It’s that time where I look back over the books I read the previous year. I’m giving out five awards of my own making, followed by a list of five additional favorite reads. At the end of the post you’ll see the complete list of 27 books I finished, plus a few that I read parts of.

The Favorite New Author award goes to Rachel Naomi Remen. Her book, Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal, surprised me with its depth. (Free printable quotes available here and here). I couldn’t quite put a finger on why I kept wanting to turn the pages and read more, but I did. Her stories are powerful in their simplicity, beautifully painting a picture of human healing and wholeness. I’m now halfway through another of her books, My Grandfather’s Blessings, and find it equally satisfying.

The Most Underlined Book award goes to Good Inside, by Dr. Becky Kennedy. Never has a complete stranger seemingly looked into my soul and given words to my experience in the way that Dr. Becky did, particularly in the first half of this book on parenting. I experienced it as a get-your-hands-dirty guide through story work, attachment, belonging, and how we communicate those things to our children. Her clarity of thought and wisdom are fitting of a person decades older. 

The Most Fun Read award goes to Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert. Captivating, pithy, funny, challenging. (Free printable quotes available here and here). I cut out the excerpt on the back of the dust jacket and it hangs on the door of my office:

“Creativity is sacred,
and it is not sacred.
What we make matters enormously,
and it doesn’t matter at all.
We toil alone, and we are
accompanied by spirits.
We are terrified, and we are brave.
Art is a crushing chore and
a wonderful privilege.
The work wants to be made, and
it wants to be made through you.”

The Practical and Impactful award goes to Writing Alone and With Others, by Pat Schneider. This was my guidebook for leading creative writing groups, an incredibly rewarding endeavor that took flight in 2025.

The final award, Best Story, goes to The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown. Brown skillfully weaves together the stories of the men who made up the University of Washington rowing team that would win the 1936 Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany. It schooled me in rowing, the Great Depression, and Nazi Germany—a worthwhile education on all counts. Most of all, it’s a story of deep and lasting kinship. 

Five additional favorites:
The Tao of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff, which I read for the second (or third?) time (Free printable quotes here)
The Yellow Leaves: A Miscellany, by Frederick Buechner
The Art of Memoir, by Mary Karr
Circle of Grace, a book of poetry by Jan Richardson
Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail, by Ben Montgomery

I read for much the same reason that I go on coffee dates and volunteer in the community. I want to see and I want to be seen. And the more I see and am seen, the more I am aware of our interconnected universe, the more I am challenged to hold both joy and pain, and the more gentle I become. For my fellow readers, may you be fed and fueled by the words you read this year, and may you become fiercely kind.

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COMPLETE 2025 BOOK LIST

STORIES

Puck Farkinsons: A Parkinson’s Memoir, Mike Justak, 91
14:19:22 audio book, The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown
Grandma Gatewood’s Walk, Ben Montgomery, 268
Parkinson’s Humor, Beverly Ribaudo, 212
Four Against the Wilderness, Elmo Wortman, 210

FICTION

The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family, Joshua Cohen, 237
On The Brink, Michael E. Cafferky, 320

SPIRITUAL/CREATIVE

Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers, Anne Lamott, 102
The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff, 158
Wake Up Laughing: A Spiritual Autobiography, Pat Schneider, 197
Writing Alone and With Others, Pat Schneider, 361
Etty Hillesum: Essential Writings, Selected with an Introduction by Annemarie S. Kidder, 157
Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert, 272
The Cloister Walk, Kathleen Norris, 382
The Yellow Leaves: A Miscellany, Frederick Buechner, 123
Invitations to Rest Right Where You Are, Alicia Worley Palacios, 125
Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal, Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., 333
Loving the Present: Sufism, Mindfulness, & Recovery from Addiction & Mental Illness, Sarah Huxtable Mohr, 152
Write for Life, Julia Cameron, 181
The Art of Memoir, Mary Karr, 218

POETRY

Given: Poems, Wendell Berry, 147
Circle of Grace, Jan Richardson, 180
Same, Hannah Rosenberg, 215
Prayer Poems From a Reluctant Disciple, Anthony Pfannenstiel, 73

OTHER

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, Mary Roach, 327
Good Inside, Dr. Becky Kennedy, 303
Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others, Laura van Dernoot Lipsky with Connie Burk, 246

PARTIAL READS

The Second Brain: Your Gut Has a Mind of Its Own, Michael D. Gershon, M.D., read over 200 pages
How We Love: Discover Your Love Style, Enhance Your Marriage, Milan and Kay Yerkovich, read sections as assigned by our marriage counselor, probably about half the book
Mistress Pat, L.M. Montgomery, read less than two chapters