In my reflections on my 2025 reading, I put together a challenge to help me keep on track with the goals I have for my reading.
I am not trying to be perfect with the challenge and just see it as a way to ensure I am focused on what I want to read! Each month, I will do a recap on the blog.
Here’s how I did in February! To read reviews of all of these books, check out my Goodreads!
All links are Amazon affiliate links. You can also purchase the books through my Bookshop.org shop (affiliate link).
While I read Woman at 1,000 Degrees from Iceland, it wasn’t really set there, so I don’t think it counts. I am instead counting this Allison Pataki book which I hope to finish this weekend. I cannot wait to see Empress Sisi’s gowns and jewels when we visit Vienna in June!
An amazing tale of bravery and honesty, Betty Ford revolutionized the role of First Lady. Who knows how many lives she saved because of her revelations about her breast cancer and addictions? What an admirable woman!
I had read parts of this book during my Booking It Through History: First Ladies project as it discusses Martha Washington and Abigail Adams. But I realized I had the audio version which was read by the late author Cokie Roberts who I greatly admired. It was fascinating! What amazing patriots these women were!
I loved this wistful time slip book that hovered between WWII and the present day. It was hopeful and sweet while also being real. Its author is a favorite of mine, Jenny Ashcroft (using a pen name) and her writing is always so emotional! I highly recommend this if you enjoyed the show, Masters of the Air.
This was a laugh-out-loud funny book (at times). I resonated with several of the stories but some were a bit out there for me. But anytime she described her mama’s advice, I was all in! This had been sitting on my shelves for at least a year after I purchased it based on a shelf talker at one of my favorite indie bookstores, Fabled in Waco, Texas. I always trust its staff to steer me the right way!
I started Bitter and Sweet on Ash Wednesday and am savoring its slow and meaningful look at Lent. Tsh is one of the first people I followed as a young mom (back when she was known as the Simple Mom), and I enjoy her contemplative and biblically-based writing.
I am reading The Bible Is For You slowly along with The Bible Recap (see below).
I am keeping up with this daily reading/podcast and have finished 4.5 books of the Bible. I discovered the Dwell audio Bible app this month to get me through Leviticus and Numbers – that was a game changer!
I bought this book years ago and am so glad I finally got to it! It was like an episode of The Crown. Princess Margaret is so fascinating, a blazing star that would have shone brightly if not for the harsh glare of the crown. It was fantastic!
Still working on Gone with the Wind! I am trying to savor it and finish it around my birthday!
I became a huge fan of Shana a few years ago when I read her novel about Arabella Huntington, An American Beauty. Her latest about two sisters and the Lusitania disaster is just as good. Highly recommend!
Do you have any reading goals for 2026? I’d love to hear about them!
