One of my first memories as a little girl was getting my very first library card. I didn't have to prove I could read, but just that I could scribble my name. I practiced for weeks. I couldn't wait. The library was a wonder to me. All those books for the taking. And reading. And reading again. Mom limited how many books I could check out. And often hid them from me at home. My foremost rebellion as a child was reading with a flashlight under the covers.
You're going to ruin your eyes! Mom warned me over and over. I thought it was worth the risk.
The library is still a remarkable, splendid and moveable feast to me.
One of my favorite books of 2025 was Theo of Golden, a self-published paperback novel that literally took the publishing world by surprise this year. It was written by near-70 year old first-time novelist Allen Levi who lives by himself in rural Georgia. He never even intended for it to be published. That would have been a shame. Even as I write this post, the Nashville library alone owns 42 copies of the physical book with 334 people on the wait list. There are 123 copies of the e-book with an astonishing 771 people on the wait list. And that is just Nashville. It ranks at the top of my list this year. A gem of a story.
Of the making of many books, there is no end, the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 12. 12. I am grateful to God for the creativity of those who are faithful to their calling.
I did not read as many books this year, but I discovered new authors and savored their words. My new favorite novelist is Niall Williams, an amazing Irish writer.
Here's my 2025 list with a few annotations from my favorites:
Even After Everything: The Spiritual Practice of Knowing the Risks and Loving Anyway by Stephanie Duncan Smith (2024)
Table for Two by Amor Towles (2024)
Why Everything That Doesn’t Matter, Matters So Much: The Way of Love in a World of Hurt by Andi Ashworth and Charlie Peacock (2024) No one gets to adulthood without a past....be on the lookout for redemption. It comes in waves.....In essence, I was training for a work I could not yet see or know.
A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller (1970)
The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis (1954) He had not yet learned that if you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one.
The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Timothy Keller (2012)
Fumbling: A Pilgrimage Tale of Love, Grief and Spiritual Renewal on the Camino de Santiago by Kerry Egan (2004)
Foster by Claire Keegan (2010)
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi (2023) ...for helping people see themselves for who they really are.
Stories of the Saints: Bold and Inspiring Tales of Adventure, Grace, and Courage by Carey Wallace (2020)
Time of the Child by Niall Williams (2024) But storytellers skip the everyday, mistaking the ordinary for the dull, seizing on the sensational and leaving out the habitual that is in fact the fabric of life.
The Reading Life by C. S. Lewis (2019) As we read we find ourselves sharing their burden; when we have finished, we return to our own life, not relaxed but fortified. [Fellowship of the Ring]
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa (2017)
Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition by Ann Patchett (2001, 2024)
Tinkers by Paul Harding (2009)
The Hospitality of Need by Kevan Chandler and Tommy Shelton (2025) It's not just people saying yes to my need, but me saying yes to their participation.
As It Is In Heaven by Niall Williams (1999) When something of great size moves into the heart, it dislodges all else.
Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams (1997)
You Have A Calling: Finding Your Vocation in the True, Good and Beautiful by Karen Swallow Prior (2025) What if your calling isn’t what you get paid to do? What if it is? What if your calling isn’t something you feel passionate about every day – or even most days?.... What if a calling isn’t just about what you do but how you do it? What if it isn’t just about doing a certain thing but also about being a certain way?
Little Shrew by Akiko Miyakoshi (2024)
An Axe For The Frozen Sea by Ben Palpant (2025)
October, October by Katya Balen (2020)
The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri (2025) And because He has freely given these things I do not deserve, then I can freely share with you......Did God give you to us, or did He give us to you?.....Only love lets us forgive the inconvenience of other people.
Marce Catlett: The Force of a Story by Wendell Berry (2025)
Living in the Present with John Prine by Tom Piazza (2025) John’s show wasn’t good because his vocal intonation was perfect, or his guitar technique was perfect, or his guitar was perfectly in tune, or because he was making no mistakes…Quite the contrary! But it didn’t matter. Because his ability to deliver the rest of it – the emotional part – was so in the stratosphere that none of that mattered.
Stewards of Eden: What Scripture Says About The Environment and Why It Matters by Sandra Richter (2020)
Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley (2015)
My Dear Hemlock by Tilly Dillehay (2024)
The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life by Arthur C. Brooks (2021-2024)
The True Gift by Patricia MacLachlan (2009)
Letters From Father Christmas 1920-1943 by J. R. R Tolkien (1976)
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers (1935)
An Incremental Life by Luci Shaw (2025) Never give up on the grace of God.
Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt (2021) Bless us in the unexpected.....She’s not going to have a new start, thought Meryl Lee. There is no new start. There’s only what’s next.
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day By Day by Peter Scazzero (2008)
Bread of Life: Savoring the All-Satisfying Goodness of Jesus Through The Art of Bread Making by Abigail Dodds (2021) She knows the two most important things: she is in need of help, and He is able to give it........Knowing there is a purpose behind the pressing down and rolling out can change our experience of the pain.....We need the Word. We need the people of the Word.
Humans Of New York by Brandon Stanton (2013)
History of the Rain by Niall Williams (2014)
The Bible Never underestimate the power of God's Word. Of all the books I read every year, the Bible continues to change the course of my life. From my own reading, I post a daily scripture verse in my blog www.worddujour.blogspot.com Don't go into the day hungry for God's Word.
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