What Books I Loved (and didn’t) in 2025

5 Stars

Mythic Plants: Potions and Poisons from the Gardens of the Gods by Ellen Zachos

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

4 Stars

Storm Front (Book 1 of the Dresden Files Series) by Jim Butcher

Come As You Are: The Surprising Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life by Emily Nagoski

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

Wizard’s First Rule (Book 1 of the Sword of Truth Series) by Terry Goodkind

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

The Ultimate Guide to the Witch’s Wheel of the Year by Anjou Kiernan

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

A Rival Most Vial: Potioneering for Love and Profit by R.K. Ashwick

The Witch’s Daughter (#1 of the Witch’s Daughter Series) by Paula Brackston

The Reformatory by Tannannarive Due

King Sorrow by Joe Hill

3 Stars

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

Alice (Book of the Chronicles of Alice) by Christina Henry

2 Stars

Cursed Cocktails (Book of the Tales of Aedrea Series) by S.L. Rowland

Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica by Zora Neale Hurston

Beautiful Creatures (Book #1 of the Caster Chronicles) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

1 Star

You Shouldn’t Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose

DNF

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (REASON: House was the main character, I get it, but how many paragraphs about the curtains do we need?

A Deadly Education (Book 1 of the Scholomance Series) by Naomi Novik (REASON: Main character was too sarcastic and rude. Coming from me, that’s saying something)

American Gods by Neil Gaiman (REASON: Read for 50% and literally nothing happened. Too many things to be. Can’t do it, y’all.)

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks (REASON: I’m still not sure. He turned something super interesting into something boring and I don’t get HOW.)