2025 Reading Wrap-Up: Buzzy Books, Hidden Gems, and Our Book Journals for 2026

We’re back from a November–December hiatus and kicking off the new year with a cozy (and slightly chaotic) reading reset. In this episode of Reeding Between the Lines, we look back on their 2025 reading, compare notes on buzzy picks vs. surprise favorites, and do the most 2026 thing imaginable: ask ChatGPT what our book choices say about us.Nicole shares her 2025 highlights, including three widely-loved “BookTok/BookTube” titles—The Correspondent (Virginia Evans), Broken Country (Claire Leslie Hall), and What Kind of Paradise (Janelle Brown)—plus three lesser-known 5-star backlist gems: Someone at a Distance (Dorothy Whipple), The Caretaker (Ron Rash), and Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (Elizabeth Taylor). She also reveals her stats (a casual 136 books in 2025), how she uses “palate cleanser” romances, and what she’s aiming for in 2026 (more audiobooks, more intentional TBR reading, and donating/unhauling over 100 books).Sara shares her own 2025 buzzy reads (including a couple hard “no’s”), highlights a standout cozy fantasy—A Teller of Small Fortunes (Julie Leong). Nicole also convinces Sara to preorder a March release on the spot: Lady Tremaine, a Cinderella retelling from the stepmother’s POV.Plus: a full-on book journaling segment, including Nicole’s Archer & Olive journal setup, seasonal TBRs, monthly favorites, a “DNF graveyard,” sticker systems, and why journaling counts as reading-adjacent joy (because we support hobbies that require glue).Books mentioned for winter reading include The Ghostwriter (Julie Clark), The Frozen People (Elly Griffiths), and The Land in Winter (Andrew Miller), plus a food-and-memory pairing featuring The Kamogawa Food Detectives and a similar-premise pick, Aftertaste.If you’ve ever wondered what your reading habits say about you—or you just want permission to be both “deep” and “trash goblin” in the same month—this episode is for you.Question for you: If you asked ChatGPT to analyze your reading taste, what do you hope it would say?📷 Instagram: @reedingpod