Favorite Books 2025

I am sharing my favorite books of 2025.

2025 was my worst reading year, at least according to the number of books, since I started keeping track of my reading about ten years ago.

I feel like 2025 lacked both in the number of books that I read and the quality of books that I read.

I read some great books, but I didn’t have as many five-star reads as I usually do.

I think that is mainly because I didn’t really set any reading goals in 2025. I just wanted to read and to learn through reading.

I think the lack of reading goals made me not read as much.

I read about fifteen fewer books in 2025 than in previous years.

For the past ten or so years, I have read between 100 and 120 books a year. This year, I only read 90 books.

I know that 90 books is still a lot of books, but for me, it isn’t that many. I think if the quality of books that I read had been better, I would have been happier with my 2025 reading year.

I think this year taught me that I need some reading goals. I don’t like super strict reading challenges, but I think my reading life is much better if I have some reading goals set. I will share more about my 2026 reading goals next week.

I also want to say that I don’t want you to compare your reading life to mine. One of the problems with online life and following people on social media is that we compare our lives to theirs.

My website is my business. I don’t make a lot of money, but I do make some. Reading is part of my job, so it makes sense that I need to read a lot.

I have also had a lot of health problems that last five years. There is a lot that I can no longer do, but I can read, even when I don’t feel well..

Your life probably looks a lot different than mine. You may only read twenty or thirty books a year, and that is still great.

I want to encourage you to read, but you don’t have to read a certain number of books unless you want to.

I want you to enjoy reading!

Now for my favorite books that I read this year.

Best Books 2025

I picked twelve favorites for this year’s list of best books. Five of them are fiction, five are nonfiction, and two are Christian nonfiction.

Best Fiction 2025

The Stolen Queen By Fiona Davis. I read this book back in January and knew that it would make my list of best books of the year.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. This was a reread. I read it years ago and decided it was time to reread it. I enjoyed it so much more the second time I read it. It was definitely a favorite book of the year.

The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry. Patti Callahan Henry is one of my favorite fiction authors, and she did not disappoint with this one. This book is the perfect mix of historical fiction, mystery, and romance.

Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower. I know this is not a book; it is a series, but I read and loved the first five books in the Emma M. Lion series, so I added the series to the list. I liked book one in the series, but it got much better as I read more books.

I bought myself the following three books in the series for my birthday and can’t wait to read them.

Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I loved this YA book. In fact, it inspired me to read more YA in 2026.

Best Nonfiction 2025

The House of My Mother by Shari Franke. This book takes you into the world of a very popular blogger and YouTuber. I think this book is an important read because so many parents are using their kids to build their social media accounts. I think we will see more and more of these types of books over the next ten years.

Be Patient by Tilly Rose. This book is one of the best medical memoirs that I have read. Tilly Rose shares her raw and honest story of being a patient with a chronic illness.

This book won’t be for everyone, but after five years of chronic illness issues and having family members with chronic illness, I could relate to so much of this story.

Sister Sinner by Clarie Hoffman. This book might be my favorite book of the year. It is at least in the top three. This book is the story of Aimee Semple McPherson, who founded The Foursquare Church. It is part biography and part true crime It is also a great example of fact is stranger than fiction. If you love true crime or biographies this is one to add to your tbr list for 2026.

Bad City by Paul Pringle. This is another wild true crime story. This one takes you into the world of the University of Southern California and corruption in education and government. I read this and told my husband he had to read it too. It is now on his list of favorite books of the year.

Family of Spies by Christine Kuehn. Imagine finding out as an adult that your grandparents were Germans, living in Hawaii, working as spies, who helped orchestrate the bombing of Pearl Harbor. That is Christine Kuehn’s story. This is one of the best WWII books that I read this year.

Best Christian Nonfiction 2025

What Is a Girl Worth by Rachael Denhollander. This is a difficult read because it deals with abuse, but it is so good. Rachael Denhollander was the first person to speak out publicly about Larry Nassar and the abuse within the U.S. gymnastics world. She was also abused at church.

This book is now on my list of all time favorite Christian memoirs. It is a Christian book, but I don’t think you have to be a Christian to read it. If you love memoirs, this is a good one.

The Girl on the Bathroom Floor by Amber Emily Smith. I read and loved Like a River by Granger Smith, his memoir about how God changed him after the death of his son. The Girl on the Bathroom Floor is Granger’s wife’s memoir of the years following their son’s death.

It is an amazing story of how God used a horrific tragedy to change Amber. Like a River and The Girl on the Bathroom Floor are a great book pairing. If you are looking to read more Christian books in 2026, I highly recommend adding them to your tbr list.

What great books did you read in 2025?