The Books I Loved in 2025

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I’ve been an avid reader since I was around eight years old. I distinctly remember my mom handing me a thick paperback copy of Little Women she had picked up at a book sale and told me “this should keep you busy for a week or so.” It took me three days.

My reading hobby took a dive when I became a single mom, but as I’ve started slowly emerging from the survival mode that got me through the separation, divorce, and getting my sea legs as a single mom, I’ve been ready to read again. While there’s nothing wrong with listening to the radio on your morning commute, now that my headspace has cleared enough to allow for the retention of learning new things I have turned mostly to podcasts and audiobooks when I am alone in the car.

I am firmly in the “audiobooks count as reading” camp because to think otherwise is just ableist and we don’t do that around here. It is the same words being imparted, no matter how you consume them. Anyways, getting off my soapbox now to get to the book part.

I tend to get most of my books in audiobook format because driving is the only time I can sit and pay attention. I spent Christmas Eve into Christmas this year in a cabin in the woods (it was not my year to have Christmas Eve/Christmas morning with my kids, and I know from prior experience that waking up without them on Christmas morning is awful), and I was able to actually finish reading a physical copy of The Inheritance, Louisa May Alcott’s very first novel, which was an absolute delight.

Aside from Louisa May Alcott, I do not like much fiction and always lean towards non-fiction and anything that will help me learn or improve.

Where To Get Books

I get most of the books – both physical and audio – I read from the library. Support your local libraries! My library has a section at the bottom of the receipt to indicate how much I saved each year. I have saved almost $1,500 this year on books and movies. Since I have a goal of living in a tiny house, I’m very grateful I get to enjoy all these resources and then give them back so I don’t have to store them in my house in perpetuity.

Through my library, I have access to both Libby and Hoopla, free apps that provide access to ebooks, audiobooks, and even movies on my phone (Hoopla is also downloaded on my tv).

When I buy books, I buy through Bookshop.org, a company that supports independent bookstores with every purchase. You can even choose your favorite indie book store to support with your purchase! And yes, I am still not spending my money at Amazon.

The Inheritance – Louisa May Alcott

As mentioned above, I’m a life-long fan of Louisa May Alcott’s books and had previously believed I had read all of them. I mentioned that factoid to a coworker and she asked if I had read The Inheritance, recently (within the past few decades) found to be her very first written novel. It’s about a woman named Edith who was found as an orphan and brought to a family’s home as a governess. I definitely recognized her writing style, and it was so fun to read something “new” when I had thought I had exhausted the catalog!

The Third Gilmore Girl: A Memoir by Kelly Bishop

Kelly Bishop’s memoir, The Third Gilmore Girl, was absolutely outstanding. I listened to the audiobook, which was read by her. As my fandom of Gilmore Girls spans decades, it felt like a hug from a great-aunt to hear her voice. She has had such an incredible life before Gilmore Girls, which I only previously knew included as Baby’s mother in Dirty Dancing and “professional dancer.” I learned that she helped inspire a character of A Chorus Line and was the original actress for the character.

Her reflections from Gilmore Girls and her iconic character, Emily Gilmore, made me alternately laugh, cry, and inspired another rewatch of the series (which, in turn, inspired this blog post).

Awake: A Memoir – Jen Hatmaker

I have followed Jen Hatmaker since I was in my early 20s. Her book, 7, played a huge role in my journey to a more minimalist lifestyle and finding contentment. Awake is a memoir of her life chronicling her separation and divorce from her husband in 2020, a path I also took that same year. While we chose divorce for similar-but-different reasons, Jen Hatmaker and I are both Enneagram 3s, and both moms, and I felt so seen and understood listening to her audiobook. I cried multiple times as she recounted things that were meaningful during her grieving period that I realized I experienced as well. And after her “closing of the bones” chapter, I scheduled my own self care day to mark my own transition.

How To Be Well – Amy Larocca

I love a good book that makes me think about things differently without slipping into conspiracy theories. How To Be Well looks at all the facets of the wellness industrial complex from supplements to athleisure to the widening variety of workout routines in a way that points out how every part of wellness has been positioned to be an answer to women for a need that they didn’t know they had. I loved this book and will likely return to it for reference multiple times.

Rich Girl Nation – Katie Gatti Tassin

This is the final book I’ve read this year and it’s another good one with cultural critiques but with high-level financial information as well. The first chapter of Rich Girl Nation is about the “Hot Girl Hamster Wheel,” which was the most creative way of calculating how much keeping up with society’s standards of beauty is actually costing you. I’ve read finance books for years now and none have discussed tax structures for retirement like this book does.

I Will Teach You To Be Rich – Ramit Sethi

This was one of the first books I read this year, and I was pleased that I was already doing most of it – but I have been listening to author Ramit Sethi’s podcast, Money for Couples, for years, so I was not surprised. If you are looking for a good book about getting your finances set up for long-term success, this is it. I’m going to gift a copy of I Will Teach You to be Rich to my sons when they get older – my older one is already asking about the topic and this will be the perfect book to help him learn about finances beyond “spend less than you make.”

What books did you read this year? Leave your recommendations in the comments!