Chaos & Confetti

As we continue into a new year, it’s always fun to reflect on the year that came before. This month, I’ll be looking back on the different media I consumed during 2025. 

I’ll be starting with books, and then will continue later in the month with tv shows and movies.

First, here is the list of the all the new-to-me books that I read during the 2025 calendar year

List of Books I Read During 2025:

• 3 Day, 9 Months, 27 Years by John Scalzi
• 100 Animals That Can F*cking End You by Mamadou Ndiaye
• A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green
• A Happy Catastrophe by Maddie Dawson
• A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
• Abscond by Abraham Verghese
• Always and Forever, Lara jean by Jenny Han
• Bad Date by Ellery Lloyd
• Before Us by Jane E. James
• Chaos Theory by Nic Stone
• Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
• Crystal Society by Max Harms
• Death Row by Freida McFadden
• Eerie Basin by Ivy Pochoda
• Enhancing Teaching and Learning by Jean Donham
• I Think We’ve Been Here Before by Suzy Krause
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
• Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
• Influencer by Adam Cesare
• Iron Gold by Pierce Brown
• Jackpot by Nic Stone
• Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession
• Life Derailed by Beth Merlin
• Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card
• Love, Rebooted by Katy Summers
• Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
• Missing in Flight by Audrey J. Cole
• Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra
• P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han
• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
• The Beauty of the End by Lauren Stienstra
• The Fall Risk by Abby Jimenez
• The Heart of Everything by Marc Levy
• The Last Father-Daughter Dance by Lisa Wingate
• The Magicians by Lev Grossman
• The New David Espinoza by Fred Aceves
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
• The One that Got Away by Mike Gayle
• The Pact by Jodei Picoult
• The Prestige by Christopher Priest
• The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy
• The Seventh Victim by Mary Burton
• The Sons of El Rey by Alex Esponoza
• The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
• The Sublet by Greer Hendricks
• The Upswing: How America Came Together… by Robert D. Putnam
• The Watchers by A.M. Shine
• There’s Only One Noon Yeah by Rob Bell
• Those Who Wait by Haley Cass
• To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
• Unwind by Neal Shusterman
• Wilder Girls by Rory Power
• When We Ride by Rex Ogle
• Where’d You Park Your Spaceship? By Rob Bell
• Who Censored Roger Rabbit? By Gary K. Wolf
• Woke up Like This by Amy Lea
• Wicked by Gregory Maguire
• You Like it Darker by Stephen King

Now, here are what I would consider my top books of 2025:

BEST REALISTIC FICTION:

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

Chris Harte and Emily Gold have literally known each other their whole lives.  From best friends to significant others, they’ve always completed one another.  Even their parents are best friends, having lived next door to each other for nearly two decades.  It’s a perfect life with a clear future of uncomplicated joy ahead.  Then, a late night call breaks the peace.  Families are notified of tragedy.  Emily is dead.  Gunshot wound to the head.  Chris is the only eye witness, claiming a failed suicide pact.  The police are suspicious, and murder charges are pressed.  The families become divided as the legal battles begin.  What is the truth about the night of Emily’s death, and what consequences will it have moving forward?

The Pact is a roller coaster ride with heart and pathos.  Picoult creates two families full of fleshed out characters, each dealing with the build up and aftermath of a tragedy.  The characters each feel distinct and relatable as they process through their grief and emotions.  No matter who the reader relates to most throughout the novel, they will understand and care for all characters.  As a parent, this novel brought forth a lot of emotions for me and reflections on my own current and future relationship with my child.  The world is hard to navigate as a child, but it’s also hard as a parent watching your child build a world outside and unknown to you.

This novel works as a family drama, a legal showcase, a love story, and more.  Picoult move expertly through the different character and plot presentations, pulling the reader along as she slowly reveals what they long to know. 

Parts of The Pact are difficult and heartbreaking to get through, but the story is well worth it.  

*I also read The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult and that was also a fantastic read.

BEST FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION BOOK

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

In a second prequel to the original Hunger Games trilogy, Haymitch Abernathy finds himself competing in the 50th annual Hunger Games, also known as the second Quarter Quell, a special anniversary year which will see double the number of participants competing.  Haymitch wants to live a simple life in district 12 with his mom, brother, and girlfriend.  Knowing this is now impossible and death is likely, Haymitch refuses to play into the Capital’s plans.  He wants to make an impact and send a message greater than himself, even if that message must be through his defiance and death.

The difficulty with prequels is that they must successfully tell a meaningful story worth reading while also not disrupting what readers know must come later.  Despite readers presumably already knowing who will win the 50th annual Hunger Games and the fates of a few characters, Collins still writes an engaging story that carries its own weight in tension and meaning.  Sunrise on the Reaping should be a satisfying story for new and long-time readers of the Hunger Games series (though we definitely get plenty of nods and references that will mean more to those who are more well-versed in the series lore).

With forty-eight participants and numerous side characters, there is a lot for Collins to juggle, but she wisely focuses on her key players while also figuring out how to add dimensions to others by smartly grouping them.  Collins weaves established characters into this narrative in ways that make sense and are useful to the plot, but also gives new characters plenty of spotlight as well.  Most importantly, readers will care as characters face risk, loss, and/or success. 

With each book released, Collins does a better job of capturing the dystopian horror that Panem is.  The hopelessness of a broken system designed to punish certain people while continuing to empower others is much more in readers’ faces, not allowing them to ignore it just because there is also some action going on.  Like Haymitch tries to get a message to the masses, Collins also does her best to make sure no one will miss her themes and values.  This makes the book feel heavier but also adds so much to the reading experience. There is no questioning the evilness of President Snow this time.

Sunrise on the Reaping is a fantastic addition to the Hunger Games series.  It portrays a story worth telling in its own right but also adds plenty to the larger series’ world as well.  This is a story of pushing against the greater machine of oppression despite knowing that it’ll take far more than one crack to bring it down. 

*2nd place would go to I Think We’ve Been Here Before by Suzy Krause, which leans a little more science fiction

BEST THRILLER/HORROR

Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra

After putting her children to sleep, a mother sees a man with a weapon standing at the end of the hall. Cut off from the outside world with a snowstorm raging outside, she must to everything she can to protect her children. 

Nightwatching works on multiple levels. On a pure gut and instinctual level the novel immediately hooks readers by jumping right into the action. The mother sees the man and action must be taken. The threat is real and the stakes are high (her and her children’s lives). This is a situation that is relatable and one that people can immediately imagine themselves within. As the novel progresses, tensions are high as the mother finds a hiding place, but the threat is not thwarted. 

Sierra does a good job of raising the suspense and while also allowing readers to breathe with glimpses into the protagonist’s backstory. While by itself, the backstory helps fill out the mother’s character and give us more of a realized human to care about, it proves even more important as the story progresses (no spoilers).

What starts out as a straight thriller branches into other important themes such as the fight against isolation, commitment to our reality despite systems that push back against it, and the dedication of a parent to her children. The book display how hard it can be to push back when the world decides it already has its idea of you.

Sierra is masterful in her ability to evoke emotions: fear, anger, compassion, and hope. This is a hard to put down novel that should have readers looking forward to (and sometimes dreading) what comes next. 

* For straight horror, I would recommend Incident Around the House

* Influencer by Adam Cesare would claim 2nd for straight thriller. It’s engaging but does take a little suspension of disbelief.

BEST ROMANCE

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

Mallory is struggling to keep her family afloat, taking care of her mother and playing mom to her sisters.  Meanwhile, she toils away at a dead end job, barely scraping by.  Mallory blames chess for ruining her family several years earlier, and that’s why she never wants to play it again.

But, then Mallory begrudgingly agrees to play in a charity tournament.  This leads to her somehow beating the world chess champion, Nolan Sawyer, the bad boy hottie of the chess world. Nolan craves to play Mallory again, and while she would rather stay far away from the chess world, her win over Nolan has opened doors of opportunity. Chess may prove a profitable game if Mallory is willing to set aside her doubts and go all in.

Check & Mate deftly handles the line of being both a good story and a cute romance. Readers will root for Mallory as she tries to earn her way out of a bad life situation and butts up against the established order of the chess world. They will also stay hopeful that Mallory and Nolan may discover there is more to their connection than chess. The distinction between competition and love may not be as black and white as the pieces on a chess board.

This is a sweet romance for those who like novels that emphasize character and slow burn romance over the more naughty moments of “love.”

*2nd place romance goes to A Happy Catastrophe for delving into how love and trauma mix

*Also honorable mention to the To All the Boys I’ve Loved series which turned out to be surprisingly good.

BEST YOUNG ADULT

When We Ride by Rex Ogle

Diego and Lawson have been friends since they were small boys, building a bond as strong as any brotherhood. However, as they grow up, they begin to venture down very different paths, Diego looking to better himself through education. Lawson sees dealing and other illegal activities as his only chance at success. How do you support a friend who is going down a bad road? What loyalty do you owe them? Is success for yourself without bringing up those around you real victory? These are the questions Diego begins asking himself. Lawson needs a ride, Diego will provide, but is the risk worth it when Diego knows Lawson is using him to help with dealing drugs.

When We Ride is a novel-in-verse, which is wonderfully told in a way that distills the true heart of this story. Ogle wastes no words as he tells the story and struggles of these two boys who choose to be tied together despite their growing divide. 

The character work here is very well done and you feel for both the characters despite their flaws.

*2nd place Jackpot by Nic Stone

BEST WILD CARD

(technically this falls under magical realism)

The Sons of El Rey by Alex Espinoza

The Sons of El Rey covers the lives and histories of three generations of men from a single family. The grandfather was a Mexican luchadore who grappled more than just his opponents in the ring and whose identity wasn’t just hidden by a mask. The son follows in his father’s footsteps but also must carve his own way in the very different culture of America and a different time. Finally, the grandson strays far from the familiar path but may need to discover the value of family and cultural traditions. All three stories delve into ideas of identity, love, relationships, and tradition.

I’m a little biased because I am of Mexican descent and have a soft spot in my heart for the lucha libre tradition, but The Sons of El Rey does a great job of telling the three intertwined stories (with a few other perspectives too), with each standing out and being enjoyable in its own way. 

Espinoza is able to use his characters to explore different themes while also showing unique aspects of the same themes. In some scenes we see Ernesto as a young man trying to figure out the world and his calling, while in others he’s a dying old man whose impact reverberates in the lives of his children. Freddy deals with the weights of grief and continuing his father’s legacy while also needing to look forward to who he is for his children.  Meanwhile, Julian is a young man both embracing and pushing back against aspects of his Mexican and gay identities, struggle to find fulfillment professionally and romantically.

The Sons of El Rey is a great family saga and pulls the reader into into this family’s history, wowing readers with spectacle while also giving a look behind the masks to see the human story beneath.