Over the last three years I have read A LOT of books. More books than I read as both an English major and as an English teacher.

Most of those books have been good, but there are a few outliers that, even years later, I can’t stop thinking about. These books are so good, that I highly recommend you put them on your TBR for 2025.

Memoir

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Zauner reflects on her relationship with her mother who passed away from cancer and how she fits into her Korean identity without her mother to guide her. Powerful, beautiful, and intensely emotional.

Thriller

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

Alix and Josie meet for the first time on their shared birthday. When they bump into each other again, Josie proposes that she be the main character in a podcast Alix is producing about women who are looking to change their lives. But questions arise and Alix soon realizes that the unassuming Josie is more than what she seems. Fast-paced, twisty, and unputdownable.

Fantasy

The Adventures of Amina Al-Serafi by Shannon Chakraborty

Amina Al-Serafi is a retired pirate, who is done with adventuring…until she is commissioned for one final adventure that she can’t refuse. For lovers of swashbuckling fairy tales filled with action and whimsy.

Literary Fiction

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

After a traumatic few years, Phoebe takes a dream vacation to the scenic Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island for one final indulgent experience before she ends it all…until she is mistaken for a wedding guest and the bride will not allow Phoebe to go through with her plan and ruin her wedding day. Hilarious and devastating, this book is all about second chances and living life to the fullest.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Athena and June are friends and rising stars in the literary world. When June dies suddenly, Athena steals June’s work in progress and publishes it as her under a new identity. Will she get away with her crime? Twisty lit fic with a morally gray, villainous main character you’ll want to follow.

Historical Fantasy

11/22/63 by Stephen King

What would have happened if JFK had survived his assassination? That’s the question that guides this novel. In 2011, Jake Epping finds a portal that allows him to time travel to the 1960’s and goes on a mission to stop Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating JFK. There’s romance, heart, and twists in this book that will have you wanting to read another 800 pages to keep the story going.

Romance

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

Plus-sized blogger, Bea, is cast on her favorite dating show, but her goal is to help subvert anti-fat beauty standards NOT find love…until love finds her. Who will she choose? Empowering, emotional, and absolutely delightful.

Horror

The Hacienda by Isabel Canas

Beatriz moves into her husband’s hacienda and soon finds that the house is haunted by something (or someone) sinister. For fans of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, this novel is atmospheric and terrifying.

Historical Fiction

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer

Rachel, a slave in Barbados, runs away from the plantation where she is being held after the king decreed an end to slavery. Her plan: to find all of her children who survived birth and were sold off. Will she find them? Are they still alive? Moving, gripping, and utterly gut-wrenching.

Magical Realism

After her mother dies, Katy decides to go on their dream trip to Positano on her own to honor her mother’s memory. But a few days in, her mother comes back to her as the woman she was at 30 before she became a mother. Descriptive and nostalgic, this book hits all the right notes for a fantastic summer read.

Have you read any of these books? Let me know in the comments!

Until next week, friends.