Wrapping up 2025

Written By Kelsey Brown

You’d need a dedicated book budget to build a TBR from the dozens of “best of’ lists circulating this time of year. NYTimes, Obama’s year-end, Kirkus Prize, Booker Awards, National Book Awards… thank goodness the Pulitzer waits until late Spring! Our little crew at the shop made our own year-end curation; however, we reflected on the books we READ this year, not necessarily those RELEASED this year.

  • Karmina liked sweeping historical epics, haunting dystopian fiction, and psychological suspense.

  • Kelsey leaned into the architecture of grief, women’s emotional interiority, and the chasm between beauty and sadness.

  • Jenn centered her picks around ecological witness, isolation, legacy, and survival.

  • Tara loved grand narrative arcs, high-stakes intimacy, and romantic realism.

Kelsey Brown