Best Reads of 2025

What an interesting year.  I truly thought that my ratings were going to be higher than previous years.  I purposefully set myself up with books that I thought would lead me there, but alas, I'm landing in nearly the same spot at 3.22/5.  However, I improved on my ability to DNF books.  I put down a whomping 10 after giving them a good chance.  Out of 100 books, I rated 47 of them 3.5/5 (good) or higher, which is not bad.  Could be better, but it's not bad.  I'm still listening to audiobooks a lot (80%) and most likely will continue to do so in 2026.  I am going to focus on DNFing more, so I can rid myself of books that I ultimately end up rating below 3/5 (just okay).  I don't need to continue reading when I'm not truly enjoying them.

In order of how I read 100 books, here are the Best Reads of 2025 that I rated 4/5 (very good) and up:

1.  The Family Experiment (Marrs) - 4.5/5, Sci-Fi

2.  Blacktop Wasteland (Cosby) - 4/5, Thriller

3.  The Housemaid's Secret (McFadden) - 4/5, Thriller

4.  The Frozen River (Lawhon) - 4/5, Historical Fiction

5.  The Day the World Came to Town (DeFede) - 4.25/5, Non-Fiction

6.  The Favorites (Fargo) - 4/5, Fiction

7.  Gray After Dark (Ihli) - 4/5, Thriller

8.  All Rhodes Lead Here (Zapata) - 4/5, Romance

9.  Don't Let Him In (Jewell) - 4/5, Domestic Thriller

10.  What Happened to Nina? (McTiernan) - 4/5, Thriller

11.  All We Ever Wanted (Giffin) - 4/5, Fiction

12.  The Lies I Tell (Clark) - 4/5, Thriller

Best Reads of 2024

Most of my other hobbies were accompanied by a book this year.  Therefore, my reading consisted of 82% of audiobooks!  I'm fine with that, though.  I still read physical and/or ebooks everyday, but only for short periods of time.  My overall average rating went from 3.16 (2023) to a 3.17 (2024).  At least it's moving in the right trajectory!  😆  To be fair to myself, it was much higher until December.  I read many Christmas romance books and one big disappointment at the end.

In order of how I read 103 books, here are the Best Reads of 2024 that I rated 4/5 and up:

1.  The Heiress (Hawkins) ~ 4/5, Mystery

**2.  The Passengers (Marrs) ~ 4.25/5, Thriller

3.  My Lovely Wife (Downing) ~ 4/5, Thriller

4.  Strange Sally Diamond (Nugent) ~ 4.25/5, Thriller

5.  Kill for Me, Kill for You (Cavanagh) ~ 4/5, Thriller

6.  Forsaken Country (Esken) ~ 4.25/5, Thriller

7.  Good Morning, Monster (Gildiner) ~ 4.25/5, Non-Fiction

8.  Look Closer (Ellis) ~ 4.25/5, Thriller

**9.  My Husband (Ventura) ~ 4/5, Fiction

10.  Nightwatching (Sierra) ~ 4/5, Thriller

11.  Gone Tonight (Pekkanen) ~ 4/5, Thriller

12.  The Unraveling (Keeland) ~ 4.25/5, Thriller

13.  My Dark Vanessa (Russell) ~ 4.25/5, Fiction

14.  Razorblade Tears (Cosby) ~ 4/5, Thriller

15.  Zero Days (Ware) ~ 4/5, Thriller

** Think about these books OFTEN.

Best Reads of 2023

 

This was not a very good year on many levels - not bad, just not very good.  I read a decent amount, but my ratings were very indicative of my enjoyment - averaging a 3.16 for the year.  On the positive side, a "3" really isn't that bad.  It's actually "just okay" in my book.  However, I would like to read more 4 star books this coming year.  My main goal is to read even more books off my shelves.  I did pretty good this year and hope to continue that trend.  Let's just hope I discover more 4 star and up books hidden there!  :)

These are my Best Reads that I rated 4/5 and up this year:

1.  Ballad of Sophie (Melo & Cavia) ~ graphic novel, 4.25/5

2.  Finding Me (Davis) ~ memoir, 4/5

3.  Daisy Jones and The Six (Reid) ~ fiction, 4.25/5

4.  Then She Was Gone (Jewell) ~ thriller, 4/5

5.  I'm Glad My Mom Died (McCurdy) ~ memoir, 4/5

6.  The Whispers (Audrain) ~ fiction, 4/5

7.  Bath Haus (Vernon) ~ thriller, 4.25/5  

Best Reads of 2022

This was a very good reading year for me.  There were, also, some positive changes within my Book World.  I started a Book Club, which will continue in 2023.  I finally purchased a BOTM subscription, and I'm loving that.  And, I've been selling books on PangoBooks, as well as, donating to my local library and Little Free Libraries.  While it has been a little difficult to actually say goodbye to some books, it has been necessary to house the new ones coming in.  More purging to come.

I had a whopping 20 books that I rated 4 (very good) or higher!  That definitely is a very good reading year for me!  I didn't give any 5s, but I think anything that rates a 4.5 and up is probably a 5.  Those real 5s are hard to come by.  So without further ado, in order of how I read them . . .

Here are my 2022 Best Reads:  

*memories of the book are .25 higher

 1.  No Exit (Adams) ~ Thriller

4.5/5 (excellent)

2.  Salt to the Sea (Sepetys) ~ YA Historical Fiction

4/5 (very good)

3.  Verity (Hoover) ~ Romantic Thriller

4/5 (very good)

4.  The Shadows We Hide (Eskens) ~ Mystery

4/5 (very good)

5.  The Midnight Library (Haig) ~ Science Fiction

4.25/5 (very good +)

6.  Playing Nice (Delaney) ~ Fiction

4/5 (very good)

*4.25 (very good +)

7.  Project Hail Mary (Weir) ~ Science Fiction

4.75/5 (excellent +)

8.  For Your Own Good (Downing) ~ Thriller

4/5 (very good)

9.  An Anonymous Girl (Hendricks & Pekkanen) ~ Thriller

4/5 (very good)

10.  Know My Name (Miller) ~ Memoir

4.75/5 (excellent +)

11. The House in the Cerulean Sea (Klune) ~ YA Fantasy

4.75/5 (excellent +)

12.  To Kill a Mockingbird (Fordham/Lee) ~ YA Graphic Classic Novel

4/5 (very good)

13.  The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (Reid) ~ Fiction

4.75/5 (excellent +)

14.  The Collective (Gaylin) ~ Thriller

4.25/5 (very good +)

15.  The Arrangement (Modglin) ~ Thriller

4/5 (very good)

*4.25/5 (very good +)

16.  The Swimmers (Otsuka) ~ Fiction

4/5 (very good)

17.  When Stars are Scattered (Mohamed & Jamieson) ~ Children's Graphic Memoir

4.5/5 (excellent)

18.  The Housemaid (McFadden) ~ Thriller

4/5 (very good)

*4.25/5 (very good +)

19.  It Ends With Us (Hoover) ~ Romance

4/5 (very good)

20.  The Measure (Erlick) ~ Science Fiction

4/5 (very good)

*4.25/5 (very good +)