And that is a wrap! 2025 is in the books. Thank you, 2025, for all the memories and the lessons you’ve taught me. We’ve successfully completed a 365-day revolution around the sun. But as the old adage goes, with every end comes a new beginning. 2025’s conclusion comes with the opening of a new door. We are provided with 12 new chapters, each accompanied by 365 blank canvases, upon which to paint new memories. I hope that we will paint these pages with memories that we will cherish for a lifetime, may it be with the people we love or all by ourselves.

As has been the tradition in the past few years, I will be kicking off the new year by looking back to the previous year, its hits, and of course, its mishits. It is also an opportunity to take a glimpse of how the coming year is going to shape up. This book wrap-up is a part of a mini-series that will feature the following:

  1. 2025 Top 20 Favorite Books
  2. 2025 Book Wrap Up
  3. 2025 Reading Journey by the Numbers
  4. 2025 Most Memorable Book Quotes (Part I)
  5. 2025 Most Memorable Book Quotes (Part II)
  6. 2025 New Favorite Authors
  7. 2025 Beat the Backlist Challenge Wrap-up
  8. 2026 Books I Look Forward To List
  9. 2026 Top 26 Reading List
  10. 2026 Beat the Backlist Challenge

For the third consecutive year, I managed to read more than 110 books. It still feels surreal how I was able to complete one of my long-time goals, and I was able to do it not just once, but four years, and consecutively at that. The post-pandemic years have certainly been my most prolific reading years so far. Of the 119 books I read in 2025, only twelve were new books. The rest were all backlist reads, underscoring the backlist backlog I have. Further, I have repeatedly emphasized that I am a Backlist type of reader. The glaring dichotomy between backlist and new reads comes as no surprise. This is also evident in my choice of books I read. Nevertheless, I did try to inject some new blood into my reading journeys in recent years.

Despite the strides I have made in reducing my backlist, my bookshelves are still brimming with backlist books, with some I bought over six years ago. To decongest this, I have been joining the Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge; I started back in 2019. Except for the first time I enlisted for the challenge, I have been successful in this challenge. I have even exceeded my reading goals. The number of backlists I read in 2025 was nearly double my target of 60 books. I was also able to complete reading all twenty books I specially listed for my 2025 Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge.

As has now become an integral part of my annual reading journey, I am signing myself up again for the 2026 edition of the Beat the Backlist reading challenge. This challenge was brought to life by Austine Decker. Essentially, the challenge is about ticking off older books from your to-be-read list. The books can be of any genre, format, or length.

The Rules

The Beat the Backlist challenge has one goal: helping you show your TBR who’s boss. There were no changes in the rules, which remain simple:

1. For a book to count, it must be published in the previous year or earlier. In 2026, that means that anything published in 2025 or earlier is fair game.
2. You have to start AND finish the book in 2026. 
3. And that’s very much it!

Everything beyond that is optional and all for fun! Please note that books of any format and of any genre will count. Re-reads will also count. It is also not necessary to own the book.

My Goal and Goal Tracking

While I can be ambitious once in a while, I have opted to keep my target realistic. My target for the year will again be 60 books, the same target I had in the previous two years. If the past four years were any indicator, I can easily hit 60 books or even more. This is, I guess, because I have been working from home. However, things are returning to normal, so there is no guarantee that I can hit lofty targets. As such, I want to set a conservative target, a realistic target. For the purposes of this reading challenge, I am enumerating 20 books that I resolve to read no matter what the circumstances may be. Some of these books were purchased earlier than the pandemic.

Here’s my 2026 Beat the Backlist challenge list:

  1. DREAMING IN CUBAN by Cristina García
  2. THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD by Alejo Carpentier a b d
  3. MARTIN RIVAS by Alberto Blest Gana b d
  4. NEWS OF A KIDNAPPING by Gabriel García Márquez c d
  5. PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT by Philip Roth a b
  6. WELCOME TO THE WORLD, BABY GIRL by Fannie Flagg
  7. NOSTROMO by Joseph Conrad a
  8. THE REVENANT by Michael Punke
  9. UNDERWORLD by Don DeLillo a b
  10. THE YEAR OF FOG by Michelle Richmond
  11. BEE SEASON by Myla Goldberg
  12. THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE by Thomas Hardy a
  13. YOUTH by J.M. Coetzee a c
  14. THE MISTS OF AVALON by Marion Zimmer Bradley b
  15. THE FAR PAVILIONS by M.M. Kaye
  16. LESS THEN ZERO by Bret Easton Ellis a b
  17. THE OGRE by Michel Tournier a b d
  18. THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE by Oscar Hijuelos b
  19. LOVESICK by Ángeles Mastretta b d
  20. THE LAST DAYS by Raymond Queneau b d

a 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die – 7
b 2026 Top 26 Reading List – 10
c Nobel Laureate in Literature – 2
d Translated Literature – 6

While it seems that I am setting a lofty target for myself, I am looking forward to both the challenge and the experience. These challenges, after all, are meant to push us beyond our boundaries. Success cannot always be guaranteed. Nevertheless, I am hoping I get to finish all these books. There is also a reason why I cross-marked it with my other reading challenges. For the third year in a row, I will also be participating in the reading prompt. Please note that this is optional and is just meant as a guide. Again, I am shooting my shots so I will be using the 54-prompt card. Below is the reading prompt in Bingo Format.

To help track my progress, I have downloaded the Reading Tracker Spreadsheet: