Books: 2025
These books may not have made my 2025 Favorites list, but they were all great reads which I heartily recommend!
A MARRIAGE AT SEA: A TRUE STORY OF LOVE, OBSESSION, AND SHIPWRECK by Sophie Elmhirst
A New York Times Top 10 Book of 2025
Also named a Best Book of 2025 by NPR, Vogue, TIME Magazine, The New Yorker, and more…
This amazing story of the will to survive in the most hopeless of situations feels like it must be fiction, but it’s all true. At it’s heart, it’s a love story.
HEART THE LOVER by Lily King
One of Amazon’s Top 20 Books of the Year 2025.
Heart the Lover is a deeply moving love story that celebrates literature, forgiveness, and the transformative bonds that shape our lives.
MEMORIAL DAYS: A MEMOIR by Geraldine Brooks
A New York Times Notable Book of 2025 · A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2025 · A Time Best Memoir of 2025 · Named a Best Book of 2025 by NPR, People, and Publishers Weekly
From the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Horse: “A heartrending and beautiful memoir of sudden loss and a journey towards peace.”
TOUCH: A NOVEL by Olaf Olafsson
A mesmerizing, panoramic story of one man’s search to find a lover who suddenly disappeared decades before. A heart-wrenching love story and an absorbing mystery, Touch delves into the secrets of the past to explore the hidden lives that we all possess, the pain and beauty of our past loves and friendships that continue to leave their mark on us. Searching and lyrically rendered by acclaimed author Olaf Olafsson, Touch is a stunning tribute to the weight of history and the complexities of the human heart.
THE SECRET KEEPER by Kate Morton
A great story told by a great storyteller. I read this because of my wife’s Book Club and I’m so glad I did. It hooked me within the first few pages and I didn’t want to put it down until the end. It’s one of those books that makes you want to slow down as the ending nears because you’ve grown to love the main characters. It’s super emotional too, at least it was for me. I loved this book!
THE CONSPIRACY TO END AMERICA by Stuart Stevens
“Former chief Republican strategist, Lincoln Project adviser, and bestselling author of It Was All a Lie, Stuart Stevens offers an ominous warning that the GOP is dragging our country toward autocracy—and if we don’t wake up to the crisis in our system, 2024 may well be our last free and fair election.”
THE GIRL BEHIND THE GATES by Brenda Davies
A “gripping, heartbreaking historical bestseller based on a true story.” Keep tissues handy because you will cry. But you will also be inspired by her courage and resilience.
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS by Sarah Alderson
Definitely not literature but a pretty effective page-turner. It reads like a film or TV series script, because it is (I think). Quick, easy and also riveting read. An airplane book.
THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah
The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.
THE MEMORY KEEPER by Corin Burnside
It’s the story I really liked, a story that reminded me of the books I read as a child attending Bourne School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, about Britain in WW2.
ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK by Chris Whitaker
A Best Book of the Year: Washington Post, She Reads, Kirkus Reviews…
A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.
WHAT IS REAL?: THE UNFINISHED QUEST FOR THE MEANING OF QUANTUM PHYSICS by Adam Becker
Longlisted for PEN/E.O. Wilson Prize for Literary Science Writing
Longlisted for Goodreads Choice Award
You don’t need to be a physicist to enjoy this book, and if you have any interest in quantum mechanics, you will enjoy this book.
MIRACLES AND WONDER: THE HISTORICAL MYSTERY OF JESUS by Elaine Pagels
From a renowned National Book Award–winning scholar, an extraordinary new account of the life of Jesus that explores the mystery of how a poor young man inspired a religion that reshaped the world.
NOTES TO JOHN by Joan Didion
In November 1999, Joan Didion began seeing a psychiatrist because, as she wrote to a friend, her family had had “a rough few years.” She described the sessions in a journal she created for her husband, John Gregory Dunne.
For several months, Didion recorded conversations with the psychiatrist in meticulous detail. The initial sessions focused on alcoholism, adoption, depression, anxiety, guilt, and the heartbreaking complexities of her relationship with her daughter.
THE DEAD ROMANTICS by Ashley Poston
Recommended by a friend who reads voraciously, I had never read a “romance” work so didn’t know what to expect. I read it on a non-stop between Denver and Munich. Funny, goofy, and at times surprisingly emotional, I ended up really enjoying this book.