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2025 in Books

2025 has been a year filled with a lot of challenges and a few opportunities. I went through some difficult medical situations. I had to travel to Pakistan for treatment, and luckily, I was able to recover, and I am living my life being grateful for every breath I take. I realize how valuable life can be when you face a life-threatening situation. 

At the beginning of the year, I had set a couple of milestones for myself to achieve, but unfortunately, I couldn't achieve most of them, not because I DIDN'T try, in fact, I tried my hardest, but couldn't achieve them due to the external factors over which I had no control. However, one of the targets I did achieve, overachieved to be precise, was reading books. I had set out to read 25 books during 2025, and yet I ended up reading around 30 books by November. Despite my responsibilities at work and challenges at home, and my personal life, I never stopped reading. Reading has always been one of the few things I truly enjoy in life. The novels I read in 2025 had an immense effect on me; all those stories made my year. And I am grateful for being able to read. HERE is the list of books I read this year. 

  1. The Answer is No by Fredrick Backman
  2. Not in my Book by Katie Holt 
  3. The Women by Kristin Hannah
  4. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan 
  5. Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sara Adams
  6. The Wedding People by Alison Espach 
  7. What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould 
  8. Islam without Extremes by Mustafa Akyol
  9. Lost Islamic History by Firas Alkhateeb
  10. The Crash by Freida McFadden
  11. 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest
  12. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World By Elif Shafak 
  13. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi 
  14. The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan 
  15. There Are Rivers in The Sky by Elif Shafak 
  16. Dancing in the Mosque by Homaira Qadery 
  17. The Island of Missing Trees By Elif Shafak 
  18. Caught Up by Navesa Allen
  19. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy 
  20. The Perfect Divorce by Jeneva Rose 
  21. One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
  22. First Life Wins by Ashly Elston 
  23. If the Train Arrives by Heather Fellin Tierney 
  24. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  25. The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston 
  26. The House of Cross by James Patterson
  27. Dead Girls Don't Talk by Sandra J. Paul
  28. 1984 By George Orwell 
  29. Dinner at the Night Library by Hika Harada 
  30. The Surrogate Mother by Freida MacFadden
Buying a Kindle was probably the best thing I have ever done in my life. Even after five years, it still remains my most precious asset. I hope to continue reading and enjoying stories for the rest of my life. Using my positive experience with Kindle, in also bought a new Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ to read PDFs on it. So far, I am loving it and planning to use it for personal growth. 

There was another thing that I can count it as an achievement. I applied and got admission in the MA in English at Indra Gandhi University through ICCR scholarship in New Delhi, India. I have been enjoying the online classes and materials which I am reading on my new Tablet. 

I don't know what 2026 has in store for me, but whatever it is, I look forward to it. This year, I hope to achieve my goals that I couldn't achieve in 2025. I remain cautiously optimistic about the future. I will try and leave the rest to the universe. 

Till the next time. 

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