2025 was an excellent year of reading for me. I was able to finish 70 books and I am thankful to God for books and for writers and for the ability to read and for the easy access I have to books of all kinds.
Here is a list of the 10 BEST Books I Read in 2025, plus a few honorable mentions.
If you are interested in taking a look at brief reviews of almost all of the books I read this year, you can find them under my monthly Reading Roundups.
10. Hideki Smith and the Omukade by A.J. Hartley
Look, I enjoy Hartley’s writing across the board. This author is creative, eclectic, original, and just fun to read, but this book in his Hideki Smith series is some next level writing. The first book in the series was good. This is better. And you don’t see that often enough in sequels.
Instead of recycling scenes, jokes, twists, and plot points that worked for him in book 1, Hartley masterfully builds on that book and gives his readers something that is familiar and yet brand new. This page-turner kept me so engaged I felt irritated if my reading got interrupted. And I stayed up past my bedtime more than once so I could finish “just one, two, three more chapters.”
*Note: This book is not pictured above because I loaned out my copy and it hasn’t made it’s way back to me in time for this post.
9. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
This was my first Clarke novel. It won’t be my last. The world Clarke created in this novel is fresh and exciting and fascinating. Her writing can take your breath away with its beauty and make your soul ache because of the connection you have with her principle character. This is a fascinating tale and so original it sticks with you. I imagine that there will be books that will be along the same lines as this one and people will think, “Oh, that reminds me of Piranesi!” If you haven’t read Clarke before, I cannot recommend this book as an introduction to her work highly enough.
8. LEAD by Paul David Tripp
I haven’t always liked Tripp’s writing. In fact, I don’t think I would have read this one had it not been required by the leadership team I am a part of in my church. But this book was revelatory and powerful and has found its way onto my annual reading list. Not necessarily because it is fascinating and well-written, which it is, but because the lessons in this book are absolutely necessary for me to be reminded of and to internalize and live out and that is going to require repeated readings.
LEAD strikes that delicate balance between deeply convicting and encouraging. Tripp pulls no punches and some of them land squarely in your gut, but then he is quick to point you to the glorious truth of the gospel. It’s like every page is shouting, “Yes, you really are a mess! AND Jesus loves you and desires to work through you in the church.”
7. Philippians: Rejoicing and Thanksgiving by David Chapman
I know it seems strange to see a commentary on a top ten list, but this was just so good. This is the first commentary I’ve read from the Focus on the Bible series but if the rest are even half as good as this one, I want the entire series in my library.
This excellent exploration of Paul’s letter to his beloved friends is easily accessible by anyone–no seminary degree required–and yet the depth of scholarship underlying it will satisfy any biblical studies wonk. You don’t need to be working on a sermon or academic paper to enjoy this book. Grab a copy, your Bible, a journal, and a pen or pencil and just walk through Philippians with Chapman as your guide and you will blessed.
6. Through a Screen Darkly by Jeffrey Overstreet
I love movies and I loved this book about movies. You know how when you read a book you enjoy so much, you start slowing down as you get to the end because you don’t want the experience to be over? I’ve only ever done that with novels. Until this book. I seriously did not want Overstreet’s “cinematic memoir” to end. It is just too good.
Overstreet is a writer, film critic, and college professor and he writes with a love for God and for art that shows up on every page. I have always loved movies and I think about them deeply and, honestly, have often been made fun of by others for doing that. With this book, I felt seen. I felt less like an odd ball and more like there were others like me. There are people who take movies seriously as art and Overstreet is speaking to us as one of us.
At the same time, he is writing to anyone who enjoys movies. He writes from a Christian worldview, but I think anyone can learn to think about and enjoy films on a deeper level by reading this book. Oh, and my “To Be Viewed” list grew A LOT as I read.
5. The Evangelical Imagination by Karen Swallow Prior
The author masterfully builds a case piece by piece that reveals how much of the Evangelical faith we take at face value without considering where some of our most closely held beliefs come from and without realizing how many of these beliefs are built, not from Scripture, but from a shared social imaginary. This imaginary is comprised of the stories we tell, the images we absorb, and the metaphors we use to describe and understand our world.
Swallow Prior picks up a magnified mirror, holds it up to Evangelicalism, and says, “Look closely right here.” And when we do, we might find ourselves shocked, even a bit horrified, but if we are paying attention, we won’t be offended. The author is not holding up her mirror with an attitude of disgust or judgment, but with a heart of love and all she’s asking us to do is pay attention and think.
Let’s stop taking everything at face value. Let’s stop absorbing sound bites and spitting them in the faces of others. Instead, let’s ask questions, pray, discuss, and just think.
I found as I read the book that I was asking many questions about my own beliefs and their origins and in those questions, I was drawn to a deeper faith in Christ. If that doesn’t make it worth reading, I don’t know what does.
4. Lest We Drift by Jared Wilson
I wrote a longer review on this book after I read it so I will only repeat a few pieces of that here.
Jared Wilson has written many gospel-centered books. This is not his first, and God willing it won’t be his last. But out of all the ones I’ve read so far, and they have all been good, this one in particular stands out.
Wilson writes with the mind of a theologian, the heart of a pastor, and the passion of someone who knows he is a great sinner in need of a great Savior. In fact, he is very open and honest about his own weaknesses and the ways he has drifted from the gospel and the consequences that came with that and how the gospel of Jesus Christ was and is good news to him.
As Wilson shows us in this book, it’s so tragically easy to drift away from the good news of Jesus into other things, even important and good things, and point to them and say, “this thing is of first importance” and when we do that, we are missing it. We are missing where true life really is and we are pointing others away from Jesus too.
Wilson’s writing in LEST WE DRIFT packs some punch in a lot of places. But while Wilson writes strongly, there is no harshness in the way he writes it. The strength of his words are based in love for Jesus and for the people of God. You may feel convicted but you won’t feel condemned.
I think, LEST WE DRIFT is a timely and beautiful book. I was more in love with Jesus after I read it, and I also felt more aware of the ways I have often drifted away from the gospel in my own life. But I didn’t feel ashamed. I felt invited back to the heart of God.
3. The Affections of Christ Jesus by Nijay Gupta
Gupta is another “new to me” writer this year and I loved this rich and powerful book on the love of Christ in the writings of the Apostle Paul. My copy is LOADED with underlining and little flags and marginalia. I have set it aside for a bit and then I am going back to it and making notes in a learning journal because there is so much here you can’t just read it and throw it on your shelf.
Gupta writes with a depth of knowledge of the Scriptures and he also writes with a depth of love for God and His Word. He is one of those rare subject matter experts that understands that not everyone is an expert so while his writing is challenging, it is accessible. I found no trouble at all following him.
I also loved that this is not just a book of scholarship, although it is certainly that. It is also a book with encouragement, implications, and applications throughout. In that sense, it is richly pastoral.
2. Foster AND Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Okay, I know this is cheating a little, but I really could NOT pick one over the other. Both of these books are wonderful and as a result of reading them I am in love with Claire Keegan’s writing and will faithfully read everything she writes from now on. There is so much beauty and simplicity and excellence in these stories that I felt like a richer and better person for having read them. Keegan is a true master of the craft of writing. She’s the kind of writer that readers love AND the kind of writer that other writers admire. You don’t often find that in the same person.
If you haven’t read Keegan’s work yet, just do it. Both of these books are a wonderful place to start. Pick one and read it. Then come back here and leave your appreciative comments on this post.
And I will just offer a preemptive, “you’re welcome.”
1. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Duh.
I mean, can this book appear on any top ten list and NOT be in the number one spot?
When Robert Duvall accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, he highlighted the Western as America’s unique cultural contribution with this quote:
The English have Shakespeare. The French have Moliere. What do we (Americans) have…the Western!”
Of course, Duvall played Gus McCrae in the TV miniseries of this book and when I read Lonesome Dove, I could hear Duvall’s voice in my head.
When has this not been a famous and continuously read epic?
After reading this book, I had to set it aside for a moment and mourn the loss of a group of characters I had fallen in love with over the course of 858 pages. I was sad that my journey with them was over. And what a journey it was!
I absolutely love Western novels and the history of the American West and read both frequently. But this one is not only my favorite Western, it is one of my top 5 favorite novels. The rich characters, the converging plotlines, the high stakes, the adventure, the sheer scope of the novel is just incredible.
Honorable Mentions
Here are few titles that nearly made the top 10 this year.
- Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls by Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite
- The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
- A Burning in My Bones by Winn Collier
- Hidden Potential by Adam Grant
- The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilberg Clark
- A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Joseph McBee 