Happy New Year! I hope that 2026 arrived in your corner of the world with the promises of prosperity, love, and lots of great reading ahead. As the calendar turns to January, I find myself coming to the end of a much needed break. After spending just over 3 weeks at home, it is time to begin the journey back to Texas to begin another semester of work. Since I’m not ready to return to reality, I dove deep into my reading this week.
I want to give you fair warning….this post is a bit longer than normal. In addition to this week’s finishes and what I’m currently reading, I have also included a look back at my December reading as well as a review of the year in reading.
What I Finished This Week
Winter Stroll by Elin Hilderbrand. My final book of 2025 was finished on Wednesday afternoon. Once again, I returned to the story of the Quinn family. This installment in the story was not as compelling as that in Winter Street. With Patrick in jail and Bart still missing in action, Winter Stroll focuses on how those left behind in Nantucket are dealing with their absences. I thought the story lines that focused on Mitzi, Margaret, Julie, and Barrett were really well written. Ava’s petty love triangle between two men — neither of whom are treating her very well, honestly — as well as the issues between Kevin and Isabelle as they begin their family were trite and lessened the impact of the stories about the suffering of mothers, addiction, and the impact an absent father has on children. 3 stars.
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. My first finish of 2026 was a book from My Library Shelf that I thoroughly enjoyed. Written in a dual timeline, the story focuses on the growing relationship between Henry and Keiko. Henry is a 5th grade Chinese-American living in Seattle as the Second World War rages in Europe. His parents are very traditional and see everyone who is not either Chinese or Caucasian as the enemy. While attending a predominately white school, Henry meets Keiko, a Japanese-American student. Their friendship continues to grow until Keiko and her family are resettled into a Japanese internment camp, ultimately ending up in Idaho. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a beautiful story of love, acceptance, and tragedy. This story will definitely stay with me for many years to come. 5 stars.
The Inn at Ocean’s Edge by Colleen Coble. I needed a new audiobook and randomly selected Coble’s novel in my Libby subscription. It wasn’t until completing the book that I learned that Colleen Coble is an author of Christian fiction — a genre I typically don’t enjoy. (I find that Christian fiction tends to hit you over the head with the moral of the story rather than simply letting the characters speak directly to the reader’s heart.) Claire is the daughter of a wealthy businessman who has returned to the coastal village that was the site of her abduction and return when she was four. Haunted by memories of her past that she cannot piece together, she seeks the truth of what happened during her missing year. On the coast, Claire meets Luke, a member of the Coast Guard whose mother disappeared on the same night as Claire’s abduction. Were the two events connected? Coble creates a lovely mystery that is filled with moments of hope and faith. I discovered a new author to enjoy! 4 stars.
What I’m Currently Reading
Mermaid Moon by Colleen Coble (2:22 of 8:54). This is the second book in the Sunset Cove series. After enjoying The Inn at Ocean’s Edge so much, I decided that it only made sense to continue the story. When I found the entire series available as a single credit download on Audible, the purchase was a no-brainer since I have several long drives coming up this month. The story returns to the coastal Maine community with many of our favorite characters returning, but this time the focus is on Mallory, a single mother dealing with the guilt of past mistakes and the apparent murder of her father on his boat in the quiet town.
Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser (p. 133 of 446). I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying this read! I understand why the book has gotten so much good press and was selected as the 2025 Barnes and Noble Book of the Year as well as earning Schlesser France’s 2025 Author of the Year award. Mona is a young girl who lost her sight for a horrifying 63 minutes. Doctors are uncertain of the cause, but fear that Mona may lose her sight permanently within the next year. The family is advised to consult a child psychiarist; her beloved grandfather has a different plan for the child’s emotional health. Each week, Mona and her grandfather visit one of Paris’ great museums to intently study a single work of art before launching into a discussion about what they see there. The descriptions Schlesser provides about the masterpieces are as beautiful as the images themselves. Each chapter of the novel focuses on a different artwork, so I am slowing my progress a bit so I can find an image of the piece to examine for myself before entering into Mona’s journey. So far, it is a lovely experience.
The Inferno by Dante Alighieri (p. 250 of 387). I am continuing my descent into Hell with Dante and Virgil. I am now in the final third of the pit and encountering some of the most memorable scenes of the work. I only read a handful of cantos this week, but as the end is coming into sight, I am finding myself drawn back to the journey. I’m about to begin Canto 20 this week; there are only 34 in the entire work.
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (p. 204 of 1304). I hope you are ready to get a lot of updates about this brick of a book for the next few months! Hugo’s novel is the first book of 2026 in The Active Mind Book Club. If I can stay on track with the proposed reading plan, I should finish the novel the week of February 9. This week’s reading (Week 1) has been challenging and extremely slow. Not only was there a lot of detail about minor characters that I know do not play pivotal roles in the work as a whole, but I have found the new translation by Christine Donougher (for the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) to be stodgy at times. I’m hoping that improves as I get more comfortable with her rhythm and style. As I neared the end of this week’s section, things were a bit better as I encountered familiar characters including Valjean, Fantine, and Javert. I have been struck by the novel’s focus on punishment and how it is impossible for a tiger to change its stripes. I’m looking forward to getting into the revolutionary themes in the weeks ahead. Wish me luck as I continue to plow through!
December in Review
- Books read in December: 13 books (up 4 books from November)
- 5 physical
- 5 digital
- 3 audio
- Pages read in December: 4,510 (up 2,115 pages from November)
- Highest rated book: Good Spirits by B.K. Borison – 5 stars
- Lowest rated book: The Girl from the Garden by Parnaz Foroutan – 3 stars
2025 Reading By the Numbers
2025 was an outstanding reading year for me. It was by far my most productive year. What do I attribute the success to? I think there were a couple of things at play. First, just setting a realistic daily goal of 20 pages was life changing. I found myself making my way into a book most days since I wasn’t making a huge time commitment. Once I started reading, I relaxed into the activity and normally would spend about an hour in the pages of a beloved story. Second, I responded very well to the prompts provided by The 52 Book Club. My reading now had direction rather than just wandering through the stacks in search of my next read. Not every read was a great experience, but because I knew it was only one prompt, I was confident that another exceptional read was just a few days away. It also provided me a regular stack of “next reads” — I was never uncertain of what book was coming next.
Let’s look at the numbers for 2025. I crushed my goal of 52 books for the year and finished the year with 87 books read! Just so there’s no question that I was only reading tiny works, I had a grand total of 31,620 pages read. With 9 books earning 5 stars, I had a year of really good reading. (In fact, I gave 43 of the year’s books 4 stars or higher.) I tended to finish the books I started too….only 4 DNFs for 2025.
Best Book of 2025?
I’ve spent a lot of time this week thinking about the books I have read in the last 12 months. They brought me laughter and tears. They allowed me to explore new ideas and interact with characters that became friends. As I look back at the 9 books that I rated the highest — 5 stars — I have special memories from each of them. However, one book has stayed with me and I constantly find my thoughts returning to it. The best book I read in 2025 was…..
PANCHINKO by MIN JIN LEE!
Reading for Me 