Check out some interesting books I read this year and perhaps find your next great read or an excellent holiday gift!
This is the third year of my "favorite books of" - check out the previous two for even more book recommendations!
Rey Katz
Rey Katz
In other book review news, this June, I had the pleasure of collaborating with Sri Juneja. We discussed the Harry Potter franchise and recommended some more inclusive books:
Rey Katz
Amplify Respect is a newsletter to uplift and inform trans folks and allies.
If you find it helpful to learn how to talk about a trans family member, how to promote your work as an LGBTQ+ creator, or how to write about trans people respectfully, you should subscribe.
My favorite books of 2025
You'll notice some of my author (and publisher, and self-publishing) friends on this list - and that is completely intentional! This is a biased list based on my personal opinion of not only some great books but some great people. That's why I call this feature "my favorite books" and not a "best of."
Let's dig into my favorite memoir, nonfiction, and novels I read this year!
The links to Bookshop.org are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission.
Memoir
Hotshot: A Life on Fire by River Selby
I learned so much from River Selby's researched memoir. I gained a greater appreciation of how hard it is to contain wildfires, manage ecosystems in the American West, and work in a physical, male-dominated industry.
While Hotshot does not contain much discussion about being queer, the understated queer-ness of the book is present throughout, from the narrator's gender, sexuality, and body image to observing the natural world as it truly is.
For more about Hotshot, check out my full review:
Rey Katz
Stories from the Edge: A Chaplain's Encounters with Dying Patients by Laurie Eynon
I had the honor of workshopping some of Laurie's essays, and appreciate how much insight and dry humor she brings to the moments near death that she witnesses as a chaplain. This book is about death, but the stories are more meaningful than depressing. This feels like a fascinating conversation with a kind, generous woman who's not afraid to tell you what death really looks like.
Bicycling with Butterflies: My 10,201-Mile Journey Following the Monarch Migration by Sara Dykman
This memoir was a lot of fun to read while traveling and camping myself. Dykman rides her bike solo from Mexico, through the United States, into Canada, and all the way back, not just as an adventure, but to learn from and raise awareness of the monarch butterfly migration.
While monarchs are not in immediate danger of extinction, their migration patterns are. It's incredible to imagine four generations of butterflies migrating thousands of miles. We humans can help by maintaining habitat like milkweed plants and not mowing by the side of the road during the time of year when caterpillars need those plants.
I checked this book out of the South Lake Tahoe public library, and when I returned it, I said thank you to the librarian, and that I had enjoyed reading it. I immediately felt that "enjoyed" was not the correct word to use regarding a book about the Holocaust, but I wasn't sure what else to say.
Appreciated? Was incredibly upset? Gained a greater understanding? Yes.
Nonfiction
Raising Trans Kids: What to Expect When You Weren't Expecting This by Rebecca Minor
Rebecca Minor speaks directly to parents and family members of trans kids to reassure and educate them on what may be going on with their child and how they can help.
This thorough and caring resource seems very helpful for parents who want to learn how kids feel and express gender and what the best practices are for supporting trans kids.
About Your Black Transgender Child: Answers to MOST of Your Burning Questions by Dr. Lulu
Dr. Lulu shares from her own experience as a physician, an immigrant, and the queer parent of a Black transgender child. She addresses specific fears that may arise in Black families and communities, and provides reassurance that parents can learn to be supportive, loving allies for their children.
Kari Ginsburg's enthusiasm and expertise shines through in this thoughtful and encouraging book for business and life. I'd recommend Hey Glitterbomb! to anyone trying to figure out a career transition, life change, or wanting to express more of their true self in their work.
For more with Kari Ginsburg, check out our conversation:
Rey Katz
Leaving the Casino by Jessica Lackey
Jessica Lackey compares a lot of business coaching to playing slot machines: lots of bright lights and promises, but you end up losing money. I really appreciated how she explains the different kinds of solopreneurship and shares what may or may not work.
This is a wild-goose-chase of a book, heading down tons of rabbit holes tangentially related to a shipment of rubber ducks lost at sea and then rediscovered as flotsam on the beach. Donovan Hohn takes us around the world, from cleanup efforts in Alaska to plastic toy manufacturing in China.
One of the experts Hohn interviews for this book is a trans woman, and while he explains this somewhat awkwardly, I do think it's important representation to feature trans experts for topics other than transness.
How Birds Evolve by Douglas J. Futuyma
This is a bird book for bird-obsessed people. If you do not find birds interesting there is nothing in here for you. The writing style is rather like a textbook, and I found it hard to chug through, but then the facts interspersed throughout were so incredible I kept stopping to look them up.
Did you know that Black-Headed Ducks in South America are the only waterfowl that are obligate brood parasites? This means that these ducks only lay eggs in other birds' nests and never build their own. The ducklings just walk away from the nest on their own after hatching, not greatly interfering with their host family.
If you're looking for a dense, heavily researched infodump on birds, this is it.
Novels
The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr
This was such an immersive novel, taking place in a very intense, short time frame. Suzette Mayr illustrates Blackness and gayness in a historical context when both identities were strongly discriminated against by racist white people and institutions.
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
Check out the content warnings for this horror novel before you dive in. Andrew Joseph White is not kidding about the graphic non-consensual medical gore.
The characters show something so true about trans and autistic people. I usually don't love horror, and was left with some unpleasantly sticky images, but also loved the characters and twists and turns of the plot.
I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
This novel is from the perspective of two teen siblings, who each know some things about what's going on in their family and community. Creating art is important to most characters in this book and I appreciate how the art helps sculpt the story as well.
The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune
A fun, touching, queer, meaningful superhero novel! :)
This is one of those heterosexual novels that really feels like it should be a queer novel. Or maybe I just read almost exclusively LGBTQIA2S+ fiction. This historical fantasy has a twisty plot that I was genuinely surprised by!
Sex of the Midwest by Robyn Ryle
I'm excited for the first novel published by my friends at Galiot Press. This quirky, amusing portrait of a small town after the start of the Covid pandemic is full of character.
Thanks for reading along with me! I hope you've found some inspiration for your next great read.
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Amplify Respect is a newsletter to uplift and inform trans folks and allies.
If you find it helpful to learn how to talk about a trans family member, how to promote your work as an LGBTQ+ creator, or how to write about trans people respectfully, you should subscribe.
What's your favorite book that you read this year? Let us know in the comments!
