Best Books of 2025: 7 Powerful Nonfiction Books on Survival, History, and Becoming Yourself

Welcome to Bri Books podcast! In this episode, we explore six captivating books from 2025 that span memoir, history, culture, and personal growth. From surviving illness abroad to uncovering hidden royal power plays, from the quiet history of our homes to the question of who we’re meant to become, these books invite us to see the world, and ourselves, more clearly. If you’re new to the show, leave a review of Bri Books on Apple Podcasts, and listen to Bri Books on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Please tell me where you’re traveling to by using #bribooks on Instagram and subscribe to the Bri Books newsletter at bribookspod.com/newsletter.

Books Discussed in This Episode

1. Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career by Suzy Welch. A practical and reflective guide to discovering your true values and aligning them with your career and life choices. Welch offers tools and frameworks to help listeners clarify who they are, what they want, and how to build a life that fits.

2. Mastesr of the Word: How Media Shaped History by William J. Bernstein. Bernstein traces the sweeping history of media, from the invention of writing in ancient Mesopotamia to the rise of the mobile internet. From the spread of alphabets and vernacular Bibles to the printing press, mass media, and digital networks, the book shows how shifts in information access have fueled empires, revolutions, democracy, and dissent. The book offers vital context for understanding our current media moment and the enduring relationship between information and power.

3. At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson.  A fascinating room-by-room exploration of how everyday domestic life evolved. Bryson uses his own home as a jumping-off point to uncover surprising histories behind bathrooms, kitchens, bedrooms, and the objects we take for granted. From plumbing and heating to kitchens and bedrooms, the book uncovers how private life evolved alongside public history. It’s a reminder that history is very much alive.

4. The World in a Wineglass: The Insider’s Guide to Artisanal, Sustainable, Extraordinary Wines to Drink Now by Ray Isle. A global tour of wine told through people, place, and philosophy. Ray Isle highlights independent, sustainability-minded winemakers and shows how wine reflects culture, geography, and values — not just tasting notes. The World in a Wineglass shows how geography, climate, labor, and tradition shape what ends up in the glass. The book treats wine as culture and storytelling, offering a lens into how craft and ethics intersect in a rapidly changing world.

5. Stitching Freedom: A True Story of Injustice, Defiance, and Hope in Angola Prison by Gary Tyler. Gary Tyler — who was wrongfully incarcerated for nearly 42 years — tells a powerful story of survival, justice, and creative resistance. While imprisoned, Tyler turned to quilting as a means of expression, healing, and political testimony, transforming fabric into visual records of racism, resilience, and hope. The book explores how art can become a lifeline under extreme conditions and how storytelling, even when stitched rather than spoken, can reclaim dignity and freedom in the face of systemic injustice.

6. Surviving Paris: A Memoir of Healing in the City of Light by Robin Allison Davis. 
   A deeply personal memoir about moving to Paris in search of reinvention — and instead confronting breast cancer far from home. Allison Davis reflects on illness, identity, friendship, and resilience while navigating a foreign healthcare system and rebuilding her sense of self in the City of Light. In Surviving Paris, Emmy-winning journalist Robin Allison Davis recounts her decision to move to Paris in search of reinvention, and the life-altering diagnosis that followed. Diagnosed with breast cancer while living abroad, Davis navigates illness, multiple surgeries, and recovery within the French healthcare system, far from family and familiarity. The memoir is both intimate and expansive, exploring how vulnerability, friendship, and self-trust can become lifelines. At its core, Surviving Paris is about learning how to live through uncertainty.

7. The Stolen Crown: Treachery, Deceit, and the Death of the Tudor Dynasty by Tracy Borman. Royal historian Tracy Borman challenges long-held assumptions about the English succession after Queen Elizabeth I’s death. Using new archival evidence, she reveals a far more fragile and politically charged transfer of power than history has traditionally acknowledged. The Stolen Crown reveals a far more fragile and politically charged transition of power, one marked by secrecy, maneuvering, and uncertainty. The book reframes the end of the Tudor dynasty and exposes how history is often shaped as much by what is concealed as by what is recorded.

If you’re new to the show, leave a review of Bri Books on Apple Podcasts, and listen to Bri Books on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Please tell me where you’re traveling to by using #bribooks on Instagram and subscribe to the Bri Books newsletter at bribookspod.com/newsletter.