My 2025 Reading Recap: Expanding Reading Horizons

Well, well, well, is it that time of year again when we start wrapping things up and looking back at everything we’ve done? I guess so. And as a reading enthusiast and a book blogger, of course I’m joining the tradition that sweeps across the internet every December: the annual reading recap.

Surprisingly, 2025 became the year my reading life expanded in ways I never expected. I’ve already mentioned these joys in this post where I stumbled into more genres I’d barely read before.

Looking back, this year felt like watching a rainbow appear across my bookshelf, each color representing a different kind of story I allowed myself to explore.

So, let’s dig into the details of this year’s reading recap.

How Many Books I Read

This year, I wasn’t chasing numbers. I swear I set my Goodreads challenge to just 75, even though I finished 113 books last year, so aiming for 100 would’ve actually made more sense. But instead, I chose ease over pressure.

I read at a pace that felt good, letting stories and curiosity guide me. When life felt heavy, I slipped into books. I read slowly and steadily in the quiet pockets of everyday life: on tram rides, during late evenings, and on cozy cafe time. And somehow, even without big goals, I ended up reading more than I expected.

This year, I read 144 books! Wow! Didn’t expect that number, honestly.

At last but not least, it is important to highlight that numbers are just numbers. What I’m truly happy about is how much I enjoyed the reading experience itself.

The Library, My Silent Reading Partner

By April, I realized I’d been borrowing so many library books that it deserved a mention in my yearly reflection. I’d never turned on my loan history. I just wandered in, picked up what looked interesting, and left. But as my reading habits widened, I wanted to honor the process a bit more.

So I began turning on the loan history setting so I can take a look back at every title I borrowed.

Since April to December 2025, I’ve borrowed 54 books from the Helsinki local library.

Fifty-four!

A number that feels both generous and comforting. It proves something I’ve always believed: reading doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive. Sometimes all you need is a library card and a bit of curiosity. And speaking of curiosity… it shaped not just what I borrowed, but who I became as a reader this year.

Can’t be more grateful enough for the access provided by Helmet network (Helsinki Metropolitan Area Libraries).

Becoming an All-Round Reader

If someone had shown me my genre breakdown for 2025 back in January, I wouldn’t have believed it. This year’s reading turned into a genuine rainbow: a mix of tones, moods, and literary worlds.

I used to stay safely within familiar genres, such as popular fiction or general nonfiction. But this year, it was expanded. I found myself reaching for poetry, memoirs, biographies, classics, and literary fiction. Each new genre cracked open a slightly different version of myself as a reader.

If I had to pick one phrase to describe my reading identity in 2025, it would be this: an all-round reader.

Exploring so many genres made reading feel alive again: unpredictable, yet deeply rewarding. This discovery journey didn’t happen overnight. But free-access platforms and, more importantly, Helsinki’s library made it nearly impossible not to explore.

The Books That Earned Five Stars

I don’t give five stars lightly. A five-star book, to me, is one that lingers. It makes me pause, underline a sentence, or close the book quietly just to think. The books that I still remember the lines and keep echoning in my brain days, months, or even years after I read it

The five-star reads of 2025 were the ones that:

stayed in my mind long after I finished
shifted something inside me
made me feel grateful to be a reader
reminded me why books matter

Each one was a small treasure, the kind you revisit not because you forgot the story, but because you miss the feeling it gave you.

This year, I give five stars to twenty books:

A Bookish Moment to Remember

I only attended one big book event this year, but it was quite a highlight: the Helsinki Book Fair in October. It’s an annual tradition for me, the kind of event I look forward to before winter arrives.

There’s something magical about being in a hall full of stories and surrounded by a crowd of people who understand exactly why you love them. I left with a warm, inspired heart and a wish for more book events in 2026, maybe something bigger in another city, or something small and intimate like a local book club.

If I have to conclude my reading journey in 2025, I would say that this year is my reading rebirth, a widening of the world I carry inside me. I read differently. I chose differently. I allowed myself to wander, to explore, to be surprised.

And it paid off.

My shelf is more colorful.

My reading habits feel freer.

My curiosity is louder than ever.

Cheers to more borrowed books, more unexpected discoveries, and more stories in 2026.

Sekar Writes