My Top 5 Books of 2025— So Far

From biblical studies to novels and memoirs, here are the five best things I’ve read so far this year.

Nothing like some good books to start the year with! Here are a few that have been good company during these dark midwinter days. What books would you recommend? I like memoir; literary novels that meet very high standards; good/thoughtful biblical studies, church history, and theology; true crime and thrillers that feel like true crime.

1. Jennie's Boy: A Newfoundland Childhood, by Wayne Johnston

Memoir, midcentury life, rural and coastal grit

One of those rare books you don’t want to end. Jennie’s Boy was my first introduction to Canadian author Wayne Johnston—better known for his melancholic fiction—and I was completely drawn in. This memoir vividly captures mid-century, rural, Catholic Newfoundland through the eyes of a sickly young boy: Johnston himself. His writing has a similar lyrical, bittersweet quality as Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes—with a touch less death (and just as much brooding). The story lingers long after the last page, and I’ll definitely be diving into more of Johnston’s work—fiction and nonfiction alike.

2. The Old Testament, by Amy-Jill Levine

A masterful overview of the OT and its modern interpretive lenses

Listening to Levine’s master class on the OT in January was the way to kick off my Bibe-in-a-year ritual. Though concise, Levine’s treatment of the Old Testament is impressively thorough, introducing not only its content and genres but also the dominant interpretive challenges and hermeneutical approaches shaping modern biblical study. I do wish she had touched on earlier interpretive methods—like the fourfold reading of Scripture of late antiquity and the medieval period, or the typological/christological lens of the Church Fathers—but what she does cover is rich and illuminating.

I especially appreciate that Levine approaches the OT as a scholar with a Jewish background, offering insights that speak to both Jewish and Christian readers. She neither flattens the text nor shies away from its complexities, ambiguities, and Mystery—encouraging us to engage with these sacred writings in all their depth regardless of our personal faith background.

3. As Close to Us as Breathing, by Elizabeth Poliner

An aching novel of coming to terms with familial loss along the Connecticut shoreline

This meditative novel reads like a memoir in the way it captures the texture of moments and memories.

For you if you like: character driven family sagas that don’t sprawl over multiple generations; narratives shaped by unlikely loss; New England in the summer; the show Shtisel; sisters; stories about cultural minorities; intergenerational; coming of age stories; literary prose; midcentury; evocative sense of place and time.

4. Reading the Old Testament Through Jewish Eyes, Evan Moffic

An unexpected gem

I picked up this short reflection on the Torah with low expectations—half expecting a generic, possibly gimmicky take on the Old Testament with a few messianic tropes thrown in for Christian appeal. Instead, I found a thoughtful, deeply meaningful exploration of its symbols, themes, and characters through the pastoral lens of a Jewish rabbi. From drawing connections between Scripture and Jewish worship across the centuries to unpacking debates around the more challenging aspects of the Law, to uncovering deeper truths hidden in Hebrew words and etymologies—this little book is crafted with care and offers a rich, illuminating read for Christians looking to deepen their understanding of their own Bible. Bonus points: unlike the Torah itself, this book is short and sweet. A true gem.

For you if you like: the Bible project; Torah reading; allegory and symbolism in the Bible; ecumenical dialogue; Abraham Joshua Heschel; learning about other cultures; reading Scripture in totality; wrestling with God; religious studies; ancient history; finding continuity between Christianity and Judaism.

5. Ordinary Grace, by William Kent Krueger

The most suspenseful non-suspenseful novel ever

From the outset—indeed the dust jacket—we know thirteen-year-old Frank Drum will witness four deaths over the course of one summer: an accident, a suicide, a natural mishap, and a murder. It sounds like a thriller, but it isn’t. Instead, it’s a languid coming-of-age novel with a quiet, steady pulse of suspense. Krueger masterfully keeps you on edge, not with plot twists, but with the slow approach of each loss (and a few teases along the way). As someone who has a soft spot for both mortality AND coming-of-age stories set in summer (In the Place of Fallen Leaves by Tim Pears remains a favorite), I found this one deeply absorbing.

Runners up

Books I’d recommend that didn’t necessary make the top-5 cut

• Safe Church: How to Guard Against Sexism and Abuse in Christian Communities, by Andrew J. Bauman - an important work on how to guard against theological misogyny, written from an Evangelical perspective. 4/5 stars for reasons I discuss in my Goodreads review.

• Men Who Hate Women: From Incels to Pickup Artists: The Truth about Extreme Misogyny and How it Affects Us All, by Laura Bates - This was a helpful, if truly horrifying read, which helped me get my bearings straight while facing public backlash (and email death threats) after I posted a controversial article. It helped me get a better sense of what this “manosphere” thing is and the forms it takes, and how it is infecting Orthodoxy. A five star read that I didn’t mention in my main article because it’s pretty graphic and not for everyone.

• The Day that Went Missing, by Richard Beard - Another 5-star memoir (it’s been a good year for memoirs so far!). Highly recommend reading this one if you’re a memoir writer struggling to write about something you’ve nearly forgotten, or your family has never really talked about and for which documentary evidence is lacking. The book could be a master class in how to go about tackling a subject like that in a meaningful way.

• The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth, by Beth Allison Barr - Just finished this one and not yet sure what I think or what to rate it (somewhere in the vicinity of 4 stars). On the one hand, it was a treat to read a book about a spiritual topic I’m passionate about from a true historian’s perspective and immerse myself in some of the same religious texts and authors I read during my PhD in History. On the other hand, something about the premise feels off to me—it is less a continuous history (as it presents itself) and more a series of excursions or case studies on particular points in time, and therefore feels spotty to me. (I also just disagree with the author on some things, which is fine—I appreciate her perspective and the journey of pain she’s traveled to get to the point of writing this book.)

Heck no

A few DNFs or WNRs (Would Not Recommend)

• Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain - have fond memories of reading this book in graduate school (in German!) and thought I’d give it a go for a reddit reading group I’m in. I’m still stuck in the middle of what my friend Dan recently described as the “worst masterpiece ever written.”

• Sometimes I Lie, by Alice Feeney - Still trying to get over the fact that I’ve read all of Hermann Koch’s thrillers so I was on the hunt for a good unreliable narrator. This one was way too contrived, and the book itself repeated metaphors and phrases so often it was infuriating. Would not recommend.

• One of Us is Lying, by Karen McManus - DNF, mostly for same reasons as above.

Share your recent reads and recommendations below!