My 2025 Retrospective

                                               

                                                   

                                                                   Happy New Year  

                                                                                     2026    

            

 I hope you're having a happy 2026 so far.  Here are a few statistics for 2025.  

My most viewed post was as usual on Flying High Reviews which has a larger audience.  That post was the review of Laurie R. King's 2025 Mary Russell novel which can be found here.  The most viewed post on Shomeret: Masked Reviewer is the one reviewing  Renters Unite which is a book dealing with tenant organizing.  It can be found here. 

I read 30 books in 2025 which is three more than I read in 2024.  Well, it's not much of an increase, but reading more is an improvement over reading less.  Let's hope I can do better in 2026.  Since I'm starting off 2026 with a BFB (Big Fat Book), I might want to consider doing a page count at the end of next year in addition to the book count.  

I had eight five star reads in 2025.  I know that it's six more than in 2024. So I'm happy with that.  I'll be featuring brief comments about all of those eight reads in this post.

 1) Hidden Libraries by D. C. Helmuth

  With a degree in library science, no one will be astonished to learn that I love libraries. Through Hidden Libraries by D. C. Helmuth, I discovered libraries whose existence was totally unknown to me.

2)Hope Dies Last by Alan Weisman 

 This deals with environmentally destructive policies that have devastated what was once known as the Fertile Crescent, and an engineer's hope that the damage can be reversed.  I was so sorry about the conditions in the area of the Middle East that Weisman was discussing.

3)Red Flag Warning by Dani Burlison

Red Flag Warning deals with the ongoing tragedy of California wildfires. People losing their homes to the fires and having to evacuate is the most important news story for Californians.  I was particularly interested in reading about incarcerated firefighters who make up one third of California's firefighting force.  

4)Renters Unite by Jacob Stringer

This is a book dealing with tenant organizing.  There was a tenant demand that landlords charge the same for rent to poor families renting the landlords' properties as is charged for public housing. I considered this demand one that was unlikely to be met.

5)The Hidden History of American Oligarchy by Thom Hartmann 

This book deals with the various types of oligarchy in American history and the struggles we have had with oligarchy which includes the American Civil War with the Confederate oligarchy. 

6)Spell Freedom by Elaine Weiss

This volume focuses on voter participation in the Deep South, and the school founded by Myles Horton to educate Black voters on what they would need to know to participate in elections.

7)The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon

There were well-known events from throughout American history, and information about racial and cultural minorities.

8)How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

  Antiracism involves taking a stand to actively oppose racism. The goal of activists should be to bring racism to an end. Antiracism needs to be spread as widely as possible. 

I am delighted to be able to bring these worthy books to the attention of my audience once more.  I hope more people will read them as a result of this retrospective.