Books vs. Movies
In this podcast we set out to answer the age old question: is the book really always better than the movie?
Books vs. Movies
Top 10 Favorite Books of 2025
A top ten list only works if it tells a story, and this one starts with quiet middle grade courage and ends with a blockbuster prequel that cracked my no-tears streak wide open. I’m counting down the books that stayed with me in 2025—titles that challenged me, healed me, and sometimes made me argue with myself in the margins.
I move from the sharp empathy of Out of My Mind to the cross-country ache of The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, where grief rides shotgun on a converted school bus. I pause in court with Helen Garner’s meticulous This House of Grief and step behind the velvet rope with Lawrence Wright’s Going Clear, unpacking belief, power, and how institutions hold their people. Then it’s fiction’s turn to bruise: Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting coils family secrets into a tense, open-ended crescendo, and Let the Right One In turns loneliness into a haunting, human bond that lingers like a bruise.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous offers a letter that reads like a life, mapping queerness, migration, and memory in language that glows. Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel examines chosen childlessness, prognosis, and friendship without flinching, giving space to hard choices too often reduced to clichés. And at the top, Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins did the impossible: I knew the ending, looked it up on purpose, and still cried—hard. Continuity quibbles aside, the emotional calculus is undeniable, the character work devastating.
Along the way, I also admit something unexpected: four of this year’s picks came from the Dua Lipa Book Club after a previous year where those choices rarely landed for me. Taste shifts, curation sharpens, and when a list delivers, I’ll say it. Hit play to hear why each book earned its spot and where I think the debates will spark.
If this countdown gives you a new favorite—or a title you want to fight me over—share the episode, leave a review, and tell me your personal #1 for 2025. Let’s build a reading list worth arguing about.
All episodes of the podcast can be found on our website: https://booksvsmovies.buzzsprout.com/share
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Welcome to Books versus Movies, the podcast where I set out to answer the age-old question: Is the book really always better than the movie? I'm Juvia, an actress and book lover based out of New York City, and today I will be counting down my top 10 list of favorite books of 2025. That came out a lot more clumsy than I intended it to. I was trying to channel my inner Todd in the shadows be whenever he does his final top 10 and top 10 best and top 10 worst songs of the year. He like sounds really pumped up, even if he's not. So that's what I was going for, but it didn't exactly work out. All right. So yeah, this these episodes are always a lot more chill. I really don't edit them at all. I kind of just name my top 10 favorite books and move on. But that doesn't mean I'm not any less excited to share these episodes with you. And I always want to know what's on your list, all of that. But let's go ahead and get started. Yeah, so this was a good year for the Dua Lipa book club picks. I feel like last year in my top 10 least favorite books, there was a lot of the books that she chose on that list. And that isn't to say that I enjoyed every single one of her books, but considering four of them are on my top 10 list, I say that's an improvement because last year we just I just did not vibe with the books, and this year I vibed a lot more, I feel like. But I'm gonna start off with my number 10 pick, which is Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper. This is a middle grade book that follows a young girl. She's 11 and she has cerebral palsy, and she's really, really smart, but because of her cerebral palsy, she can't communicate as effectively as she would like. And because of her disability and everything, she is not taken as seriously as she should be. And it's uh the ending is really, really sad, and you feel really bad for the main character, but I really enjoyed it and I think it's a solid middle grade book. Number nine is This House of Grief by Helen Gardner, which was one of Dua Lipa's book club hooks, book club picks for this year, and it is a true story. Helen Gardner is one of the most celebrated journalists in Australia, and so she, like many people in Australia, was fascinated by this criminal trial that took place over there involving a man who was accused of killing his three children, and Helen Garner was there at every single day of the two trials. He was, he did have to go to trial for this murder or alleged murder twice. There are still, she doesn't accuse him of anything. She also isn't out to set to prove his innocence. She's just reporting the facts of the case as it was laid out in both trials, and they both ended up wielding very different results. But it was a very famous trial that occurred in Australia in the 2000s, and it involved a man who was accused of killing his kids essentially in retaliation for his wife, ex-wife getting into a new relationship, or at least that is what was alleged against him. But it is a really intriguing case, and it's hard to read at times just because of the nature of what happened to these children, and there's moments in you which you really believe them, and there's moments in which you really don't. So very interesting and fascinating book. Number eight is Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright. I'm not going to get into this too much because I do have an episode dedicated to this book and the documentary that it was that the documentary that was adapted because of the book. But it is a really, really fascinating look into Scientology. It ties into Hollywood and it goes into so many deep dives into just the history and the famous people that are in it and how it was started, and just it's fascinating. I really, really enjoyed reading this book. Number seven, we have another one of Dua Lipa's book club picks for this year, and that for last year, I should say, and that is On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Wong. This is such a beautiful story, and it's very, very short. So if you're looking for something that is easy to get through, this is a good pick for you. It follows a man telling his writing a letter to his mom, and he and his mom don't have the best relationship. And it details the tumultuousness of their relationship, but also his coming-of-age moments of realizing that he's gay and the relationships that he encounters and the things he has to go through by himself because he doesn't necessarily have his mom's support. So it is a very sad book, but it is so beautifully written, and I really enjoyed reading it. Number six, we have The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzak. This is a reread for me, as mentioned in my book thief episode. So if you're interested in checking out more of my thoughts on the book and the film, then check out that episode. But yeah, this is a reread for me. I did not like it that much the very, very first time I ever read it, but I think I just wasn't old enough to really appreciate it because once I reread it again as an adult, it really sunk in for me for me. And it's one of my favorite books. So I highly recommend it. Number five, The Beasting by Paul Murray. This was one of Dua Lipa's club book club picks, I believe for 2024. I believe it was like the end of 2024, but it's a massive book, 600 pages. And so I ended up finishing it in 2025. But it is such a good book. It's 600 pages. Sometimes I can get a little antsy reading books that long, but this one just swept me up. I was so involved and invested in this family's drama, and I wanted to know every detail, and it was so messy and so juicy. And I really, really liked it. I really enjoyed it. And honestly, a lot of people did not like the ending for this book from what I saw in the reviews. Like they kind of felt it down that after 600 pages, that's the way it's gonna end. But it the ending didn't bother me personally, it was a very, very tense last few pages. I was on the edge of my seat, and I just I was so anxious for what was gonna happen, and it is kind of an open-ended ending. So I think after 600 pages, people were probably hoping that it was a little bit, there was a little bit more of a resolution. So just letting you know that if that's not the kind of ending you like, this might not be the book for you. But for me, I absolutely loved it. And I was very invested in this family's drama and could not put it down. Number four is Let the Right One In by Jean Ajvid Linkfist. Again, I do have a podcast episode on this book and the film, but this is such a good book. Like, I really enjoyed the film, but the book is just so well written, and I don't know, I have nothing but good things to say about this book. I really, really enjoyed it. And I again, I don't like going into too much details when I have a synopsis and everything, and more detailed thoughts in my episodes, but this is a book that I highly, highly recommend. Number three, we have another middle grade book, and that is The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Danhearth. I'm not exactly sure how to pronounce it. I do apologize to the author, but it is a very solid middle grade book. This story follows Coyote Sunrise and her father, who have been on the road for the past however many years, ever since her mom and her two sisters passed away in a car crash. And so her her dad has put them on this journey because he's that's how he's coping with the pain and his grief. And then Coyote receives the news that the park where she and her mom and her sisters buried a time capsule is going to be destroyed and a parking lot is going to take place, which is very USA, if I do say so myself. So she has to convince her father, she has to find a way to get her father from where they are in Florida all the way back to Washington State, so that she can dig up this time capsule before she's loses it forever. Along the way, they pick up some other people and give them rides, and they they live on a converted school bus, and so there's plenty of room for them to pick up other people, and yeah, the this is a beautifully written story. I think it's a very good middle grade book, and I highly recommend it if for adults. But if you have a middle grade reader in your life and you're looking for something to give them, I highly recommend The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise. Number two is my last of my Dualiba book club picks for my top pen list, and that is Stillborn by Guadalupe Nedel. This book is it's another short one. It's not quite a novella, but it's under 300 pages, so it's still relatively short. But it is so well written, and it is written by a Mexican author. So I was really excited to be able to read this book. I need to read more Mexican authors, but anyway, I really enjoyed this one. It follows two best friends who in their early 20s decided they're not gonna have children. 10 years later, one of them has gone through with that. She's sterilized it, she goes through the sterilization sterilization process, so she cannot have any, so she cannot have any kids. But her friend has 10 years on, is now married, and has changed her mind. And she ends up having a baby who they did not give her a they she has some sort of um what's the word I'm looking for? She has some sort of she's gonna be born with a certain condition that will either she will either die, so she will the friend will give birth to a stillborn child, or the child will be alive but will die shortly after. Despite this prognosis, the child is still born. So the the name of the book is still born to words, and her friend's life changes because now she has to make she was preparing to mourn and suddenly she doesn't need to anymore, so it is a very heart-wrenching book. If the topic of pregnancy loss, um the loss of children is a difficult subject matter for you, this is probably not the book for you. But I highly recommend it. This was such I would just I just felt for the characters so much, and there was so much to it that I could personally relate to as someone who has chosen to remain child-free. And yeah, there was just there's just a lot that I could relate to, and it was well written, and I really liked the friendship between the two women and how this how their differing opinions about children having children 10 years on from their pact doesn't impact their relationship, and instead they continue to be there for each other in their darkest and happiest days. Number one is Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. Y'all, this book, this book absolutely broke me. So I have said several times on the podcast that I do not have visceral reactions to books. So a book can be funny, a book can be sad. That doesn't mean you're gonna see me laugh out loud or cry while reading these books. The first book that kind of subverted that for me was a man called Uva, who, which I had to physically stop reading on the train because I didn't want to cry in front of people. But that was the first one that got me that way. And I yeah, I stopped myself. And once I was able, like once I was back home in the privacy of my house, I at that point did not cry. So yeah, very controlled tears. This book, okay, so I started reading this book the when we went to go visit our family in May, and I was reading it on the plane, and this is a pretty long book compared to like the original Hunger Games trilogy. Not as long as the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, but still pretty long. And I was reading it and I was like trying to get through it because I was like, we're almost gonna land, and I know that like once I'm in Texas, I'm not gonna read this book. Like, I'm just because I'm busy with family, I just I don't dedicate that much time to reading when I'm visiting my when I'm on vacation, really. So anyway, so I was like, I need to finish this book because I need to know what happens, and I just I was just like, I was rushing, but I was still enjoying it. I wasn't like speed reading it to the point where I had no idea what was going on, but I was just like, I need to know what's gonna happen to Hey Mitch. Like, I need to know. And then we landed and I did not get to finish. But I was like, I need to know how this book ends. So I did look up spoilers. Do not judge me, do not judge me. I am impatient when it comes to my reading, and sometimes I just really need to know what happens, and sometimes I just really need to know if I'm right with I'm reading a mystery. This is not a mystery, but not the point. The point is, yes, sometimes I look up spoilers, and I don't know why people judge so hard for that because I know that's like one of the book things that people judge other people for, which is like looking up spoilers, and it's like as long as I'm spoiling it for myself and not anyone else, like what does it matter? So, yes, I spoiled it for myself. I looked up the ending because I had to know right then and there how the book ended. That being said, I knew exactly what was gonna happen. I looked up spoilers, I knew, like I said, exactly what was going to happen. I knew how this book was going to end. It is a testament to Suzanne Collins' writing that I get to the ending points of the book. I knew exactly what was gonna happen. I started bawling, absolutely bawling. I could not stop the tears from running down, and I was crying really, really hard. This is the hardest I have ever cried for a book. I've never cried for a book before, much less like this. I don't even think I've cried for a film. Like, and that's probably not true, but I'm telling you, the power of Suzanne Collins's writing, the fact that I knew exactly what was gonna happen, I was prepared for it, and she still had me crying my eyes out. There was no way this book could be anything other than number one on my best, on my most favorite books of 2025. So, yes, I highly recommend this book. And yes, looking back, there are definitely, I know people have been complaining about this book and and and and have their issues with it because once you really think about it, there's certain things that don't match up with the original Hunger Games, like some details that's like, well, if this happened back then, then why is this an issue in the trilogy or whatever? Like just some things that don't exactly line up with what we No happens in the original Hunger Games. But that being said, it was still a really great read. And I was bawling my eyes out. I finished it. Orlando was eating dinner. I had the book covering my face and I was crying. I removed the book from my face. Orlando sees, and he's just like, what is wrong? And I all I couldn't even talk. All I could do was point at the book. And he was like, oh my gosh. And even he was like, I've never seen you react this way to a book. So highly, highly, highly recommend Sunrise on the Reaping. So that is it for my list of my top 10 favorite books of 2025. I will be releasing my top 10 least favorite books of 2025 as well as my top 10 favorite and least favorite films that I saw in theaters, still without asterisk, in 2025. So thank you so much for tuning in, and I will see you next time. Bye.