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My 2025 Reading Shelf
16
items A mix of thrillers, memoirs, emotional fiction, and read-alouds—these are the titles that filled my year with stories, reflection, and a little escape.
Sections
6
💥 Psychological Thrillers & Suspense
💗 Emotional & Romantic Fiction
✍️ Memoirs & Real-Life Stories Section
📖 Classroom Stories & Read-Alouds
✨ Magical / Bookish Escape
📘 Leadership & Growth
💥 Psychological Thrillers & Suspense
Dark secrets, shifting truths, and high-stakes twists — these are the books that kept me turning pages just to see who I could really trust.
A tense psychological thriller where a seemingly perfect job inside a wealthy home quickly turns into something far more dangerous and unsettling.
The Housemaid: McFadden, Freida: 9781538742570
The sequel deepens the suspense as familiar patterns reemerge, forcing new questions about what’s real, who’s safe, and how far someone will go to hide the truth
The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden
A clever cat-and-mouse story built on lies, identity twists, and trust issues—where every character might be playing a deeper game than they let on.
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
💗 Emotional & Romantic Fiction
Love, heartbreak, healing, and second chances — these stories leaned into feelings, relationships, and the complicated ways people connect.
A story of first love, loss, and spoken-word poetry, where emotional connection is tested by unexpected obstacles.
Slammed
This sequel continues the journey of love and resilience, exploring what it takes to stay together when life keeps pushing back
Point of Retreat: A Novel (Slammed) by Hoover
A reflective companion novel that revisits earlier events from a new perspective, offering closure through revisiting love’s origin.
This Girl
A powerful emotional journey about love, trauma, and breaking cycles — exploring when loving someone means also choosing yourself.
It Ends with Us
A hopeful continuation that shifts the focus to healing, second chances, and rewriting love on healthier terms.
It Starts with Us: A Novel by Colleen Hoover
A heartfelt and gently humorous story about small-town life, self-discovery, and finding love despite imperfections.
Nobody's Perfect by Sally Kilpatrick
✍️ Memoirs & Real-Life Stories Section
True accounts that lingered — stories of resilience, survival, and self-understanding that reminded me truth can be as gripping as fiction.
A raw and introspective narrative blending heartbreak, identity, and emotional recovery through vulnerability and art.
Men Have Called Her Crazy | Book by Anna Marie Tendler
A raw, revealing journey from life inside a religious cult to the structure of the U.S. Army, exploring identity, conformity, and what it takes to reclaim your voice.
Uncultured: A Memoir by Daniella Mestyanek Young
An unforgettable true story of discovery and reckoning as a daughter uncovers horrifying truths about her father and learns to rebuild her sense of self amid the aftermath.
Raised by a Serial Killer: My Father's Truth
📖 Classroom Stories & Read-Alouds
Books I experienced with my students — shared stories that sparked conversations, curiosity, and connection.
A heartwarming middle-grade story about friendship, writing, and believing in your voice, with just enough adventure to keep a classroom hooked.
The School Story - Books
A fantasy adventure filled with dragons, hidden identities, and courage — a classroom favorite that blends mystery, action, and emotional growth
The Hidden Kingdom - Wings of Fire Wiki - Fandom
✨ Magical / Bookish Escape
A softer kind of escape — where stories fold into stories, bookstores feel enchanted, and imagination opens quiet doors.
A whimsical, multi-perspective story where fate, love, and magic intertwine through a mysterious bookshop that appears when it’s needed most.
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
📘 Leadership & Growth
Centered on guiding rather than controlling, this book explores how trust, creativity, and inspiration can unlock the best in others — whether in corporate teams, classrooms, or homes.
A modern leadership approach that shifts from command-and-control to connection, showing how empowering others through trust and inspiration leads to stronger teams, better culture, and authentic growth.
Trust and Inspire: How Great Leaders Unleash Greatness