Revisiting 2025: Reading Edition

I'm currently in the middle of The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel--it will be Book 17 if I finish it in the next five days.

I've read the following: 

Five Points The 19th-Century New York City Neighborhood That Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum by Tyler Anbinder

Anne Boleyn A King's Obsession by Alison Weir

Henry VIII and His Court by Neville Williams

Road of Bones A Billy Boyle World War II Mystery by James R. Benn

The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr

The Autobiography of Henry VIII With Notes by His Fool Will Sommers by Margaret George

Bleeding Kansas by Sara Paretsky

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story by John Berendt

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

Green Darkness by Anya Seton

Catharine of Aragon by Garrett Mattingly 

Anne Neville Queen to Richard III by Michael Hicks

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Mothers of Invention Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust.

I've re-read these books:

The Mystery of the Tolling Bell by Carolyne Keene

The Concubine by Norah Lofts

Neptune Noir Edited by Rob Thomas

The Last Hollywood Romance by Beverly Bloomberg

Of the 16 books, five were histories, four were historical fiction, two science fiction, and five other fiction.  Tudor England was well represented in five books completed, one in the progress and one a re-read.

My favorite books of the year were Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler.

My reading total of 16 books was my lowest since 2017 when I started tracking number of books read. There were two main reasons for my low total. First is the move: I spent so much time decluttering, packing, and organizing that I didn't have much leisure time. Some nights, I just passed out as soon as I hit the pillow. I'm also spending too much time reading things online. Yes, I like to keep up with the news, but there's so much frivolous, if not actual garbage content that it's not the best use of my reading time.

I need to check out the Essex Public Library soon.