See.
I
have enjoyed my reread plunge into the Dragonlance series; there is something I
just love about nostalgic re-reads. A couple
others that deserve mention are Radium Girls, which is a fascinating
book about some historical incidents I had no knowledge about before reading
the book. So good. I also loved The Old Man and the Sea, which
I incidentally had never read before. Fantastic. Looking forward to what 2026 will bring.
Hello
very best friend!
