Quarterly Pages: October - December 2025

In 2025, I read 55 books, surpassing my goal by 3 books. The goal of 52 books is to essentially read a book a week as a way of reducing my daily screentime. In some ways, it worked, but some weeks are better than others.

My second goal was to read more books by authors of color. In Q4 of 2025, I read 6 books by people of color out of 16, which is the same as Q1. Out of 55 books, 28 books were written by people of color, and if my math is mathing, that is about 50.9% of the books I read. Not too bad, but not the best either.

For 2026, I don't feel the need to do a reading challenge that quantifies the number of books I read. Instead, I'm more interested in challenging myself to read as diversely as possible, both in the authors I read and the genres. I was intrigued by Jananie's, best known as This Story Ain't Over on socials, anti-brain-rot challenge.

I'm not following the challenge based on the rules that are laid out, such as reading for at least one 45 min session per day, where you annotate what you read. I'm mainly challenging myself to be more mindful of my consumption by reading translated books, books written by SWANA authors, or books featuring disability representation.

The Notion template has the full list of genres, formats, and categories that I'll be using to check off as I go this year. I'm excited to see what new gems I may uncover in 2026. On to the books I read in the final quarter of 2025:

Where Are You Really From by Elaine Hsieh Chou

I enjoyed Chou's debut novel, Disorientation, as it reminded me of Yellowface for the satirical and outlandish nature of the plot. I was immediately drawn to this collection of short stories based on the title alone. Although I struggle to recall the stories in detail, I distinctly remember how each story in this collection was told through unique voices, which isn’t easy to do in a short story collection. They were all a little unusual, but centered around race, identity, and immigration. 4/5 stars

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

After reading Nettle & Bone in Q3, I had to read more of T. Kingfisher's works. I specifically picked up 2 horror books by her at the library and tore through them in quick succession. The Hollow Places is especially creepy because it's not horror in the traditional sense. Inspired by Algernon Blackwood's short story, The Willows, we follow Kara, who returns to her hometown after a divorce, to help her uncle manage his oddities museum. She soon discovers a bunker that leads into a world that holds countless portals into alternate dimensions. It was creepy, suspenseful, and extremely nerve-wracking. I couldn't put it down. 4/5 stars

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Although this is another horror book by the same author, it is more of a Southern Gothic horror, a genre I would love to read more of. Sam returns to her childhood home after her brother tells her, "Mom seems off." Throughout her stay, she slowly unravels some deeply-rooted family secrets. This was just as delicious a read as The Hollow Places by weaving intergenerational trauma with lingering fears of dark shadows. It's spooky but also incredibly funny and juicy as we learn more about Sam's family. 4/5 stars

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

One of those books that I've seen on so many lists. It's marketed as an exploration of female sexuality, but it was way too male-centric and almost romanticized toxic, abusive, and inappropriate relationships. These stories would have been much better told by someone else who didn’t center men in the lives of women. 1/5 stars

My Body by Emily Ratajkowski

I'm so glad I picked this memoir when going through a pile of books that was left by the sidewalk. This was a huge step up from Three Women in discussing female sexuality and the paradox of the internalised male gaze. I loved how Ratajkowski explores her feelings in the desire to be sexy, but also wanting to reclaim her agency in a culture that exploits women. There was definitely some tea in here that made my jaw drop. 4/5 stars

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Uncertain she'll make friends in her new school, Becca is immediately initiated into the popular girl group who, under the cover of night, are a pack of werewolves that devour predatory men. I finished this in one sitting because it brought me back to the good old days of Pretty Little Liars and The Vampire Diaries. The illustrations by Lisa Sterle were also absolutely gorgeous. A fun time, overall. 3/5 stars

The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei

I used to watch The Click Network on YouTube, of which Jemimah Wei was one of the hosts of the Hype Hunt series. Fast forward a decade, and I spot a familiar name for a book launch in Manhattan. The Original Daughter is Wei's debut novel, which I promptly recommended for November's book club. A Singaporean family's world is turned upside down when they learned that the grandfather they thought was dead actually moved to Malaysia and had a second family. Due to their financial situation, his family struck up a deal to send their youngest daughter to live with the Singaporean family in exchange for money. Genevieve, who was once an only child, now has a sister, Arin. The book felt so full of promise, but the execution was incredibly frustrating as it lingered on certain time periods a little too long and dragged on insignificantly. My book club enjoyed the prose, but expressed similar frustrations with the storytelling as a whole. The characters are unlikeable, and the story could have benefited from focusing on the childhood portion alone, which we all felt was compelling enough to be the main storyline. 3/5 stars

Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill

I absolutely loved this book. It's really unlike anything I've read all year. In essence, it's a bittersweet and compelling portrait of a marriage as the couple navigates the trials and tribulations of life together. The unconventional narrative style is interspersed with thought experiments and musings on literature, adding to the beauty of the story. I was invested from the very beginning and easily finished it in a couple of hours. This is a book I can find myself returning to year after year, just to observe my feelings and how they may have shifted. 5/5 stars

Entitlement by Rumaan Alam

After hearing Anna Sale recommend this book on The Sam Sanders Show, my interest was immediately piqued. Brooke works at a foundation that aims to redistribute the wealth of a billionaire. Sounds familiar? It's essentially Loot, minus the humor and wholesomeness. Instead, what we have here is a main character who finds herself in way too deep, hence the title, and ultimately loses sight of her goals and sense of self. I wish this book leaned all the way to the level of unhingedness that it could have. Unfortunately, the third act was cringeworthy without the satisfying payoff. 2/5 stars

Foresight Infused Strategy: A How-To Guide for Using Foresight in Practice by Maree Conway

This was a book I read as part of my winter curriculum that has lived in my saved files for years. It's a practical and accessible introduction to strategic foresight thinking, which I believe will be an essential skill in the coming years as we live in an era of rapidly evolving technology and increasingly polarizing political systems. It was a great read, although I do wish there were some case studies that better illustrate the points shared. 4/5 stars

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Our final book club read of the year! Our unnamed main character is a companion to a wealthy lady who meets a much older gentleman, Maxim de Winter, in Monte Carlo. In an act of spontaneity, they elope, and he brings her back to his massive country estate that is filled with reminders of his late wife, Rebecca. As someone who struggles with classic literature, this was accessible and engaging enough for me to see it through to the end. Some of the questions discussed in the book club are whether we see the main character grow as a person throughout the story, what is the symbolism of water in the book, and what is the significance of Rebecca's boat's name. It made for an engaging discussion. 4/5 stars

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

I wrote about Scythe in November's Downtime Diaries. I loved the premise of the story, but the execution felt a little disjointed. The first part of the book was gripping, but I think Shusterman was trying to do too much with this one. The scythe apprentices had way too much tossed at them, and it was building up on a central villain, only for it to be resolved pretty quickly towards the end. I am curious what the sequel will hold, but not motivated enough to actually pick it up. 3/5 stars

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

Okay, I was really excited about this one, but once again, the execution fell flat to the premise of the story. Cora Zeng witnessed a hate crime in the form of her sister being pushed in front of an incoming subway, instantly traumatizing her for life. As she grieves the death of her sister, she starts working as a crime scene cleaner (very odd choice, especially for someone who is a germaphobe). Set against the backdrop of the Covid pandemic, she begins to identify patterns of targeted murders as most, if not all, of the victims at these crime scenes are Asians with bats left behind. I did like how grief is explored through the Hungry Ghost Festival, but the pacing and focus were a little off to me. The pacing wasn't the best, especially for a horror book, and the payoff was forgettable. 2/5 stars

Everyday Play: A Campaign against Boredom by Julian Rothenstein

A gem of a find at MoMA PS1's bookstore. This book came at the right time when I was looking to add more moments of play and whimsy into my life. There are some fun examples and ideas here, which I truly enjoyed. This is a book I'll keep on my coffee table to flip through when in search of inspiration. We need more play in our adult lives! 3/5 stars

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

After some duds, I needed a homerun, hence why I picked this up. I wrote a review of this in my December Downtime Diaries. TLDR: I didn't like it. 1/5 star

Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask by Anton Treuer

I listened to this on audiobook and found it to be incredibly informative about Native Americans. The Q&A format made it digestible, especially in an audio format, although perhaps reading the text would have helped me retain a lot more information. Regardless, this was eye-opening and truly educational for someone who is extremely unfamiliar with the history, customs, and cultures of Native Americans. A great final read of 2025. 4/5 stars

If you made it this far, thank you for reading! It has been so fun recapping the books I've read in 2025, and I would love to keep this going in 2026. What were some of your favorite books in 2025? Please send recommendations my way!