Books I've Read: Jan-Apr 2025

A wrap-up of this trimester

Because I love book lists so much, I can’t help but make one of my own. In case you’re a book recommendation fiend like I am…here’s a list of all the books I read for the first 4 months of this year.

My 2025 reading goal is to read 25 hard copy books (i.e. non-audiobook :) ), so the hard copy reads are marked with an *asterisk.

My favorites have a ⭐ at the end…you should read those for sure. :)

• *Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk - Kathleen Rooney ⭐

• *Who Wrote This? How AI and the Lure of Efficiency Threaten Human Writing - Naomi S. Baron

• The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains - Nicholas Carr ⭐

• *Weyward - Emilia Hart

• *1st Nephi: A Brief Theological Introduction - Joseph Spencer

• *Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear us Apart - Nicholas Carr ⭐

• *The Glass Cage: How Our Computers Are Changing Us - Nicholas Carr ⭐

• Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions - Dan Ariely

• The Way Home: Tales from a life without technology - Mark Boyle

• *The Joy of Missing Out: Finding Balance in a Wired World - Christina Crook

• *2nd Nephi: A Brief Theological Introduction - XXX

• Chasing Slow: Courage to Journey Off the Beaten Path - Erin Loechner ⭐

• The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture - Wendell Berry ⭐

• *Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology - Eric Brende

• How to Read a Book - Monica Wood

• The Grey Wolf - Louise Penny

• *Jacob: A Brief Theological Introduction - Deidre Nicole Green

• We Solve Murders - Richard Osman ⭐

• How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told - Harrison Scott Key ⭐⭐⭐

• A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

• *Enos, Jarom, Omni: A Brief Theological Introduction - XXX

• *At Home in Mitford - Jan Karon

• *On the Calculation of Volume I - Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara Haveland

• *Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal

• Search - Michelle Huneven

• *You Could Make This Place Beautiful - Maggie Smith

• *Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World - Anne-Laure Le Cunff

If you only read ONE book from this list, make it my favorite of the year so far: How to Stay Married by Harrison Scott Key. It might end up as my best read of 2025. I’ve recommended it to everyone I know. I was hesitant at first—I’m not a huge reader of memoir, and I wasn’t totally hooked by the premise. But trust me: READ IT. On audio if possible. It’s sad and hilarious and hopeful and brilliantly written and I think you, like me, will be a better person for having read this marriage story.

I HIGHLY recommend reading something by Nicholas Carr. His newest release, Superbloom, was fascinating and I definitely think everyone who uses the internet (that’s you!) should read it. That’s my next favorite of the year so far—I loved it and plan to read it again.

Also, if you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as I am, you should absolutely read the series on the Book of Mormon called A Brief Theological Introduction, published by the Maxwell Institute. All of those deserve a ⭐, but I’ll just compile them in one note here. I have loved these little books more than I can say, and they are the best study companion I’ve ever found. Worth buying the whole box set!

Total books read: 27

Hard copy books read: 16/25

Honorable mention:

Noteworthy books I started but didn’t finish for some reason but still feel worthy of mentioning as being part of my life :) :

• Good Dirt - Charmaine Wilkerson (this was a book club choice and I wanted SO BADLY to like it but I just couldn’t stand it and DNFed it 2/3 of the way through)

• Refuse to Be Done - Matt Bell (listened to about 2/3 of it on audio before it got returned to the library, but I own a hard copy so I’ll be finishing it eventually)

• Generations - Jean Twenge (started listening on audio and it’s fascinating but I think hard copy would be a much better choice because of all the charts—it’s hard to listen to those being read aloud)

Where I get my book recommendations

If we share similar reading taste, you should know that my favorite place for book recs is the book club I’ve been a member of for 10 years now, the Modern Mrs. Darcy book club. I get no kickbacks from sharing this, but I truly think this is the best book club on the internet! I love it so much. The Summer Reading Guide (released every May) is basically second Christmas for me and one of my favorite days of the year. Most of my book choices that aren’t super niche (like my penchant for books on how tech affects our lives) are from MMD. Come join if you’re looking for the best book community ever!

What’s the best book you’ve read so far this year? I’d LOVE to hear!