Good evening.

Tonight's show is the cod to our seventh season, our 26th episode of the year, an we have had fun all season long.

Lots of great books and authors.

Some new, some continuing favorites.

This last show of the season has historically been devoted to a review of my past reading list, using my annual book list as a guide.

Here is the 2025 book list.

All 28 pages.

The 34th edition I have created to share with family and friends.

As I write this script, We are almost two months into the new year, and I feel fortunate to have read, or am currentl reading, three books that I feel certain will be on my top ten books for the year.

Speaking of to ten list, here are my selections as my most favored reads in 2025, which are listed for yo chronologically as I read them.

Nine of these books were discussed or been featured in an Insid the Cover episode this season.

It goes without saying tha I enjoyed each of these reads.

Even the 1336 pages, which was only two thirds of the original manuscript of Robert Caro's book about Robert Moses, perhaps the most powerful man in New York during the early to mid 20th century, and the man responsible for much of the urban development and infrastructur that exists in the city today.

Book deserving an honorable mention include The Accidental President by A.J.

Baime, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, The Quiet Game by Greg Isles, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, True Compass by Edward Kennedy, and every book I read by Mitch Albom.

The least enjoyed book was The Confederacy's Last Hurrah by Wily Sword.

We also have done a show featuring this book offering my thoughts on why I continued to read and finish it.

2025 was a banner year.

I read 166 books during the year, my highest total ever.

Let me here note that 59 of those books were checked out of the Wichita Public Library.

Thus saving me $1,652.11.

I read book by some of my favorite authors, Louise Penny, C.J.

Box, Barbara Kingsolver Sarah Paretsky, James Lee Burke, David Baldacci, Martha Grimes, Michael Connelly, Kristin Hannah, and John Grisham.

I found some new protagonists that I am enjoying: Sheriff Walt Longmire written by Craig Johnson and Mary Russell, written by Laurie R King, and I continue to enjoy the Spenser series initiated by Robert B Parker and now continued by first Ace Atkins and now Mike Lupica.

I also read five books by local author Jana Dahmen.

Here I must note that we have also done shows on the Johnson, Parker, and Dahmen books.

I read two books by Mark Twain as a part of my ongoing salute to the Masters and I want to continue to have 2 to 5 of the literary classics on my yearly list.

I'm even going to try and get through a Charles Dickens.

All in all, it was very good year for me and books which continue to speak to me with magic, power and influence, and which continue to take me to magical places, which encouraged me to think and which helped me evolve, and which laid the foundation for our time with you, which is also one of my many blessings.

That's our show.

We have spent time discussing my year of reading in 2025, and let us close with this wonderful cartoon from Stephan Pastis.

Hoping you find my list is a bit more substantive than Rats.

Good nigh and I look forward to seeing you in seaso eight right here on PBS Kansas.