I usually wait until the year is completely over to write my list of favorite books, but honestly, with the busy holiday season upon us, I probably won’t get around to reading another before the end of the year anyway, so here we are.

Books stretch me, teach me, challenge me, comfort me—and occasionally leave me staring at the wall wondering what just happened. And that’s part of the fun. This year’s reading list gave me everything: laughter, heartbreak, mystery, depth, delight, and a few emotional gut-punches I absolutely did not see coming.

So with that, here are the ten books that rose to the top—my favorite reads of 2025.

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1. The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife – Anna Johnston

My favorite book of the entire year.

I loved this book. I mean the full-body, joyful love where you finish the final chapter, close the book, and recommend it to ALL your friends.

It’s funny—truly laugh-out-loud funny—but also manages to hold serious themes like child cancer, addiction, and divorce with so much tenderness. I don’t even know how to explain it. The story just felt special, like it had a pulse. I savored every bit of it. I almost never read a book twice, but this might be an exception.

2. The River Is Waiting — Wally Lamb

This. Book. Wrecked. Me.

I read it in two days because I could not put it down. When I finished, I sat there staring at the wall in silence—like moving would somehow dishonor what I had just witnessed. That may sound dramatic, but if you’ve read it, you know.

It deals with incredibly sensitive topics, so consider this your trigger warning. But Lamb handles the darkness with unflinching honesty and heartbreaking beauty.

When I try to talk about it, my mind still goes blank—not because there’s nothing to say, but because it feels too sacred to try to summarize. Unbelievable book.

3. Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love -Marianne Cronin

I found this one during my “book hangover” after finishing Frederick Fife.

I went searching for something similar, and Eddie Winston showed up like a warm cup of tea. It’s about a very old man who’s never been kissed and ends up going to online dating site. And it’s about unlikely friendship.

It’s heartwarming, funny, cute, and exactly what I needed. Not profound in a life-changing way, but sometimes you don’t need profound. Sometimes you just need something that makes you feel good again. And truly, if you’ve just survived The River Is Waiting, this is an excellent emotional palate cleanser. I loved it.

4. All the Colors of the Dark – Chris Whitaker

This was the first book I read in 2025, and wow—what a way to start the year.

It’s a mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end, and the storytelling style is so unique that multiple times I thought, “Wait… did I miss something?” (I hadn’t.) You just need to trust the author and let the story unfold.

Intriguing, clever, and totally engrossing.

5. A Calamity of Souls – David Baldacci

Immediately after finishing All the Colors of the Dark, I picked this one up—and oofta. It was a hard read. Not because it wasn’t excellent, but because it pulls you right into a brutal part of American history.

A Black man is falsely accused of murder. A young white attorney decides to defend him. And what follows is shocking, horrifying, and somehow still incredibly beautiful.

It’s a tough story. But a powerful one.

6. Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir

This was so far outside my usual reading lane that I almost didn’t read it at all. But people kept telling me how good it was, so I finally decided to try the audiobook.

And THANK GOODNESS I went with audio, because the voice acting is phenomenal.

I started listening during my commute… then found myself wandering around the house with my phone in hand, listening. More than once my husband asked, “What in the world are you listening to?” because—yes—there are aliens involved.

Aliens? Yes.
Science? Yes.
Me, riveted the entire time? Also yes.

Did this book convert me into a sci-fi fan? No. But did I love it? Absolutely. It’s clever, unique, and incredibly captivating. A perfect road-trip listen for couples.

7. The Push – Ashley Audrain

Another one outside my typical genre—and I can’t remember why I picked it up—but I’m glad I did.

The author does an incredible job pulling you inside the emotional world of motherhood: the fears, the doubts, the unspoken struggles. You’re invested from the first chapter. And then… the ending.

I literally closed the book and said out loud,
“OH MY WORD!? WHAT?! NO WAY!!”

I think the official genre is “thriller”. It’s an emotional rollercoaster for sure. And when you get to the final pages, it feels like the tracks just disappear and the car is left suspended in midair. Wild, unsettling (maybe even straight up disturbing), unforgettable.

8. Spare — Prince Harry

This memoir was fascinating. I didn’t know what to expect when I started it. I’d never been that interested in the royal family, but I try to read non-fiction amist all my fiction books, so I picked this one up.

I kept thinking, This can’t be real life… can it? It’s scandalous, shocking, vulnerable, and incredibly personal. It’s long. But I found that it became more interesting the further I got into it, which isn’t always the case with memoirs.

Whether you’re royal-obsessed or not, it’s an intersting read.

9. Theo of Golden – Allen Levi

This book has been hyped as “one of the best books ever written,” and while I enjoyed it, it didn’t quite land in that category for me.

It’s a lovely, slow, bedtime-story kind of book—something you read a chapter at a time and let yourself sink into. I really enjoyed it… until the ending. I don’t know if it felt too perfect, too rushed, too far-fetched, or some combination of the three.

Still, it’s a great book. Just not one that cracked my personal all-time favorites list.

10. The Correspondent – Virginia Evans

Another book with enormous hype behind it—and again, while it didn’t overwhelm me, I genuinely enjoyed it.

The writing is lovely, the story unfolds with a gentle rhythm, and it kept my attention from start to finish. It didn’t devastate me the way it did some readers, but it was absolutely worth the read and firmly earned its place in my top 10.

Honorable Mentions

These books almost made the cut—and I’d absolutely recommend them:

• God of the Woods
• If You Tell (a horrible true story)
• Night Watch (interesting story set in the Civil War era – deals with mental health)
• The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot (loved it. You know from the jump it’s going to be sad, but it was more beautiful than sad)
• Broken Country (be prepared, it’s kind of a hopeless story)

All wonderful in their own ways, and any of them could have been in the top 10 on a different day.

Closing Thoughts

Out of the 30 books I read this year, these rose to the top—not because they were perfect, but because they moved me. Some made me laugh, some made me cry, some made me think, and some simply reminded me how good it feels to get lost in a story.

If you end up picking up any of these titles, I’d love to hear what you think about them. (And if you have recommendations for my 2026 list, send them my way!)

Here’s to another year full of stories worth remembering.

Happy reading!