My Big 2025 Bookish Gift Guide

It's very accessible. You don't need any prior knowledge to read this and you find yourself laughing out loud when you're reading it because it's written in such a fun way.

Then for some middle-grade fiction, one of my favorite middle-grade books that came out this year is Anna James' latest novel, and that is Alice with a Y.

It's so immersive and so compelling. I would highly, highly recommend it.

She's just my favorite thriller writer. She writes the most complex characters in her thrillers. They're usually quite domestic and touch on quite relevant contemporary themes and I can never put one down once I've started it.

And then I myself have compiled them and provided like little introductions and bits of extra material to go along with them. So if you know anybody that enjoys folktales, fairy tales, I am very proud of these and I do think the stories inside them are a ton of fun.

If Roman history is more your bag, though, one of my favorite new ancient history books that deals with ancient Rome that came out this year is Fulvia, the Women Who Broke All the Rules in Ancient Rome by Jane Draco.

Then one of my favorite non-fiction books that I read this year and I also believe is going to appeal to a lot of readers is How to Kill a Witch, a guide for the patriarchy by Claire Mitchell and Zoe Vendosi aka the Witches of Scotland.

Yes, I'm sorry you're not getting away without hearing me talk about this book again in this video because I am so proud of this book and because of the beautiful cover, I do think it would make a gorgeous gift.

It is a reimagining of Dracula from the perspective of the character Lucy and it is just utterly gloriously dark and lush and beautiful.

And then I myself have compiled them and provided like little introductions and bits of extra material to go along with them. So if you know anybody that enjoys folktales, fairy tales, I am very proud of these and I do think the stories inside them are a ton of fun.

anyone that's into monsters and horror, the Gothic, cryptids, folklore, what have you, this is a great book. And that is Monsterland, a journey through the world's dark imagination by Nicholas Jubar.

And it's fascinating. It's also incredibly accessible. This would again be one of my go-to recommendations.

This again, one of the best books I've read this year. It will be in my favorite books of the year video.

If sci-fi dystopian with a light sprinkling of horror is more their cup of tea, however, I would also highly recommend One Yellow Eye by Lee Radford. This is a fascinating book set post zombie apocalypse.

Now, I knew very little about the Georgian period going into this book, and it didn't matter. It was written in such a fun, accessible way, but one that didn't in any way sacrifice the detail and the quality of research you expect from an academic like Anthony. This is such a good book.

We then have a very chunky book, which I am obsessed with. This is my copy, and I have been pouring over this with my husband, getting recommendations, and also learning a lot from it.

Plus, this is such a fun little like slightly creepy, slightly weird story that a lot of kids will enjoy and probably a lot of adults, too. What am I saying? I enjoyed it.

For those who prefer something a little bit more grounded in reality, however, we do have Till Death by Buso Mataluko. And this is a fantastic pacy page turner of a YA thriller.

For those high fantasy fans, I think one of my favorite YA fantasy books of the year is A Treachery of Swans by AB Porin.