In Ep. 212, Sarah and Catherine of Gilmore Guide to Books start wrapping up 2025 with the first of the two year-end episodes: Best Books of 2025 Superlatives. In this episode, they share their picks for over 25 superlative categories, including Weirdest 5-Star Read of 2025, The Book That Made Us Furious, Most Underrated Gem, Too Dark Even for Me, and so much more!

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CLICK HERE for the full episode Show Notes on the blog.

Highlights

Our best books of the year from over 25 categories, including:

My First 5-Star 2025 Release of the Year
Weirdest 5-Star Read of 2025
The Book That Made Us Furious
Most Underrated Gem
Most Perplexing Book
Best Book to Be Made into a Reality Series
Too Dark Even for Me
Most Crushingly Depressing Book I Loved
Best Horror Book in the Victorian-Feminist-Gory Category
The Crime Novel That Hit Me Hardest Emotionally

2025 Superlatives [7:32]

Sarah

Penitence by Kristin Koval (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [7:58]
What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [12:38]
Culpability by Bruce Holsinger (2025)| Amazon | Bookshop.org [13:22]
Maggie; a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar by Katie Yee (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [17:43]
The Slip by Lucas Schaefer (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [19:25]
Audition by Katie Kitamura (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [24:22]
The Dinner Party by Viola Van de Sandt (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [29:25]
Fox by Joyce Carol Oates (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [33:35]
When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén (US release 2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [36:37]
Dominion by Addie E. Citchens (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [41:30]
What Happened to the McCrays? by Tracey Lange (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [44:53]
Dream State by Eric Puchner (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [47:52]
Heart the Lover by Lily King (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [51:06]
The Boomerang by Robert Bailey (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [54:38]
Awake by Jen Hatmaker (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [57:07]

Catherine

What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [9:58]
The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [14:37]
The Compound by Aisling Rawle (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [21:31]
Murderland by Caroline Fraser (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [26:53]
Heart, Be At Peace by Donal Ryan (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [31:07]
The Names by Florence Knapp (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [35:13]
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [38:31]
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [43:12]
Sweet Fury by Sash Bischoff (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [45:45]
Muse of Nightmares (Strange the Dreamer, 2) by Laini Taylor (2018) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [49:40]
Let's Call Her Barbie by Renée Rosen (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [52:39]
Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [55:31]
The Death of Us by Abigail Dean (2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [1:00:18]

Other Books Mentioned

Defending Jacob by William Landay (2012) [8:59]
All That Is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay (2023) [9:00]
Pretty Things by Janelle Brown (2020) [10:40]
I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid (2016) [30:25]
The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan (2012) [33:08]
Buckeye by Patrick Ryan (2025) [45:20]
The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange (2023) [45:39]
Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1934) [46:13]
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller (2021) [48:34]
Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler (2013) [48:35]
Writers and Lovers by Lily King (2020) [51:32]