How many books read in 2025?


53, down 5 but last year I counted some DNFs as finished, so I probably actually finished more books this year.

How many fiction and non fiction? 26 and 27



Male/Female author ratio? 28 men and 33 women




Diversity? 13 authors of color; 2 LGBTQ+ that I'm aware of; 9 Jewish authors.




Favorite book of 2025?
The Briefcase by Hiromi Kawakami. It's also published under the (ridiculous) title of Strange Weather in Tokyo if you're looking for it. 

Favorite nonfiction was Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley.



Oldest book read?  Burning Lights, by Bella Chagall, published in 1946.



Newest? Lublin, by Manya Wilkinson, 2024.



Longest and shortest book titles? 


Shortest title: Kairos, by Jenny Erpenbeck


Longest title: Keanu Reeves is not in Love with You, by Becky Holmes



Longest and shortest books? 
Shortest: Haiku Harvest (61 pages)


Longest: A Memory of Light, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (909 pages)


How many books from the library?
None! I'm a buyer, not a borrower.



Any translated books?
Yiddish, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Chinese, Spanish, Polish



Which countries did you go to through the page in your year of reading?
Space, Britain, Bessarabia, Japan, Ireland, France, Poland, Scotland, North Korea, Italy, Belarus, Germany, Colombia, Ukraine, China



Most read author of the year, and how many books by that author? 
Robert Jordan, with five books- the last five of the Wheel of Time series. Two by Hiromi Kawakami.



Any re-reads?
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, an all-time favorite, and My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante. I read that when it came out but I'm reading the whole series now so I wanted to start back with book one.



Favorite character of the year? 
Egwene and Matt from Wheel of Time and Sensei from The Briefcase

Which book wouldn’t you have read without someone’s specific recommendation?
My husband recommended the Wheel of Time series; various writing teachers recommended The Chronology of Water and Body Work.

Which author was new to you in 2025 that you now want to read the entire works of?
Liu Cixin and Hiromi Kawakami



Which books are you annoyed you didn't read?
I keep meaning to finish Keith Haring's journals and I can't find it, so.



Did you read any books you have always been meaning to read?
Wandering Stars by Sholem Aleichem has been on my shelf for a loooong time.


How's Wheel of Time going?
I finished! It was amazing. Really such a treat to be immersed in that world for two years. I can't wait to start my first re-read. 


Bookish Events in Marie's Life 


Got about 12 pieces of writing published. 
Won the Haiku Newton contest and got to read my winning haiku at their event.
Took a lot of writing classes and workshops.
Enjoyed some time in the bookish city of San Francisco and visited my favorite bookstores there.
Viewed the Jane Austen at 250 exhibition at the Morgan Library

In a few days I'll take down my ongoing list of 2025 reads so for now here's my annual Cards-for-Humanity-inspired book meme. Look for annual favorites coming up soon and check out my Substack (link in About Me) if you'd like to keep up with what I'm doing.

 Describe yourself: Heating and Cooling

How many books read in 2024?
58 books, exactly the same as in 2023.

How many fiction and non fiction?
36 fiction to 22 nonfiction. This surprises me because I almost always had a writing book going but I guess I read them slowly.

Male/Female author ratio?
20 men and 31 women, and 1 nonbinary. The numbers don't add up to 58 because I had 6 books by one author and 2 by another.

Diversity?
Bad this year. Only 6 people of color and 8 Jewish books.

Favorite book of 2024?
Essays in Idleness and Hojoki by Kenko and Chomei. This was published as one volume so I counted it as one title and author even though it is two works by two different authors.

Oldest book read?
Essays in Idleness and Hojoki, written in the 13th century.

Newest? Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney, which I bought and read as soon as it came out this past October.

Longest and shortest book titles?
Shortest title: Hao
Longest title: Whatever is Contained, Must Be Released

Longest and shortest books?
Longest: Lord of Chaos, by Robert Jordan
Shortest: The Divorce, by Cesar Aira

How many books from the library?
None! I'm a buyer, not a borrower.

Any translated books?
Not as many as I thought, but I read books translated from French, Spanish, Russian and Japanese.

Which countries did you go to through the page in your year of reading?
France, ancient Greece, Ireland, Russia, England, Argentina, Singapore, Japan, Canada, China, Mexico, the Balkans and Vietnam. Plus the fictional worlds of The Wheel of Time series and Howls Moving Castle.

Most read author of the year, and how many books by that author?
Robert Jordan, with six books, followed by Cesar Aira, with two.

Any re-reads?
The Dead are Gods, by Eirinie Carson, The Lover by Marguerite Duras and Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones.

Favorite character of the year?
Egwene from the Wheel of Time series; the narrator of Cesar Aira's The Divorce.

Which book wouldn’t you have read without someone’s specific recommendation?
All of the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time books- The Fires of Heaven, Lord of Chaos, A Crown of Swords, New Spring, The Path of Daggers and Winter's Heart, recommended by my husband, a true Wheel of Time warrior.

The Situation and the Story was recommended by several writing teachers.

Opacities was recommended by rockstar author and bookseller Josh Cook.

Which author was new to you in 2023 that you now want to read the entire works of?
Sofia Samatar

Which books are you annoyed you didn't read?
Everything in my TBR I didn't get to.

Did you read any books you have always been meaning to read?
When my husband and I rearranged our bookshelves this spring, I sorted out all of the short story collections and vowed to start reading them. I read six and DNF'd a couple too, opening up significant space on the shelf and shifting out some things that had been there for far too long.

How's Wheel of Time going?

I finished book nine, Winter's Heart, just after Christmas, and have started book ten, Crossroads of Twilight. That makes four more to go after Crossroads. I can do it! After I finish I'm going to finally read Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet.

Bookish Events in Marie's Life
Got a bunch of essays and poems and flash pieces published.

Took a lot of writing classes and workshops.

Visited a bunch of awesome bookstores in Paris and San Francisco.

Started a new haiku-only Substack. 

Next year I'll add in some new stats like how many books I bought and how many I weeded. And we'll see what else. So exciting!!! Stay tuned!!!

 It's been a while!

The carnival was started by Heidi Rabinowitz and myself to build community among bloggers and blogs who feature Jewish books. It runs every month on the 15th (or close to the 15th when it falls on Shabbat).

Author Talia Carner's appeal to the leadership of the Authors' Guild highlights a major issue of concern to all Jewish writers. 

Adam Gidwitz and Steve Sheinkin are guests on the July episode of The Book of Life Podcast, talking about their recent Holocaust books, Max in the House of Spies (middle grade historical fantasy) and Impossible Escape (young adult nonfiction). You can hear the episode, find a transcript, and see the show notes at the link here, and of course you can hear it wherever you normally listen to podcasts by subscribing to The Book of Life. https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2024/07/espionage-secrets-suspense-holocaust.html

It's Monday, and I'm treating myself to a re-read of  Diana Wynne Jones' children's classic Howl's Moving Castle. It's the basis for my favorite comfort-watch movie and I know the book is very different from the movie but that's what I love about both, the way that Hiyao Miyazaki used this weird and wonderful book as the jumping-off point for his own weird and wonderful art. I'll put on some of Joe Hisaishi's magical soundtrack, make some tea and settle in. What about you?

I received it for review and promotion from the publisher, Tin House Books, whose books I always love. They really do publish the crème-de-la-crème of both fiction and nonfiction. They also run some pretty great writing workshops. 

Anyway definitely check out The Story Game. I am probably going to be done reading it in another couple of days and then you'll see a review in my Substack, which I encourage you to subscribe to.

I spent most of my time, and all of my money, in the general fiction section.

I collect Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire novels; sometimes, I even read them. There are about 21 books in the series and I got a stack of Thirkells years ago at the Montague Book Mill. I was hoping to luck out here on this visit. I was not disappointed. I got all of the Thirkells pictured above, very nearly completing my Barsetshire collection. I think I only need two more now.

Very exciting!

When I'm done with Wheel of Time I'm going to make Barsetshire my next destination.

The carnival was started by Heidi Rabinowitz and myself to build community among bloggers and blogs who feature Jewish books. It runs every month on the 15th (or close to the 15th when it falls on Shabbat).