2025 Wrapped
I always love to see my Spotify wrapped when it comes out but it also makes me a little irritated that it comes out at the beginning of December! What about all the Nutcracker music that I listen to in the weeks after that!? It’s partly for this reason that I always like to reflect after the year has actually come to a close. I want all the credit I can get, especially when it comes to how many books I read in a year!
2025 was a big year for me - figuring out that my passion was not in agenting but in editing, launching my freelance business, becoming an ARC reader, voluntering for The StoryGraph, and more. Even with a slow start, it has been meaningful to focus on something I am very emphatic about. I hope that people have learned more about why I am passionate about editing and how my knowledge and experience make me a good person to work with.
I joined the Editorial Freelance Association when I launched my business and I’m excited to share that I am going to be the chapter coordinator for the Carolinas chapter this year. I joined a writing group that is going to meet once a month, something I never imagined myself doing! Whenever people ask if I am going to write my own book, I always say I don’t think so. And that may still be true but I am excited to push myself and see what else I can learn through storytelling by creating my own work. I am also looking forward to all the fun virtual book club meetings that my sister and I host. I told them we might have to try having an in person meeting or reading retreat! There are also some other fun things in the works and I hope to share those things sooner rather than later.
As for my 2025 reading, it was quite a journey! My StoryGraph account says that I read 115 books this year but that is only the ones I remembered to record! Romance was my biggest genre and it ranged from historical romance, to romantasy and even some post-apocalyptic romance. In contrast, my second most read genre was WWII themed books. Some were fiction and some non-fiction. I am still in the middle of listening to Kate Quinn’s The Huntress. I’m so impressed so far, the complexity is amazing and well done. I listened to Heather Morris’ The Tattooist Of Auschwitz over the summer and it broke my heart and yet somehow also gave me hope. The world seems to be a mix of these two themes these days - the idealized joy and moments of love (romantic or otherwise) contrasted with the harsh realities of all our society is facing. I am always fascinated looking back by how my reading reflects my state of mind, my hopes and dreams, and what I look for moving forward. I hope that 2026 has a little more positivity and less harsh realities! We’re not off to a great start but it’s only the 8th so thank goodness there’s room for improvement. I am starting off the year with a Percy Jackson and the Olympians series reread since the second season of the show is out on Disney+. I’m loving it!
I have never been one to make major goals at the start of the New Year. It’s never been very successful or beneficial for me. Instead, I try to set intentions for the year. And so for 2026 I’m manifesting joy, hoping for growth in my business, excited to spend time with the people I love, and hopefully pushing myself outside my comfort zone. And I’m planning to read lots of books of course!
