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Summer 2025 Backlist Reading Check-in and Life Update

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Summer 2025 Backlist Reading Check-in

Summer 2025 Backlist Reading Check-in and Life Update

Summer is always an odd season for my reading life. Since I do most of my reading in the evenings, it never seems to me like summer will change all that much, but somehow, it does. This summer I had the added complication of having surgery early in June. It sounded like the recovery would be pretty quick and easy, but my experience didn’t quite line up with my expectations there, either.

Which mostly meant that I read far fewer books in June than I anticipated. That was okay, though. It was good to slow down. I made up for lost time in July.

I’ve continued my poetry reading project this summer. It hasn’t worked out to be one poem each and every day, but I still average at least that many. I started with an anthology of Black poets that I loved and then moved on to Rupi Kaur, who has been on my list for a while. I also picked up a volume by Andrea Gibson, a poet who passed away during the summer. Their work is incredible.

I also read quite a few graphic novels. When I’m struggling to read, I find that those help get my momentum up. Plus, I find them really enjoyable.

Read on to see the whole list of backlist titles I read this summer.

Summer 2025 Backlist Reading List

This is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets edited by Kwame Alexander

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: A powerful collection of poetry. A few of the contributors were familiar to me from other reading, so it was great to read more of their work, and I loved getting introduced to so many new poets. I’m sure this is a collection I’ll be revisiting in the future.

Published January 30, 2024

The Gender Binary is a Big Lie by Lee Wind

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: This book highlights different cultures who have more than two genders as part of their population, including ancient Romans, classical Jewish culture, and Hawaiian culture. The author profiles famous people from the past who lived outside the gender binary, and also shares a lot of information about intersex people. It’s a great resource for people who feel unsure about how to talk about transgender/nonbinary/intersex people or who have questions and want more information. Super easy to read. Highly enjoyable.

Published August 6, 2024 | My Review to Come

When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: This graphic novel follows two Somali brothers who grow up in a refugee camp in Kenya. It’s a heartbreaking story at times, especially as Omar recalls fleeing from home and missing his parents. But it is also fiercely hopeful, showing the power of education and brotherly love. A National Book Award finalist.

Published April 14, 2020 | My Review to Come

Odder by Katherine Applegate

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: A novel-in-verse imagining of the life of an otter rescued by the Monterey Bay Aquarium research program. Shares the story of their pioneering otter surragocy program. This is a super-quick read, and an uplifting one, despite the tragedies the main character faces.

Published September 20, 2022 | My Review to Come

Mouse and His Dog (A Dogtown Book) by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I read most of Dogtown, but missed a few chapters because my daughter couldn’t wait until our next read-aloud session to continue. We snagged a copy of this one at the library and tore through it in a few days. Mouse was a side character in Dogtown, so it was lovely to see him as the main character here. The story continues the theme of showing life in a dog shelter and the kinds of people and families who might choose to adopt a dog.

Published September 17, 2024 | My Review to Come

Shadow Apprentice by Linda Browne

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: This began as an impulse read for me. I follow the author’s blog, but this was my first time reading a book she’d written. My plan was to read the first page or so and decide whether to continue. I ended up reading the first 25% of the book before looking up. It’s a fast-paced steampunk fantasy novel and the start of a series I’m excited to continue.

Published May 8, 2024 | My Review to Come

Two Tribes by Emily Bowen Cohen

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: This one has been on my reading list since it first came out, only I didn’t realize it was a graphic novel. Mia grapples with understanding her identity as both Jewish and Muscogee. She reconnects with her dad’s family to learn more. A thoughtful story.

Published August 15, 2023 | My Review to Come

Garlic and the Witch (Garlic #2) by Bree Paulsen

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I loved the first book in this series and always intended to read more. It’s such a sweet, cozy story about vegetables that have come alive. This was one my seven-year-old really enjoyed.

Published September 6, 2022 | My Review to Come

Lunar Boy by Jes and Cin Wibowo

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I saw someone online talking about this book as a must-read, so I got a copy from the library. It’s a thoughtful story about a boy who lived alone on the moon before being adopted into a family and moving to a colony on a new planet. It’s a tender and thoughtful graphic novel with gorgeous illustrations.

Published May 14, 2024 | My Review to Come

Blood at the Root by LaDarrion Williams

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: This one has been on my TBR list since it came out. Magic and Black boy joy abound in this tale celebrating HBCUs, family, and community connections.

Published May 7, 2024 | My Review to Come

Lord of the Butterflies by Andrea Gibson

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I hadn’t heard of Andrea Gibson (I’m wildly under-read when it comes to poetry, especially modern poets), but they passed away earlier this year. So many people shared quotes from their poetry, and I loved all of them. I eagerly requested this book from the library and then soaked up the incredible poems. Gibson writes about relationships, mental health, and identity with such insight. If you’re looking for a shorter volume of poetry, I highly recommend this one.

Published November 27, 2018 | My Review to Come

Lion Dancers by Cai Tse

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My Thoughts: I think I saw someone on Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays review this book and added it to my reading list. My littlest is currently super into graphic novels, so this is one we both read this summer. I loved getting to learn about lion dancing and enjoyed the overall story.

Published August 13, 2024 | My Review to Come

Front Desk (Front Desk #1) by Kelly Yang

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: I definitely heard about this book from the bloggers at Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays, but it moved up my list pretty quickly when I read Finally Seen by Kelly Yang. I’m excited to read this whole series.

Published May 29, 2018 | My Review to Come

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: I’m pretty sure I heard about this book from Danielle Hammelef, but it took me a long time to finally read it. The story is dark, as it’s set during the Syrian Revolution and shows the trauma that survivors faced on a daily basis. It’s incredibly moving and a beautiful story despite the darkness.

Published September 13, 2022 | My Review to Come

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What did you read this summer?

What titles were on your summer 2025 backlist reading list? Did you read anything over the summer that you enjoyed? Do you read differently over the summer than in other seasons? Leave a comment and let me know.

2024 Goals Recap: Stats and Updates

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My December plans got swallowed up by holiday celebrations and time spent with visiting family, but I’m back at my laptop and reviewing my reading and blogging progress from last year for this 2024 goals recap.

I started 2024 with ambitious goals and plans to make blogging a little easier and more joyful. As I’m looking back, it’s nice to see the places where I made significant progress. I read more books (261) than my stated goal (200). I even knocked out quite a few backlist titles (73) I’d really wanted to read.

If you’re looking for my favorites of last year, you’ll find them in this post of my top ten favorites from 2024. This post will focus on recapping goals and sharing my reading stats.

Here’s a quick breakdown of some facts and figures from my reading life in 2024. Prepare to geek out over charts with me!

Books Read in 2024 by Age Group

Since I’ve been blogging, the bulk of the books I read in a year are generally young adult books. This year, just over one-third were for a middle-grade audience. The biggest surprise is that I read fifteen books marketed toward adults. Most of those were nonfiction titles, but I think a couple of fiction titles slipped into the mix as well.

Types of Books I Read in 2024

While most of what I read in 2024 were full-length novels, I read a lot more nonfiction than I realized. Years ago, when I started prioritizing reading a little more nonfiction, my goal was to read one nonfiction title per month. This year, I read an average of five per month.

The poetry classification mostly refers to novels in verse, I think. I read one poetry collection. I’m hoping to read more poetry this year.

Frontlist vs. Backlist

Another goal I had in 2024 was to read some titles that had been languishing on my backlist reading list. (Books I wanted to read that came out before 2024.) I joined a couple of challenges and created a couple of reading lists that helped me focus on books I wanted to read. Audiobooks were a huge help here, too. A lot of the audiobooks I listened to were backlist titles. Altogether, I read 187 books published in 2024 and 73 published before that.

Format Breakdown

I was kind of all over the place with the formats of the books I read. A little over half were digital, which tracks since I’m still pretty divided about whether I prefer physical copies or ebooks. I love the ability to frequently flip quickly from one spot to another, like from where you’re reading to a map or character list, that you get in a physical book. But I love the convenience of ebooks. Oh, I finished my book, but I’m all cozy under the covers of my bed and it’s cold out there? No worries. I don’t have to get up, I can just start another ebook!

Goals Recap

Read Harder 2024 Challenge

2024 was my second year participating in Book Riot’s Read Hard(er) challenge. The prompts help me read more inclusively and have led me to books I sincerely enjoyed. I completed 23 out of 24 of the challenge prompts. The only one I missed was about reading a book by an author and then attending an event (in person or online) with them. I signed up for a few virtual author events, but something always prevented me from going. I love that idea, though, so I may try to do some virtual events this year.

Beat the Backlist Challenge

For the second year in a row, I also joined the Beat the Backlist challenge hosted by Austine Decker. I completed 41 out of 52 prompts, which I’m calling a win. I read 73 books published before 2024, so the challenge definitely helped me get to some of the titles that had been on my reading list for a while.

Read the Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books Project

Oof. Okay, so I had planned to write a post during Banned Books Week in September to highlight the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2023 and talk about book banning in general. I didn’t finish reading all the books on the list in time, and frankly, I started to doubt how helpful a post like that would be. Though I still have mixed feelings, I want to continue reading banned books so I’m informed about specific titles. I want to pair that effort with action that helps challenge book bans more directly, so I’m considering connecting those two projects for 2025.

By the end of the year, I managed to read all ten most frequently challenged books. I suspect some of the same titles will appear on the list this year, so maybe that will give me more time to find the right focus for the project this year.

Community Goals

One of the things I hoped to do in 2024 was post more lists and participate in a bookish community in some way. I was inconsistent with my list posts, especially this past fall. That was disappointing, but I’m shaking off the dust of that defeat and ready to try again this year.

I found a group of KidLit bloggers that do monthly virtual meet-ups, and that’s been truly an incredible experience. It’s so much fun to talk to people who read KidLit and want to talk about them, plus understand the ins and outs of running a blog. I’ve had a great time at every event I’ve attended. We’re starting a spin-off quarterly book club, and I’m super excited about that, too.

I’m still struggling to manage my review schedule and book hoard, but I sent several boxes of books to a detention center I heard about via Sentences Book Donations and a few more to a charity collecting books for Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. I feel good about that and will donate more books this year. I’m working on a blog post about places to send books for donation, so keep an eye out for that soon!

Process Goals

Some of my goals for 2024 had to do with my processes of selecting which books to review and managing the number of books that I keep versus give away after reading them. I found mixed success here.

Regarding which books I reviewed, I started noting which books I received that I requested versus books that I did not request. (These usually come from publishers I’ve worked with before.) That helped me prioritize the books I specifically asked to read and review and fit in the unsolicited ones when I had extra time.

I’ve tweaked that process a bit this year, making more small changes that I hope will help me be more organized. I feel pretty good about it.

I also used more of the stats and information in the reading tracker spreadsheet I used again last year. (That’s where the chart info above came from!) I’m happy with that and looking forward to continuing with the spreadsheet in 2025.

What goals did you meet for 2024?

Did you set reading goals for yourself for last year? If so, were you successful in meeting them? Leave a comment and let me know how you did.

If you posted a 2024 goals recap, please leave me a link to your post below!

If We Were Having Coffee: A Fall 2024 Update

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If We Were Having Coffee: A Fall 2024 Update

I first saw Jamie at Perpetual Page Turner do an If We Were Having Coffee post in 2019, which is an idea she got from a life coach. Since then, I’ve been doing them periodically, though it’s been a lot longer since my last one than I thought! We are overdue for an update, friends.

If we were having coffee…

I would tell you that Don’t Let the Forest In is as good as the hype. Do you like creepy, psychological horror books? If you do, you need to read it. If you’ve already read it, we have to talk about it! I’ve been a fan of the author for a long time, but this book truly blew me away. At its core, this is a book about fighting monsters that feel unbeatable and about the stories we tell ourselves. I loved it so much.

If we were having coffee…

I would tell you this last semester has been one of the busiest of my life. Between both kids, I’m on the road almost every day, doing the Taxi Mom thing. It’s a good life, but it’s also a lot for me. I often feel like I’m fitting my life in around the edges of everyone else’s needs. For a while, that’s okay. But it doesn’t seem like a sustainable way for us to live.

I’m making changes. Next semester, the older child’s school schedule will be a lot more friendly, and hopefully, she’ll be able to drive herself at some point during the semester. I’ll be reducing some of the outside tasks that I take on, which will help, too.

If we were having coffee…

I would tell you that I feel like I’ve been really neglecting this space. Reviews are great, but my vision for this blog has always included more than that. I miss writing up lists of book recommendations and putting together chatty posts and updates. Next year, I hope to prioritize doing more of those things.

If we were having coffee…

I would tell you that after a silly number of years blogging… I am making some blogging friends! I’ve been part of a KidLit group that does monthly Zoom calls and have kept in regular contact with a few people from the group. I’ve really enjoyed talking to people familiar with some of the books and authors that I read, so it’s been a LOT of fun.

I didn’t realize how much I wanted to connect with people and talk about books we’ve both read. It’s great to talk about books with my friends and family, who humor me and let me talk about what I’m reading even though they aren’t familiar with the books. But, wow! I have been having such a great time connecting with people who’ve read a book I want to talk about. It’s also really fun to talk to people who have a passion for talking about books via a blog space. It’s a pretty niche thing, so it’s been awesome to talk to people who also enjoy it.

If we were having coffee, what would you want to tell me?

What’s on your mind today that you want to share with me? Have you recently read anything you love? Is there a niche interest in your life you wish you could talk to more people about?

Thanks for catching up with me. I appreciate you. <3