My debut novel is TEN YEARS OLD this month!!!!! Woodwalker led me into the world of publishing in May 2016. This is a little cover redraw to celebrate.
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Make me a boat of elm and I’ll row myself to sea /
Soon I’d miss the anchor that never let me leave /
Thinking on my darling, lonesome at the helm /
Oh, make me a boat of elm, a boat of elm...
my half of an art trade with the amazing @emilybeemartin — here's Colm, from her trilogy Creatures of Light! ...from longstanding tradition, we know full well that I will always be found drawing the most melancholic boatsguy you have on hand.
I finally finished reading John Adams. That's...about it.
Total books: 2 | New reads: 1 | 2025 TBR completed: 1 (0 DNF) / 9/18 total | Total books read this year: 63
November | January 2026
#1 - Woodwalker by Emily B. Martin - 4/5 stars (reread, audio)
No quote here because this was a no-thoughts-head-empty-on-cold-medicine read.
I first read this book two years ago, said I'd get to the rest of the trilogy shortly, and then didn't. Now I'm actually ready for the rest of the series, but I needed a refresher. And also this one is available on audio through my library and I needed something to listen to.
Knowing Martin takes inspiration from the Queen's Thief books is fun, and this proved doubly enjoyable on a reread given that I now know the twist. I also connected better to Mae on this read; she was really elusive the first time. Still not a personal fan of Mona but as a person she's fine.
And the worldbuilding is delightful. I haven't looked into it but it seems like Martin based the setting on the Southern US?
#2 - John Adams by David McCullough - 5/5 stars ('25 TBR, Top 5 Anticipated Read)
"I am an ordinary man," he had once written. "The times alone have destined me to fame."
John Adams has been my favorite Founding Father since I was a kid--alongside his incredible wife Abigail. There was a brief moment in my preteens when Patrick Henry tried to take first place, but that didn't last long. I'm glad I finally got to this biography, even if it did take me way too long to complete. It was a pleasure getting to know John Adams better, in all of his complexity--and his enduring love of the Roman Empire.
McCullough is a master at organizing a biographical narrative. Despite the size (and despite McCullough's possible bias toward Adams, not that I disagree with him) the story flowed so well and it was a treat getting to see America and all of its early figures through John Adams's eyes. This is not just a biography of John Adams, but of America in its infancy. For all that it took me three months to read, I didn't want it to end.
Probably the most enlightening aspect for me was the reminder that people really never change, and history really does just repeat itself over and over. Yeah, we Americans have always Been Like This.
Side note: Choosing a single quote for this review was very difficult (and thus I didn't settle for one). Y'all should see the tab situation.
"Griefs upon griefs! Disappointments upon disappointments. What then? This is a gay, merry world notwithstanding."
More like this: "Lion of Liberty" by Harlow Giles Unger
Also please enjoy these excerpts from the reviews:
DNF:
Ashes to Fire by Emily B. Martin - The first issue here is that Mona is the POV character, and.... Well, I don't like Mona. I like the conceit of Mona--young monarch who has carried the burden of her country from childhood, who is haunted by the judgment of her predecessor and thus holds herself to an impossible standard--but in practice, she just irritates me.
The larger issue is that this book centers on politics, but what happens on page is not diplomacy so much as a high school cat fight from the Disney Channel. If you're under threat of occupation, you are not bad-mouthing your would-be enemy's envoy. You are not resorting to sarcasm and eye-rolling. And you definitely aren't engaging in negotiations without a single advisor or minister on hand to support you with their expertise. The goal is to prevent war, folks, not incite it with your attitude.
I skimmed to the end of the chapter I was on and it looks like something important happens, but I simply couldn't be bothered to care.
Currently Reading:
Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett - It's going so well 👍
2025 Reading Wrap-Up!
I had few goals for 2025, but boy are they rather vague upon review.
My 2025 Reading Goals:
Read (and savor) some of the longer books on my shelves: I'll be honest, I'm not positive which books I had in mind when I made this goal. Likely Kristin Lavransdatter was on this list, but I ended up breaking it into three books according to its original publication. The largest book I read this year was Middlemarch (from the library), followed by John Adams (from my shelves). I didn't get to The Brothers Karamazov or any other truly large books.
Explore some new styles (like poetry and essays) and subjects (more nonfic!): I read poetry! Not a lot, but some, and I'm slowly learning what my tastes are. I also read some classic plays. I didn't get to as many nonfics as I wanted, and no essay collections, but overall my reading felt pretty broad this year, including a few translated works.
Mark off some classics that have been on my list for ages: I mean, kind of? Perhaps not some of the classics I've been staring at for a while, but I read a few.
Dig into the backlists of some of my favorite authors: I read all of Madeleine L'Engle's Austins series; read more of Rosemary Sutcliff's Dolphin Ring cycle; and tried and failed to read much of either Fredrik Backman or Terry Pratchett.
General Stats:
Total Books Read: 63 (92 last year)
Rereads: 19* (28 last year)
New Authors: 14.5** (31 last year)
Audiobooks: 26 (54 last year)
Nonfiction: 7 (15 last year)
DNF: 9 (47 last year = my current record)
Alphabet Book Titles: 26 out of 26 for the third year in a row!
Pages Read***: 9,775 (13,059 last year)
Hours Listened***: 270 (501 last year)
*10 of these were the City Between series. Again. I did not reread Murderbot this year, nor did I finish my Queen's Thief reread that I started last year. I'm also partway through rereads of several other series.
** I read a co-authored book where only one of the authors was new to me.
***Estimate, including whatever I read of each book I DNF'd.
Most-Read Authors of 2025*:
Madeleine L'Engle - all five of the Austin Family books
Marie Brennan - all but the first of her Lady Trent series
Beth Brower - three Emma M. Lion volumes and The Q
Terry Pratchett - three more Discworld books
*for new-to-me books only, not rereads.
2025 TBR:
Read: 9
DNF: 0
Unread: 8
In-Progress: 1
My Top Five Anticipated 2025 Reads:
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky - unread
John Adams by David McCullough - 5/5 stars
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - unread
Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer - 5/5 stars
The Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter, Book 1) by Sigrid Undset - 4/5 stars
Top Five New Reads of 2025:
in alphabetical order. please do not ask me to decide on my #1 book.
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan
John Adams by David McCullough
Meet the Austins by Madeleine L'Engle
The Q by Beth Brower
2026 Reading Plans:
My one and only goal this year is to read a good chunk of the books I own and have never read, because somehow* I own many books I have yet to read.
Beyond that: I'll read what I feel like reading. I have a short list** of books I would like to get to soon-ish, some of them carried over from my 2025 list, but that's it. I'm ok with another slow reading year in 2026; I've got other stuff I need to turn some of my attention to.
*"Somehow" being the two really good used bookstores in close proximity to my home. Where I routinely purchase books for less than $5 each.
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