Books of 2025
Here’s a list (with short reviews) of the books I read in 2025. What did you read? What should I put on my list for 2026?
NON-FICTION
Create Anyway by Ashlee Gadd
3 stars. I love the premise of the book and it is beautiful to look at (despite me being bugged by the fact that the text was both ragged right AND hyphenated). I just felt a bit like Ashley was trying too hard to be relatable. I think this book would have helped me more 10 years ago as a new mom. Perhaps because I’m older than the author and have already learned many of the lessons she imparts (as a side note, she talks about how the photos in the book are all taken on a film camera as a new and exciting way to be creative in her photography… I smiled because film cameras and darkrooms are all we had back when I learned photography, ha!)… but it just wasn’t a lot of new helpful encouragement. And it felt a little like the perfect instagram posts that don’t reflect real life. But I can see its potential to be a huge help and encouragement to younger moms who still need to find the right outlets for their creative juices. That’s where I was at a decade ago and I do wish I’d read this book back then.
Different by Sally & Nathan Clarkson
5 stars. Goodness, this book is helpful. It gives parents the courage to trust their intuition over the voices of the world that label their child as having “behavior problems” or being “too much.” It offers encouragement and practical ideas to love and nurture your “different” child, let more things go, and believe that God’s unique design of your child is intentional and GOOD.
8 Great Smarts by Kathy Koch
3 stars. I 100% agree with and support the premise that we all have our own unique intelligences and that we flourish most when those are encouraged and valued.
I didn’t end up finishing the book, however. Her writing style felt dry and robotic. The content, while something I support, was also not an earth-shattering revelation… much of the content was anecdotal evidence I could conclude on my own just by my own observation.
Gay Girl, Good God by Jackie Hill Perry
4.5 stars. A helpful and beautiful memoir. Even if I do not relate to her story, it helps me have more compassion and understanding for those who do. Removed half a star just for a few minor additions I felt were in poor taste. But overall a great read.
Devoted by Tim Challies
5 stars. This book contains several short biographies of great Christian men who owe much to their godly mothers. It was such an encouragement to me as a mom that my efforts are not in vain and even my smallest acts of faith can be used by God in the lives of my children in big ways to accomplish His purposes.
Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine
5 stars. This children’s picture book is a true story from the Underground Railroad about a slave who mails himself to freedom!
This Too Shall Last by K.J. Ramsey
2 stars. I really wanted to love this book and was disappointed that it ended up on my DNF list… especially because I used up an Audible credit on it. To be sure, I felt seen by the author. I appreciated her recognition that the body and soul are vitally intertwined.
Also, the first couple chapters had some eloquently worded sections that helped articulate the experience of the sufferer in a way that wasn’t trite or unsympathetic (like many Christian books n the topic can be). So I’ll start with those samples:
“We feel less like ourselves and less connected to others when in pain… Our bodies intuitively shut down and shut others out to survive, making it incredibly difficult to access the parts of our brains that help us think rationally, keep perspective, and feel secure in our relationships. Social connectedness and pain are so intertwined, they share the same neurobiological pathway. When pain of any kind makes us feel less ourselves and less capable of engaging in relationships, we experience it as suffering. Feeling out of sorts and unlike yourself when in pain… is an automatic, natural consequence of living in a body.”
And:
“All our lives, we have marched to the cadence of a culture that tells us we can avoid suffering through hard work. With a body that cannot work or a spirit crushed by loss, we feel like flat notes played a beat behind in a song whose tempo no longer feels achievable. Living with long-term suffering in American culture feels like being off-key. Suffering quiets and slows, but our culture prefers a crescendo.”
And:
“Suffering is like a forest whose light is threatening, a place we lose our companions. We panic as we wonder if we will ever find a way out. When suffering invades our lives, we feel lost, left behind by the church while they keep blissfully hiking toward a waterfall of grace we fear we'll never reach.”
It was in hopes of finding more like these that part of me wanted to keep reading to mine for the gems.
However, I ultimately stopped reading because I had to sift through far too much theological muck to reach those gems. I’m a pretty theologically grounded individual, so I’m not unable to sift through muck and “be a Berean” as I read. It’s more that I just… didn’t want to this time.
While Ramsey’s flowery writing can be beneficial in some ways, it really muddies up where she stands theologically. She says almost nothing of sin (while somehow also saying a lot about sin, which is weird) and therefore cheapens the whole thing. While I believe Jesus is so very tender and attentive to the suffering and the lowly… I think minimizing sin and therefore minimizing the cost of our redemption only waters things down, leaving the reader dissatisfied and still lacking.
I will grant that perhaps Ramsey offers more theological clarity on her stance as the book progresses, so perhaps I didn’t give it enough of a chance. However, having come across Ramsey’s instagram page, I kind of doubt that, as seeing her posts confirmed to me that her ideological views just don’t mesh well with mine.
So, all in all, I appreciated the gems and her tender heart to comfort those who suffer. But it was unfortunately just too doctrinally wimpy for me to embrace the book fully. (And I’m not even saying every book needs to be heady and intellectual… in fact if it leans too far that way I’m quickly turned off. It just needs to be solidly grounded.) Maybe someday I’ll try to finish it when I’m in the mood for muck-sifting.
Gifted and Distractible by Julie F Skolnick
4.5 stars. I’m not finished with it yet, but so far this book has been really helpful in understanding, advocating for and helping my twice exceptional kids thrive. It’s a secular book so I don’t always agree with every bit of advice presented. But overall it’s been an insightful and useful tool for me.
Prepare Him Room by Marty Machowski
4 stars. Our family enjoyed this family Advent devotional and the included story as well. I especially appreciated that they had three readings per week—a more manageable amount for the busy month of December!
Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy by Mark Vroegop
5 stars. I’m so thankful this book exists. Lament is a lost art in the church and is so needed. The Bible teaches us the language of lament, a gift that “gives voice to our pain… This book invites us to grieve, struggle, and tap into the rich reservoir of grace and mercy God offers in the darkest moments of our lives.”
FICTION
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
5 stars. Exquisite as always. This time I listened to the audiobook with my kindergartener in the car.
Home to Blessing Series by Lauraine Snelling
A Measure of Mercy
No Distance Too Far
A Heart for Home
4 stars. I enjoyed this series-within-a-series about Astrid, the next generation of stories from the Blessing series by Lauraine Snelling. These moved a bit more slowly, as there were three books telling one person’s story. I thought they got better as the story progressed. I thought the love story could have used some tweaking (though I will not say in what way so I don’t give away any spoilers). But I always enjoy the Blessing books and I’ll be bummed when I finish the series since I’ve been working at it for several years now.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
4.5 stars. This was a favorite of mine when I first read it in school and it was as delightful as I remembered.
Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle
4 stars. These are fun comics. The second was as good as the first.
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
4 stars. This book is so sad and moving. Teaches children compassion and kindness through telling a story. This one is another that my kindergartener and I listened to in the car.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
5 stars. This book is perfection. This is my third time reading the book—this time with my children because we studied the Civil War in school this fall. We are almost done and will celebrate by watching the movie when we are finished.
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
5 stars. Obviously. I listened to the audiobook this time, often while doodling and handlettering random quotes from the story. I highly recommend this as an evening wind-down activity.
Song of Blessing Series by Lauraine Snelling
To Everything a Season
A Harvest of Hope
4 stars. These books make up the first half of the next part of the Blessing series, and they tell the story of Miriam, who moves to Blessing as a nurse in training. If you like clean Christian historical romance that’s not (too) cheesy, you’d enjoy the Blessing series.
A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
5 stars. Of course! This was another kindergarten audiobook for the car rides.
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
5 stars. A classic—and yet another kindergarten audiobook in the car!
BONUS: FIRST UP IN 2026
Marmee by Sarah Miller
I read Sarah Miller’s book Caroline, which was a retelling of the Little House on the Prairie story. I enjoyed that one so I’m looking forward to picking this one up when we finish Little Women.
A Bit of Earth by Andrea G. Burke
I love gardening and have heard great things about this devotional/memoir/prayer book/collection of readings and thoughts. I read The God of the Garden (Andrew Peterson) a few years ago and was rather disappointed by it; it’s my hope that this book will fill that gap a bit.
The Amazing Generation by Jonathan Haidt
This is a new release from the author of The Anxious Generation, but geared toward kids. I plan to read it with my kids as part of our homeschool content. I’m really looking forward to the things it can teach us.
In the Hands of a Fiercely Tender God by Colleen Chao
I’ve heard really great things about this short book of 31 readings of hope and encouragement.
The Body Teaches the Soul by Justin Whitmel Earley
This is a newer release from the author of Habits of the Household (which I LOVED). I have been thinking more lately about the connection between body, mind, and soul and I’m eager to see what Earley will teach us in this book, as well as the practical habits he recommends.
