50 Books Already!
Reader friends, I did it — I’ve reached my 2025 reading goal of 50 books… and it’s only August! When I set that number back in January, it felt like a stretch. But book by book, chapter by chapter, the pages stacked up, until suddenly I realized I’d crossed the finish line far earlier than expected.
Of those 50, I gave 14 a glowing 5-star rating — but only a handful truly dazzled me, the kind of books that burrow under your skin and stay there. My “superb five” are:
Fishing for the Little Pike by Juhani Karila
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
Quite the eclectic mix: Finnish magical realism, a luminous Irish novella, a space survival story, a sweeping WWII drama, and a sharp, thought-provoking contemporary tale. Different as they are, they all have that rare spark that made me want to press them into the hands of a friend and say, you have to read this.
The lesson I’ve learned? Setting a goal gave my reading life a playful sense of momentum. It reminded me to choose books with intention, to make time for them every day, and to read a little more widely than I might have otherwise. But the real joy wasn’t in the number — it was in the discoveries, the conversations, the moments when a book knocked the wind out of me in the best possible way.
Now that I’ve reached my “goal,” I’ll happily keep going. After all, the best part about finishing a book is choosing the next one.
What about you? Do you set reading goals, or do you prefer to wander without a number in mind? Let me know!
Amazing Cheryl!! A real accomplishment.