Two of My Favorite 2025 Reads

I’m one week away from the third trimester, and things are starting to feel more and more real. After not having pregnancy symptoms besides fatigue for a while now, my three straight days of leg cramps and muscle soreness were not a welcome change. For the most part, though, I’ve been feeling good and still like my normal self, and I’m grateful that everything is progressing normally. I have to knock out my dreaded glucose test this week, but at least it gives me plenty of time to read while I hang out in the waiting area. I signed up for a “baby basics” class and am looking forward to prepping some new skills and growing my confidence.

I’m excited to share two of my favorite books of 2025 today! First up on the agenda is a celebrity biography that I might have enjoyed more if it had been a memoir. Next is a small-town mystery that kept me hooked from start to finish and eager to read whatever the author writes next. Third is the adult fiction debut by my favorite young adult author, and the blending of historical fiction and magical realism made for a unique and compelling read. Lastly, I’m lumping a popular young adult trilogy into one review; while I can understand the buzz around it, I couldn’t root for a single character.

Gwyneth: The Biography by Amy Odell

Gwyneth Paltrow is, in many ways, the embodiment of what is wrong with Hollywood today. A nepo-baby with a wellness brand that has continuously spread misinformation and unattainable lifestyle content, Paltrow is often seen as an entitled, out of touch, and unrelatable celebrity figure. Biographies are supposed to help shape a narrative around a person’s life and to reveal some deeper truths about what makes them them. I don’t want a litany of facts or a list of credentials; I want the why.

Unfortunately, even though there are over 220 sources interviewed for this book, reviewers lament that there is a lack of depth to understanding Paltrow: if you’re looking for never-before reported stories, scandals, and secrets, you’ll be disappointed. Paltrow’s lack of cooperation, in my opinion, is probably the biggest flaw in the biography. Without Paltrow’s own interpretation of events, the narrative suffers from only a limited outside perspective, and introspective insight is nonexistent. The book also feels like two distinct, competing, and discordant entities. The first half focuses on her acting career while the second (and more interesting) section zeroes in on her work with the infamous brand, Goop. Odell’s condemnations of Goop would make excellent material for an investigative journalism piece, and I would love to read a fuller, broader, and more detailed exploration of the controversial company. Just like when I read my students’ narrative essays in their draft form, I feel as though the heart and hook of the narrative are weak and placed in the second half.

With tabloids, social media, and Wikipedia at our disposal, public-facing celebrities aren’t a mystery to their fans. Paltrow doesn’t feel more real, relatable, or likeable to me after reading this, and 448 pages is honestly too lengthy for the amount of valuable information given. If Odell ever writes a full expose of Goop, I’ll be preordering my copy. If you’re looking for gossip, shock value, and drama (I know I am!), there’s plenty of celebrity memoirs that are read by the author and provide a much more engaging narrative.

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

Messy family drama: check. Unconventional narrative structure: check. A love triangle with real stakes and emotions: check. English village setting: check. Perfectly paced tension with a genuine surprise and twist: check!

It is so hard for me to feel actual surprise, shock, or curiosity while I’m reading. After reading across so many genres for so long, it’s easy to predict the “twists” that are supposed to come as a surprise, and many buzzy books have let me down. Broken Country, however, exceeded my expectations, and I truly could not put it down. Told through flashbacks, the story follows Beth’s relationships with her first love, Gabriel—a wealthy man who has recently gone through a divorce in the present timeline—and her loyal husband, Frank. Reeling from the loss of her young son, Beth grapples with her struggling marriage, her complicated feelings for Gabriel, and her increasingly difficult attachment to Gabriel’s son. With a murder being investigated, a suspect in custody, and truths unspoken for years, the narrative slowly tantalizes readers with glimpses into the disastrous choices that lead to unthinkable losses.

This is the kind of book meant for book clubs, and I am desperate to find someone to chat about it with. If you like mysteries, thrillers, romance, or literary fiction, there’s something for you to enjoy. It’s the kind of book that challenges you as a reader, that brings you to actual tears (and this one wasn’t just because I’m pregnant!), and that leaves you in admiration for strong writing, world building, and character development. Fresh, free of cliché, balanced, and deep, Broken Country is masterfully crafted from start to finish and is a true 5 star read.

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater

Something important to know about Stiefvater’s writing is that it is character-driven, poetic, and introspective. Yes, there are action, stakes, and tension, but the characters’ morals and commitment to duty, family, place, and purpose are what slowly and intentionally shift the story forward. The world is a character in and of itself, and understanding that magic is a living, breathing entity that is never to be fully unveiled is essential. This is not fully historical fiction and not fully fantasy. It’s certainly not a love story between a man and a woman. But it is a love story between a woman and the hotel she calls her home. It’s a story of how war demands sacrifice, bravery, and a commitment to morality, even if you’re not on the front lines. It’s a story of how hospitality is a magical act but also how the forces of nature are their own brutal, beautiful brand of sorcery.

Stiefvater describes the genre of her newest novel as “Wonder” and describes her intention to “write myth.” If you opened this book thinking you were getting fantasy or historical fiction, both of which are partial categorizations, you would be confused, disappointed, and dissatisfied. If you care about World War II being the setting, you’ll be let down. But if you want to explore a world tinged with magic, luxury, and the imminent threat of death while basking in poetry and feeling the weight of duty and expectation, you’re in luck!

I still enjoy The Raven Cycle the most of all of Stiefvater’s work, and I can see how her writing morphed and matured into The Listeners. I miss the central heart of friendship that defined the young adult series, but I appreciate Stiefvater’s fearlessness in experimenting with genre. I hope she doesn’t stop exploring adult fiction and the freedom it provides her with.  

The Summer I Turned Pretty Trilogy by Jenny Han

When I wasn't feeling well, I wanted something fluffy to read that wasn’t too deep, too poetic, or too tension filled. I didn’t have the bandwidth for tears, I didn’t want to have to think too hard, and I wanted to be amused. Enter: The Summer I Turned Pretty, the inspiration behind the smash Amazon Prime hit show that, try as I might, I could not get invested in. The books, on the other hand, were easy to blow through with astonishing speed, and while I can’t say I loved them, I can certainly see why so many people have read them.

The concept is simple. Belly has grown up alongside Jeremiah and Conrad at their summer house, but as she becomes a teenager, her feelings of friendship become a full-blown, messy crush on the older brother, Conrad. She and Conrad date, things don’t work out, she gets stupidly involved with Jeremiah, gets engaged to Jeremiah despite the litany of red flags and warnings she receives, and then ends happily ever after (spoiler!) with Conrad after all. I want to root for and like Belly. It’s so easy to relate to that feeling of having a crush, of falling too fast and too far in love with the wrong person, and of making decisions that are fueled solely by big emotions instead of logic and reason. However, Belly comes across as so immature and so desperate for affection, validation, and love that she becomes unbearable. Conrad is so emotionally distant and in such a different place in his life that a relationship with Belly feels foolish and doomed from the start. Jeremiah rivals Belly for selfishness and immaturity, and the fact that they are so close to getting married when even Belly can recognize that she’s making a mistake makes me want to bang my head against a wall.

Belly shows the extremes of teenage love, and my heart did break for her a little in all that she is willing to give up in the name of “love.” She’ll destroy her chance at a full college experience, fracture her relationship with her family, and keep Conrad close enough to hurt them both. She seems to have no regard for her own happiness and has no real goals or identity for herself outside of her relationships. Girl, I promise, there are other men out there besides these two brothers. Seriously, it’s so uncomfortable to ping pong between two brothers that she grew up with when neither treats her consistently well nor gives her any kind of reason to keep pursuing them.

If you’re snowed in, sick, or just wanting something quick to read, it’s a good book to rant about with friends, especially if you’re planning to watch the show. If you want an enjoyable romance, steer clear.

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Cooking: This is my third time making this homemade Hamburger Helper copycat recipe, and I feel like I’ve finally nailed it. The trick is to season with paprika, chili powder, and oregano through each step of the cooking process and to add more than you think (especially of the paprika). It’s a quick and easy meal that relies on pantry staples, and it makes a ton in just one pot. Overall, this is a winning recipe for me!

Baking: On my quest to continue making banana-filled desserts, I made banana pudding. Making the homemade whipped cream for it is so tasty and satisfying, and the whole thing comes together quickly and with minimal fuss. On a very exciting note, I finally found cake flour after over a year of looking, so I’ve stocked up with a year’s supply. Baking in Guam means that I’ve gotten used to making substitutions (especially for buttermilk), but it’s nice to not have to do any math!

Watching: Jeopardy’s “Tournament of Champions” is so fun to watch because our favorite players have returned! Unfortunately, none of my favorite players are making it to the finals (Michelle Tsai and her awesome sweaters were the saddest loss!).

Listening: I had said that I would come back to my thoughts on With Heaven on Top and here we are. On my first listen, I was unimpressed. I felt like the songs didn’t have the same captivating emotion and storytelling as Bryan’s earlier albums, and there weren’t any clear favorites that stood out to me. Having listened to his albums on repeat for years, his sound has blended into a familiar but predictable pattern. My second, third, and fourth listens, however, began to change my opinion. The accompanying instrumentals are more creative and bolder than in his previous albums, and the horn section is a clear highlight. While drinking, his mother’s death, failed relationships, and run-ins with the police have always been a central exploration of his work, there seems to be a new maturity as Bryan dips his toes into positive, healthy change in his personal life. The songs don’t paint a picture of a man careening towards disaster but instead a man hesitantly and surprisingly embracing life. Fame and years and tragic loss have morphed his perspective, and his newfound wisdom after life on the road adds a subtle but powerful depth to his words. Stand out songs on the album for me are "Appetite," "DeAnn's Denim," "Santa Fe," "Cannonball," and "Say Why."