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My Top 10 Favorite Books of 2025: Lessons on Life, Loss, and Curiosity

By LisaNotes December 16, 2025 Books I Recommend 14 Comments

2025 was a year of books that challenged, comforted, and inspired me. From randomness and mortality to dreams and embodiment, these ten nonfiction books stood out from all the rest.

Here’s a look at my 10 favorites—and why they might resonate with you too. (I’ll share my Top 5 Fiction Favorites on Friday, December 19.)

1. Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters

by Brian Klaas

Book cover of Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters

Do you want to be more comfortable with uncertainty? This book takes a curious look at how randomness shapes our lives. I was completely fascinated by it. It explores the tension between chance and meaning. It left me more confident that small actions still matter—even in an unpredictable world.

  • Quick takeaway: Embrace uncertainty.
  • Think about: If so much is out of my control, does it matter what I actually do? (Answer: yes!)

2. Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)

by Tom Vanderbilt

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)

I was captivated by this observation of human behavior behind the wheel. This book brings both data and psychology to explain how and why we drive like we do.

  • Quick takeaway: The systems we function in (including highways and parking lots) shape our behavior.
  • Think about: Why do I act differently on the road and how can I improve?

3. Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts

by Oliver Burkeman

Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts book cover

If you’re a student of productivity culture (I can’t help but be drawn to these books), don’t look in this book for more life hacks. But what you find might be more helpful: a way to reframe our limits. Burkeman sees them as a feature of being human, not a flaw. He offers permission to live fully and make peace with boundaries. I’ll read anything Oliver Burkeman writes.

  • Quick takeaway: Focus on what matters most.
  • Think about: What if the problem isn’t my self-discipline, but my expectations about what I can accomplish in a day?

4. Moving On Doesn’t Mean Letting Go: A Modern Guide to Navigating Loss

by Gina Moffa

Moving On Doesn't Mean Letting Go: A Modern Guide to Navigating Loss book cover

For anyone who is grieving something—a person you love, a material possession, a job, etc.—this book talks to you like a compassionate friend. It guides you through living and growing with grief, not trying to erase it and pretend the loss never happened.

  • Quick takeaway: Deep grief changes over time, but it doesn’t disappear.
  • Think about: Is it okay that I’m still grieving—and may never stop?

5. The Dreaming Way: Courting the Wisdom of Dreams

by Toko-pa Turner

The Dreaming Way: Courting the Wisdom of Dreams book cover

If spiritual listening and learning to trust your wisdom are important to you, this is a mesmerizing look about paying attention to your nighttime dreams. While our minds speak to us in words all day, at night they switch to images to get our attention.

  • Quick takeaway: Notice what your dreams want you to see.
  • Think about: Does my deeper self know more than I’m giving it credit for?

6. Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them): A Practical Perspective on Death and Dying

by Sallie Tisdale

Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them): A Practical Perspective on Death and Dying book cover

We may not like to think about death. But we (and everyone we know) are all going to die. So why not contemplate our mortality with more clarity and compassion? This book by a palliative care nurse does that in a soothing and honest way.

  • Quick takeaway: Face your mortality head-on.
  • Think about: What could dying well look like for me—and for helping others I love?

7. The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters

by Priya Parker

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters book cover

Whether you host elaborate work conferences or an occasional family meal, this is a surprisingly helpful book to improve any type of gathering. I found several practical ideas to use for creating more intentional connections with groups of people.

  • Quick takeaway: Meaningful gatherings are created by design.
  • Think about: What few details could I intentionally tweak to create more purposeful gatherings?

8. Everybody Writes: Your New and Improved Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content

by Ann Handley

Everybody Writes: Your New and Improved Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content book cover

Yes, everybody writes. It doesn’t have to be the great American novel. It could be just a text confirming a lunch date. This book addresses all of us as the writers we are, whether we’re writing for work, personal relationships, or online communications. Lots of helpful tips.

  • Quick takeaway: Write like a real person—yourself!—and not a brand.
  • Think about: What words can I use to communicate with more clarity and value?

9. Returning Home to Our Bodies: Reimagining the Relationship Between Our Bodies and the World

by Abigail Rose Clarke

Returning Home to Our Bodies: Reimagining the Relationship Between Our Bodies and the World book cover

Our bodies are our first and constant home on this earth. This book explores what it means to reconnect with our bodies and their place in the world at large.

  • Quick takeaway: Reevaluating your relationship with your body is healing in personal, social, and ecological ways.
  • Think about: What if my body is more than a productivity tool to move me through life?

10. Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life

by Bill Perkins

Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life book cover

I’ve always been more of a money saver than a spender. (I’m good at talking myself out of buying things.) This book was a wake-up call that, at this stage of my life, it’s okay to use money that I’ve saved up (within reason, of course; I’m still going to be thrifty) for things that matter to me.

  • Quick takeaway: Use money as a tool to live fully, not just as a security blanket.
  • Think about: What if the goal isn’t to die with a stash of money, but to thoughtfully spend and give more away while I’m alive and can watch it make a difference?

Final Thoughts

Each of these 10 books gave me a unique gift in 2025, and left me with better questions after I finished them.

I hope you found a book or two this year that did the same for you.

Did you have a favorite? Share your recommendations in the comments.

Related Reading:

Still Deciding What to Buy? You’re Not Alone

By LisaNotes December 12, 2025 Encouragement, Personal Growth 9 Comments

The Struggle of Choosing the Right Gift

I’m not ready for Christmas yet.

My house looks ready—the tree is lit, the stockings are hung, the mantel is decorated—but under the tree, there’s not much.

Christmas tree decorated with lights and ornaments, with few gifts underneath

The hardest part for me isn’t buying gifts—it’s deciding what to buy.

Just yesterday, I spent awhile searching online for the right gift for someone I love. I found what I thought they’d want. Then I saw the shipping fees. Outrageous. I clicked away, pleased that the company wouldn’t get my money.

But also displeased that I’m no closer to having the gift to give.

Woman browsing online for gifts, looking frustrated by shipping fees

That moment, as silly as it sounds, is an apt metaphor for my gift-giving struggle: I think of something, but then I talk myself out of it.

The Myth of the Perfect Gift

My desire is to find the perfect gift for each person. The one thing that they wouldn’t buy for themselves, but that they’ve been wanting.

But there is no perfect gift. Not really. And even if there were, it would only be perfect for a season. The new always wears off, the excitement fades away, and the object eventually becomes, well, just another object.

Minimalist Christmas gifts in simple wrapping

Finding Joy in Imperfection

Still, I hope the gifts I give are received with my good intentions. Used and enjoyed. I hope they bring a moment of joy, however fleeting. I try to remind myself that even if the thought counts more than the item itself, the item can still carry joy—and isn’t that what we want for those we care about?

I’ve never felt like a great gift-giver. Maybe it’s because I’m a minimalist at heart.

I talk myself out of buying things for me all the time because…Do I really need that thing, after all? Why would I want more clutter? And do I want to be responsible for adding more junk to the landfill one day?

Letting Yourself Off the Hook This Christmas

So every Christmas I sit with this tension. I have a desire to give, yet a fear of getting it “wrong.”

I want to let myself off the hook these remaining two weeks before Christmas. I’ll wrap the gifts I’ve already bought, hope the gifts I’ve ordered will come in soon (!), and finish shopping for things that might put a smile on someone’s face at least for a moment, even if not forever. The moment is enough.

And maybe that thought actually does count for quite a lot.

Person sharing a happy moment while opening a Christmas gift

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Related reading:

The Power of Ripples: One Word That Carried Me All Year Long
—My end of the year wrap-up

By LisaNotes December 9, 2025 Personal Growth, Ripple: One Word 2025 19 Comments

A One Word of the Year practice won’t always teach you something brand-new. But it does give you fresh and valuable gifts throughout a year.

That’s exactly what Ripple did for me this year.

A ripple expanding across calm water, symbolizing small moments creating big impact

Beginning the Year in Pencil

Back in January, I wrote parts of my calendar in pencil instead of ink because I wasn’t sure how Ripple would unfold. I felt the uncertainty of it—what it might ask of me, where it might lead. (More about that here.)

We can never fully predict what’s ahead: the places we’ll go, the experiences will have, or the people we’ll meet—like the hospital housekeeper I met from Thailand—who quietly ripple in and leave a lasting mark.

Learning to Stay Present

A child’s hands in flowing water, reflecting presence and attention to the moment

I originally chose Ripple at the beginning of the year to remind me of the importance of the past and of the future.

But ironically, Ripple kept nudging me back into the present. It reminded me that this moment, this breath, this body is where life actually happens.

Sometimes that reminder came through my grandson and Daniel Tiger.
Sometimes it came through my own body telling me she was doing her best.
Sometimes it came simply through slowing down enough to stay awake to the small things.

When One Stone Falls Into the Water

The biggest lesson Ripple gave me was this:

One stone thrown into the water is never the end of the story.

A disagreement with “Mr. T-Shirt Man” taught me that.
Sending a letter in the mail did, too.
So did a simple yes that led to the next yes…and then one more…until a whole string of unexpected connections bloomed into life.

Sometimes we are present when the stone drops. Maybe we’re even the one dropping it. We are the ones creating the ripple that will outlast us, maybe reaching people we may never even know.

Other times we’re swept up in ripples from stones tossed by others on days, years, or even generations ago. (Like that crazy jigsaw puzzle synchronicity at the beach condo.)

A Ripple on a Monday Afternoon

I met a new friend just yesterday who reminded me of this truth.

She’s thriving now in her twenties, but not that long ago, she was a young girl trapped in an abusive situation. She came to see harm as normal. Several times, she tried to end her life because she couldn’t imagine another way out.

But beautiful humans—one by one, moment by moment—kept rippling into her world. Not always dramatically or perfectly. But with consistency and love.

Those ripples carried her to a new place of safety and hope.

She’s worked hard on her own healing, and she’s reaching back to help others heal, too, including learning more about our volunteer work, and eventually hoping to reach her dream of opening a shelter.

For a single Monday afternoon in December, our stories overlapped.
But that is long enough to create a shared ripple between us.

Sometimes that’s all it takes—a single moment, a single kindness, a single gift like a new backpack for a child starting over at a new school—to keep someone going one more day.
And then another.
And another.

Ripples Move Forward—Always Forward

Ripples don’t stay where they start. They move outward, sometimes far beyond sight.

This year reminded me to practice openture instead of closure—to stay open-handed with the stories still unfolding.

It reminded me to prepare for the future even as I honor the past, like when I hesitated to download this countdown app (I still haven’t done it) or when I found my mother’s words written 34 years ago that rippled back into my life just this year.

We carry the ripples of others.
We send out our own.
And together they light up the dark like fireflies on a summer night.

Glowing fireflies at dusk, symbolizing hope and the gentle glow of small acts of kindness

A Ripple Blessing for Year’s End

I wrote this Ripple blessing back in April, but I want to share it again—both for you and for me—as I close out this year of Ripple (even though the ripples never stop flowing).

May you be a ripple, flowing to see others that need to be seen.
May others ripple to you, gazing closer to witness your worth.

May you be a ripple with fresh ears to hear others’ words.
May others ripple to you, tuning into your voice as valuable.

May you be a ripple of gentle waves to heal those who’ve been harmed.
May others ripple to you with layers of compassion to soothe your wounds.

May you be a ripple of love to those from your past to your present.
May others ripple to you, enlarging their reach to surround you with love.

What small ripple has touched your life recently? Did you have One Word of the Year, too? If you want to choose one for 2026, here are 5 questions to help discover your word, and also 6 AI prompts to narrow down your list.

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Related Reading to Keep the Ripple Going

Here are a few of my favorite posts this year where small moments created big impact—stories that inspired me and may inspire you too:

How to Cope with Climate Worry: A Book to Help You Breathe Again

By LisaNotes December 6, 2025 Book reviews, Climate 8 Comments

Change in climate isn’t just something happening “out there” in the planet. It’s something happening inside us, too.

The more facts I learn about current weather pattern shifts, the more I understand how devastating future impacts could be. I feel the inner turmoil myself—fear, helplessness, wondering about my grandchildren’s future.

If extreme weather events concern you too, here’s a book I just finished that can help you move through these feelings: Facing Climate Anxiety by Jon Gorman, PsyD.

Facing Climate Anxiety book

It’s not designed to educate you about heat waves or changes in growing seasons. There are other books for that. But instead, this one gives you skills to navigate your internal changes as external changes occur around you.

What This Book Clarified for Me

Gorman begins by acknowledging something we know but don’t always want to admit:

Ignoring the trends won’t make them go away. It only keeps us in the dark.

Yet cognitive dissonance is real. When the world feels like it’s on fire but everyone around us is acting normal, it’s easy to tell ourselves: “Maybe it’s just me. Maybe things aren’t really that bad.”

But the book reminded me that our emotions are healthy signals, not overreactions. The anxiety, grief, and even anger we feel alert us that something precious is at stake. Our emotions are not the enemy.

Scientists have done, and are doing, their part. They’ve given us the data. What we need now is behavior change, emotional resilience, and community support.

Calm outdoor scene suggesting emotional resilience in uncertain times

What I Loved Most

This book does not tell us to get rid of our climate anxiety.
Instead, it teaches us how to stay present with it, learn from it, and let it guide us toward meaningful action.

Here are a few practical takeaways I want to practice more:

  • Connect to nature regularly
    Even small, daily moments outside help build resilience.
  • Talk about climate feelings
    Research shows most people are concerned—even if they aren’t saying it out loud.
  • Choose direction over scale
    Moving in the right direction matters more than the quantity of actions you take.
  • Practice community-level self-care
    Kindness, connection, and shared purpose are antidotes to despair.
  • Reframe hope
    Wishful thinking isn’t helpful, but grounded, active hope rooted in values is.

Why I Recommend Others Read This Book, Too

If you’ve ever felt alone in your worry about the climate, paralyzed by the immensity of changes that need to be made, or even guilty for not doing more yourself, this book can help you feel less alone and more peaceful.

It reminds you to also seek out positive environmental news (we are making progress in some areas!), practice gratitude, make room for joy, and prioritize relationships.

Being kind not only toward people but also to our planet is a win-win for everybody.

As Gorman reminds us,

“The antidote to despair is not false hope.
It is connection, empathy, feeling understood, and knowing you are not alone.”

After all, for better or worse, we are in this together.

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Do you have some climate anxiety, too? What helps you?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

More resources on the climate:

Thanks to NetGalley for the review
copy of Facing Climate Anxiety

6 Easy Ways AI Can Help You Choose Your One Word of the Year for 2026
—AI Prompts to Find Your Perfect One Word

By LisaNotes December 3, 2025 One Word Community, Personal Growth, Technology 24 Comments

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Whether you choose a One Word every year or want to try it for the first time, here are 6 ways that AI can help you choose the right word for you in 2026.

Open your preferred AI system (I use the free version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Then try these prompts to see what words pop up for you.

Using ChatGPT to choose a One Word of the Year 2026

1. If you want to choose from a list

Ask AI to generate tailored options based on what matters most to you.

Type in this prompt, adjusting it to fit your themes:

“Give me 10 possible One Words for 2026 based on the themes I want more of: connection, peace, courage, and joy.”

After getting the list, narrow the scope by asking:

“Help me score each word on flexibility of use, challenge level, and practical applicability. Create a simple decision grid.”

Why this works:
A curated list prevents overwhelm while still giving you room to explore options. The scoring step helps you narrow down your choice even easier.

2. If you want a fun and random pick

Prompt AI to create a surprise-based way to choose.

Try this:

“Give me 3 totally random One Word options for 2026 based on my birthday month, which is ____, the last picture in my camera roll, which is of ____, and what I want for dinner, which is ____. Make the words surprising but also meaningful.”

Or:

“Pick a word at random from the dictionary—but explain why it might be exactly the word I need this year.”

Why this works:
It removes the weight of picking the exact right word. An unexpected word can also spark your creativity and open doors to insights you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

3. If you need reflective questions for a deeper choice

Let AI act as a mirror to help you dig deeper.

Try this:

“Ask me 5 reflective questions to uncover patterns in my previous year—things like what energized me, what drained me, what I’m longing for, and what I keep avoiding. After I answer, suggest 5 possible One Words for 2026.”

Or:

“Give me journaling prompts that help reveal a theme for my next season of life, which involves ____.”

Why this works:
AI guides you to reflect on where you are in life and what you want to do next, then suggests words that align with your values.

4. If you want a future-self approach

Ask AI to create a letter from your future self, dated December 31, 2026.

Try this:

“Write a letter to the version of myself at the end of 2026, when I’ll be more ____ and less ____, telling me which word guided my year, how it shaped me, and why I’m grateful for it.”

Why this works:
Sometimes a word becomes clearer when you imagine who you’re becoming and the life you want to create with it.

5. If you’re stuck between two (or more) finalists

Use AI to help compare them head-to-head.

Try this:

“Compare these two words ____ and ____ across these dimensions: emotional resonance, energy, stretch, alignment with my current season, and practical application. Then tell me which one seems to fit best—and why.”

Why this works:
AI helps articulate more detailed differences that you might not have considered, but that might matter to you.

6. If you already have a word but want to refine it

Ask AI to help you sharpen, expand, or reframe it.

Try this:

“I’m considering the word ____. Refine it by suggesting synonyms, related concepts, and slightly softer or stronger variations. Then write 3 micro-scenarios showing what my life would look like if I lived this word in 2026.”

Or:

“Give me a test: if this is truly my word for 2026, what would I say yes to? What would I say no to?”

Why this works:
You keep the heart of your original choice but gain clarity, nuance, and confidence about how the word might guide you in the year ahead.

A Final Thought

Choosing a One Word for 2026 is a personal and reflective process that can be approached in a variety of ways—but AI can make it easier, more fun, and surprisingly insightful. Try one of these methods—or mix and match—to see what emerges. I tried several of these to help narrow down my own potential word for 2026, and was amazed at the results it gave me.

The right word might just reveal itself in a way you didn’t expect.

You can download this page as a PDF here.

Have you tried one of these AI options? Did it help you?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Get more help for choosing your One Word:

If you want to join our community, sign up here for our One Word group. You’ll receive a monthly email with ideas to practice your word and an invitation to join our private One Word Facebook group.

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8 Books to See the World (and Yourself) More Clearly
—December 2025 Book Recommendations

By LisaNotes December 1, 2025 Books I Recommend 11 Comments

“A library is infinity under a roof.”
― Gail Carson Levine

The eight books I finished reading last month have this in common: they give us a clearer view of the world—and ourselves. Whether through memoir, fiction, political reflection, or spiritual exploration, each one reminds us to pay closer attention to the stories around us and within us.

[See previously recommended books here]

NONFICTION

1. Dear America
Notes of an Undocumented Citizen
by Jose Antonio Vargas

Dear America

This is a powerful memoir by a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist. It gives you an intimate look at what it means to grow up undocumented in the United States. Hearing the human stories of the immigrant experience is particularly timely with our national conversations about immigration.

2. Growing Old
Notes on Aging with Something like Grace
by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

Growing Old

I found this book to be both funny, sad, and wise. Each of us still here is growing older day by day; we might as well learn how to do it better, no matter how old we are now. This book helps with that.

3. On Tyranny
Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
by Timothy Snyder

On Tyranny

I love the short lessons in this compact book about how ordinary people can help safeguard our democracy. I understand now why so many people have recommended it. Snyder does a great job connecting the past and present to help us stay aware of our responsibilities as citizens.

4. 107 Days
by Kamala Harris

107 Days

I’m always interested in behind-the-scenes books. This one looks at the short presidential campaign in 2025 from Kamala Harris’ perspective. You really pick up on the intensity and urgency of the race she ran as she tells how it played out for her.

5. The Dreaming Way
Courting the Wisdom of Dreams
by Toko-pa Turner

The Dreaming Way

This book surprised me in the best way—what started as a book club pick I wasn’t sure about became a meaningful guide to understanding my own vivid (and often crazy!) dreams. It helped me stop fearing and dismissing my nightmares and instead listen for the wisdom they might be signalling to me.

6. Facing Climate Anxiety
Evidence-Based Skills to Cope with Fear and Overwhelm, Find Meaning, and Take Action
by Jon Gorman, PsyD

Facing Climate Anxiety

If you want to learn more about the science of climate change, this is not your book. But if you want to better navigate the heavy emotions that climate anxiety stirs up (yes, please!), this is a good guide for practical tools to work through the fear, grief, and overwhelm that a world on edge can cause. I’ll do a more full review in a few days.

FICTION

7. My Friends
by Fredrik Backman

My Friends

Both sweet and distressing, this novel kept me turning page after page. It weaves together the lives of four teenagers in the past with a teenager in the present who is mesmerized by a painting and its backstory. Backman has a gift for pulling me into his fast-paced stories.

8. The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner

Honestly, I both like AND dislike this book. It’s a heartwarming AND heartbreaking story of friendship, betrayal, and redemption between a wealthy family in Afghanistan and a servant family. The emotional complexity of it has stayed with me even weeks after I finished it. It’s also a book club pick, so I’m really looking forward to the discussion we have about it this weekend.

WHAT I’M READING NOW

  • Unfair
    The New Science of Criminal Injustice *
    by Adam Benforado
  • Awake: A Memoir
    by Jen Hatmaker
  • Everything Is a Story
    Reclaiming the Power of Stories to Heal and Shape Our Lives
    by Kaitlin B. Curtice
  • Is a River Alive?
    by Robert Macfarlane
  • The Good Father
    by Diane Chamberlain
  • The Common Good
    by Robert B. Reich
  • The Afterlife of Data
    What Happens to Your Information When You Die and Why You Should Care
    by Carl Öhman
  • Banned Together
    Our Fight for Readers’ Rights
    by Ashley Hope Pérez

* Asterisked books are from Daniel Pink’s Favorite Books list; you can find it here.

Have you read a good book lately? I’d love to hear in the comments.

I’m sharing at these linkups