The best books I read in 2025!
- Faiza Yousuf
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
I have a few December rituals: I set my yearly and Q1 goals, review the year’s progress, choose a theme for the next year, revisit the theme of the one that’s ending, update my TBR list, and share my favorite books of the year.
When this year started, I thought it would be all about new beginnings. Instead, it turned into a year full of endings and farewells. Some stung for weeks; others felt like finally taking off a heavy burden. I also had to unlearn and relearn more than I expected, and I’m genuinely glad I did. So yes, 2025 became the year of relearning.
On the reading front, it was decent: forty-something books. The best decision I made was prioritizing my religious study. I picked up a new translation and a new tafseer of the Quran, and it was exactly the kind of self-reflection I didn’t know I needed.
So, here is my category-wise list for the year!
Religious Study:
Al-Quran Al-Kareem (Translation) by Javed Ahmad Ghamidi
Al-Bayan (Tafseer) by Javed Ahmed Ghamidi
Special Shoutout:
The Extraordinary Life of Riz: A Praying Mantis' Quest for a Happy Ending by Nida Farid
Hide And Seek by Nusrat Osama Siddiqi
Best Books:
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans
Difficult Women by Roxane Gay
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self by Danielle Evans
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin
Work Clean: The life-changing power of mise-en-place to organize your life, work, and mind by Dan Charnas
So, what did you read this year? Let’s chat!
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