All of the Books I Read in 2025

December 26, 2025


One of my 25 Hard Things in 2025 challenges was to read 50 books. Spoiler alert: I DID IT! Here are the 52 books I read in 2025 (emoji key below): 

       Standout favorites πŸ’–
  1. Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh (March) ✨🧠
  2. James by Percival Everett (April) πŸ›️
  3. We Lived on the Horizon by Erika Swyler (May) πŸ³️‍🌈♒️
  4. Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey (May) πŸ’•♒️
  5. Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien (May) 
  6. The Secret History by Donna Tartt (July) πŸ›️
  7. Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart (July) 
  8. After the Ecstasy, the Laundry by Jack Kornfield (July) ✨🧠
  9. The King of a Rainy Country by Brigid Brophy (July) πŸ³️‍🌈
  10. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed (September) ✨🧠
  11. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (September) πŸ‘»
  12. An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith by Barbara Brown Taylor (September) ✨🧠
  13. Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum (November) ♒️ 

    Books that made me go "hmm..."
    πŸ’­
    1. The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden (February) πŸ³️‍πŸŒˆπŸ’•
    2. Hope for Cynics by Jamil Zaki (February) πŸ§ 
    3. All About Love by bell hooks (March) πŸ§ 
    4. Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor (April) ✨🧠
    5. Heroes of the Fourth Turning by Will Arbery (August) ♒️

      Plays 
      🎭
    6. Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (April) ♒️
    7. Fences by August Wilson (July) 
    8. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams (July)
    9. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (October)

      Shorter books, poetry, & collections πŸ’¨
    10. Call of the Wild and White Fang by Jack London (January) 
    11. Make Believe by Victoria Hutchins (March) 
    12. Bluets by Maggie Nelson (May) πŸ’•♒️
    13. Spent by Alison Bechdel (June) πŸ³️‍🌈
    14. So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan (June) πŸ‘»
    15. Atavists by Lydia Millet (July) ♒️
    16. American Bulk by Emily Mester (October) 🧠

      Books 
      πŸ“š
    17. The White Book by Han Kang (January) ♒️
    18. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (January) 
    19. Femina by Janina Ramirez (January) πŸ§ 
    20. How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnamable Disaster by Muriel Leung (February) πŸ³️‍πŸŒˆπŸ’•
    21. The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf (February) πŸ‘»
    22. Quicksand by Nella Larsen (March) πŸ›️♒️
    23. Aflame by Pico Iyer (April) ✨🧠
    24. Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams (April) πŸ§ 
    25. Having and Being Had by Eula Biss (April) πŸ˜•πŸ§ 
    26. The Float Test by Lynn Steger Strong (May) πŸ˜•
    27. We Were Made For These Times by Kaira Jewel Lingo (May) ✨🧠
    28. Second Life by Amanda Hess (May) πŸ§ πŸ˜•
    29. Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age by Vauhini Vara (May) πŸ˜•πŸ§ 
    30. Let Only Red Flowers Bloom by Emily Feng (June) πŸ§ 
    31. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (July) πŸ›️πŸ’•
    32. The South by Tash Aw (July) πŸ³️‍πŸŒˆπŸ’•
    33. How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong (August) ✨🧠
    34. Notes on Infinity by Austin Taylor (August) πŸ’•
    35. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (September) πŸ‘»♒️
    36. The Extinction of Experience by Christine Rosen (October) πŸ§ 
    37. The Shift by Tinx (November) πŸ§ 
    38. Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by ChΓΆgyam Trungpa (November) ✨🧠
    39. The Dead Zone by Stephen King (December) πŸ‘»
    ✨ = a spiritual read
    πŸ›️ = a classic (or one I think should be considered a classic) 
    🧠 = nonfiction
    🏳️‍🌈 = queer
    πŸ’• = romance-forward
    πŸ‘» = thriller / scary
    πŸ˜• = not my faves....
    ♒️ = books that felt very Aquarius to me OR books that were very vibe-forward 

    By the numbers...
    • 38% nonfiction
    • 1 in 4 were standout favorites
    • 6 queer books—not enough! 
    • 65% women authors—I didn't consciously make this decision, but nevertheless I'm pleased
    • 55% of my reading for the year was accomplished before July
    • 21% (11 books) of my reading happened between September and December...what an uneven split! The fall has been really Weird for me and this statistic is a fascinating symptom/indicator that I should keep an eye out for in the future.

    Note from Kate: Hi! If you buy something through a link on my page, I may earn an affiliate commission. I recommend only products I genuinely like & recommend, and my recommendation is not for sale. Thank you! 

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