Hello, yes, I know, I know you were wanting to hear about my favorite books for the entire year, and perhaps I will provide that in 2026. However, I have noticed to my sorrow that books publishing in the third quarter of any year are woefully overlooked in Best-of lists. As a structural matter there is not much we can do about this. Time is still finite, despite my best efforts, and the number of books published in October that you can read by December is simply fewer than the number of books published in January that you can read by December. So I offer a tiny counterbalance in the form of this Q4-only Best of 2025 list (books are in no particular order). Please enjoy, and drop your own October-to-December faves in the comments!
Cinder House, Freya Marske
You know when you are an old and cranky lady, weary from nonsense, and you feel that you have read all the possible iterations of a specific fairy tale, let’s say Cinderella as an example? Well, just when you are feeling that way, here comes Freya Marske with Cinder House, a novella retelling of Cinderella where Ella is a house, but also kind of the ghost haunting the house. She has to obey her awful stepmother and her worse stepsisters, or they’ll punish her by harming the house that is her. Her one solace is writing letters to a faraway scholar — and then, also, getting a small dispensation from a witch to be a girl again for just the three days of the prince’s ball. Marske hits all the notes of the Cinderella story, yet somehow this novella still feels fresh and unexpected at every turn. I loved it.
Psychopomp and Circumstance, Eden Royce
I honestly can’t tell if there’s been an uptick in books dealing with death and traumatic loss, or if I just happen to be reading more of them, or if it’s feeling more salient because *gestures at everything*. Whatever the case, Eden Royce’s Psychopomp and Circumstance is among the loveliest books I’ve read about what we owe to our loved ones, living and dead. You can check out my full review of this one over at Reactor.
An Unlikely Coven, AM Kvita
![An Unlikely Coven [eBook]](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/9780316586641.jpg)
I’ll be brief about this one too because I’ve got a review forthcoming at Reactor (hopefully soon!), but it was one of the unexpected treats of my reading year. It’s about the talentless younger daughter of a magical New York dynasty, who returns to New York just in time to become embroiled in the biggest magical and interspecies drama of her entire life. At its heart, it’s a story about finding the people who will hold you up when your family can’t or won’t. AM Kvita’s going to be an author to watch.
An Academic Affair, Jodi McAlister
It’s an unblessed time to work in academia, and rival scholars Sadie and Jonah are each hellbent on getting the one and only faculty opening that makes sense for their research. Then Sadie realizes that there’s a way for them both to get hired, via partner hire, if they just get married for a few years. This is frankly one of the only reasons for a contemporary marriage of convenience that I would actually buy. Like, that is a truly good idea. Sadie and Jonah each have complicated family dynamics to navigate, and I loved seeing them realize their admiration and attract for each other. I loved Jodi McAlister’s Marry Me, Juliet series, and I am dearly hoping to see more of her books published in the US going forward.
The Glowing Life of Leeann Wu, Mindy Hung
Last but very much not least is Mindy Hung’s debut novel, about a single mother whose hands start intermittently glowing. She can’t figure out what the hell’s going on, but it seems to be linked to the widespread insomnia that’s affecting everyone in town, and possibly to the great aunt Leeann briefly lived with as a young child. Hung is a careful, generous writer, and this story grapples with complex issues of generational trauma, the disconnections that come with being part of a diaspora, responsibility to family and community, and finding yourself anew at every stage of life. I particularly loved Leeann’s fraught relationship with her mom, where she feels that she’s settled into a certain version of that relationship, only to find, as she’s going through her supernatural powers, that she and her mother have more to discover about each other.
If you have gifts left to buy for this holiday season, perhaps consider one of these? Your gift recipient will not be disappointed.