I being able to help someone find their next great reading adventure, which is why I look forward to writing my annual book round up. This one may be way overdue, but that just means these are the prime picks of my reading over the last [3!] years.
Scroll to read my quick thoughts on some of my favorites from the last few years.
I’ve also linked each of the books to Amazon where you can read a more in-depth summary as well as others’ reviews.
1. The Women
5/5
The rest of this list is in no particular order. But this book is THE book of this list. The #1 book I’ve been recommending.
STUNNING. I have not read a historical fiction book like this one–and that’s one of my favorite genres. Most of the HF books I read take place during WWII. Not only does this take place during the Vietnam war, but IN the Vietnam war. The storytelling was spellbinding. It appears to be a thick book but it reads quickly. So so good. If you read this, send me an email with your thoughts!
“Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets―and becomes one of―the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.”
2. Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins
For Hunger Games semi-fans as much as the real fans.
What I mean is that when the pre-quel was dropped 10 years after the trilogy, I had 0 desire to re-visit this world. But when THIS book, the backstory of the most interesting character was coming out? I was hyped and ready to read–and very pleased with the story itself. Let’s say that after reading this book, it had me wanting to dive back into the original 3.
If you’ve read or seen The Hunger Games and have yet to read this, Do it.
As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.
Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.
When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.
3. The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah
4.5/5
This was my top read of 2025. It sparked quite a few thought-provoking discussions between me and Josh (who wasn’t even reading the book). The blurb below does a great job of highlighting the story.
With courage, grace, and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of World War II and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France―a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.
4. A List of Cages, by Robin Roe
5/5
If I didn’t have to include a Trigger Warning, this book would also make the top of my list. Heartwrenching yet beautiful, Robin does a fantastic job of pulling you in and emotionally investing you into the characters. It is not for the faint of heart. On my “read again” list.
When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he’s got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn’t easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can’t complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian–the foster brother he hasn’t seen in five years.
Adam is ecstatic to be reunited. At first, Julian seems like the boy he once knew. He’s still kind hearted. He still writes stories and loves picture books meant for little kids. But as they spend more time together, Adam realizes that Julian is keeping secrets, like where he hides during the middle of the day, and what’s really going on inside his house. Adam is determined to help him, but his involvement could cost both boys their lives.
5. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
3.5/5
The one that disappointed. It was good, but I really thought THIS was going to be my book of the year. I’m usually spot-on on picking out which book is gonna be a banger but although the 1st half of the book had me believing that, the stories did get a bit redundant toward the end. I loved the concept/idea and it wrapped up well but the 2nd half othe book did fall short. However, most reviewers seem to adore this book and It was different and unique enough for me to put it on this list because there is a good chance you will also read this feeling inspired to approach life with more creative wonder.
One spring morning, a stranger named Theo arrives in the small Southern city of Golden. He doesn’t explain much about where he came from or why he’s there—but when he visits the local coffeehouse, where pencil portraits of the people of Golden hang on the walls, he begins purchasing them, one at a time, and giving each portrait to the person depicted. In exchange, he asks only for the person’s story. And so portrait by portrait, person by person, secrets are revealed, regrets are shared, and ordinary lives are profoundly altered.
A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, Theo of Golden is an unforgettable novel about the power of generosity, the importance of connection, and the quiet miracles that happen when we choose kindness and wonder.
6. My Friends, by Fredrik Backman
4/5
My favorite author delivers again. This was a 3.5 rounded up to a 4.
Even though I didn’t find either the 18 year old or 38 year old conversationally relatable, I enjoyed the overall arch of the story and the nostalgia of childhood friendships. Still a story worth reading.
Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.
Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.
Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.
7. Wedding People
4/5
I don’t remember my thoughts on this book other than I enjoyed reading it! Another 3.5 rounded up to 5. (Should I just change my rating system to be out of 10? Lol.)
A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.
It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She’s immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years―she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe’s plan―which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined―and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.
8. The Will of the Many
4/5
Classified as fantasy though it did not feel that way to me. This book was more fun to read alongside other friends to discuss about it with. A page turner–though I can’t say the same about book 2 yet.
At the elite Catenan Academy, a young fugitive uncovers layered mysteries and world-changing secrets in this new fantasy series by internationally bestselling author of The Licanius Trilogy, James Islington.
The Catenan Republic – the Hierarchy – may rule the world now, but they do not know everything.
I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilised society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus – what they call Will – to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do.
I tell them that I belong, and they believe me.
But the truth is that I have been sent to the Academy to find answers. To solve a murder. To search for an ancient weapon. To uncover secrets that may tear the Republic apart.
And that I will never, ever cede my Will to the empire that executed my family.
To survive, though, I will still have to rise through the Academy’s ranks. I will have to smile, and make friends, and pretend to be one of them and win. Because if I cannot, then those who want to control me, who know my real name, will no longer have any use for me.
And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.
9. James, by Percival Everett
4/5
HEAR ME OUT. This was my book club pick last year and only 1 other member enjoyed it as much as me. The others all rated it around a 2.5-3 saying it made them feel like they were reading a book for school. Ha. I guess I understand? But as someone who sparknote-ed my way through AP English because I couldn’t stay awake through any of the required books, our difference in assessment surprises me.
Here’s what I think: Read the blurb below. If the book sounds interesting to you, then I bet you’ll enjoy it. If the blurb sounds boring–skip this.
PS- I don’t recall reading Huck Finn and still really enjoyed this book.
When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.
10. Atomic Habits, by James Clear
5/5
I love me a good, non-fiction, business or self help book and this one was fantastic. Mostly because of how practical it all was. I’m sure if you haven’t read it yet, you’ve heard it referenced multiple times over the past few years. You don’t even need to read the whole thing to make a change in your habits. Get this book and consume it in bite size, applicable pieces.
I’ll let this blurb speak for itself.
If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you’ll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.
Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits–whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.
+ show Comments
- Hide Comments
add a comment