Ah! I can’t believe I made it out of my reading slump this year and read 100 books!! I am so proud of myself!! I neglected, however, to update here, simply because I didn’t want to get my computer up and running! But here are the last books of 2025 for me!

Go Luck Yourself by Sara Raasch

5 Shamrocks!

Oh goodness. I freaking loved this! I was so happy to finally read Kris’s story, especially with how badly he seemed to be in the book with Coal and Hex. This was such fun and yet, so much happened. The progression of hate from Loch and his one sister to them both absolutely adoring Kris was hilarious. I really loved Loch’s character too. He knew what he wanted and also knew he couldn’t have it? Very different from Hex, who was a very submissive character. Even Kris wasn’t that bad. I will definitely keep these as Christmas book rotations in the coming years.

Big Nick Energy by Morgan Elizabeth

4 Christmas Stockings!

Well this was adorable. For a novella, there was plenty of character arc for both Nick and Shae, and the epilogue gave us more to tie up any loose ends. I kinda wish we had more of a tie up for what happened to Shae’s ex, but I did love the conclusion of the mean girl Molly-she redeemed herself there, I think. Overall, super cute, pretty spicy but can definitely hold triggering plot lines so definitely make sure you’re in the correct space for that. The author does a great job of listing them in the beginning of the book, which is great, but I’ll add them here in case you are looking BEFORE you even decide to pick it up.

TW: domestic violence (not on page but described) including both verbal, physical and mental abuse.

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

3 Robots

This was…unexpected. Cute, hints of social discourse, lots of bots making noodles and figuring out their place in the new world they woke up to. Definitely could have been fleshed out more, made into a longer book, as there are some themes that kind of…fall off? Enjoyable and quick read.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar

5 freaking stars!!!

I have a love/hate relationship with true crime novels. Sometimes I feel like they are either over complicated, with legalese meant to confuse the reader and make the author feel like they are so much smarter than than the reader, OR , they are so dumbed down that I get bored very easily. This was neither of these. By the time I was halfway through the book, I had forgotten that this was a piece of fiction and not an ACTUAL true crime book. Chizmar does an excellent job of making the reader feel like we are indeed looking for a killer, that all of this actually happened. He keeps the idyllic nature of the small town in tact, while simultaneously showing the absolute horror that small towns can endure.

Richard Chizmar is a 20-something guy coming back to live with his parents in the summer of 1988, a few months before his wedding. He’s freshly graduated from college and his marriage to fiancé Kara is going to be in January. The timeline for all of this is important, since the murders happen during that summer. 4 young teen girls are abducted and murdered. All but 1 are sexually assaulted before death. But the police and FBI are completely stumped as there is no evidence at any of the sites. Chizmar and his friend Carly Albright, an up and coming journalist, begin to have their own investigation around the cops. Eventually, they are even stumped. 30 years later, the man is found and you will not even begin to believe who it is. Or will you?

I do have to admit I figured out who it was about halfway through but seeing it all spelled out still shocked me. And then I get to the authors note and am reminded that OH YEA! This didn’t actually happen but holy moly did the book feel like it did!!! I really really enjoyed this one. I would absolutely recommend you folks who like true crime and thrillers. This was a heck of a read.

Thank you to everyone who has read this blog in 2025! As always, to see other reviews, please check out my Goodreads page and follow me there too! On to 2026!!