Episode 559 || Staff's Favorite Books of the Year
This week on From the Front Porch, The Bookshelf staff share their favorite books of 2025!
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, visit our website (search episode 559) or download and shop on The Bookshelf’s official app:
Olivia: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Erin: Life, & Death, & Giants by Ron Rindo
Keila: Water Moon by Samantha Soto Yambao
Kyndall: Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley
From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram and Facebook, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.
A full transcript of today’s episode can be found below.
Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
This week, Annie is reading A Beautiful Year by Diana Butler Bass.
If you liked what you heard in today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. You can also support us on Patreon, where you can access bonus content, monthly live Porch Visits with Annie, our monthly live Patreon Book Club with Bookshelf staffers, Conquer a Classic episodes with Hunter, and more. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.
We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.
Our Executive Producers are...Beth, Stephanie Dean, Linda Lee Drozt, Ashley Ferrell, Wendi Jenkins, Martha, Nicole Marsee, Gene Queens, Cammy Tidwell, Jammie Treadwell, and Amanda Whigham.
Transcript:
[squeaky porch swing] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. [music plays out]
Books do not find value when they are written. They find value when they're read. Every book here is both worthless and priceless at the same time. It depends on who you ask. -Samantha Sotto Yambao, Water Moon.
[as music fades out] I'm Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. And as is tradition as we close out the year, I wanted you to hear directly from The Bookshelf staff members about their favorite books of 2025. Before we begin, I want to let you know that Annie's 5 Star Books will be continuing on Instagram in 2026. If you're new here, for $50 a year, you can become a part of my bookish community online. Through my private Instagram account, you'll get access to my book reviews and my monthly Instagram Story Q&A's where I about the books I start, but never finish. And I offer other book recommendations too. If you follow me personally on Instagram, you've seen my reviews for years. And of course, from the front porch listeners will always have access to my monthly reading recap episodes. The private Instagram is simply a place where I've become more detailed with my reviews and Five Star Book Club members can also choose if they want any of my five star reads mailed to them each month from The Bookshelf. If you're giving up social media, like a lot of people I know, no worries. This year or in 2026 rather, there will be a newsletter component where you can have all of the reviews emailed to you directly in your inbox quarterly. Again, so you won't get emails all the time from me, but quarterly emails so you can get a recap of all the books I've reviewed on Instagram. So a couple of different options, a couple of different ways to get my reviews. For more information or to sign up for the 2026 group, you can visit annabjoneswrites.com/ fivestar-book-club. There's a link in the show notes too.
[00:02:13] As we eke closer to the end of the year, I asked our staff for their favorite books of 2025. This has become a tradition of sorts on From the Front Porch. You'll hear from me and Hunter in great detail about our top 10 books of the Year. That episode is coming next week, so don't miss it. But I wanted you to get a sense of what our staff read this year. And because we are a working bookstore, it reminds me of when I toured Windsor Castle, and over and over again I was like, "This is a working castle." We are a working bookstore, and so you're not going to hear from every Bookshelf staffer. We are busy. They are busy. It is such a busy time of year. And part of the reason you don't hear a ton of Bookshelf staffers' voices on From the Front Porch is because they are busy doing their jobs, and I don't want to ask them to do anything else, but a few of them graciously agreed to send in some voice Memos talking about their favorite books of the year. So you're going to get to hear from a couple of staffers today. If you don't hear from a staffer, don't you worry. We're going have a full list of our favorite books for 2025 on Instagram. So make sure you're following us over there at Bookshelftville. So if there's a staff you love but didn't hear today (cough, cough Nancy) then you can go to the Instagram and Caroline will have put together a list of our staffer’s favorite books of the years. I am so grateful to the Bookshelf team. I hope hearing their voices-- it's so important to me that you hear their voices today. Hearing their voices should be a reminder of how much work and how many people go into helping our small business exist in the world. The brick and mortar store, but also the podcast itself.
[00:03:52] I could not record this podcast if there weren't a team of people working at the store today so that I could record. The Bookshelf is the Bookshelf, From the Front Porch, is From the Front Porch because of their hard work, ingenuity and creativity. And I'm grateful to know them. I want you to get to know to them too. First up then is a very recognizable voice that you have heard many times before. It is our operations manager, Olivia. Olivia does a lot of the big picture planning and overseeing of our team. She helps manage our managerial team. She helps step in on the floor when needed because she has a ton of floor expertise. She functions as our children's book buyer and contributes frequently here to From the Front Porch and our Shelf Subscription program. She is a valuable and vital part of our team and she also has excellent tastes in books. If you have ever been in the store and been hand sold a book by Olivia, you are in for a treat. You received a great gift because she is a fantastic hand seller. Every team member love hearing Olivia wax philosophical about her latest and greatest read. So, without further ado, her favorite book of 2025.
Olivia [00:05:03] I'm Olivia Perkins, the operations manager of The Bookshelf, and my favorite book of the year was Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. This came out in March. I read it a month earlier in February, but it swept me away- pun intended. This story has so much to it, and it caught multiple staffers at the Bookshelf in the same way it caught me. And I think that is because the story was a blend of so many different genres. At the heart of it I think this is a story about a father and his three children and a mysterious stranger who gets introduced to them. But there is also an element of mystery happening. There is definitely an element of suspense happening through it. And it is all wrapped up in this beautiful prose that she came out with. And it was just so well done. This father and his three children live on this remote island Shearwater close to Antarctica. He is the caretaker of Shearwater and he has been tasked with running the world's largest seed bank, making sure it stays safe because the world is coming to a brink of climate change. Things are catching on fire. Things are melting and the world has a different place now. He has lived on this island for years. His children have grown up here. They love this and they are all about to have to leave. A while back, there used to be a group of scientists and researchers who stayed there and made sure the seed bank was safe, made sure that there were ways for the world to continue growing and continue being livable. But now the researchers have gone and it is just the father and his three children and they are waiting their last chance to leave this island before sea levels rise too high and this island becomes unlivable. Then a woman washed to the shore. And this is wild for one main reason, that this island is close to Antarctica. And so for her to wash ashore and still be found alive means that she was on a boat nearby, which is also inconceivable because again this is close Antarctica. So no one should be passing by unless they intend to stop at the island. And with no other researchers here, the bigger question is why was she intending to come to this island in the first place and what happened. They know that she has secrets of her own. She also, as she gets to know this family, know that they're also hiding a lot of things, maybe the bigger reason as to why all the researchers left and what happens before they left. And it kind of comes to a standstill between the two of them. But all the while she's been forming this connection with the whole family, one that they've been missing for so long since their mother passed away, and one that brings warmth to the entire family, especially the father who has struggled with his three children. He's a man who loves his children and he sees them for what they are, but living so remotely has definitely taken a toll on this family. The book is beautiful. And I do think winter is the perfect time for you to be picking this book up since it is set in a cold temperate area. This book is very atmospheric. If you live in a cold area as well, pick this up now if you haven't already. One quote that I do want to read to you from this book is from the point of view of Dominic, and it's talking about his children. And I think it perfectly portrays the nuances in this novel of how much he loves his children, how much she thinks deeply about who they are as people, and then the dark undertones of this book. So this is from very beginning of the book, and this is from the eyes of Dominic. "You are not meant to have favorites, but my youngest is that. If only by a hair and with a gun to my head. If I really, really had to answer. And not because we are most alike, that is my oldest and me. Not because we're least alike, that is my daughter and me. Maybe it is because he is curious and kind and so smart it can make your eyes water. Maybe it's because he whispers to the wind and hears its voice in return. Most likely I don't know why. But it may also be because for one brief moment long ago, I wished him dead." Pick up this book. It was five stars for me. I think about it constantly because it was just so well done and so well written. You won't regret it.
Annie Jones [00:09:46] Up next is another recognizable Bookshelf voice, Erin, our online sales manager turned floor manager. That's right. While Olivia and I were on maternity leave this summer and our wonderful Kate left the Bookshelf for a new opportunity, Erin stepped up. She took the reins on the floor. And when we were hiring for a floor manager this fall, it became apparent. I looked around and realized we already had somebody in Erin. Erin is transitioning into her new role at our busiest time of the year. And so I am very grateful for her flexibility, her willingness to try something new. She is going to take over and has been taking over the floor operations of our team while also wrapping up online sales management responsibilities. So kudos to Erin. And if you know Erin, if you DM her, if you message her, tell her she's doing a good job because she is. And I am so glad she is sharing her favorite book of 2025. It's one of my favorites, too.
Erin [00:10:43] Hi, this is Erin and I'm the retail floor manager here at the Bookshelf. My favorite book of 2025 is Life and Death and Giants by Ron Rindo. This book was published in September, but I read it in July. The story follows Gabriel, who was born at a whopping 18 pounds. His mother is lost in childbirth and he is raised by his estranged grandparents. Who also happen to be the leaders of the Amish community in Lakota, Wisconsin. They try and raise Gabriel in their secluded community, but Gabriel's size and his athletic talent bring the outside world to their doorstep. What follows is the push and pull that characterizes Gabriel's life. Ultimately, Gabriel's Life serves to bring people together and to introduce love where it was previously gone. There are so many beautiful quotes from the book, but this one is my favorite. "What is forgiveness, but an undeserved gift given? Light as air, beautiful as a moonlit ride home."
Annie Jones [00:11:57] Next up is Keila. Keila is the online sales coordinator at The Bookshelf. She actually began working at the shop years ago as a bookseller, and now if you're an online customer, you are the recipient of Keila's hard work. She is the person who handwrites all the notes in your orders. She wraps every book by hand. She processes your online orders. She does your customer service emails. If you are an online customer, Keila is your girl. And she is excellent at what she does, particularly during a season like this one where she is exceptionally busy. Also just something fun, Keila is our resident horror reader, but what I really want to tell you is that a few years ago, a reader-retreater heard Keila talk and said, "Oh my gosh, it's Holly Hunter." And now that's all I can hear. And so without further ado, Holly Hunter, AKA Keila with her favorite book of 2025.
Keila [00:12:50] Hi, I'm Keila, the online sales coordinator here at The Bookshelf. It was really hard to pick a book that was my favorite of the year because I feel like I read so many good ones this year. Like The Bones Beneath My Skin, Blackwood's Blue Sky, Sunrise on the Reaping, Your Favorite Scary Movie, or Atmosphere. They all could have easily been my top book. But the one that I keep coming back to is Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao. It came out in January of this year, so that's when I read it, and it was a great start to my reading year. I loved the world in this book and the characters. They felt so raw and real. I always compare this book to a Studio Ghibli movie, and if you haven't watched one of those, I highly recommend it, especially after reading this, because you'll want to stay in that world. This book is one that I will definitely revisit one day, and it will feel like coming home. I'm so glad I read this. It even made me restart a hobby that I had in high school, which was origami. There’re so many good quotes in this book, but one I will leave you with is "Books do not find value when they are written. They find value when they're read." And that just is this book. I feel like I found so much value it and it was amazing.
Annie Jones [00:14:05] Last but certainly not least is Kyndall. Kyndall is our inventory coordinator at The Bookshelf. That means she processes every book that comes onto our shelves, she processes returns, she's also an excellent hand seller. If you are an in-store customer you see Kyndall all the time. She is at the store all the time. If your an online customer, you know Keila. If you're an in store customer, you know Kyndall. She is remarkable at what she does. She has grown into the role of inventory coordinator. She willingly took that increase in responsibility and has handled it beautifully. We were especially grateful for her this summer during our floor management transition. And I don't think you get to hear from Kyndall very often, and I actually love hearing Kyndall talk about books. So here she is talking about her favorite of 2025.
Kyndall [00:14:55] Hi, my name is Kyndall, I'm the inventory coordinator at The Bookshelf. My favorite book this year was Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley. It came out, I believe, at the end of February of this year and I read it sometime in March of this year. I just love this book because of the way it intertwined music into the plot. So much so that, even at some points, music felt as if it was its own character. Each chapter is entitled after a song that the main character talks about, and there's even a playlist of all the songs, which I loved. I also enjoyed the complexities of the main characters, Joe and Percy. The book is a lot about their relationship dynamic over the years, the times that they've been together, the times they were friends, the times where they were each other's creative muse. I found that really inspiring and just so, so beautiful. My favorite quote from the book was this little excerpt that Percy said, "I think songs gave me a window into a magical life, something bigger or whatever waiting out there." And I felt like the only way to get there was through the songs. Like the songs, if I listened hard enough, would show me how to get it right.
Annie Jones [00:16:10] And those are the folks that had time to record some voice memos this busy holiday season. If you want to see what our other Bookshelf staffers are reading and loving this year, what their favorite books were, please either stop by the store or follow us on Instagram at Bookshelftville, where Caroline will have compiled some of their favorites and we'll be posting about them this week. I am so grateful for our team. I know I've said that before, but you hear all the time from-- well, obviously you hear from me all the times. You hear from Olivia and you hear from Erin, but I don't think you get to hear from our other team members very often. And again, that's just because of the nature of what we do and how busy we are. But I hope that by hearing Keila and Kyndall today, you're able to get an idea of how diversely read our staff is and how knowledgeable they are, how good at their jobs they are. This time of year, I just feel even more grateful. Although, gosh, there have been a lot of opportunities this year to feel grateful. I think about releasing ordinary time into the world. I think about having Isaac. And none of that really feels like it would have been possible without The Bookshelf team cheering me on, holding down the fort, doing their jobs so beautifully. And for some of them, like Erin, transitioning into new roles so beautifully. So thank you to the Bookshelf team. I think they have exquisite tastes and I hope you will check out their books. All of today's titles can be found on the Bookshelves website. Just type episode 559 into the search bar. And that's it for today. Next week, I will be back with Hunter where we will unveil our top 10 books of 2025. I hope you'll join us next week. Thanks for your patience as some of these episodes are a little bit shorter than usual. It's just because we're running a flesh and blood, brick and mortar bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. And we hope we see you this holiday season.
[00:17:58] This week, I'm reading A Beautiful Year by Diana Butler Bass.
Annie Jones: From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website:
A full transcript of today’s episode can be found at:
Special thanks to Studio D Podcast Production for production of From the Front Porch and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
Our Executive Producers of today’s episode are…
Cammy Tidwell, Linda Lee Drozt, Martha, Stephanie Dean, Ashley Ferrell, Gene Queens, Beth, Jammie Treadwell…
Executive Producers (Read Their Own Names): Nicole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins
Annie Jones: If you’d like to support From the Front Porch, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the show even better and reach new listeners. All you have to do is open up the Podcast App on your phone, look for From the Front Porch, scroll down until you see ‘Write a Review’ and tell us what you think. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us over on Patreon, where we have 3 levels of support - Front Porch Friends, Book Club Companions, and Bookshelf Benefactors. Each level has an amazing number of benefits like bonus content, access to live events, discounts, and giveaways. Just go to:
We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.