My 2025 Book Reflections and 2026 Book Resolutions
I’ve read a lot this year. As I’m writing this post, I’m at 150 books, with a few more still to go and several TBRs left to complete. I’ve surpassed my 2024 total of 100 books in every sense — across genres, book length, and level of complexity. This year has truly been everything I hoped it would be when I first started my blog and decided to read my entire personality this year.
With that in mind, it felt only right to write a post reflecting on how books and reading have shaped my year, while also looking ahead and setting some reading resolutions for 2026 — goals that capture what I hope to achieve next.
How Reading Showed Up in 2025
Reading is everything to me. I turn to it when I’m sad, happy, tired, eager to learn, or simply in need of rest. It is, and always has been, my go to. Reading, especially when combined with my blog, has been profoundly transformative, in a way I wasn’t expecting. Blogging pushed me to read more deeply, because I couldn’t meaningfully discuss the books I was reviewing without truly understanding them. I stopped reading passively and started absorbing more of what was on the page. Especially when I knew a book would require that of me.
When I first started blogging, I worried that I wouldn’t have enough time to read, or that it might spoil the joy of the experience. That hasn’t been the case at all. I’ve been able to commit to both with surprising ease, and neither has suffered because of the other. In fact, the blog has become a powerful source of accountability, particularly as my posts are always closely tied to what I’m currently reading and how I’m reading.
Still, so much about the way I read has changed this year.
Discovering audiobooks
I decided to commit fully to audiobooks this year. If you remember a post I did earlier this year comparing reading formats where I discussed the issues I had with them. At the start of 2025, I could only manage graphic audio productions — the full cinematic experience was the only thing that held my attention. Traditional audiobooks felt impossible. I was constantly zoning out, rewinding, slowing the speed, pausing because I had no idea what I’d just listened to. This meant it would take twice as long as reading the book would take me.
Fast forward to now, and every other book I read is an audiobook. I listen at 2.5x speed and can follow along while doing a dozen other things. It’s completely changed how I use my time and, honestly, how much I enjoy reading.
Audiobooks have become my entry point for heavier stories or genres I’m less familiar with — they help me get over that initial hump far more easily. I also use them for books I’m unsure about or suspect might bore me. If I’m reading and I’m not hooked immediately, I switch off my Kindle. I don’t have time to push through, but audiobooks make it easier to overcome and slug through a book if I need to. I have far less DNFs due to audiobooks.
That said, many of my favourites this year were audiobooks too. Homegoing, Girl, Woman, Other, Carrie Soto Is Back, Atmosphere and more were incredible listening experiences. If the book is good it’s good and the issues I had with my internal voice were solved as I learned a gifted narrator can elevate a story entirely.
Unfortunately, the opposite still rings true for me. Some narrators simply pull me straight out of the book. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know I complain often about Adjoa Andoh narrating Nigerian books. Now disclaimer, I love Adjoa Andoh, a stunning woman who is undeniably talented. However…as a Nigerian listener, her pronunciations and intonations — particularly with Yoruba characters — are consistently off. It’s frustrating, especially given how many Nigerian stories exist and how many narrators I know are out there waiting for their chance.
Rant aside, this year taught me that audiobooks aren’t a compromise. They’re a powerful reading format in their own right — one that’s reshaped my habits, my patience, and my relationship with stories.
What Reading Taught Me This Year
As you know my genre of the year was Historical Fiction which happened not by choice but I simply kept falling into books that explored the past and I’m honestly so happy about that. Some of my favourite books of the year were historical fiction and I don’t think that was by accident. I learnt so much about history, learnt more about the history I knew, and felt pain and kinship about the history that was close to home.
Challenges and Realisations
I’ve had a few reading challenges this year, this month in fact. As I’m writing this, I haven’t been reading very much at all, and it’s taking me ages to get through everything — largely because these books are boring me, to be honest. It’s not the first time either. March comes to mind, when the slump was almost impressive, and September too, when I was simply too busy to focus on reading.
What I’ve realised, though, is that this is perfectly fine. Every slow month has been followed by another where I couldn’t stop reading. Those periods always balance things out — I fly through books. Reading, for me, has never been linear. Slumps and surges are part of the rhythm, and accepting that has made the experience far more enjoyable.
I don’t think I’ll ever go back to the phase where i wasnt reading at all ever again but I also don’t expect every year to go like this one. It’s why I always aim low with my yearly reading challenges and if I meet it great, if i dont as long as I keep reading and keep prioritising this hobby in my life then great!
2026 Reading Intentions
I achieved so much of what I set out to do this year — from reading more intentionally to widening my horizons, discovering new genres, and finding even more books that I genuinely love.
Next year, I’d really like to try my hand at fantasy. Not exclusively romantic fantasy either; I no longer need a book to centre romance for me to enjoy it or feel invested. I want to explore worlds and ideas — especially fantasy rooted in cultural identities, stories that take me across the globe rather than keeping me within cultures I’m already familiar with.
I also plan to continue exploring literary fiction. I’ve been enjoying award-winning books and want to set myself a few bigger reading challenges, like working through Booker Prize shortlists and seeing what the major literary awards are really about. That said, I still read primarily for pleasure. Not every book needs to be a profound, eye-opening experience, but I’m curious about stories that aren’t driven by plot or genre and what they offer as a reading experience.
Another goal is to read the classics I somehow missed when I was younger. A friend read Pride and Prejudice this year and described it as a horrendous experience — which, somehow, hasn’t put me off at all. I’m also keen to revisit classics I loved when I was younger, like The Great Gatsby. There’s so much to explore, and I want my reading life to feel as well-rounded and multi-faceted as possible.
That said, I’m not forcing anything. I’m — and always will be — a mood reader. This month alone has reminded me that the moment I tell myself I have to read something, the experience becomes a slog, and I almost always end up resenting the book. Reading works best for me when curiosity leads, not obligation.
Turning the Page
As much as I have plans for next year and ensuring that books remain a steady companion, I do want the year to unfold naturally, and I hope it does. I will still be blogging next year and I hope to take my blog to new heights (how I don’t know yet) but I’ll figure it out.
I hope you will all join me in the new year and continue this journey with me!
Signed,
