My Year in Books - 2025
I spent much of last year spinning my wheels. I say this with tolerance and a hint of condolence for the high-centered bitch who somehow squeaked out a stride across the finish line into her 32nd solar return. First full year in a new house in a new town in a new community with a new work life and a new set of blessings and strains. [Oh yeah… I never formally announced it on the internet but in late 2023 I closed on a property with an astonishing garden, mini orchard, and whimsical old home accented by a charming fuchsia front door. This was possible by an incredibly generous loan from my folks and a nearly delusional trust in the fates that the house on Hope Avenue was the right place at the right time. Tenants called her home until I moved in full time at the end of 2024 and I’ve have been learning about what it means to keep a home ever since.]
As a person that constantly dives head first into life’s currents, I found the felling of being on an oar-less sailboat on glassy seas to be strange. I dreamt big and remained in the dreaming stages. Over and over again. Imagination with a lack of fruition. Within the stagnation, I began feeling friendship pad my steps. Phone calls accompanied my afternoon dog walks and the smiles on the other side of the line eventually were joyfully exchanged in person. Laughter shook my bones. Besties made babies. Tears flowed hot and heavy. I spent summer nourishing with produce acquired entirely through the farmers’ market vendor barter economy and my own two working hands. Marriage swept up one of the most destined loves I’ve ever witnessed. I ran— holy moly did I run. It was a weird year. It was a sad year. One might even argue that it was a good year. I think that the stories and music that I leaned on throughout this uncanny annual cycle reflected that.
Below is a list of completed reads from the 2025 calendar year in the order that I read them. My top 5 have are in bold below.
1. The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
2. The Cost of Living: A Working Autobiography by Deborah Levy
3. Potluck by Ana Maria Spagna — I cannot even begin to explain the depth of the impact that this series of short stories had on me. All of the lovely mess of rural small town living was expertly depicted with such candor. Ana Maria is an old friend after reading these precious pages.
4. How to Love a Forest by Ethan Trapper
5. Sandwich: A Novel by Catherine Newman
6. Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune — The sequel to a favorite book by an all time favorite author. Magical. Relevant. Love wins.
7. This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America by Navied Mahdavian
8. Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
9. Soil: A Black Mother’s Garden by Camille T. Dungy
10. Crosscut by Sean Prentis
11. The Little Frog’s Guide to Self-Care by Maybell Eequay
12. American Dirt by Janine Cummins
13. My Life with Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall — To work your entire life in conservation and to see all that she has seen and still maintain genuine hopeFULLness… shew. I maintain that Jane is one of the most astounding and forceful figures to have ever graced the field. I closed this book with a freshly ignited spark.
14. Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm by Chalie Mackesy
15. Words of a Goat Princess Volume II, The People’s Purge by Jessie Reyez
16. Small Comforts by Tom Bodett — An utterly charming compilation of stories that felt like a hug and a silly evening spent laughing with friends all in one.
17. Through a Window: My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe by Jane Goodall
18. Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton — I just really liked this read. The author moves to the countryside from London during lockdown and ends up caring for an abandoned wild hare. Chloe’s writing is honest and bright.
19. The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl
Beyond books, I’ve found so much joy over the years in expanding my record collection through thrift stores, vinyl shops, flea markets, and merch booths. As a bonus in this publication, I’ve included my most spun vinyls of 2025 in order. I am so grateful to every single tune for how they filled my soul and the walls of my home.
Debi Tirar Mas Fotos by Bad Bunny 2025
Trail of Flowers by Sierra Ferrell 2024
Living in the USA by Linda Ronstadt 1978
Paid in Memories by Jessie Reyez 2025
Amnesty by Anna Moss 2024
Darling, I hope this new year is kind to you in a wind-at-your-back-exactly-when-you-needed-it type of way. I hope you find yourself curious, full of wonder, and afloat in a sea of love. Happy New Year. As always, I would love to hear about your favorite anything and everything from the year. Is there a book that kept you up into the night? Was there a podcast that tickled you? A simple pleasure you discovered? Do tell.