1. The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick
Last year The Boy Most Likely To stayed on my TBR. After going back and forth with it a few times, I’ve decided that it is something I am still interested in checking out eventually, but I make no promises to get to this one this year.
2. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Maria V. Snyder’s Poison Study has been on my TBR since I was in elementary school. Despite the amount of time this book has sat on my shelf, I still plan to read it. I might be inclined to pick this one up in a few months when my schedule—hopefully—calms down a bit.
3. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Dealing with the important topic of sexual assault and rape, Speak is the first book that I—kind of—read from this list last year. While I didn’t read the actual novel, I did read the graphic novel this past summer and it was just as good and heartbreaking as I anticipated. For that reason, I still intend to read the actual book at some point in my life.
4. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Featuring one of my favorite fantasy tropes, I was so sure I’d read Cruel Beauty. I even went as far as downloading it on my Kindle, but I still never read it. If I have one reading goal this year, it’s to finish this book.
5. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Famous last words when I boldly claimed “this will be read this year” in last year’s post. To absolutely no one’s shock, I still haven’t read this, and I really have no other explanation than 2025 was a very bad reading year for me. I barely read anything. Between graduating college and working my first full-time job, when I did have free time, I wasn’t reading, no matter how tempting books like An Ember in the Ashes looked to me. I still really want to get to An Ember in the Ashes at some point.
6. A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston
While I still own and intend to read A Thousand Nights—a 1001 Arabian Nights retelling—I definitely didn’t read this one in 2025 either. I almost unhauled this book three separate times this year which makes me wonder if my time with it is almost up. For now, it’s staying on my TBR.
7. The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
Surprise, surprise. Another book I did not get to last year. I own this entire series, and it’s been sitting on my bookshelf and taunting me. I know I need to give up my dreams of a Percy Jackson reread and just dive into these books if I ever actually want to get to them.
8. Echoes by Laura Tisdall
After starting this book and making it about 20% in, I DNF’d it. This is a case of waiting too long and letting my expectations ruin the story for me. I know that if I’d read this in 2017 like I’d wanted to, I probably would have loved it. I can safely say, now that I’ve tried reading Echoes, I am not interested in continuing.
9. Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
After really thinking about this throughout the past year, I’ve decided Every Last Word is not a book I am interested in anymore. I was already on the fence about it last year, and after a year of not even remotely considering this when picking my next read, I know it’s time to move on.
10. The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
Along the lines of Speak, I know this book has a darker theme, which is why I’ve been putting it off for as long as I have although I know stories revolving around grief and loss are important and ones I usually enjoy. I know I want to get to this eventually, so it will remain on my TBR.
11. I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios
This is a book I actually tried to read for several months but couldn’t really get into. When I couldn’t get past the first couple of chapters, I decided that it was probably a sign that I just wasn’t feeling it anymore due to the writing style and humor, and removed it from my TBR.
12. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
My first success! I read this book near the middle of the year when I didn’t know what to pick up and it definitely had its strengths and weaknesses. I know I probably would’ve liked this book significantly more if I’d just read it when I was a teenager. I liked the feminist theme, but it felt a little on-the-nose and superficial.
13. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
While I started this book ages ago, this is yet another book I haven’t finished. I definitely plan to restart and finish this book—eventually. But if I’m being honest, I don’t think 2026 is the year that will happen.
Moral of the story: sometimes life gets in the way, and reading—unfortunately—ends up on the back burner. One of the biggest lessons 2025 taught me was to stop forcing myself to do things I love, especially with reading. When I pressure myself to read, the enjoyment disappears, and I end up avoiding it for even longer. By any metric, 2025 was my worst reading year in a long time—maybe ever. I finished just under 40 books, compared to the 80s and even 100s in previous years. And yet, I don’t feel disappointed. 2025 was full of experiences, adventures, and moments that mattered far more than reading or completing a TBR goal. This year, I plan to be more intentional about what I read, but I’m not going to pressure myself into a list of books or any other metric I’ve previously used.
Vanshikha Vij, Pine Reads Review Writer