Friends, itās that time of year again.
In 2025, I read quite a bit. I purposely didnāt count the number of books, because every time Iāve done that Iāve gotten in this weird competition with me, myself, and I, as well as forced myself to finish books I donāt like. And you know what? I am not going to spend my one wild and precious life reading books that arenāt engaging.
I believe that in a world being slapped in the face with AI, one of the best ways we can push back against a culture of machines is to read. Read comic books, read the Bible, read mysteries, read great literature, read romantasy, read picture books, read memoirsājust read. Just open a book and let yourself be whisked away to a time and place that are not your own. Give yourself the gift of connection with a writer; give yourself the joy of caring for your mind, body, and spirit. If you want to learn about Russia, read a book about it. If you want to learn about poverty, read a book about it. If you want to learn about relationships with Native American tribes, read a book about it. It will be a far richer experience than scrolling through any articleāor dare I say Substack postāthat waltzes across your algorithm.
āReading is the road you walk to discover yourself and your world, to see with renewed vision as you encounter the vision of another.ā - Sarah Clarkson
Iām currently shivering in the public library, sitting far too close to the frosted window. My daughter is playing volleyball at the community center next door and I had to sweet talk the librarian into letting me check out my books even though a) I forgot my entire wallet and b) I have 11 books overdue. So I thought there was no better time to celebrate books and literature with all of you and share my ten favorite reads of the year.
As a quick note, these books are not in any particular order; theyāre just a general top ten. Furthermore, youāll notice they span genresāthereās fiction, non-fiction, spiritual, and everything in-between. Lastly, these are my first time reads. There are a few books I read year after year that would perpetually make my top ten (The Great Gatsby, The Gownā¦) but these are books I had never encountered before the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty Five. They are not all new, but they are all new to me.