Favorite Books - 2025
I try to keep track of what I read every year and then pull out some of my favorites as recommendations. Most of the recommendations are business or self-help books. This past year, however, I read a lot of fiction and young adult books. Here is a link to my post about the young adult books about overcoming adversity that helped me get through my fractured metatarsal.
Recommendations from my favorite books read in 2025:
How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Don Clifton (Aug 2004) - still a classic and go-to
Validation: How the Skill Set That Revolutionized Psychology Will Transform Your Relationships, Increase Your Influence, and Change Your Life by Caroline Fleck (Feb 2025)
Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach (Nov 2004) - glad I finally read this one
Fight Right: How Successful Couples Turn Conflict Into Connection by Julie Schwartz Gottman, PhD, and John Gottman, PhD (Jan 2024) - helpful tools
Extra Focus: The Quick Start Guide to Adult ADHD by Jesse J. Anderson (Sep 2023) -
Embrace Discomfort: Lean Into Challenge to Improve Your Life Audiobook by Michael Easter (Apr 2025)
Forgive for Good: A Proven Prescription for Health and Happiness by Frederic Luskin (Jan 2003) - link goes to my book summary
Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life by Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD (May 2021) - link goes to my book summary
It's Not You: How to Identify and Heal from NARCISSISTIC People by Ramani Durvasula (Jan 2024) - loved it so much here to think about and adopt!
Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves--and How to Find Our Way Back by Dr. Ingrid Clayton (Sep 2025)
Internal Family Systems Therapy Second Edition by Richard C. Schwartz and Martha Sweezy (Sep 2019 - Audible Jun 2024)
The Next Conversation: Argue Less, Talk More by Jefferson Fisher (Mar 2025)
Creating Intelligent Teams: Leading with Relationship Systems Intelligence by Dr Anne Rød and Marita Fridjhon (Aug 2020)
Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves by Alison Wood Brooks (Jan 2025)
Reset: How to Change What's Not Working by Dan Heath (Jan 2025)
Shift: Managing Your Emotions--So They Don't Manage You by Ethan Kross (Feb 2025)
The Wedding People by Alison Espach (Jul 2024)
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (May 2021)
Don't Call It a Comeback: What Happened When I Stopped Chasing PRs, and Started Chasing Happiness by Keira D'Amato with Evelyn Spence (Sep 2025)
I also ended up reading a lot of romance books and fiction. Here are a few authors and books I enjoyed:
Katherine Center
Sarah Adams
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (Apr 2012)
Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall (May 2021)
Previous book lists:
