The Best Books Our Editors Read in 2025

Even if you haven’t achieved your 2025 reading goal (hey, there’s still one week left in the year, and who’s really counting anyway), there’s no shame in adding more books to your TBR. We editors put our heads together to share which books moved, inspired and thrilled us in 2025. If you’re looking to start the year off right with a good read, here are five suggestions.

It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over by Anne de Marcken

Last Christmas, I was gifted It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over, and I picked it up from my TBR in July on a whim as a short, quick read. But these 160-some pages pack a punch. It follows an unnamed narrator who just so happens to be a zombie in a post-apocalyptic world, as they reminisce on their time as a human and try to find meaning in their undead existence. As a real reflection on grief, memory and humanity, this book made its mark on me—and I didn’t realize until long after I’d finished it. This is one of the strangest and most existential books I’ve read (in a great way). If you’re looking for some good words for thought, pick up this short story. —Sandrine Jacquot, editor, BCLiving

When the Going Was Good: An Editor’s Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines by Graydon Carter

Following the storied personal history of legendary Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Graydon Carter (who is actually a Canuck transplant!), this memoir is part sentimental musings about the golden age of publishing in New York City (the budgets!), with some legendary celebrity gossip thrown in for good measure. Carter was at the helm of VF when Demi Moore appeared naked and seven months pregnant on the cover (quite the scandal in 1991) and oversaw some of the publication’s biggest award-winning features. He credits one of his biggest victories as keeping the “Call Me Caitlyn” cover and story, featuring Caitlyn Jenner’s debut as a woman, secret until it hit newsstands. This is a book for everyone curious about what magazine publishing is like, including working with Vogue mother hen, Anna Wintour. —Darcy Matheson, editor-in-chief, BCBusiness

Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

Man, this book. I’ve given it to so many people now, I plan to keep a stockpile for all future requests for a smart page-turner. Margo is a college student who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant after a brief affair with her professor, and, as you might expect from the title, finds herself in dire straits. The characters that surround her are fantastic, particularly her dad—a larger-than-life retired wrestler who’s been mostly absent from her life, but back in it now and surprisingly great with her kid. But the overarching theme of the judgment women face as mothers (including whether or not you’re condemned or celebrated for having, or not having, an abortion in the first place) is so smartly done, I was buzzing with the need to discuss this book ad nauseam as soon as I finished it. And read it again. Which I did. —Anicka Quin, VP of content

Other People’s Secrets by Meredith Hambrock

Hambrock’s book came out in 2022, but I’ll give it a shout-out this year anyways because I haven’t been able to get my hands on a copy of her latest novel, She’s a Lamb. The Vancouver-based author has a background writing for TV comedies, so even though Other People’s Secrets is a thriller (violence! mysteries! treasure hunting!), there’s also a slight absurdist sensibility underneath the drama that I found really delightful—if you liked Alissa Nutting’s Made for Love, this is for you. A richly depicted setting (a run-down lakeside resort and struggling tourist town) and a cast of small-town weirdos (DJ Overalls!) offer the ideal backdrop for down-and-out protagonist Baby’s sleuthing and scheming. —Stacey McLachlan, editor-in-chief, Vancouver magazine

I’ll Have What She’s Having by Chelsea Handler

It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but I love a celebrity memoir. Matthew Perry, Jessica Simpson, Emrata: they’re all fine authors in my eyes (and I’m glad to go down the rabbit hole of exploring what really happened behind prominent pop culture moments of the past). Chelsea Handler, though, is a little different. The comedian and one-time talk show host has been writing books since she came into fame in the early 2000s, so I’ll Have What She’s Having feels less like a memoir and more like a coming-of-age manifesto for women and girls everywhere. Handler writes about her disappointing ex-boyfriends, her adoption of skiing and the home she purchased in Whistler (which, being B.C. born, gives me a sense of pride) in her latest book, which she released on her 50th birthday. I can’t think of a more powerful way to come into one’s fifth decade, but I know that a re-read of this book is in my near-future. —Kristi Alexandra, managing editor, Vancouver Magazine, Western Living, BCBusiness