25 books for 2025

 i saw vampiricprose doing this and felt inspired. last year i'm pretty sure i literally only reread books, except for one new book i started but never finished. this year i want to get back into reading and posting about it is a good way to hold myself accountable.

1. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid - this was the book i started and didn't finish last year. should be easy enough to finish since i'm halfway through. i don't love this book as much as daisy jones and the six and the seven husbands of evelyn hugo but i still love the writing style of taylor jenkins reid so i'm enjoying it well-enough.

2. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - mum has been bugging me to read this book for ages and now with everyone saying Trump's reign will be like the handmaid's tale, i'm curious

3. A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow - i literally just looked up Alix E. Harrow books because I really enjoyed the ten thousand doors of january and the once and future witches. this book is cool because its the first in a series (though it only has two books and idk if there's going to be more) so if i enjoy this one, i'll read the next one. if i can't find this book though, i'll find a different alix harrow book to read instead.

4. Circe by Madeleine Miller - I read song of achilles but didn't really like it that much and my friends told me Circe is better. hopefully thats true. my problem with soa was the writing style though, i just found it a bit boring so hopefully its different in circe.

5. The Secret History by Donna Tartt - my friend is obsessed with this book, everytime i see her she's trying to convince someone to read it. 

6. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire - I just watched the part one wicked movie and I know the book is quite different to the movie and the musical but I want to read it anyway. The whole idea of wicked reminds me of heartless by marissa meyer, which i absolutely loved and i'm loving this genre of prequels for really famous stories.

7. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins - I am SO excited for this book. i really got into the hunger games in 2023 and just the whole world is so well thought out and full of insights into our own world. i cannot wait to see what this book has in store.

8. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - Honestly, its unlikely that I'll get through this book because I once tried and found the old style writing too hard to get through but I want to try again since this is Will Herondale's favourite book and I want to see what he's on about.

9. The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix - I found this in my notes app, right at the bottom so someone must have recommended it to me but I forgot about it.

10. The Witches of New York by Ami McKay - a friend just recommended this book so I reckon I should give it a shot. plus i love books about witches.

11. Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin - I have like 5 of the game of thrones books and I have already read the first two but then I forgot about them so I think i should do a reread and give the series one more chance. 

12. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - similar to a tale of two cities, it might be too old-timey for me but i wanna try anyway

13. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 

14. The Road to Winter by Mark Smith - I've had this book laying around for ages and just never got around to reading it. 

15. Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

16.  Perfume and Pain by Anna Dorn - my friend recommended it

17. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

18. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James - i'm worried it'll terrify me but i got through bly manor so i wanna read the book

19. Memoir of a Geisha by Arthur Golden - mum recently watched the movie and I only watched parts of it when I walked in and out of the room.

20. 1984 by George Orwell - I read Animal Farm for school and I'm curious about George Orwell's other works

and now, i'm giving myself five books that i'm allowed to reread because its been so long since I read them or i feel like they're very important and intellectual

21. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini - this book is so cool, its all about aliens and space. it has a really cool take on what alien life would be like.

22. Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman - was recently reminded of the cool world of this series and plus i don't think i ever finished the last book so i definitely want to reread

23. Little Women by Louisa May Allcott 

24. Cinder by Marissa Meyer (and the rest of The Lunar Chronicles)

25. Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts

my thoughts on horcruxes

everyone likes to make jokes that voldemort was stupid because he made his horcruxes very important objects in his life but my personal theory is that horcruxes do have to be of sentimental importance in order to work.
you're literally separating a part of your soul from your body, it can't just be put in any old object or thing. to me, it makes sense that the more attached you are to an object, the easier it would be to give your soul to it. i imagine thats how the magic works; it has to be something you are emotionally attached to. 
the grain of sand on a beach idea is quite smart but a soul is not something that can be parted with lightly. and i think it'd be a good idea to know where your soul is at all times.
idk if this is canon or not, i barely interact with canon these days, but this is just my take in response to fanon discussion.