University of Kwazulu-Natal

My Reading List For 2025 Molo Writes

Bonisiwe Shabane
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my reading list for 2025 molo writes

It’s been a while since I’ve made a reading list for myself (the last one was in 2017!), so I thought I’d make one for 2025. For this reading list, I tried to pick a mix of books I haven’t read before, as well as some I’ve been interested in re-reading; fiction and nonfiction. There’s also a mix of all sorts of genres; prose and graphic novels; and new and old books. Energy levels permitting, I plan to post reviews throughout the year for each book I read from this list, too. So, without further ado, here’s my (alphabetized) list of books I plan to read in 2025! Anyone who knows me knows that I read way more than 25 books in a year, so you may be wondering why this list is so short.

The answer? I want to leave room for impulsivity and flexibility for when my brain needs a break from an assigned list, so I can pick up whatever books I want at the library or in... Also… I have a much longer list of books that I own but haven’t read yet, and I *also* plan to read many of them this year: I usually own somewhere between 25 and 40 books that I haven’t read at any given time. I tend to go through approximately 30-50 books from this category in a calendar year. If you end up reading any of these books, too, please share what you think!

It’s the New Year, which means it’s time for me to set some goals for the year. So today, I wanted to set up my reading goal and share my current TBR list. Last year, I managed to read 53 books. My goal was to read 50, so I ended 2024 with three books over, which I’m happy about! That’s an extra book on top of reading one a week, and that’s pretty good for me. I’ve seen posts on social media and blogs of readers who were able to read hundreds of books in 2024, which is mind-blowing to me.

I wish I could read more than a hundred books in a single year, but my dyslexia and the busyness of my personal life limits the amount of books I can finish. I will comfortably read a book a week, which works out perfectly for my weekly book review. I do want to push myself, however, so I’m setting my 2025 reading goal at 55 books. I want to make sure to set a realistic goal, and aiming for 55 books means I’ll have to read just a smidge more than a book a week. As for what I want to read, here is my TBR list that I’ll be working through for the year: I recently told some family and friends that in 2025, I wanted to read less.

After reading 80+ books in 2024, I decided I could stand to cut down a little in the new year and reallocate some of my reading time to other activities. Maybe this would be the year I learned to re-learned to sew? Tried glassblowing? The possibilities seemed endless! Thanks for reading Textbook! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Unfortunately, when I started making this list of everything I want to read in 2025, it turned out to be…a lot. I guess there are some habits you just can’t break and that’s OK. So if you’re also planning to spend the next 365 days reading furiously, here’s a little inspiration: This is my book club’s January pick! Our fearless founder Micaela was recommended it in the annual n+1 Bookmatch quiz and I’m extremely intrigued by this story about the residents of an apartment complex in Indiana. As I mentioned in my Best of the Backlist post, Wellness was one of my favorite reads of 2024 so it’s only right I pick up Nathan Hill’s debut.

It’s about a college teacher who, after seeing the mother he never knew all over the news for throwing rocks at a presidential candidate, attempts to learn more about her. If it’s anything like Wellness, The Nix will probably see Hill weave in 34980258 other topics that are somehow all fascinating and somehow all tie together. After a very successful 2023 list (20/24, by far the closest I’ve come to completing one), I faltered a bit in 2024, finishing 16 of 24. Part of that was due to the library holds system – The Power of Moments just arrived, and I’ve been waiting weeks for Delicious! and The Measure to be delivered – but I suspect I also fell victim to a defect I noticed in 2022: placing books on the list that I wasn’t absolutely chomping at the bit... That’s the bar I’m using this year (absolutely chomping at the bit to read), and I’m also making one other change: I’m putting some of the books I’m most eager to tear into in...

If I get to them sooner? That’s quite alright. I’m guessing I’ll just be grateful to have read them at all :) (If you’re new, this is the very lowest-key of book clubs: I consider it a delightful exercise in thoughtfully planning my reading a year at a time (12 fiction, 12 non-fiction), and though I’m... January:The Unmaking of June Farrow | I love a well-done time travel escapade and this 2024 NYT bestseller, set in North Carolina and recommended by Janssen, has all the makings of a hit: “a... February:Gilead | This Pulitzer Prize winner has come recommended from many different sources over the years, and not always ones that I’d guess would appreciate a book about a pastor in the 1950’s.Adorning the...

I’m looking forward to reading my first offering from Andrew Peterson. It’s time for the 12th edition of my annual reading list. I like to put together the list as way to document my reading goals for the year and to collect any suggestions or recommendations you might have based on the types of books I... Similar to recent years, I’m maintaining two lists. The first list is my fun reads, which are generally fictional works from the science fiction genre. I read these books for entertainment, although there are distinct reasons why the list leans towards science fiction that you can read about here.

My morning reads is the list that I use for learning. The themes are primarily personal development, health and wellness, and business. The guidelines I use to comprise each of these lists are included at the end of this post. My ‘Want to Read’ list on Goodreads had 205 books on it to start the year which, believe it or not, is an improvement from last year when there over 220 books on it. I generally read about 30 books in a year – 20 from my fun reads and 10 from my morning reads. I’ve trimmed the overall number of books in my queue by being more selective in what I add to it.

While I create and use the lists to guide my reading, I’m don’t rigidly adhere to them. If a strong recommendation or new title comes up, it could jump the queue if I find it interesting. Each year, there are a couple of titles that I like to try and revisit. It’s a good way to reinforce the key concepts I took away the first (or last) time I read it. I didn’t do a good job of this last year, but I’d like to revisit at least one or two off this list in 2025. Flights of Foundry is upon us - it starts in just under 2 hours!!!

For those who don't know Flights of Foundry is one of my all-time favorite conventions for creatives, featuring online programming for 3 days straight for writers, translators, artists, and more! Flights of Foundry is run by Dream Foundry, a nonprofit dedicated … Continue reading My Flights of Foundry Schedule! (2025) Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference by Joanne Oppenheim (2006) I picked up Dear Miss Breed on a whim at... I … Continue reading Review: Dear Miss Breed Since I've just recently hit a new milestone (11 published speculative fiction translations, with another 1 on the way!), I thought I'd highlight each of my published translations so far and why I love...

(I've also included the corresponding submission stats, for the curious.) Based on my statistics for these translations, it usually takes … Continue reading Milestone: 11 Published Translations! CW: Mass shooting Jennifer Government by Max Barry (2003) This was my third re-read of Jennifer Government—the first time was in 2003, while it still had the NEW sticker on it at the library,... 2013, after successfully tracking down "the sci-fi book with a green eye on the cover". Jennifer … Continue reading Review: Jennifer Government I invented this recipe while trying to recreate (from memory) a berry-flavored Lillet cocktail I once had at a restaurant in Germany. Though this is not the same, it comes rather close and tastes quite refreshing - perfect for a hot day!

Ingredients Makes 1 drink. 1 oz. Lillet blanc 1 oz. vodka 1 oz. … Continue reading Cocktail Recipe: Lillet-berry Mule I love a good list, hahaha.

Part of me feels a little aimless during summertime because there’s no classes, no school imposed structure, no hard and fast deadlines to keep me accountable, and all that. Sometimes it feels like there’s nothing between me and just sitting around all day doing nothing. However, like Kirillov says in Demons by Dostoevsky, behold my terrible new freedom. Here’s my list of books to choose from that I want to read this summer, and probably into the fall. It’s a ton of books, and that’s not necessarily saying I want to finish them all in a strict timeframe, but these are my choices so I can pick what I’m in the mood... We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Flights of Foundry is upon us - it starts in just under 2 hours!!! For those who don't know Flights of Foundry is one of my all-time favorite conventions for creatives, featuring online programming for 3 days straight for writers, translators, artists, and more! Flights of Foundry is run by Dream Foundry, a nonprofit dedicated … Continue reading My Flights of Foundry Schedule! (2025) Since I've just recently hit a new milestone (11 published speculative fiction translations, with another 1 on the way!), I thought I'd highlight each of my published translations so far and why I love... (I've also included the corresponding submission stats, for the curious.) Based on my statistics for these translations, it usually takes … Continue reading Milestone: 11 Published Translations!

It's been a while since I've made a reading list for myself (the last one was in 2017!), so I thought I'd make one for 2025. For this reading list, I tried to pick a mix of books I haven't read before, as well as some I've been interested in re-reading; fiction and nonfiction. There's … Continue reading My Reading List for 2025 Somehow, 2024 is over, so here's my retrospective for the year. If you're looking for my 2024 Awards Eligibility Post (AKA, everything I wrote or translated that was published in 2024), you can find it here! This post is broken into the following sections: Annual Statistics My Progress In Praise of Zine Fests My Struggles … Continue reading 2024 Annual Wrap-Up Post

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