A running tally of the books that I have reviewed this year, updated and reranked after each book that I finish. Explore the latest reviews and discover hidden gems with insights from BarlinsBooks, your literary companion for top new releases.

★★★★★ Decades of missteps and immorality by J & J are laid bare as they repeat a pattern of placing profits over people's health and lives.

★★★★☆ A speculative historical novel that imagines what might have happened if Japan gained possession of an atomic bomb near the end of World War II.

★★★★☆ A mysterious and private man appears one day in a small Georgia town and begins to have a profoundly positive impact on several residents.

★★★☆☆ A woman returns to her hometown in South Carolina, only to be confronted with clues that help her unravel her sister's disappearance twenty years prior.

★★★★☆ A generational character study centered on the intertwined lives of two families in a small Ohio town, focused mostly on identity and the impact of war.

Amazon's Top 100 Books of 2025. How do they compare to Barlin's Books rankings for the year? Where did they get things right, and where did they miss the boat?

★★★★★ A time-traveling tale that dissects the most famous legend in the land, Harrow once again creates a binge-worthy blend of fantasy and creativity.

★★★★★ A worthy continuation of what started with The Silverblood Promise, Book 2 is filled with heists, mini quests, and more of everything you loved in Book 1.

★★★★☆ Author Mary Roach is back with her signature blend of wit as she examines the human body and all of the potential ways we attempt to modify it.

★★★★☆ Two lives unexpectedly intertwine as a Senator's daughter connects with an elderly woman who might be secretly connected to the young woman's family.

★★★★☆ A no-holds-barred account by a former high-ranking employee that lays bare secrets about Facebook and its executives that are shocking to see in print.

★★★☆☆ A strange and polarizing story, focused mostly on a New Hampshire family and their youngest grandson as he searches for identity and belonging.

★★★☆☆ Robert Langdon is back for another romp through an international city—this time, Prague—and a secret about human consciousness that could rock the world.

★★★★★ An innovative character study in which an aging woman's life story is revealed through the letters she writes and receives from a myriad of people.

★★★★★ A woman returns to the elite boarding school she attended after 20+ years to search for answers about the murder of her roommate senior year.

★★★★☆ When a lawyer starts to dig into the murder of his best friend, all signs seem to point to conspiracies involving his own law firm.

★★★★★ Another gritty offering from Mottley, who this time explores teen pregnancy and a small group of teen moms who help each other through it.

★★★★☆ Teddy Roosevelt's sons embark on a quest in 1929 to obtain a specimen of a giant panda, an animal rarely seen and wholly unknown at the time.

★★★★☆ A novel premise gives way to a well-structured mystery in which a young woman must solve her own murder before an aneurysm kills her.