Happy New Year! As I listened last night to the neighborhood light fireworks and prayed no one set our tinderbox, unusually warm neighborhood a blaze, I decided I would finally get my top books of the year up today. I have been a pretty bad poster this past year. Lots going on in life in general and it just hasn’t take a priority to get things posted. I truly hope to improve that this year. In doing so, something has to give and I am not sure I will be posting to this site. I may just keep it to Instagram. To lessen where I am posting will likely result in it being easier to keep up. We shall see what I decide as venture into the year.
With that said, 2025 was a great reading year for me. While I only rated 2 books as a 5 ⭐️, there were loads of them in the 4 – 4 1/2 range that I could recommend! In fact, I would feel comfortable posting a top 50 list (of the 104 that I completed) but I will keep this to a top 20. Why only 2 as 5⭐️’s? I have historically been a hard rater with those full 5 ⭐️’s and it takes a lot for me to decide to rate it that way. A 5 for me is not only unforgettable but moves me in a way that keeps me thinking about it long after I have turned the last page. As I go back and look at my 5s from the past, I can honestly say that they stay with me for years to come. The 4.5’s at the top of my lists are not always that way.
Too harsh? Maybe. Will I lighten up this year? Maybe. But in the past there has been something holding me back on those 4.5’s – I am not sure what it is, but it may be time for me to loosen my grip on the 5’s.
It is also worthy to note that my entire year did tend to focus on new releases. Not all, but most of these in the top 20 are from this past year. I actually *really* hope to get to more backlist books in 2026. I do however get very distracted by buzzy books, so we will see how I do there. All in all I don’t worry about it too, too much. I pick up what I want, and if I don’t like it, I put it down. I actually DNF books often!
In the meantime here are my top 20 fiction books from 2025. My top Nonfiction will be posted soon.
- The Correspondent 5 ⭐️
- The Names 5 ⭐️
- Once There Were Wolves
- Broken Country
- Life, and Death, and Giants
- More or Less Maddy
- Atmosphere
- We are All Guilty Here
- The Bright Years
- Finding Grace
- What Happened to the McCrays
- A Guardian and a Thief
- Between the Devil and The Deep Blue Sea
- The Death of Us
- Don’t Let Him In
- A Family Matter
- Heart the Lover
- Heartwood
- The Favorites
- Forget Me Not
