Shimmermarie's 2025 - Looking Forward, Looking Back

I have been in a very nostalgic mood recently and what better time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future than the beginning of the new year. So for this year's theme I've picked old book covers that I have fond childhood memories of! I think of it as being inspired by my old favourites to go and find new favourites in 2025 :D

This will be the first time I have the chance to spend the whole year recording my reads on LibraryThing and taking part in challenges. Compared to last year my goals are quite a bit more ambitious but we'll see how I do. I'm planning on taking part in CultureCat and BingoDog as well as reading the books I have received as gifts this Christmas or through EarlyReviewers.

2025 Reading List
Here I'm going to keep track of all the books I read this year. Compared to last year's goal of just reading 12 books, I'm being very ambitious this year, thus the choice of "The 12 Labors of Heracles" for this list. There are a couple of different phases and obsessions that are very common amongst kids. I had no interest in dinosaurs, was not obsessed with horses and was only kind of interested in ancient Egypt. Nope, I was a Greek mythology kid through and through!

CultureCat
This book of Bulgarian fairy tales is from a series called "Saja rahva lood" or "A Hundred People's Tales". We had a bunch of them at my home growing up and I think reading these was the first thing to make me interested in learning about other cultures and their traditions.

BingoDog
One day when I was around 12 or so my father dropped this book in front of me and told me I should read it. I was quite a stubborn child so I pretended to hate it but couldn't keep it up for long as I became fascinated by White Fang's struggles and adventures. It quickly became a favourite and was the first dog-related book I thought of.

Gifts and EarlyReviewers
"12 Gifts for Santa" is an adorable and funny book by Mauri Kunnas with such detailed illustrations that little me could never get enough of it. It felt like I discovered a new detail each time I looked through it!