All of Her Things

My goal was to read 1 book per month, 12 books for the year, but I managed to total 18 this year! I have so much in my “To-Read Pile,” and I’m excited for what I have lined up for 2026!

Here are my final reads of 2025, along with ratings and quick reviews.

If you’d like to take a look back at the other books I’ve read this year, here are the links:

Q1 Reads

Q2 Reads

Q3 Reads

October

To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee

6/10

Southern Fiction

Quick Review: I’ve been wanting to reread some of the high school required reading to see how I feel about them as an adult. This story is told from the perspective of a young girl named Scout growing up in 1930s Alabama. Her father is a lawyer and is defending a Black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. There were quite a few themes that affected me in this story, one specifically being that the townspeople of this Alabama town understood that Hitler’s ideas and dictatorship were wrong, but were blind to their own mistreatment of Black Americans. There are quite a few racist and classist ideas thrown around in this story that Scout and her brother are eventually able to weed out. I like Scout and Jem throughout the story, but I think I dislike every single adult for some reason, and I’d need to write a longer review for that

Will I continue to read from this author? I believe Harper Lee has one more novel, and honestly, I looked at the synopsis, and I don’t think I want to read it.

Is this a reread? I’ll probably reread it at some point.

November

Colored Television

Danzy Senna

NA – Did not finish

Fiction / Dark Comedy

Quick Review: I’m surprised at myself because even if I don’t like a book, I can tough it out, but I’m sorry, this was boring. It shouldn’t take 90 pages to introduce a character, basically. I didn’t find myself caring about her at all, and by the time something happened, the main character was lying about something, and it started to feel embarrassing and cringey. I’m sure it gets better, but I could tell she probably has to lie more or something, and I’m not interested in reading that.

The Only One Left

Riley Sager

8/10

Thriller / Mystery

Quick Review: I really liked this book. It’s pretty much a thriller and drama surrounding a rich white family. There were so many twists, probably one too many, until the last page. Each chapter had me wanting to know more. I feel like there may have been a couple of small plot holes with all the twists, but I enjoyed the ride this story took me on.

Will I continue to read from this author? Yes.

Is this a reread? Maybe after a few years, when I forget all the twists.

December

Cursed Daughters

Oyinkan Braithwaite

9/10

Magical Realism

Quick Review: My cousin bought me this book for my birthday, and she did good. I love a good generational story. The author offers three perspectives from a Nigerian family where the women are cursed to never hold on to love. There were some heavy questions that needed answers, and while each chapter gives a small piece of the answer, the author manages to tie everything together nicely at the end

Will I continue reading from this author? Yes! She wrote My Sister, the Serial Killer, which I loved and plan to reread.

Is this a reread? Yes.

The Family Upstairs

Lisa Jewell

8/10

Thriller / Mystery

Quick Review: I enjoyed this story. This is another novel from this author that I couldn’t put down. It is told from three perspectives, which converge at the end. I needed to know everything about the characters and what caused a well-off family to join a cult that ultimately led to their death. If you’re in a reading slump, I think thrillers like this help with that.

Will I continue reading from this author? Yes

Will I continue reading the series? Yes. The Family Remains is next.

Is this a reread? Yes.