Blue-Footed Musings

My goal for 2025 was to read 32 book. According to my list I read 38, but because 11 of them were children’s picture books, it would be fairer to say that I only read 27. Sigh. It’s not as much as I’d hoped, but it’s also not nothing. And don’t get me wrong about the picture books. I love them. They’re just not what I’d intended to fill my list with.

On the plus side, here are some types of books that I clearly enjoyed filling my 2025 reading list with.

• Good mysteries: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
• Sad but well-written speculative fiction: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Fictional memoirs of intrepid women explorers: A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan
• Nonfictional memoirs and musings: Walking: One Step at a Time by Erling Kagge and Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I’ve Learned by Alan Alda
• Good short story collections: Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik
• Super kind and inclusive sci-fi: A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
• Super kind and inclusive romance: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches and A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
• Classic children’s literature: Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary, and Moominvalley in November by Tove Jansson
• Rereads: City of Sorcery and Stormqueen by Marion Zimmer Bradley, and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

And here are some things I encountered in 2025 that I would rather avoid in the future: books with totally unlikable characters, books with awesome premises that ultimately don’t follow their own internal logic and consequently break your heart, and books that draaaaaaag.

My other reading goals for 2025 were to read more poetry (oops!), to finish at least 16 books from the BBC’s Top 100 Children’s Books list (my total was 13–not bad!), and to give away more books (there’s a big box of donations in the trunk of my car, just waiting to be dropped off).

Overall I did pretty well with my reading goals, and I will aim for the same ones this year. The only goal I truly failed on last year–reading more poetry–is not a hard goal. I have the wish. I just need to find the will. I hope this year will finally be the year.

Wishing everyone a wonderful year of reading in 2026!

My last book of 2025 was Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr. Daggerspell is an epic fantasy novel from the late ’80s. The story takes place in ancient Wales (or a Welshlike world), where three noblemen vie for the love of the same woman and it ends tragically. But then reincarnation, fate, and magic work to keep bringing their souls back to life until they set things right.

In their third incarnation, the souls are reborn as the mercenary knight Cullyn and his sword-fighter daughter Jill, and the lord Rhodry who becomes Jill’s love interest. There is also Nevyn, an herbalist/magician who is the only survivor of the initial tragedy. He cannot die until all their souls have lived up to their destiny, so he watches over the others and attempts to guide them in the right direction.

Daggerspell held my interest pretty well for most of its 454 pages, though I could have lived without the incest scene (ick!) from the characters’ first incarnation. I also struggled to get through the last 100 pages or so. That may have been a pacing issue but more likely my mood. I thought that the book’s magical system and reincarnation angle were interesting, so I ultimately gave it a B+ grade, meaning I enjoyed it but won’t keep it. For readers who really enjoy Daggerspell, there’s a whole series that follows.

I am currently reading Verity by Colleen Hoover. I’m about 110 pages into this so-called “standalone romantic thriller,” and so far I would describe it as gripping and very, very spicy. I’m interested to see where it goes.

Here’s what I’ve been working on since my last reading report.

• The Caliph’s House: A Year in Casablanca by Tahir Shah: I was just starting this one at the time I wrote my last reading report. I liked the premise, and the beginning was encouraging. But, the way Shah described the locals and their actions, I couldn’t tell if he was an elitist, a rube, and/or making stuff up. That uncertainty made me uncomfortable, and I stopped reading.
• Moominvalley in November by Tove Jansson: I did what I said I’d do. I applied myself to it and finished it within a few days. There’s not much to the story: some friends and acquaintances of the Moomins gather at their house, only to find that the Moomins are not at home; they stay there for a time, doing ordinary things, such as preparing dinner and raking leaves, and then they go their separate ways again. But it’s not really about the story. It’s about the turning of the seasons and experiencing that sort of sweet-and-melancholy feeling of Fall. It’s excellent if you’re in the right mood for it.
• The Maze Runner by James Dashner: I got stalled on this one. Then I saw that the movie was available to stream for free, so I watched it. Boy, was it lame. But I will probably finish the book, even though I know how it turns out, just because I’m more than halfway though.
• The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey: I keep meaning to get back to this one. I hope I will before I forget what I already read of it.
• I reread three books: City of Sorcery and Stormqueen by Marion Zimmer Bradley, as well as The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Hobbit was as adorable and light-hearted as I remembered, nothing like those atrocious films that Peter Jackson made from it.
• I also read What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory by Brian Eno and Bette A.. I gave the book a B+, because I found it to be, as the title says, “unfinished.” That is, though I appreciate the authors’ efforts and ideas, the book needs more meat to it.
• Currently reading: Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I’ve Learned by Alan Alda. I’m enjoying it so far (132/224 pages). One benefit of having watched so many episodes of M*A*S*H in my life is that I can hear the narration in Alda’s voice.