Do you have bookish books (books about books) on your bookshelf? How many bookish books do you read in one year?

Susan @ BlogginBoutBooks posted her 2025 Bookish Books Reading Challenge, and I immediately knew that this was a perfect way to track all the books about books I read in a year. Do you love a challenge that you know you’ll master before you start?! I’m not great about remembering to link up monthly, so this will be all the books about books I’ve read in 2025 and will be my December entry. I’ve read 25 Books About Books this year and reached the “Lost in the Stacks” level. See my 2024 Bookish Books Wrap Up here.

One concern before we dive into the list. I’ve been more disappointed this year than in previous years with books that use library/librarian/bookshop etc in the title and then there’s little content about books in the story. Sometimes the bookshop or library is merely one of the settings. I’m concerned that using book-related words in the title is a marketing technique that lures book lovers into buying certain books. Have you noticed this? I think next year, I’ll make separate categories for books about books and books that use bookish words and settings to sell books!

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links. The review links in this post lead to reviews that have Amazon affiliate links.

25 Bookish Books I’ve Read in 2025

(organized by star ratings)

• The Correspondent by Virginia Evans 5 Stars (letter writing and some book talk) FREE Book Club Kit
• Kate & Frida by Kim Fay 5 Stars (letter writing and book talk)
• The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry 4.5 Stars
• The Book of Kindness (aka The Second Chance Book Club) by Stephanie Butland 4.5 Stars
• The Wartime Librarian’s Secret by Molly Green 4 Stars (a personal library used as a setting and minimal book talk)
• Winter Nights at the Bay Bookshop by Jessica Redlands 4 Stars
• Wedding Bells for the East End Library Girls by Patricia McBride 4 Stars
• The Guest in Room 120 by Sara Ackerman 4 Stars (writers/writing conference, a mystery, a romance)
• The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin 4 Stars
• The Paris Bookshop for the Broken Hearted by Rebecca Raisin 4 Stars
• Victory for the Foyles Bookshop Girls by Elaine Roberts 4 Stars
• The Storytellers by Sue Heath 4 Stars
• A Bookseller in Madrid by Mario Escobar 4 Stars
• A Foundling at the Wartime Bookshop by Lesley Eames 4 Stars
• Wedding Bells at the Wartime Bookshop by Lesley Eames 4 Stars
• The Forgotten Book Club by Kate Storey 4 Stars
• The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson 4 Stars
• The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes by Chanel Cleeton 4 Stars
• The Bookshop of Secrets by Kerry Barrett 4 Stars (a bookshop is one of the settings but minimal book talk)
• The Memory Library by Kate Storey 3.5 Stars
• The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club by Martha Hall Kelly 3.5 Stars
• Words in Deep Blue (YA) by Cath Crowley 3 Stars
• A New Chapter at the Borrow a Bookshop by Kiley Dunbar 3 Stars
• The Bookstore Family (short, short story; part of a 4-book series) by Alice Hoffman (minimal book talk) 3 Stars
• The Bookstore Keepers (short, short story; part of a 4-book series) by Alice Hoffman (very minimal book talk) 2 Stars

I’ve read 25 books about books in 2025. How many bookish books have you read?

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ICYMI:

See 2024’s list of bookish books here.

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Bookish Books QOTD:

Books About Books are so fun!
Do you have a favorite?

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Happy Reading Book Buddies!

“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke

“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.” ~Denise J Hughes

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.” ~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.” ~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text

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All books I review are bought or borrowed from the library unless explicitly stated that they are free (arcs).

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