Episode 11: Our Top Books of the Year And A Look Back at Our 2025 Reading Lives

Welcome back to I Reckon I’ll Read It, a podcast where two Okie gals talk books, share recs, and don’t hold back on their mighty big opinions. Join Beccah and Summer in some good-old-fashioned book talk.  This week, we kick off 2026 (and Season 2) by doing something a little different. Instead of our usual segments, we’re taking a long look back at our 2025 reading lives: what we read, what surprised us, what disappointed us, and which books completely wrecked us (emotionally, of course). We share our top reads of the year, our biggest reading patterns and shifts, and a few reading goals as we look ahead to 2026. It’s a reflective, honest wrap-up of a year in books before we turn the page to 2026.   Books We Mentioned:    3:00- Fill in the Blank-2025 was the year of ____   6:00- Soapbox about audiobooks   The Reading Round Up Numbers:   10:30- Total books read   Longest book- 16:19- Quicksilver, Callie Hart   16:40- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix    18:14- Top formats   22:56- Publication dates   26:39- Fiction vs. Nonfiction   28:43- Author Demographics   32:56- How many re-reads   The Scarlet Pimpernel; Frankenstein    34:20- Book sources (library, bought, etc.)   37:19- Top Genres Books we both read this year 39:54- The Scarlet Pimpernel, Emmuska Orzcy The Wedding People, Alison Espach The Strawberry Patch Pancake House Wild and Wrangled, Lyla Sage Deep End, Ali Hazelwood Sula, Toni Morrison The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath Battle of the Bookstores, Ali Brady Great Big Beautiful Life, Emily Henry Problematic Summer Romance, Ali Hazelwood Love is a War Song, Danica Nava The Serviceberry, Robin Wall Kimmerer Passing, Nella Larson A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping, Sangu Mandanna Shady Characters, Keith Houston My Vampire Plus One, Jenna Levine Longitude, Dava Sobel If It Makes You Happy, Julie Olivia Frankenstein, Mary Shelley Lolly Willowes, Sylvia Townsend Warner Roadtrip With a Vampire, Jenna Levine The Gingerbread Bakery, Laurie Gilmore Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens Quicksilver, Callie Hart An Academic Affair, Jodi McAlister Merry Little Bookshop, Ali Brady   Our Spotlight Books:  50:40- Best Series Three Pines/Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, Louise Penny Harry Potter series   53:19- Biggest Disappointments Roadtrip with a Vampire, Jenna Levine Eclipse, Stephanie Meyer   55:55- Biggest Surprise Book Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid Quicksilver, Callie Hart   59:04- The Book that Broke You Onyx Storm, Rebecca Yarros Brimstone, Callie Hart   1:01:49- The Book that Got Away Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir Breaking Dawn, Stephanie Meyer   1:04:39- Comfort Read of the Year The Teller of Small Fortunes, Julie Leong A Holiday by Gaslight, Mimi Matthews   1:07:15- Least Favorite Book The Hunting Wives, May Cobb Fall I Want, Lyra Parish   Top 10 Books:   1:10:15- Honorable Mentions:  The Hounding, Xenobe Purvis Tomorrow Will Be Different, Sarah McBride My Vampire Plus One, Jenna Levine Sula, Toni Morrison Accomplice to the Villain, Hannah Nicole Maehrer   10- Atmosphere; Quicksilver Check & Mate, Ali Hazelwood   9- Run for the Hills, Kevin Wilson Lolly Willowes, Syliva Townsend Warner   8- Violet Thistlewaite is Not a Villain Anymore, Emily Krempholtz Frankenstein, Mary Shelley   7- Passing, Nella Larson Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer   6- Onyx Storm, Rebecca Yarros Brimstone, Callie Hart   5- My Friends, Fredrik Backman Quicksilver, Callie Hart   4- Sisters in the Wind, Angeline Boulley If It Makes You Happy, Julie Olivia   3- By the Fire We Carry, Rebecca Nagle The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath   2- The Wedding People, Alison Espach Great Big Beautiful Life, Emily Henry   1- The Correspondent, Virginia Evans The Wedding People, Alison Espach   2026 Reading Goals 1:25:50- Main personal goals   1:29:17- Other personal goals   1:33:10- Podcast Goals