This morning I share some reading stats and my best books of 2025.
Links mentioned:
2025 Goals (episode)
Best Books of 2024 (episode)
Re-reading Watership Down (episode)
Books mentioned:
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Watership Down: The Graphic Novel adapted by James Sturm and Joe Sutphin
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander
The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
Knowing God by J.I. Packer
More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell
Victoria the Queen by Julia Baird
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower (series)
Episode 039 | Reader's Log: Read a Giant Russian Classic with Me | The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
19 December 2025
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This morning I'm taking you along with me as I read through The Brothers Karamazov for the first time.
Links mentioned:
How to Read The Brothers Karamazov (video)
The Grand Inquisitor Analysis (video)
Books mentioned:
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
This morning I wrap up all the books I read in October.
Links mentioned:
Fall TBR (episode)
Books mentioned:
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop
Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham
Lost Man's Lane by Scott Carson
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
This morning I reflect on libraries and how I want to use my library.
Books mentioned:
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Endling by Maria Reva
Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn
Life, and Death, and Giants by Ron Rindo
The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman
Ghost Story by Peter Straub
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
This morning I go through the End of the Year Book Tag and talk about my plans to wrap up my 2025 reading.
Links mentioned:
Midyear Book Freak Out Tag (episode)
Books Unbound (podcast)
My Fall TBR (episode)
My 2025 Reading Goals (episode)
Books mentioned:
The Skull by Jon Klassen
The Stand by Stephen King
The Will of the Many by James Islington
The Strength of the Few by James Islington
Boy's Life by Robert McCammon
The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante
IT by Stephen King
This morning I wrap up all the books I read in September.
Links mentioned:
Fall TBR (episode)
Books mentioned:
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 6 by Beth Brower
This morning I swap book recommendations with my sister, Emma.
Links mentioned:
Interview with Chauncea (episode)
August wrap up (episode)
Follow Emma (Instagram)
Books mentioned:
Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor (series)
Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger (series)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (series)
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower (series)
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter
Show notes
This morning I wrap up all the books I read in August.
Links mentioned:
A Gentleman in Moscow review (blog post)
Books mentioned:
Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
The Skull by Jon Klassen
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
This morning I talk about all the books I want to read this fall.
Links mentioned:
2025 Goals (episode)
Books mentioned:
The Stand by Stephen King
Boy's Life by Robert McCammon
The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
This morning I break down why I love biographies and what makes a good one.
Books mentioned:
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Being Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn
The Watchmaker's Daughter by Larry Loftis
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas
Victoria the Queen by Julia Baird
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie
The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings by Philip and Carol Zaleski
Becoming Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn
This morning I share some recommendations based on the song August by Taylor Swift.
Books mentioned:
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor
A Room with a View by E.M. Forrester
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Atonement by Ian McEwan
This morning I wrap up all the books I read in July.
Books mentioned:
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 4 by Beth Brower
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 5 by Beth Brower
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 3 by Beth Brower
The Will of the Many by James Islington
Three Wild Dogs and the Truth by Markus Zusak
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Being Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn
Becoming Elisabeth Elliot Ellen Vaughn
The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny
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