Last year’s thread: Best books of 2024
Doesn’t matter when they were published, but you read 'em and loved 'em in 2025. And please tell us, in a sentence or two, why you liked 'em.
In no special order.
I Must Be Dreaming: Chast, Roz
What can I say? I find Chast’s cartoons terribly deadpan and funny. Cartoon.
Good Bones: Smith, Maggie
A fine collection of Smith’s poetry. Poetry.
An Excellent Thing in a Woman (Sparks and Bainbridge, #7): Montclair, Allison
Female detectives in post-war London. Good plots, good character development. #8 comes out on January 6. This is a pseudonym for Alan Gordon, who wrote the Fools’ Guild mysteries. Mystery.
Lake of Souls: The Collected Short Fiction: Leckie, Ann
A solid collection with a good range of Leckie’s subjects. Speculative, mostly.
Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection: Green, John
Non-fiction, a mix of conversational exposition and personal anecdote. History, Memoir.
The Mimicking of Known Successes (The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti, #1): Older, Malka Ann
The first of three, it takes place on habitats around Jupiter after something has happened to Earth; queer content. Speculative. Mystery.
Penric’s Demon (Penric and Desdemona, #1): Bujold, Lois McMaster
A re-read. I deeply love the World of the Five Gods, and Bujold has been great about consistently publishing a new Penric and Desdemona novela at least every year. Fantasy.
The Strange Universe of Nathan W Pyle: Pyle, Nathan W.
I enjoy Pyle’s Beings cartoons. Cartoon.
Hollow Kingdom (Hollow Kingdom, #1): Buxton, Kira Jane
What’s not to like about zombie apocalypse Seattle, narrated by a crow named Shit Turd? Speculative-ish. Fantasy-ish.
The Secret Lives of Single Medieval Women: True Stories of Nuns, Maidens, and Not-So-Merry Widows Who Made Their Own Way in the Medieval World: Gilbert, Rosalie
Suffers editing problems, but pretty systematic and has references available online. History.
I see from my journal that I read 54 books this year, a little better than one a week, on average. My Top Ten in no particular order:
Starter Villain by John Scalzi - Very funny, clever spoof of supervillainy, written with Scalzi’s usual snarky wit.
Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin - I re-read this favorite vampire novel, set along the Mississippi River before the Civil War. There are characters and scenes which have stuck in my memory for decades now.
Twenty-Six Seconds by Alexandra Zapruder - Nonfiction about the strange journey of her grandfather’s film from Dealey Plaza in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963 to the present, and how it changed both her family and the very course of history.
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White - Deservedly classic kidlit about the unlikely friendship between a pig and a barn spider; I really enjoyed an unabridged 1970 recording of the author reading it aloud (he confessed he had to do many, many takes of the scene of Charlotte’s death). TERRIFIC!
The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides - Interesting look at Capt. James Cook’s third and final voyage around the world, with lots on exploration, imperialism, navy life and the clash of cultures.
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow - I read this murder mystery and courtroom drama again for the first time since it was published in 1987. Outstanding.
Absolutely American by David Lipsky - Nonfiction about the West Point Class of 2002, the first to graduate after 9-11: the careerists, the true believers, the jocks, the nerds and, yes, even the screwups.
The Fate of the Day by Rick Atkinson - Second in his planned trilogy about the American Revolution, covering 1777-1780. Atkinson’s work reminds me a lot of David McCullough’s: highly detailed, scrupulously accurate and engagingly written.
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan - His latest novel, about a literary historian in a poorer, flood-diminished England in 2119 trying to find out what happened to a famous but read-only-once poem from a celebrated 2014 dinner party.
The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes by June Thomson - A masterful collection of stories written in the Conan Doyle style. Particular standouts for me: “The Vanishing Head-Waiter,” “The Amateur Mendicants,” “The Itinerant Yeggman” and “The Abandoned Lighthouse.”
Honorable mentions: God Save the Queen by Dennis Altman (nonfiction about “the strange persistence of monarchies”), Orbital by Samantha Harvey (lyrical novel about the astronauts on the ISS), The Pursuit of Happiness by Jeffrey Rosen (how the ancient philosophers influenced the Framers), The End of All Things by John Scalzi (sixth in his Old Man’s War series), What If? 2 by Randall Munroe (absurd science), The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graf (compelling, sometimes heartbreaking oral history of 9/11), Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (pretty cool sf adventure, soon to be a movie).
In no particular order:
Well everything really of T.Kingfisher but most especially Hemlock & Silver and Swordheart. Both feature manly protective men who are just a bit exasperated at their women always running head first into trouble, usually in defense of another but still! Kingfisher writes wonderfully masculine me who know when to step back and be quiet.
A Man with One of Those Faces by Caimh McDonnell. The book was weird and funny and adventurous with a dark gruesome twist at the end.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. What if someone wrote a buddy cop movie set in outer space? I really enjoyed the characters and the “world building”. I can’t wait to see Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace.
All of Us Murderers by K. J. Charles. I tend to love everything she writes but this was a great gothic mystery with a rather high body count. Her two main characters were very well written.
Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong. Murder and a wedding? The book was well paced with a twist that Agatha Christie would have approved of, again I love her characters, I feel like I could sit down and enjoy spending an afternoon with them.
Murder on the Orient Express by Dame Agatha Christie. An oldie but a goody and the twist still holds up, even knowing what it was I still caught myself thinking “Nah, that can’t be right?”
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo. Very short, but pulled me in and made me cry more than once, ultimately a book about revenge, it was the small side story that touched me the most.
Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T. J. Klune, this and it’s predecessor House in the Cerulean Sea are what Miss Peregrine’s School should have been, a school for different/odd/freak children and a book about love and taking care of each other.
The Watchmaker’s Daughter by C.J. Archer. A magical watch, bandits, women in trousers (okay only one woman) in Victorian London. Magic, mystery and some well written characters.
Who killed the Ghost in the Library? by Teresa Watson. A ghost hires a young woman to solve his murder, initially I thought it was going to be a paint by numbers mystery but it had some surprising twists and a lot of great characterization.
After years of finishing 90-95 books a year - one of those dumb Goodreads goals - I dropped Goodreads and decided to mix longer-form fiction with whatever else I was reading. As a result, I finished 28 books this year. I’m about halfway through Proust’s main books, and partway through S. by JJ Abrams and Doug Forst. Among those I finished:
House of Leaves, Mark Danielewski. A metafictional, 720-page psychological horror account of a guy wading through the analytical texts of a (now dead) guy who was writing about a documentary that was about a family moving into a house where things didn’t quite fit right. It also, while detailing the horrors, manages to make fun of scholarly over-analysis and excessive (David Foster Wallace-like) wandering footnotes. I read it in three days and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I do not recommend it…this is not for you.
Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson. A first re-read since it came out. The story of what happens if you select a bunch of very smart people, put infrastructure and hierarchy in place, and then send them to Mars - where you can’t enforce any of it. Slow, in a mostly good way.
2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke. Another reread of this (plus 2010) since who-knows-when. 2001 is better than I remembered? I won’t bore you with plot details, you know them.
The Tainted Cup/A Drop of Corruption, Robert Jackson Bennett. Holmes and Watson type characters in a universe structured as though the author dropped acid and then read a bunch of fantasy novels. Weird stuff, but I liked it.
I read House of Leaves a few years ago. It was baffling and sometimes scary, but very worthwhile, I thought.
This thread may interest you, too, Maserschmidt, about the movie and later books about it: 2001: A Space Odyssey
The scent of a lie: paolo da costa
A book of intertwining short stories set in northern Portugal. A strong writer who deserves a bigger audience.
Human Acts: Han Kang
Nobel Prize winning Korean writer more famous for The Vegetarian. This novel deals with the Gwangju tragedy of 1980 and I think is a better novel.
Selected Poems: Conrad Aiken
An underappreciated American poet from the last century. My favourites: Senlin: A Biography; Preludes for Memnon; And In The Hanging Gardens.
MAC-PAP: Ronald Liversedge
A memoir of a Canadian who fought in the Spanish Civil War. 1,200 Canadians went to fight fascism and only 600 returned. For those who returned, they were designated as ‘premature anti-fascist’ and to this day have never been properly recognised.
All Hell Can’t Stop Us: Bill Waiser
A scholarly account of the Regina Riots of 1935. Reading this and the book above, one can see the forwarding echoes of history.
OEUVRES COMPLETES: ARTHUR RIMBAUD
I found this beautifully bound Editions De Cluny (exemplaire No 3007) in an antique store. It reminds me how books used to be a work of art - and that they are still decently bound in Europe and Asia, but less so in North America.
The Home Physician and Guide To Health
Found in the same antique store as the one above, this 1935 book on human anatomy and health has great colour plates and gives a fascinating insight as to how health was looked at in those times. Chapter headings such as: Facts on Diet for All Classes; Religion and Health; Intestinal Worms.
Oishinbo: Tetsu Kariya, art by Akira Hanasaki
A manga collection of five: Japanese Cuisine; Sake; Izakaya; Fish, Sushi & Sashimi; Ramyan & Gyoza. A must read for anyone who is going to visit Japan for the first time and wants to learn about their food and drinking culture.
These are some standouts for 2025 for me.
Top Ten Books 2025
Best Book I Read This Year: (Fiction/Non-fiction): Dinner With King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-Creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations, by Sam Kean: Fascinating historical information and settings, plus excellent historic short stories illustrating the former.
FICTION:
- Flyaway, by Kathleen Jennings: Plot, language, worldbuilding, and characterization.
- Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones: Plot, setting, characterization, language, and humor.
- Not Quite a Ghost, by Anne Ursu: Characterization, language, and setting.
- Death Without Company, by Craig Johnson: Characterization, setting, plot, and humor.
- A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke: Plot, setting, and characterization.
- Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire: Characterization, plot, and language.
- Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem: Worldbuilding, humor, characterization, and language.
- Patently Absurd, by Bradley Schenck: Humor, plot, worldbuilding, and characterization.
- Rose/House by Arkady Martine: Language, worldbuilding, plot, and characterization.
- Learning the World by Ken Macleod: Language and worldbuilding.
NON-FICTION
- What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds, by Jennifer Ackerman: Fascinating scientific facts, language, setting, characterization (of both birds and scientists) and excellent photos. This would have been my favorite this year if I hadn’t read Dinner with King Tut.
- The Living Mountain: A Celebration of the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland, by Nan Shepherd: Interesting facts, excellent characterization, setting, and language.
- Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting, by Michael Perry: Characterization, language, setting.
- TreeNotes: A Year in the Company of Trees, by Nalini Nadkarini: Scientific facts and setting.
- My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew, by Abigail Pogrebin: Interesting facts, language, and humor.
- Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know, by Malcolm Gladwell: Interesting facts, characterization, and settings.
- The Velocity of Honey: And More Science of Everyday Life, by Jay Ingram: Interesting facts.
- Sandbows and Black Lights: Reflections on Optics, by Stephen R. Wilk: Interesting facts.
- The Secret Life of Hidden Places: Concealed Rooms, Clandestine Passageways, and the Curious Minds That Made Them, by Stefan Bachmann and April Genevieve Tucholke: Language, beautiful photos, and interesting geographic facts.
- In Miniature: How Small Things Illuminate the World, by Simon Garfield: Interesting historical facts, humor, and characterization.
Best First Line: (From M. T. Anderson’s novel Nicked) “The monk heard that a ship had arrived carrying one of the dog-headed people whom travelers speak of when they tell tales of the one-eyed and the winged, and he went to the docks to see if it was true.”
I didn’t read as much this year, since I’m sitting with Madame P. in her assisted living room half the time, but here goes, in chronological order:
- Koheleth: The Man and His World by Robert Gordis. Extensive commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes from the point of view of a masterful Jewish OT scholar.
- What Are They Saying About New Testament Apocalyptics? by Scott Lewis. One in a series of Catholic commentaries that attempts an unbiased look at significant biblical sections and policies. It’s a mostly historic look, with the only problem being it needs updating (30 years old now).
- Words, Words, Words, A History of the Dictionary by Kory Stamper, who’s an editor with Merriam-Webster. A fun behind the scenes look at editing dictionary articles. Only for those who think lexicography is cool.
- The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. Probably the best written fiction I’ve read this year, with fascinating, unforgettable characters.
- The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher. I do enjoy her fantasies.
- When The Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi. I discovered Scalzi through an earlier version of the Top Ten Books, and love him. This one has the moon turning into actual cheese.
- Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. A Dungeons & Dragons related, sophomorically-humorous romp. I understand the audiobook is better.
- Anima Rising by Christopher Moore. This time Moore has us meet the Bride of Frankenstein, who is being assisted by the artist Gustav Klimt as well as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. If you liked Sacre Bleu, you’ll like this.
- Anno Dracula by Kim Newman. I’ve been meaning to read this one for quite awhile, and it’s worth the read. Dracula has married the widowed Queen Victoria and vampires are taking over England.
- How To Dodge A Cannonball by Dennon Dayle. The humorous, but insighful, story of a young white man posing as a black man serving in the Civil War, first for the Confederates and then for the Union.
Yeah, I was just riffing on the foreword to HoL: “This book is not for you.”
I read the thread! Thanks for posting that, and happy new year!