Every year, my goal is to read 52 books. 52 books for 52 weeks of the year. This year I came up 10 short.
The first few months of the year were consumed by studying for the AREs (blog post). From January 20th until the first two weeks of May, I did not really have time for reading that was not studying related. I did however, make some space for books here and there, mostly as a much needed break from the constant architectural material.
These are the books I read this year:
2025
- Feng Shui Modern
- The Fortress of Solitude
- Kite Runner
- A Court of Thorn and Roses (A Court of Thorn and Roses book 1)
- A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorn and Roses book 2)
- A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorn and Roses book 3)
- A court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorn and Roses book 4)
- A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorn and Roses book 5)
- Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
- Wind and Truth (Stormlight Book 6)
- Architecture Handbook of Professional Practice
- The Architect’s Studio Companion
- Project Hail Mary
- Mistborn (Mistborn Book 1)
- Well of Ascension (Mistborn Book 2)
- The Hero of Ages (Mistborn Book 3)
- Blood Over Bright Haven
- Demon Copperhead
- The Overstory
- The Alloy of Law (Mistborn Book 4)
- Shadows of Self (Mistborn Book 5)
- Bands of Mourning (Mistborn Book 6)
- The Lost Metal (Mistborn Book 7)
- Surviving to Drive: A Year Inside Formula One
- The Great Alone
- Masters of Doom: How two guys created an empire and transformed pop culture
- Everything Trump Touches Dies: A Republican Strategist Gets Real About the Worst President Ever
- Onyx Storm (The Empyreon book 3)
- The Women
- The Power of the Dog (Book 1)
- The Cartel (The Power of the Dog book 2)
- The Border (The Power of the Dog book 3)
- Open: An Autobiography
- Three Body Problem (Book 1)
- The Dark Forest (Book 2)
- Death’s End (Book 3)
- The Poppy War (Book 1)
- The Nightingale
- The Four Winds
- The God of the Woods
- The Wedding People
- Wild Dark Shore
My favorite book
My favorite book this year was The Women by Kristin Hannah. It was suggested to me by my sister, who was reading it for a book club. I love reading war novels, especially novels about Vietnam. The Vietnam War was such a crazy and painful period in U.S and global history and the people stationed there went through unimaginable experiences.
The Women showed a side of that war that I had not really been exposed to before, the women nurses. These women nurses returned home to a dismissive public, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder from constant exposure to trauma. They treated horrific wounds, listened to last words of dying soldiers and then went back to work saving lives, while under fire themselves.
Many were told that they did not have PTSD. That because they did not carry guns, they were not in combat. They were told they volunteered for it. Imagine coming home after all of that and being told your contributions didn’t count.
The Year of Kristin Hannah.
Without intending to, 2025 became the year of Kristin Hannah for me. My mom recommended The Great Alone early in the year, before I read The Women. Later, I read The Nightingale as another book club recommendation, not realizing it was also by her. After that, I intentionally read The Four Winds.
Out of the four, The Four Winds was my least favorite. I initially thought that it had come out earlier in her writing career and figured she has progressed as a writer over time, but out of the four I read, it was the third to be published. It was however, still the worse of the four.
My Favorite Series
I love reading series, especially science fiction or fantasy. This year was the first time I can remember that I read a series that was neither. While it wasn’t my favorite of the year, The Power of the Dog trilogy was a unique departure from my usual. It was a gritty series about narcoterrorism and the drug war between the U.S and Mexico.
My favorite series of the year was a trilogy that I almost gave up on after the first book. The series was Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy by Chinese science fiction writer Liu Cixin. The first book is The Three Body Problem, which I did not enjoy. The writing style wasn’t great and I don’t think it was because of the translation. The plot line was confusing.
The series was saved by the second and third book, which brought the ideas together. The strength of the series is its concepts. It makes you think, “what if that happened?” Science fiction has the ability to capture the mind, to imagine future possibilities. While The Power of the Dog trilogy was overall better written, I have a soft spot for science fiction.
My Least Favorite Book
My least favorite book of the year was the The Poppy War. I was excited going into it after seeing it recommended in a book thread. I also saw a couple of ads on the subway (though, those didn’t sway me). It’s a military fantasy novel and part of a longer series, but I have no desire to read the others and almost stopped reading the first one.
It starts out pretty decent with the main character attending a magic school. However, it soon dissolved into a mess of jumbled words on pages. The author parallels real life events in the book like the Nanjing Massacre and makes it feel like you’re reading a Wikipedia article. It demonstrates a lack of creativity from the author. The characters are forgettable and never really developed.
While I fell short of my 52 book goal this year, the goal isn’t necessarily to hit 52, but to always push myself to read.
