I’m currently knee-deep into the fifth draft of my current #WIP, but I also don’t want to abandon my streak of blogging once a week since March 2025. This week, I wanted to do a (late-ish) round-up of my five favorite reads from 2025. 

I began keeping a reading journal in August of 2024, and one of the things I love about keeping a reading journal is the ease with which I can review the books I’ve read each year. I also love making creative spreads for each book. I read 81 books in 2025, but I don’t keep track of the number to meet some arbitrary goal. I keep track out of my own curiosity, and however many books I read each year is fine by me. I’m sure I read more than some but less than others. That’s because I like big books and I cannot lie. I’ve never been scared of longer books. They take more time to finish, that’s all. 

In 2025, as in any year, there were books I didn’t like and books I didn’t finish. Then there were the books that didn’t simply entertain because they stayed with me long after I finished the last chapter. Some of the books I read in 2025 shaped how I think about the world. In 2025, my reading life felt especially rich and varied since I challenged myself to read outside of my comfort zone. My reading spanned centuries, continents, and genres, fiction and nonfiction, and yet all of the books were connected by the exploration of what it means to be human.

Here are the five books that mattered most to me in 2025 and the reasons why they earned a lasting place in my imagination.

1. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Surprised? Anyone? Anyone?

If you read my blog post about creating a personal curriculum, you know that I’m in the middle of a personal curriculum about Charles Dickens. This is not the first time I’ve read David Copperfield, or even the second or third. In 2025, I read this novel for the sixth time, and any year I read David Copperfield, it’s going to be my favorite book that year. If you’ve been following me for a while, you might even know that reading David Copperfield inspired me to become a novelist, so this story has a hold on my heart like no other. 

There is something profoundly comforting for me about returning to David Copperfield.  This is a novel about memory, identity, suffering, resilience, and the odd ways our past selves follow us into adulthood. I’ve said before that my connection to Dickens goes beyond simply loving his stories, which I do. The connection, which I first discovered while reading David Copperfield (a semi-autobiographical novel for Dickens), stems from the similarities in our early lives. I also had parents who never grew up when it came to money management. I also knew what the inside of a pawnshop looked like from childhood. 

What struck me most about this reading was the emotional generosity of the story. Dickens allows David to fail, to love unwisely, and to grow slowly, as most of us do. The story feels vast and intimate. As always with Dickens, it’s the characters who steal the show. I always feel as if I’m living alongside David, not merely observing him from a distance. For a writer, David Copperfield is a masterclass in voice, characterization, and imagination.

2. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

If I hadn’t read David Copperfield in 2025, Crime and Punishment would have been my favorite book of the year. This is one of those books that grabbed me almost immediately and I couldn’t stop thinking about it for weeks afterwards. Dostoevsky sucks you not only inside the story but inside Rodya Raskolnikov’s head. He doesn’t allow us any distance from Rodya’s fractured psyche. We live inside Rodya’s justifications, his terror, and his attempts to outthink himself, which he can’t do.

This story is not simply about how and why we commit crimes but also about guilt, alienation, moral responsibility, and the weight of what happens when we’re separated from our compassion for our fellow humans. Dostoevsky asks uncomfortable questions, and he captures the interior collapse of Rodya completely. There’s a reason why Crime and Punishment is a classic, and I discovered that reason in 2025. It’s a fascinating study of the human psyche.

3. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I’ve already waxed poetic about The Night Circus, but here I go again. Ten stars!!

This book was so magical for me. Yes, there are magical elements since the story is about magicians, but it was more than that. I loved the black and white night circus, called Le  Cirque des Rêves, which becomes the setting for two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained to be the best since they were children. For me, this book was the perfect combination of magic, an amazing setting, unforgettable characters, and sweet romance. This was one of those rare books that I did not want to end. I cannot tell you how much I loved this book, I loved it that much. I have Morgenstern’s next novel, The Starless Sea, high on my TBR list for 2026. 

4. WaterMoon by Samantha Sotto Yambao

I challenged myself to read outside my comfort zone in 2025, and as a result I discovered the world of cozy fantasy, which I’ve grown to love. Cath at Cups and Thoughts talked about how wonderful this book is, so I gave it a try and I’m so glad I did. WaterMoon felt like discovering something rare and luminous. This is a magical realism story about Hana, who inherits a pawnshop where people can sell their regrets. Her father disappears and she goes on a journey to find him. Along the way she meets Kei, a physicist, and he joins her on the journey. WaterMoon blends myth, longing, and emotional intimacy in a dreamlike, magical world. I’ve seen reviewers compare this story to Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, and I agree. I loved the atmosphere of the story, and I was so sucked into Hana’s adventures that I finished the book in two days. 

5. The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

The Frozen River is a historical mystery set in 1789 in Maine, and I love that it’s based on the real-life diary of midwife Martha Ballard, who investigates a murder while dealing with the injustice women faced in the 18th century. The story captivated me with its blend of historical detail, moral complexity, and emotional resonance. I was going to say that I believed that Martha was a real person, but she is a real person. What I mean to say is that Lawhon does a brilliant job making Ballard come alive on the page. Ballard has a quiet strength that holds up this narrative, and this is a story about endurance, truth, and what it means to bear witness when doing so comes at great personal cost.

These five books are wildly different in scope, but each book, in its own way, asked me to slow down and pay attention. These books reminded me why I read, which is not just for story, but for a better understanding of people, time, and the circumstances that shape us into the people we become. I read many wonderful books in 2025, and each one had something to teach me. 

Honorable mentions for my 2025 favorite reads go to poetry by Mary Oliver, Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley, Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield, Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench, and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

What are my reading goals for 2026? I plan to continue my reading journal because I love creating the artistic spreads and keeping track of my thoughts about the books I read. I plan to continue spreading my wings as a reader and reading as widely as possible. I plan on continuing my Dickens personal curriculum, which will include several biographies as well as more of his novels and nonfiction. I’ve also noticed that the list of books that I own and haven’t read yet is long and I want to start catching up on my TBR this year.

Happy reading in 2026! If you read something you love, let me know. I’m always looking for book recommendations.