Axios New Orleans readers' top books of 2025

Zoom in: The recommendations span from award-winning literature to spicy novels to make you blush.

• That's the fun of reading, in a nutshell.
• Now, let's take a look at your top reads of the year.

🔦 Kevin H. recommends "Flashlight" by Susan Choi. The New York Times calls it "a novel about exile in its multiple forms, and it reads like a history of loneliness."

👋 Dana T. suggests "The Names" by Florence Knapp, which I'm reading now and explores how our names influence our destiny.

😭 Mike M. says that readers of "A Little Life" may also like "The Heart's Invisible Furies" by John Boyne and, happily, "you won't cry as much."

🍸 Allison G. tends to prefer novels but Ina Garten's "Be Ready When the Luck Happens" was a standout, too.

🦢 Diane L. says "When the Cranes Fly South" by Lisa Ridzén was "excellent — and talk about pulling the heartstrings!"

🚣🏾 Fonda S. suggested a few, including "James" by Percival Everett, which is a retelling of "Huckleberry Finn" from Jim's perspective.

• It prompted a great discussion at my book club, too!

💍 Beth D. says "A Marriage at Sea" by Sophie Elmhirst is a true story that reads like fiction. It "makes you wonder how far you would go to save your marriage and yourself," she says.

✊ Miriam C.'s favorite book this year was "A Flower Traveled in My Blood" by Haley Cohen Gilliland. It tells the true story of the grandmothers who fought to find their grandchildren who were stolen during an Argentine dictatorship.

🚀 Angelle A.'s recommendations include "Orbital" by Samantha Harvey, which she "can't stop thinking about" and follows a single day in the life of six astronauts as they make their way around the Earth.

🆕 And reader Richard Robbins flagged his own book, "First Lady of the New World." Congrats on the new title!

• He'll be chatting at Octavia Books about it Jan. 29.