2025 Reading Wrap-Up

Some of my favorite reads in 2025

It’s late January and I finally have time to write my 2025 reading wrap-up and talk about my favorite books I read last year. Better late than never!

 

2025 Reading Wrap-Up

• Total books read: 84
• Total pages read: 27,529
• Days read: 354
• Average rating: 4.14
• New books bought/received: 26

My goal was to read 50 books, so I definitely surpassed that goal! I did pretty great with my other reading goals as well. I took part in Jane Austen July as planned, read a lot of library books, and wrote a review of every book that I read at least in my reading journal.

Then there were the goals I didn’t quite reach. I had hoped to do a buddy read, but that didn’t happen. I also wanted to read e-books from my Kindle app, but I didn’t read a single e-book. Oops. The final goal was to fill out a book bingo, which I almost accomplished. I didn’t fill three squares out of twenty-five, as I didn’t read an e-book, an indie book, or a romance novel.

Let’s talk about my ten favorite books I read in 2025 next! The links lead to a longer review of each book.

 

The Power by Naomi Alderman

The first book I finished in 2025 was also my favorite book of the year. The Power is a thought-provoking and uncomfortable, at times even disturbing dystopian fiction about what might happen if women suddenly gained the ability to inflict pain to others. In the novel, this happens through the development of “skein,” a tissue between collarbones that conducts electricity. The novel is a thought experiment of what might happen next – whether having women in charge really would result in a “kinder, more caring world” like many say. I recommend this book to everyone. It’s not an easy book by no means, but it stays with you – and hopefully inspires you to build a better world.

 

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

My last novel of the year was my second favorite. I Who Have Never Known Men is Jacqueline Harpman’s dystopian novel set in a post-apocalyptic world. In an underground bunker, thirty-nine women and a young girl are imprisoned in a cage, their every move watched over by guards until one day, a stroke of luck offers the women a chance to escape. This was a gripping and thought-provoking novel, and an instant five-star read for me.

 

Circe by Madeline Miller

Circe is a retelling of the ancient Greek myth of the powerful witch Circe who transformed men into swine until she was bested by Odysseus in Homer’s The Odyssey. In Miller's novel, Circe turns her witchcraft against her own kind, and Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her craft and tames wild beasts. But even banishment doesn’t stop her from crossing paths with many famous figures, including the beastly Minotaur, the sorceress Medea, and wily Odysseus. Miller’s writing style is ornate and flowery, and I can see why everyone might not love it. But if you enjoy feminist retellings of ancient myths, definitely read this book.

 

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

The Vaster Wilds is Lauren Groff’s historical fiction. In the last days of winter, a servant girl escapes from a famished and disease-ridden colonial settlement of Jamestown into the wilderness. Carrying only her wits and a few possessions, she attempts to travel north to the safety of another colony. Groff’s writing is lyrical and poetic, and the (mostly nameless) main character is a determined and strong female lead. The Vaster Wilds is a dark and depressing read, and I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re not a fan of dystopian-esque literature. But if you love historical fiction with lyrical prose, definitely read this book!

 

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

The Lion Women of Tehran is a historical fiction by Marjan Kamali. Seven-year-old Elaleh “Ellie” Soltani’s comfortable middle-class life is upended by the unexpected death of her father when she and her mother are forced to move to a poorer neighborhood. In school, she meets Homa Roozbeh, and the two girls become best friends to Ellie’s mother’s dismay. This coming-of-age story follows two Iranian girls from the early 1950s, when Iran was modernizing, to the early 1980s and the aftermath of the Islamic revolution. I loved the constancy of the main character’s friendship, and this is definitely a historic women’s fiction worth reading. 

 

Galatea by Madeline Miller

Another book by Madeline Miller made my list of favorite reads as well. Galatea is Madeline Miller’s short story that retells the myth of the sculptor Pygmalion and his statue-come-to-life Galatea. Miller’s story gives the voice to Galatea herself, locked in a sickroom and kept under the guard of a nurse and a doctor who insist that she must lie still. If she disobeys their commands, they force her to take medicine that makes her unconscious – unless, obviously, it is the day her husband decides to visit her. This short story is a fast read and only took me about an hour to finish, but it packs an emotional punch. 

 

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo was published in book form in 1846. The main character Edmond Dantès, a nineteen-year-old sailor, is falsely accused of treason and imprisoned without a trial in a fortress off the coast of Marseille. A fellow prisoner Abbé Faria deduces that the people responsible for Edmond’s imprisonment are his romantic rival, an envious crewmate, and an ambitious magistrate who is desperate to protect his career. When Faria is on his deathbed, he reveals the location of a secret treasure to Edmond. Edmond escapes the prison, finds the treasure, and enters the 1830’s Parisian society to avenge himself as the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo. This is a very long but fun read. At points, the story meandered a bit too much, but it’s definitely a classic worth reading.

 

Babel by R.F. Kuang

Babel is a dark academia historical fantasy about colonialism, oppression, and colonial resistance. Robin Swift, an orphaned Chinese boy, enrolls in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation, also known as Babel. As a Chinese man raised in Britain, Robin soon realizes that serving Babel means betraying his motherland. The themes this book tackles are hugely important, and Kuang does a great job exploring the complex intersecting identities of her main characters. If you like dark academia with slight fantasy elements that tackles the themes of colonialism and oppression, definitely read this book.

 

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Parable of the Sower is Octavia E. Butler’s dystopian fiction set in the years 2024–2027. The American society has nearly collapsed due to climate change, water shortages, inflation, unemployment and housing crisis, and dangerous drugs. Teenager Lauren Olamina lives with her family in one of the few safe neighborhoods on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Outside the walls of their defended enclave, chaos reigns and only the rich and powerful are safe. Parable of the Sower is perfect for readers who enjoy slower-paced dystopian fiction with philosophical and theological musings, but I would recommend this for everyone just for how accurately it predicted the future. 

 

Educated by Tara Westover

Let’s finish my best-of list with a nonfiction book. Educated is Tara Westover’s memoir of her life with a survivalist Mormon family. Her father believed that the government was out to get them, so the family prepared for or the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with their “head-for-the-hills bag”. Homeschooled, Tara didn’t set foot in a classroom until the age of 17. Educated is about the transformative power of education and a tale of the grief that comes with severing the family ties.