It’s our mid(ish)-year reading check-in, and your book besties are here to spiral through our top 10 books of the year (so far) — plus an honorable mentions we just couldn’t leave out.

Along the way, we talk tropes (forbidden love! smut with plot!), tearjerkers, and why some books just hit even if we can't explain why.

Our 2025 so-far standouts include:

Amanda’s Picks:

• A Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America by Matt Kracht
• Are You Mad at Me? by Meg Josephson
• First Time Caller by B.K. Borison
• Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Lights Out by Navessa Allen
• Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Given
• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
• A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Kat’s Picks:

• The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown
• This Is How You Win the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
• The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
• Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
• Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Heir by Sabaa Tahir
• Food for Thought by Alton Brown
• The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop
• A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
• Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

Honorable Mention (shared by both Amanda and Kat):

• The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

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