A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

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2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge

The goal for the 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge was 12 books. I completed the challenge with about a week to spare. However, I didn’t do as well as last year, so I may need to make a tweak for 2026 to push myself (more on that in a separate post). Here is the list of books I read in 2025 (* indicates a book from my “read again” list).

2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge Completed Badge
  • Fate of the Jedi: Vortex by Troy Denning
  • Fate of the Jedi: Conviction by Aaron Allston
  • Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman
  • Fate of the Jedi: Ascension by Christie Golden
  • *Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
  • Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
  • Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse by Troy Denning
  • Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
  • The Martian by Andy Weir
  • Crucible by Troy Denning
  • Darth Plagueis by James Luceno
  • Murtagh by Christopher Paolini

Reading Challenge Statistics

As I said, I read 12 books, which was the same goal as 2024; however, I managed to get one more in. Obviously, that did not happen in 2025, so I guess I should push myself to read at least 13 in 2026. You’ll also notice that I finished the Fate of the Jedi series, which is a nine-book commitment. I did enjoy them, but they are considered Legends and not canon.

In the summary I received, it said I read 5,284 pages, which is about four hundred less than last year. The longest book I read was Murtagh at 688 pages.

My favorite book from the year is undoubtedly Project Hail Mary. In fact, it was one of the most read books of 2025. I’m sure the upcoming movie probably has something to do with that. I’m even considering trying to read it again before I see the movie.

Only one book is from my “read again” list, which is Fool Moon, the second book of the Dresden Files. I’m excited for the release of book 18 later this month, titled “Twelve Months”.

How well did you do with your 2025 reading goals?


“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” 
– Dr. Seuss

2025 Year in Review

We have now completed 25 years in the new millennium and a quarter of the way through the century. 2025 was a pretty good year; fairly normal, but I do have some things to work on in 2026 to make up for where I fell short in some of my goals. Of course, the goals for 2026 will be covered in another post. We will cover the same three categories.

Biggs 2025 Goals

January always seems to drag on and yet I’m still late writing this post. I guess it’s been a little busy but perhaps I was also just being lazy. It’s not been easy getting motivated to do anything. My actions were as frozen as the city around me, but that’s starting to change. So let’s get into my 2025 goals.

2024 Year in Review

jumping from 2024 to 2025

We are now a quarter of a century into the new millennium. It’s hard to believe. Thankfully 2024 wasn’t as somber as the year before. In fact, 2024 was a fairly normal year. There are a couple of notable moments that I will get to in the sections below.

2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge

I did much better on my Goodreads reading challenge this year. The goal was set at 12 books and I finished 13 books this year. I finished the last book a mere 4 hours before midnight on New Year’s Eve. However, I did not knock any more books off my “read again” list primarily because I spent most of the year reading several series, as you will see in the list below.

2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge
  • A Killer’s Mind by Mike Omer
  • The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen
  • The Faithless Hawk by Margaret Owen
  • Empire of Storms by Sarah Maas
  • Fate of the Jedi: Outcast by Aaron Allston
  • Fate of the Jedi: Omen by Christie Golden
  • Kingdom of Ash by Sarah Maas
  • Fate of the Jedi: Abyss by Troy Denning
  • Fate of the Jedi: Backlash by Aaron Allston
  • The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah Maas
  • The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
  • Fate of the Jedi: Allies by Christie Golden
  • Forever Free by Joe Haldeman

Reading Challenge Statistics

As I said earlier, I read 13 books in 2024; of those 13 books, only 1 is not part of a series. The other 12 books are part of The Merciful Crow, Fate of the Jedi, Throne of Glass, and The Forever Free series. A Killer’s Mind is a crime novel that is outside my normal genre of books. The rest of the books are all in the fantasy and/or sci-fi genres.

Goodreads sent me a summary of the books I read in 2024 and I thought the data was pretty interesting. I read 5,473 pages excluding the book I’m already reading. The longest book I read was Kingdom of Ash at 980 pages and the shortest book was The Forever War at 254 pages.

If you like science fiction then I recommend The Forever War and Forever Free. The Throne of Glass books are really good but it’s an eight-book commitment and many of the books are pretty long.

The Fate of the Jedi series consists of nine books and they are considered Legends (i.e. it is not considered canon). The books take place about 40 years after the events of Return of the Jedi. I am really enjoying these books and I look forward to finishing the series in early 2025. I’ll get into the 2025 goals in an upcoming post.

How did you do with your 2024 reading goals?


“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” 
– Dr. Seuss

2024 Goals Mid-Year Check-in

June has come and gone so it’s time to check in on the progress of my goals for the year. As a reminder, my annual goals encompass three categories: Wellness goals, Reading goals, and technical skills goals. I admit that these posts provide zero informational value to anyone who reads them. It’s merely a means for me to provide accountability for pursuing my goals each year.

If you do read it and have some suggestions or feedback, I encourage you to leave a comment. Keep in mind that if you have not left a comment in the past, I will have to approve it before it appears. This is for security reasons. In the past, I’ve had to remove hundreds of spam posts therefore I changed the configuration so new comments have to be approved.

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