In Episode 215, Sarah and Catherine of Gilmore Guide to Books share the best backlist books they read in 2025. They discuss their top 5 backlist books from last year, highlight some underrated backlist gems, and review their backlist reading statistics. Devoting an entire episode to backlist reading is both a team and listener favorite annual tradition!

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

Announcement

The Best of the Backlist Guide: Favorite Backlist Books Read in 2025 is available now! Members of the Sarah's Bookshelves Live community share the best backlist book they read last year in a beautiful PDF guide. To get the guide, you can sign up to join us on Patreon here. or Substack here. You'll also get access to monthly bonus podcast episodes and the new-for-2026 Rock Your Reading Tracker and the Lite Reading Tracker.

Highlights

Sarah and Catherine share their full stats for backlist reading in 2025.
Backlist reading quantity was stable last year for Sarah, but backlist reading quality dipped a bit.
Catherine had a slight increase in the number of backlist books she read, AND her backlist reading remained incredibly successful.
Sarah's backlist reading may change just a bit looking ahead to 2026.

Our Top 5 Backlist Books We Read in 2025 [10:44]

Catherine

The No-Show by Beth O'Leary (2022) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [10:50]
Georgia by Dawn Tripp (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [17:44]
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (2008) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [23:48]
Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane (2019) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [30:57]
The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell (2013) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [38:21]

Sarah

The Force of Such Beauty by Barbara Bourland (2022) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [13:37]
The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis (1983) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [20:58]
We Burn Daylight by Bret Anthony Johnston (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [27:42]
Family Happiness by Laurie Colwin (1982) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [35:30]
Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea (2021) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [40:37]

Other Books Mentioned

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary (2019) [13:19]
The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin (2023) [20:28]
Smacked by Eilene Zimmerman (2020) [20:31]
Nowhere Girl by Cheryl Diamond (2021) [20:33]
Heated Rivalry (Game Changers, 2) by Rachel Reid (2023) [33:50]
Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin (1978) [37:58]
Guess Again by Charlie Donlea (2025) [40:54]

Underrated Backlist Gems [43:34]

Catherine

Miss Jane by Brad Watson (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [43:46]
Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa (2016) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [48:40]

Sarah

Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [46:28]
Euphoria by Lily King (2014) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [51:04]

Other Books Mentioned

Talking at Night by Claire Davelery (2023) [48:25]
Slanting Towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje (2025) [51:20]
Heart the Lover by Lily King (2025) [51:38]

The Best Backlist We Read in 2025 with Catherine Gilmore | Ep. 215