Mini Book Reviews: December 2025 and Year End Summary

Disclaimer: I received ARCs of A Guardian and A Thief, The Tortoise's Tail, Next Time Will Be Our Turn, A Ferryman and His Wife, Family of Spies, and Before I Forget from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links. 

Wow! What a fantastic month of reading. I had big goals for December-I had all my NetGalley reads from November and December to finish up this month. I even managed to squeeze in a few library holds as well. It wasn't hard to do, as I was sick for 2 weeks this month. Lots of time on the couch = lots of time to keep my nose in the books. I can't believe I read this many books, but they were all so good that the pages just flew by!

I also took time to review my Goodreads statistics for the year. They are summarized at the bottom of the post. It was fun to look back on all the books I read this year. I feel so lucky to have access to such great books!

I never set reading goals for the year, and 2026 will be no different. I always vow to dig into my Kindle to clean out some downloads, and I hope to do that again this year. But my NetGalley library is already bursting for January, February, and March with lots of intriguing reads coming up. I can't wait to dig in!

The follow-up to Sandwich, Wreck revisits Rocky and her family 2 years later. The kids are grown, and Rocky is navigating this new chapter in life. As with Sandwich, I found this very relatable. Rocky has developed an unusual rash that no one can identify, and is struggling to navigate the insurance and healthcare maze. She's also trying to master spatchcocking a chicken for an article she's writing. Rocky's grown daughter is home from college for Thanksgiving, and their conversations are frank and open. Rocky's elderly father lives with them in the basement apartment, still reeling from the loss of his wife and Rocky's mother. Overshadowing all of this is the death by suicide of a young man in their community. None of them really knew him, but the discussion of the event is prominent throughout the story. Immensely readable, the author captures what it is like to be a woman in middle age. I'm not sure I liked this one as much as Sandwich, but it was definitely a good read. 

Dadu, Ma, and Mishti are preparing to leave India and join Ba in Michigan. But misfortune strikes in the middle of the night, which sets forth a chain of mishaps, and culminates in tragedy. I don't want to share too much--The Guardian and The Thief, a short, fast-paced story, had me on the edge of my seat and wouldn't let me stop until the very end. Who was the guardian, and who was the thief? You think you know...until you don't. Desperate people do unspeakable things... Megha Majumdar is a gifted writer. Check out her other book, A Burning.

This was an absolute delight to read. Told from the perspective of a tortoise, who has been a resident of a California estate for an unknown length of time, the tortoise has taken on the role of caretaker of all the creatures who live there, including the humans. This is a thoughtful tale of a creature who is perceptive but doesn't communicate other than her presence when she feels needed. She roams the vast property and senses when something is different. Several of the humans in the story have given her names. While the tortoise brings out the best in the humans who love animals, others treat her poorly. Whimsical? Yes, but in the best way. The author nails human/animal relationships perfectly. The Tortoise's Story reminded me of one of my other favorite books, Remarkably Bright Creatures. 

A teenager, feeling like she doesn't fit her family's expectations, gets the shock of her life when her grandmother walks into a family party with a woman on her arm. That sets the stage for this engaging coming-of-age story, which focuses on the grandmother's young adult years. The characters are Chinese Indonesian, but the setting is sunny Los Angeles, where the grandmother and her sister were sent to complete their education. As the reader might expect, there were some cultural clashes after the girls were in the US. Next Time Will Be Our Turn felt like a light breezy read, even though there were some heavy topics, especially towards the end. I really enjoyed this one!

The Ferryman and His Wife is a beautiful tale of a Norwegian ferryboat captain, Nils Vik, who has spent his entire life ferrying people to their destinations along the fjord and recording these trips in his logbook. When Nils wakes up on the last day of his life, he takes his ferryboat out for one last ride on the fjord. On this ride, he reminisces about his life and his family; some of these memories are prompted by visits from the dead, whom he had ferried on the fjord. His dog Luna, who had passed before him, accompanies him on this ride. Not one bit morbid and only a little bit sentimental, the reader learns a great deal about a wonderful man. Translated from the original Norwegian, the English version was extraordinary. This book will stay with me for a long time.

The author was inspired to share her family's history after receiving a phone call inquiring if she was interested in being interviewed about their involvement with the Nazis and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. She spoke with her father, who initially denied it, but eventually broke down, sharing his own story. Thus began a quest to learn about her family history. Her grandparents were Nazi spies, living the good life in Hawaii, while living on the down low, providing information to the Japanese. The author's father and uncle were young boys at the time and were kept completely in the dark, while her aunt was part of the operation. I can't imagine the personal anguish the author experienced while researching and telling this incredible story. She does a fantastic job sharing her family's story in the context of historical events. The book reads like fiction, and I could not stop turning the pages. Family of Spies is a must read!!!

Cricket is struggling. Her older sister, who has been caring for their father at his Adirondack cabin, accepts a job offer in Sweden and enlists Cricket to help her find a care facility for him. Instead, Cricket offers to stay and care for him, knowing that old memories are waiting to haunt her. Cricket and her father find a rhythm, and while he struggles with memory loss, she discovers his hidden talent of seeing into the future. Cricket also faces her demons from the past, and I enjoyed watching her evolve through the story. Before I Forget was a wonderful coming-of-age story as well as a tender look at caring for an aging parent with dementia. 

What did I just read? A woman, desperate to start a family and move to the perfect neighborhood, becomes obsessed with a home soon to be offered for sale. The market is competitive, and homes are selling for way more than the listing price. To get ahead of the sale, she befriends the couple who own the house--dare I say, stalks them? This story was completely bonkers! The main character was completely unlikable and, as the book progressed, became increasingly unhinged. I couldn't put it down. I had to see how Best Offer Wins was going to end, and I finished it in disbelief....

I wanted to read something Christmas-themed but didn't want to read anything cloying. Small Things Like These, published 3 years ago and shortlisted for the 2022 Booker prize, fits the bill. In this brilliant story, set in 1985 Ireland, a local coal merchant was out delivering coal to the townspeople. When he makes his delivery at the convent, he discovers a young mother locked in the coal house, freezing and wearing rags. This triggers something in him, and he can't get her out of his mind. As one reviewer said, it's like the reversal of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The writing is beautiful, and I just wanted to savor it. I loved that the author was able to tell this story so well in such a small book instead of using filler to make it longer than it needed to be. 

While this coming-of-age novel is centered around a women's college cross country team, We Loved to Run is not a book about running. Instead, it is a story of 6 diverse women brought together to form a team. It's about perfectionism, competition, and ambition, but also highlights the struggles of being a woman. The book takes place in the 1990s, but the issues affecting women have not changed. The women collectively find power to not only push themselves to the finish line, but also through some very difficult situations involving men. The narrative shifts throughout the book from a focus on one of the runners to the perspective of the team as a 'we'. The writing is beautiful, and the author did a great job of describing the feeling and the why of running. I loved it.

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It's been a great year of reading!

Here are some year-end statistics and thoughts. 

-Books read: 87

-NetGalley books: 49

FYI, NetGalley books are prereleases, and I have managed to keep my percentage read at or around 80%. This means the publishers will offer and approve books that I want to read! I've had a great year of reading, and much of it is due to these NetGalley books. Anyone can sign up to receive prereleases!

-Fiction books read: 70

--My favorite genre of fiction? Literary fiction

--My second favorite? Suspense

-Nonfiction books read: 17

--My favorite genre of nonfiction? Memoirs

-Stars:

-5 star reviews: 39

-4 star reviews: 39

-3 star reviews: 8

-DNF:1

I don't give 2 or 1-star reviews because I don't finish anything that would meet the criteria. Too many books, too little time! I have a lot of 5 and 4-star reviews because I vet everything I read before I even start the book. Every once in a while, though, I make a bad choice--usually based on pumped-up reviews. My trusted sources are other book bloggers who read the same kind of books I do. I've also commented on the unpleasant trend of 'fluffing up' the narrative--making the book longer than it needs to be. Just because an author is a gifted wordsmith doesn't mean they need to make the reader slog through unnecessary prose! The Loneliness of Sonia and Sonny, I'm looking at you. This NYT book critic disagrees with my opinion. According to people who have finished that book, once you get through the first 200 or so pages, it picks up. I'll have to take them at that word on that.

Noteworthy Reads for 2025: 

I read so many good books this year that I can't pick one or even 10 favorites. So instead, here are some of the more 'noteworthy' or unique books I read this year:

Best Romance: Heart the Lover (heading off to read Writers and Lovers)

Best Pen Pal ever: The Correspondent

Saddest Memoir: Nobody's Girl

Best Novel as Told By An Animal: A Tortoise's Tale

Memoir That Reads Like A Novel: Family of Spies

Favorite Coming of Age Book: Before I Forget

Most Recommended by Other Book Bloggers that I Didn't Love: The Bright Years

Best Book You Probably Haven't Heard Of: In Berlin

Weirdest but Funniest Book: Sky Daddy

Biggest Disappointment: The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits

Most Overhyped Book: The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny

Best Backlist Book: Small Things Like These

Best Running-themed Book: We Loved to Run

What are you reading? Have you read any of my December books? What is your favorite genre of book? Any reading goals for 2026? Here's to a happy, literary 2026!

If you want to check out all my reviews for 2025, you can find them on the blog post list (on the sidebar of my blog) or on Goodreads. 

I'm linking up with Jenn and Jenny for Tuesday Topics!  I'm also excited to join Farrah for My Month is Booked! Also with Share Your Shelf with Slices of Life, Memphis Bridges, Overflowing with Thankfulness, and The Other Side of the Road.