The Best Books I Read in 2025
2025 is over, and so it’s time to wrap up my reading challenge (that I unfortunately did not complete – and I blame The Great Reading Slump of 2025 🥲) and begin a new year! But before I start chugging along on my 2026 reading challenge (which will be a lot less ambitious), I want to go over my favorite books that I read this past year.
Some are old releases. Some are new releases. The genres? All over the place. Check out below, literally in my reading order from the beginning of 2025 to the end, the best books I read in 2025!
God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Barbara Van Laar has gone missing from the summer camp that is owned by her family, but she isn’t the first of the Van Laar children to go missing under mysterious circumstances. Nearly a decade before, her brother went missing in the same woods and hasn’t been found since. Told in dual timelines, the mystery of the Van Laar children slowly unravels as one investigator fights to find out the truth.
The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Phoebe is the only one booked at a hotel who isn’t part of the wedding happening that week. She doesn’t mind, though, because she booked this specific hotel to die in.
When Phoebe unexpectedly meets the bride and confesses what she’s at the hotel to do, the bride just won’t let her. Then Phoebe begins learning more about the wedding people and finds unexpected and fun quirks about each, effectively changing her life forever.
The Women by Kirstin Hannah
After her brother is sent to Vietnam, Frankie McGrath decides to enlist as an army nurse to help aid in the war. What she doesn’t realize is how the war in Vietnam will change her, the country, and the way she views everything.
The Women follows Frankie through her time in Vietnam, the time veterans have coming home to a country who does not want them, and the people who are forgotten in between.
Exodus by Kate Stewart
*This is the second in the series*
Cecelia is still reeling from the loss of Dom and Sean, but then the Frenchman comes in and changes every perspective she’s ever had, every truth she’s ever known. He keeps changing it—and her—until she knows nothing will ever be the same again.
Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez
Samantha is about to move back home to California to be with her mother and family as her mother battles with dementia. Shortly before she leaves, though, she has a chance encounter with a veterinarian, Xavier, who asks her out on a date. On that date, they both immediately know that they’re right for each other. But between distance, family issues, and other emergencies, would a relationship that’s between two people who are thousands of miles apart ever even work?
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
Something started happening to children starting from 2010 on. Jonathan Haidt explores all the ways that he thinks technology, social media, and the increasing pressures on Gen Z has led them to be called the anxious generation, having more anxiety, social disorders, and suicidal behaviors than any generation before them.
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
Alice is trying to secure the job of a lifetime: the life story and ability to write the memoir for THE Margaret Ives, a tragic heiress with a curse to her name who has been in hiding for the last two decades. When Margaret invites Alice to the tiny island she’s been hiding on, Alice is thrilled. That is, until she sees that she’s competing with another writer: Hayden Anderson, a Pulitzer-prize winning author. When Margaret suggests that they stay on the island for a month to earn her trust, Alice knows what she has to do even if Hayden is too grumpy to admit it. But she is sure to win both Margaret and Hayden over if it’s the only thing she does.
The Love Haters by Katherine Center
Katie’s job is in jeopardy. The only way she can save it is by taking a videographer job with the US Coast Guard to film one of their famous rescuers. The only problem? She doesn’t know how to swim and she has to pass a survival test by escaping a flipped-over underwater helicopter. So as soon as she gets to Key West for the job, she meets the famous Hutch, who is the rescue swimmer she’s supposed to be filming. Once he finds out that she can’t swim, eh ends up giving her swimming lessons. Hilarity ensues while Hutch and Katie’s feelings for each other grow. But there are other things at stake, and Katie and Hutch are about to have a lot more things to worry about than swimming lessons.
Home of the Happy by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
Aubrey LaHaye was murdered one morning long before Jordan was ever born. Decades later, Jordan does research into the violent crime not only trying to solve the murder, but also grappling with the toll it has taken on her family throughout the years. With a blend of fiction, true crime, and a memoir of sorts, this novel delves into all the ways that the justice system can be corrupt, a murder can impact people even decades later, and how, in many way, the “good ole boy” mentality still impacts the rural areas in the South.
Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry
Odessa Cross has always been the princess in the shadows. Even though she is the oldest, her father chose her younger sister to be the sparrow of the kingdom and married to the prince of Turah. But when the prince comes to Quentis and chooses Odessa instead of her sister, she is forced to travel to Turah and become the princess that she was never meant to be. When she gets there, though, she discovers more monsters, secrets, and magic than she could have ever imagined, and it just might threaten all of their very lives.
The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark
Vincent Taylor is a famous horror writer who knows a few horrors of his own. In 1975 his older brother and younger sister were murdered and everyone, even decades later, believes that Vincent did it. Olivia has lived her life in the shadow of her father and the tragedies of her family history, so she starts a new life at the first opportunity. But when an offer she can’t refuse brings her back to her hometown to write a memoir for her father, she begins to uncover all the secrets he’s kept hidden. Nothing is as it seems and everything for Olivia is about to change.
How Bad Things Can Get by Darcy Coates
Ruth is no stranger to trauma. Being the only surviving member of a cult as a young child has taught her to question everything and trust no one. So when she, her boyfriend, and his friends get picked for an exclusive island game show hosted by a popular influencer they watch, Ruth is already wary.
When strange things start happening on the island (people going missing, games turning dangerous, and sightings of creepy people in the island jungle) and Ruth’s hidden past with the cult is threatened, everything starts to crumble. It’s all about to get a lot worse, too….
The Measure by Nikki Erlick
It’s a normal day in the world until mysterious boxes appear in front of everyone’s doors who are at least 22 or older. Inside, there is a string that claims to measure the length of its owner’s life. As chaos, segregation due to string length, and scientific “explanations” for the strings ensue, people who have short strings (and therefore, short lives) and people who have long strings must find a way to coexist again. Between stereotyping, judging, isolating, and other forms of othering, many people find out who they truly are whether it’s for the best or the absolute worst.
