My favorite books of 2025

And why I read less this year.

I found it harder to read this year...

For much of the first quarter I had a lot of anxiety about the world which resulted in more scrolling on my phone (bad) and more walking to clear my head (good.)

The result? I read about half the books I normally do, most of them in the last six months.

But thankfully, the library gods heard my plea and sent me delicious books to devour when I was ready.

So many good books.

My favorite was Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. Apparently I love the "near-future climate disaster stories about girls" genre (I also loved All The Water in the World and The Light Pirate.)

But this book in particular is more about love, nature and parenthood and it will rip your little tender heart out in the best possible way. I also learned about Wolemi Pines, something I am grateful to know about. 10/10.

A few other book changes for me this year:

I left Goodreads, which is owned by Amazon, and moved to The StoryGraph which is independent and Black-owned. Join me there!

I also started buying my books from Bookshop.org which supports local book shops.

My six favorite books of 2025 were:
1. Wild Dark Shores by Charlotte McConaghy
2. Woodworking by Emily St. James
3. Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson
4. The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard
5. The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden
6. Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

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