The end of the year survey was created by The Perpetual Page-Turner and I saw it on Annemieke @A Dance With Books‘ blog this year and decided it would make a fun bonus post for today! As Annemieke did, I have discarded some questions for which I have no answer.
2025 Reading Stats
Number of Books You Read: 94 (or 80 on Goodreads)
Number of Rereads: 25 (mostly Ilona Andrews!)
Genre You Read the Most From: Fantasy
If you’re interested in many, many more reading stats from me, please do check out my 2025 Reading Goals Reflection & Reading Stats post!
Best in Books
1. Best book
I’m not picking an absolute best (yet) and I will be doing a top ten post soon, but there are three books that I gave five stars to this year:
2. Book that didn’t live up to the hype
Arcana Academy by Elise Kova – check out my review here.
3. Most surprising book
I didn’t expect to like Xu Xu’s short stories nearly as much as I did, so I’ll probably go with Bird Talk and Other Stories by Xu Xu.
4. Book you ‘pushed’ the most people to read (and they did)
I think the one I ‘pushed’ people to read the most might be any of the three 5 stars ones as well as The Incandescent by Emily Tesh. The one I seem to have been most successful in pushing, though, is probably Wintering by Katherine May, although I did successfully get someone to read And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer too.
5. Best series you started in 2025? Best sequel? Series ender?
My favourite new start to a series is probably The Second Death of Locke by V L Bovalino, but it’s not a ‘true’ series but more of a ‘set in the same world standalones’ type of series, so if I have to pick a more ‘true’ series it would probably be The Inheritance by Ilona Andrews – I need the sequel badly.
My favourite sequel was Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky, book 2 in The Final Architecture series – and book 3 was a strong contender for my favourite series finale as well. I’m going to give that to 불편한 편의점 2 though! The first book in this duology was recently translated into English as The Second Chance Convenience Store, so I recommend everyone to check it out!
6. Favourite new-to-you author
There were a couple great ones that I’m really looking forward to more books by, but if we’re going based on ratings then it would have to be Tan Twan Eng (The Garden of Evening Mists).
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/outside your comfort zone
❄️ Wintering by Katherine May – I don’t read a lot of self-help/memoir type books but I really enjoyed this one!
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year
Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky – I read both this and the final book in the trilogy in two days and sacrificed quite a bit of sleep for it.
9. Book you read in 2025 that you would be most likely to re-read next year
Realistically, The Inheritance by Ilona Andrews. Since I seem to reread Ilona Andrews books every year at the moment, this seems like a pretty safe bet! At the very least I will definitely reread an Ilona Andrews book of some description.
10. Favourite cover
I had too many choices for this one to pick, so just enjoy this pretty collage instead!
11. Most memorable character
I guess I should probably go with Kate Daniels from Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series – since I read 12 books with her as the main character, there would be a bit of an issue if she weren’t the most memorable character (in terms of actually remembering things about her).
Apart from that I might go with the main character from Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, Janina. I’m also really intrigued by the second POV character from The Inheritance, Elias, even though we don’t get a ton of him in book one, and I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing him again in book 2.
12. Most beautifully written book
I picked a couple for this one!
13. Most thought-provoking/life-changing book
Maybe To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers. I’m not sure about life-changing, but definitely very thought-provoking.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited until 2025 to read
Magic Triumphs by Ilona Andrews. This is the final book in the Kate Daniels series and it came out in 2018, at which point I was definitely already caught up and I just… never picked it up?
15. Favourite passage/quote
I don’t have a lot of the books that I read with me to look through, so I’ve picked one from a review that I wrote that I really like. I’m not sure if it’s my absolute favourite, but definitely one thereof:
Don’t believe the lie of individual trees, each a monument to its own self-made success. A forest is an interdependent community. Resources are shared, and life in isolation is a death sentence. – Becky Chambers, To Be Taught If Fortunate
You can read the full review here.
16. Shortest and longest book you read
If we include individual short stories, then the shortest book I read is Kong Yiji by Lu Xun (5 pages). If not, then it would be We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (52 pages).
The longest book is Eve: How The Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon (624 pages). But I did technically start it in 2024, so the longest book I both started and finished in 2025 was Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky at 608 pages.
18. OTP of the year
I have two favourites from the books I’ve read this year: Nevada and Connor from the Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews (which was a reread – photo source), and Kier and Grey from The Second Death of Locke by V L Bovalino.
19. Favourite non-romantic relationship
There are a couple possibilities. The grandfather-grandson relationship in And Every Morning Gets Longer and Longer is sweet and heartbreaking, the friendships in The Final Architecture series by Adrian Tchaikovsky are everything you could want from a solid space opera-type novel. Ava and Bear (the dog) – and also Ava and Jovo (the lee – a fantastical fox-like creature) from The Inheritance by Ilona Andrews are great, as is the relationship between the ML’s friends and family and the FL in the Kingmaker Chronicles series by Amanda Bouchet which I reread this year.
20. Favourite book from an author you’ve read previously
To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
21. Best book that you read solely based on a recommendation/peer pressure/bookstagram etc
I don’t think any of the books that I read solely based on a recommendation etc were particularly good, but in terms of ones that came to me highly recommended that I then did my own research on and thought I would like – probably The Second Death of Locke. I first saw it mentioned in a Cari Can Read video and it had been on my anticipated releases list ever since.
23. Best 2025 debut
Also The Second Death of Locke by V L Bovalino. This *technically* isn’t a debut novel since the author publishes YA books under another name, but since this is the first she is publishing under this name and I have no other choices to pick from, I’m going with it! Also it was a great book, so the more I can shout it out the better 🙂
24. Best worldbuilding/most vivid setting
There are a couple of books I could pick for this one, but I decided to go for Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao since it’s a book where I think the setting/atmosphere was the main selling point for me, as opposed to the plot or characters (not that they were bad, just that the atmosphere was the star of the show, so to speak).
25. Book that put a smile on your face/was the most fun to read
I’m really not sure about this one. Probably an Ilona Andrews book? They’re definitely very fun and sometimes funny!
26. Book that made you cry/nearly cry
And Every Day the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman. I cried for the whole hour I was listening to it. A lot. In public, on a bus….
27. Hidden Gem
I have quite a few I could pick for this one, for example: The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng, Ghost Music by An Yu, Bird Talk and Other Stories by Xu Xu. Although some of these are considered classics, I see very few people talking about them, and they were all truly excellent.
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul
Also And Every Day the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman.
29. Most unique book
Maybe 戀家的人 [Homebodies] by 井田千秋 Chiaka Ida? I’m not sure if it’s super unique in Japan (I was reading the Chinese translation, but it’s originally a Japanese book), but it’s a sort of graphic novel without much of a story just showing snapshots of the daily lives of a couple different people. Very beautifully illustrated and very cozy vibes though.
30. Made you the most mad
Maybe At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop… and not really in a good way either. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley also made me really quite angry but in a more frustrated way (see review here). I didn’t enjoy reading either book.
In a more ‘good’ way, probably either Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green or Eve by Cat Bohannon.
Your Blogging/Bookish Life
1. New favourite book blog/Bookstagram/BookTube channel
Since I just started this blog in July, there are a lot of new favourite book blogs that I’ve found and I definitely can’t pick just one! If I had to pick a couple that made me feel really welcomed or who I’ve been particularly enjoying, then (and I’m definitely forgetting some) I’d like to shout out:
- Emma @WordsAndPeace
- Dem @First Page/Late Spring
- Gem @Gem’s Book Talk
- Emma @Pages of Emma
2. Favourite post you wrote this year
![[Review] To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers](https://keirasbookmark.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/screenshot-2025-08-28-at-14.29.34.png?w=1200&h=900&crop=1)
How can I pick just one of my babies! I have so many favourites despite only starting this blog in July! Of course my first ever post on this blog holds a special place in my heart, but I also really like some of the posts I made introducing some of my favourite authors and recommending one of the best books I’ve read this year.
I also actually really enjoyed doing my post on reading Chinese philosophy, so I think I need to do some more writing-heavy longer-form posts or something like that next year!
3. Favourite bookish photo you took
I went on holiday in South Korea for about three weeks earlier this year (it was so cool, I did some volunteering and stuff too to allow me to be out there for longer and avoid the start of typhoon season in Taiwan :). And of course, holidays mean lots of book shops! One of my favourite bookshops that I discovered was this one called 책과생활 or “Book and Living” in Gwangju! If you’re looking to add it the English name is “Book Gwa Living” on Naver Maps. Small, but so cute!
4. Best bookish event that you participated in
I can’t think of any IRL ones (maybe something to think about for 2026?), so if I have to pick from online events then I really enjoyed participating in Nonfiction November this year!
5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life
Maybe starting this new blog? I really kind of missed sharing my reading with more than just the couple people in my life who are willing to listen to me rant!
6. Most challenging thing about blogging/your reading life this year
Trying to balance blogging/reading with all the other many, many things that are going on in my life! I moved house twice this year, including internationally, started my master’s degree and a new job and generally have just been super, super busy!
7. Most popular post this year on your blog (by comments/views)
Best performing posts of the year
![[Review] Arcana Academy by Elise Kova](https://keirasbookmark.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/screenshot-2025-08-13-at-06.56.54.png?w=800&h=600&crop=1)
I think the most popular post on my blog this year was my post on Korean women in translation. It was a Top Ten Tuesday post, which do tend to perform relatively well, but it also got the most shout outs by other bloggers of any of my posts this year (thank you to Dini @Dini Panda Reads and Annemieke @A Dance With Books). I was really happy about this post doing well as it’s one of my passions (my undergraduate was in Korean studies)!
If we exclude TTT posts, the post that did best was My Year in Nonfiction, followed by my review of Arcana Academy by Elise Kova.
8. Post you wish got a little more love
One of the top ten posts I did that didn’t get a huge amount of engagement was one on books about premodern East Asian women’s history, which is the topic of my master’s dissertation so of course its a topic that’s near and dear to my heart.
It deserved more…
However, it it’s also super niche so I can understand why this post didn’t do hugely well and I feel like I could do the topic more justice in a different post in the future – maybe something like I did for the Chinese philosophy post which worked much more nicely! So it deserved more from me, not just more views. It’s definitely a topic I will try and revisit though!
9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)
I’m not sure when I discovered it, probably before this year, but since this is my first year doing the survey I’m going to include it anyway! That is: Bookshop.org!
(Or in my case, since I live in the UK, Bookshop.uk)!
It’s an online bookshop not owned by Amazon where you can either pick a specific secondhand bookshop to support with your purchases or if you don’t, the overall profit raised will be split between all the secondhand bookshops on the site. I think it’s a great way for people who need the convenience of online shopping to still support independent bookshops! I try and include affiliate links to Bookshop.uk when I can throughout my blog (as opposed to Amazon, for example), but I’m hoping to use it more in the new year perhaps to make listicles for some of my posts or something!
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of the year?
I definitely did! Check out my recent post reflecting on my 2025 reading goals and stats!
Looking Ahead
1. One book you didn’t get to in 2025 but will be your number 1 priority in 2026
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow was my priority release to read for quarter 4 in 2025 but I never got around to it, so it shall be first priority for January! I’ve heard so many good things about it and everyone seems to love it, so I really hope I enjoy it just as much!
2. Book you are most anticipating for 2026 (non-debut)
I’m really excited for This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews. I always really enjoy their books, and this is one of their first to be traditionally published in a long while, so I’m excited a) to have a physical copy and b) that hopefully there will be more people reading and talking about this book since traditional publications tend to have a wider audience.
3. 2026 debut you are most anticipating
Apart from sequels to series I’ve started or authors I particularly love, I don’t really investigate new releases more than 4-5 months out since a lot of books will have dates changed/new books will be announced etc. Thus, I can’t say about the entirety of 2026, but for the first couple of months, my most anticipated debut is probably All We Have Is Time by Amy Tordoff.
4. Series ending/sequel you are most anticipating in 2026
I’m probably most looking forward to The Thief and the Traitor Bride by V L Bovalino, companion sequel to The Second Death of Locke, but it’s not a direct sequel and we don’t have a cover yet! I’m also kind of hoping the second Breach Wars book (sequel to The Inheritance by Ilona Andrews) or the sixth Innkeeper Chronicles book (also by Ilona Andrews) might come out in 2026, but there have been no dates announced for either of those yet.
Among those books that we have more firm knowledge of, I’d have to pick Ballad of the Falling Dragons by Sarah A Parker, although it’s been so long since book 1 came out that I’m a little worried about both my memory and my motivation!
5. One thing you hope to accomplish or do in your reading/blogging life in 2026
I’d really like to have some kind of consistent posting schedule for 2026!
6. A 2026 release you’ve already read and recommend to everyone
Since I don’t get a lot of ARCs, this one is a bit limited – but! I do read books in their original language/other languages which sometimes means I get to read them before they’re released in English! I haven’t finished The Legend of Lady Byeoksa by Esther Park yet, but I’m part way through and hope it is a) good and b) gets popular so that we can get more Korean fantasy romance translated into English!
How was your reading and blogging year in 2025? If you’ve done a end of the year/new year post, please share it below so that I can check it out!
Keira x
Keira's Bookmark 
