Beginning of the Year Book Tag

This is my first tag of 2025. I saw the tag on @Bookables channel on Youtube yesterday and had to do it myself. Here is a link to Heather’s video: Beginning of the Year Book Tag. I have decided to change a few of the questions to ones I would rather answer.

1. How many books are you planning on reading in 2025?

    📖 I plan on reading at least 100 books which is my goal every year. 

2. A book you’re likely to reread this year?

    📚 There are many books I might be rereading this year that I haven’t in awhile, Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson,  and the Castle Waiting series by Linda Medley. I reread at least a book a month so I’ll be rereading plenty this year. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a definite because I want to reread it for the 100th anniversary of its release on April 10th. 

3. A priority read on your 2025 tbr?

    📖 I made a list of 25 books I would like to read in 2025 so all of those books. The two I would like to read the most are: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson and Swordheart by T. Kingfisher. 

    

4. An author you want to read more books from this year?

    📚 Definitely, Brandon Sanderson and T. Kingfisher. 

5. Something new you want to read! (new genres or tropes)

    📖 I guess I’ll say science fiction. Science fiction is not a genre I read much of at all and I’d like to find a couple books to read this year. 

6. A popular book you want to read?

    📚 Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

7. Most anticipated 2025 book release?- There are many releases I am highly anticipating in 2025 and could not just pick one. 

    📖 Run Away With Me by Brian Selznick- I’m always excited for a new Brian Selznick, so this is definitely one I’m very excited about. I have an ARC of this beauty!

   📚 Holy Terrors by Margaret Owen- I love this series and I’m very excited to get to my ARC very soon. 

    📖 The seventh volume of The Adventure Zone is supposed to be coming out this year and I cannot wait to read it. 

    📚 Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher- I fell in love with T. Kingfisher’s writing last year and plan on reading everything she has written. I cannot wait for this take on Snow White. Kingfisher is so clever with her retellings and this sounds great. 

    📖 Hecate by Nikita Gill- I just heard about this very recently and cannot wait to read it. Nikita Gill is one of my favorite poets. I especially love her mythology poetry and I cannot wait to see her take on Hekate. 

8. A bookish goal for 2025?- I have a whole post with all of my goals for 2025 on this blog. Here are a couple of them. 

    📚 Review every book I read

    📖 Read 5 classics

    📚 Complete Jane Austen Reading Challenge

    📖 Finish 3 series

    📚 Read 5 tomes

9. A book that’s been on your tbr you probably won’t ever read?

    📖 I collect certain editions of classics such as the Reader’s Digest Classics and get them whenever I seem them at book sales. One of them I have that I do not plan on reading is Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace. 

10. A series you want to read this year?- There are a good amount of series I would like to read or finish this year. 

    📚 Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones- I read the first book last year and hope to at least read some of these this year. These are in Diana Wynne Jones’s recommended order. 

    📖 The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica by James A. Owen- I would like to read the last three books this year. 

    📚 Zamonien series by Walter Moers- The Zamonien books were some of my favorites last year and am I am looking forward to continuing it this year. 

    📖 The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson- I read The Way of Kings last year and cannot wait to pick up the second this year. 

 

    📚 The Story Thieves by James Riley- I enjoyed Story Thieves when I read it in 2022 and would like to continue this year. 

11. Your auto buy/ auto read authors going into 2025?- These are all of the authors I want to read/buy all their books. 

    📖 T. Kingfisher

    📚 Chris Colfer

    📖 Rick Riordan

    📚 Madeline Miller

    📖 Rebecca Ross

    📚 Natalie Haynes

    📖 N. R. Walker 

12. A book to show adaptation you’re excited about this year?

    📚 I believe Big Tree by Brian Selznick is supposed to be adapted this year. If it is, I’m definitely looking forward to that. 

    📖 A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R. R. Martin- I really enjoyed this book when I read it a few years ago and am looking forward to see this adaptation. 

    📚 I’m most excited for Wicked: For Good. Wicked was my favorite movie of last year and my least favorite book. I cannot wait to see Part 2 in November. 

13. A sequel you’re anticipating?

    📖 Holy Terrors by Margaret Owen is the sequel I anticipate the most.

14. Bookish things you’re leaving in 2024?

    📚 Not keeping up with my reading journal. I want to make sure I use my reading journal the entire year. 

15. What to expect from this account?

    🖊️ I would like to do writing prompts on here again like I did in May of 2022.

    🎮 Some more video game reviews 

    📖 Book reviews as usual 

    🎞️ I would really love to get back into Book Adaptation posts

16. How has your reading taste evolved from last year?

    📚 It really hasn’t changed that much in the last year. I like to read so many different types of books but my go-to genre will always be fantasy. 

17. Booktube creators who inspire you?

    📖 @Booksandlala is my favorite Booktuber I watch and she gives me many ideas. 

18. Something you want to say to anyone wanting to start a bookish account?

    📚 I highly recommend doing it if you love talking about books. It is an absolute joy to get to talk about what you enjoy with others and I will never not enjoy getting the space to do just that. Also, you may be able to get free copies of books through services such as NetGalley, which is a great resource to read new books especially before they release.

New Mario Kart on Switch 2!

 

Just had to make a post about this because Mario Kart is one of my favorite things and I cannot wait to play the new game. Looks like it’s going to have 24 racers which is nuts. I like the design of the characters too. Better have Link.

2024 End of Year Reading Survey

I love answering questions about my reading year. Each of these books I have reviewed on this blog and on Goodreads. You can read each review if you click on the picture below the books mentioned. 

1.) How many books did you read? Did you meet your goal? 

        📖 155 books- I had a great reading year and found so many new favorites. 

        📚 My reading goal was 100 books, so I definitely hit my goal.

2.) Most read genre?

        🐉 Fantasy- Fantasy is always going to be my most read genre so this isn’t surprising at all. I read over 100 fantasy books this year and loved a lot of them. Such a great time!

3.) Longest and shortest books you read?

        📖 Longest: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson with 1007 pages. Finally, read a Brandon Sanderson book this year and I absolutely adored it. I have been wanting to read The Stormlight Archive for years, but haven’t because of their size. In 2025, I will definitely be picking up more of this series and I look forward to getting back into this fantasy world.  

        📚 Shortest: Echo Echo: Reverso Poems about Greek Myths by Marilyn Singer with 32 pages. Such a great book of poems. I love this idea so much. 

4.) Favorite book published in 2024?

        🐴 A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher- As soon as I read this book, I knew it would most likely be my favorite book of the year. I was very right. T. Kingfisher has an incredible writing style that stands out in each of her books, at least the ones I have read. She is becoming one of my favorite authors ever and I will be picking up even more of her books in 2025. I adore how dark this book got at times and also the balance with the humor. Hester is one of my favorite narrators of all-time. This was a gem that I’m so glad I found it this year and I cannot wait to pick it up again. 

5.) Favorite debut book in 2024?

       🍑 The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang- I cannot believe that I read this book almost a year ago because it feels like it was much more recent than that. It was such an intricately woven story which creatively weaves together three different timelines brilliantly. Reincarnation stories have always drawn me in and I enjoyed how Justinian chose to show the cycle through time periods. I’m glad he decided to go back and forth between the characters and how we didn’t know for most of the book who was the reincarnated versions of the emperor and Dong Xian. It felt like a puzzle. This is not a well-loved book by many but I had a lot of fun with it. 

6.) Favorite book not published this year?

        ☠️ Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut- I have heard incredible things about this book for a very long time and decided to finally read it this year. My gosh, this book shocked me by how incredible it was. It’s now a new favorite classic and I am looking forward to rereading it again in the near future. Such a great book which hit me hard. I will be picking up the graphic novel adaptation this year. 

7.) Favorite narrator?

        🏺Hermes from Amber & Clay by Laura Amy Schlitz- Rhaskos and Melisto’s story is narrated by many different characters through artifacts, verse, and prose. It is told by the gods, their mothers, Sokrates, many other people from their lives, and also themselves. Hermes’ narration was an absolute delight to read and made this even better than it was. 

8.) Least favorite book of the year?

        🧹 Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire- I went into this book hopefully optimistic. This was not the first time I have tried to read this book and I have got to say I should not have tried to read it again. There is so many ideas here which work and that is obvious from the musical which takes the best of this and makes it into (in my opinion) a better story. I do not enjoy this book at all, but adored the movie. 

9.) Book that felt like the biggest accomplishment?

        💧 The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson- I’m very glad I got to this during 2024 and it feels like a big accomplishment. 

10.) Favorite character.

        🐴 Hester from A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher- Hester is my favorite type of character and is one of the reasons I love this book as much as I do. Her wit is top-notch and was perfect for her side of the narration. She is a character I totally related to so many ways and I adore her. 

        🪴Kiela from The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst- I could not just pick one character this year because Kiela was everything to me. She is another character that I adore and I loved reading about her in 2024. 

11.) Least favorite character.

        🍎 Probably, King Callen from The Crimson Crown by Heather Walter- King Callen is a man who likes to hide behind a fake charismatic attitude and shows his true nature quite a lot near the end of the book. I love how Heather took this origin story for the Evil Queen from “Snow White.” Such a clever take on the original story and King Callen was the perfect villain for Ayleth’s tale. 

12.) Favorite book idea

        🦁 The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien by John Hendrix- I had to add in this question just for this book. I love how John Hendrix chose to tell the story of C. S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien in this book. He chose to blend together prose, images, and narrative comics to chronicle each of their lives. It was such a clever way of writing and I’d love to see the lives of other authors in this medium. Definitely, a favorite I will reread, especially with my beautiful finished copy. 

13.) Favorite couple/OTP.

        🦚 Oliver & Darcy from Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa- Darcy and Elizabeth are one of my favorite couples from literature and I loved this reimagining of their relationship so much. Oliver & Darcy are such a cute couple and I adored this book so much. 

14.) The best-written book you read this year.

        🪦 A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle- This was a very hard one to answer because there are so many books that I read that were written incredibly. But, I think Peter S. Beagle is one of the best writers I have ever read and this one definitely was one of the best written books I have read in a long time. What makes it even more amazing is that he originally wrote this book when he was 19 years old, which just shocks me. A phenomenal story with stunning writing. 

15.) Book that you pushed the most people to read in 2024.

        📖 I have recommend Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa and A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher a lot in 2024. 

 

16.) Favorite book cover of the year.

        📚 There are too many covers I loved to be able to pick one, so here are my five favorite covers in no particular order. 

 

17.) Favorite adaptation.

        🫧 Wicked- I love how my favorite movie of the year is based on my least favorite book of the year. It’s kind of funny. I got to see this beauty twice and had the time of my life. Musicals will always be my favorite and I just adore Oz with all my heart. This was a masterpiece to me. 

18.) Favorite take on a classic tale. 

        💀 Death’s Country by R. M. Romero- Retellings are my favorites and this was the best I found this year. I love how Romero took the myth of “Orpheus & Eurydice” in this contemporary fantasy book and made it her own. This is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read. She is one of the best at writing stories in verse and I look forward to reading more of her works in 2025. Absolutely, beautiful in every way.

 

19.) What book surprised you the most?

        👻 The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor- What surprised me so much about this book, was how much I loved it. This was one of the most hard-hitting books I have ever read. It has many heavy topics such as dealing with grief, burnout, and the importance of keeping boundaries. I was surprised by the emotional depth in this graphic novel. Going in, I knew I was going to love this story, but I didn’t quite realize how much this was going to hit me. I adored this so much. 

20.) A new favorite author you discovered this year.

        📚 T. Kingfisher- I read three of her books this year and fell in love with her writing style. Definitely, looking forward to picking up more of her works in 2025. 

21.) Favorite graphic novel of the year.

        📖 The Adventure Zone Volume 6: The Suffering Game by the McElroys- The Adventure Zone series is one of my favorites and this is one of the best they have done yet. This has a good amount of the humor from the other volumes but is much more hard-hitting. Really, looking forward to the final volume, which I believe is coming out this year. 

        👻 The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor- Had to cheat again and put more than one answer for this question. There is no way I would have been able to pick a favorite from this one and The Adventure Zone because they were both so great!

22.) Favorite book you re-read this year.

        👽 Probably, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams- This is one of my top ten favorite books of all-time and I always have a great time when I reread it for Towel Day in May. 

23.) Were you happy with your reading year? What will you do differently in 2025?

         📖 I am very happy with my reading year and I don’t plan on doing anything different other than having some different reading goals, which I already made a post for on this blog. 

24.) Favorite 24 Books of 2024? 

These are my top 24 favorite books of 2024. They are in order by when I read them throughout the year and are color coded by the month I read them in. My top 10 are marked with 🤩. 

1. The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang 
   
2. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Haniff
3. The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
4. Most Ardently by  Gabe Cole Novoa 🤩
5. Storm of Olympus by Claire Andrews
   
6. The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien by John Hendrix 🤩
7. Death's Country by R. M. Romero 🤩
8. The Adventure Zone Volume 6: The Suffering Game by the McElroys
9. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson 🤩
10. The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
11. Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
12. Amber & Clay by Laura Amy Schlitz 🤩
13. A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher 🤩
14. The Shadow Dragons by James A. Owen.
15. The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi
    
16. The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor 🤩
17. Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan
18. Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones 
19. The Dragon's Apprentice by James A. Owen
20. The Crimson Crown by Heather Walter 🤩
21. A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle 🤩
22. Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures by Walter Moers
23. Holiday Heart Strings by N. R. Walker
24. Slaugherhouse- Five by Kurt Vonnegut 🤩

My Top 10 Books