It’s time for my annual end-of-year tradition — a look at all the books I meant to read! Here’s a look back at all the books I purchased in 2025, but just didn’t get around to reading for one reason or another.

As I noted last year, I’ve gotten much better about being thoughtful about which hard copy books I add to my shelves. I’ve leaned much more heavily into borrowing library books, and when I do spend money on new books, it tends to be for e-editions (since both my husband and I do the bulk of our reading on our Kindles).

However… I do still give in to temptation! There are certain authors whose books I need no matter what! I picked up a couple of signed books at author events this year, and treated myself to a few books that caught my eye and were total impulse purchases. In total, I bought fewer hard copy books than in previous years — and of the ones I bought, many were copies of books I’d already read, loved, and then decided to add to my bookshelves.

When it comes to e-books, I must admit that my restraint seems to go out the window. I tend to grab copies of ebooks when I see a good deal — I just can’t resist when a book on my TBR is available for $1.99 as a one-day price drop! The downside is that I end up adding books that I don’t necessarily intend to read right away. So, you’ll see lots and lots of new Kindle books added in 2025 and not yet read.

Let’s get to it. Here’s a salute to my unread books of 2025!

First, the hardcovers and paperbacks:

As for the ebooks added to my Kindle library in 2025:

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The e-book list is pretty overwhelming. Almost all of these were purchased when their prices dropped to a dollar or two… but still, that’s way more than I really should be adding to my library, when I still have so many books yet to read. I’ll try to do better in 2026 (but also, I acknowledge that I say this every year!)

End note:

While I’m talking about “meant to read” books, I thought I’d take a look at my quarterly Top Ten Tuesday TBR posts of 2025, to see if I actually read the books I listed as my priorities each season. Turns out, I did okay! Of the 37 books I named (three books were listed in more than one quarter), I read all but seven. My unread TTT/TBR books are:

• The Naturalist Society by Carrie Vaughn: I really like this author, but didn’t feel interested enough to read this one.
• Run Away with Me by Brian Seltzer: Just didn’t get around to borrowing this book from the library. Maybe someday, but it doesn’t feel like a priority.
• City of All Seasons by Aliya Whiteley and Oliver K. Langmead: DNFd this one after a couple of chapters.
• Swordheart by T. Kingfisher: Still plan to read
• The Fair Folk by Su Bristow: Still plan to read
• Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree: Still plan to read
• A Town with Half the Lights On by Page Getz: Still plan to read

Have you read (and loved) any of my 2025 “meant-to-read” books? Please let me know if you see any you’d consider best of the bunch!

Onward to 2026! Happy New Year!Save