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January 1, 2026

Announcing my 2025 Sonderbooks Stand-outs!

It's my 25th year of posting Sonderbooks Stand-outs! My celebration of #Sonderbooks25 continues with this 25th set of books that stand out in my mind after reading 527 books in 2025. This are my personal lists of favorites, with no attempt to rank by literary merit, but simply how much love they inspired in me. I hope you'll come to love some of these wonderful books, too!

Happy Reading!

—Sondra Eklund




Speculative Fiction
Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales
  1. Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales
    2. by Heather Fawcett
    read by Ell Potter and Michael Dodds

  2. The Antidote
    3. by Karen Russell

  3. Buried Deep and Other Stories
    4. by Naomi Novik

  4. Wooing the Witch Queen
    5. by Stephanie Burgis
    read by Amanda Leigh Cobb



More Fiction
The Book Club for Troublesome Women
  1. The Book Club for Troublesome Women
    2. by Marie Bostwick
    read by Lisa Flanagan

  2. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 8
    3. by Beth Brower

  3. What You Are Looking For Is in the Library
    4. by Michiko Aoyama
    translated by Alison Watts

  4. Good Dirt
    5. by Charmaine Wilkerson
    read by January LaVoy

  5. Happy Land
    6. by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
    read by Bahni Turpin and Ashley J. Hobbs

  6. The Woman in Suite 11
    7. by Ruth Ware
    read by Imogen Church

  7. The Women
    8. by Kristin Hannah
    read by Julia Whelan

  8. The Cassatt Sisters
    9. by Lisa Groen



Christian Nonfiction
Cherished Belonging
  1. Cherished Belonging
    2. by Gregory Boyle

  2. Hell Bent
    3. by Brian Recker

  3. God Didn't Make Us to Hate Us
    4. by Lizzie McManus-Dail

  4. The Tears of Things
    5. by Richard Rohr

  5. Forgive Everyone Everything
    6. by Gregory Boyle
    art by Fabian Debora

  6. Field Notes for the Wilderness
    7. by Sarah Bessey

  7. This Here Flesh
    8. by Cole Arthur Riley

  8. Eucontamination
    9. by Paul Hoard and Billie Hoard

  9. For Such a Time as This
    10. by Hanna Reichel

  10. The Myth of Good Christian Parenting
    11. by Marissa Franks Burt and Kelsey Kramer McGinnis

  11. Strength for My Path
    12. by Maureen E. Wise


More Nonfiction
That Librarian
  1. That Librarian
    2. by Amanda Jones

  2. Everything Is Tuberculosis
    3. by John Green

  3. Annie's Ghosts
    4. by Steve Luxenberg

  4. Abundance
    5. by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson



Teen Speculative Fiction
Holy Terrors
  1. Holy Terrors
    2. by Margaret Owen
    read by Saskia Maarleveld

  2. If Looks Could Kill
    3. by Julie Berry
    read by Jayne Entwistle

  3. Legendary Frybread Drive-In
    4. edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith

  4. The Forbidden Book
    5. by Sacha Lamb



More Teen Fiction
Under the Same Stars
  1. Under the Same Stars
    2. by Libba Bray
    read by January LaVoy, Jeremy Carlisle Parker, and Major Curda

  2. Sisters in the Wind
    3. by Angeline Boulley

  3. Dispatches from Parts Unknown
    4. by Brian Bliss
    read by Joy Nash

  4. Icarus
    5. by K. Ancrum
    read by Kirt Graves

  5. As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
    6. by Zoulfa Katouh
    read by Rasha Zamamiri

  6. Reasons We Break
    7. by Jesmeen Kaur Deo

  7. Girls Like Her
    8. by Melanie Sumrow
    read by January LaVoy


Teen Nonfiction
The Woman Who Split the Atom
  1. The Woman Who Split the Atom
    2. by Marissa Moss

  2. Death in the Jungle
    3. by Candace Fleming
    read by Karen Murray

  3. A Dangerous Idea
    4. by Debbie Levy


Children's Speculative Fiction
The Poisoned King
  1. The Poisoned King
    2. by Katherine Rundell
    read by Sam West

  2. The Legendary Scarlett & Browne
    3. by Jonathan Stroud
    read by Sophie Aldred

  3. My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda
    4. by Bibi Dumon Tak
    illustrated by Annemarie Van Haeringen

  4. Cabin Head and Tree Head
    5. by Scott Campbell

  5. The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest
    6. by Aubrey Hartman
    read by Marisa Calin

  6. The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon
    7. by Grace Lin

  7. Bird of a Thousand Stories
    8. by Kiyash Monsef


More Children's Fiction
Candle Island
  1. Candle Island
    2. by Lauren Wolk

  2. The Teacher of Nomad Land
    3. by Daniel Nayeri

  3. The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze
    4. by Derrick Barnes

  4. Rebellion 1776
    5. by Laurie Halse Anderson

  5. Max in the Land of Lies
    6. by Adam Gidwitz
    read by Euan Morton

  6. Not Nothing
    7. by Gayle Forman

  7. Popcorn
    8. by Rob Harrell


Children's Nonfiction
Whale Eyes
  1. Whale Eyes
    2. by James Robinson
    with illustrations by Brian Rea

  2. How Did You Count?
    3. by Christopher Danielson

  3. Jella Lepman and Her Library of Dreams
    4. Katherine Paterson
    illustrated by Sally Deng

  4. The Five Sides of Marjorie Rice
    5. by Amy Alznauer
    illustrated by Anna Bron

  5. In the World of Whales
    6. by Michelle Cusolito
    illustrated by Jessica Lanan

  6. Making Light Bloom
    7. written by Sandra Nickel
    illustrated by Julie Paschkis

  7. The Girl Who Sang
    8. by Esther Nadel
    with Sammy Savos and Bethany Strout
    art by Sammy Savos

  8. The Book of Candles
    9. written by Laurel Snyder
    illustrated by Leanne Hatch


Picture Books
Zip Zap Wickety Wack
  1. Zip Zap Wickety Wack
    2. by Matthew Diffee

  2. Every Monday Mabel
    3. by Jashar Awan

  3. Cat Nap
    4. by Brian Lies

  4. Towed by Toad
    5. by Jashar Awan

  5. A Book of Maps for You
    6. written by Lourdes Heuer
    illustrated by Maxwell Eaton III

  6. Downpour
    Splish! Splash! Ker-Splash!
    7. by Yuko Ohnari and Koshiro Hata
    translated by Emily Balistrieri

  7. Bearsuit Turtle Makes a Friend
    8. by Bob Shea

  8. Chooch Helped
    9. by Andrea L. Rogers
    illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz

  9. Fireworks
    10. words by Matthew Burgess
    pictures by Cátia Chien

  10. Island Storm
    11. by Brian Floca
    illustrated by Sydney Smith

  11. Touch the Sky
    12. Stephanie V. W. Lucianovic and Chris Park