Happy Saturday fellow readers and welcome to the kickoff of the Best Books of 2025! If you have been following me for awhile you know it is a tradition on my blog/social media to share with you the best books I read in 2025. It is something I look forward to doing every year and I can’t believe the time has finally come to countdown the books of 2025.

So, a little refresher. The Best Books list when I select my favorite books that I read in 2025 and rank them, providing you with new book recommendations and for me to take inventory on what I want to keep reading and what I can skip on in 2026. Here are my guidelines and rules.

1. I have to have read the book between December 15, 2024 and December 15, 2025. I have to plan these lists a bit in advance, my book year run a little different than the calendar year.
2. Has to be a book I read for the first time in 2025. Any re-reads are not included.
3. Book does not have to be published this year, just have to be read this year.

Additionally, I have selected three honorable mentions which I am sharing with you now. As we countdown to my best book of the year feel free to join along and share your favorite books of the year.

Honorable Mentions: Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano, The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig & Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi

What are they about? Finlay Donovan really needs no introduction. If you have been following my book reviews for awhile you know I have am huge fan of this comedic mystery series by Elle Cosimano. The series follows the unlucky Finlay Donovan as she tries to balance motherhood, an irritating ex-husband, two potential love interests, and the Russian mob all while the bodies are starting to stack up. Book three takes up right where the last book left off with Finlay and her loyal sidekick Vero heading to a police bootcamp where more hijinks and grisly discoveries are made.

From funny mystery to psychological thriller, The Staircase in the Woods takes place twenty years after a group of high schoolers went into the woods for a night of drinking and pot smoking. They discover a lone staircase in the woods and one of the friends decides to climb it, only to never come back down. Now, the teenagers are adults and come back together again to discover once and for all what happened to their friend.

The third pick is the sequel to one of last year’s best books of the year, Persepolis. Following Marjane after she arrives in Austria from Iran, the graphic novel follows her as she attempts to adjust to a new way of life without losing her cultural identity.

Why did I love them? The three honorable mentions are very different from each other. Finlay Donovan brings the laughs and ridiculousness, making it the perfect pallet cleanser. Whether you have hit a reading slump or ventured into a story that left you reaching for the tissue book, Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun will refresh you and ready to fall back into reading. For The Staircase in the Woods friendship is at the center of the story and while there are plenty of screams and terrors to unravel, the story is an excellent read to remind everyone of the importance of friends in their lives. Finally, much like its predecessor, Persepolis 2 manages to balance humor, coming of age struggles, and the importance of history in a story that all too relevant in today’s society. Whichever of these three is your cup of tea, one thing is for sure, you won’t go wrong with picking it up.