Part 3: I reread the Hunger Games series, multiple Jane Austen novels and modern retellings in honor of her 250th birthday, the Glenbrooke series, and The Martian Chronicles in honor of its 75th anniversary.

Five Bonus Reads:
-  The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi

- The Life of Chuck by Stephen King

- Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy

- I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

- To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Part 2: In addition to my favorite of 2025, I had some memorable reading experiences. I read Swann‘s Way with a group of classics lovers from around the country. I also read the whole Thursday Murder Club series and loved it.

6) Stoner by John Edward Williams

7) Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

8) Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin

9) The Mythmakers by John Hendrix

10) The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali  

Part 1: This year I read 177 books. Here are my top ten, plus a couple bonus reads because I couldn‘t help myself.

1) The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

2) There‘s Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib

3) Emma M. Lion vol. 1-8 by Beth Brower

4) Motherless Daughters by Hope Edelman

5) The Winners and Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

Emma and her husband Mr. Knightley are caught up in a murder at their home when a gang of smugglers establish a base in their community. I haven‘t read the 1st in this series, but this one was fun and a treat to read. I loved George and Emma‘s dynamic.

When I make it to this time of year and the chaos of the holidays can feel a bit much, I just want to curl up with an easy Christmas read. This one fit the bill. It‘s one part Princess Diaries and one part What a Girl Wants. Entertaining and completely unrealistic in the best way. An American law student is whisked off to a fictional European country when she finds out her father is the king there. What follows is predictable, silly, but fun.

When I moved 3 years ago I unexpectedly fell in love with birdwatching in my backyard. This book is a love letter to the hobby from Amy Tan. The physical copy is beautiful and includes so many detailed sketches and paintings that she did of different birds. Just a lovely treat to read and a great reminder to slow down and enjoy the beauty in your own backyard.

A beautiful collection of poems to read to start your day. I spread this one out over months so I could savor them. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Sunrise on the Hills" was by far my favorite.

"If thou art worn and hard beset
With sorrows, that thou wouldst forget
If thou wouldst read a lesson, that will keep
Thy heart from fainting and thy soul from sleep,
Go to the woods and hills! – No tears
Dim the sweet look that Nature wears."

Short stories including the inspiration for the film “The Arrival” as well as others that juggle big ideas w/a philosophical approach. So much of his work is looking at the world around him & wondering “what if”. Some impacted me more than others, but each story made me feel like I was stretching my understanding. My only complaint is that his writing is driven by cerebral quandaries, not the heart, so they felt a bit disconnected from emotion.

This gorgeous story gives us a glimpse into the lives of 3 people, each arrive after their deaths at a photo studio run by Hirasaka. They select a photo from each year of their lives to add to the lantern that will be their "life flashing before their eyes". We get to know a nursery teacher, a yakuza enforcer & a young abused girl. The ending was so satisfying it made my heart hurt & I'll be thinking about these characters for a long time.

A grief-soaked love story set at Christmas. Two widow/ers meet and decide to watch some Christmas movies together (it makes sense, I promise). This one doesn‘t come without some heartbreak, but there‘s humor as well. If doesn‘t shy away from the realities of marriage or the pain of loss, but it has notes of hope. I really enjoyed it and it was excellent on audio with switching narrators as we went between Henry & Grace‘s POV.

Bud is an obit writer who publishes his own obit while drinking one night. He's has a string of bad experiences that lead him to question what he's doing in his life. The snarky early chapters are given more depth when we meet his best friend, Tim. The female character is in the "manic pixie dreamgirl" category, & never feels real to me. The dialogue & unpacking of past trauma was moving, the arrested development midlife crisis man was less so.

I want to love this, but it‘s the genre of short stories is always hard for me to connect with. Just when I feel invested in a character, we‘ve moved on. I did love the story “To Reach Japan” about a young mother and writer who attends a literary party and unexpectedly connects with a man she meets. Munro is objectively incredible and I recognize that in her writing. I just struggle with the short story format.

A reread for me, but just as entertaining as the first time. A lot of the story hit differently since I‘m a mom now. So much of the story is about the sacrifices and grief that you face as a parent in different stages. Also the challenges and comforts of marriage. This was the 1st Moriaty book I read and after that I was hooked.

Loved this story of 2 friends in 1970s Iran. Ellie & Homa bond when they‘re young & reconnect in high school. Their earnest friendship is so relatable. As they grow that friendship remains part of who they are despite the revolution & changes happening around them. The book deals w/big issues: women‘s rights & immigration, but it is so character driven, the issues never feel heavier than their connection. Their story broke my heart & gave me hope.

A slim 144 pages on the life of Sonia, a horse trainer who travels the country. Sonia has a rough life, but her distinct voice and the brief chapters that hop around in subjects made the book unputdownable. It's like nothing I've read before. Despite so many painful events, Sonia remains objective and realistic about life's ups and downs. From jockeys' traditions to her time as a corrections officer, it's a story that will stick with you.

A narrative nonfiction book about gator poaching written by a Florida native. This was a great pick to read for a recent trip to Florida. The descriptions of the culture and wildlife in the area were my favorite part. The undercover cop who is part of the operation to catch the poachers was a bit less interesting. Hard to understand all he went through to try to catch them. A good read if you enjoy nonfiction of this style.

I had no idea this novel was so autobiographical. Knowing that Woolf & I both lost our mothers at a similar age, the stark before & after in the novel made sense to me. All that happens in your life before & after a major loss are forever categorized that way in your own head.

Seeing the grief through the eyes of different characters was powerfully. Even when processing the same death, grief is unique and we can let it shape who we become.

A local alcoholic grieving his daughters‘s death ends up w/2 children in his care. They drive from Massachusetts out west to try & find a soap opera star. There's a lot of heart & serious Richard Risso vibes & by the end of the book I cared deeply for the characters. It feels similar to Run for the Hills & if I'd read this one 1st I probably would have liked it more than I did. There's humor in the story, but it's also overflowing with tragedies.

I wanted to love this one, but it never pulled me in as completely as I'd hoped. It felt like the action was just around the corner and something was always just about to happen. I enjoyed the wrold building and it's obviously very inspired by Narnia, but it was very slow. I still enjoyed it, but not enough to dive into the next book. I think this one would be a better fit for Middle Grade, which it's geared towards.

C.S. Lewis wrote this after the death of his beloved wife. Their time together was short, but it was all the more poignant because their connection was so intense. He was left wishing for all the years they might have had together. He is so honest about his pain making him question his faith.

“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.”

“Her absence is like the sky, spread over everything.”

A sweet little novella about a woman visiting her adult son‘s family in his castle in the 19th century. There‘s years of hurt in their history, but as both the Duke and his mother become a little vulnerable there‘s a chance for healing. I loved the mother‘s connection with the local Vicar. And the Duke‘s wife Persephone is delightful! I had no idea this was part of a series, but it works as a standalone. Now I want to read more from this author.

An absolute guilty pleasure read that I loved when it first came out. Rereading it on the beach was both addictive & made me roll my eyes. Obviously the relationships are toxic, but it‘s also incredibly entertaining. It‘s like eating a giant tub of ice cream, not great for you, but it taste good in the moment. Don‘t base your relationship goals off this book, but it‘s perfect teenage yearning vampire drama. I‘m off to read the rest of the series.

A very quick and forgettable beach read. A remote cabin, estranged family, and an increasingly worrying storm. The book is on 25 short chapters so you can read one a day during advent. I read it in an afternoon. It‘s predictable but entertaining. I liked the added epilogue that shows the main characters later.

A lovely story that would be a great fit for anyone who enjoys the Emma M. Lion books. An unconventional romance between a cranky man and a woman who ignores social norms because she‘s missing half of her soul. A little bit of fairies sprinkled in and lots of proper English society. Also some depth is added with the cruelty of British workhouses. The result is delightful and a good fix when I‘m missing the Emma books.

A very quick read with a bunch of advice that is applicable to anyone. Definitely some gems, but barely enough to be considered a book. Maybe a good graduation gift for someone.

A young woman is house sitting for the summer after college and encounters a family of baby skunks. Through the story she deals with a crush on a former high school boy and spends time with her childhood friend. Honestly I just kept waiting for something to happen. It's a lot of thinking about what she experienced in high school and reflecting on the aimlessness of her life. Maybe a better pick if I was younger, but I wish I'd skipped this one.

What a gem! This epistolary novel tells the story of Sybil Van Antwerp. From a decades-long correspondence with her childhood friend to notes to neighbors to emails with a customer service rep, the letters tell the story of her life. It's like 84 Charing Cross Road but with added depth & breadth. I absolutely loved her. She's a complicated woman; sharply intelligent, acerbic, & incredibly caring. I cherished this picture of an intentional life.

We follow a very pregnant woman during a single day as she tries to survive in Portland, Ore. after a massive earthquake hits. She crib shopping in IKEA when it hits and spends the rest of the book trying to find her husband and get home. The chapters in the present work better than the flashbacks explaining their tepid relationship, but it kept me interested through out. I felt like I was with her, aching feet, unquenchable thirst, & desperation.

This was a miss for me. In 1800s in the Black Swaps of Ohio the Goodenough family struggles to survive with their small apple orchard. The characters are miserable, but at least their spite is interesting. In the second half we follow just one of the children, Robert, to the gold rush in California, as he explores the redwoods there. He feels like an absence of a character. With no depth or distinguishing characteristics besides his emptiness.

I should have reread Grey Wolf before starting this one. Obviously, it is part of a long series, but it is a continuation of the international conspiracy introduced in that book. There were so many details I‘d forgotten. The plot does seem a bit convoluted, regardless. She set other books outside of Three Pines, but I never missed it in the same way I did this time. I will always read her next book in this series, but this one wasn‘t my favorite.

This is the third book in the Harold Fry series. Maureen, his wife, is so tightly wound and closed off from her grief that she‘s a hard character to connect to. But her journey to Queenie‘s garden pulled at my heart in such a deep way. Not all of us grieve publicly, and some hurts are only healed in the most unexpected ways. Her pain is palpable and heartbreaking, but her time away from Harold on this trip is so essential in processing her grief.

In this companion book to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, we learn more about the woman who inspired his walk. She's living in a hospice & decides to write out her memories for Harold to read in a letter. From meeting him at work to her unexpected relationship with his troubled son, Queenie's POV unfolds with a quiet, lonely beauty. I loved her description of her sea garden & the unfettered joy she's able to glimpse when David dances.

This book was so frustrating. I wanted to know how it was going to end, but I was also so put out with the characters‘ choices. Joe might be an absolute jerk, but nothing he did would have been possible without her enabling him. I‘m not someone who needs likable characters to enjoy the book, but for me, the plotting was slow and the resolution left me cold. Based on Joe‘s actions, I couldn‘t figure out any real motivation for Joan‘s choices.

There is nature vs. nurture, and then there are the things that shape us because we don‘t have them. For the.Hills children, that absence is their father and when they go on a cross-country road trip to meet each other and confront him, they realize what it means to be family and what home truly is. I absolutely loved this. Each character felt so real and distinct. I was happy to be along for the ride on this adventure.

This enemies to lovers road trip book takes the characters from one national park to another. It was a perfect fit for the trip I just took as we visited many of the same places. It was spicier than I expected, but I loved the characters, former high school rivals, and they way they pushed each other and became a safe place for each other to be vulnerable as they process grief. Recommended if you want a romance that takes place on a trip out west.

I went to Bauman‘s Rare Books during a trip out west last week. It was such a bougie bookstore! First editions, signed copies, a letter from Picasso, it was wild. Everything was behind glass and thousands of dollars. Amazing to see those books, but give me a meandering used bookstore over that any day!

This is 100% inspired by Murder on the Orient Express and because of that, it‘s inevitable to compare the two. It‘s nowhere near Agatha Christie‘s level, and the red herrings abound, but it‘s still a fun romp. This is my first from this author, and I was definitely entertained, though it wasn‘t isn‘t throwing as it‘s inspiration. Definitely a good “locked train” mystery and I loved the main character‘s struggle and ambition.

It‘s the ‘90s & Frida is living in Paris when she writes a bookstore in Seattle to request a book. So begins the correspondence between her & bookseller Kate. This is very much in the vein of 84 Charing Cross Road, which I love. As they correspond they push each other to try new things and expand their horizons. A sweet epistolary novel that was such a fun read. I enjoyed this author‘s Love & Saffron a bit more, but this one was still a delight.

If you ever wondered where Roz in The Wild Robot got her name, this is it. This play written in 1920 about the rise of an army of robots, and the extinction of the human race was revolutionary for its time. It has tons of melodrama, and the one woman in it certainly feels like a fake character that all the men can‘t help but fall in love with, but there are some excellent sci-fi themes about man‘s hubris that stand the test of time.

I think the reason I love this series so much is because with each book we go a little deeper with the characters. We see them mature and learn from their new group of friends they‘ve developed in their old age. And the supporting cast of the criminal Connie, police officers Chris & Donna, Bogdan, Joyce‘s daughter Joann, and Ron‘s grandson Kendrick, just keeps getting better. In this one a weeding, bitcoin & a coded safe take stage. Loved it.

I loved this book as a kid, but it's darker than I remembered. I reread it w/my kids and we were all on the edge of our seats. The author's ability to give the reader empathy for horses is beautiful. We found ourselves reflecting on how people treat animals or those with less power is a true reflection of who they are as a person.

“If we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, & do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt.”

I stumbled upon this after reading How to Read a Book. This free verse poetical book is more than 100 years old and includes epitaphs from people from the fictional town of Spoon River. It‘s darker than you would expect, and I loved it. It reminded me of Winesburg, Ohio. Ordinary life is heartbreaking and this book captures that perfectly.

I lost my mom when I was 14 & I can‘t believe it took me this long to find this book. Full of wisdom about how grief stays with you and grows in different seasons of life, this book helped me so much. If you‘ve lost your mom, no matter how old you are, I would highly recommend this. There were so many moments that made me realize I was not alone.

“For the motherless daughter, depending on independence is not nearly as contradictory as it sounds.”

This is my 2nd book by this author & I loved it. I think I enjoyed Practice Makes Perfect more, but I identified with this main character. After her parents die, Emily raised her siblings and worked hard to make sure everyone in her life is taken care of. It‘s enemies to lovers, and a lot of deeper issues like grief and loneliness, and struggling with abandonment issues. The dynamic between the siblings is definitely one of my favorite parts.

At 900+ pages, I think it‘s safe to say the plot was overly convoluted. I still enjoyed every second of it. An unsolved murder in a silver vault, a missing soldier, a decades or cold case in another country, a frantic, postpartum girlfriend, and a neighborhood rocked by a tragic car accident. All the while we are moving forward with Robin and Cormoran‘s stories. Plenty of old history is drudged up as the pair try to work through their feelings.

In 1938 Clover & Jotter were the first women to brave the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. They were botanists studying & collecting specimens. Unsurprisingly, all emphasis by the press was on the fact that they were women & not that they were scientists. It was not a pleasure cruise, but an exploration into the unknown flora in the area. It's an incredible story.

“A wild place isn‘t one unchanged by humans, it‘s a place that changes us.”

There's so many big concepts to discuss in this one; perfect for a book club. Violet is a recently released prisoner struggling with guilt and grief. Harriet is a widowed woman who leads a prison book club. Frank is a widower attempting to move on to a new future. The concept of forgiveness is a big one. Also, I kept thinking about the motherless daughters in the book: Sophie, Kristy, and Violet. Each one struggles with grief in a different way.

I wanted to love this one more than I did. Tress was such a delight, and this one was very original, but with a different tone. Yumi and the painter find their souls unexpectedly tethered together. As nightmare creatures creep through the city, and they must learn how to fight them. They also need to learn how to depend on others and explore their own passions and freedoms. The book dragged, but I did love the illustrations and the concept.

This author is a comfort read for me and I‘ll always pick up her books. This one follows two friends on a solo trip through Venice, Florence, and Lake Como. One woman is trying to find a better work/life balance. The other is struggle with past trauma impacting her view of the world. Through cooking classes and unexpected kindnesses from strangers, the pair both have breakthroughs in their lives.

Number 10 in the series begins with an Indian woman being murdered. Maisie is on the case while trying to make some big decisions about what to do next in her own life. This is definitely a transition book and it moves the story forward wonderfully. I loved learning more about the woman who was murdered and her strong, vibrant personality. Her fearlessness and uncompromising attitude reminded me of Maisie.