2025 Reading Year in Review

I didn't write an annual reading recap last December. Confession time: I was in a terrible reading slump at that point. The reasons are irrelevant, but as a result, I read significantly less than usual. Many of the few books I read in 2024 were comforting re-reads, such as Louise Penny’s Three Pines series. (If you haven’t read it, stop here and fix that immediately.) My goal for 2025, therefore, was to get out of the dreaded slump and once again finish 100 books. 

This year’s reading wasn’t particularly discriminatory. I read anything and everything that caught my fancy. I’m happy to say I finished 110 books in 2025. Unsurprisingly, many of them were neither terrible nor extraordinary; they were simply fine. Books that surprised me, triggered my curiosity, or persisted in my thoughts made this “best of the year” list. 

For anyone who thinks I read so many books because of the redundancy: Nope. I tend to read less during periods of high stress. The majority of my reading occurs before 8am or after 7pm. The exception to this was the stretch of spectacularly nice weather we had this past spring where I spent an occasional afternoon hour reading in my garden. I have no regrets. You can’t waste such a precious gift in Scotland. 

And now, my top reads of 2025:

Favourite book:

You Are Here by David Nicholls (print). Sometimes your favourite book of the year isn’t the best written or most compulsively plotted. It’s just the book that resonates with your soul in the exact way it needs at a specific point in time. In 2025, that was You Are Here. If you’re an older millennial reaching a stage of midlife where you find yourself adrift and need a bit of comfort, consider this one.

Favourite fiction of the year: 

• You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue (audio). A very weird little book about an important historical event. As you move deeper into narrative, the boundaries between fact and magical realism and the walls between the author and the reader break down. Lots of people will not like this book - even I didn’t expect to - but I loved the journey by the end.
• Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xóchitl González (digital). This was the second book I’ve read by González. The literary equivalent of David Ortiz, she comes out swinging hard every time. She hasn’t missed yet. Her characters are compelling and at times, unapologetically unlikable. She’s quickly becoming one of my authors to watch. Any new releases will be appointment reading.
• A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr (audio). After reading this, I discovered that a subset of people online are obsessed with this book. Rightfully so. It’s short, bittersweet, and perfectly nostalgic. It’s criminally under read, at least in America.
• How to Read a Book by Monica Wood (audio). As I periodically need to address bouts of homesickness, I’m prone to choosing books by Maine authors. Reading Monica Wood is like opening a bottle called “Essence of Maine.” The book even includes a thinly veiled depiction of my former local indie book shop, Longfellow Books, complete with its in-store adoptable cats. The prison setting of this book, along with the devastating documentary Daughters (Netflix), taught me a lot about the restriction of American inmates’ human rights. If you’re interested in expanding access to books in jails, check out the organisation Freedom Reads.
• Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe (audio). The first book I finished in 2025. It’s funny, sincere, and gently encourages you to reconsider your opinions about a controversial subject. The audiobook is also narrated very well by Elle Fanning.

Favourite non-fiction of the year:

• Ingrained: The Making of a Craftsman by Callum Robinson (audio). When not reading about Maine, I try to consume stories from my new community. Like many adults, I’ve lost much of the innate creativity of youth. Robinson may inspire you to rediscover your inner artist. Within a day of starting this book, I picked up my knitting after months of it gathering dust. Americans, go for the audiobook. You’ll likely obsess over the author’s brogue.
• Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in WWII by Daniel James Brown (audio). Brown is the author of The Boys in the Boat, one of my favourite books of all time. This book is a perfect case study on the challenges of maintaining patriotism for a country that inflicts deep injustices on you or others. Given the current American political climate, it’s worth being reminded that many of the people historically considered unworthy are now the most lauded heroes in our history. To quote the book, “Unless citizens are willing to stand up for the Constitution, it’s not worth the paper it’s written on.”
• Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work by Sarah Wynn-Williams (print) / Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream by Megan Greenwell (digital). I’m pairing these two as I read them back to back and the themes align nicely. The Roaring '20s have returned. Corruption and greed are fashionable again. Companies are shamelessly ruthless in their desire for profit and power, regardless of the cost to consumers and stakeholders. We’re overdue for a reckoning about modern business practices. Wynn-Williams’ exposé of a deeply unethical company’s leadership team should open some eyes. Private equity’s negative effects are more diffuse, yet equally damaging to communities. Neither book is perfect, but they force you to think hard about the role of business in society.
• What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo (audio). If you have any loved ones in your life with C-PTSD, this is a powerful book to read. It gives you an inside understanding of certain behaviour triggers and potential treatment routes. Go for the audiobook as Foo includes recordings of her actual therapy sessions.

Books that live up to the hype: 

• I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (audio). McCurdy manages to maintain a sense of humour about deeply disturbing and abusive experiences. Compulsively readable, I finished it in a day.
• Conclave by Robert Harris (audio). Not sure it would have the same impact if you’ve already seen the movie. I haven't, so the spoiler-free reading experience was solid.
• The Bear and the Nightingale (digital). Surprisingly good YA fiction. The first book is probably my favourite of the trilogy, but the entire series is captivating and appropriate for both teens and adults.
• Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (print) / Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (print). A pair of major award winners from years past. Not much needs to be added here. If you’re short on time and want to ensure you’re reading something stellar, prioritise these.

For the full spectrum of emotions:

• Dark and devastating: Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind by Sue Black (audio). I do not have the stomach or the emotional fortitude for forensic anthropology. The science is fascinating, but delving into the full horrors of humanity was too much for me. I will never look at Corstorphine Hill the same way again. Ever. You have been warned.
• Sweet and comforting: How We Met: A Memoir of Love and Other Misadventures by Huma Qureshi (digital). I needed something uplifting to recover from Written in Bone. This was the best possible remedy. If you’re struggling to cope with the dumpster fire that is the world right now, How We Met is a soothing balm.

If you liked…

• Braiding Sweetgrass, try Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future by Patty Krawec (audio). A similar exploration of indigenous philosophy, but with manageable calls to action interspersed throughout.
• Adolescence on Netflix or you have a teenage child, try Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion by Gabrielle Stanley Blair (audio). It should be required reading for every man over the age of 14/15. Give it to boys before the manosphere finds them.
• Wintering, try Winter Solstice: An Essay by Nina MacLaughlin (digital). A very short reminder of the emotional benefits of winter. Easily readable in an evening. MacLaughlin wrote a book on the Summer Solstice as well, but I think the winter essays are stronger.

For my fellow Americans: 

• A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan (print). If you appreciate a Ken Burns documentary, you’ll like this one. (Fun fact: Ken Burns' stellar documentary on the Dust Bowl was adapted from Egan's prior book.) A reminder that a single person can and should fight back against bigotry, misogyny, and corruption.
• One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (audio). I dreaded reading this and put it off for way too long, simply because I knew it would be brutal to read. I wasn’t sure I could psychologically handle it. I wasn’t wrong. The book is honest and gut-wrenching. It’s the emotional equivalent of a well-deserved punch in the face. You will feel the impact and plenty of shame to boot. Maybe a violent analogy isn’t appropriate for a book discussing genocide, but ignoring or excusing what’s happening is way worse. Like Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me, it should be mandatory reading.

If none of these choices appeal to you, feel free to contact me for other book recommendations. It’s my favourite topic to discuss. If you’d like to read more in-depth analyses, I’ve made many of my recent reviews public on both Goodreads and Storygraph. My complete 2025 reading list appears below.

What’s next for 2026

My TBR (“to be read”) list is out of control. There are probably 7 years’ worth of books on it, with some languishing on the list for far too long. Now that I’m out of my reading slump, I want to be more intentional about what I pick up. My goal for 2026 is to read books I’ve meant to finish for years, especially the monstrously-sized tomes that I’ve postponed solely because of their length (i.e., 900+ page The Eighth Life). As a result, I’ll probably read fewer than 100 books next year, while aiming to maintain a similar page count. 

I’ve sketched out a list of 72 books in total for the year, with the caveat that I retain the right to toss out this plan entirely. Nearly 40% of my 2025 reading was non-fiction, a slightly higher percentage than in the past, and one I’d like to maintain moving forward. I’ve also joined the “Reading the World Challenge” on Storygraph, where you read a work by an author from every country and unrecognised territory in the world. I’ve completed 24% of the challenge already. If all goes to plan, I’ll check off at least five more countries in 2026. And of course, I’ll continue to read a variety of genres and author demographics. 

Now, it’s on to my next book (Bassem Youssef's Revolution for Dummies). Happy reading!

Full 2025 reading list (in alphabetical order)

1. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
2. The Accidental Seed Heroes: Growing a Delicious Food Future for All of Us by Adam Alexander
3. Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux
4. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
5. The Girl in The Tower by Katherine Arden
6. The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
7. Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America by Will Bardenwerper
8. The Voyage Home by Pat Barker
9. The House Is on Fire by Rachel Beanland
10. Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains by Lucas Bessire
11. Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind by Sue Black
12. Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion by Gabrielle Stanley Blair
13. One Garden Against the World: In Search of Hope in a Changing Climate by Kate Bradbury
14. Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman
15. Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks
16. Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II by Daniel James Brown
17. How to Protect Bookstores and Why: The Present and Future of Bookselling by Danny Caine
18. A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr
19. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty
20. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
21. Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand by Jeff Chu
22. An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole
23. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
24. The Art of Death: Writing the Final Story by Edwidge Danticat
25. Well Matched by Jen DeLuca
26. Welcome to Murder Week by Karen Dukess
27. A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan
28. You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue
29. Erasure by Percival Everett
30. What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo
31. The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest
32. Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu
33. Heartwood by Amity Gaige
34. The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith
35. Maame by Jessica George
36. Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xóchitl González
37. Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream by Megan Greenwell
38. Matrix by Lauren Groff
39. The House with the Golden Door by Elodie Harper
40. Conclave by Robert Harris
41. The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett
42. To Boldly Grow: Finding Joy, Adventure, and Dinner in Your Own Backyard by Tamar Haspel
43. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
44. These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer
45. The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert
46. Slanting Towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje
47. Back After This by Linda Holmes
48. Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman by Patrick Hutchison
49. Unnatural Causes by P.D. James
50. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
51. Lightseekers by Femi Kayode
52. The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer
53. Audition by Katie Kitamura
54. Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future by Patty Krawec
55. The Bear by Andrew Krivak
56. The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami
57. An Astronomer in Love by Antoine Laurain
58. Summer Solstice: An Essay by Nina MacLaughlin
59. Winter Solstice: An Essay by Nina MacLaughlin
60. These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean
61. A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
62. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
63. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
64. Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
65. Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
66. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
67. The Care of Strangers by Ellen Michaelson
68. All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles
69. Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison
70. The National Team: The Inside Story of the Women Who Changed Soccer by Caitlin Murray
71. Medieval Cats: Claws, Paws, and Kitties of Yore by Catherine Nappington
72. You Are Here by David Nicholls
73. Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor
74. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
75. Mountains of Fire: The Menace, Meaning, and Magic of Volcanoes by Clive Oppenheimer
76. The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
77. The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
78. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
79. The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
80. The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny
81. Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin
82. The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did by Philippa Perry
83. The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
84. The Rose Field by Philip Pullman
85. How We Met: A  Memoir of Love and Other Misadventures by Huma Qureshi
86. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
87. The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay
88. Pastoral Song by James Rebanks
89. Ingrained: The Making of a Craftsman by Callum Robinson
90. Harry Potter e il Prigioniero di Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
91. Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
92. The Intermediaries: A Weimar Story by Brandy Schillace
93. Just the Funny Parts: ... And a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking Into the Hollywood Boys' Club by Nell Scovell
94. Welcome to Glorious Tuga by Francesca Segal
95. Caucasia by Danzy Senna
96. If You're In My Office, It's Already Too Late: A Divorce Lawyer's Guide to Staying Together by James J. Sexton
97. Who Owns England? by Guy Shrubsole
98. Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing by Lili Taylor
99. Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
100. Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope
101. Fully Grown: Why a Stagnant Economy Is a Sign of Success by Dietrich Vollrath
102. History Lessons by Zoe B. Wallbrook
103. The Joy of Connections: 100 Ways to Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life by Ruth Westheimer
104. This Is Happiness by Niall Williams
105. Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
106. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
107. The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
108. How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
109. Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work by Sarah Wynn-Williams
110. Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu