Our best books read in 2025

Many of the major book sites have released their top books of 2025 so we figured our panel would share their favorite reads of the year. While our lists do contain many books published in 2025, they are not exclusive to 2025 but rather the best books we read during the year.

Here are the top 5 books that each of our panel members read in 2025.

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Jen’s Top Five:
I only read 54 books this year which is quite low for me. A good chunk of the books I read were either Booker nominees or books I thought might make the longlist. As I looked back over my 2025 reading, I found very few 5 star reads. My top 5 were:

1. Endling by Maria Reva. 5 Star read. This was truly the one book that stood out for me and tops my list of best books read in 2025. Endling was clever, funny, thoroughly unique, and emotionally evocative.
2. The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller. 5 star read. One of the most beautifully written books I’ve encountered in a long time.
3. Seascraper by Benjamin Wood. Seascraper was a beautifully written, quiet novel that I very much enjoyed and appreciated. I would have never picked this book up if not for the Booker longlist.
4. If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura. This book is a very personal pick. This year, I lost my mother and navigated a political landscape that starkly challenged many things in my life (my profession, values, my family background). This short book was profoundly impactful to me as it dealt with loss and grief and was a meditation on life, loss, and what truly matters. I ugly cried through the last part of it, but one of those cries that felt cathartic and needed.
5. The Intuitionists by Colson Whitehead. Chicken soup for the brain. Colson’s first novel but one that pulled me in to reflect on the allegory behind the story. As much of his work, this debut was no exception in being funny but poignant and thought provoking.

Anita’s Top Five
My reading year was not the best overall in terms of quality. I am on track to finish 57 books, and I had a smattering of 5 star books, but even those were all a bit flawed. So for what it’s worth:

1. Audition by Katie Kitamura: I just love a book that leaves room for the reader to figure things out and put their own interpretation on the text. The same reason I love it is why many others will not.
2. Lonesome Dove -by Larry McMurtry – I am about 80% done with this book and should finish this year. I love it. Listening on audio, and it’s just so well done – both heartbreaking and hysterical in equal measures. Unparalleled storytelling!
3. Run Less, Run Faster by Bill Pierce – At age 60, I think I finally have a chance at qualifying to run the Boston marathon. This book’s philosophy had so much appeal for an older runner, and five weeks into the program, I’m running better than I have in my life.
4. Heart the Lover by Lily King – Character development is everything to me, and this book does it so well.
5. Land in Winter – Miller – Beautiful writing doesn’t always seduce me, but this author has complete command of every word. Impressive if nothing else.

Nicole’s Top Five:

1. J.R. – William Gaddis – Still reading this but it’s genius. So complex and funny and challenging. I’ve been reading it for about 2 months, and I’m hopeful to be finishing it soon. It’s capitalistic satire written mostly in dialog with an absolute boatload of characters and rare attributions of who is speaking. It’s work, but it’s worth it. I know Anita doesn’t love satire, but I think she’d enjoy this.
2. The Land in Winter – Andrew Miller – Incredibly atmospheric and beautifully written. Every time I picked up the book I was in the cold dark winter.
3. Godric – Frederick Buechner – An utterly perfect book. Short, but didn’t need to be more – creatively and cleverly written. Witty, funny, interesting
4. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ – Jose Saramago Genius – one of Saramago’s best.
5. Tie – Seascraper Benjamin Wood – A quintessential booker booker book, another very atmospheric book and was robbed on the longlist. The Book of Guilt – Catherine Chidgey – This wasn’t an entirely original book but it was a well done take on it and I really like Chidgey and would love to see her get more US attention.

(I do a lot of audio, but interestingly everything on my list this year was a “read” book. I should probably read more…

Tracy’s Top Five: I’ve read 435 books so far this year. Most of it was horror. For some reason, I’ve found comfort in the scary, and there is a lot of political commentary in this genre lately. I didn’t give out a lot of five stars, though. Here are the best by genre:

1. Fiction: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones- technically horror, but it’s not. It’s about stealing land from the indigenous peoples and the plight of their children. With vampires fighting the real monsters. Brilliant. Runners up: The True True Story of Raja the Gullible by Rabih Alameddine and Endling by Maria Reva.
2. Poetry: Bluff by Danez Smith. Audio read by the author. Had me in tears of joy and sadness. All their poetry is brilliant.
3. Translated: Small Boat by Vincent Delacroix. This made me see red, and I hope it did the same for every single person who read it.
4. Nonfiction: One Day Everyone Will Have Been Against This by Omar El Akkad- a collection of essays about Palestine and the situation there. This was a must read, and I think will prove to be a classic. Runner up: Marsha: the Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline.
5. Horror: When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy – insanely good. This author is so creative- his horror is literary, as are so many horror authors now. Last year he hooked me with Mary, a story about a woman going through menopause. Runner up: My Favorite Thing is Monsters volume 2 by Emil Ferris. Finally the 2nd volume in her graphic series. Gorgeous artwork.

Lisa’s Top Five:

1. The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk. I’d been wanting to read this book for a while, and I’m only a 3rd of the way through, but I feel confident this will be/ is a best book of the year. The writing is beautiful. And there is something terrible lurking — only around the edges so far — but what could be better?
2. The Antidote by Karen Russell. Okay, the truth is I’m not quite done with this one either, but the first 80% of the book has been wonderful. I love the way she paints a picture of 1930s dust-bowl Nebraska, and there is just a touch of magical realism.
3. Endling by Maria Reva. This book, which was on the long list for the Booker prize, has really stuck with me.
4. The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller. I’m adding this for the same reasons as everyone else. In reading it, I was transported to post-WWII rural England.
5. Breaking Through: My Life in Science by Katalin Kariko. This a memoir by a woman who won the Nobel prize for her work with mRNA. She was born in Hungary under communism. She came to the US where she was ignored and underfunded, but driven by her conviction that her science was important. During a year of many challenges to science, this was an excellent reminder that sometimes persistence pays off.

We want to hear from you. Which were your favorite books of the year? Fellow bloggers, feel free to link to your lists.