Favorite book you've read this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For fans of The Wedding People -- note: spoilers ahea

I'm the PP who picked this as my runner-up book of the year. I really liked Phoebe, plus I'm a sucker for the New England coastal wedding trope. But I'm still not sure I buy into the idea that she was just drifting through life aimlessly, living a life "contained", and that this led her to seriously consider suicide. Yes, of course, she hit a horrible trifecta of infertility, the pandemic, and Matt's infidelity, but there just seemed to be a disconnect between who she was before all that happened and who she was when we first encounter her checking into the Cornwall. Espach wants us to see Phoebe as someone who becomes aware of her needs and her power to take action to try to meet those needs. But does she? I mean, she decides to stay in RI and responds to the ad about being a winter keeper. But at a pivotal moment she doesn't reach out to Gary until it's almost too late. What am I missing?

I read the wedding people earlier this year. The main character's "contained" life reminded me of how I felt for a few months after we were all allowed to resume socializing after two years of quarantine for the pandemic. For me, felt kind of weird to talk to other people, and I felt like I had lost some skills when it came to socializing with other people. Until that point I had never thought that talking to strangers (or friends, or family) was something you had to learn how to do.
So yeah, I could relate to that feeling of having been contained for a couple years.

[Anonymous]

I have read 58 books so far this year. I can't decide which is my one and only favorite. But these are my favorites of all the books I read in 2025:
Annie Bot
Nine Ten
The Husbands
North Woods
Finlay Donovan series
Maybe in Another Life
Brooklyn
Afterlife
Remarkably Bright Creatures
The Wedding People
Isola

[Anonymous]

These are my favorites so far this year (not counting books that will be published in 2026):
The Art of a Lie
Atmosphere
Where the Axe is Buried
What Kind of Paradise
Hungerstone
A Drop of Corruption
First Lie Wins
Annie Bot
All Fours
Clever Little Thing (this one got no press but is so good)
Dead Money
The Inheritance
The Fourth Consort
Her Many Faces
The Great Work
The Twist

[Anonymous]

This is Happiness by Niall Williams. I don’t even have words to describe how wonderful this book is. He is now my favorite writer.

[Anonymous]

I just finished Wild Dark Shore and I just can't decide if it's a favorite or no. It'samazing and beautiful and heartbreaking and I think having just finished it last night I"m not over the heart break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:North Woods by Daniel Mason

Ditto. Just fantastic.

I posted above about reading it twice. My bookclub hated it. one of the reasons why was that they none of the characters were likeable. I cannot imagine judging a book based on this.

I also don't understand the pov that readers can't get into a book if the characters aren't warm & fuzzy and "just like me!". North Woods was my favorite book of last year and I thinking about a re-read.

This year I most liked History of Sound by Ben Shattuck. Was made into a lovely small film also.

I don’t need a character to be just like me. But I do need a character to have some compelling quality to spend so much time with them. In actual life, I don’t spend time with people I don’t like either.

[Anonymous]

Probably The Matrix by Lauren Groff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have read 58 books so far this year. I can't decide which is my one and only favorite. But these are my favorites of all the books I read in 2025:
Annie Bot
Nine Ten
The Husbands
North Woods
Finlay Donovan series
Maybe in Another Life
Brooklyn
Afterlife
Remarkably Bright Creatures
The Wedding People
Isola

I loved Annie Bot too!

The Road to Tender Hearts was another fave, as were Sandwich and This American Woman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably The Matrix by Lauren Groff.

I love that book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is Happiness by Niall Williams. I don’t even have words to describe how wonderful this book is. He is now my favorite writer.

That is one of the greatest audiobooks ever. Not sure how you read it.

[Anonymous]

Also loved The Matrix and liked Wedding People well enough. Finally got to Song of Achilles, which was enjoyable. Frederik Bachman's book My Friends was well done.

Several books I've read this year have left me frustrated with poor writing and storytelling. Ghosted by Rosie Walsh was needlessly lengthy with meandering irrelevant sub-stories.

Unbroken Country was self-indulgent derivative horsesh*t. Couldn't wait to shelf it in a mini-library after I'd finished and considered recycling it so no one else would be duped into reading it.

Only 1/3 into The Measure. Writer struggling to give voice to a male character. Plot is too unbelievable for me to give credence to the stories. Probably won't finish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is Happiness by Niall Williams. I don’t even have words to describe how wonderful this book is. He is now my favorite writer.

Ooh, this is great to hear. This is in my to read pile!

[Anonymous]

The Women and The Great Alone. both by Kristen Hannah

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished people of the Book by Geraldine brooks and really enjoyed it.

I loved the story of the Haggadah but did not care for Hanna's mommy problem. I also don't understand who she could forgive Ozren and her old professor who pretty much destroyed her scholarly career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I waited on hold for months at the library and (like all her other books), it did not disappoint.

Listened to the audio book. It was excellent!