This week’s Let’s Talk Bookish prompt was all about our first reads of the year! The first book I read of 2024 was started and finished on January 1st! After I started writing my responses for this post, it was hard to not get into a passionate discussion about YA literature and the potential impacts it has on teenagers. I would love to hear your thoughts and takes on the topic!
The prompt: What is/was your first read of 2025? Was it a deliberate selection? Or did you just pick up the nearest book? Do you typically make sure to finish all your current reads by the 31st? Do you mind if some of your reads spill over into the New Year? Are you particular about when you read certain books, or do you read whatever, whenever?
Let’s Talk Bookish is a bookish meme that was created by Rukky @ Eternity Books. Each Friday, bloggers write posts discussing the topic of the week. Since April 2022, it has been hosted by the lovely Aria @ Book Nook Bits.
What is/was your first read of 2025? Was it a deliberate selection? Or did you just pick up the nearest book?
My first read of 2025 was none other than The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This is actually a reread for me. I first read the book when I was 13 and in 8th grade (this was also three years before the book became a movie!). Since then, I have at least reread it five times. I know I read it a couple of times in high school (it might have been more but I wasn’t tracking my reading back then). I read it again in 2018 according to Goodreads, and now, I read it again seven years later.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is definitely one of my favorite books of all time (it even made my list in May 2024), so I was not at all surprised by what happened in the book. However, the book did affect me way more than I thought it would.
I am 27 years old now (almost 28), so I have been out of high school for ten years. I last read the book seven years ago when I was 21. Every other time I have read this book, I was in the middle of some life changing things. In high school, I was going through…well…high school! When I was 21, I was in my last year of college, trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life. I was also going through some mental health things.
I think this is why it had such a huge impact on me this time around. I haven’t been so far removed from all of the events and emotions, and it made me remember how seen I felt during this book. I also work with high schoolers now as a job, and I am much more impacted by the things teenagers go through because I have come to realize how common major events are. The last twenty-ish pages made me sob way more than I expected to.
I read a review after I finished reading that said this book was “too sad” and covered “too many serious topics” and “how unlikely it would be that all of this would happen to one high schooler,” and all I could think about was how untrue that was. Yes, it holds a lot of emotional impact. Yes, it covers many serious topics. But these are things that happen more often than most people realize.
It’s hard to not become political when talking about books like this, because Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of the books that is constantly on the banned books lists. Teenagers struggle with mental health, with trauma, and with exposure to drinking/drugs. But stories like this are so important! As someone who silently dealt with depression and anxiety in high school, it was life changing to read a book about someone going through similar experiences.
Anyways, back to the regularly scheduled prompt. I didn’t expect to become that passionate about this book, but hey! I consider that a positive experience. As I said above, I’d love to hear your thoughts or even get some recommendations on impactful YA literature. I’m always on the lookout.
Do you typically make sure to finish all your current reads by the 31st? Do you mind if some of your reads spill over into the New Year?
No, I don’t! If I am close to finishing, I do my best to finish by the end of the 31st. However, if I still have a majority of the book left, I’m not too worried. This year, I wrapped up one of the books I was reading on the 31st. But, I am still only 100 pages into Scythe. I decided to just carry that book into the new year.
Are you particular about when you read certain books, or do you read whatever, whenever?
The only time I am particular about when to read a book is if it is attached to a holiday. It feels so wrong to read a Christmas book outside of winter months. I will sometimes read Christmas-y reads in January, but after that, I am never really in the mood for a holiday read. Besides that, I will read anything at anytime!
Phew! That was everything for my first Let’s Talk Bookish of the year. I have missed doing these posts more regularly, and it is a goal of mine to at least do a couple a month in 2024.
Don’t forget to leave me a comment down below discussing your thoughts or leaving YA recs!!
Until next time, xx