Tag: Reports of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

My Top 25 Books of 2025

I am a couple weeks late on this. Many of my book reading blogger friends were more on top of it and posted their list during the first week of the new year. They took their Goodreads Year-end wrap ups and chose their 10 favorite books and posted them.

This year I read 50 books this year. I didn’t stray too far away from the types of books I like to read. I read plenty of fiction, some non fiction, historical fiction, biographies, and murder mysteries. Narrowing the list down to ten was more difficult than I thought, but here are my top ten reads of 2025 (with links to my posts about each).

10. The Book of Cold Cases – A thriller that follows two timelines. In 1977, the Lady Killer Murders took place and the main suspect is acquitted. In 2017, a true crime blogger runs into the main suspect and asks to interview her.

9. I Hope This Finds You Well – A workplace novel that was a fun read. An employee is accidentally granted access to everyone in the office’s email boxes. What she learns and what she does with the information brings about some funny and uncomfortable situations.

8. Surely, You Can’t Be Serious – A behind the scenes look at the movie Airplane! told by the creators. If you are familiar with the movie, you will be replaying scenes in your head as you read this. This is loaded with fantastic stories.

7. Dead Wake – This is the nonfiction story of the sinking of the Lusitania. For years I read books on Titanic, but I was unfamiliar with this story. A very well written account.

6. Kill For Me, Kill For You – This was SO good. It is a marvelous twist on Strangers on a Train with an ending I never saw coming.

5. The Deal of a Lifetime – This little short story/novella from Fredrik Bachman is one that will make you think about your life and legacy. It is a powerful message presented in a heartwarming story. I have yet to read a bad Bachman book.

4. Shemp! – As a Three Stooges fan, I’ve read all the biographies available on the boys. Finally, Shemp Howard gets a biography! Loaded with stories and information, readers will realize that there is a whole lot to learn about Shemp.

3. Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books – Another reviewer said this book: “takes an important, heavy, timely topic and makes it highly entertaining and extremely relatable while never sacrificing deep meaning, contemplation, and human empathy.” It was a ride that will have you feeling all the emotions.

2. Reports of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated – Despite the fact that my recommendation posted a little over a week ago, I read this one in 2025. The book has a similar premise to the book in my number one spot, but each are very different. At times it was very funny and at other times, I held my breath to see what happened next. A great story.

1. The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife – Hands down the best book I read last year. It was the one that I recommended to my reading friends. Frederick’s journey in the shoes of the deceased Bernard is one that will have you laughing and crying. It was a book that will stick with you long after reading it. It contains one of my favorite quotes: “You’ll never regret being kind even when people aren’t kind to you.”

I’d love to hear if you’ve read any of these and what you thought. If any of them are new to you, then you should have some to add to your “To Read” list.

I set my book reading goal for 2026 is 50 books. I’m hoping to exceed that this year.

Book Recommendation – Reports of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Here is another example of my reading a book simply because the title intrigued me – Reports of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated by James Goodhand.

This book was just fantastic. That isn’t always the case when you start reading knowing nothing but the title. However, as the story began, I connected with the characters (Especially Ray) and was hooked with the series of events that fall into place.

Let’s look at the Goodreads Synopsis:

A lifetime ago, Ray “Spike” Thorns was a well-regarded caretaker on a boarding school’s grounds. These days, he lives the life of a recluse in a house rammed with hoarded junk, alone and disconnected from family or anyone he might have at one time considered a friend.

When his next-door neighbor drops dead on Spike’s doorstep, a case of mistaken identity according to the police, the hospital, the doctors—everyone—Spike is dead. Spike wants to correct the mistake, really he does, but when confronted with those who knew him best, he hesitates, forced to face whatever impression he’s left on the world. It’s a discovery that brings him up close to ghosts from his past, and to the only woman he ever loved.

Could it be that in coming face-to-face with his own demise, Spike is able to really live again? And will he be able to put things straight before the inevitable happens—his own funeral?

This is the best kind of feel-good it’s deeply affecting but full of clever mishaps and enough laughs along the way. It takes the message from Dead Poets Society and mixes it with the tragedy of It’s a Wonderful Life and tops it off with an ultimately lovable guy like in A Man Called Ove. The result is a heartbreakingly beautiful look at life and what we would all do if given a second chance.

I absolutely love the description of Dead Poets Society, It’s a Wonderful Life, and A Man Called Ove. It really describes what you can expect from the book. I found myself jotting quotes from the book down on paper as I was listening to it.

This book follows the common format of moving back and forth between time. We see the main character as an old man, as well as his younger self. How do the actions and events of the past play into who he is as an old man? It’s that kind of thing.

There were some funny moments, some moments where you were are on the edge of your seat waiting to see what is going to happen, and moments that warm your heart and fill your eyes with a tear or two. It was really a great read. Some reviews said that the ending was predictable, but I didn’t think so.

I felt like the ending was a culmination of all I had read up to that point and then presented a wonderful surprise that had me smiling and holding back a tear. This didn’t fall into the “mystery/thriller,” “Historical fiction,” or “Based on a True Story” categories. It was simply a lovely story that deserves to be shared.

5 out of 5 stars