The Books!?
Apparently.
I didn’t start out with a plan to write a year-in-review for the books I read last year. I had read multiple books in a short period of time and decided to make some notes for myself because the progress was so abnormal for me, but nothing I’d call a review. When I hit double digits, I started fleshing out my notes, but didn’t know if I would actually do anything with it. I have a lot of drafts sitting in WordPress that I likely won’t ever do anything with.
Anyway.
I read fourteen books. Which is some sort of record.
Okay, ten of them were technically short stories, but there was probably only one or two I read in one sitting. Because attention spans are for schmucks.
I probably started reading another dozen or more, but only got through a chapter or two before setting it down, never to be picked up again. (I’ll get back to them eventually. Maybe.)
Word count aside, it’s still an accomplishment in a year when it felt like I didn’t do jack shit for the entire year.
So.
Half-assed reviews of books I read in 2025.
In order of finishing, not any sort of ranking or rating.
Probably includes some unintentional spoilers.
Giraffe & Flamingo by Curtis Sittenfeld (Amazon exclusive free with Prime)
A short story.
Woman gets reminded of a guy she knew in college and all his creepy, weird, predatory behavior, and recounts the tales to her kids. Then she decides to find out whatever happened to him. The truth is anticlimactic.
The Tomorrow Box by Curtis Sittenfeld (Amazon exclusive free with Prime)
A short story.
Man gets contacted out of the blue by a “friend” he knew in school and can’t fathom why. The why is…innocuous.
Both are short stories. Both feel more like excerpts from larger stories. Both are…uninteresting.
I’ve seen a number of writers rave about Curtis Sittenfeld’s writing claiming she’s an “instant buy”, and maybe these are just not her best work, but I was bored.
In summation…Meh.
Off Season by Jennifer Weiner (Kobo)
A short story.
Struggling writer gets a hotshot new agent who sends her on a solo writing retreat during the winter months on an island that attracts rich people in the summer. Weird things happen while she writes her book that she can’t explain and the locals do not trust her in the slightest.
I’ve always associated Jennifer Weiner as a chick-lit writer. This is not chick-lit. It’s…suspense? thriller? Only not at all intense. I saw roughly where it was going pretty much from the beginning and was not exactly surprised by the end, but still uttered an audible the fuck when I finished it.
In summation…Meh.
Our Ride to Forever by Julie Olivia (Amazon exclusive?)
Smutty marriage of convenience in a small town with a theme park. I did not expect lyrical prose or a compelling plotline and good thing, because it had neither of those things. The general premise wasn’t the worst, but the two main characters were just…dumb. They were so dumb. All of the characters felt like wallpaper. They were just…flat…and…there. And the “cliffhanger” ending was spelled out the first time two specific side characters were introduced in the story.
In summation…Ech.
The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce (Kobo)
A little smutty but the sex is more of a thing that happens versus the whole point of the story.
Two exes must come together to save their mutual best friend’s wedding that has turned into a cautionary tale of Murphy’s Law. There is a lot of “miscommunication” because the main character doesn’t know how to use her words, but she gets there by the epilogue. Also, I got unexpectedly emotional during the wedding speech.
A lot of the story feels like an amalgamation of about six different Basil plotlines, so…
In summation…irritation with main character notwithstanding, I liked it enough to forgive the fact that it’s written in fucking present tense.
One of Us is Lying by Karen M McManus (Kobo)
Five high school kids get detention, make Breakfast Club references, and one of them ends up dead before the afternoon is out. The remaining four students are the prime suspects and set out to find out the truth of what really happened.
I think it’s supposed to be a suspense, but it wasn’t really stressful. I had my suspicions early on about the truth, but I didn’t know quite how the pieces fit together for a while. Also, I am grateful I am not a teenager in modern times because technology, the internet, and social media are the absolute worst thing invented in the last thirty years.
In summation…This is the first book in a trilogy and I’ll probably read the other two at some point.
Blank by Zibby Owens (Amazon exclusive?)
It’s not a romance by any stretch or claim, but there are a couple of the least sexy sex scenes ever.
One hit wonder novelist is struggling with severe writer’s block and is facing down her publisher’s demand and strict deadline for her overdue manuscript. The story seemed rather innocuous to start, but then shit went sideways and it was just EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE without the trippy multiverse or Nine Days remixes or interesting characters or compelling plot. EVERYTHING WAS TERRIBLE and then suddenly it was completely fine and the utopian ending was so far from believable I was kind of pissed off by the end.
In summation…Ech.
The Sublet by Greer Hendricks (Amazon exclusive.)
A short story.
A ghost writer is overwhelmed by her wellness influencer (*GAG*) client. She moves her family into an NYC sublet that sounds too good to be true—because it is—and weird things start happening. She decides to investigate all her suspicions and finds out the truth. Big lies get exposed, blackmail is invoked, and the end is…an ending.
I think it was another supposed-to-be-suspense-but-isn’t-really-suspenseful story.
In summation…better than some of the other short stories on this list, but still kinda MEH.
What Does it Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella (Kobo)
The cover says “A Novel” but it’s really A Short Story.
A writer struggling with her next book has sudden inspiration for a new idea. Success happens and then there’s a time jump of undefined duration. She wakes up in the hospital with no memory of why and finds out she had a massive, malignant tumor removed from her brain. Then we follow her recovery, relearning to walk and function and regaining her memories.
The telling is very choppy and erratic, but I guess that was kind of the intention. It is autobiographical fiction based on Sophie Kinsella’s own experience with brain cancer, written as a means of processing and therapy.
The ending was sufficient because it’s difficult to have true resolution when facing terminal cancer, but it was as positive as it could be considering the circumstances? The story was fine, but the delivery was exhausting to follow, which, I believe, is by design.
In summation?…I read her Confessions of a Shopaholic many years ago because it was incredibly popular amongst a bunch of LiveJournal follows and I DID NOT LIKE the main character, so I never picked up another one of her books. This one sounded interesting because of the source material.
I read the book and wrote this a few months before the news broke that Sophie Kinsella had died due to her battle with glioblastoma. Her books might not be my cup of tea, but she leaves behind quite the legacy.
A Risk Worth Taking by Jessica Joyce (Kobo)
The cover says “A Novelette” which apparently means A Short Story.
Smutty, but with a plot.
Two people decide to have a one night stand that turns into a full weekend when weather intervenes. Things turn into so much more in that time than either of them expects, but what happens when the clock runs out?
When I first read the premise for this one, I thought, meh. (Also: yet another Basil amalgamation, further driving the point home that there is no such thing as an original idea.) Then I read The Ex Vows by the same author and I decided to give this one a shot.
I was pleasantly surprised that it was kind of a cute story and the characters were not insufferably annoying like so many books I have read (or tried to read). I actually kind of liked them.
In summation…Jessica Joyce has the ability to write characters that don’t make me want to punch a hole in the wall. She has one more book currently available (that is apparently connected character-wise to this one?) that I will probably read at some point.
“All You Zombies—“ by Robert A. Heinlein (Amazon or FREE)
A [very] short story.
Bartender has contentious conversation with a patron. Time travel and incredulity ensue.
Technically this is a re-read. I read it once many years ago, and something reminded me of it, so I dug it up and read it again. As a PDF, the book is only 20 pages long (and only 12 of those are the actual story). In print, it would probably be a pamphlet.
This “book” was the source material for the movie Predestination. We watched the movie many years ago and were impressed that they actually did time travel correctly. When I learned it was based on a book (short story, whatever) I got curious and looked it up and found it “free” on the internet. I was shocked how short it was. They really had to pad things out to make a feature-length movie out of it.
I really wonder if I had read the book before seeing the movie, if I would have understood the story as easily. It’s a little fast without a lot of clarifying details, so I think it would have confused me more than anything. But since I’d seen the movie, I think my brain substituted a lot of information from that when reading the story.
In summation…decent science fiction and Robert Heinlein is lauded as “one of the best” in the genre. I might give Starship Troopers a try at some point. I’ve seen the movie but remember pretty much nothing about it. Bob watched it again recently and wondered how different the book might be, hence…remembering and re-reading this one.
Salt in the Wound by Sierra Simone (free on Kobo)
A short story.
Marketed as smutty, but there is a glaring lack of actual sex being had.
A prequel to a series that is a modern retelling of Tristan and Isolde. Underage heiress gets sold into an arranged marriage and finds out her future husband has a very dark secret. Their marriage is supposed to just be an act, but will it stay that way? Of course it won’t.
Isolde is on the path to be a nun. It is her lifelong dream. Yes really. Her influential father sells her into an arranged marriage and she is determined to keep herself pure. But her future husband is Lord of the BDSM underworld in Washington DC and…all it takes is him touching her to flip the switch completely from pure virgin to wanton whore all in the name of…information?
Sometimes a girl just wants to read some smut. This was not it. In part because BDSM is not really my thing. The alpha male trope makes me want to punch a hole in the wall and so does the strong! independent! woman (who’s actually just an insufferable bitch) who throws it all out the window the second he says good girl. Anyway.
In summation…I read it because it was free. If I had paid for it, I would have wanted my money back. The characters were fucking annoying. This is a prequel to a trilogy and this did not sell me on reading any more of it. And certainly not to actually buy the books.
The Night of the Wedding by J. Bronson (Amazon exclusive?)
An erotic novella. According to the cover. Also known as a short story.
Smutty but sweet with a plot.
Two people collide (literally) at a wedding reception. She, a lifelong friend of the bride. He, the best man and brother of the groom. They end up in bed together and she fights against catching feelings while simultaneously going all in on a one night stand.
This book was lauded in a post by Jessica Joyce, she who wrote The Ex Vows and A Risk Worth Taking. I looked it up, the premise didn’t sound terrible, it was cheap, so I picked it up. I decided to take a chance on a recommendation (which frequently does not end well) because it came from someone who’s writing I actually like.
It’s smutty, but not obnoxiously so, and there are plenty of in-between moments that don’t gloss over the awkwardness of existence. The characters were actually likeable and not insufferable like so many books of this nature.
In summation…I went in with low expectations (as I am wont to do) and was pleasantly surprised. As far as I can tell this is the only book by this author. I couldn’t find a website or other profiles on them, but I also didn’t dig much past page one of search results. If another book shows up by them, I’ll give it some consideration.
And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman (Kobo)
A novella.
Three generations process the reality of memory loss and the insidious monster that it is.
There is a letter from Fredrik Backman at the beginning of the book explaining this was written for his own processing, not for published work, but he decided to release it anyway.
The only thing I knew going into it was that it was about losing someone to dementia, but it was enough to know that I was going to be willfully throwing myself on a landmine. It was more imagery and metaphor versus harsh facts, but it captures the devastation of the experience. It’s very short, less than fifty pages, and a lot more could have been said about these characters, but I think the brevity works. Also, I don’t think I would have survived a full length novel. The reality of someone who has been a grounding presence your entire life slipping farther and farther away, present in body but not in mind is excruciating.
In summation…I did not cry while reading the book, but I certainly did trying to summarize and simplify my thoughts on it. Woof. I know very little about Fredrik Backman, but my introduction to him was a speech he made about being a writer with anxiety and it too resonated for me. I will probably give his other books a try.
It drives me crazy that these ebooks do not all have the same resolution? ratio? for their covers. I used guides to make sure everything was lined up straight. I made the width the same for all of them, but the heights are all over the place. Yeah, I could distort it and make them all the same height too, it’s a small enough discrepancy, it wouldn’t be that noticeable. But still. What is this nonsense?
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