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My Top Reads of 2025! (So Far)
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items An ongoing curated list of my favorite books of 2025! Spans multiple genres including fantasy, romance, literary fiction, historical fiction, memoirs, and more!
Sections
6
Fantasy 🗡️
Fiction (Historical/Literary/YA)
Dystopian 👀
Romance ♥️
Non-Fiction 📖
Thriller ‼️
Fantasy 🗡️
High fantasy, dragons, and a royal court hanging in the balance in a brand new world — this will satiate any Game of Thrones fanatic.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
"The first woman ever admitted to a prestigious order of mages unravels a secret conspiracy that could change the practice of magic forever, in this standalone dark fantasy"
A masterclass in fantasy writing. The themes of misogyny, racism, colonialism, corrupt governing bodies, blind religious faith, and classism were so vividly painted in this book that this world felt eerily like our own. I will be thinking about this ...
A masterclass in fantasy writing. The themes of misogyny, racism, colonialism, corrupt governing bodies, blind religious faith, and classism were so vividly painted in this book that this world felt eerily like our own. I will be thinking about this ...
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
“An immersive fantasy filled with a sizzling reluctant-allies-to-lovers romance, a world to get lost in, dangerous quests, dragon bonds, and an entertaining band of characters to root for, Fear the Flames marks the stunning debut of Olivia Rose Darli...
Overall, I had a great time with this book! I loved the found family and the character dynamics. I wish there was more world building, and I thought the third act had many scenes that felt rushed. I think it was set up well for the next book! Loved t...
Overall, I had a great time with this book! I loved the found family and the character dynamics. I wish there was more world building, and I thought the third act had many scenes that felt rushed. I think it was set up well for the next book! Loved t...
Fear the Flames by Olivia Rose Darling
“A whirlwind adventure about star-crossed lovers, their doomed romance and love that transcends time and space.”
Filled with longing, heartbreak, desire, and hope, Our Infinite Fates uncovers the messy and complex nature of humanity. A thousand lives, a thousand chances to do it over, and to discover why we are the way we are. Laura Steven wrote a phenomenal an...
Filled with longing, heartbreak, desire, and hope, Our Infinite Fates uncovers the messy and complex nature of humanity. A thousand lives, a thousand chances to do it over, and to discover why we are the way we are. Laura Steven wrote a phenomenal an...
Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven
Heavenly Bodies is the first book in a dazzling new romantasy series that blends mythology and shadow magic with a tantalizing enemies-to-lovers romance that will rewrite the stars.
Heavenly Bodies by Imani Erriu
The stars are plotting against Elara in this stunning sequel to the hit romance Heavenly Bodies. While her soulmate is stuck in limbo, Elara must fight the Titans and their dark power before he’s gone forever.
Fallen Stars by Imani Erriu
Red Queen meets Shadow and Bone in this captivating romantasy about an outcast heiress, the two princes who pull at her heart, and a cutthroat competition for power in an empire where crowns are not inherited—they’re won.
Heir of Storms by Lauryn Hamilton Murray
The Mountain's Crown is a gripping tale filled with ambition, magic, betrayal, and redemption. This captivating story of resilience and discovery is author Macayla Dawn's debut novel in a new, breathtaking fantasy series: The Fated Paths Duology.
The Mountain's Crown by Macayla Dawn
Geralt is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless hunter. Yet he is no ordinary killer: his targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that r...
Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski
Fiction (Historical/Literary/YA)
What happens when your comfortable life and daily routine are unexpectedly upended? What if you find something you never thought you were missing? This is a touching story of the power of friendship and of being yourself.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
“Set amid Colorado’s wild beauty, the heartbreaking coming-of-age story of a resilient young woman whose life is changed forever by one chance encounter. A tragic and uplifting novel of love and loss, family and survival—and hope.”
I grabbed this book when I was near Gunnison, and that made the setting THAT much more vivid… the Colorado ranches, the unforgiving mountains, and the raging Gunnison River were characters themselves and added incredibly captivating imagery through t...
I grabbed this book when I was near Gunnison, and that made the setting THAT much more vivid… the Colorado ranches, the unforgiving mountains, and the raging Gunnison River were characters themselves and added incredibly captivating imagery through t...
Go as a River by Shelley Read
Aza Holmes never intended to pursue the disappearance of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the...
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
Dystopian 👀
At first, it looks like a disease. An epidemic that spreads through no known means, driving its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. But the force that’s sweeping the world is no pathogen. It’s just the first shock wave, unleashed by...
Recursion by Blake Crouch
Maybe it’s the end of the world, but not for Candace Chen, a millennial, first-generation American and office drone meandering her way into adulthood in Ling Ma’s offbeat, wryly funny, apocalyptic satire, Severance.
Severance by Ling Ma
I Who Have Never Known Men is a post-apocalyptic novel that has cemented itself as a classic of feminist literature. See the desolate world through the eyes of a young woman on her journey through entrapment and survival. Eerie and haunting, this is ...
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
This is a haunting look at a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by climate and economic catastrophes. Thought-provoking and brilliantly written, Parable of the Sower is a warning about what the future of Earth could look like if climate change is not tak...
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Carrie Davenport, a renowned constitutional law professor, has the career opportunity of a lifetime. Project Mars, the brainchild of a billionaire tech tycoon, has ambitious plans to establish the first human settlement on Mars. And Project Mars sele...
How do you design a system of government from scratch when you've lost faith in government itself?
How do you design a system of government from scratch when you've lost faith in government itself?
Arc of the Universe by Nikki Alexander, Paperback
It''s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.
Becky Chambers''s new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?
Becky Chambers''s new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Romance ♥️
The second book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series, this time it’s Weston’s turn to find love. And in Ada Hart, he may have met his match in more ways than one. Featuring familiar tropes of found family and forced proximity, it’s the perfect addition to ...
Swift and Saddled by Lyla Sage
What’s meant to be will be, even if it takes ten years — right? These childhood friends to lovers give their romance another shot, but life may prove to be even more difficult this time around.
Wild and Wrangled by Lyla Sage
High school sweethearts Sarah and Caleb Linwood have always been a sure thing. For the past seventeen years, they have had each other’s backs through all of life’s ups and downs.
In a desperate attempt to fix what they fear is breaking, Sarah and Caleb make the spontaneous decision to get out of their comfort zones and join a grueling hiking trip intended to guide couples through rough patches.What follows is a life-affirming...
In a desperate attempt to fix what they fear is breaking, Sarah and Caleb make the spontaneous decision to get out of their comfort zones and join a grueling hiking trip intended to guide couples through rough patches.What follows is a life-affirming...
Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young
“A hot one-night stand—and an unexpected pregnancy—lead a young woman to someone she can depend on.”
I normally don’t love an accidental pregnancy trope, but this one was done SO WELL. As someone with a limb difference, I connected to the main character on a deeper level. It meant a lot to see myself represented in such a loving way. I read this in ...
I normally don’t love an accidental pregnancy trope, but this one was done SO WELL. As someone with a limb difference, I connected to the main character on a deeper level. It meant a lot to see myself represented in such a loving way. I read this in ...
Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
The only thing harder than finding out about your dead dad’s secret lake house is dealing with the grumpy neighbor that comes with it. Fall in love with this bookish romance about writer's block, grief and rivalries.
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Books, reading, book lovers and tsundoku are all words that send hearts a flutter. Consider this your most swoon-worthy read of the summer! Mwah!
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
After Lucie's (lack of a) love life is exposed to the world by her own daughter, she's thrust into a string of bad dates, nosey internet trolls and an annoyingly handsome radio cohost.
First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison
Non-Fiction 📖
John Green, vanguard of Young Adult fiction, author of The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet, and modern media renaissance man now brings his passion for healthcare reform to the page. This is the story of one young boy's fight...
Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green
In Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer, Dylan pulls back the curtain of her “It Girl” lifestyle with a witty and intimate reflection of her life pre- and post-transition. She covers everything from her first big break in theater to the first time h...
Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer by Dylan Mulvaney
Thriller ‼️
A murderer is coming to dinner — and they locked the door behind them. Perfect for anyone who was convinced they saw the twist coming in The Glass Onion.
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
A future ravaged by disastrous weather, a small town on the brink of collapse and one family at the center of it all. Gripping, visceral and taut, Wild Dark Shore is a complex story about survival, isolation and hope at the end of the world.
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
A Black sheriff. A serial killer. A small town ready to combust.
Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, quiet Charon has had only two murders. But after years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem ...
Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, quiet Charon has had only two murders. But after years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem ...
All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby