A New Year Reflection | If 2025 Was a Book, What Would It Be Called?
- Erin Rae
- Dec 31, 2025
- 3 min read
As the year comes to a close, many of us feel the familiar pressure to define what comes next. To label it. Plan it. Fix it.
Instead, I asked a different question; one that felt softer, more honest, and far more revealing:
If 2025 was a book, what would the title be?
What followed wasn’t a trend forecast or a motivational slogan. It was real voices, offering humor, grief, rage, exhaustion, resilience, and, hope.
Reading them felt like holding a mirror up to the collective nervous system.
Here are some of the titles people shared:
Bye, Bye American pie
The Body Keeps the Score (to the tune of "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor”)
None of us can change what we have done, but we can all change what we do next.
The Last Stitch Effort of the Snake to Shed it's Skin
Why every American should be forced to take psychology classes - For idiots
Between Tides and Truth: A Woman Who Would Not Be Managed
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Destroying a Country
I did not lose hope, but I did lose friends that want it taken
I Was Told There Would Be A Handbasket
Shit Show. Of Epic Proportions
I Want a Do-Over
Fahrenheit 2025
Is this Nightmare over yet?
The redaction years!
Just… Why?!
What the literal f***
Bah Humbug
The Handmaid's Games
An Interesting Time
1984
The Circus Pt. 2
It was the Beast of Times, It was the Worst of Times.
How Upside-down Land Became Right-Side-Up and Other Tales of Cringe & Whimsy. (Short Story Collection)
She's always doing something
Alice in Wonderland
Mama and Chaos Grab a Drink
Dumpster Fire
Every f'n day
A Clockwork Orange
You Get a Grift, You Get a Grift, & You Get a Grift! (Picture Oprah)
How to wreck a nation in 12 months
Run by Blake Crouch
The forces of evolution and the wonders within
WTF JUST HAPPENED?
Jesus H Roosevelt CHRIST
David Bowie - I'm Afraid of Americans
The Story of a Billionaire Coup, and How the People Took it Back
WTF the Year!
The rapture did actually happen and we all got left behind
Oh God Why Oh What Is Happening Oh My God Someone Make It Stop
But Wait! There's More! Arrgh!
The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year
Saint Odd
God are you there? It’s me Margaret. Or
Animal Farm
W.T.F
The Skeletons in the Pool Are Real: America is the Poltergeist House
Agent Orange and the Goose-Steppers
It Is Happening Here
Can We Make It To 2028? A Survival Skills Guide For Intelligent People
Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year
Democracy: a failed experiment
The year I thought I would lose my mind!
Back to the Past
What Freash Hell is This?
I dunno about a book title, but I saw a great line about a drink: "If 2025 were a drink, it'd be a colonoscopy prep"
The Audacity of Still Being Here or We Stayed Anyway
The shittiest shit that ever shitted
How Big Is This Shit Show?
America and the Giant Peach
The Year the Frogs Protested: Resistance Comes in Many Forms
2025 - The Year Greed and Stupidity Returned Us to the Stone Age
Every f'n day
Family (“real” & chosen) forward our legacy
The Devil in the White City (Eric Larson)
All of the Above
There were even visual submissions:
What This New Year Reflection Reveals
This isn’t a list of resolutions. It’s a record of survival.
And maybe that’s what a real new year reflection looks like. Not optimism for optimism’s sake, but honesty paired with endurance.
A Welcome to the Year Ahead
As we step into 2026, here’s my wish for you:
May you rest without apology.
May you stop explaining yourself.
May you take up space quietly, or loudly.
May you read things that sharpen your mind and soften your edges.
May you drink something warm when the world feels cold.
You don’t owe this year productivity. You don’t owe it perfection. You don’t owe it a rebrand.
You owe yourself honesty, presence, and the freedom to turn the page when you’re ready.
Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is pause, breathe, and refuse to be rushed.
Erin Rae is the founder of Nimble Tea Co. and the creator of The Kind Bus, a whimsical bookmobile devoted to community, imagination, and keeping stories moving. She blends teas inspired by books, creativity, and everyday wonder—each one helping support the mission of The Kind Bus. When she’s not brewing something new, she’s usually reading, dreaming, or helping fellow creatives bring their ideas to life.
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