My Favorite Reads of 2025...so far
ABR - Always Be Reading...
I always look forward to sharing my annual list of favorite books (see 2024, 2023, and 2022). This year, I’m doing something a little different by sharing a midyear roundup. Here are some of the books I’ve read so far this year that have delighted me, inspired me, made me think hard about things, and stuck with me long after reading.
I was particularly struck by the “The Dream Hotel” by Laila Lalami. It’s an unflinching critique of corporate ownership of personal data, capitalism, tech surveillance and data mining, as well as for-profit prisons - all through a speculative fiction lens. The near future USA that Lalami created was all too plausible. It freaked me out in a good way.
And “The River Has Roots” was an unexpected delight - a fairy tale for adults! Why aren’t there more picture books for adults???
Don’t be surprised if it - and maybe a few of the others - pop up in future episodes of “The Book Up”! 😉
Side note: who knew Jenna Bush had such good taste in books?! Besides “The Dream Hotel” and “Remarkably Bright Creatures”, she’s picked a few books that I’ve really liked [ex. “Chain Gang All Stars” and “The Cloisters”] and some that are on my TBR [ex. “Good Material”, “The School for Good Mothers”, and “Black Buck”].
If you’re interested in reading any of these excellent titles, I’ve rounded them up for you below:
“The Dream Hotel” by Laila Lalami
“Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt
“The Ragpicker King” by Cassandra Clare
“The Hacienda” by Isabel Cañas
“The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” by Stephen Graham Jones (recommend reading this one if you loved the flick “Sinners”, which is the film of the year IMHO)
“The River Has Roots” by Amal El-Mohtar
“The Wishing Game” by Meg Shaffer (you’ll need tissues for this one but it’s so worth it)
“Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales” by Heather Fawcett (the third book in the outstanding, heartwarming Emily Wilde series)
Here are a few books I’m currently reading / on my TBR list that I’m excited about:
“Isola” by Allegra Goodman
“The Devil Three Times” by Rickey Fayne
“The Serpent Called Mercy” by Roanne Lau
Here are some books yet to be released this year that I am eagerly anticipating:
“Human Rites” by Juno Dawson - out Jul 1, 2025
“Katabasis” by R. F. Kuang - out Aug 26, 2025
“The Glass Slide World” by Carrie Vaughn - out October 7, 2025
“Brigands & Breadknives” by Travis Baldree - out Nov 11, 2025
“Hellrunner” by Sara Wolf - out September 15, 2026
What have you read and loved so far this year? Let me know in the comments!
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