Let’s Talk About Books!
I’ve been enjoying everyone’s “Best of 2025” lists, especially the reading ones! In 2025 I read 63 books in 2025, which is a lot for me. I usually end the year with around 50 books. I know many people read WAY more than that! I’d like to get my number higher next year- not because I’m comparing myself to all you speedy readers out there, but because… well, so many books, so little time. There are SO many books I want to read! Here are my top 5 books of 2025, in chronological order of when I read them: Death’s End by Cixin Liu Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell The Correspondent by Virginia Evans The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier It’s interesting that although my favorite genre is mystery, none of my top books of the year were mysteries. Meredith from the Currently Reading podcast had the same observation one year, and she explained it by saying “You might want to eat a salad most nights for dinner, but at the end of the year those won’t be the meals that stood out to you.” Although no mysteries made my top five, here are the best mysteries I read this year: Night Film by Marisha Pessl The Mirror Man by Lars Kepler Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (really fantasy/mystery) Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen Overall it was a pretty great year of reading. One book I could have skipped, surprisingly, was The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. I know! So many people love this book, and I absolutely LOVED his Century Trilogy. But this book just DRAGGED ME DOWN. The story was fascinating, but the things that happened to people were horrifying. Boy, life in the middle ages sucked. I had to find out how it ended, but I was so relieved when it was over. And now, I’m making a new TBR for 2026! I’m happily reading my Christmas book flood books right now, and after that I want to read The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith, State of Terror by Hilary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny. And Project Hail Mary, and The Nothing Man… gah! So many books! So little time!!! Have you read any of these? What was your favorite book of 2025? Top photo by Jessica Ruscello on Unsplash