Thursday, October 16, 2025

Happy Anniversary to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe!

 Today, is the 75th Anniversary of The Chronicles of Narnia. C. S. Lewis published The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on October 16th, 1950.

Narnia will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the first series I finished in full and really got me into reading from an early age. C. S. Lewis is still one of my favorite authors and I love checking out his other works.

Image is from NarniaWeb on Twitter

October 2025 Mid-Month Reading Update 👻

Monday, October 13, 2025

The End of the Year Book Tag 2025 edition 🍂

  The End of the Year Book Tag was created by Ariel Bissett many years ago. 

This is one of my favorite tags to do every year sometime in the fall. 

1.) Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?

    🦉The Way of Edan by Phillip Chase- I made a list of 25 books I would like to read this year as one of my yearly goals. The Way of Edan is one of those books and I started this a few months ago, but I just wasn't in the mood to read it earlier this year. I would like to finish this one in the near future.  

2.) Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?

    🍁Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood- I think this witchy book will be perfect to transition into the end of the year. 

3.) Is there a new release you’re still waiting for?- Here are some of the new releases I'm still waiting for because I can never pick just one. Most of the books I am waiting for from the end of the year are ones I have ARCs of. These are the ones I do not. 

    🍂 Local Heavens by K. M. Fajardo (Release Date: October 14th, 2025)- This book comes out tomorrow but I'm not sure when I will be able to pick it up. It is a queer science fiction retelling of The Great Gatsby and it sounds amazing. 

 

    🦉The Siren and the Star by Colby Cedar Smith (Release Date: October 28th, 2025)- A novel-in-verse about a young singer who overcomes trauma by connecting to music from a 17th-century female composer. It sounds like this book is told from the young singer, Lula's, perspective and also Barbara, the 17th century composer. I love books told in verse and think this one sounds great. 

4.) What are four books you want to read before the end of the year?-  I have posted a Fall TBR which has over 10 books I would like to read before the end of the year. These are the top 4 of those books that I would definitely love to finish by the end of the year. 

    🍁Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury- I made a goal for myself earlier this year to read through some specific classics that I didn't read before. The last one on that list is Fahrenheit 451. 

    🍂 Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson- Last year, I started The Stormlight Archive finally and have been highly enjoying the series. I need to at least get through the fourth book. 

    🦉The Pinhoe Egg and Mixed Magics: Four Tales of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones-I want to finish the Chrestomanci series by the end of this year. I have one final book and then the short story collection.  

5.) Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favorite book of the year?

    🍁 I have loved so many books this year and I have a hard time believing anything is going to beat them out of my top five. But if anyone could do this, it would be T. Kingfisher. My favorite book of last year was A Sorceress Comes to Call and I will be reading Snake-Eater very soon. I have high hopes for this book, especially after hearing people review it saying that it reminds them of the Witch books from the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. 

6.) Have you already started making reading plans for 2026?

    🍂 Yes, I know many of my reading goals for 2026. 

            🦉 Read 100 books- My reading goal for each year is always to read at least 100 books. I don’t plan on changing this anytime soon. 

            🍁 Finish three series I started before 2026- I do not know what series these will be just yet, but I would like to finish at least three series I have started before 2026. 

            🍂 Read at least 5 tomes- Another repeat goal that I definitely will be doing next year.

            🦉 Read 4 C. S. Lewis Books I have never read- I have been trying to read C. S. Lewis books I have never read each year. This coming year, I decided to make it a goal to read at least 4 C.S. Lewis books. I might do this each quarter. Below I have put some of the options. 



           🍁 Start reread of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett- I have been wanting to reread the entire Discworld series for years now. So next year, I'm planning on starting this in January and plan on rereading a book a month. We will see what happens. 

Monday, October 6, 2025

The Life of a Showgirl ❤️‍🔥

Oh my goodness, it's here! ❤️‍🔥

It has been an absolute joy listening to Taylor's almost twenty year discography over the last couple of weeks to countdown to her twelfth album. I don't understand what people are hating so much about The Life of a Showgirl. Yes, there are a couple songs I am not as big of a fan of but for the most part I enjoy most of them. It is fun and gets me wanting to dance. 

I love this album. 

I decided to wait to do this post a bit after the album came out so I could listen to the songs plenty of times before. Many of the songs really surprised me when I was listening to them at midnight on October 3rd. "Ruin the Friendship" did this the most when we got to the third verse and found out who the song was about. I could not believe a song with that beat brought tears to my eyes. What a message. It is one of the best on the album. 

There are so many great beats throughout each of these songs. They sound beautiful together. I enjoyed listening to this the first time through and love them even better now after many more listens. Looking forward to listening through this album so many more times. Taylor is happily in love and it is so great getting to hear that. She doesn't have the anxiety she had in so much of her past music. I love the infectious joy she is showing in the sound and lyrics on this album. Beautiful!  

My favorite songs from the album so far are: "Opalite" (This will definitely be on repeat for a long time. I love this song with all my heart.), "Ruin The Friendship," "Father Figure," "The Fate of Ophelia," "Elizabeth Taylor," and "The Life of a Showgirl."

Thursday, October 2, 2025

"Straight from the Tortured Poets Department" 🤍

The Tortured Poets Department is my favorite out of Taylor's most recent albums. I adore almost every single song from both the standard album and The Anthology. It is one of her albums that I enjoy listening to in full more often than not. I'm looking forward to The Life of a Showgirl very much, but I know that this is still going to be heavily in my rotation. It is definitely in my top favorites of hers. 

Favorites from the standard album: "But Daddy I Love Him," "Guilty as Sin?," "Fortnight," "The Tortured Poets Department, "So Long, London, and "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me." 

 

Favorites from The Anthology: "Peter," "The Black Dog," "I Hate It Here," "The Bolter," and "How Did It End?" 

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

3rd Quarterly 2025 Reading Goals Update and Stats

  📚 July- September 2025 Reading Goals Update 📖

I decided to keep track of my goals each quarter again this year. Here are my goals and reading stats for July, August, and September. 

🟪 Read 100 Books- 146/100 ✔️

🟦 Reread at least one book every month- 9/12

        🎆 July: Reread 2 ✔️

                - Darth Vader- Dark Lord of the Sith, Vol. 1: Imperial Machine by Charles Soule

                Darth Vader- Dark Lord of the Sith, Vol 2: Legacy's End by Charles Soule 

 

        🏖️ August: Reread 1 ✔️

                - Caught Running by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux
 

       🍁 September: Reread 1 ✔️

                - The Lost Spells by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
 
 

🟩 Read at least one 2025 release every month- 9/12

        🎆 July: Read 4 ✔️

                - The Enchanted Greenhouse (The Spellshop #2) by Sarah Beth Durst

                - Brume, Volume 1: The Dragon Awakens by Jérôme Pélissier and Carine Hinder

                - The Book of Lost Hours by Hayley Gelfuso 

                - Greenteeth by Molly O'Neill  

        🏖️ August: Read 5 ✔️

                - Bookends of Life by Sonja Koch and Dalys Finzgar
                 
                - Brigg's Dictionary of Fairies: Banshees, Boggarts and Other Folklore Creatures by Katharine Briggs 
             
                Anywhere with You by Margo Glynn
         
                - I Hate Fairyland, Vol. 8: Happy End Game by Skottie Young
 
                - Daedalus Is Dead by Seamus Sullivan 
 
        🍁 September: Read 6 ✔️

                - Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
 
                - Cinder House by Freya Marske
 
                - The Midnight Carnival by Kenny Gould 
 
                - Not Quite By The Book by Julie Hatcher
 
                - The Court of the Dead by Rick Riordan and Mark Orshiro
 
                - J.R.R. Tolkien: The Father of Modern Fantasy by Don Marshall
 
 
 

🟨 Read at least 5 tomes- 6/5 ✔️

                -Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte -650 pages

                -Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson- 1248 pages

                -Katabasis by R. F. Kuang- 560 

 

🟧 Review every book I read- 146/146 ✔️

                - I have reviews for each book on this blog and Goodreads.

🟥 Read 5 classics other than the books in my next goal- 13/5 ✔️

                - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

               - Animal Farm by George Orwell

🟧 Complete the Jane Austen Reading Challenge from Canterbury Classics- 8/12

        🎆 July: Read Mansfield Park- DNFed at around 175 pages but I may continue this at another time. I was not a fan of this plot at all.                        

        🏖️ August: Read a Jane Austen Inspired Book by Another Author ✔️

                - Mismatched: A Modern Graphic Retelling of Emma by Anne Camlin 

        🍁 September: Read Persuasion ✔️

🟨 Finish 3 Series8/3 ✔️

        - Darth Vader- Dark Lord of the Sith by Charles Soule

                - Reread the first two volumes and read the final 2 for the first time

 

🟩 Read 12 retellings29/12 ✔️

        - My Salty Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

        - The Well of Lost Plots (Thursday Next #3) by Jasper Fforde

        - The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson

        - Mismatched: A Modern Graphic Retelling of Emma by Anne Camlin

        - Daedalus Is Dead by Seamus Sullivan

 

        - Cinder House by Freya Marske

        - The Court of the Dead by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro     

 

🟦 Read 25 fantasy books- 87/25 ✔️

        - The Enchanted Greenhouse (The Spellshop #2) by Sarah Beth Durst

        - Brume, Volume 1: The Dragon Awakens by Jérôme Pélissier and Carine Hinder

        - Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive #3) by Brandon Sanderson  

        - My Salty Mary by Cynthia Hand Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows 

        - The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde  

        - The Book of Lost Hours by Haley Gelfuso

        - Greenteeth by Molly O'Neill


        - The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson 

        - Brigg's Dictionary of Fairies: Banshees, Boggarts and Other Folklore Creatures by Katharine Briggs

        - The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown 

         I Hate Fairyland, Vol. 8: Happy End Game by Skottie Young

        -  Daedalus Is Dead by Seamus Sullivan

        -  Katabasis by R. F. Kuang

        - Conrad's Fate (Chrestomanci #5) by Diana Wynne Jones 

        - Cinder House by Freya Marske

        - The Midnight Carnival by Kenny Gould

        - The Court of the Dead by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro 

        - Lacuna by N. R. Walker 

 

🟪 Read 25 graphic novels24/25

        - Brume, Volume 1: The Dragon Awakens by Jérôme Pélissier and Carine Hinder

        - Fantastic Four, Vol. 1: Whatever Happened to the Fantastic Four? by Ryan North

        - Fantastic Four, Vol. 2: Four Stories About Hope by Ryan North

        - Darth Vader- Dark Lord of the Sith, Vol. 1: Imperial Machine by Charles Soule

        - Darth Vader- Dark Lord of the Sith, Vol. 2: Legacy's End by Charles Soule

        - Darth Vader- Dark Lord of the Sith, Vol. 3: The Burning Seas by Charles Soule

        - Darth Vader- Dark Lord of the Sith, Vol. 4: Fortress Vader by Charles Soule

        - Mismatched: A Modern Graphic Retelling of Emma by Anne Camlin 

        - I Hate Fairyland, Vol. 8: Happy End Game by Skottie Young

🟦 Read 25 books in 2025 from my list- 18/25

  1. Run Away With Me by Brian Selznick ✔️
  2. When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley ✔️
  3. Holy Terrors by Margaret Owen ✔️
  4. A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames ✔️
  5. Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett ✔️
  6. The Way of Edan by Phillip Chase
  7. Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood
  8. The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown ✔️
  9. Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson ✔️
  10. The Little Liar by Mitch Albom ✔️
  11. The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
  12. Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson ✔️
  13. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree ✔️
  14. Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan
  15. Emma by Jane Austen
  16. The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
  17. The Dragons of Winter by James A. Owen ✔️
  18. A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher ✔️
  19. Swordheart by T. Kingfisher ✔️
  20. The Library Mule of Cordoba by Wilfrid Lupano ✔️
  21. Aria in the Land of Wonders by Mia Araujo ✔️
  22. The Herbwitch’s Apprentice by Ireen Chau ✔️
  23. The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones ✔️
  24. Darwin’s Watch by Terry Pratchett ✔️
  25. Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett       

🟩 Read 10 poetry collections10/10 ✔️

        - Love by Night: A Book of Poetry by S. K. Williams

        - Bookends of Life by Sonja Koch and Dalys Finzgar

        - The Lost Spells by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris

Challenges

Here are some challenges I would like to also complete during the year, but I’m not making them goals. 

🟣 Buzzword Reading Challenge- Words & Covers

        🎆 July✔️

               WordsTitles featuring punctuation such as : ; , ) ! ? & 

                        -The Pirates! In an Adventures with Scientists by Gideon Defoe 

 

               Covers- Technology

                        - Darth Vader- Dark Lord of the Sith, Vol. 1: Imperial Machine by Charles Soule 

 

        🏖️ August✔️

               WordsWith 

                        - The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson

 

               Covers- Transportation 

                        -Anywhere with you by Margo Glynn

 

        🍁 September✔️

               WordsEvents: party, vacation, birthday, wedding, retreat, prom, midnight, summer, etc. 

                         - Katabasis by R. F. Kuang

 

               Covers- Foliage

                        - The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore 

 

🔵 Extra Goodreads Challenges

        ~ Challenge 1: January Reader- Challenge 12: December- 9/12

        ~ Challenge 13: Grand Slam

        ~ Challenge 14: Nailed It- 146/100 ✔️

        ~ Challenge 15: Stepped Up    

📚 July-September 2025 Reading Stats 📖

🟢 Amount of books read in July-September: 44 books 

        🎆 July- 17 books

        🏖️ August- 16 books

        🍁 September- 11 books 

 

🟡 Favorite Books


🟠 Least Favorite Books

🔴 Page Counts

        Total of Pages read in July-September:

            📜 1-100: 1

            📖 101-200: 17

            📔 201-300: 9

            📚 301-400: 9

            📕 401-500: 5

            📗 501-600: 1

            📘 601-700: 1

            📙 701-800: 0

            📒 801-900: 0

            📓 901-1000+: 1

        Per Month:

            🎆 July:  5516 pages

            🏖️ August:  3805 pages

            🍁 September3572 pages     

🟣 Star Ratings for July- September

        ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- 16

        ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- 19

        ⭐️⭐️⭐️- 7

        ⭐️⭐️- 2

        ⭐️- 0