Five Books I Loved in 2025 | January to June
I’ve changed the way I read books this year and as a result, I’ve found more books that I enjoy and fewer that I want to ditch before completion. Unless you’re a stranger to this little blog, you’ll already know that I’m a HUGE fan of making lists, and my reading life is no different. I’ve structured my book consumption based on my master list — the place I keep track of challenges and all the books I want to read that year.
Because I’ve so strictly followed this list in choosing my books each week, I’ve fallen into the rut of reading to check off a box instead of for enjoyment. I found myself rushing through novels rather than contemplating the themes that were arising, and I wasn’t having fun anymore. But this year, I decided to use my list as a guide and still allow myself to pick up new releases and read off-list if something strikes my fancy, and that’s just what I’ve done.
I’ve read 70 books so far this year, and less than half of them are from the master list. Additionally, half of them have been four or five-star reads because I’ve been able to take my time and dig into the content rather than rushing. In contrast, the last few years have only yielded a quarter of my total books read as being above three stars. Needless to say, my reading time is more meaningful than it’s ever been. And on that note, here are my favorites from January to June.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
(Blurb) France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
(My thoughts) I usually dislike longer books, but I did not want this one to end. The story was imaginative, and I fell in love with each character. While I saw the first plot twist coming and thought I knew how the story would end, I couldn't have written a better ending for this book. It was beautifully written, made me cry, and wish there would be a screen adaptation made. Loved it!
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death by Jean-Dominique Bauby
(Blurb) In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, the forty-three-year-old editor of French Elle, suffered a massive stroke that left him completely and permanently paralyzed, a victim of "locked-in syndrome." Where once he had been renowned for his gregariousness and wit, Bauby now found himself imprisoned in an inert body, able to communicate only by blinking his left eye. The miracle is that in doing so he was able to compose this stunningly eloquent memoir, which was published two days before Bauby's death in 1996 and went on to become a number-one bestseller across Europe.
The second miracle is that The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is less a record of affliction than it is a celebration of the liberating power of consciousness. In a voice that is by turns wistful and mischievous, angry and sardonic, Bauby tells us what it is like to spend a day with his children; to imagine lying in bed beside his lover; to conjure up the flavor of delectable meals even as he is fed by tube. Most of all, this triumphant book allows us to follow the flight of an indomitable spirit and to share its exultation at its own survival.
(My thoughts) I finished this book a few days ago and originally gave it a four-star rating, but I haven't stopped thinking about it, so I decided to raise it to a five. This book touched me, as someone who has a chronic illness and disability. While I cannot compare what I deal with to what Bauby endured, I can understand how one's inner world can become a sanctuary when the body can't give them the life they want and deserve. This was beautifully written and one that I'll probably reread soon.
The Bright Side Running Club by Josie Lloyd
(Blurb) When Keira first receives her breast cancer diagnosis, she never expects to end up joining a running group with three women she’s only just met. Totally blind-sided, all she can think about is how she doesn’t want to tell her family or step back from work. Nor does she want to be part of a group of fellow cancer patients. Cancer is not her club.
And yet it’s running – hot, sweaty, lycra-clad running in the company of brilliant, funny women all going through treatment – that unexpectedly gives Keira the hope she so urgently needs. Because Keira will not be defined by the C-word. And now, with the Cancer Ladies’ Running Club cheering her on, she is going to reclaim everything: her family, her identity, and her life.
(My thoughts: Content warning: cancer diagnosis and treatment, death. If you are sensitive to these topics, read with care.) I wish I could have a chance to read this book for the first time again because I enjoyed it so much. I loved Keira and the other women she met on her journey. I know using the word "strong" to define women who are going through cancer treatment is cliche, but I appreciated the strength this author gave her protagonist and friends in choosing to live their lives and not let the disease define them. One thing I resonated with and believe that anyone who is going through a chronic health crisis (not necessarily cancer) can, is how important community can be in coping and healing. Regardless of what's happening inside a body, a person's mind and heart can find peace knowing there are others on whom they can lean.
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
(Blurb) Dill has had to wrestle with vipers his whole life—at home, as the only son of a Pentecostal minister who urges him to handle poisonous rattlesnakes, and at school, where he faces down bullies who target him for his father’s extreme faith and very public fall from grace.
The only antidote to all this venom is his friendship with fellow outcasts Travis and Lydia. But as they are starting their senior year, Dill feels the coils of his future tightening around him. The end of high school will lead to new beginnings for Lydia, whose edgy fashion blog is her ticket out of their rural Tennessee town. And Travis is happy wherever he is thanks to his obsession with the epic book series Bloodfall and the fangirl who may be turning his harsh reality into real-life fantasy. Dill’s only escapes are his music and his secret feelings for Lydia—neither of which he is brave enough to share. Graduation feels more like an ending to Dill than a beginning. But even before then, he must cope with another ending—one that will rock his life to the core.
Debut novelist Jeff Zentner provides an unblinking and at times comic view of the hard realities of growing up in the Bible Belt, and an intimate look at the struggles to find one’s true self in the wreckage of the past.
(My thoughts) I experienced so many emotions while I read this book. I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. All three of the main characters were relatable for different reasons and made this story really unique and nice to read.
Funny Story by Emily Henry
(Blurb) Daphne always loved the way her fiancé, Peter, told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it... right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.
Which is how Daphne begins her new story: stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.
Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned-up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?
But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex... right?
(My thoughts) I loved this book so much. I've only read a few books by Henry, but I will check out the backlist soon. It's not a genre I tend to gravitate to often, but the way she writes these characters and takes the tropes out of her stories makes romance fun.
