Happy New Year! Another year has gone by, which means another year of books.
In 2025, I read 35 books and as always, I try to span a diversity of authors in background, gender, genre, and identity.
I’ll share my Top 4 Fiction and Top 4 Non-Fiction reads below. Below that is a list of all the books I read each month.
So, without further ado (I actually wrote “without further adieu”, and a quick google search shared that’s a common mistake), here’s the list for 2025…
TOTAL BOOKS FOR 2025: 35
TOP 4 FICTION:
There Are Rivers in the Sky – Elif Shafak
Shark Heart – Emily Habeck
All The Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin
TOP 4 NON-FICTION
The Life Divine – Sri Aurobindo
The Warmth of Other Suns – Isabel Wilkerson
Beauty: The Invisible Embrace – John O’Donohue
Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times – Alan Walker
YEARLY BOOK RECAP:
January
Liberation Day – George Saunders
A Psalm For The Wild Built – Becky Chambers
February
Friday Black – Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
The Warmth of Other Suns – Isabel Wilkerson
Isha Upanishad – Sri Aurobindo
March
Chojun Miyagi and Goju Ryu – Humberto Nuno de Oliveira
James – Percival Everett
All The Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity – Toby Ord
April
Be Useful: 7 Tools for Life – Arnold Shwarzenegger
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin
The Echo Machine: How Right-Wing Extremism Created a Post-Truth America – David Pakman
May
Chain Gang All Stars – Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
The Laws of Human Nature – Robert Greene
June
Babel – R. F. Kuang
The Simple Path to Wealth – J.L. Collins
July
How Not To Die Alone – Logan Ury
The Life Divine – Sri Aurobindo
August
Dedicated: The Case for Commitment – Pete Davis
The Miracles of the Namiya General Store – Keigo Higashino
Shark Heart – Emily Habeck
September
Radical Candor – Kim Scott
Green Grass, Running Water – Thomas King
Steve Jobs – Walter Isaacson
October
How To Listen – Thich Nhat Hanh
How to Break Up With Your Phone – Catherine Price
All About Love – Bell Hooks
Beauty: The Invisible Embrace – John O’Donohue
November
Same as Ever: Timeless Lessons on Risk, Opportunity and Living a Good Life – Morgan Housel
Wounds Into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma – Tirzah Firestone
Irreplaceable: The Art of Standing Out in the Age of Artificial Intelligence – Pascal Bornet
Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times – Alan Walker
There Are Rivers in the Sky – Elif Shafak
December
Losing Music – John Cotter
Among Others – Jo Walton
Another year of so many great books! As I move into 2026, I’m reading The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin, Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore, and The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro – so far, loving all three of them.
Wishing you an amazing 2026, with many books in your life!
Brett