It’s been a good few months for reading — and an even better half year for setting aside books that just aren’t doing it for me! I’ve already DNFed nine books and I feel solid about making the decision nine times not to waste precious reading time on something I wasn’t enjoying.
I do have a few favourites from the books I did finish, though.
Presented in no particular order, these seven are my top reads so far this year.
The Backyard Bird Chronicles
Amy Tan (published in 2025)
I wouldn’t call myself a birder (although I do like spotting different species and send pics and birding comics to friends), but Tan’s descriptions and devotion drew me in. She’s a marvelous writer and her drawings add depth. A great book to drop in an out of as I could only handle a few entries at a time before the risk of actually becoming a birder started to feel too real.
What My Bones Know
Stephanie Foo (published in 2022)
As I read this complication non-fic about complex PTSD, I thought of so many people I wanted to share it with. What My Bones Know is part psychology and physiology (with plenty of references), part personal story — and all fascinating. I pendulated between this and something fluffy to prevent overwhelm.
Anxietyland
Gemma Correll (published in 2026)
I’ve loved Correll’s comics for years (especially when her pugs are the subject) and appreciate how she shares mental health content, too. Anxietyland takes that to the nth degree with a first person exploration of panic attacks, depression, psych wards, and the possibility that it’s possible to be okay without being cured. Some reviewers took issue with the time jumping, but it felt organic and intentional to me.
Harriet Tubman Live in Concert
Bob the Drag Queen* (published in 2025)
I didn’t know what to expect in a novel by the winner of season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race and certainly wouldn’t have predicted the wild ride of a famous abolitionist returning from the dead to record and perform hip hop. Told from the perspective of a has-been hip hop producer, this was funny, weird, and delightfully touching.
More Than Enough
Anna Quindlen (published in 2026)
Somehow I’d previously read more of Quindlen’s non-fiction work than her novels — obviously this needs to be remedied! The four women in a book club that vowed to never actually read the book drew me in, the humour, catastrophe, and emotion made me devour this. There is a happy ending, but it came with some tears.
The Names
Florence Knapp (published in 2025)
Three alternate lives resulting from three different name choices, with surprising threads anchoring a family’s trajectory. The story unspools through one chapter for each name in covering each period over three and a half decades. I adored this book and have been recommending it like crazy.
Atmosphere: A Love Story
Taylor Jenkins Reid (published in 2025)
Jenkins Reid strikes the perfect balance between soapy and science-y in this novel about astronauts in the 80s. The story moves swiftly and there’s plenty of relationship drama.
I’ve read and enjoyed more books than just these seven over the last six months, but these are the ones I’ve recommended most. I won’t name the ones I DNFed and it might be that you pick up one of these seven titles and determine it’s not for you.
If you need a reminder that it’s okay not to finish a book that you’re not enjoying, consider this encouragement to embrace the joy of the DNF! There’s a freedom in the ‘Did Not Finish’ and there are too many great reading choices to dedicate your energy to anything that’s not satisfying.
* I’m still staying away from reading straight white men, but for the first time in a long time, there’s a male author in the mix! As polyamorous, pansexual, non-binary, and Black, Bob definitely brings a different point of view to the dead ol’ white guys I rail against.
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