Updated 2025 Reading Stats
So far in 2025, I have read:
- 35 books
- 13,575 pages
- 26 fiction books
- 9 non-fiction books
- 1 classic book
April 2025 Reading
Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter
Kate Conger and Ryan Mac
Non-Fiction
480 pagesÂ
It was interesting to read this after following this story in the news. Turns out, it was even worse than I had imagined. Makes me realize how little I actually need social media in my life. We would all probably be better off without it.
We All Want Impossible Things
Catherine Newman
Fiction
224 pages
I really enjoyed this author’s book Sandwich so I’m checking out her back catalog. This one is about losing a best friend to cancer and the hospice experience.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
L. Frank Baum
Fiction
154 pages
This was one of the “classic” books I vowed to read this year. I must say it was quite slight and moved at a breakneck speed. Not much back story or messing around! Often different from the movie … and Dorothy seems very young! Interesting to read a classic that has been revisited so many times in the culture.
Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World
Anand GiridharadasÂ
Non-Fiction
304 pages
I read this author’s book The Persuaders and LOVED it. However, this one was not as readable … although the subject matter was interesting and upsetting. Reading this book led me directly to the next book I read.
When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World’s Most Powerful Consulting Firm
Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe
Non-Fiction
368 pages
I wish all Americans would read this book. It provides tons of information of why so many things are like they are today and how you can draw a line from McKinsey’s work to many modern-day inequities. Fascinating reading.
Other Birds
Sarah Addison Allen
Fiction
304 pages
This was a book club read, and I was just “meh” about the story because I tend to be just “meh” about magical realism in general. However, we did end up having a pretty good discussion (what is home, how do you define a family other than your birth family).
Vampires in the Lemon Grove and Other Stories
Karen Russell
Fiction, Short Stories
256 pages
For someone who doesn’t really like short stories, this is the third book of short stories I’ve read this year. These stories were pretty interesting but, as always, I was left wanting more. Just as things got going, the story ends. Recommended by my brother Chris.
The Husbands
Holly Gramazio
352 pages
FictionÂ
This book has a wonderful premise (each time a husband goes up into the attic, a different husband comes down), and I was wondering how the author was going to pull it off. But she does, and it was a super fun read with things to think about that sneak up on you. Will probably be one of my favorite reads of the year. Recommended by my friend Nina.
How To Leave the House
Nathan Newman
Fiction
320 pages
I have no idea why I added this book to my TBR list, but I did and I ended up not really enjoying it. In fact, at times I contemplated not finishing it. It was just OK for me. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
David Grann
Non-Fiction
352 pages
This was a rollicking adventure tale that proved to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would not have thrived (or even survived) on a long sea voyage back in the 1700s. I mean, just look at the painting on the cover! The author did a fantastic job of making his research come alive in a crazy story that makes me wonder how anyone survived to tell the tale.
Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination
Mark Bergen
Non-Fiction
368 pages
So earlier in the month I read about Twitter and then read about YouTube. (In the past, I read about Reddit, and I’ll be reading about Facebook next month.) Character Limit was the better written book, and this book kind of fell flat for me for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on. I think a lot of it was the writing and the author’s jumping from one thing to the next without doing a good job of making his story come alive in a meaningful way.
The Choice
Gillian McAllister
Fiction
368 pages
This author always has the BEST premises for her thrillers! I’ve been working my way through her back catalog since I read the awesome Wrong Place, Wrong Time. The premise in this book is that the protagonist has to make a critical choice and we follow the fallout from both decisions in alternating chapters. It did not quite go as I expected.
Favorite Books Read In April
If I had to pick my favorites for the month, it would be The Husbands, When McKinsey Comes to Town and The Wager.
