My 2025 in Reading

Last year was not a great year in a string of not great years. While reading is, usually, an escape for me, I didn’t read nearly as much as I wanted to. A bit further down are the books I finished. We shall not speak of the dozens of books I have not yet finished but I will finish them. I will. I am a completist. But, onward. I will say that the books I did read were, for the most part, excellent. You should never, ever listen to doomsayers about the state of literature. It is thriving. Publishing may be fraught but the books publishing puts into the world are, by and large, just wonderful, across all the genres excluding the political claptrap from, say, the current administration.

There’s something out there for everyone which is what I love most about reading. If you’re into literary fiction , essays, nonfiction, memoir, or poetry, you have a bounty of books to choose from. If you love romance, my goodness, the range of that genre! There is literally a niche romance genre for all of your unique interests. The same goes for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. Even self-help has a lot going on though I don’t partake of that genre. Every time I am in a book store, I marvel at the depth and breadth of imagination, intelligence, and creativity on offer. We forget sometimes, that people, in all circumstances, have always been and will always be creative.

Now, more than ever, we should remember that. And we should create, relentlessly.

My Favorite Book of the Year

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

I know everyone loved this book but… that’s for a reason. I was utterly charmed by The Correspondent, an epistolary novel about a deeply flawed woman who is in her golden years, is losing her sight, is being wooed by two suitors, and has two surviving children, one of whom she has a challenging relationship with. It is not easy to write a successful epistolary novel but you would never know that from reading The Correspondent. I loved the precise excellence of the prose and how meticulously detailed the letters were and how complete of a story these fragments from Sybil’s life told. This was one of those books where I found myself actually talking to the page because Sybil, for the longest time, was not giving her darling neighbor Mr. Lübeck any consideration and, like, girl, that man brought you baked goods! Say hi to him or something. Anyway, this was one of those books that was completely absorbing and I loved the complicated cocoon of Sybil’s world and how she still had the capacity to change when she least expected it.

The Rest of the Best

These Heathens by Mia McKenzie

There is a lot to love in We Heathens, set in 1960s Georgia. Mia McKenzie captures the voice of Doris, her protagonist beautifully as a young woman who rarely gets to make decisions for herself. When a beloved teacher takes Doris to Atlanta for an abortion, she starts to realize she can make her world bigger on her own terms, if only she will allow herself. What I really enjoyed was how much this novel centered women in a time when women’s choices were often constrained by so many factors beyond their control. There is a depth of character to the principals that makes it easy to lose yourself in these words. There is also some delicious lesbian action.

Dominion by Addie Citchens

This is one hell of a novel. In Dominion, people’s secrets are largely out in the open. Priscilla, the First Lady of the Seven Seals Missionary Baptist Church has long looked the other way from her husband, the Reverend Sabre Winfrey Jr.’s indiscretions but to do so she has turned to vices that help her grit her way through it. She has raised her five sons into young men and the Winfrey family enjoys the privileges of a well-to-do family. Diamond is a girl who has known more hurt than most, her family broken in all kinds of ways, but Maggie has taken the girl in and mothered her where Diamond’s own mother couldn’t. I share all this to say that this novel is about two women who see what they want to see, especially concerning Emanuel Winfrey aka Wonderboy, until they no longer can. There is a satisfying density to the storytelling which is layered and beautiful and ugly at the same time. Beneath the story there is the other story about small communities and secrets and powers and how feeling like you have to live up to unspoken expectations can destroy you and everyone around you from the inside out. As the tension builds and we start to see more of who Wonderboy really is, as his mother must face who her child is, this novel will grab you in the gut and hold you there. It’s absolutely outstanding. It captures church community and the South and the gulf between the haves and have nots with precision and keen observations.

Sad Tiger by Neige Sinno

This was not only a devastating memoir about surviving childhood sexual abuse but also an incisive work of cultural criticism. The style and structure are inventive and unique. I’ve never read a book like this that is so wry and haunted and clear-eyed. It’s another reminder of how pernicious sexual violence is and how comfortable our culture is with allowing it.

Archive of Desire: A poem in four parts for C. P. Cavaf by Robin Coste Lewis

The best word I can use to describe this poetry is lush. It is, indeed, an archive of desire, and how. Absolutely exquisite work. All hits, no skips.

Tilt by Emma Pattee

Tilt is a brisk, taut read. Part of the story is told in present day, where a very pregnant woman is shopping for a crib at IKEA when an earthquake strikes Portland and from there, she must try to find her husband, Dom, while navigating a drastically altered city and the people in it. The other half of the story is told in flashbacks, from when the narrator meets Dom, how they fall in love, and how they build a life together. It’s interesting to see the combination of a literary novel and a quiet thriller. I wish there could have been a touch more resolution at the end but that’s just me loving to know how the story ends.

First Time, Long Time by Amy Silverberg

Here, we have a consummate L.A. story. Allison, nearing thirty, is a writer, adjunct professor, book club facilitator, and Los Angeles transplant. She meets a famous radio personality at a bar—think Howard Stern. Before long, they are in a relationship but Allison is haunted by the death of her brother and the fraught relationship with her father, The Problem, and the curious relationship she has with her boyfriend’s adult daughter. First Time, Long Time is a really smart debut novel about searching for answers that can’t be found and making grand mistakes and becoming more the person you’re meant to be, held together by the yearning and striving and ambition of any creative person who finds themselves in the City of Angels. Silverberg is a witty, charming storyteller with a bold, unique voice.

Scorched Earth: Poems by Tiana Clark

This was an absolutely magnificent collection of poetry. Clark has a really deft hand with poetic forms. I especially enjoyed the emotional tenor of the poems, the sensual imagery, the voice, the range.

A gorgeously tender, criminally under-appreciated novel about a person who is, in the early days of new and joyful marriage, grappling with grief, anger, and finally understanding who they are really meant to be

When the Harvest Comes by Denne Michele Norris

A debut novel telling a beautifully, intricately rendered story about creativity and ambition and the things that unexpectedly derail us

Discipline by Larissa Pham

The excellent Big Tech memoir that shocked me even though I shouldn’t have been shocked by how much power and influence major social media platforms wield and how complicit they are in, well, everything… and also I thought the author seemed a bit too credulous at times

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams

A reliably excellent novel from one of my favorite writers that explores how far into bad good people will go to protect their families, their legacies, and themselves

King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby

A gripping novel about a missing young woman, a former Texas Ranger who becomes invested in finding her while also navigating a difficult relationship with his estranged mother and a difficult relationship with himself

Guide Me Home by Attica Locke

An uneven but ultimately interesting novel with really crisp details, a lot of ambition, and a really interesting approach to reinventing Greek tragedy

Ecstasy by Ivy Pochoda

An ambitious novel about a Black woman in tech that is part intricate character study and part high tech thriller

Who Knows You By Heart by CJ Farley

A very atmospheric, deeply embodied, horror novel with a really twisted story and exquisite description and

Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin

A gripping, pulpy novel about ice dancers that I simply could not put down

The Favorites by Layne Fargo

The book about one of my favorite shows wherein I also got to interview the author and she was amazing and we really vibed; yes, I hung out with Bette Porter

The L Word: A Photographic Journal by Jennifer Beals

A memoir I had mixed feelings about which at times felt too academic but still had important things to say about women, rage, and the constraints of heterosexual marriage

Mad Wife by Kate Hamilton

A really powerful collection of graphic essays about navigating the sociopolitical climate as a woman and what is really remarkable in the essays is how much is communicated in such relatively short essays

Graphic Rage: Comics on Gender, Justice, and Life As a Woman in America by Aubrey Hirsch

A confounding memoir that offered some wild disclosures, one horrifying disclosure and was… mystifying given the author’s previous work but I kept thinking about the story and what we do for love and the way we try to fill the voids in ourselves and how some people overcompensate by trying to buy the love of the people in their lives and while the book was not good and needed a much more rigorous edit it was not nearly as bad as the discourse implied and it was fascinating to see people suddenly saying Oh, I’ve always hated the author because they felt it was safe and like, if that’s the case, which is totally fine, say it all the time, with your whole chest not just when you think you won’t catch any flack for it

All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert

Another confounding memoir that was fine, at times really moving, but could also have been an essay

Men Have Called Me Crazy by Anne Marie Tendler

A very timely and impeccably written book-length essay about the author’s work as a translator with the immigration courts but that is also about the vulnerability of children, the porousness of borders, and the hypocrisies of empire

Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli

One of the books a dear friend sent me after my mom died and really, everything stopped mattering for a while but then the poems in this collection reminded me that

How to Love the Empty Air by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz

A riot of a lesbian crime novel set in Miami that should have had way more sex in it but is still a really fun read

The Long Con by Jenna Voris

A sprawling saga about a family full of dysfunction, many characters lacking in self-awareness, and an exploration of inherited trauma with dense prose, wit, and charm

Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

A real balm of an anthology about finding ways to thrive in the current climate, how to fight, how to figure out individual ways forward, how to remember who we are and who we come from

The People’s Project edited by Saeed Jones and Maggie Smith

An absolutely unhinged (in a good way) novel about a lifestyle influencer (think Ballerina Farms ish) who marries into a political dynasty and has to manage her husband, her many children, her carefully curated image and her career all while fraying at the edges as who she really is threatens everything has has tried to make for herself and when I tell you the ending is off the rails, I am telling you the ending is off the rails

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Two excellent collections of poetry with really memorable moments and breath taking

The Other Love: Poems by Henri Cole
A Suit or a Suitcase by Maggie Smith

Audacious Book Club Selections that are, obviously, incredible books because I chose them for the bookclub

Marsha by Tourmaline
Great Black Hope by Rob Franklin
My Documents by Kevin Nguyen
Nice Girls Don’t Win by Parvati Shallow
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
We Survived the Night by Julian Brave Noisecat
Resting Bitch Face by Taylor Byas
Moderation by Elaine Castillo
Private Rites by Julia Armfield
Homeseeking by Karissa Chen
Back After This by Linda Holmes
The Wilderness by Angela Fluornoy
Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite

What were your favorite books that you read last year? What books didn’t resonate with you?