The best books of 2025

This list is part of the best books of 2025.

Join 1,211 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2025

Book cover of A Resistance of Witches

❀️ loved this book because...

This is a stellar, near-perfect debut novel. It is WWII-era historical fiction, mixed with magical realism. It is also staunchly feminist, and provides a stark glimpse of the similarities between Hitler's rise and Trump's. And unlike many historical fiction novels or debuts, it avoids the biggest pitfalls and tropes: It does not use WWII as a backdrop for romance; it does not provide a bloodless, tragic, sterile view of war or the acts committed; while its FMC is young, she's not a rom-com trope or out to "find herself."

What's amazing about this debut effort is it reads like the work of an accomplished author. The characters are fully fleshed and compelling, the pacing is perfectly on point, and the story and world were richly written. I read it in two days, and had difficulty putting it down.

  • Loved Most

    πŸ₯‡ Story/Plot πŸ₯ˆ Originality
  • Writing style

    ❀️ Loved it
  • Pace

    πŸ‡ I couldn't put it down

By Morgan Ryan ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Resistance of Witches as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Prime Minister Churchill, the Witches of Britain are at your service . . .'

1940, and war rages across Europe. The future looks bleak. But now, emerging from the shadows, the Royal Academy of Witches offers its help. And so it is tasked with finding an ancient artefact that, were it to fall into Nazi hands, would help Hitler fulfil his twisted Aryan dream . . .

Stubborn, plain-spoken and from an unimpressive family, Lydia Polk never expected to be chosen to work under Isadora Goode, the Grand Mistress of the Royal Academy of Witches.

Now, three years into her…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of The Society of Unknowable Objects

❀️ loved this book because...

If you loved Brown's "The Book of Doors" (and I LOVED it), this is a fantastic 2nd book from Brown. It is about a society that collects, well, "unknowable" objects. I don't think you should know anything else going into this book. But much like BoD, it has great characters, great villains, wild originality, and a touch of romance/friendship connections that humanize it. I can't recommend this author's work highly enough.

  • Loved Most

    πŸ₯‡ Story/Plot πŸ₯ˆ Originality
  • Writing style

    ❀️ Loved it
  • Pace

    πŸ‡ I couldn't put it down

By Gareth Brown ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Society of Unknowable Objects as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Get ready to be spellbound by the new, fantastical novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of fantasy sensation The Book of Doors . . .

'A dazzling, globe-trotting thriller with a spectacular dash of magic. Like Michael Crichton at his finest, but with fantasy. Brilliant stuff!' SUNYI DEAN, bestselling author of The Book Eaters

The world of unknowable objects - magical items that most people have no idea possess powers - has been quiet for decades . . .

But three current members of a secret society have remained watchful, meeting every six months in the basement of a…


My 3rd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of The Seven O'Clock Club

❀️ loved this book because...

Excellent debut novel, with both deep character development, and twist I absolutely did not see coming. (this is high praise, because I read a lot, and am VERY jaded by crappy "twists")

I would recommend this book to fans of "The Midnight Library," or books with themes of grappling with grief, letting go, and character introspection. My only complaint is that the title is frankly terrible. It makes the book sound like it's a women's historical fiction about a cozy book club. Which it is not.

  • Loved Most

    πŸ₯‡ Story/Plot πŸ₯ˆ Originality
  • Writing style

    ❀️ Loved it
  • Pace

    πŸ‡ I couldn't put it down

By Amelia Ireland ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Seven O'Clock Club as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Finished in one sitting. Had no idea where it was going but knew there was something lurking. Incredible twist. Ends with a final lap of the ride when you think it is all over . . . I will be recommending this to friends' Ericka Waller

At seven o'clock one Tuesday evening, in a perfectly ordinary tower block near Westminster, four strangers meet for the first time. They each have three things in common: all suffered a traumatic experience six months earlier; all exhibit a dogged inability to put it behind them; and all accepted an invitation to attend tonight's…


Book cover of A Resistance of Witches
Book cover of The Society of Unknowable Objects
Book cover of The Seven O'Clock Club

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