Book Reviews | Rachel Author Barnard

The books I read this year:

My favorite books I read this year:


Title	Author	Main Genre	Secondary Genre
Tokyo Heist	Diana Renn	YA	Contemporary
Lost Stars	Claudia Gray	Star Wars	Science Fiction
Up From the Sea	Leza Lowitz	Verse YA	Poetry
Tanabata Wish: A Coming of Age Rom-Com	Sara Fujimura	YA	Romance
Warcross (Warcross, #1)	Marie Lu	YA	Scienc Fiction
Light of the Jedi	Charles Soule	Star Wars	Science Fiction
Abroad in Japan: Ten Years In The Land Of The Rising Sun	Chris Broad	Memoir	Travel
Star Wars: Heir to the Empire	Timothy Zahn	Star Wars	Science Fiction
Unlikely Story	Ali Rosen	Romance	Contemporary
Hopeful Romantics	Susan Rufai	Romance	Contemporary
Mission: Red Scythe: A James Vagus Teen Espionage Thriller	C.W. James	YA	Mystery/Detective
BEELITZ-HEILSTÄTTEN: Where Ghosts Never Die	Marina Osipova	Historical Thriller	Russia/Germany
The Chemistry Test	Georgina Frankie	Romance	Contemporary
Tell Me It’s Wrong (Sweetspire #2)	Katie Wismer	Romance	Contemporary
Perfect Plans	J.T. Tierney	Romance	Contemporary
Project Hail Mary	Andy Weir	Science Fiction	Space Fantasy
The Beauty of the End	Lauren Stienstra	Science Fiction	Dystopian
Dating After the End of the World	Jeneva Rose	Romance	Post Apocalyptic
The Holiday Fakers	Evie Alexander	Romance	Christmas
The Profound Benefits of a Stint in Prison: Locked up and lucked out in max security	Andrew Hamilton	Nonfiction	Biography
The Holiday Grump: A Spicy, Small-Town, Christmas RomCom	Enni Amanda	Romance	Christmas
Recursion	Blake Crouch	Science Fiction	Time Travel
The Holiday Hate-Off	Angela Casella	Romance	Christmas
The Holiday Whoopie	Sara L Hudson	Romance	Christmas
Bot Camp	Paul Clarke	Middle Grade	Action
Human Again: In the AI Age	J.D. Macpherson	Nonfiction	AI & Semantics
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter, #1)	J.K. Rowling	YA	Fantasy
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)	J.K. Rowling	YA	Fantasy
Thirty, Flirty, and Forever Alone	Christine Riccio	Romance	Comedy
The Fall Risk	Abby Jimenez	Contemporary	Romance

Out of the ~48 books that I read, some reading stats:

I spent nothing on books this year (using promotional credits on Amazon worth $18.95, the library, Jon’s Audible credits, and reading for reviews).
Read more than 1 book from 3 different authors
20 with a romantic element
5 nonfiction
13,722 pages (average of 298pages)
Rated 30 books 5 stars (I’m more selective when choosing books to read)
7 books were from Amazon First Reads program
22 were review copies
8 audiobooks vs. 40 ebooks
11 books from the library
I read 9 books in anticipation of traveling/set in that location (Japan) with 3 Star Wars novels for Celebration; 2 in anticipation of seeing a play in NY in March of 2026
I reviewed 31 books this year (5 pending for this blog) for a total of 480 reviews written in my lifetime
I completed 2 reading challenges set by Reedsy Discovery and read all the books in the Hideaway Harbor Series as ARCs for reviews
One of my Reedsy Reviews (Perfect Plans by J.T. Tierney) was for a book that won the Discovery Editors’ Choice Awards (4/2597 books reviewed on the site)
6 of my book reviews were featured on Reedsy Discovery on their homepage as a top review! (Holly & Heartbeats; Lost and Found: The Misadventures of a Reluctant Trekker; Perfect Plans; Hopeful Romantics; Rainbows and Lollipops