Welcome to my annual reading round-up, in which I share the books I enjoyed, both fiction (in this post) and nonfiction (in the next post). I read these books in 2025, though they were not necessarily published in that year. Sometimes I don’t get around quickly to ones that I want to read because of lengthy hold lists at the public library. Sometimes I’m interested in a book and know that I’m not in the right mood to read it. So, reasons.

(Woman Reading on a Settee by William Worcester Churchill)

According to Goodreads, where I keep track of such things, I read five more books in 2025 than I did in 2024—up to 56 from 51. I was surprised by the increase because it felt like such a sluggish reading year. And 56 is a likely number. Sometimes I forget to log in what I’ve read. (I already had to edit this number because as I was typing, I remembered another book. And in my next post, the one about nonfiction, I have to admit to a horribly embarrassing omission.) This total also doesn’t account for the books I started and (unfortunately) did not finish. I have no trouble putting a book down. Life is too short to keep reading books that don’t interest me, and I have zero desire to post negative reviews.

So here is my 2025 list, roughly in the order in which I read them.

1. Middlemarch by George Eliot

Definitely not published in 2025! This classic really surprised me: that I finished it and that I enjoyed it so much. I first tried reading Middlemarch back in graduate school when I was looking for something that would transport me from my work. Dorothea Brooke intrigued and irritated me, but Casaubon stopped me cold. Many years later I tried again, with the same result. This time I pushed through, encouraged by an online group read, got interested in all (so, so many) sub-plots, and made it to the end.

2. The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

This Dutch novel, set in 1961, is a haunting story of the long reach of World War II’s devastation. Delicate and atmospheric, I was riveted by every page. Isabel is a prickly character, but I had to know what happened to her.

3. The Antidote by Karen Russell

I read a lot of historical fiction, but usually not stories that are infused with magic. Russell sets her novel in Nebraska, which is suffering from dust storms and the Great Depression, and adds to the mix a “Prairie Witch” who stores peoples’ secrets. It all somehow works perfectly.

4. The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer

A dual-timeline story that explores the collecting, hoarding, and thieving of rare colored birds’ eggs from Yorkshire. Celie Sheppard is such an unforgettable hero that I found myself quickly invested in the multi-layered consequences of this arcane hobby.

5. Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst

I was immediately drawn into the life of Dave Win, who as a boy in the 1960s, gets a scholarship to a boarding school, where he starts to learn to navigate the class, race, and sexuality boundaries of British society.

6. Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz

I didn’t know anything about Horowitz’s Susan Ryeland mysteries until I watched the dramatized versions on PBS. I was so happy when I found out Horowitz published another one in 2025 that I made sure to get hold of a copy as soon as possible. The very meta nature of the story, a mystery within a mystery, was delightful start to finish.

7. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

One of my guilty literary admissions is that I’m not a fan of Shakespeare’s work. However, I am intrigued by the man and his times. O’Farrell delivers a piercing imagining of the life of Agnes, the unconventional woman who marries William, a young tutor whose desire to write takes him away from his family for months at a time. It falls to Agnes to mind the household and keep the children safe as the plague moves through the community.

8. James by Percival Everett

I have vague memories of trying to read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer when I was young, but I could not muster much interest in the antics of either of the boys. But James had me from the first paragraphs. Everett’s character is flat out fabulous.

9. Life Hacks for a Little Alien by Alice Franklin

Next to Middlemarch, this was the most surprising read of the year for me. I picked it up on a whim from the New Books shelf at the library and was immediately captivated by the little girl who figures out how to get along in a world that doesn’t understand her neurodivergence.

10. A Slowly Dying Cause by Elizabeth George

I was startled to realize that this is Inspector Lynley’s 22^nd outing. I haven’t been with George’s long running series since the beginning. I came into it at number 7, Playing for the Ashes, and went back and read them in order until I got caught up again. I continue to find Lynley and Havers fascinating characters, but the ending of this procedural was very unusual.

11. All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall

In New York City, after a climate disaster has brought about ruinous floods, young Nonie and her family take refuge in the American Museum of Natural History. When another storm threatens their safety, they decide to move on to find a better place—and maybe hope for the future. I don’t usually read dystopian novels, but I’m glad I took a chance on this one.

12. Bad Bad Girl by Gish Jen

I admired how Jen mashed up memoir and fiction to delve into her mother’s life, first in China, then as an immigrant to the U.S. Agnes (as she’s known in her new country) is constantly challenged by her strong-willed daughter Jen, and the two spend decades trying to figure each other out.

Hope you read a lot of good fiction in 2025, too. Have you read any of the ones on my list?

Next up: my nonfiction list.

Happy New Year!