Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is: Best Books I Read In 2025

But I wanted to do a whole year recap this time. Why not put it all into one post, save ourselves some time, eh? I also still did a December recap, too!

Year-End Recap: 

Like every year, 2025 had highlights and lowlights. The lowlights were… well, you know. So let’s get to it!

The Good: Conageddon 5 was amazing! So, so much fun- best one yet! Went on a really nice trip for Christmas, too. More on that at the end of the month. Also, got my Master’s in Special Ed, so that isn’t too shabby either!

The Bad and the Ugly: We got a cat, which you’d think would be good, but the cat got very sick, and died just three months later, because it turned out he had Feline AIDS and the test the rescue had done had been incorrect. That sucked. And we’re still dealing with losing my dad, which is awful, and my mom sold their house and now I have nowhere to swim in the summer, which is sad. And the biggest piece of shit elephant in the room, Agent Orange destroying lives yet again. Only this time with extra dementia! Oh, and still no Conageddon 6 announcement, what even!?

The Hope for 2026: The obituary, obviously. People in power standing the eff up for once. Idk, I am just so sick of all the nonsense, and is there even an end in sight? Also I don’t really have any plans for 2026, which bums me out. Can the universe please announce Con6 so I have something to look forward to!?

Get your own super cool one of these here! And buy the guy a coffee, this is so fun! 

This wasn’t my best year in reading, but it’s fine. Making it out of 2025 is an accomplishment in itself, isn’t it?

This year, random.org understood that I was tired and losing the will to live, so it was nice to my Goodreads goal! 

I mean, at least Random.org has my back in ’26? 

Bookish Bummers of 2025

Inspired by Vlora, and how much fun I used to have doing this, I decided to do a mini-version of my “Bookish Bummers” from years gone by. Look, I know we love celebrating the best of the best, and I shall below in bigger font, but… you and I both know, you want the tea on which books to skip, right? Right. Luckily, there weren’t many!

The end sent it off the rails and into “hard nope” territory. I can’t rate it higher because it feels irresponsible to do so, frankly.

 

I just hated Joan so much that it was hard to stay invested.

 

 

My saddest DNF but I had to because 500 pages is a long time to feel underwhelmed.

 

 

Cool concept, but hampered by dull characters and a lack of answers.

 

 

This wasn’t bad, just different than I thought it would be, and it wasn’t doing it for me.

 

 

Idk, I think I ended up rooting for the orb over humanity.

 

 

I wanted to love it because I enjoyed the author’s other books. But, I got bored and stopped, so.

 

 

I think this one might not have been bad, but it was taking too much brainpower and made my head hurt.

 

Onto the Best of 2025!!

Gosh this is HARD. (It is always hard, even though every year I give myself one more book slot, heh.) And there isn’t a real rhyme or reason to how I picked the top ones, it was just a combination of rating, and then how fondly I remembered it, and these are the 25 books that won! (I also have been copying this exact post since 2018 and feel zero regrets. I mean am I efficient or WHAT?!) Also even better? I copied and pasted most of my little “summaries” from my reviews and wow I am getting it done. 

Also, I decided to limit an author to one book. I honestly could have included two for a couple but I didn’t because this way more authors get a spot . I also decided not to include any books that won’t be published until 2026. Seems too rude.

The VERY (honestly guys it was so hard to choose these are all so freaking good- legit every book here is a 5 Star!) Honorable Mentions, in no particular order:

The Top Ten

#10: Reports of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated by James Goodhand:

I was blown away with this book, and cannot think of a single thing I didn’t adore.

#9: The Dead of Summer by Ryan La Sala:  

Perfect summertime thriller. No notes.

#8: The Seven O’Clock Club by Amelia Ireland:

This was beautiful while still being completely entertaining and engaging. Huge win!

#7: Swordheart by T. Kingfisher: 

Amazing characters, a great story, a ton of fun. What more can you ask for?

#6: Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson:

I simply could not put the thing down.

#5: Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle:  

Such a delightful combination of messed up and emotive, I could not put it down!

#4: One Level Down by Mary G. Thompson:

One of my favorites of the year so far, incredibly thought provoking while still being immersively entertaining.

#3: The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow:

Loved it, couldn’t stop thinking about it, you need it!

#2: The Book of Luke by Lovell Holder:

Twists and turns and drama, but with a ton of heart and incredible characters, The Book of Luke hops onto my favorites list for sure.

#1: Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven

So beautiful, so entrancing, I loved every minute.

Did any of these make your list? What was your favorite 2025 read? Least favorite? And how the heck was your year in general? I know the world is aflame, so. Good luck out there in 2026, loves!

Discover more from It Starts at Midnight

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Posted January 6, 2026 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Blog Recaps, Top Ten Tuesday , , / 17 Comments

Divider

17 responses to “That’s a Wrap: The Best (and Worst) of 2025”

  1. Rissi

    While quite curious about Holly’s, I’m not sure it will be a “me book.” Still I was curious enough to add a copy to my shelf and I see Suzanne’s on lots of lists so I know there are many readers who love those! 🙂

    Reply
  6. Keira @Keira's Bookmark

    Thanks for linking that fun little wrap up thingy! Lots of fun trying out! I’m reading The Everlasting at the moment (I just finished part 1) and I’m enjoying but also very frustrated at the same time (really hoping for some major character development)! I didn’t do a post on the books I didn’t like although I did mentioned one in the End of Year Survey post I did, but I do agree sometimes we need tips on what to avoid – and I did post a couple of less-than-rave reviews this year.

    Reply
  8. Cholla

    I am so sorry about your kitty. It’s hard enough losing a pet, but on top of everything else PLUS 2025 being… 2025… it hits you so much harder. I read my first T. Kingfisher novel this year – Snake-Eater – and loved it. I look forward to more this year.

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!

    Reply
  9. Brooke Lorren

    I’m so sorry about your cat. We’re taking ours to the vet today because I haven’t seen him eating in probably a week and he seems to be losing weight :-(. I hope we don’t have to go kitten shopping soon (adopting of course, but looking for a kitten is a form of shopping).

    Sunrise on the reaping was probably my favorite book last year. Rebecca Danzenbaker is in my writing group so of course I had to read it (it made my top 10 for the year, fortunately).

    Overall I had a pretty good 2025, but I know it was hard for many.

    Reply
  10. hena

    Yay on your Masters!! That is awesome. Sorry about the cat.. that is tragic.
    I have not read any of these.. there are just too many books out there and not enough time.
    I agree with you one million percent about the orange buffoon. How is this even real?
    Here is too a wonderful 2026

    Reply
  12. Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy

    The Afterlife Project and When the Wolf Comes Home made my Top 5! I love your list, and i see a few I’d love to read. I hope something exciting comes along this year (I’m sure it will😁) Here’s hoping it’s a good year for both of us!

    Reply
  13. Sam@WLABB

    So sorry about the cat. The same thing happened to my cousin who also adopted a cat. WTH!!! The Seven O’Clock Club was also one of my faves this year.

    Reply
  14. Julie @ Chapter Break

    I’ve only read one of your very best list, and it was one of the honorable mentions. But one is on my ARC-tbr. The others are all new to me. Sooo more books to add to my list I suppose.
    I love your bummers list. We’re also about to share a least favorite list but now I want to rename it lol.
    I too have little hope for 2026 but am hoping something surprises me with news we can enjoy and not be spinning from.

    Reply

Leave a Reply