Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Best Books I Read in 2025.
I read so many great books this past year! According to StoryGraph, I gave 5-star ratings to 30 books in 2025. It’s too painful to narrow down to just ten… so I’m not! Leaving off books that were re-reads (such as three Tolkien and one Austen!) and a few children’s books, here are 22 of the best books that I read in 2025:
- Next Time Will Be Our Turn by Jesse Q. Sutanto (review)
- The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage (review)
- My Friends by Fredrik Backman (review)
- Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench (review)
- The Sirens by Emilia Hart (review)
- The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune (review)
- Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab (review)
- The Jackal’s Mistress by Chris Bohjalian (review)
- When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi (review)
- The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (review)
- Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire (review)
- The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (review)
- Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (review)
- Dracula by Bram Stoker (review)
- The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon (review)
- Overgrowth by Mira Grant (review)
- It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan (review)
- One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune (review)
- The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley (review)
- The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow (review)
- Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix (review)
- Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (review)
Even at 22, that’s ignoring other books I really loved, but for whatever ever reason gave 4.5 or 4.75 stars on StoryGraph. This topic is a lot harder than I expected!
What were you favorite books of 2025? Do we have any in common?
If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!
Bookshelf Fantasies 
I have Next Time Will Be Our Turn by Jesse Q. Sutanto on my list. I need to bump it up to read next or, at the very least, soon!
I really ought to read The God of the Woods sometime.
I also loved Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil!
When the Moon Hits Your Eye has a fun cover.
Here is our <a href=”https://www.longandshortreviews.com/miscellaneous-musings/top-ten-tuesday-my-favorite-books-i-read-in-2025/“>Top Ten Tuesday. </a>
I need to read Children of Time. I’ve read a couple of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s standalones and really enjoyed them so I think it’s time I have his longer works a chance.
that’s a wonderful number of 5 star reads. Happy reading in 2026.
Frozen River is so memorable! Happy new reading year! 📚🥂
Not surprised to see a TJ Klune book make the list, lol.
My Friends was the book I thought would be my third 5 stars in August, but just didn’t hit that mark… I also read Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil and One Golden Summer, the latter one really surprised me.
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2026/01/06/top-ten-tuesday-2025-favourites/
I loved The Frozen River and Children of Time, and I’m reading Bury Our Bones right now. I’m happy to see the new TJ Klune on your list as I haven’t read that yet. Happy new year!
So fun to see your list of favorite reads from last year. I loved One Golden Summer, too, all because of your recommendation. 😀
I have The Bones Beneath My Skin and Bury Our Bones waiting. I’m a big fan of both authors, so I know I’ll enjoy them.
Some wonderful books here! Shakespeare/Judi Dench, My Friends, The Nightingale! Loved those!
A lot of books that I loved on this list. I am hoping to get to God of the Woods and Frozen River this year!! 🙂
Lovely list! We share The Everlasting and Witchcraft For Wayward Girls, and i see a few books I need to read: God of the Woods and Bury Our Bones😁
Such a great list! We share quite a few favorites, and others I’m looking forward to read soon.