On Reading In 2025 (My Favorite Books)

I love end of year Best Of and roundup lists. I have found some of my absolute favorite things on these lists. I’ve discovered things that weren’t on my radar and there’s something fun about seeing someone’s favorite (insert any form of entertainment) of the year and getting to judge a little.

When I look back at my year in reading I always find some surprises, like this year my audiobook listening went up even higher than the previous year (from 65% to 80%!). Plus, I always find something to “fix” for the next year: my picture book and graphic novel reading went down 10%. I’m definitely making a giant TBR list for each of those categories going into 2026.

But before I pick my first read of 2026 and start planning a new year of reading here are a lot of standouts from my reading life in 2025. It’s a mix of backlist and 2025 releases— and I’m really glad I made myself a final “get to these now” list because I ended up reading three of my favorite books of the year during the final countdown: The Raven Scholar, Woodworking, and These Heathens.

Minus my last minute December reads —which will be in a future roundup— you can find my thoughts on all the books below throughout my year’s reading roundups.

• Hot Girls with Balls by Benedict Nguyễn

• Woodworking by Emily St. James

• Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan

• We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin

• These Heathens by Mia McKenzie

• Sky Daddy by Kate Folk

• Cantoras by Caro de Robertis

• This is the Only Kingdom ​​by Jaquira Díaz

• Blob by Maggie Su

• Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-Zi, Lin King (Translator)

• Flung Out of Space: Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith by Grace Ellis, Hannah Templer (Illustrator)

• This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki, Nicole Goux (illustrator)

• Lore Olympus vol 8 by Rachel Smythe

• Flip by Ngozi Ukazu

• Night Chef: An Epic Tale of Friendship with a Side of Deliciousness! by Mika Song

• Brownstone by Samuel Teer, Mar Julia (Artist)

• The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

• Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

• Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave by Ally Russell 

• Sunrise on the Reaping (Hunger Games novel) by Suzanne Collins

• The Compound by Aisling Rawle

• The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

• Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan

• Too Old For This by Samantha Downing

• Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead

• Dead in the Frame (Pentecost and Parker #5) by Stephen Spotswood

• The Death Of Us by Abigail Dean

• A Matter of Murder (A Lizzie & Darcy Mystery #2) by Tirzah Price

• Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino

• Murder at the Museum (Montgomery Bonbon #1) by Alasdair Beckett-King, Claire Powell (Illustrator)

• Other People's Houses (DC Morgan #3) by Clare Mackintosh

• Bibliophobia by Sarah Chihaya

• Deaf Utopia: A Memoir—And a Love Letter to a Way of Life by Nyle DiMarco & Robert Siebert

• This American Woman: A One-in-a-Billion Memoir by Zarna Garg

• Alligator Tears by Edgar Gomez

• Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything: A Memoir by Alyson Stoner

• Careless people by Sarah Wynn-Williams

• No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson by Gardiner Harris

• The Man Nobody Killed: Life, Death, and Art in Michael Stewart's New York by Elon Green

• Little Bosses Everywhere: How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America by Bridget Read

• The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom by Shari Franke

• Authority by Andrea Long Chu

• I'll Love You Forever: Notes from a K-Pop Fan by Giaae Kwon

• Sucker Punch by Scaachi Koul

• You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emez

• Along Came Amor (Primas of Power #3) by Alexis Daria

• Caught Up by Navessa Allen

• The Heart Principle (The Kiss Quotient: Book #3) by Helen Hoang

• Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore

• Winging It With You by Chip Pons

• A Gentleman's Gentleman by TJ Alexander

• The Broposal by Sonora Reyes

• Scarlet Morning by N.D. Stevenson

• An Amateur Witch's Guide to Murder by K. Valentin

• Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders

• Phantasma (Wicked Games #1) by Kaylie Smith

• Katabasis by R. F. Kuang

• The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

• Check, Please! Book 1 by Ngozi Ukazu

• Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks & Scones by Ngozi Ukazu

• The Princess Bride by William Goldman

• Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

And that’s a year in books. Hope you find something you love, and as always thanks for reading.