book review
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Rather than an exhaustive list, I’m sharing my favorite books I read in 2025. These are books that stuck with me over time (the first few were read over the first couple months of the year), books that answered questions I’ve been pondering or provided some form of comfort or insight. Everything is connected, and
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Last year, biographies held my attention. I’m always eager to learn, but biographies are especially helpful when I find myself navigating the difficulties of life. Reading about other people’s lives and how they handled challenges and setbacks helps me feel less alone. This year was a tough one. The following books kept me company. Astrid
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The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay My rating: 4 of 5 stars Quietly devastating. That’s how I would sum up The Far Field. Vijay’s prose isn’t flowery or ornate. It tells the story simply, going back and forth in time as we follow the main character, as a child always close by her mother who
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If you’re a working Christian woman, you’ve probably felt the tension. I know I have. There’s a sense in many Christian circles that for women, work is just a temporary thing you do until you get married and start having babies.
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A Fifty-Year Silence: Love, War, and a Ruined House in France by Miranda Richmond Mouillot My rating: 5 of 5 stars Miranda Richmond Mouillot was young, romantic, and naive when she set out to retrace her grandparents’ story, one she imagined to be like a fairy tale, full of love but with stars crossed that
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Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert My rating: 4 of 5 stars A refreshing read for the discouraged creative soul, Big Magic is essentially a long, written pep talk encouraging you to stop quivering in fear about your creative projects and go out and make stuff already, for no reason other than:
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The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead My rating: 4 of 5 stars A nonlinear narrative composed of straightforward, at times lyrical, writing, The Underground Railroad tells the story of Cora, a slave girl whose escape of the plantation leads to conflict and loss and love and meditations on what it means to be free. Whitehead’s
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Fighting for Life by S. Josephine Baker My rating: 5 of 5 stars First of all, Sara Josephine Baker lived an incredible life. Second of all, she has a totally relatable way of sharing her story. Originally published in 1939, this autobiography tells firsthand the story of a woman doctor (at a time when that
Meredith Sell 