Mid-Year Check-In + Best Books of 2025 I’ve Read So Far
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Time for a mid-year check-in! Are you on track with your writing goals? Now is the time to think about your goals, and recalibrate them if necessary. No shame – you are where you are. Doing the 100 Day Writing Challenge with my fabulous group of writers has been a blessing in this regard. It’s kept me going on those days when I otherwise would have been tempted to avoid writing because I was tired, or faced a difficult scene, or would have preferred to watch tv.
I’ve been working on a few different projects. The first is the baking contest novella. That is going pretty well, and I’m on track to finish by the end of the Challenge. I’ve also been working sporadically on an “Affirmations for Writers” project, which I can turn to on days when I need a break from the other. I also have a new goal of publishing a blog post twice a month - and Substack more often, ideally once a week. So those get interwoven with the fiction. And I’m starting a poetry class in July! I’m finding I like the variety of things I’m working on. It keeps me from getting to bored or bogged down with any one project.
So I’m pretty happy with where I’m at now. What about you? If you’re happy with how things are going, great! Keep at it!
If you’re not quite where you want to be, ask yourself: What do I need right now? Is it to recalibrate your goals so they are more realistic? Is it writerly support to keep you going? Is it a different schedule? A new burst of creative inspiration? A break? Journal about this if you need to. Try to get clear on what your heart is telling you. Then, make a plan that aligns with that guidance.
I’ve also read 32 books so far this year. In looking back I discovered I’ve read much more nonfiction than fiction this year, or at least, I’ve enjoyed the nonfiction more. This is probably because I was reading for a couple of book clubs, and their choices weren’t necessarily ones I would have chosen to read on my own. I have such a long TBR list that I think I’ll back off the book clubs for a while, and work on the list of books I want to read. I’ve realized that life is too short – I’ll never get to the end of my TBR list!
Below are the ones I’ve enjoyed the most so far.
Fiction
The Life Impossible - Matt Haig. A retired math teacher is unexpectedly left a house in Ibiza by a long-lost friend. Having nothing to keep her in England, she moves there without a plan – and finds incredible mystery and wonder as she seeks to figure out what really happened to her friend. A book that defies description in many ways, with themes of interconnectedness, ecology, and a surprising magical element. A story about forgiveness, friendship, and starting over.
The Ferryman - Justin Cronin. Proctor Bennett lives on the island of Prospera, where everything is perfect – because it’s designed that way. He’s a “ferryman,” taking those at the end of their lives to a nearby island where they will be “recycled” into a new life on Prospera. But of course, all is not as it seems. The privileged citizens of Prospera are attended by servants who live on a neighboring island in poverty and squalor – and they’ve had enough. When Proctor ferries his father, he is left with a confounding last message: “The world is not the world.” This leads him to begin to unravel the truth about his world, and the fates of those who live there. Really unexpected – you think you’re getting one story, and then there’s a twist...
The Overstory - Richard Powers. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, this novel is an interconnected series of stories about the power of trees in our lives. It follows characters in different times and places, slowly revealing how their lives intersect through their love of the forest. Impossible to summarize neatly in a paragraph – if you love the natural world, you’ll want to check it out. You’ll never see trees the same way again.
The Measure - Nikki Erlich. One day, every adult on earth wakes to find a box outside their door. It contains a string – and everyone’s strings are of varying lengths. Soon it becomes clear: the strings measure how long you have left to live. The story follows several people and their intertwining stories of how they deal with these circumstances, whether their string is long or short. To say more would give too much away, but this book forces the reader to think about their own invisible “string” and that of loved ones, and how we live our lives.
The Starless Crown - James Rollins. I haven’t been impressed by too many fantasy/sci-fi series recently, but this one has intriguing characters whose stories gradually weave together as they fight to save their world from certain terrible destruction. Characters I cared about, an unpredictable plot – you're trying to figure it all out alongside the characters as you read. It’s sort of a steampunk-dystopian-science-fantasy, which works because of the strong characters and worldbuilding. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Nonfiction
Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer. I know – this is hardly a new book. But it’s taken me this long to actually read it. I really enjoyed the “braiding” narratives she did, interweaving Native American myth and history with ecology and her personal story. The fact that she lives in my area and local ecological issues feature prominently in the book is an added bonus. It’s impossible to summarize neatly, but this is the book that will make you think differently about the power of plants and place in our lives.
The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore - Evan Friss. From Benjamin Franklin’s shop that was a gathering place for the community (and happened to sell the books he printed) to quirky independents that serve particular communities (LGBYQ, African-American), to the rise and fall of the national chains and the indie resurgence to combat online giants, this book takes a look at how the concept of a “bookstore” has evolved over the years. Friss keeps it engaging, focusing on the people – the booksellers and the communities they serve.
I'm Not Your Muse: Uncovering the Overshadowed Brilliance of Women Artists & Visionaries - Lori Zimmer, illus. Maria Krasinski. This is a collection of short vignettes of often-overlooked women in the arts. Poets, painters, sculptors, dancers, designers, architects... and the women who set taste and standards, even when men later overshadowed (or stole) their accomplishments. There were many here I hadn’t heard of, which made fascinating reading.
Loving Picasso: The Private Journals of Fernande Olivier - Fernande Olivier. One of the women featured in I’m Not your Muse, Olivier was an artist’s model and one of Picasso’s first mistresses when he was just starting out as an impoverished artist in Paris. The book consists of journals, letters, and memoir pieces, most of which were published later in her life or posthumously (partly because Picasso objected, although he did give her some financial support). Her writing is full of sharp observations and fascinating accounts of life among the pre-WWI bohemian artistic set in Paris. The journals actually start with her early life (traumatic) and detail her own artistic endeavors.
Heretic: Jesus Christ and the Other Sons of God - Catherine Nixey. This one is controversial, to say the least. Nixey, through thorough research, shows how the Jesus of Nazareth who founded Christianity was one of many wonderworkers and prophets of his time. She uses contemporary accounts to show what educated Romans and others really thought of this and other odd cults – as well as fascinating alternate gospels that are part of non-Western Christian canon. She traces the growth of Christianity as a power, and how one particular form of Christianity came to dominate (and viciously suppress) all other interpretations. Mind-blowing on many levels, this is a work of history, not religion or hagiography.
That’s my list for the first half of the year. You can tell what was intriguing me - questions of life’s meaning, our connection to the natural world, and creativity. Hope you have some new ones to add to your list!
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