It’s my favorite time of year: my annual book round-up post! What were the best books I read in 2025? What books would I recommend to you?
As I compiled this round-up, some things jumped out at me as surprises. And this list feels tiny this year compared to other years – not because I didn’t read much (almost 60 books on the year) but because there were a lot of bad ones or just OK books out there this year.
Let’s dig in…
- Best Books 2024Â (that was a great reading year)
- Best Books 2023Â (only 9 here, too, surprisingly, but one was Klune, so the year had to be phenomenal)
- Best Books 2022 (oh, those nonfiction picks are so good!)
- Best Books 2021Â (interestingly, EVERY SINGLE ONE of these books has come up in conversation in the last two weeks)
- Best Books 2020Â (I still stand by all these picks and, look, another Haidt)
- Best Books 2019Â (I am still impressed that I had a poetry pick)
- Best Books 2018Â (some great fiction in here)
To get book updates in real-time or to see everything I read, you are welcome to follow me on GoodReads or on Instagram, where I post quick reviews on Stories.
Best Books (I Read) in 2025
Novels
The God of the Woods
By Liz Moore
This was a total surprise to me. I hesitated reading it because I don’t usually like thrillers, especially ones centered on young girls, a summer camp, and that seemed to ooze trauma.Â
But it was a stunner! One of the best books of the year. Yes, there was some trauma, but it was nuanced, artfully done, and so well-written. I never felt overwhelmed with grotesqueness or violence. The characters were delightfully evil and totally sympathetic at the same time. This book is a written gem.
A Short Walk Through a Wide World
By Douglas Westerbeke
There are so few books nowadays that offer a totally new premise, a story no one else has ever imagined. But this is one of them.
The woman who couldn’t stop walking and traveling the world – literally. If she stopped, she died.
There were a lot of pieces I am still not sure how they fit together (that puzzle ball), but what an imaginative journey.
Nonfiction
Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts
By Oliver Bukerman
This was funny. I also read his Four Thousand Weeks book some time ago and just adore his style. He takes complicated ideas on what some call “life hacking” but makes them accessible and relatable. This book was an easy read and really wonderful.
How to be Well: Navigating Our Self-Care Epidemic One Dubious Claim at a Time
By Amy Larocca
As a certified yoga teacher and general fitness person, I can get deep into the wellness world – and all the accompanying goods and services that they sell to make oodles of money. In this book, Larocca looks at how the wellness industry has exploded and asks big questions. How did we get here? What do we want? Why do we care so much? How absolutely bananas are some of these things people are doing?
Memoirs
Awake: A Memoir
By Jen Hatmaker
I wasn’t going to read this. I have always been a Jen Hatmaker book fan, but her online presence has become overwhelming for me, and I feel oversaturated with Jen. But on a whim. I picked it up, and I am so glad I did. Once again, she shows how she is a magician at capturing the humor, beauty, and harshness of life. Even though this is about recovering after her divorce, this is a book about the redemptive power of love. It’s also one of her most authentic books.
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
By Sarah Wynn-Williams
DANG- this is soap opera style tell-all of working at Facebook in the early days of the company’s creation and massive growth. Facebook has sued and tried to stop this book from reaching hands, and I get why. But, DANG- I was here for it.
All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation
By Elizabeth Gilbert
I thought very hard about whether to include this here. It’s a controversial book. It is a hard subject matter. It is not at all the typical Gilbert book. But it affected me. And I can’t stop thinking about it. So here we are.
By opening up about her relationship(s), her decisions, her recovery, her work on herself, and how life on the outside looked so different than life on the inside, Gilbert tells a fascinating story that is uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable because we don’t talk about love and sex addiction (particularly for women! gasp!), and there are things in here that you will recognize in yourself and that won’t feel good. But I felt so much when I read it, and it asked me to think through some things in my own life. Once again, Gilbert’s ability to tell a story is a gift from the gods.
Series
Powerless Series
By Lauren Roberts
So many of the romantasy stories follow a predictable plotline. And I enjoy them, of course. But the Powerless one turns things upside down when the heroine actually does not have powers in a world that executes or ostracizes those who are powerless. Plus, the love triangle and dynamics are way more confusing and heart-tugging than other typical romantasies.
Oh, another bonus: this one actually has a nice, tidy ending after the third one! No more waiting for a year to figure out what happens.
Inspector Gamache Series
By Louise Penny
I fell into this series just recently, and it is so warm and comforting. Which is bizarre to say, given that every book centers on a murder mystery. But the murders are always presented gently. It is the town that you want to return to time and again, and the people. It is like a Gilmore Girls meets murder mystery in Canada vibe. Despite the topics, they still come across feeling like a warm hug. They are perfect for cold, winter nights snuggled in bed.
Other notes and thoughts on reading this year...
I did a lot of reading to learn this year, like this one on the white evangelical nationalists and Ezra Klein’s book. I also read Habits of the Heart.
I hit some classics like Macbeth and Watership Down (I try to reread some classics every year). I am glad I revisited them, but Watership Down in particular is a slow read.
I did not read anything in the travel genre, which surprised me! Luckily, I have consumed my fair share of travel writing over the years and still enjoy the Best of American Travel Writing every year, so I feel okay with this outcome for 2025.
Overall, so many of the new releases in fiction were extremely disappointing or just a little too on the “fluffy” side (see The Wedding People, Emily Henry’s new book, and Sandwich, for examples). Not that I don’t enjoy light-hearted and entertaining, especially in romance, but nothing felt fresh or compelling this year in that particular space.
When I went to read older novels and works of fiction, what ended up coming to me was fairly depressing (i.e., reading Covenant of Water and Small Things Like These when I was attempting to participate in my library’s book club).
Still, I love every adventure a book has taken me on and really do believe I have learned an incredible amount from time spent in the armchair flipping pages in just about any book.
I am so grateful to the authors who put themselves out there, and I am looking forward to reading in 2026! If you have recommendations, send them my way.