The Great 2025 Reading Wrap-Up: Not a Bad Year for Reading!
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Can you believe 2025 was a year we actually lived??? Honestly, I don’t want to believe it, it…was a pretty horrific year. And that’s coming from a millennial.
But through it all, it’s nice to know I had my trust hobby of reading to fall back on.
I’ve been keeping track of my reading one way or another for the past six or so years. Aside from taking a log of the books I’ve read, doing these wrap ups have also allowed me to reflect on the year as a whole. For example, this year I’ve read a total of 100 books.
Which, yes, is a lot of books compared to the average – especially the American average.
But in my head, I thought that it was less than my average. I mean, it made sense. This year, I was juggling more work AND grad school, so of course I would have less time to read. I don’t give myself any hard reading goal, but 100 books is what I try to aim for just as a reminder to take time to read and decompress.
Turns out, in 2024, I read 97 books, so this year I actually read more! Which it certainly didn’t feel like it hahah. But I will say I read more children’s and middle grade, as well as poetry, so some of the books were naturally shorter. Maybe that’s why. In any case, let’s get into the meat of this 2025 reading wrap!
Table of Contents
Stats
Last year, I officially ended things with GoodReads. The app was just…not for me, along with it also being an Amazon product which I’m actively distancing myself from as much as possible (also cancelled my Amazon Prime in late 2024/2025!) so switching to another book tracking app was well overdue.
After trying out a few, I settled on StoryGraph in 2024 and have kept with it through 2025. This year, I also briefly tried out Fable, which is a beautiful app, but doesn’t have the stats I like with StoryGraph. This year, I also became a paid StoryGraph Pro user so that I would be able to set up my own more specific stat tracking…but I forgot about it hahah. I still love and support the app tho, so this year I’m going to try to remember that part.
I also forgot to add my start time to books, so ignore the bit that says my average finish time is 1 day haha. It’s more accurately probably closer to 3-5 days, depending on the book. My favorite “moods” of books are the ones that are really sad, emotional, and dark, so it was nice to see that was reflected in the majority of books I read this year! It also explains why, on average, I liked most of the books I read in 2025 with an average rating of 3.56!
I know for some people, they consider a 3-star rating, as low, but that’s not at all the case for me. 3 is a solid read in my opinion, and one I don’t regret reading and would probably recommend depending on the person. For me, this is the guidelines I generally base my ratings around.
- 5 star: A truly pivotal read for me, usually holds some kind of deeper parallel that I personally connect with. Doesn’t have to be universally good or loved either haha.
- 4 star: Great book, really enjoyed it and would recommend unless I know it has something the person doesn’t like.
- 3 star: Solid book, with a few critiques I might have. Overall would probably recommend or at least not dissuade.
- 2 star: I personally didn’t like it and/or I had a lot of criticisms. I wouldn’t say it’s a flat out bad book, just not for me and others might like it if it’s more their reading preference.
- 1 star: A flat out bad book.
5 Stars
So on that note, I had 3 5 star reads in 2025!
My most recent 5 star read was “Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal” by Mohammed El-Kurd. It is a powerful non-fiction on the plight (and thus resulting resistance and perseverance) of Palestinians.
I read a few books by Palestinian authors this year, but this one easily clung to my heart. Aside from being detained by the IDF/IOF/whatever they wanna call themselves to avoid accountability, I connected with this book as a Black person living in America. I also loved that the title itself can be viewed from different contexts (ie, Palestinians being the “perfect victim” because the world turns a blind eye, or Israel being the “perfect victim” in that the world invests in its contrived victimhood for political and economic standing).
Then there is “Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice” by David S. Tatel. I think in another year or another moment, I might’ve rated this one 4.5 or 4.75, but with the US Justice System in current and ongoing upheaval, this read was so timely that it really impacted me. Seeing behind the Justice System curtain, as well as the parallel storyline of blindness and the use of a service dog (which my friend helps train! another personal connection), pushed this into the 5 star range.
Last but CERTAINLY not least, “Don’t Cy for Me” by Daniel Black – easily one of my new favorite authors. This book…I don’t even have words for how beautiful it is. This literary fiction novel tackles generational trauma and healing in a way I hadn’t read in such a long time. Please read it.
1 Star
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I also had 3 in this category, though I didn’t know how to fit them on the same picture so bear with me. At the absolute bottom, “The Listeners” by Maggie Stiefvater at 1 star. IT WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BORING!!!!! Like offensively boring, I could barely pay attention long enough for a proper critique. The only reason I didn’t DNF was because I was in Pakistan and it was the only book I had downloaded.
So in that book’s defense, in any other scenario I would’ve DNF’d and not included it at all. However, these next two books were…not good.
“Master of Me” by Keke Palmer. Now, Ms Palmer. What compelled your to write a tell-all memoir and proceed to tell-NOTHING?!?!? This memoir was so incredibly frustrating. I know a lot of people don’t even like rating memoirs at all because they are so personal…but I’m a Virgo and I rate regardless. Still, I don’t think I’ve ever rated a memoir below 3 stars before because you at least learn something about the person, regardless of how you the reader respond to that story or the memoir’s structure or prose.
With Keke’s memoir, I feel like I know even less. It read more like a toxic productivity motivational poster rather than a memoir. In the memoir, she literally says “my personal life is PRIVATE! I’m not talking about it.”
…then….why write a memoir??? She doesn’t even fulfill the basic requirements of the genre. It is very clear that this was written by Keke, because I learned NOTHING about Lauren. The book read incredibly shallow because anytime ANYTHING seemingly personal came up, it was quickly brushed under the rug with a lesson from the entertainment industry as a whole instead of the lesson Lauren learned from the experience.
Extremely disappointing.
The other 1.5 read was “Book Nooks” by Vanessa Dina and Claire Gilhuly, which is technically a coffee table book and shouldn’t be taken too deeply anyway, but I didn’t even like the pictures so.
All Rankings
With those book ends out of the way, here are the rest of my rankings for this 2025 wrap in order of favorite to least favorite!
- “Don’t Cry for Me” by Daniel Black (best lit fic)
- “Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal” by Mohammed El-Kurd (best nonfic)
- “Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice” by David S. Tatel (best memoir)
- “Sky Full of Elephants” by Cebo Campbell (best SciFi)
- “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker (best historical fic)
- “Solito” by Javier Zamora
- “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah
- “Martyr!” by Kaveh Akbar
- “Forest of Noise: Poems” by Mosab Abu Toha (best poetry)
- “The Thirteenth Child” by Erin A. Craig (best fantasy)
- “The Measure” by Nikki Erlick
- “Death of the Author” by Nnedi Okorafor
- “Leaving Time” by Jodi Picoult
- “Natural Beauty” by Ling Ling Huang
- “A Cruel Thirst” by Angela Montoya
- “The First State of Being” by Erin Entrada Kelly (best middle grade)
- “Hombrecito” by Santiago Jose Sanchez
- “The Berry Pickers” by Amanda Peters
- “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt
- “All Fours” by Miranda July
- “Everything is Tuberculosis” by John Green
- “Meet Me at Blue Hour” by Sarah Suk (best YA)
- “Tender Is the Flesh” by Agustina Bazterrica
- “Tall Water” by SJ Sindu (best graphic novel)
- “I’ll Tell You When I’m Home” by Hala Alyan
- “The Kind Worth Killing” by Peter Swanson (best mystery/thriller)
- “Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow.” by Noor Hindi
- “skin & bones” by Renée Watson
- “James” by Percival Everett
- “The Wedding People” by Alison Espach
- “The Skin and Its Girl” by Sarah Cypher
- “Bingo Love” by Tee Franklin
- “Sula” by Toni Morrison
- “Kaikeyi” by Vaishnavi Patel
- “Save the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need” by Blake Snyder
- “The Reformatory” by Tananarive Due
- “Much Ado about Nada” by Uzma Jalaluddin (best romance??)
- “Orange World and Other Stories” by Karen Russell
- “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry (best screenplay)
- “The Troop” by Nick Cutter
- “Immaculate Conception” by Ling Ling Huang
- “Three Assassins” by Kōtarō Isaka
- “The Phoenix Keeper” by S.A. MacLean
- “Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring” by Angela Cervantes
- “Piñata” by Leopoldo Gout (best horror)
- “The House of Eve” by Sadeqa Johnson
- “Connie: A Memoir” by Connie Chung
- “A Sincere Warning About the Entity in Your Home” by Jason Arnopp
- “Dearborn” by Ghassan Zeineddine
- “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline
- “Heated Rivalry” by Rachel Reid
- “Men Who Hate Women” by Laura Bates
- “How to Read Now” by Elaine Castillo
- “An Appetite for Miracles” by Laekan Zea Kemp
- “Whale Eyes” by James Robinson
- “Strong Female Character” by Fern Brady
- “We Live Here Now” by Sarah Pinborough
- “The Legend of Kobe Bryant: Basketball’s Modern Superstar” by Triumph Books
- “The Seven Year Slip” by Ashley Poston
- “Little Thieves” by Margaret Owen
- “Little Rot” by Akwaeke Emezi
- “The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane” by Lisa See
- “And They Were Roommates” by Page Powars
- “The Edge of Water” by Olufunke Grace Bankole
- “The Three Lives of Cate Kay” by Kate Fagan
- “Churro Stand” by Karina Nicole González
- “Game Changer” by Rachel Reid
- “Out There Screaming” by Jordan Peele, John Joseph Adams
- “The Safekeep” by Yael van der Wouden
- “When Among Crows” by Veronica Roth
- “High-Risk Homosexual” by Edgar Gomez
- “Come Again” by Nate Powell
- “Nothing But Blackened Teeth” by Cassandra Khaw
- “Gifted & Talented” by Olivie Blake
- “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” by Stephen Graham Jones
- “Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space” by Amanda Leduc
- “The Devil Is a Southpaw” by Brandon Hobson
- “The Lamb” by Lucy Rose
- “Afterparties” by Anthony Veasna So
- “The Things We Leave Unfinished” by Rebecca Yarros
- “The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah
- “Monday’s Not Coming” by Tiffany D. Jackson
- “Nature Poem” by Tommy Pico
- “Allegedly” by Tiffany D. Jackson
- “Dread Nation” by Justina Ireland
- “Counterweight” by Djuna
- “The River Has Roots” by Amal El-Mohtar
- “Not Safe for Work” by Nisha J. Tuli
- “Christmas in Spite of You” by K.C. Mills
- “Our Share of Night” by Mariana Enríquez
- “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” by Ottessa Moshfegh
- “Eat the Ones You Love” by Sarah Maria Griffin
- “Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame” by Neon Yang
- “Extended Stay” by Juan Martinez
- “We Are All So Good at Smiling” by Amber McBride
- “The Weight of Blood” by Tiffany D. Jackson
- “The Salt Grows Heavy” by Cassandra Khaw
- “Book Nooks” by Vanessa Dina, Claire Gilhuly
- “Master of Me” by Keke Palmer
- “The Listeners” by Maggie Stiefvater
Conclusion: 2025 Reading Wrap
Anddd that’s everything! Have you read anything from this list? What was your rating of them? Or did I maybe intrigue you to pick up a few? Let me know in the comments below!
If you’d like to see my favorite (and least favorite) reads from previous years, I also have recaps for those too: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021.
