Best Of – Page 2

Best of 2025 | End-of-Year Survey

Today marks the 10th year I’ve completed this end-of-year survey on my blog. A whole decade! Over the years, I have removed and added questions so it barely resembles the original survey (thanks to San for finding the original source of this survey, which you can find here.) I love looking back on the year with this survey, so let’s get started!

1) What did you do in 2025 that you’ve never done before?

Went to a drag show
Had a colonoscopy
Used professional movers for a move
Had an ultrasound
Traveled to London

2) Did anyone close to you give birth?

No.

3) Did anyone close to you die?

No.

4) What places did you visit?

I visited Orlando a few times and London, England!

5) What would you like to have in 2026 that you didn’t have in 2025?

A relief from chronic pain, less time spent in doctors’ offices, and better routines.

6) What was your biggest achievement this year?

Moving to a new apartment! I am so happy here. I have wanted to move to a two-bedroom apartment for so long, and I’m so proud of myself for finally making it happen. My main reason for moving was so I could finally have an office after five-and-a-half years of full-time remote work. It is so nice to have this space that is separated from my living area.

7) What was your biggest challenge?

Last year, I wrote, “my physical health took a beating,” and sadly, the challenges continued in 2025. This was my worst year health-wise, and I spent so much time in doctors’ offices and getting tests done to figure out my health ailments. I got FIVE steroid shots this year (one in my carpal tunnel, one in each index finger, and one in each hip bursae). I struggled with GI issues that had me seeking out a GI doctor who ordered a slew of tests, but no answers. (Funnily enough, my GI issues seemed to correct after my colonoscopy. I guess my GI tract just needed to be reset with colonoscopy prep?!) And for the past few months, I’ve been dealing with joint inflammation that leads me to believe I might have developed psoriatic arthritis. Fun!

8) Did you suffer from illness or injury?

LOL, see above!

The only time I was ill was after getting home from London. I had a sore throat and stuffy nose for a few days, but it resolved pretty quickly!

9) What was the best thing you bought?

This is probably going to sound crazy, but smart plugs. I didn’t know these existed until Elisabeth talked about them on her blog, and I immediately bought myself a pack. I used one for my bedroom light and one for my living room light. Not having to get up to turn off a light or even reach over in bed (since I usually have a cat lying on me, and I don’t want to disturb them!) has been life-changing. I just tell Alexa to turn off my bedroom light, and I’m good to go. When Christmas came around, I decided I needed every string of lights to have its own smart plug so they would turn on and off automatically, and it has been so nice to see them click on at 5pm every evening!

10) Where did most of your money go?

It’s hard to say if I spent more money on my move or my London trip. Both were fairly expensive, but so worth it! Unfortunately, I decided to stop itemizing my transactions in October (which is when both my London trip and my move took place), so the world will never know.

11) What did you get really, really excited about?

Moving! After living in my current apartment for five years, I was so excited to pack everything up and get organized in a new space. I moved very slowly since I had about four weeks between when I got the keys to my new place and when I had to turn in my keys for my old place, and I really loved being able to take my time. It meant I could bring things over every few days that I didn’t need the moving company to move, and they were able to get everything done in one trip, which definitely saved me money!

12) What do you wish you had done more of?

I wish I had spent more time with friends and been a better communicator. I struggled a lot in this area and it led to a lot of internal resentment that’s not fun to deal with!

13) What do you wish you had done less of?

Scrolling on my phone. My screen time average is insane. I won’t even tell you guys what it is because it’s embarrassing.

14) How did you spend Christmas?

Christmas was lovely! I woke up at my mom’s house and settled on the couch to read a chapter of 11/22/63. Once everyone was up, my mom and I took a trip to Starbucks for breakfast and coffee. Then, we lounged around for a while before my brother and his family came over around noon. We opened presents, had dinner, and did more lounging around! I was thrilled to get so many amazing presents, including a new reading chair, a chair for my patio, and a brand-new Kindle! I’m so lucky!

I went home around 4, took a nap, and then spent the rest of the evening blogging and reading. So nice!

15) What was your favorite TV program?

Hmm… probably Survivor! I watched a lot of seasons in 2025.

16) What did you want and get?

I wanted to move into a two-bedroom apartment – check!

I wanted a fun international trip with my mom to celebrate her 60th birthday – check!

I wanted to improve my mental health and that definitely happened when I switched from Lexapro to Prozac. It was a bumpy transition, but I’m so glad I made the switch!

17) What did you want and not get?

I wanted to go on more dates and I went on exactly one date in 2025. (This is all on me. You can’t go on more dates if you’re not on the dating apps, Steph!)

I wanted to reach out to friends more and it continues to be an area of struggle for me.

I wanted to spend a lot less money on Ubereats orders and I failed miserably.

18) What was your favorite film of 2025?

This is going to sound crazy, but it was Superman. I had my first-ever hyperfixation after watching that movie because I couldn’t get enough of David Corenswet and the whole press tour for the movie. At one point, I had been looking at so many Superman memes and Reels that my entire feed was solely Superman. I truly couldn’t think about anything else for a few weeks. It was madness! I loved the movie and David was such a perfect Superman. And he also seems like such a great guy, which makes my obsession with him even deeper. SIGH.

19) What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 38 this year (<– I was so uncertain if I turned 38 or 39 that I had to USE MY PHONE CALCULATOR to subtract the year from my birth year, sigh. Getting old sucks.)

I had a lovely birthday! I went to Starbucks to read my book and then got a super relaxing massage. Afterward, I picked up lunch, took a short nap, and then got ready for a fun evening. I went to Busch Gardens’ Christmastown with my mom and older nephew. It was a lot of fun, even though I was limping terribly by the end of the night due to my joint pain.

20) What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Spending less time in doctors’ offices! That’s basically the theme of my year. It was a hard year for my physical health, and it seemed like every time I solved one problem, a new one popped up. Cyst condition dormant? Great, now I might have diabetes. Staved off a diabetes diagnosis? Fantastic, it’s time for severe carpal tunnel pain. Got a steroid shot to help with the carpal tunnel pain? Amazing, here’s a bout of chronic diarrhea. GI tract back to normal? Cool, how about some back pain? Back pain all better? Lovely, here’s some joint pain to round out the year. It was just nonstop and I am very weary from it all.

21) Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2025.

People like me for me. Self-confidence has been a long-time struggle for me. And it really shows up in my friendships where I feel like I need to be funnier or smarter or more interesting than I actually am. But I don’t. My friends like me for me. They think I am funny and smart and interesting just as I am.

22) If you could change one thing that happened this year, what would it be?

I wish I felt more connected to my extended family. It’s been hard since Grandma died in 2015 and then Pops in 2018. We used to have big family gatherings – holidays, summer picnics, and birthdays – and now I can’t remember the last time I saw an extended family member. Some of this is definitely on me and not reaching out the way I should. Family dynamics are just complicated! It’s weird to feel so adrift from my extended family when they were such a big part of my life growing up!

23) How have you changed over this past year?

I don’t think I’ve changed all that much, other than becoming more comfortable in my own skin. I think every year, I get just a little more comfortable and it feels really good. I like who I am. I like the life I’ve built. I like being single and childless and obsessed with my cats, everything I was afraid of becoming when I was a kid! (I’m the crazy cat lady they warned you about!) I always want to strive to become a better version of myself, but that’s not because I don’t like who I am right now. Rather, it’s about enhancing my life and seeing what more I’m capable of.

24) How did this year surprise you?

I didn’t expect to experience so many physical ailments, which is what I said last year! So let’s hope something else can surprise me in 2026, and let it please be a good surprise, like I win the lottery or find my person!

25) Show us one of your favorite photos from the year.

I mean, come on! What was more fun than our cheesy JC Penney photoshoot? I love this one because I specifically have my hands two of my friends’ butts (with their permission), and we are all posed perfectly awkwardly.

Categories: Best Of

Book Club 2025

This will be my third year recapping my year in book club, and it’s become one of my favorite traditions! This year, I tried to be on the ball and leave a note for myself about the experience and our discussion about the book. Annnd… I lasted until March and then just completely forgot that I was doing that. Good job, Steph! Ah well. We had another excellent year of book club experiences, and I’m really excited for 2026 and all of the fun that awaits us!

JANUARY

Book selection: n/a
Overall book club rating: n/a
Experience: Breakfast at a local restaurant

We kept things simple for our first book club of the year and met at a local restaurant for breakfast. At this book club meeting, we all brought a few book ideas and a few activity ideas for the whole year. We put each idea on a separate Post-It note, folded them up, and then put them in two bags. Then, every month, we would select three Post-Its from each bag, which would give us three book options and three activity options. From there, we would take a vote on the book and activity for the next month. You guys, this was so much fun. It was so exciting to see what books and activities were going to be selected from the bag. We also made a rule that if a book or activity had been a selection three times and wasn’t picked, we would remove it from the bag to keep things fresh. We’re going to do the same thing in 2026!

FEBRUARY

Book selection: Good Material by Dolly Alderton
My rating: 2.5
Overall book club rating: 3.2
Experience: Little Words Project

This was such a great book club experience! We started at a small bagel shop for a quick breakfast and then walked over to the Little Word Project to make bracelets! I chose the word “power” for my bracelet and I love how everyone’s bracelets turned out. (Other words chosen: breathe, choose, resilient, and rising.) We all did a fantastic job! It was a lot of fun choosing the beads and color scheme.

Our book this month was Good Material by Dolly Alderton, which had mixed reviews with our group. Only two people loved it, with most of us not enjoying the male perspective. (We did agree that some parts were funny, such as how the men in the book did not know how to take care of a heartbroken male friend, while the women in the book were able to take care of their heartbroken female friend easily. Very true to life!) After making our bracelets, we sat outside on a bench to discuss the book and pick March’s book and activity.

MARCH

Book selection: The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
My rating: 5
Overall book club rating: 4.7
Experience: Afternoon tea

This was such a fun book club! While I am not much of a tea drinker, I very much enjoy all of the sandwiches and desserts that accompany afternoon tea. We all got dressed up and truly enjoyed ourselves. I did not enjoy the tea I chose (it was supposed to taste like coffee and it did not taste like coffee), but I have since learned I can’t go wrong with a classic peppermint tea, so that will be my drink of choice going forward!

I adored our book club pick this month. It’s a fantasy story, which normally isn’t my thing, but I loved being in this fantasy world that was so different from reality. Everyone else enjoyed the story, too, aside from one outlier. We mostly gushed about how much we loved the storytelling and the ending. I have a feeling that this book will make my favorites list at the end of the year.

APRIL

Book selection: Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
My rating: DNF
Overall book club rating: 3.2
Experience: Cheesy photos at JCPenney

This was an epic book club experience! We had such a blast with the photographer choosing the silliest poses, and the photos came out amazing! We all agreed that this was one of our best book club experiences ever. Not only was it fun, but we also now have the most adorable photos of us celebrating our friendship and love for one another.

After our photoshoot, we walked over to a taco place for lunch and to chat about the book. I DNF-ed this month’s book, which I try not to do for book club books, but I was just so bored and I wanted to read something else. Maybe I should have tried it on audio? This book had mixed reviews, with some members really loving it and some finding it a bit “meh.” We all really wanted the author to have an author’s note at the end to tell us what was real and what she embellished.

MAY

Book selection: Look Closer by David Ellis
My rating: 5
Overall book club rating: 4.3
Experience: Painting pottery

At this book club experience, we went to Practically Pikasso, a local pottery studio, and painted pottery. Most of us chose mugs to paint, although one friend chose a very complicated design on a plate (that turned out so amazing, it was featured in their round-up on social media!). Another friend chose a very cute coaster! I was very impressed with the friends who free-handed designs. I basically just did an ombre pattern on a mug that turned out pretty cute.

While we painted, we talked about the book, which we all really loved. I thought it was such an inventive story that kept me on my toes, and it was one of the only thrillers where I was rooting for the “bad guys” to get away. Everyone else agreed with this assessment!

JUNE

Book selection: Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
My rating: 4
Overall book club rating: 3.8
Experience: ~~Dolphin cruise~~ Mediterranean food and ice cream

Oh, we knew we were playing with fire with this book club experience. An outside experience during the summer in Florida? There’s an 80% chance it’s going to get rained out. And that’s exactly what happened. We were all sitting at a restaurant together, enjoying some delicious Mediterranean food before our dolphin cruise, and got the alert that it was canceled due to rain. Wah! We pivoted and walked over to an ice cream shop for dessert. It wasn’t the experience we had hoped for, but we made the best of it.

We picked another thriller this month, and it has been on my TBR for a long, long time. It was excellent! Super creepy, with lots of twists and turns. We talked about the twists we saw coming and the ones that really surprised us.

JULY

Book selection: Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
My rating: DNS
Overall book club rating: 3.1
Experience: Milkshake night

I didn’t attend July book club because I was in the middle of prepping for a colonoscopy! How fun! They ended up repeating what they did in June – same restaurant, same ice cream shop – but not a lot of people could attend, so it was a small affair. The book was not a winner for our group, and when I brought it up in our final book club of the year, everyone basically groaned about how much they hated the book. Ha! I didn’t even attempt it. I tried another book by Madeline Miller, but I couldn’t get into it, so I didn’t have high hopes for this one.

AUGUST

no book club 🙁

SEPTEMBER

Book selection: What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon
My rating: DNF
Overall book club rating: 3.8
Experience: Top Golf

This book club experience ended up being a favorite for everyone, and I’m so happy about that because I just adore Top Golf. Am I good at it? Absolutely not. But it’s still fun. Mostly I love the food and drinks, ha. We held book club on Bri’s birthday, so we surprised her by decorating our golfing bay with unicorn-themed decorations! There were balloons and streamers and lots of cute unicorn party hats. Some of the Top Golf servers even wore unicorn party hats, which was super fun! It was a delight to surprise Bri, too, who is someone who wants people to forget she ever has a birthday (while making everyone else’s birthday a priority!), so I like that we were able to celebrate our dear friend this way.

After we spent a few hours golfing, we found a table inside so we could talk about the book. This was my second DNF of the year, as it was another book I just couldn’t get into. There was some magical realism elements to the book, which normally don’t bother me, but they just weren’t working for me. I think I would have enjoyed this book so much more on audio, but there were no options for that—not Libby, not Hoopla, not Spotify. Bah! Maybe it’s time to finally purchase a Librofm membership? Anyway, the ladies who did finish this book really loved it.

OCTOBER

Book selection: Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
My rating: 5
Overall book club rating: 3.4
Experience: BINGO night

You guys. You should have seen the reaction when we pulled “Bingo Night” out of the activities jar. There was no doubt that was going to be our choice! We were delighted! I wasn’t sure what all the bingo usuals would think of our group of 30/40-something women crashing their evening, but hopefully, they wouldn’t hate us too much. We had a blast, even though it went so much faster than I expected, and it was hard to keep up at times! We even got bingo a few times! Our friend Kim took to shouting “BINGO!” as loud as possible, and after the third time it happened, I heard one of the woman nearby mutter, “Okay, it was funny the first time…” Eeks! Some bingo drama! Anyway, we had a lot of fun and definitely want to go back soon. Maybe we’ll just give the other bingo-goers time to forget us before we infiltrate their party time again.

After bingo, we reconvened at a local Mexican restaurant for dinner. We chatted about the book, which had very mixed reviews. Only two of us really liked it and everyone else struggled with the unlikable characters and boring plot. I’m surprised I loved this book as much as I did, but it might be one of my favorite books of the year. It was unexpectedly poignant and touching. I can definitely understand why some of my friends didn’t love this book, though.

NOVEMBER

Book selection: The Silence That Binds Us by Joanna Ho
My rating: 5
Overall book club rating: 4.3
Experience: Cozy night in

We had a smaller group for November book club and opted for a cozy night in at a friend’s new place. (This friend is living alone for the first time ever, and loving it, and it is so amazing to see her so happy!) We brought appetizers to share, and I brought way too many bags of candy for popcorn surprise. We also indulged in the new dirty soda phenomenon that is apparently all over TikTok these days, which is basically adding coffee creamer to soda. I wasn’t sure about the trend until a friend showed me the combination of Dr. Pepper and peppermint mocha creamer. UM YES PLEASE. It was surprisingly delicious! While we brought books to read during our cozy night in, not a single one was opened. We had too much to chat about! This is a book club that I won’t soon forget because there were tears and hard news shared and a lot of love and support to go around. I love our silly book club experiences, but I also love the times when we can get deep and real with each other.

The book we read in November was also a serious, deep, and thought-provoking book and was well-liked by everyone. We mentioned how hard it must have been to fit in all these different topics into one book (mental health, suicide, racism, Asian exceptionalism, family, etc.), but how the author weaved all of these topics seamlessly. We had a good conversation about how mental illness can show up so differently for teenagers and the impact our words can have on other people.

DECEMBER

Book selection: Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 4
Overall book club rating: 3.8
Experience: Annual holiday celebration at Bri’s house

Oh, this book club experience was the best! Every December, we gather at Bri’s house for our annual holiday celebration and this year, Bri went all out with a book fair theme! We were told to bring books to give away and we could earn “book fair cash” by bringing books, bringing a snack to share, hugging everyone at book club, telling Bri we loved her, etc. She even had tiny Monopoly money that we used to “buy” our items at the end of the night. And Bri definitely went above and beyond with the book fair items. There were cute totes, bookish stickers, bookmarks, beauty items, candles, and even a “free gift with purchase,” which was a thrifted holiday-themed mug. We had an absolute BLAST “shopping” at the book fair and I came home with three books, a cute tote, five stickers, two candles, a notebook, and a slew of beauty products. I made out like a bandit!

Our final book of the year was another thriller, and it’s one I read years ago. I didn’t reread it for book club, even though I probably should have, because I definitely had to ask ChatGPT for a full spoiler synopsis of the book, and I was shocked by the plot! What the what! We agreed that the plot itself was kinda gross and didn’t sit well with us, but it was nice to see some people get their comeuppance.

Book Club Stats

Genre breakdown: literary fiction (2), fantasy (2), thriller (4), historical fiction (1), YA (1)
Overall rating: 3.7
Highest-rated book of the year: The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer (4.7)
Lowest-rated book of the year: Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (3.1)
My favorite book club book this year: Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
My least favorite book club book this year (that I finished): Good Material by Dolly Alderton

Have you read any of these books?

Categories: Best Of

Best of 2025 | My Favorite Podcasts

Who’s ready for a podcast roundup? For some reason, I didn’t do one last year, and I know everyone was devastated about that. (Right???) This year, I’ve decided to break up my list into three categories: my top three, long-time faves, and new discoveries. Let’s get into it!

My Top Three

aka, the podcasts I’ve developed such intense parasocial relationships with that they’ve become my go-to comfort listens.

1) The Popcast – No podcast fills me with such happiness and delight as The Popcast. I look forward to all of the episodes I get from them, and feel bereft when there’s been a few days without Jamie, Knox, and Erin in my ears. They are a comfort listen for me, as I will listen to old episodes when I need a pick-me-up. What’s this podcast about? At its heart, it’s a pop culture podcast—but not just news recaps. Think snake drafts (cool moms in pop culture), “The NOs of…” episodes on everything from motherhood to gifts, and seasonal TV and movie previews. And their Flavortown episodes are not to be missed if you love an unhinged opinion. I will follow the Popcast Media Group to the ends of this earth.

2) Sarah’s Bookshelves Live – I listen to a lot of book podcasts, and Sarah’s Bookshelves Live is my favorite of them all. I subscribe to her Patreon, which is well worth the money because she puts a lot of work into her bonus episodes. I think Sarah is one of the best interviewers, especially of authors, and she’s great at asking follow-up questions on the fly. I also love the seasonal book preview episodes. Four times a year, she and a co-host highlight the books being published that season. I don’t read a ton of frontlist, but I like knowing what’s coming out and adding titles to my TBR for later. Her bonus episodes are where it’s at, though, especially her spoiler discussions of books and the Unscripted series, where they talk about a bookish topic (like abandoning books, book blurbs, book synopses, etc).

3) Stuff You Should Know – Josh and Chuck are my honorary uncles, and I will hear no smack talk about them. I adore both of them so very much! This podcast is one of the longest-running ones, and it’s amazing that they still haven’t run out of topics to tell us about! This is an informational podcast where my two uncles sit down and chat about a topic. It could be a true crime mystery, a pop culture phenomenon, a historical event, or something random, like how to make conversation or all about the human scream. I never know what I’m going to learn from my beloved uncles every week!

Long-Time Faves

aka, the OGs who have been with me for years and I need them to never, ever stop publishing episodes

1) Best Friends with Nicole Byer and Sasheer Zamata – Best Friends was on a looooong hiatus, and I was thrilled when they started publishing new episodes again. This podcast can be irreverent at times, is filled with profanity, and is definitely not safe for kids. But it makes me giggle every single week, and I love them for that. They have such a sweet friendship! There’s no specific topic to this podcast; they just chit-chat about what’s going on in their lives and sometimes answer questions from listeners or take unhinged Buzzfeed quizzes.

2) Book Riot – I only recently started listening to Book Riot after a pretty long hiatus. I listened to the show years and years ago, and stopped because I found the hosts’ opinions to be a little hoity-toity for me. But I love hearing the ins and outs of the publishing world, which is what this podcast is here to give me, so I decided to start listening again. And, you know what? I still don’t fully agree with the hosts, and our reading tastes diverge wildly. But that’s okay! I appreciate their insights, even if I’m probably never going to take their book recommendations.

3) Currently Reading – It’s the third bookish podcast on the list! Currently Reading has been a long-time favorite of mine, and I love tracking the books I’m reading based on Kaytee and Meredith’s recommendations. So far, I have a 4.2 overall rating for Kaytee’s recs and 3.5 overall rating for Meredith’s recs, so Kaytee is much more aligned to my reading tastes. Each episode, the hosts detail three books they’ve recently read and give their opinions (good and bad!), and then dive into a bookish topic. I don’t always stay for the topic, but I always love hearing their book reviews!

4) Faith Adjacent – Am I a practicing Christian? No. Is a podcast all about Christian life one of my favorite podcasts? Sure is! This is another podcast from the Popcast Media Group, and each episode dives into a subsection of Christianity and faith. It makes me laugh and sometimes makes me nostalgic for my Christian past. These are the kind of Christians I want more people to be like: they believe wholeheartedly in the Bible, and because of that, they understand why women should be pastors, gay people should have equal rights, and Trump should not be our president.

5) The Girl Next Door Podcast – Oh, how I love this podcast! Kelsey and Erica are funny, introspective, and have wildly different personalities. I love how much they laugh during their podcast recordings, but they’re also not afraid to get deep and sometimes even cry during an episode. Each episode is a different topic on essentially anything they want, whether that’s motherhood or goal-setting or dealing with hard things. Come for their insanely delightful Fall Extravaganza episodes and stay for their funny banter and deep conversations.

New Discoveries

aka, the podcasts that I just started listening to in 2025 and are quickly becoming my favorites

1) American History Tellers – This podcast is probably the geekiest one I have on my list! American History Tellers is essentially taking you back in time to the people, events, and stories that are part of America’s past. Each season runs 5–6 episodes and dives into a historical event you may only vaguely know. By the end, you’ll understand it inside and out. I’m still catching up on the backlist, but some of my recent favorite seasons are America’s Monuments, J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, and Political Parties.

2) Best Laid Plans – You guys! I can’t believe how long it took me to finally download some episodes of Best Laid Plans. I love organizing, I love planners! Of course, I’m going to adore this podcast. Each episode is around half an hour, which is the perfect length. I have learned so much about planners and organizing my day and setting goals from this podcast, and I really want to dive into the backlist at some point to get even more tips and tricks.

3) Diabolical Lies – I just talked about this podcast in my post on Friday, and I am OBSESSED with Caro and Katie. I love how they begin every episode talking about their “sponsors,” which are just jabs at the people and things that they learned in their research. (AKA: “Today’s episode of Diabolical Lies was brought to you by President Eisenhower’s kink for covert ops, Senator Joseph McCarthy’s therapist…”). Their episodes are long (usually 2 hours each) but so well-researched and thought-provoking. Plus, they’re funny and they make these complex topics like capitalism feel a lot less scary.

4) Good Hang with Amy Poehler – I know, I know. Everyone is listening to this podcast and I am very late to the Good Hang train. But I’m here and I am in looooove with every single episode Amy releases. (Okay, maybe the release of the Aziz Ansari episode wasn’t the best look…) Every episode makes me laugh and makes me care so much more deeply for the person being interviewed than I originally did. Amy is a fantastic interviewer!

5) On Fire with Jeff Probst – This is my most niche podcast recommendation, and it’s only useful for the people who watch and love the reality TV show, Survivor. After each episode of the show, Jeff sits down to discuss what happened in the episode and give behind-the-scenes details. (On each episode is a show producer + a former player. The former player is different every season.) I love the BTS details the most, such as how base camp works, how they develop the challenges, and what camp life is like (<– this is usually from the player’s perspective and it’s so interesting!). I also love that at the end of each episode, Jeff reads his casting notes on the player who was voted off.

And, of course, I can’t talk about my favorite podcasts without talking about my own podcast! My best friend Bri and I started The Friendship Paradox in 2022 so we could chit-chat all about what it’s like to be best friends with wildly different personalities. (Case in point: When we took the Big 5 personality test, Bri scored 100% on the extroversion scale and I scored… 8%.) We started our show with seasons focused on specific topics and how our personalities impact the way we approach things like work, travel, family, relationships, etc. And now we just talk about whatever the hell we want, sometimes through the lens of personality and sometimes not. In 2025, we released 21 episodes and I’m really proud of us! This is purely a passion project for us and our listener numbers are low, but that’s okay! We have fun and enjoy ourselves, and that’s all that matters.

What are some of your favorite podcasts?

Categories: Best Of, Books

Best of 2024 | Reading Stats

And here we are – the final post in my “Best of 2024” series and arguably, my favorite post to research and write. Reviewing my reading stats and making these charts is so much fun! I use a very detailed spreadsheet and spend a lot of time in that spreadsheet throughout the year. I love filling it out when I start and finish a book; it fills me with the greatest delight. And what’s also delightful is this post! So let’s get into my reading stats for 2024 reading.

Nitty-Gritty Details

Number of books read: 110 (-7 from 2023)
Number of pages read: 37,463 (-2,972 from 2023)
Percentage of books by and about BIPOC and the LGBTQIA+ community: 30, or 27% (+1% from 2023)
Number of books abandoned: 16 (+2 from 2023)
Overall rating: 3.8

Format Breakdown

Print books continue to reign supreme in my reading life, and this year the percentage increased by almost 5%! What can I say? I love print books. My audiobook reading was nearly identical from 2023 (+.1%) and my e-book reading continued to trend downward. It’s down 4.7% from 2023 and down nearly 15% from 2022! I mostly read romance on my Kindle, but it’s rare for me to read other types of books on it.

Genre Breakdown

Genre	Percentage	Average Rating
Romance	37%	4.0
Fiction	30%	3.6
Mystery/Thriller	21%	3.6
Nonfiction	6%	4.5
Historical Fiction	4%	4.0
YA/Middle Grade	2%	5.0

This year, I read more romance and improved my average rating for romance novels. Last year, it was at 3.6 and this year it was an even 4.0, which I’m super happy about. This means I’m picking good romances that I know I’ll love! I read more general fiction and more mysteries/thrillers, but my average rating for both those genres went way down (from 4.0 to 3.6, eeks). It’s only a slightly successful rating, but I’d like that to be higher in 2025. My nonfiction reading went way down this year – I was so surprised to see I only read 7 nonfiction books in 2024. WHAT! I need to do better in 2025 because, as it shows, I usually like the nonfiction books I read.

Source Breakdown

Once again, my top three sources for books were the library (-12% from 2023, though!), Amazon (+5% from 2023), and Book of the Month (+1.5% from 2023). I doubled the amount of books I got from indie bookstores and also definitely enjoyed those 15 audiobook hours that Spotify started offering Premium members at the end of 2023.

Month Breakdown

Typically, I read around 8-9 books per month, but I read 11 books in October (I tend to read a lot when I’m stressed, so that’s probably why) and 14 in December (I only worked two weeks out of the entire month, so I devoted a lot more time to reading!). Ideally, I’d like to read 10-12 books per month, but I’m happy with how stable my reading was throughout the year.

New Release vs Backlist

This was interesting! In the last few years, my new release reading has been trending upward but in 2024, it dropped 15%! I read a lot more backlist in 2024, but I’m cool with that. I don’t need to read the buzzy books right away. Sometimes it’s nice to let them simmer for a bit.

Recommendation Sources

Recommendation Source	# of Books Read	Overall Rating
Kim	2	4.75
Sarah’s Book Shelves Live podcast	6	4.3
Lisa	3	4.2
The Popcast	2	4.0
Currently Reading podcast	6	3.0

I’ve started tracking recommendation sources this year so I can figure out whose tastes align the best with mine. Most of these recommendation sources are podcasts, but two bloggers snuck into this list – Kim and Lisa – and as you can see, their recs usually work out really well for me! I’m not surprised to see such a low rating from the Currently Reading podcast. I’ve noticed that my tastes diverge from them a lot (especially Kaytee’s), which is just good info to have!

(If you use Goodreads, a good way to track recommendation sources is to create a new shelf that’s labeled with the source name. For example, I have a shelf called “sbsl-rec” for Sarah’s Book Shelves Live. If someone talks about a book and it sounds like something I’d like to read, I immediately add it to Goodreads as a “want-to-read” book and then label it with the recommendation source.)

Odds and Ends

Oldest book (by pub date): The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (1926)
Newest book (by pub date): The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak (October 8, 2024)
Author I read the most: Agatha Christie (6)
Time spent listening to audiobooks: 348 hours, 30 minutes
Longest book: The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (624 pages)
Shortest book: The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett (120 pages)
Book that took me the longest to read: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (20 days)
Average number of days to read a book: 7.8 days

How many books did you read in 2024?

Categories: Best Of, Books

Best of 2024 | My Favorite Reads

I am so excited to sit down and write this post! My final “Best of” posts are all about my reading life (my reading stats will be up next week!), and I always start with my favorite reads. I’m going to do things a little differently this year. This time around, I’m giving you my top 10 books of the year as well as a handful of bookish superlatives. This will be a long post, so let’s get into it.

My Top 10 Books of 2024

10) The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley – This story touched my soul so deeply. The characters are forever imprinted on my heart. It’s about two kids who are sent away from London to escape WWII and find solace in the home of a woman who never wanted children. It’s sweet and heartwarming, but the subject matter can be dark at times. (2015, middle grade, historical fiction)

9) Cover Story by Susan Rigetti – This is one of those polarizing books, you either love it or you hate it. And I loved it. I remember coming to the end of the book and gasping out loud because I didn’t expect that ending. I thought it was genius, but YMMV. When Lora becomes a ghostwriter for Cat Wolff, she discovers the shady world Cat is really involved in. (2022, contemporary fiction)

8) Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera – I devoured this thriller, and that’s saying something because I listened to it on audio and I usually take my audiobooks slowly (an hour a day). But this one, I stopped all podcasts and listened to the audiobook nonstop until I finished it. It’s about a woman who has been accused of killing her best friend but was never charged because of lack of evidence. A true crime podcast takes up the case five years later, and she decides to help figure out who did it. The audiobook is exceptional because the podcast excerpts are performed like a real podcast (intro music and everything!). (2024, thriller)

7) White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color by Ruby Hamad – I didn’t read as many racial justice books this year as I have previously, but this one was a standout. It is not for white women who get their feelings hurt easily when women of color challenge their perspective. This book was insightful, powerful, and pushed my boundaries, which I definitely need. Ruby Hamad talks about everything from slavery to politics today, and it’s a book that has stayed with me all year long. (2020, nonfiction)

6) Ander and Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa – This was such a beautiful love story about a Mexican-American teen who falls in love with an undocumented immigrant. It’s about family and queer love and what it means to be a citizen. It’s about art and food and culture. Ander and Santi are characters I haven’t stopped thinking about since I read this book. Their story has stayed with me. (2023, romance)

5) All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir – This was a hard book to read. I listened to the audiobook and could only handle one hour a day because I was so distraught by what was happening to my beloved characters. It’s a book about friendship, about death and grief, and about what you’ll do for your family. It follows two teenagers, Sal and Noor, who are best friends until a fight causes a rift in their relationship. I loved it so much, and I think Sabaa Tahir is a genius. (2022, YA)

4) Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez – I was hesitant to read more books by Abby Jimenez because her earlier book series, The Friend Zone, was terrible. But everyone was raving about her new book so I picked it up, and I am so glad I did. In this book, there is a character with social anxiety and Jimenez captured the difficulty of having this type of anxiety so well. I was so touched by the care she gave to this character. What also touched me was the character who didn’t have social anxiety and who went to great lengths to help him. His social anxiety wasn’t seen as something silly or something he needed to “just get over.” The crazier thing was that this character was named Briana, and I have my own Briana who goes to great lengths to make me feel comfortable in social situations. I loved this novel, and I loved feeling so seen in a character. (2023, romance)

3) The Wedding People by Alison Espach – This one may be recency bias, as it’s one of the last books I read in 2024, but I just loved it. It’s about a woman who goes to a fancy hotel to kill herself, only to be mistaken as one of the guests of the week-long wedding happening at this hotel. And that’s all you really need to know about it! The writing is top-notch, the character development is outstanding, and the book moves along at a great pace. I had high hopes for this novel as so many other trusted sources have loved it, and every expectation was met, which was a delight. (2024, contemporary fiction)

2) The God of the Woods by Liz Moore – This book was a masterpiece. It takes place on a summer camp when a girl goes missing. The problem is, the girl is the daughter of the owner of the summer camp whose brother went missing from the same place fourteen years earlier. I love the way Moore incorporated the present and past storylines, I loved the setting, I loved the characters, and of course I loved how propulsive this novel was. I read the last 100 pages sitting on my couch in my sweaty workout clothes. I had just come home from a workout class and the minute I got home, I plopped right down and cracked open the book. I was losing daylight, but I didn’t even get up to turn on the light because I didn’t want to tear my eyes away from the book. I couldn’t get enough of it! (2024, mystery)

1) The Women by Kristin Hannah – There could be no other book to be my favorite of the year. This book was incredible. Meticulously researched, thoughtfully written, and incredibly heartbreaking at times. It is the first book I’ve ever read about the Vietnam War, following Frankie, a 20-year-old nursing student who joins the Army Nurse Corps and ships out to Vietnam. When she returns home, though, is when the real battle begins. I couldn’t get enough of this story, of Frankie and her friends. I felt like I was right there with Frankie in Vietnam, the scenes were so visceral and vivid. Back then, there was no support for soldiers coming home from war (and especially no support for women because, “there were no women in Vietnam,” as Frankie heard over and over again when she sought help). There wasn’t a diagnosis for PTSD. This is a story that has stuck with me and I’m continually in awe of Kristin Hannah. (2024, historical fiction)

2024 Bookish Superlatives

1) The most disappointing DNF: Family, Family by Laurie Frankel. I have loved everything Laurie Frankel has written… until this book. I found the kooky family just a bit over-the-top and unrealistic. It’s possible I just wasn’t in the right mood for the book at the time.

2) The most disappointing book I read: The Husbands by Holly Gramazio. What a stinker of a book. I had such high hopes, but this is one I definitely should have DNF-ed.

3) The book I was surprised to love: Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe. I picked this up after so many bloggers raved about it, but I wasn’t sure if it would work for me. A book about a new mom starting an OnlyFans? Not really my thing, ya know! But this book was wonderful and heartfelt and I feel like a part of me was healed reading about the relationship between Margo and her dad.

4) The book I thought I would love more than I did: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Everyone raves about this book, but I found it to be a bit hard to follow. There were so many characters and I couldn’t keep everyone straight, and I found the mystery to be convoluted.

5) Most deserving of the hype: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. This was a nominee in the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards and I had seen many rave reviews before I read it myself. I loved every minute I spent with this book, and can confidently say it was worth the hype.

6) Least deserving of the hype: What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall. This earned a nomination in the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards and was named as a Book of the Year finalist for Book of the Month. I thought this was a very poorly written thriller and the ending totally jumped the shark for me.

7) Book I loved that other people hated: Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale. This has a 3.56 rating on Goodreads, but it was a solid 4-star read for me. I could really identify with Cassandra, and I loved the way the author incorporated time travel into the novel.

8) Book I hated that everyone loved: The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley. This book has a 4.04 rating on Goodreads, but goooood, I did not like it. I gave it 2 stars. I just didn’t think the characters were all that well-written and the mystery was convoluted.

9) Most memorable character: Vera Wong from Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice to Murderers. Is there anyone like Vera Wong? She’s unpredictable and kooky, but also lovable and sweet. I don’t think I’d want her as a mother, but maybe as a mischievous aunt.

10) The book that made me gasp out loud: You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Listen, there’s a twist in this book that I was not expecting and I remember gasping out loud in my car when I listened to the scene. Whew.

11) Best audiobook narration: Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan. Nobody does audiobook narration quite like Julia Whelan and in this book, she gets very meta (since the main characters are narrating an audiobook together!). The way she can do a male voice puts all other audiobook narrators to shame.

12) Favorite fictional couple: Eve and Shep in Ready or Not by Cara Bastone. Oh, they were such a sweet couple, the best friend and the best friend’s brother. A friends-to-lovers romance will always hit me in the feels!

13) The underrated gem of the year: White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind by Koa Beck. With just over 2,200 ratings, this book most definitely qualifies as an underrated gem. (It was published in 2021.) This book challenged me, instructed me, and made me want to be a better ally.

14) My least favorite character: The father in The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith. I know I have my own “daddy issues” that I probably brought to this book, but damn, this father was terrible and his actions were incredibly triggering. I am still so mad that the author tried to redeem him when he didn’t do anything to deserve redemption.

15) Favorite reading experience of 2024: Reading Funny Story by Emily Henry while waiting out Hurricane Milton. I picked up this book the Saturday before we evacuated because I knew I needed something light-hearted to sink into when I needed to be distracted from my racing thoughts. I finished the book the night that Milton hit Florida. It was sweet and romantic and the perfect distraction.

What was your most disappointing DNF? What’s a book you read that was definitely worth the hype?