BEST Books I Read In 2025

It's that time again where I prove to the world that I actually do like books. Yes, that's right. It's my top best books of the year for 2025. I have 10 books in no particular order. Um, but I do have an 11th. I have an honorable mention that I will start with and then we'll do the other 10 in no particular order. All right, the honorable mention. I actually read this on New Year's Eve cuz I was trying to hit my goal of 100 books and I just barely got that done by reading a bunch of short books. So, I read Galatea by Maline Miller, which is very, very short. Does it really count? I mean, it's a book. It's on Goodreads, so it counts. This came out a couple a year or two ago. It's been a minute. Um, and I never read it when it came out, even though it's super super short. And I was looking I was like, "Oh, yeah. I could read that." This packs a punch. Like, it's partly because of how short it is that it's not like in my official top books of the year, cuz I'm like, "This is barely a short story, but it's so good. It doesn't need to be longer. It's It's actually so immaculate. So perfect. Like Maline Miller, she did it again. [sighs and gasps] So if you haven't read Galatea, this will take you like two seconds to read it. But it's well worth it. This is so good. This is M This is what Matt Maline Miller is so amazing at. So yeah, when I read it, I was like, "Of course it was good. Of course it was good. Should have read it sooner, but then I wouldn't have been able to use it to meet my goal of 100 books." So I read it at the exact right time, actually. Okay, but now to my official top 10 in no particular order. So, the first is a book that I just posted a video about because it was going to be on here and I was like, "That should come first." And that is Foundation by Isaac Azimov. No one thought I would like this. Jokes on you. Love this. Read it twice already. Read it in December and in January. So, yeah. Um, there's, like I said, that full video about why I loved it so much and why, you know, maybe you should actually give it a go if you haven't like if you've been put off by what you've heard about it. But I I love this. I love this so much and I will probably read it again cuz it's not exactly very long. just an absolute blast reading it and a really good time talking about it with my patrons. Um, but that's always the case. Uh, next is a massive book that I was kind of annoyed at my patrons for choosing me uh choosing for me to vlog cuz I was like, "This is so long." There's actually two books on here that I felt that way about, but both ended up on my favorites of the year. So, thank you. [gasps] I grudgingly did it and it was for the best. So, it this book next up is The Stand by Stephen King. Um, it's a a massive book. It took me I was quite late posting the vlog, but I think I can be excused for that. Stephen King has like become among my favorite authors in the last few years because I've been reading more of Stephen King and read things that are not just the usual The Shining, Pet Cemetery, you know, like not like his like I've never read it and I don't really have any interest in reading it. I mean, maybe just out of curiosity, but I doubt I will like it very much cuz I don't really like his horror books. Not because Oh, Salem's Lot. Yeah, I didn't really like that. Just because like I think his strong suit is character writing. I think he's such a phenomenal character writer. Up there with Abbercrombie and Robin Hob. So, books that are that where the speculative or horror element takes a real backseat and it's mainly about the characters is when chef's kiss. And then there's books where there's like basically no uh I shouldn't say basically there's actually no um speculative element or like barely the hint of one and that's truly usually where it's good like like misery. Nothing really supernatural in that. So good. Carrie is actually really good even though it has quite a strong supernatural element but it's again really character focused on Carrie herself. So anyway, The Stand is massive in scope, massive in page count, massive in everything, but it was so so so good. The only thing that like was bad about it, but it's not actually like a flaw of the book. It's just like off-putting to me personally, if you don't know anything about The Stand, which would surprise me because it's pretty famous, but The Stand is about like a post-apocalyptic scenario that is the result of like an outbreak of plague. Basically, the book doesn't open after that's already happened. We're not already in the apocalypse. We see the outbreak of plague and how that decimates people and then get to the post-apocalypse. That's why it's so long. And the part where we're going through a bunch of people getting sick and their symptoms and having to like go through that. We really linger on detailing the symptoms. It's just so gross to me. Like I would so much rather read about like bodies being mutilated and like violence being done in blood everywhere than the illness and symptoms being described in detail. Oh god, it was so rough for me to get through and I was really worried that the whole book would be like that. But when I got through that part and now we were like, "Okay, plague's over. Now it's like, you know, who's left? What are we going to do after that? I was like, "Oh, this is so good. I'm actually so enjoying this." It's not I mean, it's not a light book. I don't think Stephen King is really capable of writing something light. It's so good and it was so moving. The character work is so phenomenal. There's barely any [laughter] barely any of the King weird sex stuff. There's like a one scene in this whole massive book that it's like, "Okay, well, I get the point." Like, it does actually serve a function in the story, so thank goodness for that. It's not literally there for no reason, but it's like, okay, well, we didn't really need to do all that, though, did we? But yeah, I I I loved this. I was so annoyed that they picked this for me because it's so long and I was so worried this was going to be another Salem's Lot situation where I'm like, is this longass Stephen King book that's horrifying and I'm going to be miserably slogging through this book that I'm not enjoying? No. I mean, the beginning was a slog, but not because it's well written. The plague part is well written. It's just really gross. [gasps] Really like off-putting to get through. So yeah, I love this. I would highly recommend this. It's become one of my new favorite Stephen King books. Then a book that made this list because it's not like the best book ever, but I had such an amazing time reading it and in a year that offered not that much in the way of joy. This offered me a great deal of joy. So it's on the list, and that's Watch Me by the Hetamothi. This is the new book in the spin-off series in the Shatter Me universe. And I love the Shatter Me books, although they did sort of like dwindle there at the end, but I still chew through them all like really really fast. I think Ted Mafi is really underrated as a writer. Not really like the same situation as Stephen King, but like similar in that like I don't think they're getting the accolades they deserve because of kind of the genre place they sit in cuz Shatter Me is kind of eye roll inducing sort of the concept of it and what it is and the sort of early as YA whatever. And for that reason, I think it kind of gets overlooked. what an actually great writer like pros writer Tahadami is because the pros is so good even in early Shatter Me books like it's a little purple it's a little over the top sometimes but there is genuine poetry in Tedafy's writing um and even in this like it's like tropey and you know there's stuff in here that if a different writer wrote this I would roll my eyes and it would make my worst of the year but she's a really talented writer and she pulls it off proving that it's not just like it's not a concept that that should be written off in its entirety because almost any idea almost any trope almost any plot can be done if it's done well if it's done by a good writer. So I had an absolute blast reading this. I think I read it all in one sitting almost. It's not very long but her writing I can just fly through it. Had a great time. Can't wait for the next one. Next up is a book that Book picked for me for our swap and that is Wind Haven by George R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle. And what I said then and I said when I was reading it, I messaged Mara this and I stand by it that like this is the best comp for Hob that I've ever read. When I was reading this, I was like, I know this is George R. Martin, but if I didn't know if I was just handed like the the um the story and told to guess who wrote this, I would have guessed Robin Hob. This is phenomenal. It's so well done. It's really thoughtprovoking. It really sits in that moral gray area, makes you uncomfortable, but in a way that's really intentional and really excellently done. like it's not you're not meant to sit easy with this. It's no easy answers. It's like really complex, morally nuanced situations where there's no easy right or wrong, good or bad. Um it's handled so well. Yeah. It's just it's really great character work, really good world building. It's quite a intimate story with a quite relatively small scale, but the stakes feel earthshattering because you care about the characters and you care about what's going on here. And it's just excellent. But I'm so glad that Bookorn picked this for me cuz I don't know if I would have read this anytime soon or never um if not. So well done. Thank you, ma'am. Next up is a book by one of my favorite authors, although she has let me down. So when I read this, I was like, "Oh, we're so back, baby." [laughter] And that is a Far Better Thing by HG Perry. H Perry wrote The Declaration of the Rights of Magicians, which made my favorites of the year, the year that I don't know if it was the year that it came out, but it was the year that I read it. And I did after that read uh some other books by her. And I I really liked The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heap. Not as good as Declaration, but good. Didn't like The Magician's Daughter, I think it was called. Really didn't like that. Um so then when I received an ARC of A Far Better Thing, actually when I was asked if I wanted an arc, I was like, "Oh, absolutely." Because this is HG Perry's retelling of The Tale of Two Cities. So, it's The Tale of Two Cities, but with Fay. And like I said, we are so back, baby. This is Declaration of the Rights of Magicians, HG Perry. This is so good. And I actually don't know if I would recommend if you that you should be familiar with uh with Tale of Two Cities before reading this because I would be genuinely curious what your experience if it would be if you weren't familiar. So, I was obviously familiar. That's what got me interested. I was like, "Oh, well, and generally like this author and that sounds like a premise that she could absolutely knock out of the park." And she did. But like, yeah, I mean, like I was watching her play with Tale of Two Cities and being like, "Oh, that's so clever." But then, how are you going to handle this? Which I know to be a thing in the Tale of Two Cities. If you had no context and you were just like, "This is your first experience of this story and this shape of the story, I genuinely would be curious if it like works on its own. um or if it mostly works if you're like looking at it being sort of in conversation with Tale of Two Cities. I just really can't tell because I am familiar with Tale of Two Cities. It's so good though. It's so so so good. And I think for anyone that found Declaration too dry, you would love this cuz like I didn't find Declaration too dry, but this is less dry than Declaration. So 10 out of 10. So good. Then a book that I am so shocked that I read it in 2025 cuz I swear I read it longer ago than that. I can't I mean in general when I was looking at my list or like looking at you know what I had read in 2025 I was like really I read that this year or I mean now the last year but I was like man that was a long year. Anyway um the children of Hurin by Jr. Tolken what a brutal book. My patrons chose this for me. It was kind of a running joke cuz it's been on the poll for like years literally I think and it like never wins and so finally everyone was like come on vote for Children of Kings. So, [snorts] it won and I read it and I was so scared that I wasn't going to like it because of all this sort of like pressure. And I loved it. I loved it. It is so dark. It is such a dark read. And it's at times I said this like when I like vlogged it that like I almost found it difficult to believe that Tolken had written this. Not because like Tolken is incapable of the beautiful writing that's in here. That's obviously like yeah that's Tolken all over. But like some of the darkness of the content, I was like, "Are you talking? Are you sure?" It's it's beautiful and it's it's quite a harrowing read. So, I I would highly recommend it cuz I think it's excellent. It's not a light read. It's not a happy read. This is not like cozy like The Hobbit. You want to like just vibe in a fantasy world and feel comfy. Like, it is not that. It's pretty brutal. So, yeah. whenever you feel like wrecking yourself um emotionally, read children of herin. Next up is another Stephen King tome that my patrons forced on me and I ultimately was grateful and that is Needful Things by Stephen King. Another massive book, but this was a perfect spooky season read, which is when they picked it for me. Um I loved this. I loved this so much. This is also the perfect spooky season read. like this is everything that I want in a spooky season read. When I'm looking for something that I'm like I have in mind the kind of vibe, the kind of experience I want, this is what I want out of my spooky season reading. So, if you're looking for spooky season reads next year or you want to like have one on deck for when October rolls around, Needful Things once again on display is Stephen King's incredible talents as a character writer. So, so good. So, there's a lot of characters in here and the way that he makes you care about them like pretty quickly. It's just that's why when I read books where people will say, "Oh, well, they just didn't have like the page count to really like get you invested in the characters." I'm like, "No, Stephen King could make you care in a page [gasps] if he wanted to." Um, and the concept, it's a shop that's offering Fouian bargains is sort of the premise. Um, so then there's just a lot of characters who are sort of entering into these bargains and how then those bargains intertwine and it's this small town in Maine, you know, Stephen King. The vibes are so perfect for spooky season, but then the character work is just like excellent on its own any season. The conclusion maybe is the weakest part, but it's not like a bad conclusion where Stephen King books sometimes are a bad conclusion. The conclusion is kind of like I yeah, I don't really know how you would end it. So I guess that's a fine way to end it. Um, I I really really loved this. Really enjoyed it. would. It's now one of my favorite Stephen King books. And I don't normally put rereads on my best of the year, but but I decided to and it's my channel. I can do what I want. [laughter] That is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I read this for the first time a few years ago and one of my patrons really really really wanted to read it and um everyone else also did. So we did. We read it as a buddy read and I was a little nervous that my like perfect memory of East of Eden would be ruined on the reread cuz I I had this I loved it the first time that I read it, but I was worried that like maybe on reread it just like wouldn't hit the same. It just wouldn't be it would ruin my immaculate memory of it cuz I'd be like well [sighs and gasps] I guess it wasn't quite as good as like I remember it is. It's so good. This is one of the best books that I've ever read in my life. It's definitely one of my top favorite books of all time. It's so good. It's so good. The first time I read it, I read it in a day and it's not quite as long as Things, but it's a long book and it's just as compelling the second time, if not more so. John Steinbeck, amazing writer. Again, character writer. This book is just it's a life-changing book is really all I can say about it. If you've never read East of Eden, then go read East of Eden. [sighs] It's well worth your time. If you're like, "Oh, that's such a long book." It's not. I mean, it is, but you'll fly through it. you won't want to put it down. Not because it's like a thriller, just because like you're just going to care so much that you won't want to stop reading and you won't want it to end. It's just a magnificent book. Um, everyone should read East of Eden. The world would be a better place if everyone read East of Eden. And the last two are books that are from my priorities vlog. So, if you watch that vlog, you've already seen what I have to say about these, but here they are. Anxious People by Friedick Bachman. Another book that everyone was like, Lena's going to hate it. Don't let Lena read that. Don't do it. I loved it. I really loved it. Five stars for sure. Definitely want to read more Friedick Bachmann. This is just I've never read anything quite like it, but it is one of the most sincere books that I have ever read. It just it hits the tone like just perfectly. If it was any more twe and sweet, it would be too much. If it was any less, it wouldn't quite work. It's just like perfectly positioned in this golden zone of like it will destroy you emotionally and you will thank you for it. [laughter] It's so well done and it's it it it does balance like the sort of like whimsical lightness with also some really harrowing darkness in a way that is just like so authentic because that's life. Life is a mix of whimsical lightness and harrowing darkness. It's just so so excellent and the way it plays with your expectations is so well done and subtle. I loved it. I absolutely loved it. So all of you haters out there who were like, "Luna will never like this. Screw you." I loved it. So haha. And last again is a book that I did for my priorities and that's All by Mona Aad, which is ostensibly a retelling of All Well That Ends Well, but is actually in disguise a retelling of McBTH. And this is what a Shakespeare retelling, what really any retelling should aspire to be, but particularly Shakespeare. When I started reading this and realized that it was doing McBTH and doing McBth so brilliantly, I was like, "Oh, buckle up. This is this is about to be good." Mona Awad's sort of like ethereal dreamlike. The writing style is also perfectly suited to something that's going to be playing with McBthian kind of tropes, vibes, and narrative arcs. This book is just so well done. It is so brilliant. I do think it behooves you to be familiar with McBTH if you're going to read it. Uh you don't have to be an expert in McBTH because yeah, that's not required. It's just sort of the if you're familiar with the sort of general arc of McBTH, the trajectory of it, like what it's what it's about and the sort of big beats of McBTH, that's really all you'd need to recognize that it's doing McBTH and everything that you need to know about Allswwell that ends well pretty much gives you because I feel like she assumes you don't know anything [laughter] about All That Ends Well, no one does. This is so so well done. It's so so well done. Yeah. So, I feel like I've for years said there's no such thing as a good Shakespeare retelling, but now there's one. There's one and it's all as well. So, it can be done. And those are the top 10 best books that I read in 2025. Uh, let me know in the comments why you hated those books, why you never want to read those books, why I'm totally wrong about those books, or that you also love them. That'd be cool, too. Whatever you want to let me know. And I'll see you on my next video. Bye.