For 2025, I set a conservative target of reading twelve books. After the first three months, I was ahead of schedule having read these four books:
- What You Did by Claire McGowan
- Orbital by Samantha Harvey (full review here)
- Amatka by Karin Tidbeck
- The Infinite and the Divine (Warhammer 40,000) by Robert Rath
You can see my thoughts on them in my first quarter report here.
In the second quarter, I’ve read five, so I will smash my annual target, but I’m not going to change it. I’d rather the record show I did far better than I thought I would, then set a tougher target for next year.
Let’s get into the five books I read in Q2 of 2025…
A man goes through his memories to unravel a horrible mystery.
I saw a recommendation for this somewhere (I can’t remember where) and they described this as a horror. I’d call it more of a dark mystery, although the mystery you’re supposed to be solving isn’t what you think it is. I found that a bit strange — I wasn’t sure what to make of it when I finished it, which is why I didn’t write a full review at the time.
I think it may have been aiming at Sixth Sense/Seven territory, but fell short for me. I’m not sad I read it, but I’m not sure who I’d recommend it to.
My score: 3 out of 5.
2. The Final Empire (Mistborn Saga #1) by Brandon Sanderson
The peasants are revolting against a powerful dark lord who keeps them in the mud.
It’s apparent from the beginning this is top quality fantasy. The story is well-paced, never sags, and builds to a satisfying conclusion. The magic system is imaginative and allows for creative solutions to be introduced throughout, and the writing style makes the world feel real without going into tedious pages of description. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
I’d have no qualms recommending this to anyone, even readers who don’t usually like fantasy. Excellent.
My score: 5 out of 5.
3. Mirror Me by Lisa Williamson Rosenberg
A psychiatric patient needs his doctor’s help to uncover whether he murdered his brother’s fiancée.
The premise was interesting, but I wasn’t keen on how it was implemented. Most of the book was centred around a mystery that wasn’t revealed until near the end, but was obvious from early on as the only sensible solution. The middle section dragged with the drip-dripping of (unnecessary) hints; this might have been better as a short story or novella. Disappointing because I liked the idea.
My score: 2 out of 5.
4. The Ghost Writers Club: A Novel by Cody Wayne Morris
A new student joins a secretive writing group hoping to find out the truth behind the mysterious death of one of their members.
This author may be better known under his YouTube moniker, CodyTheWriter. I’ve enjoyed his videos and I wanted to like this, his debut novel, but I felt it was underdeveloped.
The dialogue is almost entirely expository (oh for a Tarantino-style riff on something completely unrelated), and the writing group didn’t seem to do anything beyond meet each other and deal with the main plot. There were a lot of clichés in the writing; a bit more time spent on fresh descriptions and comparisons would have made a big difference. There were some nice passages so Cody is capable.
The bare bones were there; it could have been better.
My score: 2 out of 5.
The classic horror wasn’t what I expected.
I didn’t find it scary, which you may think would count against a horror, but I did enjoy it. I wrote a full review to explain why, which you can read here.
My score: 4 out of 5.
That’s it for the past three months.
In July, I’ve already read the second and third volumes of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, and I’m about halfway through reading Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1) by James S A Corey, which is on course for a good score.
I don’t have a firm idea what I’ll read after because I wait to see how I feel after I’ve finished a book; I always pick something that’s a departure from what I’ve just read.
At the moment, I’m leaning towards a first read of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, or Animal Farm by George Orwell, which I read in school looong ago but haven’t read since.
There are so many books to read, my TBR list keeps getting longer, not shorter…
If you want to keep up to date on what I’m reading, you can follow me on Goodreads.
What are you reading? What would you recommend?
Arrowmaker Books 