Bookworm Cottage Style

I read fewer books than usual this past year (life with a newborn!) but overall am happy with where my reading life took me. Here are the books that stuck with me the most, and are my favorites out of the 78 books I read in 2025.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2025; 352 pages)  // I have read (and enjoyed!) nearly all Taylor Jenkins Reid  books, but this is without question my favorite, and was one of my favorite books of the year. Joan is an astronomer who is training to become one of the first female astronauts at NASA in the 1980s. The book opens with Joan working at mission control in Houston, and we quickly learn that the mission has gone terribly wrong. The book then goes back in time over the past couple of years as we learn about each of the astronauts involved, as well as Joan’s forbidden workplace romance and her complicated family life. I love space thrillers (The Martian and Project Hail Mary are some of my favorite books) and I love TJR’s love stories, so this book knocked it out of the park for me. I also really enjoyed reading about Joan’s role as a loving, positive mentor for her young niece. 

The Names by Florence Knapp (2025; 328 pages) // This and Atmosphere were my two 5-star reads this year.. Cora heads to the registrar’s office to fill out the official paperwork to name her newborn son. From there, the chapters alternate between three different paths spanning 35 years as her son grows up. In one version, she names her son after her abusive husband, as he demanded of her. In another version, she stands up to her husband by giving her son a more whimsical name. And in another, she gives her son a somewhat compromise name, still disobeying her husband, but with a slight nod to him. This simple choice of name will set in motion a completely different life for Cora and her children. The book  was such a beautiful exploration of nature vs nurture and how goodness can emerge after the darkest of times. I cannot stop thinking about this book. It is tragic and hopeful and just sticks with you. 

The Favorites by Layne Fargo (2025; 437 pages) // This novel was probably my favorite page-turner of the year — the kind of book to turn to when you’re looking to get out of a reading rut.. Kat and Heath are childhood friends turned lovers who overcame their disadvantaged backgrounds to become elite, Olympic-level ice dancers. Kat and Heath’s story is filled with drama both on and off the ice, culminating in disaster at the Sochi Olympics. Ten years after the Sochi incident, the book is told documentary style narrated by Kat and a rotating cast of ice skaters and industry insiders to finally reveal what really happened in Sochi and all of the heartbreak, drama, and rivalries that led them there. If you enjoyed the way Daisy Jones and the Six was written, you will absolutely love this book. I kept looking for opportunities to pick it back up, and devoured it in a single weekend staying up late one night to finish. All in all, a juicy page-turning read that is just a lot of fun! I’ve also heard it’s great on audio because it’s narrated by a full cast.

The Measure by Nikki Erlick (2022; 353 pages) // Oh my gosh. What a book! This was definitely one of the most thought-provoking novels I read in 2025.. One day, every adult around the world receives a box with a string inside that is said to measure how long their life will be, with longer strings representing longer lives. Many people opened their boxes without fully recognizing how accurate the strings would end up being, but soon it becomes clear that a short string does indeed represent a life cut short. This remarkable book is told in alternating perspectives of people who have long strings, short strings, and people who have chosen not to open their box as their lives intersect in various ways. I became so attached to each of the characters and did not want to stop reading. My heart broke when I knew that someone was near the end of their string, and my spirit soared when characters were able to choose joy and life and use their voices to better society. Although somewhat dystopian, the way that the government and society reacted to the strings felt incredibly real and I truly felt like I was living in the book. I know this sounds like a dark read and in a way it is. But is also incredibly hopeful and beautiful. There is so much to unpack and discuss, and I think this would be a great book club pick.

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, by Bill Bryson (1998, 397 pages) //  First published in 1998, this memoir chronicles Bill Bryson’s experience hiking the Appalachian Trail, the famous hiking route that spans from Georgia to Maine. I see why so many people consider this book an instant classic. It was fantastic! This book is an everyman’s account filled with hilarious mishaps, out-of-shape characters, and relatable observations. I actually laughed out loud multiple times. If you are looking for an entertaining read that will inspire you to appreciate the great outdoors, look no further!

This American Woman: A One-In-A-Billion Memoir by Zarna Garg (2025; 320 pages) //I adore reading about women who find their calling later in life or who reinvent themselves in their second act, so I completely enjoyed this hilarious memoir from comedian Zarna Garg. In this book, Zarna shares funny and heartfelt stories about her life, from running away from home in Mumbai to escape an arranged marriage at 15, moving to America for college, meeting her husband online in the 90s, raising children in NYC, and eventually becoming a standup comedian in her 40s. Zarna is an absolute force of nature and you can’t help but be inspired by her tenacity. (And her big heart… her acknowledgments page is 15 pages long!) A great book!!

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams (2025; 382 pages)  // This juicy, tell-all memoir about the inner workings of Facebook was impossible to put down. Written by a woman who led international policy for Facebook for 7 years, this whistleblower account gives an inside look at how Facebook’s leadership team intentionally broke laws, spread misinformation, enabled dictators, preyed on children’s insecurities, contributed to genocide, silenced victims of sexual harrassment, and more – all in the pursuit of hoarding profits and power. This would be a great companion read to Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari.

Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI by Yuval Noah Harari (2024; 520 pages) // 

This book was a little bit dry at times but oh my gosh, I cannot stop talking about it. This is an excellent, thought-provoking book to read to better understand the political moment we find ourselves in, and also the impact that AI may have (and is already having) on humanity. Using examples from all across history, the author explains why having access to more information via the internet doesn’t necessarily lead to better information, and yet how systems that seek to limit information flow also lead to dangerous outcomes. I did not fully understand the gravity of something as seemingly harmless as a social media algorithm until reading this book. The author makes a clear case that AI (specifically, the algorithm) has already led to the loss of human life, such as in the 2016 genocide in Myanmar. While this is a dark and startling read, it is not entirely hopeless. The author outlines clear suggestions of how humans (especially governments) can step up to regulate how AI is used in order maximize the benefit of the technology while minimizing potential unintended consequences. Although positive change is difficult to envision in this political moment, this well researched and well reported book can certainly help guide us.

In 2026, I’m looking forward to new releases from Ann Patchett, Tia Williams, Kate Quinn, and Sadeqa Johnson, and I’m also intrigued by The Seven Daughters of Dupree and So Old, So Young.