…And once again, I begin to run…

This is the best I can do.

( Top Five Favorite Fiction Books of 2025 - no spoilers )

Best Nonfiction Book of 2025:
Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America by Pekka Hämäläinen. Very dry and academic and not for everyone, but I learned so much reading this that I had never known before, and the rigor really put it above all the pop science and history nonfiction I read this year. I appreciated how comprehensive a history this was while still delving into the details.

Best Series I Started in 2025:
The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan. I know I have The Tainted Cup above as a five star read as well as the start of a series, but a) I don't want to repeat books, and b) this book starts off what looks like a traditional trilogy while Bennett's series seems like it's going to be more of a case where each book mostly stands alone. This is good, solid epic fantasy with a world and characters that I want to know more about. I actually only rated this 3.5 stars(!), but the ending left me excited to move on to find out what's going to happen.

Best Re-Read of 2025:
Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. Dark Tower is still my favorite series.

( Bottom Five Least Favorite Fiction Books of 2025 - no spoilers )

Worst Nonfiction Book of 2025:
Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything by Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen. I actually read their second book first, which was a solid three stars, so I decided to give this one a try. It had everything annoying that made me rate the second book only three stars, only ramped up to intolerable levels. It doesn't even reach the level of a pop science book; it's too shallow even for that. I think the language is supposed to be relatable to laypeople, but it's so casual and dumbed down that it felt insulting to read. The constant quips were awkward and annoying. I learned nothing from this book because there's zero substance.

Last Books post of the year. I know there are still a couple days left, but after I finished my most recent book I decided to take a short break and start fresh on January 1st. No unfinished books hanging on from 2025. Also, I stopped because I reached exactly 100 books! Which was a surprise to me. The last time I had 100+ books was in 2017, and that was because a large chunk of them was Doctor Who novels, which are fast reads.

I'm not sure how I got to 100 this year. Maybe because I made it a goal to read more mystery/thriller books this year, and they are generally shorter and faster-paced than my usual science fiction and fantasy? Also I think getting into the habit of reading a little before bed every night instead of playing on my phone (as well as starting to put a dent into the stack of unread books I own) helped that along. I kind of failed at listening to many audiobooks this year compared to last year, so they're a minor contribution to the overall count. And I do count DNFs, which some people will claim is cheating, but who cares? There's no prize for reaching a certain number. I suppose if I was claiming I read 100 books and half or more of them were DNFs, you might have an argument, but I only had eight DNFs total this whole year. I have a personal rule that I need to have read at least 25% of a book before counting it; there are some DNFs I quit only a couple chapters in because I could tell from the beginning it was not for me, and those I don't count. I think there was only one book this year that fell into that category, and it is not included in any of my book posts or the overall count.

I might do awards this year? I know I said that last year and never did, but I can try again.

Previous books posts:
Books 1-9 (January)
Books 10-15 (February)
Books 16-24 (March)
Books 25-33 (April)
Books 34-41 (May)
Books 42-49 (June)
Books 50-58 (July)
Books 59-67 (August)
Books 68-89 (September/October/November)

( 90. Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey - 3 stars )

( 91. H is for Homicide by Sue Grafton - 2 stars )

( 92. Codex by Lev Grossman - 2.5 stars )

( 93. This Great Hemisphere by Mateo Askaripour - 3 stars )

( 94. Brutes by Dizz Tate - 2 stars )

( 95. Bag of Bones by Stephen King - 2 stars )

( 96. Home Before Dark by Riley Sager - 3.5 stars )

( 97. American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson - 3 stars )

( 98. Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow - 2 stars )

( 99. The Emperor's Railroad by Guy Haley - 2 stars )

( 100. The Laramie Project and The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later by The Tectonic Theater Project - 3 stars )