Tag: The Deal of a Lifetime

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 – The Deal of a Lifetime

If you are looking for a quick read to help you meet your reading goal for the year, I’ve got one. This one has a slight holiday theme and it will make you think. If that sounds interesting, check out The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman.

This was one of the rare books that I was compelled to write a Goodreads review about. First, let me share the Goodreads synopsis:

A father and a son are seeing each other for the first time in years. The father has a story to share before it’s too late. He tells his son about a courageous little girl lying in a hospital bed a few miles away. She’s a smart kid—smart enough to know that she won’t beat cancer by drawing with crayons all day, but it seems to make the adults happy, so she keeps doing it.

As he talks about this plucky little girl, the father also reveals more about himself: his triumphs in business, his failures as a parent, his past regrets, his hopes for the future.

Now, on a cold winter’s night, the father has been given an unexpected chance to do something remarkable that could change the destiny of a little girl he hardly knows. But before he can make the deal of a lifetime, he must find out what his own life has actually been worth, and only his son can reveal that answer.

With humor and compassion, Fredrik Backman’s The Deal of a Lifetime reminds us that life is a fleeting gift, and our legacy rests in how we share that gift with others.

Here now is my Goodreads review:

In reading some of the other reviews of this book, I was surprised at them.  Many of them speak of how good the concept of the story is.  Others complain that this should have been expanded into a full novel.  Some held back a five star rating simply because of those things.

One review spoke of how Backman’s books always made them laugh or cry and this one did not.  They said that it did make them think, but it “lacked” that emotional element. I have to disagree.

When I was a radio personality I was once told that success came from connecting with the listener.  “If you make them laugh, make them cry, make them angry, or simply make them think – then you have entertained them.  Then you have connected with them.” This works the same way with books.  I have yet to read a Backman book that did not entertain me.

This story is perfect the way it is.  You get enough information about the characters and the situation to get what you were intended to get.  Would it hit you differently or deeper if parts were expanded?  Perhaps.  However, for something so simple to still “pack a punch,” says a lot about the story and the writer.

Maybe I connected more with this because of my own situation.  I’m divorced and remarried with children from both marriages.  I still have a relationship with my older children, but at times I can tell they struggle at times with the situation.  There are a lot of feelings that are being dealt with.

Any time that a relationship is ended, whether it be a friendship or a marriage, there will be “What if” questions.  It is a given, but life in general is also filled with them, too.  As we age and look back, there are always things that we wonder about.  “What will my legacy be? How will I be remembered? Did I do enough?”

This book made me ask those questions about myself. It may do the same for you.  It is worth the read.