My Best Books of 2025

Do you define the year by your best books of the year? Or is it just me?

2025's reading was plentiful but not really quality-ful. I read a few more books in 2025 than in 2024 but it was sadly far too easy to pick the best books of the year. If I included rereads (which were many), this list would be mostly occupied by them. There weren't enough new "favourites" in 2025.

The books that stood out, stood out a lot. I'm being a bit stricter with this list too because the books that stood out a lot shouldn't be clubbed with the others that were good but didn't leave an impression i.e. I didn't think of them after finishing them. Although I'm disappointed that the list is short, I'm grateful that I read these books. I'll be talking about the books in the order I read them.

This list is not necessarily books that released in 2025, just my best books of 2025. Grab a cup of your favourite drink and settle down, let's talk books 📚☕️

the sword of kaigen by m.l. wang

I started the year off strong by reading this in the first week.

Why I loved The Sword of Kaigen:

• The setting was pretty great. Although the world-building didn't encompass the entire world, there were a lot of details about the local setting and it was great.
• Started slow but I fell in love in the second half.
• I liked reading the fight scenes.
• I loved Misaki's character growth.
• The surprise romance arc was lovely.
• It made me feel a lot and I ended the book wanting to relive it, but also not because of the pain 😆

Read my full review of The Sword of Kaigen here.

as long as the lemon trees grow by zoulfa katouh

I bought this because of the pretty cover and had no idea about the pain awaiting me in the pages. It's a good think I like well-done pain in books.

Why I loved As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow:

• The EMOTION. It made me feel so much.
• The pain was painful. In the best way. It's meant to be painful. I had to pause reading it many times but it was worth it.
• The characters are precious and must be protected.
• I learnt a lot about Syria's history. After finishing the book, I read up a bunch of Wikipedia too.
• The twist at the end?! I did not see it coming. It made me cry. It made me wind back and see so many things in a different light.
• I still remember how I devoured it in one day. I had to pause due to the pain but I kept resuming quickly because it had me gripped.

a song to drown rivers by ann liang

Ann Liang has quickly become one of my favourite authors. Although I've enjoyed her books to varying degrees, I've enjoyed all of them and read almost all of them in one sitting each.

Why A Song to Drown Rivers stands out:

• Inspired by the ancient Chinese legend of Xi Shi. The author has stuck to the legend's story (somehow both the versions of the ending too) while making it her own.
• Beautiful writing. I knew Ann Liang wrote well to keep me hooked but this is the first book which had beautiful writing while being engaging and interesting.
• I ended up rooting for the villain. I didn't expect it but it happened without me really noticing it. Clever.
• Rich settings. I could easily picture everything and it looked beautiful (or beautifully tragic) in my mind
• Devoured it in one sitting.

Read my review of A Song to Drown Rivers here.

the golden raven by nora sakavic

All For The Game's book 3 was one of my best books of 2023 and book 4 was one of my best books of 2024. Is it even surprising that book 5 is in this year's list?

Why I loved The Golden Raven:

• I'm a sucker for my favourite hurting boys at this point. I could read about them doing mundane things for 10 books and still love each of the books. Who cares about plot? I'm here for the characters.
• Book 4 didn't have a lot of plot and I loved all the mundane-ness. This book kept throwing things at me and it was painful. I don't think I even grasped everything that happened. Again, it's a good thing I like well-written pain. Especially if it comes with amazing precious characters.
• It's a chonky book compared to the others and I loved all the extra pages.
• The Foxhole Court players have all of my heart and I didn't think I had more to give to the Sunshine Court but I was proven wrong. We see a lot characters in book 5 and I liked many of them. Jean and Jeremy have the most of my heart (after the Foxhole kids), of course. The Coach is also winning me over.
• The Foxes show up a lot in this book! Although we get everything from Jean and Jeremy's POV, I'm glad we're hearing about everything going down in detail. Of course their story did not end in book 3.

I really should reread all 5 books in one go. Oh, the pain I'm going to feel. (Also I just found out that we're getting two books on Kevin?!?! I really really hope that we get the final's match from his POV too, it's one of my biggest wishes.)

the unmaking of june farrow by adrienne young

This was my most memorable book of the year simply because of how it stayed in my mind for a long time after I read it.

Why I loved The Unmaking of June Farrow:

• The eerie vibes in the beginning got under my skin. I was as creeped out by things as the main character was. Great writing.
• Time slip plot which makes sense and keeps you thinking about it. I've seen a lot of plot holes in many other stories and although this one feels like there should be a plot hole, I couldn't find it. The loop that it eventually makes is crazy.
• The twist at the end made me gasp and reread it thrice. I reread the beginning again just to make sense of things. Really cool twist.
• Multiple time travellers. Usually stories have 1 or 2 time travellers. But this one had multiple, all of whose lives intersected multiple times. They had to keep secrets from each other and I was left figuring out how many secrets each had at different points. I wish we got the story from multiple POVs but the single POV honed in the mystery aspect.
• The who dunnit plot was good too. There's a murder in one of the times and the main character tries to figure out who she is, who her mother is, who that murdered person was, and who killed him. Lots of intersecting mysteries. I didn't guess the answer at all and I usually figure out these things easily.

I wish we got more stories about the other time travellers. This is a standalone.

when the day comes by gabrielle meyer

I read this book and series after seeing Kimberli rave about it. It quickly won me over and I basically speed read all the books. It's been weeks since I read them and some of them are still on my mind. I actually grew to like For a Lifetime (book 3) more after ruminating over it.

Why I loved When the Day Comes (book 1):

• Unique plot concept. We see a lot of time slip plots but not one like this. I love how we're introduced to it and how layers and details were added as the series progressed.
• The parallels across time. Although the main character's two lives are very different, there are some things that remain the same. For example, when she visits the same places at different times. It's so interesting to see the similarities and differences across time.
• The stories are well-researched. This book focuses on "small" lives that make a big impact in America's independence. I loved reading about the characters' patriotism and drive to make change. The following books are about completely different things and all have so many details. I learnt a lot reading the series.
• The twist at the end really surprised me. I did not expect that. Consider me shook.
• I absolutely loved the ending too. It's such a good happy ending. I've already reread the ending around 4 times. It left me loving the story so much more.

I really wish there were books with the same concept on Indian history. While I admire what was done with America's history and learnt a lot (I knew the bare minimum as an Indian), I can easily imagine a similar concept with Indian history being even more amazing. Considering the many rich interconnected histories that took place in India, one could easily write 20 such books.

let's talk money by monika halan

Learning about investing and what to do with my finances was a 2024 goal which I'm finally working on. I wish I had worked on it sooner because it would have saved me from a couple of bad decisions taken in good faith, but its better to be late than never. I saw Let's Talk Money recommended as a beginner book online so I picked it up.

Why I am grateful for Let's Talk Money:

• Concise and to-the-point. Unlike so many non-fiction authors who seem to blabber about too many things that could have been avoided, this author kept the book short (<250 pages) while covering everything. There was no time wasted here.
• Specifically about average Indian finance. A lot of recommended finance books are often ones that are too generic (trying to be applicable to everyone) or don't cover everything that I need. I found this book really helpful as an average Indian because it covered everything without me having to specifically ignore a lot of things that are specific people like NRIs. It covers everything that the average Indian should know, including how to choose a health insurance, FDs vs debt funds vs insurance policies, and more.
• It's not a deep-dive into everything finance, it's a beginner's launch pad. I appreciate that this book didn't go too deep into every topic. It detailed things that a beginner should think about ASAP and only overviews of optional things.
• It's written by a woman. It makes a difference. Some of the points mentioned wouldn't have been mentioned by a man. We all know that men and women have different perspectives. I always find non-fiction by men unrelatable, at least a bit, because of different priorities or thought processes. For example, Monika Halan explicitly calls out that some financial decisions may not be the best if our partners aren't comfortable with it so let it go. I have never read a book by a man where they tell to let it go for the sake of others, especially a partner.
• Actionable advice. There's something to either research about or look at in every chapter. You can start implementing things from chapter 3. The book tells us exactly what to do, who should do it, and when to do it. I liked that. Although I haven't done anything yet, I feel more confident and know what to look at.

Finances are very important and, unfortunately, not simple like it used to be a few decades ago. Although I'm late at figuring it out, I'm working on it. Let's Talk Money was exactly what I needed to get started.

chat with me!

What were your favourite books of 2025? What books really stand out in your mind? Are there any that you thought of for days/weeks/months after reading them?

How was your year based on your best books list?