Quitting my full-time job and studying for (and passing!) the CFP® exam meant I had more time last year to read books. Finishing my two-year study journey meant I finally had more capacity to read non-fiction (previously, my non-fiction brain slot was taken up with reading about tax, estate, retirement, insurance, investment, and general financial planning).
I read some non-fiction bangers this year, many of them on themes of politics, wealth, society, technology, and how these impact our lives.
I also read a lot of mysteries last year to wind down while studying in the first half of the year, and read a mixture of other fiction over the year.
I finished 45 books last year, and while I fell off a bit on the blog with my month-in-review posts in the fall (which was busier than anticipated and also I got sick a couple times; I have drafts and will go back and publish these later), I feel pretty satisfied with my reading life. Of course, I would like to continue to push back against the machines and spend a little more time reading, so that’s a 2026 reading resolution, but I’m excited to keep reading this year!
Choosing superlative “best” books of the year is a little fraught, but it’s helpful for me to look over what I read last year and see what stuck with me. Keeping track of my reading helps me remember what I have actually read, and helps the themes, characters, prose, and ideas stick with me more than just reading and immediately moving on from a reading experience. I don’t want to just consume books mindlessly; I want books to be a part of me in a real way, and I want to be in conversation with them.
So here are my Top 10 from 2025:
- Enshittification, by Cory Doctorow
- The Sabbath, by Abraham Joshua Heschel
- The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
- Careless People, by Sarah Wynn Williams
- The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman
- Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
- Dissolution, by Nicholas Binge
- The Tainted Cup, by Robert Jackson Bennett
- Parliamentary America, by Maxwell Stearns
- The Haves and Have Yachts, by Evan Osnos
Honorable Mentions: The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien; The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison; The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner; and Gaudy Night, by Dorothy Sayers. These are honorable mentions because they are all re-reads of books that I love, and I really enjoyed them once again, I just wanted to give a chance to some new-to-me books.
What were your favorite books of 2025? What are you looking forward to in 2026? Any book resolutions?
