2025 is coming to a close, and as in years past, I'm reflecting on all the great books I read this past year.
This has been an annual tradition here on the blog since 2019 when I wrote my first best books of the year post. As always, narrowing down this list to just ten books was difficult! I read so many amazing titles this year.
For the first year in awhile, only three of the books on this list come from my One Woman Book Club. That's not a knock on those books in any way as most of them were fantastic. It's more a testament to how effective my seasonal reading lists were this year, as well as my return to curating updated TBR lists more often toward the end of the year.
In another surprise move, this end-of-the-year best books list looks vastly different from the list I published back in July in which I shared what I considered the best books I'd read so far this year. Only three titles featured in that roundup made the final cut. I must confess, though, that cutting The Last of the Moon Girls was a tough decision!
I also just realized that there are no series on this year's list, which is a first. I actually don't think I read as many series this past year as I typically do, and the ones that I did read don't beat any of the standalones that did make this list.
In other noteworthy news, I started using my library app more frequently this year. They've done a good job of updating it compared to back when I first started using it. In fact, more than half of the books included in this year's best of list I discovered through that resource. So consider this your sign to support your local library, even if it's digitally!
Alright, without further ado, here are the 10 books that I consider to be the best that I read in 2025.
Many of these books are available via Kindle Unlimited and/or have an Audible version.
My 10 Favorite Books & Series of 2025
Author: Jodi Picoult
I predicted this book would be on my best books of the year list back in the summer. Well, not only is it on the list, but it tops the list. This is the book that I have found myself recommending the most this year, and it is the one that I wish I could reread for the first time so that I could experience it like new all over again. This book challenged everything I thought I knew about William Shakespeare. It was also a very well-researched story that drew me in from the blurb itself. The premise of the book lies in the literary theory (or conspiracy) that Shakespeare himself did not write many of the works attributed to him. The book revolves around Emilia Bassano, the first published female English poet and one of the possible writers who penned the Bard's works, and her modern-day ancestor Melina Greene, an aspiring playwright struggling to break into the male-dominated world of theater.
Author: Sharon Lynn Fisher
This is a late edition to this list, and yes, it did claim the number two spot. Quite easily in fact. This was my pick from Amazon's First Reads for December, and for the first time ever with these books, I dove in immediately. I devoured this book and have been recommending it all month long to anyone who will listen. Harker, the mysterious and never-seen lord of Roche Rock, is a vampire who survives on an alchemically-created vital essence. When Mina, the woman who lives next door, discovers his solicitor dead on the heath, Harker determines that he's not the only vampire out there. When this other vampire targets Mina, Harker makes it his mission to protect her.
Author: Nadine Brandes
How could I not include this fantastic magical historical fiction novel on this list? Not only was this a wonderfully told story that still has relevance in today's world, it also inspired me to dive into a rabbit hole of research. This is a magical retelling of the infamous Gunpowder Plot of 1605 with the son of Guy Fawkes starring as the main character. Read my full review here.
Author: Barbara O'Neal
Oh man, I love Barbara O'Neal's work, and this one was so, so good. It was bittersweet and one of the most satisfying stories I've read in a long time. Kit and Josie are sisters who reconnect years after Josie faked her death in the wake of a terror attack. When Kit sees Josie in the background of a live news story in New Zealand, Kit drops everything to go find her. Josie, meanwhile, has created the life she never thought she'd be able to have. Read my full review here.
Author: Gary Hendrix
This was probably the most unconventional vampire book I have ever read. How much I loved this book honestly took me by surprise. Patricia and her friends Kitty, Slick, Maryellen, and Grace are part of an unusual book club; they only read true crime and horror stories. When James Harris moves in, he manipulates his way into Patricia's life. When children start to go missing in a nearby black community, Patricia discovers that James is connected. She goes to the police, but the only one punished is her. Patricia's husband forces her to start taking mental health medication, she becomes estranged from her children, and her friend group falls apart. Three years later, she "wakes up" and takes back up her quest to end James once and for all.
Author: Kristen L. Berry
The twist in this one! I was not expecting it at all. Sydney discovers a photo hidden in a drawer while cleaning out her recently-passed grandmother's home. The girl in the photo is Sydney's Aunt Carol. Carol disappeared in 1965, but no one in the family ever talks about her. Sydney wants to learn more about this mysterious aunt, so she starts digging and discovers a series of unsolved disappearances -- all young black girls in the '60s. Using her investigative journalism skills, Sydney works with the relatives of the missing to find the truth.
Author: Julie Clarke
This was such a great mystery. It sucked me right in and had me second-guessing everything. Olivia is a ghostwriter trying to make a comeback from a career-ending misstep when her estranged father hires her to write his memoir. Vincent Taylor is renowned horror writer who has never been able to shake the accusations that he murdered his brother and sister when he was a teenager. Now he's at the end of his life and read to tell the story of what really happened that night, and he'll only tell it to Olivia.
Author: Tasha Coryell
This one makes the list because I literally could not put it down once I started reading. It was so insane, y'all. Every few pages, I found myself wanting to reach into the pages of the book to give the protagonist, Hannah, a good shake. Let's see if I can keep this brief. After a series of bad luck, Hannah becomes obsessed with an accused serial killer and his victims. After her obsession results in her getting fired, Hannah decides to write to him, and he responds. She keeps writing back, eventually falling for him. When it's time for the trial, she decides to drive cross country to attend. After he's found not guilty, he shows up at her hotel and proposes. She says yes! Even though she still suspects him of being the killer.
Author: Daisy Pearce
This one was so suspenseful, and the writing just kept me glued to the pages. Mina, an inexperienced child psychologist, agrees to help Sam, a reporter, investigate claims that a teen girl is possessed by the ghost of a witch. The town is deeply superstitious and truly believes that Alice is a witch. As the investigation progresses, Mina and Sam discover that nothing is as it seems on the surface, and the real villain drives a wedge between them. This book was full of so many twists and turns. If you like a good psychological thriller, definitely read this one.
Author: Shea Earnst
We're ending this roundup with my October book club pick, which was a dual timeline romance novel. The basic plotline is that in 1822, Marguerite, Aurora, and Hazel Swan were wrongfully convicted of witchcraft and drowned in the harbor of Sparrow, Oregon. Now every summer, the spirits of the sisters return to seek their revenge by possessing three teenage girls and luring boys to their deaths in the harbor. Flashbacks are woven throughout the present day storyline to slowly reveal the full truth of the story. Read my full review here.
Be sure to come back tomorrow for the 2026 One Woman Book Club!
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