This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is Best Books I Read in 2025. This past year wasn’t a great year of reading print books but I was able to pull this list of top ten print books of 2025 from my LibraryThing – all rated at least 4-1/2 stars by me.
Winter seems to have been a theme!
So here’s my slapdash attempt to get my Best Of list for 2025 before I have to get ready and leave for work. I’ll try to do my top ten audiobooks, too, but not today!
List is in order by author, with date of publication included. (I read a few from 2025!)
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson (2022)
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1986)
The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt (2010)
A Column of Fire by Ken Follett (2017)
Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (2025)
A Family Matter by Claire Lynch (2025)
Winter Solstice: An Essay by Nina McLaughlin (2023)
Winter by Ali Smith (2017)
The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck (1961)
Three Days in June by Anne Tyler (2025)
I’m sharing this with Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. You’ll find many other Best of 2025 book lists there!
I loved The Handmaid’s Tale!
Ah ah, The Winter of our Discontent almost made my list. This was the only historical fiction I read on paper, so I thought it not fair to put it in my list (you will understand when you see how I do it).
Here are my favorites: https://wordsandpeace.com/2026/01/06/year-of-reading-2025-part-1-my-top-23-books/
Nice list. I have read 2 of these The Handmaid’s Tale and A Family Matter — both powerful. I can why they made your list. You do have a winter theme going on! Happy reading in 2026.
I need to read A Column of Fire sometime.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
From your list, I’ve only read The Handmaid’s Tale and it was disturbing and so good.
Good description!
I haven’t heard a lot about Shrines of Gaiety. Off to check it out!
I only read Atwood from your list.
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2026/01/06/top-ten-tuesday-2025-favourites/
Another Laurie! Thanks for stopping by!
A Family Matter looks interesting! I hope 2026 will be a great reading year for you 😊.
If you’d like to visit, here’s my TTT: https://thebooklorefairyreads.wordpress.com/2026/01/06/top-ten-tuesday-best-books-i-read-in-2025/
How does Column of Fire compare to Pillars of the Earth and World Without End? I loved Pillars but felt that World was basically the same story with different character names. It could have just been my mood or something though.
I disliked Steinbeck so much in high school but I’ve found an appreciation for him as I get older. I haven’t read Winter of Our Discontent but I’m sure I’ll get to it eventually.
The Handmaid’s Tale is my favorite book ever.
I’ve not read any of these! Glad you had a good reading year, here’s to hoping it continues in 2026 🙂
Here’s the link to my TTT – https://justreadjessie.blog/2026/01/06/top-ten-tuesday-best-books-i-read-in-2025/
Thanks for sharing your #TTT favourites
I have such a bad memory for plots and read them far enough apart that I guess I wouldn’t have noticed the similarity you saw, so may not be a good judge. I think that women and their storylines were given more prominence in Column of Fire than maybe they were in the other two, but I wouldn’t swear to it!
Wow! High praise! I’ve got to read The Testaments soon.
Those winter books look really good, especially now! My ttt best of 2025 list is here 🙂 https://theparteveryoneskips.com/posts/20260106-top-ten-tuesday-best-books-i-read-in-2025/
I read the handmaid’s tale many years ago – so terrifying!