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What I Read This Year: From the Good and the Great to the Spicy 🌶️
20 Plays1 month ago
This is your New Year's week book episode to send off 2025 right - wrapping up the year with all the books I read, from the emotional to the adventurous to the absolutely spicy, complete with reading stats and spice levels. If you're looking for book recs to start 2026, this is it.
2025 READING STATS:
- 27 books read (goal was 35, but last year was only 25 total!)
- 9,954 pages
- 12 days average per book
- Top moods: Emotional, Adventurous, Funny
- Top genres: Fantasy, Romance, Contemporary
MY ONLY 5-STAR READ: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood - inhaled in under 24 hours, Adam Carlson is a certified yearner, low spice but exquisite tension
4-STAR READS:
- Hot for Slayer by Ali Hazelwood (vampires! low spice, Buffy vibes)
- Deep End by Ali Hazelwood (medium spice, steamy, one triggering scene - check warnings)
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- Master of Me by Keke Palmer (audiobook win)
- All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks
- Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas (my book husband is in this one)
HONORABLE MENTION: Knot Falling For You by Winnie Aster (3.75 stars but lives rent-free in my brain) - cozy Omegaverse, my first in the genre, perfect balance of cozy barista life and medium spice with a doting partner who only wants the best for her (life goals), when you get to the spice it's CAP LOCKS BOLD ITALICS
From discovering that Ali Hazelwood owns my heart to realizing Omegaverse might be my new obsession, this year taught me that books give us the emotional, adventurous, and fun experiences we deserve.
We deserve levity. We deserve to do shit just because it brings us joy. These books brought me joy.
Subscribe. Share. Remember that reading for pleasure is valid and valuable.
Small steps, big healing. Keep growing! ✨
Download the free 2025 reading list! Organized by genre, ratings, and spice level - includes all books through December.
Join the conversation! What was your top read of 2025? DM me on Instagram @YourCoachMari - I need recs for next year!
Related Episodes: All About Love discussion, Empire of Storms Pt. 1 & 2, Heir of Fire analysis
💬 LET'S CONNECT:
Send in questions: contact+podcast@marisolmoran.com
We might just have the same taste in books. Check out my Book List
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Transcript
Introduction to Growing With Soul Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello beautiful souls and welcome back to another installment of the Growing With Soul podcast where we explore the moments and stories that shape who we're becoming. I'm Marisol and this is where I love to have real conversations about growth, self-discovery and learning to put yourself first.
00:00:17
Speaker
Whether we're diving into books that change our perspective or unpacking personal experiences that teach us something new, this podcast is for women who are done playing small and ready to embrace their own journey.
00:00:30
Speaker
If you've struggled with putting everyone else first or battled self-doubt, you're in the right place. This isn't about perfection. It's about the messy, beautiful process of growing into yourself.
00:00:43
Speaker
So come grow with me.
Year-End Literary Bash
00:00:45
Speaker
So we are ending the year with a little bit of a fun one, a little bit of a fun episode. It is a literary bash, if you will. We're going to be talking about the good, the the great even, and we're definitely going to be talking about the naughty. So cue Dirty by Christina Aguilera. Just kidding. Don't do that. um But just so you know, this breakdown is going to essentially wrap up all the books that I've been reading this year. i'm going to be talking about my top ones, give you some stats about all the books that I've read in general.
00:01:21
Speaker
and um But just so you're aware, it is only going to include up to November. I am recording this a little bit early, okay? Your girl deserves some time off. My podcast manager deserves some time off. So I am recording this early and essentially...
00:01:38
Speaker
You're going to get my stats and my opinions on all the books that i read all the way through the end of November. However, even with that being the case, there is a downloadable freebie linked in the show notes that has a list of all the books that I read this year, including the ones through December, or at least the majority of the ones through December.
00:02:01
Speaker
so Definitely go ahead and get that if you are interested based off of what I talk about here and like the genres that I listen to and all of that.
Organizing and Analyzing Books
00:02:09
Speaker
um If you want to see what I read throughout all of 2025, check out the freebie in the show notes.
00:02:17
Speaker
And by the way, that will be organized via um like genre. I'm going to be looking at like genre, my ratings, as well as a spice level. So you'll be you'll know ahead of time what you're going to get yourself into, essentially.
00:02:31
Speaker
Okay, so let's go ahead and get into it. and The stats, let's definitely talk about that first. So... By the end of November, had read 27 books. 27 books. My goal for 2025 is 35 books. don't know if am going to reach my goal by end December.
00:02:52
Speaker
is thirty five books i don't know if i am going to reach my goal by the end of december Maybe 35 books was little bit of a lofty goal, bit too much for me. At the same time, year, read 25 books all 2024. the that have 27 books read the November...
00:03:15
Speaker
Pretty fucking baller if you ask me. Pretty good
Marisol's Book Moods and Top Reads
00:03:18
Speaker
stuff. And just so we are all aware and on the same page, yes, this includes audiobooks and yes, this includes rereads, okay? So in terms of more stats, so far what that looks like is a total of 9,954 pages. That also, when looked at how long it takes me, looking at how long it takes me to read a book, That's an average of 12 days to finish a book. You know, it's because it takes me forever to read nonfiction books. Okay. And sometimes I give up on them and then I get back to them. You know what? Just nonfiction is a whole other, just like monster on its own. Anyway, anyway, the moods of my books, what, what do they tend to be? The moods of my books tend to be emotional, which was my number one mood, which a girl
00:04:05
Speaker
Last episode, I was talking about how I am a highly sensitive person. Okay. Just more sensitive than the average person. I think walking around on this planet. That is me, me, me, me. So the fact that my number one mood is emotional for the books I read checks out. Okay. The second is adventurous. I am a fantasy girly. So the mood is emotional and adventurous and you can't go on an adventure without getting a little bit emotional. Okay.
00:04:28
Speaker
Okay. And then the third mood is funny, which again, i have been i had been harping on harping on for like a while now that we deserve to have fun, we deserve more levity, and we deserve to do shit just because we fucking feel like it and it's going to bring us joy. So am I emotional? Check. Am I adventurous? Check.
00:04:48
Speaker
Should things be fun? Check. So that' it that explains me and the books I read, essentially. Now, the pace of the books I tend to read, I kind of they i think they tend to be medium-paced. I'm not usually reading fast-paced books. I feel like for the most part, you know, they're medium-paced. But that's okay.
00:05:10
Speaker
We're going on an adventure. It takes a while to get through the journey. That's fine. As for my top three genres, you can probably guess them already, but they are fantasy and romance and even contemporary. That contemporary one was a little bit of a surprise. and Not going lie to you. That one was a bit of a shock, but it's all the Ali Hazelwood. Let's be real.
00:05:34
Speaker
Now for my top reads of 2025. in 2025, one five-star rating. in all of twenty twenty five one fivetar rating And do you know what that book is? If you've been around for a minute, you know what that book is. And it is The Love Hypothesis by Allie Hazelwood. When I tell you i inhaled this book, when I tell you that I just like put the book on like my skin and absorbed it in through my pores, like this book was so fucking good.
00:06:06
Speaker
I read it in less than 24 hours, okay? I read that book in less than 24 hours. It is so good. It was fun. It was romantic. Adam Carlson was just like, oh my God, perfection. Adam Carlson was all about all of, okay? And I eat that shit up, all right? Like, I love a man that is serious about his woman. And Adam Carlson did not fuck around about all of, okay?
00:06:32
Speaker
The way this man was ready to throw hands, oh my God. And I just want to be 100% clear, that is only sexy in books. That is not sexy in real life. Only in books. Okay? Okay.
00:06:47
Speaker
But let's also not forget the yearning. Adam Carlson was a certified yearner. And I love a man that yearns. I would say overall this book is low spice, but the tension, the yearning, it's exquisite.
00:07:08
Speaker
So if you haven't read it, read it.
00:07:11
Speaker
Now for my four-star reads, I have two by Ellie Hazelwood, Hot for Slayer and Deep End. Then there is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I have a Master of Me by Kiki Palmer, All About Love, New Visions by Bell Hooks, Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas. Those are my four-star reads for 2025.
00:07:32
Speaker
Now, Hot for Slayer by Allie Hazelwood, low spice. But vampires, Vampire Slayer, love that. If you are a 90s baby and you love vampires, how you going to to Vampire Slayer? And it's a romance book? Girl, okay?
00:07:48
Speaker
Just give me give me all the Buffy vibes, okay? Give me all of it. This doesn't have Buffy vibes. It's just the Vampire Slayer. But how could I say no? And it's Allie Hazelwood. But I would say again, low spice, but you get that tension. You get the tension and it's beautiful. And honestly, the only thing missing in Hot for Slayer is the MMC being in a Henley.
00:08:09
Speaker
That's the only thing I didn't get that I wanted. But you know what? ah'll It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. deep end by Allie Hazelwood. Medium spice, baby. I would say this is medium spice and it is good. it is good spice. Okay. And prepare for the spice in this one to be steamy. It's steamy. It's sexy. It's a little bit forbidden.
00:08:32
Speaker
Watch out. Okay. And i will say with this one, I don't remember if this book comes with trigger warnings, but if it does, make sure to read them. There was one scene that did trigger me. One scene. And the thing is, i read it. This was a reread for me. And i forgot about that scene. like i complained like It triggered me the first time, and then I forgot about it, and then I was rereading it this year, and then it triggered me again in the exact same way. And I was like, ooh!
00:09:00
Speaker
Oh, okay. Okay. i I see myself here, but let me, let me work on this. Apparently something to heal. um But nonetheless, Lucas Blankvist is amazing and beautiful and wonderful and a fantastic MMC.
00:09:16
Speaker
And ultimately it is a romance novel by Ali Hazelwood. So it's going to be a fun, amazing time. But yeah, just wanted to put that out there because it did trigger me. So I might trigger some people out there too.
00:09:27
Speaker
Okay, so the next one is The Hunger Games, which I feel is pretty self-explanatory. I feel like I'm the only person on the planet who hasn't read all the books or even seen the movies. But, you know, I'm just, I'm not a dystopian girly. I never was.
00:09:42
Speaker
And, but I feel like it has its merit. And plus it's The Hunger Games. So I feel like, you know, like I should, you know, everybody loves them. So they have to be good. And they would, they would, I gave it four stars. I've only read the first book so far, but I gave it four stars.
00:09:54
Speaker
um So yeah, The Hunger Games. The next one is Master of Me by Kiki Palmer. I listened to this one because I really wanted to try out audiobooks for nonfiction because I have such a hard time getting through nonfiction books. I just, once I put the book down, I do not have any desire. Even if I find it enjoyable and valuable, I have no desire to pick it back up again and keep reading. So I thought maybe if I do an audiobook for nonfiction,
00:10:22
Speaker
I'll be able to get through it and enjoy it. And I did. I got through it. I really enjoy it. Plus, Kiki Palmer was the the narrator. So like, she's amazing. So that made it even more enjoyable. So the plus side is i did enjoy it and I was able to get through a nonfiction book more quickly than having read like a physical copy. The downside, though, is that I don't remember much of anything.
00:10:45
Speaker
in the book. um Whereas if I would have read it then I would have taken the time to really sit with the material, highlight, annotate, and thus remember. So there's that. The other four-star read is All About Love, New Visions by Bell Hooks. I did a whole podcast episode on this, so I'm just going to link that in the show notes. If you want to hear my thoughts on it, go check that out. It's it's a fantastic book. If you haven't read it, definitely read it If you feel like you might be interested in reading it, check out my podcast. like
00:11:15
Speaker
There's really no spoiler warning because it's a nonfiction book. Just check it out. The last four-star read is Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas. This is part of a series. It is, i believe, the fit the fifth book in the Throne of Glass series. So you have to get through quite a few books before you get to Empire of Storms. But this book has...
00:11:44
Speaker
much more of my favorite couple in that whole series and my book husband. Not just like, you know, a book boyfriend that I have, but hes he's my book husband, okay? He's in this. This is Low Spice and it's because the series overall starts as a young adult series. And I think it's still considered young adult all the way through. i would say once we get to the later books, it definitely is more towards the romantic side it in my opinion.
00:12:13
Speaker
Um, but just know that the entire series is pretty low spice and there is, you know, yeah, it's just low spice, but overall fantastic. If you are into fantasy and adventure and like maybe in the beginning, low romance, but then more into romance, like it's overall thrown a glass is a fantastic read and I really enjoyed it. And Empire Storms has my favorite couple. And I think that's why I gave
Honorable Mentions and Listener Engagement
00:12:39
Speaker
it four stars. Yeah.
00:12:41
Speaker
I do want to give an honorable mention because i was surprised that this book wasn't rated four stars when I was looking at my four star reads because I think about this book so much. This book, this book, this book, it like sunk into my brain, into my soul. Like, I don't know why I didn't give it four stars because I think about it all the time. And there's been like a somewhat of a sequel that came out that I haven't had time to read yet. And I keep thinking about it and I want to read it so bad, but there are other books that I'm reading that I really need to read for my own healing and like stuff, you know?
00:13:22
Speaker
um so I'm going to get to it. and But now this author is coming out with like a third book that in in the universe, and that's supposed to be coming out, i think at the end of December,
00:13:33
Speaker
I'm thinking. And it's like, oh my God, like I'm behind. But I really need to like, you know, like I'm not behind because it's not a true series. It's like different standalone books in the same universe, essentially. But the book is, the very first one is Not Falling For You by Winnie Aster. This book It is cozy Omegaverse, and for whatever reason, i gave it originally 3.75 stars.
00:14:00
Speaker
Girl, I don't know why, because again, I'm obsessed. It was my very first Omegaverse, and like I mentioned, I can't stop thinking about it. If you don't know what Omegaverse is, going to give you a little little taste, a little description of what it is, but...
00:14:15
Speaker
Definitely look it up because it's going to a quick description. Essentially, Omegaverse is a sub-genre of romance where the characters somewhat follow now outdated like wolf pack dynamics that people originally thought wolves had. um So you have alphas, betas, and omegas in the Omegaverse world.
00:14:33
Speaker
Alphas form packs, betas don't. And omegas can ultimately join an alpha pack or join a pack as essentially the love interest.
00:14:44
Speaker
So there are a lot of other things as well, like having like in like heightened senses of like smell, um having like scent matches, which is kind of like kind of like a faded mate type of situation thing. And then, of course, the not falling for you is what the K, so there is nodding in this as well. But but The thing is, well in terms of what that's what Omegaverse is. But the thing about this book that I think I love so much is that it struck such a perfect balance between being cozy and being spicy.
00:15:22
Speaker
Like the main character is a barista and then she ends up getting a job as like a contractor at a bookshop. and she ends up with a doting partner who like loves her and cares for her and only wants the best for her. like Girl, that's life goals. like that like that That's all I want. All I want in life is cozy and spicy and a loving partner who cares for me and my well-being. Like when you asked her, can you write my future? Okay, like only one partner necessary. um Not the whole pack, please. But... but
00:15:57
Speaker
ha I would say for this particular book, it's not, would say it's like medium spicy. So it's not like super, super spicy, but it's not like low spicy.
00:16:08
Speaker
And I will say that when you get to the spice, the spice is like Kaplock's bold italicized underlying spice once you get to those scenes. So prepare for that.
00:16:20
Speaker
Prepare for that. And again, when it comes to Omegaverse, you have one Omega. And a pack, which they then become a part of as the love interest, a pack can be anywhere between like two to like five alphas. So that's why it's just spicy. And if you feel like Omegaverse might be for you or you're curious to see what it might be, I really do think that Not Falling For You by Winnie Aster is a really nice introduction to the genre. So far, it's been the only Omegaverse that I've read.
00:16:53
Speaker
But I really want to read of Winnie Aster's books. And I'm very curious to read other Omegaverse novels as well. So i I love it. I loved the genre thus far. and love Winnie Aster. I love her social media as well. So if you don't follow her, check her out there too. She does post funny, cute, spicy things though.
00:17:15
Speaker
Funny, cute, and spicy things. So be aware, be aware, I suppose. But if you're here, you probably are into that too, you know, or at least you're open to it. so it's probably not that big of a deal, but those are my reads for the year. Again, this isn't an all encompassing, um, literary bash. This is just a little taste of what I read, my highlights, my top favorite books, um,
00:17:39
Speaker
And of course, if you want more, if you like these recommendations and want to know what else I read, check out my full reading list for 2025 through the link in the show notes. And if you stuck around this far, thank you so much for tuning into today's episode.
00:17:54
Speaker
If it resonated with you, if you liked it, don't forget to subscribe and to leave a five-star review so more people get to hang out with us and talk about books and geek out and talk about smut along with healing and growing.
00:18:07
Speaker
But ultimately, if you are looking for support in the coming year, or even now helping you transition into the new year, I am accepting clients and you can definitely schedule your very own discovery call with me through the link in the show notes. Until next time, keep growing.