2025 Alphabet Reading Challenges

In early 2025, someone posted about an “alphabet reading challenge” – that is, read one book with a title that starts with “A”, “B,” etc. Of course, I can’t do anything by halves, so I also decided to try to read one book by an author whose last name starts with “A,” “B,” etc. But I didn’t make it an intentional challenge – meaning I didn’t track throughout the year to see which letters I was still missing. In fact, I’d forgotten about the project during the second half of the year and only completed filling in the challenge pages this week.

I managed to come pretty close to success even so!

 

THE BOOK TITLE CHALLENGE

As you may be able to see in the photo, I managed 21 out of 25 letters. I did not read any books whose titles started with K, Q, R, X or Z. Yes, I was inconsistent with whether I counted words like “A” and “The” as the letter the title starts with.

The books I listed, for those who maybe can’t view the photos because of visual issues, were:

Amplitudes (edited by Lee Mandelo)

Black Fire Concerto (by Mike Allen)

Calladita No More (by Hady Mendez)

Don’t Sleep With the Dead (by Nghi Vo)

Everything Is Tuberculosis (by John Green)

Front Seat Passenger, The (by Pascal Garnier)

Girl in the Creek (by Wendy N. Wagner)

I Love The Bones of You (by Christopher Eccleston)

Jaws (by Peter Benchley)

Lies I Tell Myself: Stories (by Jeffrey Ricker)

My Time to Stand (by Gypsy Rose Blanchard)

Natalie Wood: The Complete Biography (by Susan Finstad)

Our Share of Night (by Mariana Enriquez)

Prelude to Mayhem (by Edward C. Aubrey)

Sterling City (by Stephen Graham Jones)

The Art Thief (by Michael Finker)

Upon the Midnight Queer (by ‘Nathan Burgoine)

Vagabond (by Tim Curry)

Wild Spaces (by S.L. Coney)

Yours Cruelly, Elvira (by Cassandra Peterson)

 

THE AUTHOR CHALLENGE

As you may be able to see in the photo, I managed 22 authors, missing only the letters I, Q, U, and X. Again, for those who may not be able to view the list in the photo, I read books by:

Allen, Mike (Black Fire Concerto and Trail of Shadows)

Beard, Jim (Sgt. Janus and The House That Loved Death and Jack of All Comics!)

Coney, S.L. (Wild Spaces)

Drake, Jerry C. (Hazel Was A Good Girl)

Enriquez, Mariana (Our Share of Night)

Fry, Stephen (Odyssey)

Grant, Mira (Overgrowth)

Hawke, Lydia (Web of Obsidian)

Jones, Stephen Graham (Sterling City and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter)

Kushner, Ellen (The Golden Dreidel)

Landay, William (Defending Jacob)

Miller, Lulu (Why Fish Don’t Exist)

Neill, Sam (Did I Ever Tell You This?)

Obama, Barack (Dreams From My Father)

Perrin, Kristin (How To Solve Your Own Murder and How To Seal Your Own Fate)

Ricker, Jeffrey (Lies I Tell Myself: Stories)

Sullivan, Archer (The Witch’s Orchard)

Trejo, Danny (Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood)

Vo, Nghi (Don’t Sleep With The Dead)

Winkler, Henry (Being Henry)

Yang, Gene Luen, and others (New Super-Man Volume 2)

Zelazny, Roger (A Night in the Lonesome October)

 

I’m doing this again in 2026 just for the heck of it. Again, I am not planning to put any pressure on myself.

Top Ten(ish) Tuesday: 10 Favorite Books of 2025

I read 123 books in 2025. Disregarding titles that were re-reads from previous years, here are my Top Ten(ish) favorites, in no particular order, with links to reviews if I posted one.

 

How To Fake a Haunting by Christa Carmen. I have loved all of Christa Carmen’s “New England Gothic/Spooky” novels to date, so it is probably no surprise that this in on my list of favorites. A woman in an emotionally abusive relationship decides to gaslight her husband into thinking their house is haunted … but what if it really is? Keeps you guessing throughout as to how supernatural it really is and provides more than a few good scares and creepy moments along the way. I interviewed Christa earlier this year about her writing process and this book in particular.

Christmas and Other Horrors, edited by Ellen Datlow. The darkest, shortest days of winter in general, and Christmas in particular, is traditionally a time for ghost stories. Editor par excellence Ellen Datlow once again assembles a great group of writers to spin horror stories around Christmas, Hannukah, Solstice, Yule, and even sometimes your average winter day. Favorites included Mary Robinette Kowal’s “To Speak in Silence,” Benjamin Percy’s “The Ones He Takes,” “Return to Bear Creek Lodge” by Tananarive Due, “Gravé of Small Birds” by Kaaron Warren, and M. Rickert’s “The Lord of Misrule,” but there isn’t a clunker in the group.

The Breathtaker Collection by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel. I didn’t read a lot of graphic novels in 2025, but even if I had this one would stand out. A woman who survives by draining the energy from the men who loves her is pursued by a government super-hero for her perceived crimes. There are so many twists in this one I can’t say much more without giving them away. I interviewed Mark Wheatley earlier this year about his creative process.

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez, translated into English by Megan McDowell. In a narrative that spans decades and changes not just character point of view but narrative style multiple times, Enriquez melds almost every sub-genre of horror (cosmic, cult, supernatural, slasher, body, medical, and haunted houses) with generational trauma and the real-world horrors of living under Argentine dictatorship. This is not an easy read, but I stand by my assessment that it is an important, vital, one. I read it for the Stanza Books (Beacon NY) Dark Fiction Book Club and reviewed the book back in February.

Born A Crime by Trevor Noah. Noah’s memoir of growing up under Apartheid as a mixed-race child moved me deeply. Highly recommended. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author, which just heightened the emotion.

The Front Seat Passenger by Pascal Garnier, translated into English by Jane Aitken. I tripped across this French noir novella at McNally Jackson Books in Rockefeller Center, apparently the only one of Garnier’s books currently in print in English translation. At first it didn’t feel particularly noir, but man does it get there. And when it does, the twists are fast and furious. I loved this one so much I immediately sought out everything of Garnier’s I could find in translation and look forward to doing a deep dive at some point soon.

Saint Death’s Herald by C.S.E. Cooney is a complex fantasy featuring Miscellaneous “Lanie” Stones, a young necromancer who gets ill at any signs of violence, which makes her job – hunting down the man possessed by the ghost of her evil grandfather – must more difficult. This is the second book about Lanie (the first was Saint Death’s Daughter) and the third volume is coming in 2027. The world-building is wonderful, the characters quirky and relatable, the footnotes hysterical. I reviewed the book earlier this year.

Cheddar Luck Next Time by Beth Cato. The mystery I loved so much, I read it then listened to it on audio, then moderated a Sparta Books (Sparta NJ) book club meeting about it. Set in a small town on the central California coast and featuring an autistic lead character who gets embroiled in a murder investigation while dealing with the recent death of her grandmother, Cheddar Luck is hopefully the start of a new series that is part cozy mystery, part thriller. I reviewed the book earlier this year, and interviewed author Beth Cato as well.

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel. The second non-fiction book on the list. Read this one for the Mystery Book Club at Stanza Books, and I’m so glad we did. The book is a fascinating character study of the most successful art thief in European history – a thief who operated not in the 18th or 19th century, when such thefts would have been easier, but the 1990s!

Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity, edited by Lee Mandelo. The second short story anthology on the list, almost every story in this volume blew me away with honest yet still hopefully looks at the future and in particular how LGBTQIA+ people exist in that future. I particularly liked Sarah Gailey’s “Moonwife,” Bendi Barrett’s “Six Days,” “The They Whom We Remember” by Sunny Moraine, and “Sugar, Shadows” by Aysha U. Farah, all of which I talked about in my review back in July.

Sgt. Janus and the House That Loved Death by Jim Beard is the fourth book in his occult detective series starring the mysterious Sgt. Roman Janus. This may or may not be the last book in the series, as it establishes quite a change in the status quo for the main character and his compatriots. The previous three books, which I reviewed in a Series Saturday post in 2020, were purely epistolary in style; this book breaks that mold a bit to great effect. I really need to update the series post to include this latest book.

Girl in the Creek by Wendy N. Wagner. A fantastic ecological horror novel set in the Pacific Northwest that manages to feel cosmic and claustrophobic at the same time and equally effectively. That’s quite a feat in my opinion. Wendy N. Wagner’s work always excites and intrigues me, and this one was no exception. I reviewed this one back in July.

Dogs Don’t Break Hearts by ‘Nathan Burgoine. Burgoine is another of my “go-to” auto-buy authors. This is his second “HiLo” book (High Interest, Low Readability, aimed at getting kids who struggle with reading to read). Teenager Beck volunteers at a dog rescue to get over being gaslit by who he thought was his boyfriend, and through the dogs finds both healing and a new love interest.

Black Hole Heart and Other Stories by K.A. Teryna, translated into English by Alex Shvartsman. The only single-author short story collection on this list, for which I still need to write a review. Teryna’s speculative fiction (mostly science fiction, but not all) is character-based while still exploring larger ideas of how technology improves and disrupts our lives and our greater need for community. I particularly enjoyed “Lajos and His Bees,” “Madame Felides Elopes,” “The Chartreuse Sky,” “Songs of the Snow Whale,” and the title story.

 

I have to also include Jack of All Comics! A Fan Conversation About the King of Comics, edited by Jim Beard. I had an essay in the book, discussing Jack Kirby’s work on DC’s 1970s Sandman title, so this feels a little like cheating or shameless self-promotion … but the other essays in the book are all great. Each one focuses on a different series Kirby wrote and/or drew for Marvel and DC through the 60s and 70s – from the well-known (Fantastic Four, Thor, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen) to the more obscure (his issues of DC’s First Issue Special, the aforementioned Sandman run and his work on DC’s war comic The Losers).

 

Top Ten(ish) is a feature where I identify my personal top ten (or so) favorites in a given category. The key words there are “my” and “favorites.” My favorites may not be your favorites, and I’m not claiming that my favorites are necessarily the best in a given category. Everyone’s tastes are different, and “best” is subjective. I welcome polite discussion on these lists.

SUNDAY SHORTS: 2025 RoundUp, Part 1

Here’s a list of all the short stories I read in the first half of 2025. I decided to break them up by month and then within each month by where they were published, with links where appropriate and available.

 

JANUARY

Lightspeed Magazine #176, edited by John Joseph Adams

“Tell Them A Story To Teach Them Kindness” by B. Pladek

“The Exquisite Pull of Relentless Desire” by Will McMahon

“Dyson Spheres of the Vaba Cluster” by Filip Hajdar Drnovsek Zorko

“After the God Has Moved On” by Kate Elliott

“A Heap of Petrified Gods” by Adelehin Ijasan

“Bone and Marrow Woven Into Song” by Neon Yang

“I Eat the Sky For Us” by Vijayalaxmi Samal

“Chickenfoot Soup” by Marika Bailey

Uncanny #62 edited by Lynne Thomas and Michael Damien Thomas

“Kaiju Agonistes” by Scott Lynch

“Six People to Revise You” by J.R. Dawson

Janie's Got A Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Aerosmith ed. by Michael Bracken

“Sight For Sore Eyes” by John C. Bruening

Pulp Reality #5 edited by Charles F. Millhouse and Mary Ann Millhouse

“No Quarter” by Jim Beard

Nightmare #148 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

“The Morning Room” by Katharine Tyndall

“They Bought a House” by Osahon Ize-Iyamu

“Karabasan” by Leyla Hamedi

Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson edited by Jesse J. Holland

“Everyone's Hero” by Maurice Broaddus

“Exclusive Content” by Sheree Renee Thomas

The Dark #116 edited by Sean Wallace

“Four Questions with Something Like God” by Carlie St. George

“In the Blue Room” by Orrin Grey

“Lost You Again” by Ian Rogers

“Coffin Dancing” by Chris Kuriata

Do Not Go Quietly edited by Jason Sizemore & Leslie Connor

“Kill The Darlings (Silicone Sisters Remix)” by E. Catherine Tobler

Strange Locations edited by Marissa Van Uden

“See the Empress of Yesteryear!” by Violet Marr

“Echoes of Toyland on the Harmonic Coast” by Daisy Lyle

“The Ephemeral Conservatory of Dr. Carmen Sol Echeverria” by Silvathcus Riddle

“A Plea to Our Readers” by Steve Neal

“Those Who Stand Beneath Sagrada” by Akis Linardos

“For the Pilgrims of Mary Magdalena” by Salena Casha

“Late Exhibition” by Guilherme Vieira

“The Theatre Meridian” by Nicholas Jay

“Heroica” by Andrew Kao

“If Nothing, The Cloud Remembers” by Mwenya S. Chikwa

“The People's Republic of You” by Gordon Brown

You Glow In the Dark (single author collection)

“The Cave” by Liliana Colanzi (trans. by Chris Andrews)

“Atomito” by Liliana Colanzi (trans. by Chris Andrews)

 

FEBRUARY

Lightspeed Magazine #177, edited by John Joseph Adams

“It Holds Her in the Palm of One Hand” by Lowry Poletti

“Books to Take At the End of the World” by Carolyn Ives Gilman

“My Girlfriend is a Nebula” by David DeGraff

“An Omodest Proposal” by Andrew Dana Hudson

“Standardized Test” by Seoung Kim

“Some to Cradle, Some to Eat” by Eugenia Triantafyllou

“What We Don't Know About Angels” by Kristina Ten

You Glow In the Dark (single author collection)

“The Debt” by Liliana Colanzi (trans. by Chris Andrews)

“Chaco” by Liliana Colanzi (trans. by Chris Andrews)

“The Greenest Eyes” by Liliana Colanzi (trans. by Chris Andrews)

“The Narrow Way” by Liliana Colanzi (trans. by Chris Andrews)

“You Glow in the Dark” by Liliana Colanzi (trans. by Chris Andrews)

Dark Corners (Amazon short story collection, editor unknown)

“The Sleep Tight Motel” by Lisa Unger

Strange Locations edited by Marissa Van Uden

“The Urban Explorer: Site 1337” by Sam W. Pisciotta

“Wiki.StrangePlaces/TheLeaningSlabGallery” by Sarena Ulibarri

“Summer's Crimson Shadow” by Jonathan Wood

“A Review of the Myrkvi Black Sand Beach Tours” by Dale Rappineau

“Visitors' Guide: Personal Hygiene on Jones Atoll” by Kay Vaindal

“Fecal-Oral Tours Presents: Anusha's Bed and Breakfast” by Nina Miller

Nightmare #149 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

“God of the Black Moon” by Dan Stintzi

Clarkesworld #220 edited by Neil Clarke

“When There Are Two of You: A Documentary” by Zun Yu Tan

Beneath Ceaseless Skies #424 edited by Scott H. Andrews

“Late Autumn on the Pilgrim's High Road” by Samuel Jensen

“The Garden Must Thrive” by Anaea Lay

The Deadlands Winter 2025 edited by E. Catherine Tobler

“Extreme Sports Club for Octogenarians” by Kate Lechler

Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2025 edited by Robert Greenberger

“57 Seconds” by Christopher Priest

“Doc Dresden and the Lost Hollow” by Bobby Nash

“The Collar” by Charles Ardai

“She-Devil of Paris” by Win Scott Eckert

“Stories You Tell When You Get to Hell” by Paul Kupperberg

“Goldmark's Universe” by Elliot S! Maggin

“The Game of Wons and Toos” by Michael Jan Friedman

“The Thing in the Crate” by Jeffrey J. Mariotte

“The Bonds of Friendship” by Aaron Rosenberg

“The Tale of the Never Be” by Dan Abnett

“My Crush” by William F. Wu

“Gnat” by Russ Colchamiro

“Zayne Stormrunner and the Prince of Saturn” by Mary Fan

“ESPD” by Hildy Silverman

“Grey” by Liz Braswell

 

MARCH

Lightspeed Magazine #178, edited by John Joseph Adams

“Dekar Druid and the Infinite Library” by Cadwell Turnbull

“Those Who Seek to Embrace the Sun” by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe

“Message in a Babel” by Adam-Troy Castro

“Instructions for Good Boys on the Interplanetary Expedition” by Rachael K. Jones

“Pure of Heart” by Jake Kerr

“Memories of Temperance” by Anya Ow

“The Shift” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

“The Lexicon of Lethe” by Sunwoo Jeong

Seanan McGuire’s Patreon

“Chide the Waves” by Seanan McGuire

Uncanny #63 edited by Lynne Thomas and Michael Damien Thomas

“10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days” by Samantha Mills

“Butterfly Pavilion” by G. Willow Wilson

“Red, Scuttle When the Ships Come Down” by Wen-yi Lee

Clarkesworld #222 edited by Neil Clarke

“From Enceladus, with Love” by Ryan Cole

Strange Horizons February 2025 ed. by Joyce Chng, Dante Luiz, Hebe Stanton, Kathryn Weaver and Aigner Loren Wilson

“Ticket po mamser” by Caroline Hung

Nightmare #150 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

“sharp house” by Samir Sirk Morato

Strange Locations edited by Marissa Van Uden

“1 Star, March 15th 2022” by M. Lopes da Silva

“Prometheus Live” by Sasha Brown

“The Food Truck at the Corner of the Street Where I Live That Everybody Sys is Overrated But Eat at Anyway” by Sek Han Foo

“A Disappointing Experience After 'Unintentionally' Consuming a Bioluminescent Mushroom in the Glow Wood” by Rachel Ashcraft

“A Travel Advisory For Your Past” by Ende Mac

“Welcome to Resurrection Lodge” by Chris Clemens

“Exploring the Tangents of Indus: The Mad Omnivorous Ruins of Lakir” by Amayah Perveen

“Ghost Tours of Eaden Marsh” by Marie Croke

“Ephemera” by Derrick Boden

“The-Town-Where-All-the-Residents-Are-Saints” by Avra Margariti

“Greendam” by Kurt Fawver

“Welcome Home - An Art Tour of Your New Apartment” by Ashley K. Frantik

“A Walk Down Emberley Road” by Amanda Van Rhyn

The Dark #118 edited by Sean Wallace

“Malo Malo Malo Malo” by Louis Inglis Hall

The Deadlands Winter 2025 edited by E. Catherine Tobler

“His Love's Ashes On His Tongue” by Monte Lin

Beneath Ceaseless Skies #427 edited by Scott H. Andrews

“Bind the Herbs to Bring the Shift” by R.Z. Held

Installment Immortality (InCryptid novel)

“Mourner's Waltz” by Seanan McGuire

Shivers Collection (Amazon Originals), editor unknown

“Jackknife” by Joe Hill

Kaleidotrope Winter 2025 edited by Fred Coppersmith

“The Diamond Mountain” by Helen De Cruz

“Once, Now, Always” by Ire Coburn

Apex Magazine #148 edited by Jason Sizemore

“One By One” by Lindz McLeod

 

APRIL

Lightspeed Magazine #179, edited by John Joseph Adams

“Does Harlan Lattner Dream of Infected Sheep” by Sarah Langan

“Meditations From the Event Horizon” by Deborah L. Davitt

“Talk: "The Siren Song of the Otherworld Goggles”” by Domenica Phettleplace

“To Navigate the Night” by Rich Larson

“The Price of Miracles” by Nigel Faustino

“The Potter, His Daughter, and the Boy with Tribal Marks On His Face” by Oyedotun Damilola Muess

“The Other River” by John Lasser

Stand-Alone E-Book

“The Bee Wife” by Francesca Forrest

Kaleidotrope Winter 2025 edited by Fred Coppersmith

“Hidden Meaning” by Lindsey Duncan

 

MAY

Lightspeed Magazine #180, edited by John Joseph Adams

“Rthing It Up: An Oral History” by Gene Doucette

“The Temporal Displacement of the Graves” by Russel Nichols

“Through the Machine” by P.A. Cornell

“The Meaning We Seek” by Nancy Kress

“Shadows on the Pavement” by R.P. Sand

“The Price of Manners” by Martin Cahill

“Ninnagan Says Remember” by Jonathan Olfert

Nightmare #152 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

“Beak” by Ian Muneshwar

Amplitudes: Tales of Queer and Trans Futurity edited by Lee Mandelo

“The Republic of Ecstatic Consent” by Sam J. Miller

“Trans World Takeover” by Nat X Ray

“The Orgasm Doula” by Colin Dean

“The Shabbos Bride” by Esther Alter

“MoonWife” by Sarah Gailey

“Forever Won't End Like This” by Dominique Dickey

“They Will Give Us a Home” by Wen-yi Lee

“There Used to Be Peace” by Margaret Killjoy

“Fettle & Sunder” by Ramez Yoakeim

“Six Days” by Bendi Barrett

The Bloody Chamber (single-author collection)

“The Bloody Chamber” by Angela Carter

“The Courtship of Mr. Lyon” by Angela Carter

“The Tiger's Bride” by Angela Carter

“Puss-in-Boots” by Angela Carter

“The Snow Child” by Angela Carter

 

JUNE

Lightspeed Magazine #181, edited by John Joseph Adams

“The Twenty-One Second God” by Peter Watts

“Multi-Spatial Apartment Complex Malfunction Results in Body Horror” by Reyes Ramirez

“See Now the Misfortune of the Thinking Tenax” by Lowry Poletti

“All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt” by Marissa Lingen

“Eyes Grown Thick on the World” by Will McMahon

“When the Faerie King Toured the Human Realm” by Vanessa Fogg

“A Week at the Raven Feather Salon” by Carrie Vaughn

“My Mother, the Supervillain” by Benjamin Blattberg

Amplitudes: Tales of Queer and Trans Futurity edited by Lee Mandelo

“The They Whom We Remember” by Sunny Moraine

“When the Devil Comes From Babylon” by Maya Deane

“Copper Boys” by Jamie McGhee

“A Few Degrees” by Ash Huang

“Where The World Goes Sharp and Quiet” by Ewen Ma

“Circular Universe” by Ta-wei Chi (trans. Ariel Chu)

“The Garden of Collective Memory” by Neon Yang

“Sugar, Shadows” by Aysha U. Farah

“A Step Into Emptiness” by Aiki Mira (trans. by CD Covington)

“pocket futures in the present past” by Katharine Duckett

“Bang Bang” by Meg Elison

Apex Magazine Bonus Issue #1 edited by Jason Sizemore

“The Swap” by Lavie Tidhar

Nightmare #153 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

“Here I Go Again” by Lindz McLeod

“Eleven Songs for Another Lover” by V.H. Chen

“Edgar Addison, the Author of Devorer (1862 - 1933)” by Ben Peek

Strange Horizons May 2025 ed. by Joyce Chng, Dante Luiz, Hebe Stanton, Kathryn Weaver and Aigner Loren Wilson

“Everything We Lost in the Apocalypse” by Mar Vincent

Kaleidotrope Spring 2025 edited by Fred Coppersmith

“Mabinogion” by Katie McIvor

Seanan McGuire’s Patreon

“What's Fair to Offer in Exchange” by Seanan McGuire

The Dark #121 edited by Sean Wallace

“The Death of Abigail Goudy” by Neil Williamson

Amazon Original Stories (editor unknown)

“Abscond” by Abraham Verghese

Clarkesworld #225 edited by Neil Clarke

“Emily of Emerald Starship” by Ng Yi-Sheng

Sunday Morning Transport edited by Julian Yap and Fran C. Wilde

“Welcome 2 the Freedom Galaxy” by Maurice Broaddus

 

And there’s the first half of 2025! Tune in next week for the list of stories I read in July through December of 2025.

2025 Reading Roundup: By The Numbers

Time for my annual round-up of what I read and watched in 2025. Because I dropped the ball on doing monthly Round-Up reports, I’m going to run a few more detailed posts over the next week or two listing everything I’ve read or watched. Today’s post is mostly a “by the numbers” thing.

 

 

 

BOOKS

I did manage to read 123 books in 2025: 13 hardcovers, 49 softcover/paperbacks, 35 e-books, and 23 audiobooks. 19 of those titles were rereads, the rest books I read for the first time in 2025.

 

Monthly distribution: 7 in January; 9 in February; 9 in March; 6 in April; 5 in May; 11 in June; 9 in July; 10 in August; 13 in September; 5 in October; 13 in November; and 26 in December.

 

I read work from approximately 110 different creators (authors and anthology editors mostly; I did not track graphic novels editorial staff, colorists, and letterers this year).

 

17 of these books were for book clubs at Sparta Books in Sparta NJ and Stanza Books in Beacon NY. 12 of them were Advanced Review Copies (either print or from NetGalley). 3 of them were for my “Reread My Favorites” project (hopefully debuting on the blog soon.)

 

The shortest book I read was 41 pages long (Jeffrey Ricker’s short story collection Lies I Tell Myself: Stories), the longest 609 (Suzanne Finstad’s Natalie Wood: The Complete Biography).

 

Genre Breakdown:

·       Adventure: 1

·       Biography: 1

·       Crime: 1

·       Pop culture analysis: 2

·       Fantasy: 20

·       Historical fiction: 2

·       History: 2

·       Horror: 28

·       Memoirs: 25

·       Mimetic/current day fiction: 3

·       Mixed genre short story collections: 2

·       Mystery: 12

·       Mythology: 1

·       Romance: 7

·       Science: 3

·       Science Fiction: 11

·       Superhero: 2

·       Thriller: 1

·       True Crime: 1

 

These were my own rough classifications, and in hindsight I’m not sure why I broke crime fiction and mysteries into separate categories. I was surprised to realize I once again read a lot more horror than I thought. I didn’t read any playscripts this year for the first time in a while. And also, for the second year in a row, not a single poetry collection. I am not a big poetry reader, but I usually like to at least try to read a collection or two during National Poetry Month.

 

 

STORIES

I did manage to read 366 short stories in 2025 by 243 different authors (this includes translators).

 

The monthly distribution: 35 in January; 38 in February; 36 in March; 8 in April; 24 in May; 31 in June; 17 in July; 16 in August; 39 in September; 14 in October; 12 in November, and 96 in December. (Clearly, I was way behind my 1-per-day pace by the time I hit December, but a few anthologies and single-author collections helped me catch up.)

 

These stories came from 23 anthologies and single-author collections, 15 different magazines, 1 author Patreon site, 1 author website, 1 stand-alone e-book independently published, 3 printed chapbooks, and 2 novels (as back-matter). Last year, I calculated exactly how many stories came from each format, but as I’m running behind on this post, I’m going to skip that this year. In previous years I’ve also counted how many different editors were involved, but I neglected to accurately track that this year as well.

 

Genre breakdown:

·       Adventure: 3

·       Comedy: 3

·       Crime: 3

·       Fantasy: 102

·       Horror: 134

·       Mimetic/modern-day: 4

·       Mystery: 9

·       Science Fiction: 104

·       Super-Heroes: 4

 

Again, I’m surprised that I read a bit more horror than I thought I did. And I’m still not sure why I separated crime, mystery, and thrillers into distinct subcategories.

 

 

MOVIES

I didn’t even come close on my “watch 52 movies” challenge. I watched 3 whole movies in 2025.

I had challenged myself to watch more of the several hundred DVDs I own (split between movies and television series). 1 of the 3 movies watched was on DVD. The other two were in actual movie theaters.

 

Genre breakdown:

·       Horror (kind of): 1 (The Life of Chuck, a movie that is hard to categorize)

·       Super-Heroes: 2 (Superman and Fantastic Four: First Steps)

 

These 3 movies were the work of 3 different directors.

 

 

TELEVISION

I only managed to watch 63 distinct episodes across 9 series, so nowhere near the “1 episode for every day” goal.

 

Genre breakdown:

·       Comedy: 2 series

·       Science Fiction: 2 series

·       Super-Heroes: 1 series

·       Horror: 1 series

·       Crime: 1 series

·       Variety/Comedy Specials: 2

 

 

LIVE THEATER

I saw 11 live theatrical productions in 2025, so I missed my “average one per month” goal by 1! I attended these shows in 11 different theaters, 9 of which were in New York City. One was in the Los Angeles area, and 1 was a local high school production. 8 were musicals, 3 were dramas. One was a new production of a show I’ve seen live before (Guys and Dolls), and two were shows I’ve seen movie or filmed stage versions of (Moulin Rouge and Pirates of Penzance).

 

 

OTHER LIVE EVENTS

I also tracked what other live events I went to. I attended:

·       one college graduation (my goddaughter’s, from the University of Pittsburgh),

·       1 baseball game (our local minor league team, The Sussex Miners)

·       1 work convention

·       2 book conventions/festivals (PulpFest; Milford Readers and Writers)

·       1 antiquarian book fair (in NYC)

·       1 annual birthday bookstore crawl (in NYC)

·       4 In-Person Author Events (1 at Kew and Willow in NYC, 3 at Stanza Books in Beacon)

·       6 online author events (mostly on C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez’s Twitch channel)

·       16 book club meetings (6 at Sparta Books in Sparta NJ, 10 at Stanza Books in Beacon NY)

 

 

PODCASTS

I only really started listening to podcasts late this year (other than about a decade ago when I used to listen to the New Yorker’s short story podcast, back when I still had an iPod Nano). So of course I decided to track my listening: 54 individual episodes across 5 different podcasts. All of them were comic book-related with the exception of 2 episodes:

·       The Borgo Pass podcast (Universal Monsters): 2 episodes

·       World on Fire: the All-Star Squadron podcast: 3 episodes

·       The Boxing Glove Arrow podcast (Green Arrow): 5 episodes

·       JSA Presents (various Justice Society related shows): 16 episodes

·       The History of Comic Books in 500 Issues: 24 episodes

 

 

COMIC BOOKS

I also decided to track how many individual comic books (single monthly issues, or “floppies”) I read in 2025. The total was 467. 30 of those were rereads, the other 437 were new (and mostly newly published). These issues were stretched across approximately 112 different titles from 10 different publishers.

 

The monthly distribution: 32 in January; 55 in February; 15 in March; 34 in April; 45 in May; 42 in June; 35 in July; 29 in August; 31 in September; 66 in October; 29 in November, and 54 in December.

 

The genre breakdown:

·       Comedy: 2

·       Fantasy: 25

·       Horror: 44

·       Mystery: 7

·       Sports: 2

·       Science Fiction: 2

·       War: 2

·       Super-Heroes: 383

 

 

Summary of Challenges:

366 Short Stories Challenge: 366 of 365 read.

Goodreads Challenge: 123 of 120 read.

Movie Challenge: 3 of 52 watched.

Television Challenge: 63 of 365 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: 11 of 12 shows attended.

2026 Reading Challenges!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here’s hoping for a healthy book-and-story-filled 2026.

I always set myself more than one reading/viewing challenge per year. Some goals carry over from year to year, and some are new. Some are broad and some are themed. And in many cases, books read will help me meet more than one challenge. In 2024 I also started making some formal movies, television, and live theatre viewing challenges.

On the reading side of things, in 2025, I hit my overall book and short story goals but on the viewing side of things, I only got close to my goal for live theater, and majorly dropped the ball on my television and movie viewing goals. Instead of one large annual wrap-up post, I’m going to make a series of shorter posts: one for overall numbers (probably tomorrow), one for books, two for short stories (the first of which will go up on Sunday January 4), one for comic books, one for live theater and other live events (Thursday, January 8), and one for television/movies.

Once again, this year, I’m sticking mostly to the basic challenges:

 

365 SHORT STORIES CHALLENGE

Every year, I challenge myself to read one short story per day. Some years I keep the pace well, and some years I fall behind and then scramble to catch up (and some years, I catch up and fall behind again, and some years I blow past the goal handily). I’m defining “short story” as anything from flash fiction to novella-length. I am going to once again make an effort to review one or two stories every Sunday in my “Sunday Shorts” feature.

 

GOODREADS CHALLENGE

Goodreads allows members to set a challenge. In previous years, I’ve set goals ranging from 125 to 150 books. For 2025, I’m setting a goal of 120 to start with (10 books per month), and we’ll see what happens.

 

MOVIE CHALLENGE

I own a lot of DVDs. (I know, you’re shocked. Shocked!) Every year I say, “This is the year I’m going to make an effort to watch them!” And then, somehow, I … don’t. One year, I did a list of 12 and two alternates as I used to do for the ToBeRead Challenge, called it the ToBeWatched Challenge … and failed it miserably. In 2024, I got about halfway to the goal of 52 movies (an average of one per week). In 2025, not so much. So this year, I’m setting myself the same challenge. This includes movies on DVD, streaming services, and any trips to an actual movie theater (which have become rare for me).

 

TELEVISION CHALLENGE

Did I mention I own a lot of DVDs? And that I’m subscribed to a lot of streaming services? I did? Well, you won’t be shocked to know that it’s not all about the movies. So I’m setting myself a “TV Series Watch” challenge akin to my Short Story Challenge: an average of one full episode of a television series (regardless of length) for each day in the year, which this year means 365 episodes.

 

LIVE THEATRE CHALLENGE

I did pretty well with this one in 2025, even though I didn’t manage to post reviews of everything. So I’m continuing the goal for 2026: I want to see at least 1 live theatrical performance per month. Most of them will be in New York City, but I’ll count any play, musical, opera, ballet, or staged reading I see anywhere, regardless of whether it’s fully professional productions, college, community theatre, whatever. (Music concerts, author signings, and conferences/conventions do not count towards this but will be tracked separately.)

 

COMIC BOOK CHALLENGE

I also own a lot of comic books. I went “cold turkey” on buying new comics about 20 years ago for budget and space reasons. But then in 2018 Seanan McGuire and Saladin Ahmed, two authors whose work I love, started writing various comics for Marvel and thought brought me back into buying monthly comics. And I keep buying more. 2025 was the first year I actually tracked every individual comic book issue (“floppies,” as some people call them) I read, so I’m going to make this an official Challenge for 2026: as with the short stories and the television episodes, I plan to read at least one comic book (new or back issue) for every day of the year … so again, 365 total.

 

ALPHABET CHALLENGE

I saw at the beginning of 2025 several book bloggers posting about various alphabet challenges: one book title for each letter of the alphabet, one author for each letter of the alphabet. I made a good run at both in 2025 without necessarily making reading decisions based on either, so I think I’m going to do them again in 2026.

 NOVELLA NOVEMBER

I’ve made NovellaNovember (or, as another book blogger on Bluesky coined it, Novellavember) a thing for the past few years. My goal is to promote and discuss novellas and short novels (and even novelettes) throughout the month, including publisher, author and editor interviews. I say every year I’m going to shoot for a novella day, but I think I’ll make that a novella every two days for 2026.

OTHER UNOFFICIAL CHALLENGES

There are a few ongoing (in some cases, sort of life-long, or at least second-half-of-my-life long) challenges that I don’t think I’ve ever written about here. For instance, I’m well on my way to having read everything Bram Stoker ever wrote. Here are those challenges, and I’m going to do my best to create dedicated posts early in the year showing what I’ve already read/watched for each challenge and then update as I go along. Again, these are multi-year challenges:

·       The Complete Bram Stoker Read-Through

·       The Complete Seanan McGuire Read-Through

·       The Complete Silvia Moreno-Garcia Read-Through

·       The Complete Philip Jose Farmer Read-Through

·       The Complete Edgar Rice Burroughs Read-Through

·       The Complete Maurice Broaddus Read-Through

  • The Complete Perry Rhodan Read-Through

·       The Complete Dark Shadows Rewatch

·       The Complete Doctor Who Rewatch

·       The Complete Star Trek Rewatch

·       The Complete Planet of the Apes Rewatch

·       The Complete Brother Cadfael Read-Through and Rewatch

·       The Complete A.A. Fair (Cool and Lam series) Read-Through

·       The Complete Marvel Comics 1970s Novels Reread

·       The Complete Hard Case Crime Read-Through

·       The Complete Radium Age of Science Fiction Read-Through

·       The Complete American Mystery Classics Read-Through

·       The Complete Doc Savage Read-Through

·       The Complete Three Investigators Read-Through

·       The Complete Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Girl From U.N.C.L.E. Read-Through and Rewatch

·       The Complete All-Star Squadron Reread

·       The Complete The Invaders (Marvel Comics) Reread

·       The Complete Starman (2000’s DC) Reread

·       The Complete Tomb of Dracula Reread

·       The Complete Micronauts and ROM Reread

·       The Complete Shakespeare Watch (either Live theater or filmed)

·       Read A Book or Story From Every Nation in the World

·       Read a Book From Every State and US Territory

·       Read a Book from Every Canadian Province/Territory

 

And one of these days I would really like to finish creating a list of every book I remember reading in my life.

 

 

ACCOUNTABILITY

So how am I going to hold myself accountable? I’m planning to bring back my monthly Reading RoundUps. (I know, I know … I said this in the 2025 Challenge post and failed miserably at actually doing it. Second time’s the charm?) I’m not going to rename/rebrand because I like the alliterative title (which falls well in line with Series Saturday, Sunday Shorts, and a few other blog series I’m hoping to make regular features again in 2026), but those posts will also track the Viewing challenges.

 

 

I would love to hear what YOUR Reading, Writing, or Viewing Challenges are for 2024. Let me know in the comments!

TOP TENISH: INDEPENDENT BOOK STORES

Tomorrow, Saturday April 26th, is Independent Bookstore Day. So I thought I’d talk about some of my favorite Indy Bookstores, moving geographically from those closest to me to those further away. (I’ll be visiting all of the first 6 listed, probably in listed order.)

 

Sparta Books (Sparta, NJ) Sparta Books has been my “home ground” bookstore for quite a few years now. Long-time staff members Sue and Linda and owners Jen and Brad are always welcoming and happy to special order anything they don’t have in stock as long as the title is currently in print. The store hosts a monthly Lego night for kids, a number of author events, and a book club that meets the Third Thursday of every month (yes, I’m a member. The group usually reads stuff outside of my normal genres, which challenges me to get “outside my comfort zone” a little bit). Located at 29 Center St, Sparta, NJ 07871.

 

Pyramid Comics (Sparta, NJ) Pyramid is my “home ground” comics shop. Owner Pete is friendly and knowledgeable. The store is well stocked with current/recent comics and a lot of graphic novels, along with some collectibles. Located at 24 Main St, Sparta, NJ 07871.

 

Black Dog Books (Lafayette, NJ) I haven’t been into Black Dog since their change in ownership, so I don’t know what their current stock (new vs. used) and genre distribution is, but I look forward to visiting for the first time today. Located at 103 NJ-15 South, Lafayette Township, NJ 07848

 

Broad Street Books (Branchville, NJ) This is my “home ground” used bookshop. Su and Ethan run a wonderful community-oriented store with stock that is usually heavy on non-fiction but has plenty of fiction, graphic novels, and kid’s books. They also do a lot to support local authors. And their building is a former bank! Located at 1 Mill St, Branchville, NJ 07826

 

Stanza Books (Beacon, NY) Stanza has become my “home away from home-ground” bookstore, located a short walk from where my sister lives. A cozy, welcoming space, owners Andi and Mark run multiple monthly book clubs (mystery, science fiction, fantasy, horror, literary, “feel good,” and “books in comparison” all get their own nights) plus tons of book launches and author conversations. For my money, they are THE genre bookstore in the Dutchess/Putnam County NY area. Located at 508 Main St, Beacon, NY 12508

 

Binnacle Books (Beacon, NY) Binnacle is a lovely, tightly packed, used bookstore on Main Street in Beacon. Every visit, I find some surprise I didn’t realize I was looking for. The staff are always helpful and willing to chat about books. Located at 321 Main St, Beacon, NY 12508.

 

The Mysterious Bookshop (New York City, NY) Otto Penzler’s Mysterious Bookshop has been a staple in Lower Manhattan for decades. The staff is always fun to talk to, so incredibly knowledgeable about the mystery and crime genres. In particular, this is a great place to find long out-of-print volumes and Sherlockiana, along with their American Mystery Classics and Bibliomysteries lines (from The Mysterious Press). AMC reprints classics of the genre by American authors like Cornell Woolrich, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Dorothy L. Hughes, and Ellery Queen. The Bibliomysteries line is a series of novelettes about crimes and mysteries that are book centric. Located at 58 Warren St, New York, NY 10007.

 

The Drama Bookshop (New York City, NY) Co-owned by the great Lin-Manuel Miranda, TDB is a great spot to find all things theatre-related (not just Broadway): play scripts, memoirs, musical librettos, books on theatre history, acting and stagecraft, as well as memorabilia (coffee mugs, key chains, etc.). Located at 266 W 39th St, New York, NY 10018.

 

Sweet Pickle Books (New York City, NY) I mean, what’s not to love about a store that sells used books AND jars of pickles? It’s a very narrow, heavily stocked store, so I’ll admit that I sometimes feel a little claustrophobic in there, but I love the selection of both books and pickles. Certain days of the week, if you donate 5 books you get a free jar of pickles in return! Located at

 

Three Lives & Company (New York City, NY) Another wonderful independent shop in Manhattan. No used books, but well-stocked with warm, friendly staff. Located at 154 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014, not far from the landmark Stonewall Inn.

 

Shakespeare & Company (New York City, NY). There are stores with this name all over the world (most notably in France). Until recently, this was a small chain around Manhattan but now there’s only one location still open, with a small café at the front and a broad selection of titles in all genres. Located at 2020 Broadway, New York, NY 10023, near Lincoln Center.

 

The Eloquent Page (St. Albans, VT) I travel once a year to St. Albans for work and pay at least once visit to this used bookstore every time I’m there. I can highly recommend their Arthurian and gaming sections in particular, but there’s bound to be something for everyone here. Located at 70 N Main St, St Albans City, VT 05478.

 

Studio Moonfall (Kenosha, WI) Paid my first visit to this shop earlier this month and will gladly go back whenever I’m in the Kenosha area. They have a ton of stuff from various small press genre publishers, a small selection of used books, and a nice selection of original coloring books created by the store’s owner. Located at 5031 7th Ave, Kenosha, WI 53140.

 

The Inner Child (Kenosha, WI) Another comic and collectibles store I visited for the first time recently after years of hearing about it. The sheer amount of comic book related stuff in this store is overwhelming, in the best possible way. All manner of comics and magazine back issues, along with action figures, posters, DVDs, video games, statues … It was well worth the visit (for my collection, if not for my checking account) and I’m eager to return.

 

Downtown Books (Milwaukee, WI) Another store I’ve only visited once, a year ago, but this multi-room used bookstore will always have my heart because they were willing to dig through a packed warehouse to help me rebuild my paperback Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators set, a fond childhood memory. Hoping to get back there soon. Located at 624 N Broadway, Milwaukee, WI 53202.

 

The Iliad Bookshop (North Hollywood, CA) Another store I get to perhaps once a year but always find a small pile of books to acquire. Like Downtown Books, the store is a bit of a maze, but a fun maze. With cats. And a wonderful façade that book lovers will appreciate. My second favorite place to find Arthuriana. Located at 5400 Cahuenga Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601.

Also, a couple of small chains (meaning only a few stores, usually in the same geographic region):

McNally-Jackson Books (5 locations in New York City) I mostly visit the Rockefeller Center location but have been to several of the others. One of the things I love about these stores is the layout: entire sections dedicated to fiction from various parts of the world. On the second floor of the Rockefeller Center location, there are shelving units (rather than one shelf) not just for fiction from America, Canada, and the UK, but for countries across Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and Pacifica. Of course, they also have the usual genre sections, a ton of non-fiction, and a fun pens-and-journals area.

 

The Open Book (4 locations in Los Angeles area) I’ve only been to the location in Canyon Country/Santa Clarita of this used bookstore chain, but I love it. They have great SF and fantasy sections, an ever-interesting stock of vintage paperbacks and hardcovers, pulp magazines, DVDs, CDs, and vinyl. Last visit, I found some vintage hardcovers of Mission: Impossible, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and The Adventures of Spin & Marty.

So tell me about your favorite Indie Bookstores and where they are. I travel a lot for work, so I’m always happy to find new stores to visit!