My favorite literary fiction of 2025

 The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Cooper (William Morrow, 2025).

Lightning in a Mason Jar by Catherine Mann (Lake Union Publishing, 2025).

It's a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2025).

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth by Barbara O'Neal (Lake Union Publishing, 2025).

The Page Turner by Viola Shipman (Graydon House, 2025).

The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner (William Morrow, 2025).

Mystery Monday - My 2025 favorites

For Duck's Sake (Meg Lanslow #37) by Donna Andrews ((St. Martin's Press, 2025).

Just Another Dead Author (Berit Gardner #2) by Katrina Bivald (Poisoned Pen Press, 2025).

From Cradle to Grave (Her Royal Spyness #19) by Rhys Bowen (Penguin Group, 2025).

Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds by Alison Brennan (MIRA Books, 2025).

Death of a Forest Fairy (Hungarian Tea House #4) by Julia Buckley (Julia Buckley, 2025).

The Wexford Carole (Imogen Durant #2) by Janice MacDonald (Ravenstone Press, 2025).

The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols (St. Martin's Press, 2025).

The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson (Penguin Group, 2025).

My favorite historical fiction of 2025

The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict (St. Martin's, 2025).

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick (Harper Muse, 2025).

Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union, 2025).

Kate & Frida by Kim Fay (Penguin, 2025).

The Dressmakers of London by Julia Kelly  (Gallery Books, 2025).

The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club by Martha Hall Kelly (Random House, 2025).

Confessions of a Grammar Queen by Eliza Knight (Sourcebooks, 2025).

The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes (William Morrow, 2025).

The Eights by Joanna Miller (Penguin, 2025).

A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan (Penguin, 2025).

Kaye's favorites

My online friend Kaye Barley, asked if I would share her list of book favorites from 2025, and I happily agreed.

We Are All Guilty Here (North Falls #1) by Karin Slaughter (William Morrow, 2025).

Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman (William Morrow Paperbacks, 2025).

Apostle’s Cove (A Cork O'Connor Mystery) by William Kent Krueger (Atria Books, 2025).

My Beloved (A Mitford Novel) by Jan Karon (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2025).

All This Could Be Yours by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Minotaur Books, 2025).

Hunter’s Heart Ridge (A Franklin Warren and Alice Bellows Mystery) by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Minotaur Books, 2025).

Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union Publishing, 2025).

These Heathens by Mia McKenzie (Random House, 2025).

Through An Open Window by Pamela Terry (Ballantine Books, 2025).

That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White (Park Row, 2025).

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Crown, 2025).

The Look by Michelle Obama (Crown, 2025).

Where the Rivers Merge by Mary Alice Monroe (William Morrow, 2025).

Kaye Wilkinson Barley is a retiree, wife, fur-mama, reader, occasional writer and blogger at Meanderings and Muses, and full-time outspoken liberal.