Top Books of 2025: Must-Read Historical Fiction & Beyond
As I look back on my reading year, this list reflects the books that truly earned their place among my top books of 2025. While many are historical fiction and recent releases, a few step slightly outside the genre or publication year, yet still felt essential to my 2025 reading life. These are titles I’ve read and loved and that I’ll be recommending well into the future. If you’re building your 2026 reading list, consider this a reader-approved guide to the top books of 2025 that left a lasting impression.
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1. Betty
Tiffany McDaniel
Betty is a true masterpiece that echoed my own childhood experiences. McDaniel’s poetic prose is mesmerizing, handling heavy subject matter with so much compassion and heart.
2. The Mad Wife
Meagan Church
The Mad Wife is a fever dream that blurs the line between reality and nightmare, where motherhood swallows womanhood and personal identity whole.
3. The Last Witch
C.J. Cooke
Dark and unnerving, The Last Witch exposes the razor-thin line between truth and lies when men in power decide a woman’s fate.
4. Broken Country
Clare Leslie Hall
Broken Country asks what it means to choose freely when our decisions can wound the people we love.
5. Atmosphere
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Atmosphere is an emotional rollercoaster, imagining life in the orbit of forbidden love during the 1980s space race.
6. The Everlasting
Alix Harrow
Spin and chaos thrive in The Everlasting, a political story I didn’t know I needed, driven by propaganda and a powerhouse romance.
7. The Book of Magic
Alice Hoffman
Family, femininity, and the quiet power of everyday magic shine in this series-ending gem; The Book of Magic is peak Hoffman.
8. L.A. Women
Ella Berman
L.A. Women explores the delicate balance between allies and adversaries, with a sharp look at female inspiration set against the backdrop of 1970s Hollywood.
9. Life & Death & Giants
Ron Rindo
Life & Death & Giants is the unexpectedly beautiful story of a young man of extraordinary size and the lives he forever changes.
10. Sonora
Jenni Walsh
A nostalgic powerhouse, Sonora reimagines the daring world of a high-diving horsewoman and just how high a life can soar when you follow your dreams.
19. Boleyn Traitor
20. These Days
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