Mid Year Book Review (July 2025)

Let’s dig back through Goodreads and see how far we’ve come.

My goal this year was 25 books. I am not lofty like several of my friends. Last year my goal was 20 and I ended the year at 17, however, this year I found my love of novels again and so set my goal a tad bit higher knowing I would throw in a few more “easy” reads.

Currently – 15 books into the year – woohoo! I’m going to run through them by genre.

Faith/Non-Fiction

1. Get Out of Your own Head by Jennie Allen.
   • This was a perfect start to my year coming out of the fog and anxiety I was in at the end of 2024. It helped me to step back, process through some of the more challenging things, and reprioritize life. Highly Recommend: 7/10
2. Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer
   • Comer’s writing is always good, always to the point, and always convicting. This was a good follow up to the book above in trying to reset for the year ahead. Highly Recommend: 8/10
3. Habit’s of the Household by Justin Earley
   • We did this book with some friends which was a great way to talk through ideas and practices outlined in this book. We loved the setup and points made throughout the book. Recommend: 6/10
4. The Fight for Us by Rebekah & Gabe Lyons
   • 10 years into marriage and always wanting to grow and learn more about how to strengthen our partnership together for the Kingdom. This was challenging and practical, and some of their more vulnerable examples were nice to have a moment of saying “ok yes we’ve been there”. Highly Recommend once you are out of the honeymoon phase of marriage (5+ years) : 7/10

Memoirs

1. The the Gorge by Emily Halnon
   • This one is a niche running memoir as a woman parallels her mom’s battle with cancer alongside her journey to complete a segment of the PCT. It’s beautiful and emotional, but it is pretty niche. Recommend if you like this arena: 6/10
2. My Next Breath by Jeremy Renner
   • Hawkeye fans unite. This one is an interesting style memoir because it really solely focuses on this one event of his life. It’s pretty graphic and you deeply and emotionally written. If you can swallow it, recommend : 6/10
3. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
   • Fascinating man. Really holds no restraint in the writing of this book. It won’t be for everyone, but I appreciate his candor in his background and where he’s been. Highly Recommend: 7/10

Fiction

1. Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah
   • This one was so so so good, but you have to be ok with inception type books. Your mind will bend. Highly Recommend: 9/10
2. The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
   • This one came highly recommended BUT it took about 30 pages to get into. I had to restart it once, however once I hit that point it was off to the races and it only took me about 48 hours to finish it after that point. Highly Recommend just push through those first couple chapters: 7/10
3. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
   • If you love the Hunger Games you will LOVE this book. It might be my favorite one of hers. I think this also could be a standalone book, you could start here without a background and be captivated. Highly Recommend: 8/10
4. The Wedding People by Alison Espach
   • This one was SO unexpected and I loved it. Nothing more to say – read it. Highly Recommend: 9/10
5. My Flawless Life by Yvonne Woon
   • So funny story about this book – Jon got me this book for my birthday thinking it was a completely different book, BUT I loved this one (read down for a review of the other one) it’s a young adult thriller and was great. Som mystery, some twists and turns, all set behind corrupt politicians. Recommend: 6/10
6. Beach Read by Emily Henry
   • I’m a little behind jumping on the Emily Henry train, but loved this book – read it on vacation, no notes. Highly Recommend for a fun romance novel: 9/10
7. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
   • Ok I had seen this one round the book reviews and cycles AND it was fine – not great. I could have done without reading it. Natural about this one : 5/10
8. If You Then Me by Yvonne Woon
   • This is the one Jon thought he got me for my birthday, and in all honesty the other one was better. This has some really interesting and probably fairly realistic views of Silicon Valley, but the storyline was lacking in a few areas and the end felt rushed even though it’s a 400 page book. Neutral about this one: 5/10

Heading to the second half of the year I’m reading one Non-fiction currently and one of Nicholas Sparks newer novels. Stay tuned!

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