Monthly Wrap-Up: December 2025

This year has been the slowest, fastest year ever. Does that make sense? Lol. Anyway, below you will see I listed 6 books I finished, but only stats for 5. That's because at the time of writing this post, I'm still reading Accomplice to the Villain, but I'll be damned if I don't finish that book before the year is over 😆 So, not including Accomplice to the Villain (which I WILL finish today lol), I read 5 books in December, and a total of 1822 pages. That's about 500 pages less than the previous month, BUT I still have another book I haven't counted yet. Lol.

• All 5 were full-length novels
• I started 1 series, caught up on 1, and finished 1
• 4 were part of a series, and 1 was a standalone
• 4 were finished copies, and 1 was an ARC
• 3 were physical books, and 2 were ebooks
• 3 were 5-star reads, 1 was 4 stars, and 1 was 3.5 stars
• 3 were traditionally published, and 2 were indie published
• 4 were by authors I've previously read, and 1 was new to me
• 4 were adult books, and 1 was middle grade
• 4 were fiction, and 1 was non-fiction
• 1 was sci-fi, 1 high fantasy, 1 horror, 1 autobiography, and 1 fantasy romance

Finish the Series #38: Series I finished in 2025

It's been a minute since I did one of these posts, but since it's the end of the year, I thought I'd take a look at the list of series I need to finish and—

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #448: My First Romance of the Year

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #484: Too Many Parties For This Introvert

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Top 10 Most Anticipated Books of 2026

I am so bad at adding upcoming books to my tbr, but I was able to gather some that I am super excited to read next year!
Previous Top 10 Posts of 2025:
Top 10 Books I Wish I'd Read in 2025 Top 10 Favorite Characters of 2025 Top 5 Disappointing Books of 2025 Top 10 Favorite Books of 2025!

Top 10 Favorite Books of 2025!

I typically try to only include one book per series in these types of posts, but I just couldn't help myself! I read so many books in great series this year!
Previous Top 10 Posts of 2025:
Top 10 Books I Wish I'd Read in 2025 Top 10 Favorite Characters of 2025 Top 5 Disappointing Books of 2025

Top 5 Disappointing Books of 2025

Most of these books I gave 3-ish stars to, so not too bad, but they were books I was excited to read. There was one book I gave 2 stars to that isn't listed here because it really wasn't a disappointment when my expectations for it weren't set that high 😂 I also don't want to talk about that book anymore 😆 Lol.
Previous Top 10 Posts of 2025:
Top 10 Books I Wish I'd Read in 2025 Top 10 Favorite Characters of 2025

Top 10 Favorite Characters of 2025

Today I'm talking about some of my favorite characters of 2025! I'm not gonna lie, even though there are 10 books below, there's probably going to be more than 10 characters total 😅😂
Previous Top 10 Posts of 2025:
Top 10 Books I Wish I'd Read in 2025

Top 10 Books I Wish I'd Read in 2025

You guys know I love doing these end of the year posts. The first one this week is all those books I wish I'd read in 2025 but didn't get to for one reason or another. This year the reason is mostly due to my nearly year long reading slump 😅 Thankfully I'm over it now. So here are some 2025 books I wish I'd read this year, but didn't.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #447: What I'm Currently Reading On Vacation

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #483: I Hate Traveling

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

2025 End of Year Survey

I love doing this survey because not only does it include questions relating to books, but also blogging! I borrowed some of the images below from The Perpetual Page Turner, the creator of this fun survey 😊

Review: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 4) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando

Title: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation: Volume 4

Series: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation #4

Previous books in this series: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation #1 | A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation #2 | A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation #3

Author: Misaki

Artists: Momochi, Sando

Genre: YA, manga, fantasy, adventure

Publication date: June 2021

Published by: TOKYOPOP

Source: Borrowed from library

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis: When Lizel mysteriously finds himself in a city that bears odd similarities to his own but clearly isn't, he quickly comes to terms with the unlikely truth: this is an entirely different world. Even so, laid-back Lizel isn't the type to panic. He immediately sets out to learn more about this strange place, and to help him do so, hires a seasoned adventurer named Gil as his tour guide and protector.

Until he's able to find a way home, Lizel figures this is a perfect opportunity to explore a new way of life adventuring as part of a guild. After all, he's sure he'll go home eventually... might as well enjoy the otherworldly vacation for now!

My rating: ★★★☆☆

In this volume of A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation, we learn more about the snake guy, Eleven, who's been really wanting to join Lizel. He's such a weird guy, but I've been really looking forward to learning about him. But now that we did, I'm still not sure how I feel about him. He was giving me sociopathic vibes, but maybe I've just been watching too much Criminal Minds 😆

2025 End of the Year Freak Out Tag

I love the Freak Out Tags! They are so much fun! And as always, I'll only be using books that I have read since July. This tag was modified by Books, Bones & Buffy from the original Mid Year Freak Out Tag.

Review: Cells at Work! (Vol. 6) by Akane Shimizu

Title: Cells at Work!: Vol. 6

Series: Cells at Work! #6

Previous books in this series: Cells at Work! #1 | Cells at Work! #2 | Cells at Work! #3 | Cells at Work! #4 | Cells at Work! #5

Author: Akane Shimizu

Genre: YA, manga, science, action

Publication date: August 2021

Published by: Kodansha Comics

Source: Borrowed from library

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis: White Blood Cell, Red Blood Cell, Macrophage, and the cute little Platelets face a threat unlike any they've ever dealt with before: COVID-19! But even this threat can be defeated, as long as everyone works together. The uplifting and informative series comes to a close with one last tour of the hardworking body, featuring "left shift" in the blood, retinal degeneration, and a simple bump on the noggin. But, of course, as long as there's a job to do, this team won't quit!

My rating: ★★★★☆

In this last volume of the series 😭, the first chapter revolved around a bump on the head and what happens internally in that situation. I’ll tell you what happens: the little platelets being adorable and working together 🥹

2025 End of the Year Book Tag

I know I say this every December, but these end-of-the-year posts are my favorite type of posts to do! They're so fun! This first post is the End of the Year Book Tag, and the original tag can be found here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #446: Well, That Didn't Happen

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #482: Getting Ready

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

2026 Reading Challenges

I don't know why I do this to myself, but I overdid it with the challenges again 😅 But they're so fun! I can't help it 😆

Review: Cells at Work! (Vol. 5) by Akane Shimizu

Title: Cells at Work!: Vol. 5

Series: Cells at Work! #5

Previous books in this series: Cells at Work! #1 | Cells at Work! #2 | Cells at Work! #3 | Cells at Work! #4

Author: Akane Shimizu

Genre: YA, manga, science, action

Publication date: November 2017

Published by: Kodansha Comics

Source: Purchaed ebook

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis: THE GUTS TO GET THE JOB DONE

Life’s not easy for a workaday cell, and amid all the hustle and bustle it takes to keep the human body going, it can be hard to know who’s an enemy and who’s a friend. You might think all germs are bad, but it turns out some bacteria aren’t just friendly, they’re downright essential (not to mention cuddly)! In fact, when an old nemesis returns, it might just be those friendly, cuddly bacteria that help save the day. The saga of life inside you continues!

My rating: ★★★★☆

In this week’s episode of Cells at Work! 😆 we are looking at H. Pylori, angiogenic shift, Cytokines, harmful bacteria, and the return of the cancer cells...

End of the Year/Vacation TBR

I am going on vacation in a week and the thing I always pack first is my books 😆 Last time I went on vacation I took like 5 books with me and finished exactly ZERO 😂 To be fair, I finished an ebook on the plane, and then I read Dungeon Crawler Carl on and off while over there, but otherwise, I didn't read much. Knowing this, am I still going to pack an inordinate amount of books that will probably not be read? Yes!

Review: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 3) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando

Title: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation: Volume 3

Series: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation #3

Previous books in this series: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation #1 | A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation #2

Author: Misaki

Artists: Momochi, Sando

Genre: YA, manga, fantasy, adventure

Publication date: April 2021

Published by: TOKYOPOP

Source: Borrowed from library

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis: fter defeating the underground dragon and finishing up their business in the mercantile city of Marcade, Lizel and Gil resume their journey, having promised Judge's grandfather to protect Judge along the way. But danger soon catches up to them when a strange group of bandits called the Forky Gang attacks in the middle of the night! It quickly becomes clear that someone is targeting Lizel... but who could it be, and for what reason?

As always, former noble and current adventurer Lizel takes all new developments in stride in his usual, laid-back fashion. He's celebrating his promotion from a simple E-rank to a D-rank adventurer — and setting his sights on ranking up again soon!

My rating: ★★★★☆

I really enjoyed this volume in the series! One thing in particular that I loved about is that we got this sort of flashback moment to Lizel’s homeworld and we got to see his friends over there reacting to his disappearance! And we sort of have a better(ish) understanding of what happened. We don’t know exactly what caused Lizel to transport to this parallel world, but we have a little bit of an idea. I am SO excited to find out more! I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but both Lizel’s world and the world he appeared in have bits of magic here and there, so I’m really looking forward to learning more about that.

2025 Bookish Prediction Tag *Update*

Back in February I did this fun tag and I wanted to come back to it to see if my predictions came true! This tag was created by Book Princess Reviews.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #445: Disappointed

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #481: Birthday Weekend

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

3 Bookish Things I Learned About Myself in 2025

This is one of my favorite posts to do at the end of the year! And I always do them on my birthday. Lol. I just feel like that's appropriate, you know, looking back and reflecting on the year. (It's very convenient that my birthday is at the end of the year, too 😆) And here is the post from last year, if anyone is interested.

Review: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation (Vol. 2) by Misaki, Momochi, & Sando

Title: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation: Volume 2

Series: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation #2

Previous book in this series: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation #1

Author: Misaki

Artists: Momochi, Sando

Genre: YA, manga, fantasy, adventure

Publication date: December 2020

Published by: TOKYOPOP

Source: Borrowed from library

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis: After their first successful adventure together, Lizel has officially formed a party with his guard and companion, the famous adventurer Gil. A renowned swordsman known by the moniker Single Stroke for his ability to take down any enemy with just one swipe, Gil has promised to protect Lizel as they become an official part of the adventurer's guild — and the two are already making waves!

Lizel's charming personality has earned him a few friends by now, among them a young appraiser named Judge, the grandson of a rich merchant from the mercantile capital of Marcade. When he asks them to accompany him as guards on a trip to visit his grandfather, Lizel happily accepts the opportunity to sightsee and explore in such a famous country. Gil, on the other hand, is more excited about seeing if there are any super-strong monsters to fight in Marcade's Labyrinth. It's time for the newly-formed party to prove their mettle!

My rating: ★★★★☆

In this volume of A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation, we have Lizel and Gil traveling to a different country, Marcade. There, he meets more interesting people, explores the country, and even goes on a quest in an underground labyrinth. And it was SO fun! I am really enjoying this series!

From Trying to Get Over a Reading Slump to Trying to Complete Reading Challenges

I have been in an awful reading slump all year, and I have been doing all sorts of things to get out of it. The last thing I tried ended up turning into me actively trying to complete reading challenges as opposed to doing so passively. Lol.

Review: Cells at Work! (Vol. 4) by Akane Shimizu

Title: Cells at Work!: Vol. 4

Series: Cells at Work! #4

Previous books in this series: Cells at Work! #1 | Cells at Work! #2 | Cells at Work! #3

Author: Akane Shimizu

Genre: YA, manga, science, action

Publication date: May 2017

Published by: Kodansha Comics

Source: Borrowed from library

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis: Strep throat! Hay fever! Influenza! The world is a dangerous place for a red blood cell just trying to get her deliveries finished. Fortunately, she's not alone... she's got a whole human body's worth of cells ready to help out! The mysterious white blood cell, the buff and brash killer T cell, the nerdy neuron, even the cute little platelets -- everyone's got to come together if they want to keep you healthy!

My rating: ★★★★★

In volume 4 of Cells at Work! we take a look at staph, Dengue Fever, hypovolemic shock, and Peyer’s Patch.

The Firsts of 2025 Book Tag

This is a tag I've been doing yearly for a couple years now, and I just really enjoy it. (Here's the one from last year.) It's always fun to look back at the books I read early on in the year. The idea for this post originated at girlxoxo.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #444: A Good, and A Not So Good

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.