Wrapping up 2025 with a Shelfie

Hi there, Cici here!

Before we jump into the look back I wanted to give a quick shout out to the Phoenix Planetarium project we have up on Backerkit. It goes live at the end of the month for Pintopia 2026. Pluto stans, if you think Pluto should still be a planet, you can reserve your Pluto Phoenix pin early.

Follow & Reserve Your Pluto PIn

ADM 2025 Wrap Up

If you’re following us on social media, you might have seen the wrap up post that made for 2025. This was our busiest year yet with 5 launches and 13 (THIRTEEN!) conventions, including our first out-of-state convention.

In 2026 we’re planning to be more strategic with the conventions we do to leave more time for writing and hopefully get books out faster. There are a few project we made great progress on last year, but that haven’t launched yet, and I’ll have updates on those next time!

Cici’s 2025 Shelfie

I read 11 books this year, mostly for our book club in the ADM Discord server, which was great because it kept me reading when I might have stopped all together. Though we still haven’t had our discussion about Guards! Guards! yet, I think we’ll try the book club again next year.

You can join us here:

Join the ADM Discord

• Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

  • I loved this book. It’s hard to describe without spoiling it, but basically a sassy crow narrates the zombie apocalypse. You kind of just have to crack it open to understand why that’s so fantastic. Every character has a unique voice that is grounded in how they see the world — and they can see things pretty differently, being different species. The take of having zombies be obsessed with phones feels fresh and relevant. And despite all the guts and swearing, the book has a lot of heart.

• The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

  • This was a really cool story that I enjoyed a lot. The mystery of January’s parents and the mystery of the doors take turns driving the plot forward as January discovers the truth about her world and about herself. The ending was poignant. I love the way her journey begins with a magic book that expands her world, the same way that mundane books can do in the real world.

• The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin

  • I’m gonna be real: this was fine. I’m glad I read it, but it really didn’t hit for me. I finished it, but I probably won’t read the sequels. I liked the game theory elements of the story, and, weirdly, I enjoyed the math. But I didn’t connect to the characters and the nihilism was too strong for me. And I say that after having enjoyed Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep.

• Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson

  • I have spent my life reading huge doorstopper fantasy books and I enjoyed this one, which was a suitably epic capstone to arc 1 of the Stormlight Archive. To sum it up at this point would be difficult, but mainly, I appreciate how this book can deliver sweeping epic fantasy, but still zero in on small human moments. A lot has been written about the worldbuilding and magic system in this book and those are both great, but I haven’t read 2 million words of this series because of the cool arial spear fights (although there are cool arial spear fights). The series is about finding the last shred of hope in the darkest times and how to move forward through despair. Also, crab people.

• Red Shirts by John Scalzi

  • I was expecting this book to be a fun parody of a Star Trek style space opera. I was not expecting this book to smash through the 4th wall like Miley Cyrus on a wrecking ball and then set fire to the debris. There’s an inventive “magic system” in this book around Rule of Cool as physics gets suspended while characters are in the grip of “The Narrative.” Just when you think the book is out of tricks it pulls a fast one on you in the addendums. This was a fun ride. I especially the parts where the author punked me.

• Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

  • This book is a light and cozy read. I really enjoyed all the descriptions of food. It might seem silly but there’s something really soothing about the way this book can transport you into the memory of biting into a warm, chocolate croissant. The world is overwhelming and scary, but this book is there for you with a comforting latte and a warm pastry. I also enjoyed getting to know Viv and rooting for her to open a successful cafe. The book was a little light on tension. It felt at times that conflicts were resolved too easily. But I still found it fun and would recommend it. It did make me crave dessert, though, so be warned.

• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

  • I read The Hunger Games, and I liked The Hunger Games. It’s a fantastic series that explores how propaganda is used as social control to push us to accept horrific acts and how to break through that messaging. It also touches on income inequality, parasocial relationships, the beauty industry, and half a dozen other worthwhile themes. It does a lot for a YA series about teenagers killing each other for sport. But I felt like I had gotten the message from the first series and wasn’t planning to dip into the prequels until Sunrise on the Reaping won the discord vote for monthly book club. That would have been a mistake. Suzanne Collins is using the prequels to explore how Panam developed and refined the hunger games from public execution into prime time entertainment. It has some weaknesses. Hamish’s obsession with Lenore dove grows old quickly, and the pacing is strange: they don’t enter the games until late in the book. But in general I would say it’s still an interesting and worth reading if you liked The Hunger Games.

• Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree

  • I picked up this book after learning that Legends and Lattes was written for Nanowrimo. After all, if Legends and Lattes was what Travis could bash out in 30 days, then Bookshops and Bonedust could only go up from there. That assessment turned out to be correct. I found this book even more delightful than the first one. This is a real love letter to books of all kinds as Viv discovers her love of reading thanks to her new friends. The stakes are a little higher than in Legends and Lattes, which makes the conclusion more satisfying. There are still many delicious pastries to imagine. I’m looking forward to reading book 3 in this series.

• Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

  • I enjoyed this book about a girl and her ghost dog companion investigating her cousin’s murder. The many twists and turns kept me interested through the story and it gave me a little tap right in the feels at the end. I also enjoyed the setting and the way the magic was woven into it, through stories about Elatsoe’s 6th great grandmother.

• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

  • This was my favorite book that I read this year. It’s like a warm hug in a book format. We have a secret project in the works in the cozy fantasy genre and this book was close to what I hope we can evoke from that story. The characters were all very loveable and the cozy setting of the book didn’t

• Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

  • I read Guards! Guards! last year, but didn’t realize it was the abridged version. I re-read the abridged version for book club this year and then read the unabridged version as well. The abridged version gets across the funny and clever story that subverts typical fantasy tropes, but the unabridged version adds more meat to the characters and explores some interesting and weirdly relevant themes. I have to say I really enjoyed it, and I’m glad I added the story to book club because otherwise I never would have realized the version I read was abridged.

Cici’s 2025 Wrapped

We had a fun time in the Discord sharing our Spotify wrapped results. Mine were heavily influenced by my MythFall Interludes playlist, which I ran on loop while I was writing the script. Jorge Rivera-Herrans is the writer of the EPIC: The Musical soundtrack. I went deep on that album this year. It’s about 2 hours long and great background music for setting up our con table. I’ve even met a few people who came over just because it was playing.

Pop into the discord to share your top 5 for the year and talk about your favorite bands.

Join the ADM Discord

Dog Tax

You made it to the end of the year, and you made it to the end of the email! There’s only one thing left to do and that’s to wish you Happy New Year from Luke & Leia.

It’s been a while since I got to do a nice staged photos with them so I went all out.