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It took over a month, but I have searched the Internet and read, watched, or listened to over 200 "Best Books Of 2025" lists. Why would I waste my time doing this? Because I'm insufferably nosy and want to know what everybody is reading. I also have a bad case of FOMO. What if there's an awesome book in the world that everybody knows about except me? I can't let that happen!
While I was perusing the lists, I jotted down the titles of books that sounded intriguing. That's what I'm going to show you today.
Which book did I see most often on the lists? My Friends by Fredrik Backman was popular. Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanne Collins was definitely the darling of 2025. I saw it so many times! I also saw a lot of funny books. I'm highlighting a few of them in this post because we all need more humor in our lives.
Here's what I'll (hopefully) be reading in 2026.
Best Books Of 2025
(That I Haven't Read Yet)
The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
Adult Fantasy
Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.
Then one of them is murdered.
It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.
Why I want to read it: Murder mystery + magical competition. That's a combination I can't pass up. Reviewers love the quirky, intelligent main character.
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Walking Practice by Dolki Min
Adult Science Fiction Horror
After crashing their spacecraft in the middle of nowhere, a shapeshifting alien find themself stranded on an unfamiliar planet and disabled by Earth's gravity. To survive, they will need to practice walking. And what better way than to hunt for food? As they discover, humans are delicious.
Intelligent, clever, and adaptable, the alien shifts their gender, appearance, and conduct to suit a prey's sexual preference, then attack at the pivotal moment of their encounter. They use a variety of hunting tools, including a popular dating app, to target the juiciest prey and carry a backpack filled with torturous instruments and cleaning equipment. But the alien's existence begins to unravel one night when they fail to kill their latest meal.
Thrust into an ill-fated chase across the city, the alien is confronted with the psychological and physical tolls their experience on Earth has taken. Questioning what they must do to sustain their own survival, they begin to understand why humans also fight to live. But their hunger is insatiable, and the alien once again targets a new prey, not knowing what awaits.
Why I want to read it: Friends, I need to find a truly scary horror book. The ones I've read recently have been "meh." An alien that uses dating apps to hunt humans sounds like it could be scary.
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The Ornithologist's Field Guide To Love by India Holton
Adult Historical Fantasy Rom-Com
Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, capturing both her bird and her imagination like a villain. Albeit a handsome and charming villain, but that's beside the point. As someone highly educated in the ruthless discipline of ornithology, Beth knows trouble when she sees it, and she is determined to keep her distance from Devon.
For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Professor Beth Pickering. She's so pretty, so polite, so capable of bringing down a fiery, deadly bird using only her wits. In other words, an angel. Devon understands he must not get close to her, however, since they're professional rivals.
When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. Now keeping their distance becomes a question of one bed or two. But they must take the risk, because fowl play is afoot, and they can't trust anyone else—for all may be fair in love and war, but this is ornithology.
Why I want to read it: Maybe I'll learn how to spell "ornithologist" correctly. I'm fighting for my life with this word. The synopsis is giving me Emily Wilde vibes. I like funny stories about rivals who are forced to team up.
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The Art Thief: A True Story Of Love, Crime, And A Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel
Adult True Crime Nonfiction
For centuries, works of art have been stolen in countless ways from all over the world, but no one has been quite as successful at it as the master thief Stéphane Breitwieser. Carrying out more than two hundred heists over nearly eight years—in museums and cathedrals all over Europe—Breitwieser, along with his girlfriend who worked as his lookout, stole more than three hundred objects, until it all fell apart in spectacular fashion.
In The Art Thief, Michael Finkel brings us into Breitwieser’s strange and fascinating world. Unlike most thieves, Breitwieser never stole for money. Instead, he displayed all his treasures in a pair of secret rooms where he could admire them to his heart’s content. Possessed of a remarkable athleticism and an innate ability to circumvent practically any security system, Breitwieser managed to pull off a breathtaking number of audacious thefts. Yet these strange talents bred a growing disregard for risk and an addict’s need to score, leading Breitwieser to ignore his girlfriend’s pleas to stop—until one final act of hubris brought everything crashing down.
This is a riveting story of art, crime, love, and an insatiable hunger to possess beauty at any cost.
Why I want to read it: Michael Finkel is the author of The Stranger In The Woods, which is a fascinating nonfiction book about hermits. I've been yammering about The Stranger In The Woods for years. I need to pick up more of the author's work. He chooses really interesting subjects!
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That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon by Kimberly Lemming
Adult Fantasy Rom-Com
Spice trader Cinnamon's quiet life is turned upside down when she ends up on a quest with a fiery demon.
All she wanted to do was live her life in peace—maybe get a cat, expand the family spice farm. Really, anything that didn't involve going on an adventure where an orc might rip her face off. But they say the Goddess has favorites, and if so, Cin is clearly not one of them.
All demon Fallon wants to do is kill an evil witch enslaving his people. And, who can blame him? But he's dragging Cinnamon along for the ride. On the bright side, at least he keeps burning off his shirt.
Why I want to read it: The synopsis reminds me of Legends & Lattes. The main character wants a quiet life, but she ends up involved in demon shenanigans. It sounds like a fun time.
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Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse And What To Do About It by Cory Doctorow
Adult Technology Nonfiction
A witty yet incisive look at the tech landscape, where platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Google start off great—before they inevitably turn terrible. In this contemporary moment of digital decline, Doctorow explores how tech giants lure users in with convenience and then degrade their services over time, squeezing profit at the cost of user experience.
Why I want to read it: Remember when websites worked? Remember when social media showed you posts from your friends instead of a billion ads and "suggested" posts? I miss those days. The enshittification of the Internet is why I have (mostly) quit social media.
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A Witch's Guide To Fake Dating A Demon by Sarah Hawley
Adult Fantasy Rom-Com
Mariel Spark is prophesied to be the most powerful witch seen in centuries of the famed Spark family, but to the displeasure of her mother, she prefers baking to brewing potions and gardening to casting hexes. When a spell to summon flour goes very wrong, Mariel finds herself staring down a demon—one she inadvertently summoned for a soul bargain.
Ozroth the Ruthless is a legend among demons. Powerful and merciless, he drives hard bargains to collect mortal souls. But his reputation has suffered ever since a bargain went awry—if he can strike a bargain with Mariel, he will earn back his deadly reputation. Ozroth can’t leave Mariel’s side until they complete a bargain, which she refuses to do (turns out some humans are attached to their souls).
But the witch is funny. And curvy. And disgustingly yet endearingly cheerful. Becoming awkward roommates quickly escalates when Mariel, terrified to confess the inadvertent summoning to her mother, blurts out that she’s dating Ozroth. As Ozroth and Mariel struggle with their opposing goals and maintaining a fake relationship, real attraction blooms between them. But Ozroth has a limited amount of time to strike the deal, and if Mariel gives up her soul, she’ll lose all her emotions—including love—which will only spell disaster for them both.
Why I want to read it: Has anyone noticed that there are too many books with the word "guide" in the title? My brain is too tired to remember all the guides! Anyway, this guide sounds quirky. I want to know how the characters work out their predicament.
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Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
Adult Science Fiction
You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what.
Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game-like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.
Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.
Why I want to read it: I told you I would highlight some funny books. Here's another one! Deadly alien game show . . . . with a cat. Bring it on.
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The Devil's Highway: A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea
Adult History Nonfiction
We follow twenty-six men who in May 2001 attempted to cross the Mexican border into the desert of southern Arizona, through the deadly region known as the Devil's Highway, a desert so harsh and desolate that even the Border Patrol is afraid to travel through it, a place that for hundreds of years has stolen men's souls and swallowed their blood. Only twelve men made it out.
Why I want to read it: This book has been around for 20 years. That's probably how long I've been meaning to read it. I was reminded that it exists when I saw it on a "best books of the 21st century" list. It's about the Sonoran Desert and the desperate people who cross the desert to find jobs in the US.
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Every Living Thing: The Great And Deadly Race To Know All Life by Jason Roberts
Adult History / Science Nonfiction
In the eighteenth century, two men—exact contemporaries and polar opposites—dedicated their lives to the same daunting task: identifying and describing all life on Earth. Carl Linnaeus, a pious Swedish doctor with a huckster’s flair, believed that life belonged in tidy, static categories. Georges-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic polymath and keeper of France’s royal garden, viewed life as a dynamic swirl of complexities. Each began his task believing it to be difficult but not impossible: How could the planet possibly hold more than a few thousand species—or as many as could fit on Noah’s Ark?
Both fell far short of their goal, but in the process, they articulated starkly divergent views on nature, the future of the Earth, and humanity itself. Linnaeus gave the world such concepts as mammal, primate, and Homo sapiens, but he also denied that species change and he promulgated racist pseudoscience. Buffon formulated early prototypes of evolution and genetics, warned of global climate change, and argued passionately against prejudice. The clash of their conflicting worldviews continued well after their deaths, as their successors contended for dominance in the emerging science that came to be called biology.
Why I want to read it: Identifying and describing every living thing sounds like an impossible task. There are too many living things! I want to know how the scientists took on this mammoth challenge.
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The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
Adult Historical Horror
It begins when a diary written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall in 2012. What is unveiled is a slow massacre, a nearly forgotten chain of events that goes back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow, told in the transcribed interviews with Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar and unnaturally long life over a series of confessional visits.
Why I want to read it: Historical fiction and horror are two of my favorite genres. I always get excited when authors blend them together into an old-timey, gory mess.
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My Friends by Fredrik Backman
Adult Literary Fiction
Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.
Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.
Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find.
Why I want to read it: All my friends like My Friends. Seriously, I saw this book everywhere. Readers like the writing style and the complex characters. I need to see what the hype is about.
Which book are you hoping to read this year?
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