Hello!

I’ve been resisting choosing this TBR list since about August and now I’m knee deep in planning things for the new year (my monthly TBRs might be getting unreasonable again 😂).

For 2025 I used my TBR jar (with my physical TBR, not prompts) to make my annual TBR and it was so much fun, then it continued to be fun throughout the year as I knocked 25+ books (including some sequels) off my physical TBR and read the books that I probably wouldn’t have reached for otherwise!

After I choose them out of the TBR jar, I have a smaller jar just for the 26 pieces of paper which I use to choose which ones for on my monthly TBR.

And it’s the first annual TBR I’ve actually managed to finish so I need that energy going into 2026!

I did film it so there will be a video on my YouTube channel in the next day or two if you want to see the live reactions!

Let’s try and talk about 26 books without writing a dissertation!

One – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (Judy Blume)

I bought this around when the film came out so I bought the book somewhat on a whim! I didn’t realise how short it was and it’s been really nice to have some middle grade/YA on my lists so I think this will be a nice easy one between some of the bigger books!

Two – Ace of Spiders (Stefan Mohamed)

This is a book I got for 50p from my favourite bookshop (High Peak Bookstore that I used to visit when we were on family holidays) and it was only in filming the video that I realised it was the second book in a series… So I need to figure out how I’m going to read book one but that is a problem for whenever it comes out of the mini TBR jar!

Three – Armada (Ernest Cline)

I found this one second hand in a charity shop not long after I read Ready Player One by the same author and that’s all I’ve got to go on. This feels like an audiobook pick!

Four – before the coffee gets cold (Toshikazu Kawaguchi)

I’ve seen so many incredible reviews of this book but I’ve been really mature (for once!) and only bought the first one in what is now a five book series. I don’t have a lot of translated fiction in my collection and this is why I love choosing my annual TBR this way – the most random variety of books!

Five – Darkness on the Edge of Town (Adam Christopher)

This book has been on one of my annual TBRs before… and I clearly didn’t read it though I imagine with the release of Stranger Things Season 5 (which I haven’t started watching yet, so no spoilers!) will make me want to read this asap.

Six – Die For Me (Amy Plum)

I’m pretty sure this one came from High Peak Bookstore as well, but perhaps when I was a teenager… around 15 years ago… (edit: it was published 14 years ago in 2011, so yeah I’ve had it for a while). It’s YA fantasy and when I was YA, that’s about all I needed to know to be interested in a book. Storygraph now tells me that it’s a trilogy with extra bonus stories so we’ll see if I like it enough to read them all!

Seven – Guilt (Amanda Robson)

I think this came from a charity shop, but I honestly have no idea. I am excited to have some genre variety with a mystery thriller! I bet it’ll come out of the mini jar in the peak of summer when I want to read contemporary romances!

Eight – I Am Malala (Malala Yousafzai)

Genre variety and a non-fiction book? Look at me go!

In September my Facebook reminded me of the photos I put up of my unpacked uni bedroom in halls and I zoomed in on some of the books I’d taken with me when I moved halfway across the country and this was one of them.

My mum gave me this so… sorry I’ve not read it yet!

Nine – Little Fires Everywhere (Celeste Ng)

This was another charity find and another one that I’m aware of because of a film adaptation starring (and produced by?) Reese Witherspoon but it was also highly acclaimed online so I’m looking forward to this one! I don’t always love literary fiction but I think this might be one I enjoy.

Ten – Meant To Be Mine (Hannah Orenstein)

A contemporary romance! I’ve read at least one other book from this author and I remember it being fun and easy to read so though I don’t remember a single thing of what this book is about, I’m sure it’s going to be a lovely light read in amongst everything else on this list!

Eleven – My Mechanical Romance (Alexene Farol Follmuth)

When I bought this I was so excited to read a romance with a title that’s a pun on a rock emo band, then I realised that the author is Olivie Blake under a different name and I really didn’t love her writing style, so hopefully it’s quite different? Wish me luck.

Twelve – Mirrorscape (Mike Wilks)

I definitely read this when I was a teenager but I can’t remember it so I need to reread to determine whether I want to keep it!

Thirteen – Ordinary Monsters (J. M. Miro)

I was so excited about this book when I bought it, then when I got it home I realised how long it and have been intimidated by it ever since.

My husband and I have a challenge at the moment where we each picked a 5 book TBR for each other and I chose this book for him because it’s long and he could tell me whether it was worth it. I think karma came back for me.

Fourteen – Onyx & Ivory (Mindee Arnett)

90% sure I bought this from a charity shop because the cover is pretty. Absolutely no idea what this book is about.

Fifteen – Stone Blind (Natalie Haynes)

Another book that has been on an annual TBR before! Pretty sure I picked this up in 2022 and it’s right up my street – it’s Greek mythology! I really should have read Natalie Haynes by now but I haven’t and 2026 will be the year that I change that!

Sixteen – Private Peaceful (Michael Morpurgo)

This is such a famous book and I probably should have read it when I was in primary school but I clearly haven’t! I love having a mix of middle grade and YA books in with the adult books because in theory they’re a little bit easier, but Michael Morpurgo is known as quite an emotional author from what I know!

Seventeen – The Alibi Girl (C. J. Skuse)

I think this was another charity shop purchase? Another mystery thriller in the mix!

Eighteen – The Family Upstairs (Lisa Jewell)

And another mystery thriller 😂 I’ve heard a lot of good things about this author and this book specifically so I just hope this pops out of the TBR jar at a seasonally appropriate time!

Nineteen – The Library (Bella Osborne)

I put this on a monthly TBR in 2024 I think – it was when I had Kindle Unlimited and I thought I could try and make the most of it by reading some of my physical TBR on my Kindle but I was asking way too much of myself so never got round to it. It sounds like a really sweet book about books with a friendship/found family focus that I now want to read immediately!

Twenty – The Satsuma Complex (Bob Mortimer)

My husband and I have been meaning to read from Bob Mortimer ever since this book came out so I might see if he wants to buddy read it with me.

Twenty One – The Soulmate Equation (Christina Lauren)

I’ve never read from Christina Lauren before which feels wrong considering how popular their books are on book social media and how easily influenced I am by bookstagram! This concept sounds so interesting and I’m intrigued to find out how I feel about this author!

Twenty Two – The Spanish Love Deception (Elena Armas)

Same as above – I definitely bought this in peak TikTok hype, it’s been on an annual TBR before and I am mildly concerned that it will have the same vibes as The Hating Game by Sally Thorne… which I hated… so fingers crossed it’s better than that.

Twenty Three – The Tattooist of Auschwitz (Heather Morris)

And another ‘I was influenced’ purchase but I think this was more of a book that broke into the mainstream and I heard about it from beyond the depths of bookstagram. It’s definitely a modern classic that I am behind on!

Twenty Four – The Wolf and The Woodsman (Ava Reid)

I bought this one from a Waterstones sale section because it’s mildly damaged so it was only £3. I hadn’t heard of Ava Reid at the time, since buying this I have read A Study In Drowning and it wasn’t really for me so I’m mildly intimidated but I’ll try to be optimistic!

Twenty Five – Those Who Lie (Dianne Jeffrey)

Another mystery thriller except I have no recollection of when I bought it – I’m thinking it was perhaps a charity shop find but who knows!

Twenty Six – To Kill A Kingdom (Alexandra Christo)

And last but not least – a YA fantasy romance duology that I will no doubt feel obliged to finish. One of my goals for next year is to finish or get up to date on 5 series so this could be relatively quick one in that regard!

And those are the 26 books! I need to read 2 a month (with two months where I read 3) but I managed to read my entire 25 in 2025 by November this year so I am not worried about being able to do it (yet).

It’s quite a varied mix – a few genres, a good balance of age demographics and some social media faves and books the internet has barely heard of.

Going from a finished annual TBR and having read nearly 80 books back to zero is starting to intimidate me a little bit, but I’m mostly excited. I love having something to work towards so I’m ready to take on another challenge.

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx