I'm trying to be more accountable to my goals. If I'm held accountable, then perhaps I'm more likely to accomplish what I set out to do.

2025 Recap

Reading - Goal of 20 books ✅ 22 completed

• January: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (reread, 4⭐️); These Hallow Vows by Lexi Ryan (3 1/2⭐️); Eragon by Christopher Paolini (reread, 5⭐️)
• February: nothing
• March: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman (4⭐️); Midnight Predator by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (reread, 5⭐️)
• April: All Systems Red (5⭐️), Artificial Condition (5⭐️), Rogue Protocol (4 1/2⭐️), Exit Strategy (5⭐️), Fugitive Telemetry (5⭐️), and Network Effect (5⭐️) by Martha Wells (all rereads except Fugitive Telemetry)
• May: nothing
• June: The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks (just the last 100 pages to finish after a long break, 3 1/2⭐️); Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (reread, 5⭐️); System Collapse by Martha Wells (3 1/2⭐️); Jack the Giant Killer by Charles de Lint (4⭐️)
• July: nothing
• August: nothing
• September: Fated by Benedict Jacka (reread, 5⭐️); Jedi Quest #1: The Way of the Apprentice (4⭐️), Jedi Quest #2: The Trail of the Jedi (4⭐️), and Jedi Quest #3: The Dangerous Games (4⭐️) by Jude Watson
• October: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (reread, 4 1/2⭐️); Reached book 20
• November: nothing
• December: Strange Houses by Uketsu (4 1/2⭐️); The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (4 1/2⭐️)

Writing - Goal of finishing a novel first draft (partially completed)

• Finished the first draft of a novella in June
• Wrote over 68k across various projects (that I have recorded. The number is actually higher. I wasn't always consistent with recording word count.)

Dramas - No goal, just a record

• When the Phone Rings, Netflix (Korean)
  • Very good tension, tender romance, excellent twists throughout
• Dept. Q, Netflix (British)
  • My favorite character trope of grumpy cop, great character development, tense mystery to the end, I want more (and more is coming)
• Love in the Clouds, Netflix (Chinese)
  • A happy ending in a Chinese drama, heckin' finally, working together to solve the problem rather than one of them sacrificing themselves, an identity twist that was very interesting
• Genie, Make A Wish, Netflix (Korean)
  • Some of it was cheesy, the casual domestic abuse against the male lead was icky, the depiction of psychopathy was wildly incorrect, but it was short and sweet, and had the best surprise cameo in existence
• Stranger Things, Netflix (American)
  • The grand finale dropped on the last day of the year, a 2-hour episode of taking down the villain, a culmination of 5 seasons of horror, adventure, and mystery.
• Blossom, iqiyi (Chinese)
  • Another happy ending! Time-resetting to fix a bad ending! The romance couple act like rational people who can communicate like grown-ups! So refreshing!
• Love of the Divine Tree, iqiyi (Chinese)
  • The healing power of kindness and love. Happy endings keep happening and that makes me happy. (last year it felt like nothing but bittersweet or ambiguous)
• The White Olive Tree, iqiyi (Chinese)
  • The pain. One of the most heart-breaking dramas, and I hate the writers for what they put the characters through. That ending. Nuh uh. This needed a whole extra ten episodes to show the road to recovery.
• Fated Hearts, iqiyi (Chinese)
  • Mirror characters, amnesia trope x2, secondary romance was toxic but mesmerizing and then tragic, and a happy ending.
• When Destiny Brings the Demon, Viki (Chinese)
  • Transmigration drama, female lead was endearingly lazy, another healing power of kindness and love drama, the kissiest Chinese drama I've seen, made it to the final reunion but not the actual happily ever after dang it.