What's Dawn Devouring Lately?
Favorites of 2025
🎍As I look back on my second year of creating “What’s Dawn Devouring Lately,” I’m filled with gratitude and, honestly, a little awe. What started as a simple monthly project has become a journey of growth, discovery, and connection with myself and with all of you. Whenever I wondered, “Should I keep doing this?” a message would pop up from someone telling me how much they looked forward to each issue. Those small moments of encouragement meant everything.
Thanks to your kind words, I’m excited to continue writing and sharing this blog in 2026. My hope is that creating it keeps bringing me joy—and that reading it brings a bit of joy your way as we step into a brand-new year.
This month’s issue spotlights my Favorite Five in each category from 2025. It was such a delight to look back on all the things I read, watched, learned, listened to, and loved. I hope you also find a moment to reflect on your own year and think about what you want to carry forward and what you’re ready to gently let go of. A new year always feels like an open door, inviting us into fresh stories, new ideas, and continued learning.
I hope you’ll come along with me.
Happy New Year!
Happy Reading! 🤓📚
#5 = The Names By: Florence Knapp
Do you follow the monthly celebrity book club picks? This month, Jenna picked, The Names, as her selection and I can see why. I devoured it in five days and loved the unique and intriguing structure of this book. This thought provoking book has the reader following three timelines at once, as you are immersed in answering the question, "Can a name change the course of a life?" Cora, the mother, Gordon, the father, and Maia, the big sister, all have different opinions of what the new baby boy in their life should be named. Spanning over thirty-five years, the story follows three alternate and alternative versions of their lives, shaped by the choice of a name. Some chapters, follow the little boy being named Bear, the name his sister chooses for him. Other chapters, follow the boy, known as Julian, the name his mother chooses for him. While, some chapters follow him as Gordon, carrying on his father's name. If you like books that have multiple timelines, messy family dynamics, and leave you wanting more, then this is a book for you. I gave it 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 on the devourscale. (Trigger warning for domestic abuse throughout the book.)
#4 = The Road to Tender Hearts By: Annie Hartnett
Every so often you start a book, get hooked immediately, and know it's going to be hard to put down, and for me that was Annie Hartnett's newest: The Road to Tender Hearts. Her book, Unlikely Animals, was in my Top 10 In 2022 and I have a strong feeling this one will be in my Top 10 this year. At sixty-three, PJ Halliday is a million dollar lottery winner, but despite the money, he has had a number of life tragedies that make him an unhappy man. When his estranged brother's family dies, PJ assumes the responsibility of caring for his great niece and nephew. With the children in tow, along with his cranky daughter, they set off to Arizona on a once in a lifetime roadtrip. End point in mind, to find his supposed long lost love at the Tender Heart Retirement Community. Along the way, I found laugh out loud moments along with ones that made me teary eyed. I also was routing so hard for PJ at the end to admit his flaws and get a once in lifetime "Do Over". If you like books about second chances, leaving behind no regrets, and messy but real to life characters, then this is a book for you. I gave it 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 on the devour scale and devoured it in four days.
# 3 = Wild Dark Shore By:
After finishing this book, I can see why it’s getting a lot of buzz! I listened to the audiobook, which has a full cast narration, and I couldn’t wait to find any opportunity to have my AirPods in my ears to listen. Widower, Dominic Salt, and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater,a tiny island off Antarctica. During a major storm, a woman mysteriously washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse her back to life, they begin to feel like a family again. Until they learn,Rowan, the woman, isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater, in the first place. If you like dark atmospheric books with twists and surprises thrown in, then this is a book for you. I gave it 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩on the devour scale.
#2 = My Friends By: Fredrik Backman
Holy smokes—Backman has done it again! I couldn’t put down this 400+ page novel, and I’m already calling it a Top 10 read of 2025. At its heart, the story centers on a painting, four teenagers, and the bonds of friendship. Fast forward twenty-five years, and we meet Louisa, an eighteen-year-old determined to uncover the truth behind the painting. Backman masterfully shifts between past and present, slowly revealing each character’s secrets and struggles. The result is a tender, unforgettable story about the meaning of friendship—and the lengths we’ll go to protect the people we love. If you like character driven stories about friendship and love, then this is a book for you. I gave it 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 on the devour scale. After reading the book, you will want to call all your friends and tell them, "I love you and I believe in you".
#1 = Broken Country By: Clare Leslie Hall
Well, after devouring this book in 4 days, I can see why Reese picked it as her March book club pick. It is so good! From the beginning of the novel, we know someone is dead, and someone is on trial for their murder. The book fills in pieces of exactly what happens as the book moves forward. The dual timeline follows the beginning of the romance between Beth and Gabriel in 1955, and the rekindling of their relationship later in 1968. There is also a complicated love triangle and many plot twists that the author keeps hidden until the end. If you like books about young forbidden love, family drama, with a murder trial thrown in, then this a book for you. I gave it 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 on the devour scale.
#5 = The Four Seasons - Netflix
This eight-part series is an adaptation of the Alan Alda 1981 film The Four Seasons, by Tina Fey, Lang Fisher, and Tracey Wigfield for Netflix. The decades-long friendship between three married couples is tested when one divorces, complicating their tradition of quarterly weekend getaways. Watch Trailer Here
#4 = White Lotus (Seasons 1-3) HBO
I was a bit behind on the times, so I watched all 3 seasons this year. An all-star cast head to a resort and unleash their worst, most privileged impulses. The series is a sharp social satire following the exploits of various guests and employees of the fictional White Lotus resort chain, whose stay becomes affected by their various dysfunctions. A week in the life of vacationers is unravelled as they relax and rejuvenate in paradise. With each passing day, a darker complexity emerges in these picture-perfect travelers, the hotel's cheerful employees, and the idyllic locale itself.
#3 = Your Friends and Neighbors - (Season 1) - Apple TV+
After being fired in disgrace, Andrew “Coop” Cooper (Hamm), a hedge fund manager still grappling with his recent divorce, resorts to stealing from his neighbors’ homes in the exceedingly affluent Westmont Village, only to discover that the secrets and affairs hidden behind those wealthy facades might be more dangerous than he ever imagined. Watch Trailer Here
#2 = Mom (Seasons 1-4) - Netflix
Anna Faris plays Christy, a single mom whose newly found sobriety has given her the ability to see her life clearly...and she does not like the view. Now she must try to untangle years of reckless decisions in order to make a better life for her and her kids. But she discovers that just because you want to be a better person doesn't mean it's going to be easy. Everywhere she looks there are challenges: She is trying to stop drinking in wine country, have a healthy romance with her unavailable boss, raise her young son to be a good man despite his father's influence, convince her troubled teenage daughter to make better choices than she did, and - perhaps the most difficult task - forgive her estranged mother, Bonnie (Janney), for not giving her any of the tools she needed to handle life in the first place. Watch Trailer Here
#1 = Paradise (8 Episodes) - Hulu
#5 = Tea Bag Organizer
This tea holder not only saves room in my cupboard but has also been a great way to organize my tea bags by type. .
#4 = Red Light Therapy for Face
#3 = Portable Charger
This portable charger that powers up your phone, AirPods, and Apple Watch all at once. Lightweight and compact, it slips easily into my purse and has become a must-have on trips (and even around the house) whenever my devices need a quick boost.
#2 = Ipad Pillow
I received this last Christmas and I didn't realize how much I needed it. It really comes in handy when reading or watching shows/movies on my iPad. You can adjust it to the correct height with your neck level and even put a yummy snack in the bowl.
#1 = Table Organizer
I absolutely love this organizer on my table. It holds my drinks, phone,, pens, and sticky notes all in one place. Not only is it great for organizing, I think it just looks more aesthetically appealing than a pile of "stuff".
