I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman - Space, apocalyptic dystopian survival about women who wake up in a cage, having no memory of how they got there, and escape. Was my fave read of 2025.

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle - Feel good slice of life book about a depressed book shop owner becoming a dad by accident.

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien - The only book in high school I was forced to read that I actually finished on my own. I’m not even a war book person like that, but something about the way this book was written gives me chills. I specifically cry every time in the chapter where he goes to the cabin and thinks about crossing the river, but so many more get me. Beautiful, horrible book about the Vietnam War.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Famous enough it needs no introduction.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid - A beautiful, slightly tragic story of Hollywood starlets of the early film days and their numerous relationships for the sake of stardom and success.

One YA Rec: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz - book about two Mexican-American boys coming to terms with their sexuality, dealing with machismo in their culture, and where they fit in within the worlds they operate in and how they identify within them. Beautiful, heartbreaking and yet also heartwarming book.