#ReadWomen 2025 aka All The Books I Read in 2025

Here is a list of all 62 books I read in 2025.

In 2025, I read sixty-two books! Fifty-two of these books were written by female or non-binary authors. This year was a big one for me -- I have neared sixty books twice in previous years, with 2020 and 2022 coming in at 59 books total, so actually clearing 60 books for the first time and reading 62 in 2025 was a triumph! 

1. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson 
2. The City in Glass by Nghi Vo 
3. Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi 
4. The Fetishist by Katherine Min 
5. My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem (re-read)
6. Women of the Dunes by Sarah Maine
7. They’re going to love you by Meg Howrey 
8. The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse 
9. The Oracle of Cumae by Melissa Hardy 
10. Sweet Fury by Sash Bischoff 
11. The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart by Astra Taylor 
12. Midnight Room by Donyae Coles 
13. Run towards the danger: confrontations with a body of memory by Sarah Polley
14. A Thousand Times Before by Asha Thanki
15. Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
16. Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World by Scott Shigeoka 
17. Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid 
18. Dances by Nicole Cuffy 
19. Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho 
20. yearning: race, gender, and cultural politics by bell hooks 
21. Babylonia by Costanza Casati 
22. A boy of good breeding by Miriam Toews 
23. The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica
24. The Lady Brewer of London by Karen Brooks
25. Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good: A Memoir with Recipes from an American family by Kathleen Flinn 
26. Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson 
27. Upon a Frosted Star by M.A. Kuzniar 
28. Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality: Stories by Lindsay Wong
29. Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen 
30. The Courage to be Disliked: The Japanese phenomenon that shows you how to change your life and achieve real happiness by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga 
31. For Today I Am a Boy by Kim Fu 
32. Beerology: everything you need to know to enjoy beer…even more by Mirella Amato
33. Wild Brews: the craft of home brewing from sour and fruit beers to farmhouse ales by Jaega Wise 
34. Eat The Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin 
35. Endling by Maria Reva
36. Devouring Tomorrow: Fiction from the Future of Food edited by Jeff Dupuis and A.G. Pasquella 
37. The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
38. Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison 
39. The Data Detective: Ten easy rules to make sense of statistics by Tim Harford 
40. The Colony by Audrey Magee 
41. Crushed: How a Changing Climate is Altering the Way we Drink by Brian Freedman
42. Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol by Mallory O’Meara (re-read)
43. Banyan Moon by Thao Thai 
44. Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li (re-read)
45. Elantris by Brandon Sanderson 
46. Out of the Sun: on Race and Storytelling by Esi Edugyan 
47. Billie Holiday: The Last Interview and Other Conversations with introduction by Khanya Mtshali 
48. There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura (re-read)
49. Restaurant Kid: a Memoir of Family and Belonging by Rachel Phan
50. Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher
51. The Meaning of Beer: How our pursuit of the perfect pint built the word by Jonny Garrett
52. Son of Elsewhere: a memoir in pieces by Elamin Abdelmahmoud 
53. Secrets of the Hutterite Kitchen: Unveiling the Rituals, Traditions, and Food of the Hutterite Culture
54. Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin 
55. Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club by Megan Gail Coles 
56. The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li 
57. Bone of the Bone: Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class by Sarah Smarsh 
58. Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico 
59. The Woman Dies by Aoko Matsuda 
60. On Class by Deborah Dundas
61. Christmas Stories by L.M. Montgomery
62. The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia  

I really enjoyed a lot of the non-fiction I read this year! Here were my favourite non-fiction reads that I read for the first time this year:

1. The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart by Astra Taylor 
2. Run towards the danger: confrontations with a body of memory by Sarah Polley
3. The Courage to be Disliked: The Japanese phenomenon that shows you how to change your life and achieve real happiness by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga 
4. Out of the Sun: on Race and Storytelling by Esi Edugyan 
1. Edugyan's book contained one of the best (and short!) Canadian ghost stories I have ever read; I read it in a video from Storytime with Emi here
5. Secrets of a Hutterite Kitchen: Unveiling the Rituals, Traditions, and Food of the Hutterite Culture by Mary-Ann Kirby 
6. Bone of the Bone: Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class by Sarah Smarsh 

I will say that of all the books this year, it is two non-fiction reads in particular that I would be buying as gifts for my friends (that is, I wasn't unemployed and rather broke). The Courage to Be Disliked -- omg, so good, especially for the men in your life. I got a copy for my boyfriend! I would also be buying Rachel Phan's memoir, Restaurant Kid for all of the gals of Asian descent in my life, particularly those of us whose families have struggled with mental health.

As part of my studies, I also read a lot of non-fiction books this year on beer, brewing, and alcohol in general. It was fun and I learned a lot!

A lot of my fiction reads this year had gothic themes or undertones, which, while I enjoyed greatly, I realized at the end of the year that even while enjoyable, such reads did tend to be a bit heavy. I started reading more funny novels near the very end of the year, and it's my intention to start 2026 with a lot of funny reads as well. I figure funny reads move along more quickly, and goodness knows with everything going on in the world a lighthearted read is quite welcome.

Here are my favourite fiction reads from 2025:

Little Rot* by Akwaeke Emezi 

Midnight Room by Donyae Coles 

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid 

Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen 

Eat The Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin 

*I love Akwaeke Emezi's writing, they absolutely deserve all the hype. That being said, they almost always kill an LGBTQ2S character in their books which I find disturbing.