So what is First Book? First Book, hosted by Sheila of Book Journey, is the first book you plan on reading in the New Year. It can be a long-coveted read you have not had time for, a guilty pleasure read like a re-read of a favorite… really it can be anything – it is, after all, YOUR First Book.
It was hard to decide which book to choose.
I wanted to pick a book that would encourage me to move forward, filled with hope and optimism.
My First Book of the Year...
...is Theo of Golden by Allan Levi. My sister recommended this book to me, and she rarely recommends books, so I just had to read it for my first book of the year.
My #OneWord for 2025? For three New Year's Days, I stuck with the same word, Play. It reminded me to be in the moment, to be spontaneous, to enjoy my life, to draw upon the spirit of love and joy that abides within us at all times. Play.
But in 2022, I chose a new One Word. Love. It encouraged me to engage Love as my default reaction to all situations. Love. Love got me through several difficult situations in 2022 and 2023 and 2024 and 2025, so I'm keeping Love for 2026. My One Word. Love.
Number of re-reads this year: 30, which is 11%. I've never reread so many books as I have this year. I don't know why I am now a rereader.
Non-fiction: 120, which is 45% and Fiction: 145, which is 55%. That's about right for me.
Shortest and longest books.
First and last books of the year.
It's interesting to me that my first book was a dystopia, 1984, in which people are facing authoritarianism, and that the last book was a dystopia, Oasis, in which people are facing AI robots.
The best books of 2026.
For my favorite fiction book of the year, I chose Lonesome Dove, a book I've read and reread a half dozen times. For nonfiction, I picked Team of Rivals, about the amazing political abilities of Abraham Lincoln, a president who chose to use all those who had run against him in an advisory manner in his Cabinet.
I will be posting about my longlist of nonfiction and fiction favorite reads of 2025 in January here.
Most surprising (in a good way) book of 2025.
I did not realize that A Fever in the Heartland would tell me so much about what's going wrong in America right now. Thank you to Joy of Joy's Book Blog who first recommended this book to me.
I could not stop reading Here One Moment, a book club book. I ended up liking, but not loving, this book, but it was definitely compelling.
Most thought-provoking book of 2025.
It sounds boring, but I was fascinated with The Lives of the Stoics, and I ended up reading two more books about Stoicism. I'm going to read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius in 2026.
Book that put a smile on your face?
I love the picture book, Room for Everyone, written by Naaz Khan and illustrated by Merce Lopez. It had been culled from my library system and I picked it up at the library sale for fifty cents. It makes me smile every time I see it on my shelf. Yes, there is room for everyone.
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