Space Station Mir

 I'm a day late, and new authors seems more do-able than all bookish discoveries--plus, I think these were my most important bookish discoveries in 2025 anyway. Happy (late) Top Ten Tuesday! Best New-to-Me Authors in 2025 Jessica Topper and Amanda Usen--Grouping them together since I've only read their joint Matzo Ballers Hanukkah romance series. Technically, I finished the first book on December 31, 2024, but I read three of them in 2025 (and one already in 2026!), so I think it's fair to count them as new-to-me approximately as of 2025. I just love their joyful, sexy, Jewish brand of Hanukkah romance: they're both incredibly funny and compelling writers who create complex and interesting characters from the get-go. I will definitely continue reading the Matzo Baller series and probably check out some of their other books as well. J. Penner--I became absolutely obsessed with their Adenashire cozy fantasy books in 2025! They are definitely now on the must-read list for ...

 Woof. This was--I guess kind of an average reading year? Mostly good or decent reads, a few mediocre ones or ones that weren't for me. The books I'm including below are the ones I've thought about most this year--particularly The Feather Thief and Better Living Through Birding --it's hard to imagine I only read them in 2025! I guess I'm officially a nonfiction fan now. Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Best Books I Read in 2025 Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott--I loved Baba Yaga as a kid and I love this modern, Jewish take on the story The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk W. Johnson--I'd recommend this to anyone. Just a fascinating story--I never knew how much I wanted to know about fly-tying and the mystery of dead nineteenth century birds Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins--Another gut-wrenching Hunger Games triumph--and maybe unfortunately one more for our times  Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie ...

 My reading slowed down a bit while I was busy in December and then I got very sick at the end of December (still kind of sick, honestly), so my reading slowed down. I knew I needed a really engaging book while I was ill, so I pulled out Sunrise on the Reaping   and it was everything I could have hoped! Can always count on Collins for a propulsive read, with substance, even. Books Read in December 2025 Gap Year by Lindsey Goldstein--This was an eARC I received from the publisher about a woman in her 40s who gets divorced and goes on a "gap year" in Ecuador while her 18-year-old daughter is on one in Spain. I found the Ecuador content interesting but I wasn't that into the writing or character. I do wish there were more books about older female protagonists taking journeys like this though. The Menorah Matchmaker (Matzo Ballers Hanukkah Romance #3) by Amanda Usen The Rugelach Road Trip (Matzo Ballers Hanukkah Romance #4) by Jessica Topper--I read the first two Matzo Baller...