HELLLOOOOOO WELCOME TO 2026, WHERE WE'RE SERVING UP FRESH HORRORS DAILY WITH A CHASER OF MEMES

First up, the sales/free books portion of the email!

​THIS GREAT WILDERNESS and THE WAR IN OUR HEARTS are $1.99 on Chirp for the next week. It's Jamie and George's birthday (and Leni's!) as I'm writing this on the 9th, so of course I had to run a sale.

​THE WAR IN OUR HEARTS is free on Amazon for a few days. If you've been thinking about getting it, now's a great time!

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Now, on to a rundown on my reading journey in 2025!

Hours listened: 1167

Pages read: 15,192

Longest book: The Love Songs of W. E. B. DuBois (almost 30 hours)

Books I did not finish: 14

My finished book brackets for 2025:

Bracket criteria that I've set for myself -

*Re-reads are automatically disqualified.

*If I only read one nonfiction or one fiction book in a given month, that goes on the bracket by default, to be ousted by the next month's pick as needed.

I don't have comments on all of these (if you desire comment on any I passed over, let me know) but here goes!

January: The Sherlock Society by James Ponti

February: Jean and Johnny by Beverly Cleary

Since this was the winner, I'll point you back to when I talked about it back in February!

March: The Ways of White Folks by Langston Hughes

April: The Woman in the Cabin by Becca Day

May: Cross My Heart by Megan Collins

Unrelated to the book itself, but Megan Collins is a truly lovely person and I am so glad to know her. She's been a rockstar all year in the realm of helping the displaced and suffering in Gaza, organising fundraisers and raffles and making sure we do not forget the horrors of a genocide that is happening right now. If you're interested in helping Palestinians financially, she's a good person to reach out to, as she or her contacts can point you to vetted individuals you can help support. Here's her IG profile!

June: Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

July: A Rock and a Hard Place by JD Kirk

August: Kit Learns a Lesson by Valerie Tripp

September: Really Truly Ruthie by Valerie Tripp

October: Rebecca to the Rescue by Jacqueline Dembar Greene

November: The One and Only by Valerie Tripp

December: Clue in the Castle Tower by Sarah Masters Buckey

January: The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson

Since this one was the winner-winner, let's just say that when I read it I loved it so much that I thought it would be hard to top, and apparently I was right. I've thought about it so often since I read it that I know I'll soon be reading it again.

February: Black AF History by Michael Harriot

​I already wrote about this one in a previous newsletter, so if you missed that, you can go back and read it!

March: Outposts by Simon Winchester

April: Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

May: The World Record Book of Racist Stories by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar

June: How God Became King by N T Wright

July: Hell's Half-Acre by Susan Jonusas

August: Crossings by Ben Goldfarb

I adored this so much I bought it.

September: We Came, We Saw, We Left

I am struggling to remember anything about this book at all. Like... complete blank.

October: Roads to Quoz by William Least Heat-Moon

This was lyrical and delightful.

November: Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham

In early 2000, my siblings and I were obsessed with the Encarta Encyclopaedia on our new computer. This video was a favourite that we watched so, so many times:

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Anyway, this book was great, really enjoyed.

December: All the Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell

This book was excellent, although some of it was really, really hard to listen to. If talk of child death is triggering for you, you'll want to avoid at least part of the book. I don't consider it a trigger and yet I still really struggled with getting through that part, so take that for whatever it's worth.

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And here are brand-fresh brackets you can use if you want for this year! I opted to leave off the month names and bracket graphics this time for a cleaner look.

Until next time,

Eva