Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank

Book #52 in 2025
4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

I read this book when I was in college or just out of college but it wasn’t the unabridged version. I wonder what would have happened to Anne if she had survived.

Reading this as an older adult I could see the middle school aged writing in her diary. Thinking about boys (and a girl), wondering about life, etc. Parts of it almost sounded normal as she descriibed her life. But knowing she was in hiding and would be discovered put a different feel and spin to it.

I’m glad that her word were able to be published even if she never knew it happened.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Book #51 in 2025
4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

I’m surprised I enjoyed this book as much as I did. It’s pretty simple. If you sit in a seat at a cafe you can travel backward or forward in time to any point you’d like. You have to visit someone who has come into the cafe and you can only visit for as long as your cup of coffee is warm. You also can’t change anything that happens in the future or happened in the past.

I like this concept. You can travel and get a better understanding of something but you can’t change the outcome of what will happen or has happened. The stories of four people who time travel are told in this book. There are other books after this that tell the stories of others.

It was kind of like reading separate short stories but I didn’t mind. I’ll likely read (or listen to) the other books at some point.

All Dogs Go to Kevin: Everything Three Dogs Taught Me by Jessica Vogelsang

Book #50 in 2025
4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

I enjoyed reading this book. A veterinarian tells her story of how she became a DVM and of some dogs she had in her life along the way. I found the author’s compassion about her own dogs as well as those she took care of to be genuine.

There are some humorous parts to this book as well as sad but overall I feel like the reader is left feeling uplifted.

Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know by Alexandra Horowitz

Book #49 in 2025
3.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

I don’t feel like I really learned too much from reading this book. Perhaps it’s from years of fostering dogs or having dogs of my own. I think this would be good for someone new to having a dog or thinking about getting a dog.

Sometimes I felt like the author was lecturing rather than telling a story, giving advice, or sharing reasons why dogs act and think the way they do.

Lovers in Auschwitz: A True Story by Keren Blankfeld

Book #48 in 2025
3.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

This wasn’t a bad book but it wasn’t one that necessarily moved me. It’s more about two people who knew each other in a concentration camp and their individual story rather than how they were “lovers” or fell in love during this time.

Still, their stories are touching and it’s sad to read about the horrors that people had to endure and what they had to see during this time in history.

Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz by József Debreczeni

Book #47 in 2025
4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

This is one of the better books about WWII that I’ve read (or in this case listened to). The author is a journalist who writes about his time in concentration camps.

His story is a lot like others I’ve read. There’s sadness, little hope, trying to survive, and witnessing things humans should not have to endure. The author’s testimony should remind us that these horrible things happened.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Book #46 in 2025
4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

I enjoyed this book. I also enjoyed Migrations by the same author. Her writing style draws you in. She likes to focus on nature and environmental topics. This book was no different.

The Salt family is on an island. They’re charged with keeping a vault of seeds safe as the world seems to be coming to an end. The hope is that at some point these seeds can be used to start over again. Unexpectedly, a woman washes up on shore. The Salt family has secrets and this woman seems to as well. Will they learn to trust each other? Can they trust each other?

The world is falling apart around them but they seem to need to rely on each other for survival.

This book is an emotional ride. There’s drama, mystery, and gives you a lot to think about when it comes to the environment.

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis

Book #45 in 2025
3.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

This was an okay book for me. I’m usually not into fantasy or cozy types of books but I wondered how a humorous cozy fantasy would be. It wasn’t bad but not a page turner either.

Gav wakes up not knowing where he is or who he is. He slowly starts to realize that he’s an evil wizard. But he’s not sure he wants to be bad. He has to try and figure out what’s going on in his life, what he wants out of it, and figure out what his “bad” self has done. There’s a princess he has locked up. Other evil wizards are looking for his help with various things. Gav must decide who he wants to be.

The humor wasn’t too bad. Some of it felt forced but there were some parts that had me chuckling a bit. I really liked the goblins!

It was a bit annoying that it feels like old school fairytales where the princess is looked at as being beautiful but powerless if not also stupid.

My Next Breath: A Memoir by Jeremy Renner

Book #44 in 2025
3.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

I’ve seen quite a few of the films Renner has been in – mostly the Avengers series. I remember seeing article headlines about his accident but I never read about what exactly. happened. In this book he recounts the accident and recovery.

At times he comes off as a bit of a jerk or know it all. But at times he seems very genuine and caring. It seems like having this experience (and feeling as though he died and came back) has given him a strong outlook on life. I don’t find this to be either good or bad.

He survived a horrific accident and lived to tell about it. You can tell that he loves his family and wants to help others.

The River by Noelle Ihli

Book #43 in 2025
3.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)

This is a 14 page short follow up to Ask for Andrea. It’s from April’s point of view and ties up her portion of the story.