We’re making reading resolutions for 2026 and giving out our 2025 book superlatives!

Books and other media mentioned in this episode:

Lauren Bacall filmography
Jane Austen books
Emma by Jane Austen
Libba Bray books
Book of the Month Club
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
Emily Henry books
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Women’s Prize for Fiction
Next Chapter Society Book Club
The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Romanceopoly 2026
Under the Covers (blog)
@booksandlala on Instagram
Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas

Most Timely
Ann: Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin
Halle: The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

Most Disappointing
Ann: Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez; Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See; Knife by Salman Rushdie
Halle: The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese; Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry; Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
– Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Favorite Reread
Ann: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen; Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
– Persuasion by Jane Austen
– Kristin Atherton filmography
Halle: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry; Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Biggest Surprise
Ann: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
– Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
– Terry Pratchett books
– Neil Gaiman books
Halle: The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith; Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman

Least Favorite
Ann: The 23rd Hero by Rebecca Anne Nguyen; Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate
Halle: The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb

Book That Lived Up to the Hype:
Ann: The Favorites by Layne Fargo; Long Bright River by Liz Moore; A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Halle: Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino; The Will of the Many by James Islington

Best Distraction
Ann: The Goldens by Lauren Wilson
Halle: If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia; Violet Thistlewaite is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz

The Book That Ended a Mini Reading Slump
Ann: Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall
– Broadchurch (TV)
Halle: Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry

Most Unputdownable
Ann: Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter; A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall
Halle: Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino; Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBrayer; Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
– Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros

Better Late Than Never
Ann: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara; The Housemaid by Freida McFadden; A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Halle: The Beartown trilogy by Fredrik Backman; Kindred by Octavia Butler

Book That Has Stayed With Me
Ann: The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali; The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
Halle: The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett; Audition by Katie Kitamura

Book That We Didn’t Think We’d Like, But Then We Did!
Ann: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty; The Lack of Light by Nino Haratischwili
Halle: Wreck by Catherine Newman

Author(s) we discovered in 2024 that we’re most excited to read more from in 2025
Ann: Kylie Lee Baker; Michiko Aoyama
– Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker
– What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
– Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker
– Hot Chocolate on Thursdays by Michiko Aoyama
Halle: Elizabeth O’Roark; Rachel Gillig; Ashley Manley
– The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
– One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
– Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig
– The Holiday Club by Ashley Manley

Hidden Gem:
Ann: The Bad Seed by William March
– The Bad Seed (film)
Halle: The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

Best Audiobook Experience of the Year:
Ann: Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto; Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild
Halle: The Favorites by Layne Fargo; The River Has Roots by Amal el-Mohtar

Our Favorite Non-Book Media Property of the Year
Ann: Becoming Led Zeppelin; Friendship; Art for Everybody; Toshiro Mifune everything
– Tim Robinson filmography
– Paul Rudd filmography
– Akira Kurosawa filmography
– Toshiro Mifune filmography
Halle: The Pitt; Man on the Inside; puppies!

The Book We Recommended the Most This Year
Ann: The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi
Halle: Heart the Lover by Lily King

What We’re Reading This Week:

• Ann: Prize for the Fire by Rilla Askew
• Halle: Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sarah Adams
  – When in Rome series by Sarah Adams

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