What Mare Read in 2025

This year I read 79 books/novella’s, down quite a bit from last year. I spent a lot of time during the late summer and fall editing the book I’m writing, so that obliterated a chunk of my reading time… When I decided to do another revision on the book, all those hours spent on editing seemed like a waste, but I learned a lot about my own writing foibles, so not a total squandering of my time. The revising continues…

I keep lists of books I want to read everywhere ~ one on my phone Reminders list, one on the phone Notes, plus an Excel spreadsheet ~ LOL! The Reminders list is titled B&N and comes in handy when Barnes & Noble runs their 25% off pre-order sales, which are almost as exciting to me as the Scholastic book sales at school many moons ago. I love the anticipation of getting a new book in the mail weeks or months later ~ it’s always good to have something to look forward to! 😊 The 25% preorder sale is on now until 1/1/26, for B&N Rewards members.

I ran through the two Barnes & Noble book journals (See the 2024 post) I used to record and review the books I read, so I bought a pretty notebook (below, right). The journal only allowed one page per book, with specific information to fill out and a star rating system ~ not much room to write my thoughts. Since the notebook I’m using now is just simple, lined pages, I can write as much as I want about each book without squishing my writing and sometimes adding sticky notes. Loving the freedom! YAY!

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Fave Books by Black Authors

In honor of Black History Month, I’ve compiled a list of books I’ve enjoyed, written by black authors. If I try to give a description of each one, I’ll never get it done. I’ve been trying to do an LGBTQ+ book list with full descriptions but for some reason, it’s been daunting. Probably because I’ve tried to keep my writing focus on the edits of my first book, a cozy mystery, which I plan to publish sometime this year. Believe it or not, when I do a blog post, it takes plenty of time and research to make sure I’ve got all the details right. Plus, there’s lots of personal and political stuff taking up a bunch of my attention, too.

So, if any of these authors/titles pique your interest, please check them out at your favorite booksellers or at the library. Or pick up the middle grade and YA for your young readers (and yourself, of course. Great stories come in all age categories!)

And give these authors some social media love, too!

If you have some recommendations, I’d love to hear them in the comments. C’mon, share!

Happy Reading!

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