2025 Reading Challenge Favorites by Genre

Happy New Year!

In 2025, I read 133 books! This is my new record. To be fair, it was the first time in years I was not simultaneously working full-time and in school full-time, and I read more on my vacation days. Additionally, I immersed myself in genre research for some upcoming works in progress of my own and needed to identify four comparison titles for my debut novel, which is currently out on submissions.

Usually I post this list on FB annually, but now that I have my own site, I will start sharing the list here as well.

Let me know if you read these and what you thought!

Also, I’d love to know what books I missed in 2025 that I need to put on my TBR list for 2026–what were your favorite reads?

HORROR

• Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng, Kylie Lee Baker
• The Eyes are the Best Part, Monika Kim
• The Boatman’s Daughter, Andy Davidson
• Tender is the Flesh, Agustina Bazterrica
• The Unworthy, Agustina Bazterrica
• Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird, Agustina Bazterrica
• Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, V. E. Schwab
• Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• The Starving Saints, Caitlin Starling
• The Lamb, Lucy Rose
• This Girl’s a Killer, Emma C. Wells
• The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham Jones
• Voice Like a Hyacinth, Mallory Pearson
• Malorie, Josh Malerman
• The Ballad of Black Tom, Victor LaValle
• The Twisted Ones, T. Kingfisher

HORROR CLASSICS

• Hell House, Richard Matheson
• The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty
• Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson
• The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux
• The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson
• The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

SCIFI HORROR

• The Luminous Dead, Caitlin Starling
• Dead Silence, S. A. Barnes
• Ghost Station, S. A. Barnes
• Intercepts, T. J. Payne

ROMANTASY

• Alchemised, SenLinYu
• Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros
• Iron Flame, Rebecca Yarros
• Onyx Storm, Rebecca Yarros

FELLOW BROADLEAF WRITERS ASSOCIATION MEMBERS

• The Boatman’s Daughter, Andy Davidson
• Ghost on Black Mountain, Ann Hite
• The Weight of Ashes, Zachary Steele

YA FANTASY

• The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
• Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne Collins
• Sunrise on the Reaping, Suzanne Collins
• The Giver, Lois Lowry
• Ordinary Monsters, J. M. Miro

YA SCIFI HORROR

• Contagion, Erin Bowman
• Immunity, Erin Bowman

YA HORROR

• Don’t Let the Forest In, CG Drews

DARK FANTASY

• Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo
• Crooked Kingdom, Leigh Bardugo
• The Daughters’ War, Christopher Buehlman
• The Blacktongue Thief, Christopher Buehlman
• Witch King, Martha Wells
• The Bane Witch, Ava Morgyn
• The Year of the Witching, Alexis Henderson
• The Devils, Joe Abercrombie
• Spear, Nicola Griffith

SAPPHIC ROMANCE

• One Last Stop, Casey McQuiston
• Delilah Green Doesn’t Care, Ashley Herring Blake
• Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail, Ashley Herring Blake
• Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date, Ashley Herring Blake
• Late Bloomer, Mazey Eddings

LITERARY FICTION/LITERARY HORROR

• Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
• Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn
• The Road, Cormac McCarthy
• Yellowface, R. F. Kuang

SCIFI

• Exit Strategy, Martha Wells
• Network Effect, Martha Wells

*part of The Murderbot Diaries—all are fun, these happened to be my favorites

SUSPENSE/PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER/POLICE PROCEDURAL (with a strong female lead)

• Deeper Than Dead, Debra Webb
• Closer Than You Know, Debra Webb
• Secrets You Can’t Keep, Debra Webb
• The Laughing Dead, Jess Lourey
• Cross Her Heart, Melinda Leigh
• See Her Die, Melinda Leigh
• Drown Her Sorrows, Melinda Leigh
• Right Behind Her, Melinda Leigh
• Dead Against Her, Melinda Leigh
• Lie to Her, Melinda Leigh
• Catch Her Death, Melinda Leigh
• On Her Watch, Melinda Leigh
• Track Her Down, Melinda Leigh
• Beyond Her Reach, Melinda Leigh

SUSPENSE/PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

• The Fix, Mia Sheridan
• The Lie She Wears, Elle Marr

NONFICTION

• Save the Cat Writes a Novel, Jessica Brody
• Reclaim Your Author Career: Using the Enneagram to Build Your Strategy, Unlock Deeper Purpose, and Celebrate your Career, Claire Taylor
• Coming Out of Shame: Transforming Gay and Lesbian Lives, Gershen Kaufman & Lev Raphael
• Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media, Brittany Hennessy On Brand: Shape Your Narrative. Share Your Vision. Shift Their Perception, Aliza Licht