The best books of 2025

This list is part of the best books of 2025.

Join 1,210 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2025

Book cover of The Sinners All Bow

Diane Fanning ❤️ loved this book because...

The most unique structure for a true crime book I've ever encounter. The writing was incredible. The link to Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter was fascinating.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Originality 🥈 Writing
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Kate Winkler Dawson ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Sinners All Bow as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER!

One of Amazon's Best History Books of January

Acclaimed journalist, podcaster, and true-crime historian Kate Winkler Dawson tells the true story of the scandalous murder investigation that became the inspiration for both Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and the first true-crime book published in America.

On a cold winter day in 1832, Sarah Maria Cornell was found dead in a quiet farmyard in a small New England town. When her troubled past and a secret correspondence with charismatic Methodist minister Reverend Ephraim Avery was uncovered, more questions emerged. Was Sarah's death a suicide...or something much darker?…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of The Sun Down Motel

Diane Fanning ❤️ loved this book because...

A captivating story loaded it with surprising twists. Well written and an incredible read. My first Simone St. James book but it won't be my last

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Story/Plot 🥈 Character(s)
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Simone St. James ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Sun Down Motel as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Something hasn’t been right at the roadside Sun Down Motel for a very long time, and Carly Kirk is about to find out why in this chilling new novel from the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.

Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary.

Upstate New York, 2017. Carly…


My 3rd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of One by One

Diane Fanning ❤️ loved this book because...

Avalanches, a psychopath and no electricity: What's not to love.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Character(s) 🥈 Story/Plot
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Ruth Ware ,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked One by One as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This instant New York Times bestseller and “claustrophobic spine-tingler” (People) from Ruth Ware follows a group of employees trapped on a snow-covered mountain.

Getting snowed in at a luxurious, rustic ski chalet high in the French Alps doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world. Especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a full-service chef and housekeeper, a cozy fire to keep you warm, and others to keep you company. Unless that company happens to be eight coworkers…each with something to gain, something to lose, and something to hide.

When the cofounder of Snoop, a trendy London-based tech start-up, organizes…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Lizzie

By Diane Fanning ,

Book cover of Lizzie

What is my book about?

Late one summer morning in 1892, a prominent businessman and his second wife were brutally murdered with an axe in their own home. One of the man’s two daughters was charged with his murder. The trial was a circus. The outcome was controversial. What actually happened in that home? This work of fiction imagines the thinking and fear that drove the killer to that extreme act of cruelty. You don't need to be a feminist to feel the rage.

My book recommendation list

Book cover of The Sinners All Bow
Book cover of The Sun Down Motel
Book cover of One by One

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