Strange Bedfellows – The Bookish Mutant

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles!

2025 is a year that defies any kind of platitudes for me, but it was a year full of upheaval—good and bad. I’m nearly finished with college, I moved into an apartment, I had my golden birthday…all with the looming specter of fascism overhead. Too many people are concernedly fine with that last bit.

This year, I wanted to make a concerted effort to read more nonfiction. As of now, according to my Storygraph, my ratio of fiction to nonfiction is 88% to 12%, which…yeah, there’s still a pretty obvious bias. But compared to last year, where only 6% of what I read was nonfiction, that’s a significant jump up! 6% more than last year! Yet even still, most of my 5-star reads ended up being nonfiction this year, something that I did not see coming. Granted, not every nonfiction book I read was amazing, but there were some real heavy-hitters this year. Spanning from memoirs to essays on everything from grief, art, and identity, I feel like this nonfiction exemplifies my aim this year: to learn more, but to resist the kind of person that the government wants me to be, and that’s someone who is ignorant. I don’t want to thank the current administration for anything, but I will give them this: their insistence on dumbing down the population has only made me want to learn more.

Last year, I talked about how my 5-star reads seem to shrink a little every year; I still maintain that it’s probably for the best, since I’m more selective now than I was before. (Also, it’s bound to be less since I read less and more slowly these days. I’m not blowing through 300 books a year like I was when I was 10 years ago.) And yet I noticed this year that sometimes, I was almost afraid to rate books 5 stars. I found myself second-guessing constantly: did it really move me that much? Was it that good to deserve full marks? Sure, I’ve retrospectively changed ratings of books here and there—it’s bound to happen as we age—but I just need to remember to go with my heart. And what spoke to my heart this year was an oddball bunch—fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and science fiction featuring cats. All of it moved me in some strange way, giving me the liberatory knowledge to move forward and the strength to persist. So here’s to these amazing novels that moved me the most this year.

NOTE: Normally, I don’t include re-reads on my 5-star reads of the year, but in this case I’ll make an exception, since for one of them, I retrospectively changed my rating to 5 stars. There’s nothing like a book that’s even better the second time around.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️THE BOOKISH MUTANT’S 5-STAR READS OF 2025⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Last Gifts of the Universe – Riley August | love transcends the impending collapse of civilizations!! and there’s a cat!!
Crying in H Mart – Michelle Zauner | This one gutted me, but Michelle Zauner has such a way with words, both in song and in prose.
Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times – Azar Nafisi | in the midst of sweeping book bans and looming fascism, this is such a potent reminder of the power of books and reading.
On Earth As It Is on Television – Emily Jane | A surprisingly emotional take on alien invasions, with a dose of bratty kids and cat memes. Not a mixture that I’d expect to bring me to tears, but Emily Jane sure did it. | Read my review here! *
What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory – Brian Eno and Bette A. | A concise meditation on the power of art from one of the artists that I’ve admired most this year.
Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora – edited by Saraciea J. Fennell | An excellent collection of the varied experiences of Latine people across the country, many of which struck a chord with me—Julian Randall’s “Julian4Spiderman” was a favorite of mine.
A Closed and Common Orbit (The Wayfarers, #2) – Becky Chambers | back in high school, this was my least favorite of the Wayfarers series, to which I say to my past self…how? Why? I re-read this for my science fiction course that I helped teach this fall (I can now count my professor as one of my Becky Chambers converts), and it touched me so profoundly. What a sensitive and raw depiction of trying to figure out what it means to be a human person when everybody else seems to have it down. (Spoiler alert: they don’t.)
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World – Robin Wall Kimmerer | I finally got around to reading most of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s books this year, and this was my favorite. A case against capitalism and a case for a world embedded more with gratitude towards the abundance present in the natural world (despite what oil executives will tell you).
Begin Where You Are: The Colorado Poets Laureate Anthology – edited by Turner Wyatt (anthology) | makes me immensely proud to be a Coloradan—no notes. Rest in peace to our most recent Poet Laureate, Andrea Gibson. ❤️‍🩹

*I’ve bumped this up to the full 5 stars from 4.75 in retrospect. Deserved.

HONORABLE MENTIONS (4.5 STARS)

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Have you read any of these books, and if so, did you enjoy them as much as I did? What were your favorite reads of the year? Let me know in the comments!

Today’s song:

That’s it for this wrap-up of books! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

Once again, I dropped off without warning, so apologies for that. But I just started school and moved into a new apartment, so I haven’t had much time to squeeze in some blogging. (Never mind the fact that I also have a short story due tomorrow and it’s only about 3 weeks into the semester. Whee!) This post has been written in advance, so that’s why you’re seeing it here. Chances are, I’ll probably be radio silent for a little while longer as I get my stuff fully together. But for now, here’s a recap of the latter half of my summer!

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

I’m one of those people who, even in the face of an expanse of free time (summer), easily gets restless and anxious. The solution was there all along…employment. I helped out with some online summer classes, which was a wonderful way to give some structure to my summer and provide something to break up the routine. And when the class ended, I’m proud of myself for committing to not slipping back into my anxiety before school started. When I look back at the person I was a year ago…well, I want to give her a hug, first off, but I’m so proud of the progress I’ve made since then. Anxiety really had taken ahold of me, and little by little, with the support of my wonderful family and friends (thank yous are due) and the work I’ve put in, I’ve been learning to take the reins back. There’s no feeling quite like seeing measurable progress in yourself. It’s worth it to try, is all I’m saying.

My obligatory temperature check on American politics might be pointless at this point, as the thermometer reached its hottest point long ago and the glass has all but shattered. I’d prefer not to dwell on it much. As a birthday treat, I stayed off the news for the whole week, and I’m continuing the streak. Some days the spirals get me, but I’m fighting like hell to make sure that they don’t take my sanity away and make me vulnerable to complete, utter helplessness. All I can say is for everyone to take care of yourselves. I love you. My heart goes out to everyone, but especially those in Washington D.C., Minneapolis, and Chicago.

And oh my god…I guess when I’m doing these 2-month wrap-ups, I forget that so much can happen in 2 months! Crazy, right? Superman? A massive ray of light in a dreary landscape of gritty superhero movies. Hope is punk rock. Saving squirrels is punk rock. (If anything, see it just to see Nicholas Hoult seething after Superman saves some kids.) Fantastic Four: First Steps? The first MCU movie I’ve enjoyed—genuinely enjoyed—in years. The world needed all that Silver Age goofiness (and Cousin Thing). I had the immense privilege of seeing Wilco twice, and both nights were spectacular! And Car Seat Headrest…I’ve already rambled enough about it. I crode. (See my accounts below scattered amongst the various July Sunday Songs posts.) I dyed my hair another crazy color. I finished knitting a whole scarf yesterday. I played guitar, I drew, I read, I wrote…I’m trying everything to keep the art in my life, even if only a smidge every day.

And I took another trip around the sun. I feel so grateful to be closing another chapter and starting a new one. I don’t want to jinx it, but I have a feeling that my senior year of college (how the HELL did that happen?? 😭) will be a good one. I’ll try to approach it in the same way that I’ve approached decorating my new place: putting in the work to making a space that I love. If anything, I ended August celebrating my birthday, laughing and eating cake, surrounded by people who I cherish. I have to remind myself, always, that even if I don’t see it, that I’m surrounded by love.

JULY READING WRAP-UP:

I read 16 books in July! Though there were a handful of misses, I read a ton of fantastic books for Disability Pride Month. The last book I read this month (On Earth As It Is on Television) unexpectedly blew me out of the water.

2 – 2.75 stars:

You, Me, and Our Heartstrings – Melissa See (⭐️⭐️.5)
The Words in My Hands – Asphyxia (⭐️⭐️.75)

3 – 3.75 stars:

How to Tell When We Will Die: On Pain, Disability, and Doom – Johanna Hedva (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Ab(solutely) Normal: Short Stories That Smash Mental Health Stereotypes – edited by Nora Shalaway Carpenter and Rocky Callen (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Something More – Jackie Khalilieh (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea (Tomes & Tea, #1) – Rebecca Thorne (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Under This Forgetful Sky – Lauren Yero (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Out on a Limb – Hannah Bonam-Young (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Two Lies of Faven Sythe – Megan O’Keefe (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

The Dispossessed – Ursula K. LeGuin (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Loudest Silence – Sydney Langford (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
All the Noise At Once – DeAndra Davis (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Ephemera Collector – Stacy Nathaniel Jackson (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Redsight – Meredith Mooring (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Open Throat – Henry Hoke (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
On Earth As It Is on Television – Emily Jane (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: On Earth As It Is on Television – 4.75 stars

REVIEWS:

SUNDAY SONGS:

BONUS:

The Bookish Mutant’s Books for Disability Pride Month (2025 Edition)

AUGUST READING WRAP-UP:

I read 14 books in August! Thankfully, I only read two books that I really didn’t care for, and there were tons of wins throughout the month: monsters in space, a surprisingly emotional story about sea monsters and Pokémon-obsessed children, and the great Brian Eno.

2 – 2.75 stars: