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SPU | Culture

Favorite Books of 2025

Kendall Rossi Student Contributor, Seattle Pacific University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SPU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

With the new year comes some reflection on the past. In 2025, I read almost 50 books and found that about ⅕ of my reading left me with some new winners. In no particular order, here are my favorite books of 2025: 

  1. I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang
  • This is a young adult speculative fiction book about Jenna Chen, who wishes to become her amazingly talented cousin Jessica Chen… and she does 
  • This book is all about loving yourself as a young woman and discovering who you are – I loved it!! 
  • Ann Liang’s writing is truly spectacular and really shone in this novel 
  • The side characters (Jessica and Aaron) were great additions in my opinion – Jessica was a character that took the whole book for me to like, but ended up seeing and feeling for her
  1. Beartown trilogy by Frederik Backman
  • This trilogy was my first introduction to Frederik Backman, and he quickly became a top favorite author for me 
  • The premise of this series sounds so boring, but if you love books that do not necessarily have an extensive plot but a large cast of characters, I think you would enjoy this 
  • These books made me FEEL so many emotions, and I love when a story can bring me into its world
  • I recommend looking up trigger warnings before reading Beartown because there is an extremely traumatic experience that is an ongoing theme throughout the three books 
  1. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
  •  Historical fiction is a genre that I just started reading and loving over the past two years
  • This one is about France’s occupation by Germany during World War II and follows a set of sisters’ lives as they live and fight through it (in different ways) 
  • The book is extremely depressing, but it is an interesting story that gripped me from beginning to end 
  • I loved that the story followed two women because readers got to see how each one dealt with the occupation – absolutely gut-wrenching, raw, frightening, yet so important 
  1. Releasing 10 by Chloe Walsh
  • The sixth book in the Boys of Tommen series, Releasing 10, follows the fourth couple in the series 
  • Whenever I think of this book, I feel distraught 
  • If you are planning on reading this series:
    • 1) It has an amazing found family – one of my favorite tropes in books, and
    • 2) PLEASE LOOK UP TRIGGER WARNINGS – extremely devastating and demoralizing occurrences happen in all six books, so please do research before stepping into these stories 
  • I never paid a lot of attention to these two characters in the other books (especially Hughie), but I am glad the author wrote a book about their story (I knew there was a lot of history between those two)
  • There definitely needs to be another book for them because their story did not have a satisfying ending! 
  1. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins 
  • In my opinion, this was the saddest story in The Hunger Games series
  • Haymitch’s story is always one that fascinated me, but I almost didn’t want it because I knew that it would tear me to shreds
  • I really hope that the movie does the book justice because this story needs to be told to near perfection 
  1. The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig 
  • I went into this book completely blind, and I am so glad I did (even though I was confused for the first 50-70 pages) 
  • Characters going on quests is always an interesting plot to me 
  • The cast of characters are unique but tie together so well and elevated my reading experience by a mile 
  • The romance was fabulous in my opinion (not as much slow-burn as I like, but I think good for a duology) 
  1. My Friends by Frederik Backman 
  • Another Frederik Backman masterpiece!!
  • This book has a dual-timeline that follows four teenagers who change the life of a young woman years later 
  • I also went into this book blind, and again, it was the right decision 
  • As you can probably tell, I love character-driven stories, and this one felt so real and brought out many emotions from me 
  • All of these characters need a big hug and a happy, peaceful life 
  1. Immortal Consequences by I.V Marie
  • I saw someone write that this book is Harry Potter x K-pop Demon Hunters, and somehow it is so accurate
  • The story follows multiple young adult points of view as they try to survive trials at their boarding school in the afterlife
  • This book was fun while keeping me on my toes and invested in the plotline
  • I also liked how different each of the characters is and their respective romances 
  1. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Another historical fiction novel!! This time about a woman who becomes an astronaut in the 80s 
  • This book was so much more than a story about an astronaut; it’s a story with love, family, friendship, finding yourself, and more 
  • Joan’s relationships and interactions with others – her fellow astronauts, lover, niece, and family – were my favorite part of the story because they were dynamic and felt so real 
  • The ending of this book definitely had me crying . . . space freaks me out SO MUCH I could never be an astronaut 
  1. Happiness Falls by 
  • This book is from the point of view of a daughter whose dad goes missing, and the only person who knows what happened is her younger brother, who has Angelman’s autism, so he cannot speak 
  • The story was extremely interesting to me, with themes that touch on autism, race, being overlooked, family, and much more 
  • The sister narrating the story was interesting because she is flawed and human, so it made for an unsettling storyline 
  1. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
  • Yet another historical fiction!!
  • This one is about a family during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression in Texas who move their entire lives to the West Coast 
  • Another horrifying book that made me want to hold onto my family and thank them for everything 
  • The ending made me SOB – do not recommend reading when you are homesick 
  1. And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Frederik Backman
  • Another book by Frederik Backman (do you believe me now that he’s a new favorite author?)
  • This novella is only about 100 pages, yet I cried THE ENTIRE TIME 
  • The book is through the view of an older gentleman who is losing his memories, and his family’s thoughts, feelings, and actions during their last times together 
  • The fact that the author could deliver a message in such a short period of time is astounding to me and shows how talented he is 

If there is one thing to know about my reading taste, it’s that I love character-driven stories, development, and found family. As I get older, my reading preferences shift and change. In 2025, I dabbled more into fiction novels (that had little to no romance subplot), and further dove into the historical fiction genre. If I hadn’t read outside of my comfort zone, I would not have found most of my favorite books of last year. With that, I am going to (hopefully!) challenge myself with my reading again in 2026 and maybe find some new favorites along the way. Happy reading! 

Kendall Rossi

SPU '28

Kendall is a sophomore at Seattle Pacific University, majoring in Communications with a minor in Christian Discipleship. She is from the central coast of California and loves reading, yoga, food, travel, and watching movies! This is her first year as a member of Her Campus.