Year in Review: 2025 Book List
It was the year of the library. 17 of this year’s 35 books came from the DC Public Library and three from local Little Free Libraries. I won three through giveaways. One I already owned, one came from Book of the Month, one from Aardvark, and one I borrowed from my dad. The rest I purchased from independent bookstores (plus two from Bookshop, supporting small indies): one from Kramers, one from MahoganyBooks, two from Loyalty Bookstores, one from Politics and Prose, and one from Chaucer’s.
For the third year in a row, I participated in the Overeducated Women with Cats 2025 Reading Challenge.
Below I list every book I read, and past that are the top 10 that stuck with me.
And So I Roar ~ Abi Daré
Beautyland ~ Marie-Helene BertinoThe Bookseller of Kabul ~ Åsne Seierstad
A Burning ~ Megha Majumdar
California Golden ~ Melanie Benjamin
Confessions of the Fox ~ Jordy Rosenberg
The Consequences: Stories ~ Manuel Muñoz
Consider Phlebas ~ Iain M. Banks
Diary of a Void ~ Emi Yagi
Dog Flowers: A Memoir ~ Danielle Geller
Dream Count ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Epitaph for a Peach: Four Season on My Family Farm ~ David Mas Masumoto
Here for It; Or, How to Save Your Soul in America: Essays ~ R. Eric Thomas
Here One Moment ~ Liane Moriarty
Horse ~ Geraldine Brooks
Howl’s Moving Castle ~ Diana Wynne Jones
I Hope This Finds You Well ~ Natalie Sue
Intermezzo ~ Sally Rooney
Invisible Man ~ Ralph Ellison
Magic for Liars ~ Sarah Gailey
The Maid ~ Nita Prose
Our Wives Under the Sea ~ Julia Armfield
PS: I Hate You ~ Lauren Connolly
Real Americans ~ Rachel Khong
Real Life ~ Brandon Taylor
The Seep ~ Chana Porter
The Shutouts ~ Gabrielle Korn
Tracer ~ Brendan Deneen
Tress of the Emerald Sea ~ Brandon Sanderson
Victory City ~ Salman Rushdie
When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East ~ Quan Barry
When Katie Met Cassidy ~ Camille Perri
Work Nights ~ Erica Peplin
Re-read
The Heart of Christianity ~ Marcus Borg
Dune ~ Frank Herbert
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| Indie bookstores are the best |
Top 10
A lovely mix of science fiction and literary fiction, Beautyland offered an intimate meditation on learning to be human that really resonated with me and with my neighbor book club.
The Consequences: Stories ~ Manuel Muñoz
In my Google doc where I keep notes on the books I read, I’d finished the titles immediately before and after The Consequences, so I decided to read this random title in between. And I love how so often the random reads provide an unexpected delight. Every one of Muñoz’s stories, even though they were 20 pages or so, contained a fully fleshed out world and characters.
Diary of a Void ~ Emi Yagi
Yagi did a brilliant job with an unreliable narrator, and kept me guessing about how Shibata was maintaining her burgeoning lie. I read most of this book in a single day last January and am still thinking about it a year later.
Here for It; Or, How to Save Your Soul in America: Essays ~ R. Eric Thomas
I totally fell under the spell of Thomas’s fun and fresh writing style, and felt hopeful, touched, inspired, and encouraged while reading his essays.
Here One Moment ~ Liane Moriarty
I’d never read Moriarty, but my sister loved this book and recommended it to me. And I blazed through all 500 pages in a week. Each evening I couldn’t wait to climb into bed and gobble up more of the book. I loved the characters and needed to know what was going to happen to them, and the ending could not have been more perfect. Such an entertaining reading experience.
Howl’s Moving Castle ~ Diana Wynne Jones
After several reads I didn't enjoy, Aaron recommended I try Howl's Moving Castle. I fell in love with Jones’s very flawed characters who reluctantly found good within, and her vivid world that felt so real!
I Hope This Finds You Well ~ Natalie Sue
I didn’t expect to enjoy Sue’s book as much as I did. The premise was the enticing stuff of office revenge fantasies, but the story went much deeper than the primary colors cover suggested. Jolene's dilemma provided a fun discussion for my neighbor book club, and here I am still thinking about it a year later.
Intermezzo ~ Sally Rooney
I told Aaron I was reading Intermezzo because a new Sally Rooney is a literary event, rather than because I might enjoy it. But then Intermezzo truly moved me. Rooney has always been a genius at digging into the human psyche and uncovering truths about life, but Intermezzo was truly a masterclass in character. And in writing tangled relationships that never felt juvenile, but heartfelt and true. Intermezzo may be Rooney’s best work yet. But I have an inkling you may find me saying that about her next book in the future.
Real Americans ~ Rachel Khong
Real Americans probed the shadowy corners of the human heart and understandable reasons for unsettling choices. Because Khong thrust us into the hearts of three very different people, her story defied any easy conclusions about their choices. An absolute masterpiece that I couldn't put down.
Tress of the Emerald Sea ~ Brandon Sanderson
My neighbor book club really read some bangers this year. All of us who met to discuss Tress loved her, and I was the only one who’d read Sanderson and had some idea of what we were in for. Even I didn't realize how much I'd wholeheartedly love this book! Tress of the Emerald Sea was Sanderson at his whimsical best. Total fun and exactly what we all needed in the middle of 2025.
Overeducated Women with Cats Reading Challenge 2025
- A book with a middle-aged MC
- The Seep ~ Chana Porter
- A memoir by an indigenous author
- Dog Flowers: A Memoir ~ Danielle Geller
- A book title that starts with O, W, or C
- When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East ~ Quan Barry
- A book reviewed by OWC
- Intermezzo ~ Sally Rooney
- A book you borrowed (from a friend or the library)
- I Hope This Finds You Well ~ Natalie Sue
- A book published in 2025
- Dream Count ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- An essay or collection of essays
- Here for It; Or, How to Save Your Soul in America: Essays ~ R. Eric Thomas
- A book with multiple timelines
- Horse ~ Geraldine Brooks
- A book that’s been on your TBR for more than 5 years
- Invisible Man ~ Ralph Ellison
- A book tagged as horror, cosmic horror, or speculative fiction
- Our Wives Under the Sea ~ Julia Armfield
- A book over 400 pages
- Consider Phlebas ~ Iain M. Banks
- A book with an unreliable narrator
- Diary of a Void ~ Emi Yagi
This is my 14th book list! Here are the links to lists from 2024, 2023, 2022, or 2021 and beyond, all the way back to 2012.