Another year, another to-be-read list for our bookworms!
Bibliophiles right now are wrapping up their 2024 reading list and I’m pretty sure that they’re already excited for what’s about to come in 2025. Some have already polished a 2025 TBR list, while others are still looking for ideas.
Well, whether your list is already complete or not, here are some of the five books you can still add to your TBR.
But wait— there’s a twist!
For every book recommendation on this list is a movie to pair it up with! We made sure that both the book and the film share the same vibes, so you can enjoy that literary atmosphere through audiovisual magic.
Are you ready? Let’s start the countdown!
1. Dracula by Bram Stoker
Starting with a classic because you can never go wrong with it!
You can say that this 19th century horror novel by Bram Stoker was the catalyst for the vampire-living-in-old-castles genre. Not to mention its epic contributions to discourse on sexuality and sexual liberation that offended the senses of Victorian society from when it was published.
Dracula is an epistolary novel that revolves around Englishmen and their fight against a Romanian vampire who attempts to move to London and feed on the local population. If you love gothic castles, foreign horrors, and a race-against-time type of story, then you should add this to your TBR.
Movie to pair it with: Nosferatu by Robert Eggers
2. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Want some coming-of-age book, tainted with mystery and a little bit of romance? How about if we add an eat-the-rich type of plot?
Try We Were Liars.
The book is about a wealthy family who spends every summer on a private little island. Everything seemed perfect on the surface, but after Cadence (protagonist) suffered from a head injury, she forgot everything that happened during one summer. When she comes back to the island, she tries to piece together her memory which leads to the unraveling of secrets— both of her family and hers.
If you are going to read this book though, I just have one piece of advice: don’t trust everything you read.
Movie to pair it with: The Virgin Suicides by Sofia Coppola
3. Para kay B by Ricky Lee
Of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without a Filipino book in it!
‘Para kay B’ is like an anthology of 5 stories but not really because in the end of the novel, you’ll learn how all the stories are tied together. It narrates the stories of five different characters and their encounter with love.
This book is written by none other than Ricky Lee, a Philippine National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts, whose screenplays ‘Himala’, ‘Brutal’, ‘Karnal’ and others were the top-notch Filipino classics.
Movie to pair it with: All About Love by Joyce Bernal
4. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd
Want something to cry about? Try A Monster Calls.
A Monster Calls is a coming-of-age story that revolves around 13-year old Connor whose mother suffers from the serious grip of cancer. One night, Connor is visited by a Yew Tree Monster who tells him three stories. These stories help him understand the complicated emotions he felt about his mother’s situation.
This right here is a bittersweet story that deserved to be read by both children and adults. It tackles the possibility of death in the eyes of someone innocent.
Movie to pair it with: Bridge to Terabithia Gabor Csupo
5. Educated by Tara Westover
We have a non-fiction book for our last recommendation.
Educated by Tara Westover chronicles the author’s journey from being a homeschooled child of a survivalist family in Idaho to being a PhD graduate in Cambridge. It tells the story of breaking free from her family’s forced isolation to reintegrate back into society.
Movie to pair it with: The Glass Castle by Destin Daniel Cretton
