Showing posts with label a recap of 2025. Show all posts

Lifestyle: My Year in Review: A Recap of 2025

Every year I like to sit down and take stock of how things went—both in life and here on the blog. 2025 was a complicated year for me personally, but it was also a year full of writing, reading, and connecting with all of you. In this post I’m sharing an honest recap of the year, including life updates, blog statistics, most-read posts, and a few favourites from 2025.

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Wrapping Up 2025

2025 was a particularly hard year for me health-wise. Those of you that have followed along throughout the year will know that I started the year with serious health problems and then continued to fight them pretty much all year long. Gastroscopy, colonoscopy, multiple stays in the intensive care unit at the hospital... there was never a dull moment.

The positive side to all the testing and hospital stays and medicine was that I finally know all the elements of my problems and what is causing them. I also now have a fantastic team at the hospital following my case. As someone who has been struggling with chronic health issues for most of my life, this is a huge step forward and for that I'm thankful.

Because of all this, it’s probably no surprise that my health had a big impact on every area of my life, including my blogging. You can also see that reflected quite clearly in my stats for the year.

Work with me in 2026

Despite the challenges of 2025, I’m looking ahead with hope. I’m excited to continue creating content, collaborating, and working with brands and authors in 2026.

Blog Statistics for 2025

The following stats are to offer transparency. Please keep in mind that I've been blogging for a long time (this blog was started in June 2012).

Highest traffic month: January 2025 with 427,426 views

Let’s take a closer look at how traffic varied month by month.

Monthly traffic stats for 2025:

January - 427,426

February - 172,016

March - 65,011

April - 88,834

May - 54,347

June - 93,220

July - 70,978

August - 67,904

September - 233,061

October - 240,671

November - 228,325

December - 111,108

If you're interested in seeing the comparison with the previous year you can find my 2024 recap here.

Most Viewed Posts

Now onto the fun part — what you all enjoyed reading the most!
Here’s a breakdown of my most-viewed content across different categories.

Most viewed post of all time:

Things That Should Be In Every Blog Post (published 24 August 2021) with 161K views.

Most viewed post from 2025:

December 2024 Book Blogger Posts Round Up (published 3 January 2025) with 1,036 views.

Most viewed book related post (non review/spotlight) from 2025:

Books About Decluttering: Simplify Your Space and Life (published 10 February 2025) with 567 views.

Most viewed book review of all time:

Evolving Elizah: Initiatum by CJ Hall (published 30 April 2021) with 9.07K views

Most viewed book review from 2025:

Nine Minutes Eleven Seconds by L.V. Pederson (published 30 April 2025) with 440 views

Most viewed book spotlight of all time:

War of the Winds by Victoria Williamson (published 9 January 2024) with 9,697 views.

Most viewed book spotlight from 2025:

The Magdalenes by Jeanne Skartsiaris (published 28 May 2025) with 377 views.

Most viewed book tag of all time:

I Love That Book's Show Tag (published 2 October 2018) with 9,994 views.

Most viewed book tag from 2025:

I am the Reader Tag (published 8 July 2025) with 387 views.

Most viewed travel related post from 2025:

Rome and the Jubilee 2025: What You Need To Know (published 19 February 2025) with 489 views.

Most viewed health related post from 2025:

The Best Quotes About Rest, Recovery, and Listening to Your Body (published 8 September 2025) with 605 views.

Most viewed fitness related post from 2025:

Easy Walking Workouts: A Simple and Effective Way to Stay Fit (published 15 February 2025) with 496 views.

Most viewed hair related post from 2025:

Product Review: Schwarzkopf Brilliance 884 Chocolate Brown Hair dye (published 25 March 2025) with 319 views.

Most viewed beauty related post from 2025:

Product Review: Selya Face Mask with Hyaluronic Acid and Coconut (published 10 September 2025) with 343 views.

Traffic sources

Majority of blog traffic comes from: Google search.

Search continues to be the main way new readers discover my content, which I am incredibly grateful for.

Best of 2025

Now for some favourites — because even in a difficult year, there were bright spots.

Best Read of 2025:

The winner of best read of 2025 was The Summer Dare by Joanna Dodd. I loved this book! Have you read it?

Make sure you check out my best reads of 2025 for all the books I rated 5 stars over the past 12 months.

Best Hair Product of 2025:

The winner of best hair product of 2025 was Natural & Easy 580 Natural Dark Brown Hair Dye.

Best Beauty Product of 2025:

The winner of best beauty product of 2025 was Cosmi Premium Skincare Korean Collagen Face Mask.

Thank You

Thank you to all of you that have visited my little corner of the internet, left comments on my posts, and shared my content with others. Your support meant even more this year than you probably realise.

If there's anything in particular you'd like me to post about in 2026, please let me know.

Your Turn

What was your 2025 like?

What were some of the high points from the year for you?

What was your favourite book from 2025? Your favourite place you visited? Your most viewed blog post from 2025?

Conclusion

As I close the chapter on 2025, I’m taking the lessons, the resilience, and the small victories with me into the new year. It wasn’t the easiest twelve months, but it reminded me of what truly matters: health, rest, connection, and creativity. Thank you for being here, for reading, and for supporting this blog through every up and down. I’m looking forward to 2026 with cautious optimism and a lot of gratitude — and I can’t wait to keep sharing the journey with you.