As always, if Oprah picks it, I want to try it. Some Bright Nowhere by Ann Packer was the latest. Amazon: “Eliot and his wife Claire have been happily married for nearly four decades. They’ve raised two children in their sleepy Connecticut town and have weathered the inevitable ups and downs of a long life spent together. But eight years after Claire was diagnosed with cancer, the end is near, and it’s time to gather loved ones and prepare for the inevitable. Over the years of Claire’s illness, Eliot has willingly—lovingly—shifted into the role of caregiver, appreciating the intimacy and tenderness that comes with a role even more layered and complex than the one he performed as a devoted husband. But as he focuses on settling into what will be their last days and weeks together, Claire makes an unexpected request that leaves him reeling. In a moment, his carefully constructed world is shattered. What if your partner’s dying wish broke your heart? How well do we know the deepest desires of those we love dearly? As Eliot is confronted with this profound turning point in his marriage and his life, he grapples with the man and husband he’s been, and with the great unknowns of Claire’s last days.” While this was well-written, it was just sad, sad, sad. If that’s what you are going for, have at it. But, I wasn’t in the mood for this one…

I love John Boyne. All the Broken Places was such a great read that I devoured it in a day (I mean, it snowed all day, but…). It’s been so long since I read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas that I didn’t even realize the connection, which would have made me love it even more. “Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same well-to-do mansion block in London for decades. She lives a quiet, comfortable life, despite her deeply disturbing, dark past. She doesn’t talk about her escape from Nazi Germany at age twelve. She doesn’t talk about the grim postwar years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn’t talk about her father, who was the commandant of one of the Reich’s most notorious extermination camps. Then, a new family moves into the apartment below her. In spite of herself, Gretel can’t help but begin a friendship with the little boy, Henry, though his presence brings back memories she would rather forget. One night, she witnesses a disturbing, violent argument between Henry’s beautiful mother and his arrogant father, one that threatens Gretel’s hard-won, self-contained existence. Immersive, chilling, unputdownable, All the Broken Places moves back and forth in time between Gretel’s girlhood in Germany and present-day London. Here, Gretel is at a similar crossroads to the one she encountered long ago. Then, she denied her own complicity, but now, faced with a chance to interrogate her guilt, grief, and remorse, she can choose to save a young boy. If she does, she will be forced to reveal the secrets she has spent a lifetime protecting. This time, she can make a different choice than before—whatever the cost to herself.” (Amazon) This is great read. Grab it!

Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin was a wonderful book that took forever to read. Turns out it was almost 500 pages. Who knew?! While I loved it, it took way too long to read. If only I could read at 1.5 speed! Amazon: “Violette Toussaint is the caretaker at a cemetery in a small town in Bourgogne. Her life is lived to the predictable rhythms of the often funny, always moving confidences that casual mourners, regular visitors, and sundry colleagues share with her. Violette’s routine is disrupted one day by the arrival of Julien Sole—local police chief—who has come to scatter the ashes of his recently deceased mother on the gravesite of a complete stranger. It soon becomes clear that Julien’s inexplicable gesture is intertwined with Violette’s own complicated past.” While I really enjoyed it, you have to walk in knowing how very long it is.

I had read about The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy by James Patterson and Vicky Ward, but didn’t know much about this case. It was a very interesting and sad listen. “The murders of four innocent college students attending the University of Idaho left us all with so many questions. Now, after more than 300 interviews, James Patterson and prize-winning journalist Vicky Ward finally have the answers. We know what it was like to live in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022, the day of the cold-blooded killings. We know what the local police and FBI did right. And what they did wrong. We’ve learned so much about the four heartbroken families—the Mogens, Goncalveses, Kernodles, and Chapins. And we have the backstory for Bryan Kohberger, brilliant grad student, loner, apparent incel. Now you are the jury. The evidence is in.” (Amazon) I don’t know how this would hold up as a read, but it was a very good listen.

I don’t know much about Erica Jong or her daughter. But How to Lose Your Mother was available as an audiobook from the library book, so I took a chance. Amazon: “Molly Jong-Fast is the only child of a famous woman, writer Erica Jong, whose sensational book Fear of Flying launched her into second-wave feminist stardom. She grew up yearning for a connection with her dreamy, glamorous, just out of reach mother, who always seemed to be heading somewhere that wasn’t with Molly. When, in 2023, Erica was diagnosed with dementia just as Molly’s husband discovered he had a rare cancer, Jong-Fast was catapulted into a transformative year. How to Lose Your Mother is a compulsively readable memoir about an intense mother–daughter relationship, a sometimes chaotic upbringing with a fame-hungry parent, and the upheavals that challenge our hard-won adulthood. A pitch-perfect balance of acceptance and rage, humor and heart, How to Lose Your Mother tells a universal story of loss alongside a singular story of a literary life. This is a memoir that will stand alongside the classics of the genre.” This was a very good listen and my only complaint was that I didn’t love Jong-Fast’s voice. It fit the story, though.

The Names by Florence Knapp was a great first read of the year! I devoured it and loved how the three alternate stories were told. Amazon: “In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son’s birth. Her husband, Gordon, a local doctor, respected in the community but a terrifying and controlling presence at home, intends for her to name the infant after him. But when the registrar asks what she’d like to call the child, Cora hesitates…Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of Cora’s and her young son’s lives, shaped by her choice of name. In richly layered prose, The Names explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing.” Grab this one – you won’t regret it!

Every year, at the end of the year, I look back on all the books I have read the year before and list my favorites overall. This year, as always, my goal was 100 books. Just as last year, I didn’t make my goal. I only finished 82. I’m pretty sure lowering my goal to 75 for next year makes sense. This end-of-year rehash post means that you don’t have to bother to read any of my other posts over the course of the year. 2025 was a really strong reading year with thirteen 5-star books and twenty-one 4.5-star choices.

2025 reading stats:

Books finished: 82
Fiction: 67 (82%)
Non-fiction: 15 (18%), including 9 memoirs
Authors of color: 10 (12%)
Male/Female authors: 61 female (74%), 21 male (26%)
Audiobooks:  21
Average rating: 4.1
Repeat authors: 34 (41%)

5-Star Books

4.5-Star Books

Links to my past years in review:

2024 Best Books
2023 Best Books
2022 Best Books
2021 Best Books
2020 Best Books
2019 Best Books
2018 Best Books
2017 Best Books
2016 Best Books
2015 Best Books
2014 Best Books
2013 Best Books

The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage was a good, cheesy, end-of-the year, week-between-Christmas-and-New-Years last read of the year. Amazon: “It’s New Year’s Day in Australia and the life Lexi Villiers has carefully built is working out nicely: she’s in the second year of her medical residency, she lives on a beautiful farm with her two best friends Finn and Jack, and she’s about to finally become more-than-friendly with Jack—when a helicopter abruptly lands. Out steps her grandmother’s right-hand-man, with the tragic news that her father and older brother have been killed in a skiing accident. Lexi’s grandmother happens to be the Queen of England, and in addition to the shock and grief, Lexi must now accept the reality that she is suddenly next in line for the throne—a role she has publicly disavowed. Returning to London as the heir apparent Princess Alexandrina, Lexi is greeted by a skeptical public not ready to forgive her defection, a grieving sister-in-law harboring an explosive secret, and a scheming uncle determined to claim the throne himself. Her recent life—and Jack—grow ever more distant as she feels the tug of tradition, of love for her grandmother, and of obligation. When her grandmother grants her one year to decide, Lexi must choose her own destiny: will it be determined by an accident of birth—or by love?” This was certainly a beach read (good that we are actually at the beach…) and perfect to throw in your bag for the summer. Nothing deep here, but a good, imaginative read.

I do love a memoir, as anyone who reads this blog knows. Awake by Jen Hatmaker was no exception. While I don’t know much about Jen Hatmaker, this felt a lot like Glennon Doyle. Amazon: “At 2:30 a.m. on July 11, 2020, Jen Hatmaker woke up to her husband of twenty-six years whispering in his phone to another woman from their bed. It was the end of life as she knew it. In the months that followed, she went from being a shiny, funny, popular leader to a divorced wreck on antidepressants and antianxiety meds, parenting five kids alone with no clue about the functioning of her own bank accounts. Having led millions of women for over a decade—urging them to embrace authenticity, find radical agency, and create healthy relationship—she felt like a catastrophic failure. In Awake, Jen shares for the first time what happened when she found herself completely lost at sea—and how she made it to shore. In candid, sur­prisingly funny vignettes spanning forty years of girlhood, marriage, and parenting, Jen lays bare the disorienting upheaval of midlife—the implosion of a marriage, the unraveling of religious and cultural systems, and the grief that accompanies change you didn’t ask for. And, drawing on all resources—from without and within—Jen dares to question the systems beneath the whole house of cards, and to reckon with the myths, half-truths, and lies that brought her to this point. More than one woman’s story, Awake is a critical analysis of the story given to all of us: the story of gender limitations, religious subservience, body shame, self-erasure. With refreshing candor, Jen explores a midlife renaissance—grieving what’s lost, cherishing possibility, and entering the second half of life wide awake.” This was a decent, quick read, and enjoyable.