It’s that time of the year again when we look back at the previous year and prepare for the one ahead of us. And so, I’m here to share my reading goals for 2025 with you! Buckle up peeps, because this is going to be one long-ass post with a lot of books mentioned. Hey, it might help grow your TBR. It looks so abandoned and sad 😉
2024 wasn’t a bad year reading-wise even if it had its ups and downs. Since most of everything I figured out for last year worked out quite nicely, I’m not going to change anything this time around. There will be occasional updates in my monthly newsletter (you can sign up here – please note that there will be a confirmation email and a welcoming letter, if you get that, you are all good. If not, let me know!), quarterly challenge check-ins, and of course, I’ll have a BlueSky thread for the books I’ve read in 2025 as well as an update thread for The Sound of Madness Challenge’s 2025 edition. Those are the best ways to keep up to date on how I’m faring with my reading goals for 2025.

GoodReads Reading Challenge
In previous years I was experimenting with setting higher numbers for myself as a challenge, but life has its own way and I didn’t always met those numbers. So then I settled for 40, and I’m going to stick with that for 2025 as well. It’s a nice, reasonable, and easily achievable number without any stress on my part.
Womble’s TBR Reduction Challenge
I had fun with Womble’s TBR Reduction Challenge in 2023 and 2024, so I’m happy to attempt it again in 2025! This is not one of my more successful challenges overall, but I’m nothing if not determined!
For those who are not familiar with the challenge, a quick recap: There is a theme for each month to help reduce your TBR (anything added BEFORE January 1st, 2025). There are also stretch goals if you are the competitive kind. It’s a pretty relaxed reading challenge and no one will police you so if you’d like to reduce your TBR a bit, this is a fun way to do so! If you follow Womble on BlueSky, you can get handy reminders of each prompt at the beginning of the month.
I was a good girl and I’m well prepared to start! I already have my shortened TBR I’d like to focus on in 2025 (more details below in this post) that I can use for these prompts as well.
You can check out Womble’s TBR Reduction Challenge HERE.
The Sound of Madness Reading Challenge
The Sound of Madness is of course back for its fifth year! I already got the introduction post up, but here is a quick rundown: I have 25 music-based prompts, and I’ll attempt to fill out my bingo-like card during 2025. 1 will use 1 book/prompt, and only books read in 2025 will count. I will try not to add rereads. I had a LOT of fun coming up with the prompts, so I hope more people will join me in this one.
As usual, you can follow my BlueSky update thread, you can join on The Storygraph and I also recommend checking out the Spotify playlist!
Check out The Sound of Madness Reading Challenge HERE
Our 2025 card:

Choose Your Own Adventure: Year in Aeldia 2025 Reading Challenge
I had a lot of fun with this one in 2024 so I kept all my fingers crossed for G to announce a new set of prompts for 2025. I failed at her Magical Readathon, but I pretty much suspected it would be the case. It was just way too much for me, but at least I tried and now I can return to my more relaxed challenges. And she not only announced new prompts, but with a twist made it extra fun with a boardgame setting!
The Choose Your Own Adventure: Year in Aeldia 2025 Reading Challenge is hosted by G @Book Roast (who is also behind the whole Magical Readathon, you should check out her videos if you are interested. She has a lot of cool additional stuff like booklets and whatnot). There is also a handy guide video for beginners who are getting lost in the whole maze that the readathon has become, lol.
Okay, so, as she changed the format a bit, I had a lot of thinking. On the one hand, it would be fun not to check the prompts ahead of time to make things more interesting, but the control freak/neurodivergent in me wants to have at least a resemblance of a plan to know what would be the optimal route for me based on the prompts I could manage between everything. Eventually, curiosity won and I peeked at the prompts a bit and tried to suss out a general route (not that I will remember any of them in like a day). I think my approach will be that I’ll plan only 2-3 steps ahead so I can appease my brain but also keep up a mystery/luck element that goes with boardgames. I’m super excited to get to this in 2025!


Making a shortened TBR list worked out really well for me in 2023, not so much in 2024, but I’m determined to try again! Since it’s hard to say what’s going to happen later in the year, I will have one major update in June when I’ll have a clearer view of what’s coming in the second half of the year, and I will also be able to include the new batch of SPFBO books.
Most of the titles I didn’t get to in 2024 were moved to 2025 (which is nice, that means less work for me on this massive post, yay!), but I also added some new titles – new upcoming releases, books I got in 2024, etc. I bloated the list from 50 to 70 (which I think kind of cursed me at doing well because 23 out of 50 would have sounded much better than 23 out of 70…), and I ended up increasing that even more to 75. I didn’t even try to go back down to 50. I was doomed from the start so I chose not to lie to myself. And look, it’s kind of my fault, because I forgot to add the 9 SPFBO 10 finalists and added way too many new books and it was hard to whittle down to 70 after that…
At the time of writing this post, I didn’t arrange any buddy reads or readalongs, but hey, anything can happen! I will definitely keep an eye on Wyrd & Wonder month-related announcements to see what those ladies are coming up with and whether I’ll be able to join or not. Also, if you see something on this list that interests you and want to arrange a buddy read, please let me know!
Now, let’s get down to business. If you’d like to know more about the books listed below, clicking on the titles will take you to their respective GoodReads pages. I’ll update this post once the yet-to-be-announced covers and info will be available.
2025 Releases
![]() | Title: Say You’ll Remember Me Author: Abby Jimenez Series: standalone Publisher: Piatkus/Forever Release Date: April 1, 2025 Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Carnival of Lies Author: D. V. Bishop Series: Cesare Aldo #5 Publisher: Pan Macmillan Release Date: June 26, 2025 Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
Title: TBA Author: Devin Madson Series: Shattered Kingdom Trilogy #2 Publisher: Orbit Release Date: TBA Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW | |
![]() | Title: Great Big Beautiful Life Author: Emily Henry Series: standalone Publisher: Penguin/Berkley Release Date: April 22, 2025 Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Vengeance Author: Emma Newman Series: The Vampires of Dumas #1 Publisher: Solaris Release Date: May 6, 2025 Have it: Yes – paperback | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls Author: Grady Hendrix Series: standalone Publisher: Tor Nightfire Release Date: January 16, 2025 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
Title: TBA Author: Kara Jorgensen Series: The Reanimator Mysteries #4 Publisher: self-published Release Date: TBA Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW | |
Title: The Art of a Lie Author: Laura Shepherd-Robinson Series: standalone Publisher: Mantle Release Date: July 10, 2025 Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW | |
![]() | Title: Be Mine Author: Lizzy Barber Series: standalone Publisher: Datura Books Release Date: May 13, 2025 Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Faerie Morgana Author: Louisa Morgan Series: standalone Publisher: Redhook Release Date: September 16, 2025 Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Where the Bones Lie Author: Nick Kolakowski Series: standalone Publisher: Datura Books Release Date: March 11, 2025 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
Title: Paved With Good Intentions Author: Peter McLean Series: ? Publisher: Arcadia Release Date: June 19, 2025 Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW | |
![]() | Title: The Gentleman and His Vowsmith Author: Rebecca Ide Series: ? Publisher: Tor/Saga Release Date: April 15, 2025 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping Author: Sangu Mandanna Series: standalone Publisher: Hodderscape Release Date: July 15, 2025 Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Book of Kindness Author: Stephanie Butland Series: standalone Publisher: Headline Review Release Date: March 27, 2025 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
Requests
![]() | Title: Stars and Ravens Author: Francis Deer and Mika Hunter Series: standalone Publisher: Self-Published Release Date: February 8, 2020 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
SPFBO 10 Finalists
![]() | Title: Mushroom Blues Author: Adrian M. Gibson Series: Hofmann Report #1 Publisher: The Kinoko Book Co. Release Date: March 19, 2024 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Tenacious Tale of Tanna the Tendersword Author: Dewey Conway & Bill Adams Series: standalone Publisher: Self-Published Release Date: April 2, 2024 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Forest at the Heart of Her Mage Author: Hiyodori Series: standalone Publisher: Self-Published Release Date: August 14, 2023 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Runelight Author: JA Andrews Series: The Aenigma Lights #1 Publisher: Self-Published Release Date: July 29, 2023 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Gates of Hope Author: J. E. Hannaford Series: Aluirean Gates #1 Publisher: Blazing Wren Books Release Date: April 12, 2023 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: By Blood, By Salt Author: J.L. Odom Series: Land of Exile #1 Publisher: Azimuth Release Date: May 14, 2024 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Oathsworn Legacy Author: K.R. Gangi Series: standalone Publisher: Self-Published Release Date: October 23, 2023 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: By a Silver Thread Author: Rachel Aaron Series: DFZ Changeling #1 Publisher: Aaron/Bach Release Date: May 2, 2023 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Humane Society for Creatures & Cryptids Author: Stephanie Gillis Series: Teraglossa #1 Publisher: Self-Published Release Date: September 18, 2023 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
Backlist
![]() | Title: Jack of Thorns Author: A.K. Faulkner Series: Inheritance #1 Publisher: self-published Release Date: May 13, 2016 Have it: Yes – paperback | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The House of Shattered Wings Author: Aliette de Bodard Series: Dominion of the Fallen #1 Publisher: Gollancz Release Date: August 20, 2015 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Tattoo Thief Author: Alison Belsham Series: The Tattoo Thief / Sullivan & Mullins #1 Publisher: Trapeze Release Date: May 3, 2018 Have it: Yes – paperback | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Hollywood Horrors: Murders, Scandals, and Cover-Ups from Tinseltown Author: Andrea Van Landingham Series: standalone Publisher: Lyons Press Release Date: November 1, 2021 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Faerie Hounds of York Author: Arden Powell Series: standalone Publisher: Self-Published (?) Release Date: August 20, 2020 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Keeper of Happy Endings Author: Barbara Davis Series: standalone Publisher: Lake Union Publishing Release Date: October 1, 2021 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: God of Broken Things Author: Cameron Johnston Series: Age of Tyranny #2 Publisher: Angry Robot Release Date: June 11, 2019 Have it: Yes – paperback, audiobook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: We Could Be So Good Author: Cat Sebastian Series: Midcentury NYC #1 Publisher: Avon Release Date: June 6, 2023 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Heir of Uncertain Magic Author: Charlie N. Holmberg Series: Whimbrel House #2 Publisher: 47North Release Date: April 11, 2023 Have it: Yes – audiobook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Paper Magician Author: Charlie N. Holmberg Series: The Paper Magician #1 Publisher: 47North Release Date: September 1, 2014 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Neon Boneyard Author: Craig Schaefer Series: Daniel Faust #8 Publisher: Demimonde Books Release Date: April 10, 2018 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Locust Job Author: Craig Schaefer Series: Daniel Faust #9 Publisher: Demimonde Books Release Date: January 1, 2020 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Down Among the Dead Men Author: Craig Schaefer Series: Daniel Faust #10 Publisher: Demimonde Books Release Date: July 22, 2022 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The House Witch Author: Delemhach Series: The House Witch #1 Publisher: Podium Publishing Release Date: June 21, 2022 Have it: Yes – audiobook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Bindle Punk Bruja Author: Desideria Mesa Series: standalone Publisher: Harper Voyager Release Date: September 13, 2022 Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Between Dragons and Their Wrath Author: Devin Madson Series: Shattered Kingdom Trilogy #1 Publisher: Orbit Release Date: July 1, 2024 Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London Author: Garth Nix Series: Left-Handed Booksellers of London #1 Publisher: Gollancz Release Date: July 8, 2021 Have it: Yes – paperback | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep Author: H.G. Parry Series: standalone Publisher: Orbit Release Date: July 23, 2019 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Poison Song Author: Jen Williams Series: The Winnowing Flame Trilogy #3 Publisher: Headline Release Date: May 16, 2019 Have it: Yes – ebook, paperback | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Dog Rose Dirt Author: Jen Williams Series: standalone Publisher: HarperCollins UK Release Date: June 8, 2021 Have it: Yes – audiobook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: No. 23 Burlington Square Author: Jenni Keer Series: standalone Publisher: Boldwood Books Release Date: October 31, 2023 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Screaming Staircase Author: Jonathan Stroud Series: Lockwood & Co. #1 Publisher: RHCP Release Date: August 29, 2013 Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Last Sun Author: K.D. Edwards Series: The Tarot Sequence #1 Publisher: Pyr Release Date: June 12, 2018 Have it: Yes – audiobook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Flight of Magpies Author: KJ Charles Series: A Charm of Magpies #3 Publisher: KJC Books Release Date: March 28, 2017 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Big Little Lies Author: Liane Moriarty Series: standalone Publisher: Berkley Books Release Date: February 9, 2017 Have it: Yes – paperback | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: A Secret History of Witches Author: Louisa Morgan Series: standalone Publisher: Orbit Release Date: September 5, 2017 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Age of Witches Author: Louisa Morgan Series: standalone Publisher: Redhook Release Date: April 7, 2020 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Last Smile in Sunder City Author: Luke Arnold Series: The Fetch Phillips Archives #1 Publisher: Orbit Release Date: February 6, 2020 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy Author: Megan Bannen Series: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy #1 Publisher: Orbit Release Date: August 23, 2022 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Lincoln Lawyer Author: Michael Connelly Series: The Lincoln Lawyer #1 Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Release Date: October 3, 2005 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Into the River Dead Author: Michael Dylan Series: DI Simon Wise #4 Publisher: Self-Published Release Date: October 25, 2024 Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Uprooted Author: Naomi Novik Series: standalone Publisher: Del Rey Release Date: May 19, 2015 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Echoes of the Imperium Author: Nicholas & Olivia Atwater Series: Tales of the Iron Rose #1 Publisher: Starwatch Press Release Date: October 28, 2024 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Ten Thousand Stitches Author: Olivia Atwater Series: Regency Faerie Tales #2 Publisher: Orbit Release Date: July 19, 2022 Have it: No | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Disappearance at Devil’s Rock Author: Paul Tremblay Series: standalone Publisher: William Morrow / Titan Books Release Date: July 1, 2016 Have it: Yes – paperback | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Brotherhood of the Wheel Author: R.S. Belcher Series: Brotherhood of the Wheel #1 Publisher: Tor Release Date: March 1, 2016 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: A Captured Cauldron Author: R.K. Ashwick Series: Side Quest Row #2 Publisher: RK Ashwick Books Release Date: October 7, 2024 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Music Shop Author: Rachel Joyce Series: standalone Publisher: Transworld Digital Release Date: July 13, 2017 Have it: Yes – audiobook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Nice Dragons Finish Last Author: Rachel Aaron Series: Heartstrikers #1 Publisher: Aaron/Bach LLC Release Date: July 13, 2014 Have it: Yes – ebook, audiobook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Black Feathers Author: Rebecca Netley Series: standalone Publisher: Penguin Release Date: October 12, 2023 Have it: Yes – audiobook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Black Sun Author: Rebecca Roanhorse Series: Between Earth and Sky #1 Publisher: Saga Press Release Date: October 13, 2020 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: Age of Assassins Author: RJ Barker Series: The Wounded Kingdom #1 Publisher: Orbit Release Date: August 1, 2017 Have it: Yes – paperback, ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Unnoticeables Author: Robert Brockway Series: The Vicious Circuit #1 Publisher: Tor Books / Titan Books Release Date: July 7, 2015 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: City of Stairs Author: Robert Jackson Bennett Series: The Divine Cities #1 Publisher: Del Rey / Arcadia / Jo Fletcher Books Release Date: September 9, 2014 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Tainted Cup Author: Robert Jackson Bennett Series: Shadow of the Leviathan #1 Publisher: Del Rey / Hodderscape Release Date: February 6, 2024 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon Author: Sarah Hawley Series: Glimmer Falls #1 Publisher: Berkley Release Date: March 7, 2023 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Book Eaters Author: Sunyi Dean Series: standalone Publisher: Tor Books / HarperVoyager Release Date: August 2, 2022 Have it: Yes – ebook | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Library of the Dead Author: T. L. Huchu Series: Edinburgh Nights #1 Publisher: Tor Books / Pan MacMillan Release Date: February 4, 2021 Have it: Yes – paperback | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
![]() | Title: The Tattoo Murder Author: Takagi Akimitsu Series: standalone Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo Release Date: January 1, 1948 (October 6, 2022) Have it: Yes – paperback | Rating: The Sound of Madness: REVIEW |
And those, my friends, are my reading goals for 2025. Let me know if you have any goals yourself, be it reading challenges, or books you particularly want to read.
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