The best books of 2025

This list is part of the best books of 2025.

Join 1,366 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2025

Book cover of The Cicada Tree

Tracey S. Phillips ❤️ loved this book because...

I fell in love with Analise's sense of curiosity, her talent and her innocent view of life and the world. This book, with its surprising turns and buried truths, is one you won't want to miss.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Originality 🥈 Immersion
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Robert Gwaltney ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Cicada Tree as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WHEN AN ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD, WHISKY DRINKING, PIANO PRODIGY ENCOUNTERS A WEALTHY FAMILY POSSESSING SUPERNATURAL BEAUTY, HER ENSUING OBSESSION UNLEASHES FAMILY SECRETS AND A CATACLYSMIC PLAGUE OF CICADAS. The summer of 1956, a brood of cicadas descends upon Providence, Georgia, a natural event with supernatural repercussions, unhinging the life of Analeise Newell, an eleven-year-old piano prodigy. Amidst this emergence, dark obsessions are stirred, uncanny gifts provoked, and secrets unearthed.
During a visit to Mistletoe, a plantation owned by the wealthy Mayfield family, Analeise encounters Cordelia Mayfield and her daughter Marlissa, both of whom possess an otherworldly beauty, a lineal trait regarded as…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of Beyond the Cemetery Gate: The Secret Keeper's Daughter

Tracey S. Phillips ❤️ loved this book because...

I'm always up for a good YA mystery. Beyond the Cemetery Gate; The Secret Keeper's daughter delivers chills in the mystery AND paranormal department. I can't wait for more in this series!

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Originality 🥈 Story/Plot
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Valerie Biel ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Beyond the Cemetery Gate as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

“This taut, suspenseful mystery goes beyond the cemetery gate and settles, creaking, into our very bones.” – Silvia Acevedo, author of the award-winning God Awful series.

When the police rule her dad’s death an accidental overdose, 16-year-old Chloe refuses to believe it and vows to find his killer. Alone against a potentially corrupt, small-town police force, a persistent social worker seeking proof that she has adult supervision, and precariously low funds, Chloe learns that her dad’s life as a cemetery caretaker masked a web of family secrets that quite possibly led to his death—and are now putting her in mortal…


My 3rd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of Weepers

Tracey S. Phillips ❤️ loved this book because...

An Excellent story with deep, emotional and well rounded characters. I was transported to the fifties in NY. A different time, not simpler, not for this kid. A book about morals, about choices, and values. It will make you ask the question, "What would I do?"

  • Loved Most

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

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Nick Chiarkas ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Weepers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

★ MULTI-AWARD WINNER, including: ★ Firebird Grand Prize & 1st place in Mystery, Thriller, & Young Adult ★ Readers’ Favorite Best Young Adult Coming-of-Age Novel ★

The 1957 murder of an undercover cop in a New York City housing project has unexpected ties to the unsolved disappearance of a young father walking home in those same projects with his son, Angelo, on Christmas Eve six years before. The only witness to the cop killing is Angelo, now 13, while on his way to seek his own revenge in the early morning hours. The killers know he saw them. A series…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Forewarned

By Tracey S. Phillips ,

Book cover of Forewarned

What is my book about?

For 15-year-old Daphne Ann Post, the summer of 1976 at Lake Carlson should be filled with new friendships and carefree late-night parties. But something darker lurks beneath the surface—her chilling premonition that someone is going to drown.

Wishing she could escape the shadow of her fractured family and her mother’s too-soon rebound relationship, Daphne reluctantly heads to the family lake house in Northern Indiana. The tension with her mother is thick—especially when Daphne is the only one who knows her mom's boyfriend is hiding a dangerous secret. But Daphne’s burden is far heavier than family drama. She harbors an unsettling gift—an ability to know the hidden truths of anyone she touches.

Last year that same intuition failed her when her best friend ignored Daphne’s warning before a tragic accident. Now everyone at school blames Daphne for what happened. Haunted by guilt, Daphne is determined to keep her ability a secret.

When she meets the Vaughans—cool, popular, and effortlessly perfect next-door neighbors—Daphne is drawn into their world, seduced by the thrill of fitting in. Over the summer, whispers of danger from the lake grow louder. Her intuition screams someone will die, and not even the haze of weed can numb her fear.

The clock is ticking. Daphne knows that to save a life, she’ll have to confront her darkest secret and risk losing everything she’s worked so hard for. Can she stop the inevitable without exposing her truth? Or will the lake claim a victim—this time, someone she loves?

Book cover of The Cicada Tree
Book cover of Beyond the Cemetery Gate: The Secret Keeper's Daughter
Book cover of Weepers

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