At the fear of repeating myself, I love a good book. It’s a habit I only solidly got into at the end of 2024, but it’s certainly brought many positive effects to my life: my attention span has improved, I’m learning about all sorts of things, and it distracts me from the world (even if only for a little while). I’d set out to read 20 books in 2025, but I’ve somehow read more than 40! I’m incredibly proud of myself since I always dreamt of being the type of person to read.
There were some books I wasn’t so keen on, but that I nevertheless read to learn through experience they aren’t for me, if that makes sense; I’d rather plod on with an awful book than not finish it. On the flip side, there were some books that left me saying, “That must have been one of the best books I’ve read,” which inspired me to write a list of my favourite books of the year.
And that’s exactly what I’m going to share with you today. Some of them appeared on my Rating all the books I read in 2025 (so far…) post, so maybe they aren’t the first you’re hearing of them, but there are also some new appearances. They also aren’t in any particular order; it was too hard to definitively rank them!
(Note: I’m not going to write too much on the plots of these books, but there may still be subtle spoilers.)
1. My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Ottessa Moshfegh
Why I liked it:
It’s very reminiscent of The Bell Jar, my favourite book of all time, while not feeling like it’s ripping off Plath. I love books centred around female anguish, and this book is full of that! I see a bit of myself in the protagonist, an alleged red flag because she isn’t written to be likeable. I like how the ending makes her see the world in a different light after taking time away from it — perhaps a lesson from which we could all learn.
2. Eileen – Ottessa Moshfegh
Why I liked it:
Eileen is a perfect example of why I refuse to leave a book unfinished; I found the first three quarters of it quite dull, until I got to the twist when I then couldn’t put it down! I chose the book after enjoying the My Year of Rest and Relaxation so much, and it contains the same themes which Moshfegh clearly has a talent for. I’d love to read more of her work next year.
3. The Kite Runner – Khalid Hosseini
Why I liked it:
While this wouldn’t have been my first pick, I’m very glad I decided to give it a go. First of all, I appreciated the backdrop of the Afghan Civil War, something I was previously unknowledgeable about, as it pushed me to learn about it. The story’s plot is like nothing I’ve ever read before: the perfect mix of excitement and poignancy which even brought me to tears at certain points. I think the protagonist’s redemption arc was also written so beautifully. This book goes to show that reading something outside of your usual interests can become a blessing in disguise.
4. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
Why I liked it:
I loved this book from the very first page as I fell in love with Oscar Wilde’s writing style. It’s the holder of so many lovely, and at times humorous, quotes, which was the biggest thing that drew me to it. I also found the story rather intriguing, and I’m glad I could follow it so easily — a problem I have with many pre-contemporary novels is struggling to understand the language. It’s such a shame that this was his only novel; I would have loved to read more of them.
5. Intermezzo – Sally Rooney
Why I liked it:
This book definitely deserved all the hype it received upon its release. It follows Sally Rooney’s formula of gritty, heartfelt narration from a young-adult perspective, except with more depth than ever before. I loved the two protagonists in equal measure, and the reconciliation of their relationship was really heart-warming. I’ll admit I wasn’t very satisfied with the ending, but I still enjoyed the story’s procession.
6. Beautiful World, Where Are You – Sally Rooney
Why I liked it:
I believe this to be Sally Rooney’s most underrated book; it bafflingly never received the same hype as Normal People or Conversations with Friends. I really like books that portray the banalities of young adult life, probably because due to their relatability, and this does exactly that, combined with the added whirlwind that relationships can sometimes bring. I thought the ending was very fittingly beautiful because it answered the question in the title: the beautiful word is everywhere, even the most mundane parts of life.
7. The Midnight Library – Matt Haig
Why I liked it:
This was the first of Matt Haig’s books I read, and I fell in love with it. Similarly to the previous entry on the list, it shows the banalities of a young woman’s life, about which she feels very dissatisfied. Through going on an interesting adventure that I won’t spoil, she comes to realise that her life is much better than she initially believed, illustrating the effect of perspective on our attitude. It made me see my own life differently; maybe my life isn’t perfect, but it could also be far worse.
8. The Courage to be Disliked – Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
Why I liked it:
This book was a refreshing perspective on human psychology that many people, myself included, are unaccustomed to hearing: we use our ‘trauma’ as an excuse to be unhappy, and it’s all within our control (according to Adler, anyway). My favourite concept in the book was the idea of ‘task separation’: that we should stop adopting the burdens of other people because it only adds to our own discontentment. While I think that some parts of Adlerian psychology are largely oversimplifying our brains, it helped me to switch my perspective on my own mental struggles.
9. Everything I know about love – Dolly Alderton
Why I liked it:
I enjoyed the somewhat chaotic structure of this book; it’s in the form of an autobiography, sprinkled with other chapters where Alderton writes what she’d learnt about love at certain ages, along with random recipes! I fell in love with Alderton through her relatable writing, as well as the fact her desperation to find love from a young age resonated with me. It contains useful lessons about love that many people, especially young girls, could benefit from hearing.
10. First, we make the beast beautiful – Sarah Wilson
Why I liked it:
It’s a book on living with anxiety that provides all manner of coping strategies to make it more manageable. I liked how the book is written by a journalist (as opposed to a psychologist) because I find that self-help books from professionals can be pretentious and overly scientific. Wilson writes partially in an autobiographical style, which adds a personal touch to the book and practically shows how her techniques work.
I fear that my leisure reading may have to go on the backburner for a little bit; I have a lot of academic reading over the next few months and I don’t want to overwhelm myself with reading so much. But even if this is the case, I enjoy the books I read for uni, so I’ll nevertheless be satisfying my inner bookworm.
Writing this list made me realise a common denominator in many of my favourite books: a young adult, most often a woman, feeling anxious or depressed with her life trajectory. I do branch out from this trope but they seem to be what I gravitate towards. So, if anyone has any recommendations of books like this then let me know!