As 2025 comes to a close, we’re reflecting on a year filled with essays on uncovering hidden stories, evocative short fiction, and interviews with literary luminaries. Below are the ten pieces on PB Daily that you read the most this past year. (Check out the“Ten Most-Read Reviews of 2025.”)
“Jewish Book Month 100: A Book for Every Decade” by JBC Staff
“Biblical Heroines: Eight Novels That Celebrate Women Who Stand for Justice” by Jacqueline Friedland
“The Roman Palms” Barak Kassar
“The Female Jewish Snipers Who Inspired‘The Night Sparrow’” by Shelly Sanders
“Forensics, Fiction and Forgiveness: Crafting a Mystery Novel” by Tova Mirvis
“A Queen Esther for the Twentieth Century: A Conversation with John Irving” by Simona Zaretsky
“Jewish Summer Reading Challenge 2025/5785″ by JBC Staff
A Jewish Detective Visits Constantinople in the 1800s by A.E. Goldin
“Portal to Passover: A Conversation with Dara Horn” by Emily Schneider
Simona is the Jewish Book Council’s managing editor of digital content and marketing. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a concentration in English and History and studied abroad in India and England. Prior to the JBC she worked at Oxford University Press. Her writing has been featured in Lilith, The Normal School, Digging through the Fat, and other publications. She holds an MFA in fiction from The New School.