Book List: The 2025 Review
A decent year of reading! More books, less social was a goal of the year and I feel like I somewhat succeeded. Still, the goal is to 2x the number of books for 2026.
Best Read books of the Year
A few delightful reads stand out, but my top books of the year were as follows.
The Tsar of Love and Techno
The Tsar of Love and Techno: Stories
Stories
Hogarth
This stunning, exquisitely written collection introduces a cast of remarkable characters whose lives intersect in ways both life-affirming and heartbreaking. A 1930s Soviet censor painstakingly corrects offending photographs, deep underneath Leningrad, bewitched by the image of a disgraced prima ballerina. A chorus of women recount their stories and those of their grandmothers, former gulag prisoners who settled their Siberian mining town. Two pairs of brothers share a fierce, protective love. Young men across the former USSR face violence at home and in the military. And great sacrifices are made in the name of an oil landscape unremarkable except for the almost incomprehensibly peaceful past it depicts.
The Tainted Cup
The Tainted Cup
Check out The Tainted Cup - <b>HUGO AWARD WINNER • WORLD FANTASY AWARD WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A Holmes and Watson–style detective duo take the stage in this fantasy with a mystery twist, from acclaimed author Robert Jackson Bennett<br><br>“Like an endearing fantasy version of <i>Knives Out</i> . . . A great murder mystery is hard to pull off but Bennett structures his perfectly, and the fact that it’s in a fantasy setting only makes it better.”—T. J. Klune, <i>The New York Times</i><br></b><br><b>LOCUS AWARD FINALIST • EDGAR AWARD NOMINEE<br><br>A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: <i>The New York Times Book Review, </i>NPR, <i>Elle, BookPage<br></i></b><br>In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible.<br><br>Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. Rumor has it that she wears a blindfold at all times, and that she can solve impossible cases without even stepping outside the walls of her home.<br><br>At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol, magically altered in ways that make him the perfect aide to Ana’s brilliance. Din is at turns scandalized, perplexed, and utterly infuriated by his new superior—but as the case unfolds and he watches Ana’s mind leap from one startling deduction to the next, he must admit that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.<br><br>As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.<br><br>By an “endlessly inventive” (<i>Vulture</i>) author with a “wicked sense of humor” (NPR),<i> The Tainted Cup</i> mixes the charms of detective fiction with brilliant world-building to deliver a fiendishly clever mystery that’s at once instantly recognizable and thrillingly new. by Robert Jackson Bennett on Bookshop.org US!
Del Rey
In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible.
The Doors of Midnight
(The second book in a series with impressive world-building.)
The Doors of Midnight
Check out The Doors of Midnight - <p><b>“Read R.R. Virdi!”―Jim Butcher, #1 <i>New York Times </i>bestselling author of The Dresden Files</b><br><br><b>Myths begin, and a storyteller’s tale deepens, in the essential sequel to R.R. Virdi’s breakout Silk Road-inspired epic fantasy debut, <i>The First Binding.</i></b><br><br><i>Some stories are hidden for a reason. All tales have a price. And every debt must be paid.</i><br><br>I killed three men as a child and earned the name Bloodletter. Then I set fire to the fabled Ashram. I’ve been a bird and robbed a merchant king of a ransom of gold. And I have crossed desert sands and cutthroat alleys to repay my debt.<br><br>I’ve stood before the eyes of god, faced his judgement, and cast aside the thousand arrows that came with it. And I have passed through the Doors of Midnight and lived to tell the tale.<br><br>I have traded one hundred and one stories with a creature as old as time, and survived with only my cleverness, a candle, and a broken promise.<br><br>And most recently of all, I have killed a prince, though the stories say I have killed more than one.<br><br><i>My name is Ari. These are my legends.</i><br><br><i>And these are my lies.</i></p> by R.R. Virdi on Bookshop.org US!
Tor Books
Some stories are hidden for a reason. All tales have a price. And every debt must be paid.
I killed three men as a child and earned the name Bloodletter. Then I set fire to the fabled Ashram. I've been a bird and robbed a merchant king of a ransom of gold. And I have crossed desert sands and cutthroat alleys to repay my debt.
The Practice, the Horizon, the Chain
The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain
Check out The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain - <p><b>Nebula Award Finalist for Best Novella</b><br><br><b>Named a Best Sci-Fi Book of 2024 by <i>Esquire, The New York Times, SLATE, The Washington Post, </i>and <i>ELLE</i></b><br><br><b>“I am in love with Sofia Samatar’s lyricism and the haunting beauty of her imagination. Her stories linger, like the memory of a sumptuous feast.”—N. K. Jemisin</b><br><br><b>A Most Anticipated in 2024 Pick for <i>Goodreads | LitHub </i><i>| Book Riot </i><i>| She Reads </i><i>| The Nerd Daily </i></b><b><i>| New Scientist</i></b><br><br><b>Celebrated author Sofia Samatar presents a mystical, revolutionary space adventure for the exhausted dreamer in this brilliant science fiction novella tackling the carceral state and violence embedded in the ivory tower while embodying the legacy of Ursula K. Le Guin.</b><br><br>The boy was raised as one of the Chained, condemned to toil in the bowels of a mining ship out among the stars. His whole world changes—literally—when he is yanked “upstairs” and informed he has been given an opportunity to be educated at the ship’s university alongside the elite.<br><br>Overwhelmed and alone, the boy forms a bond with the woman he comes to know as “the professor,” a weary idealist and descendent of the Chained who has spent her career striving for validation from her more senior colleagues, only to fall short at every turn.<br><br>Together, the boy and the woman will embark on a transformative journey to grasp the design of the chains that fetter them both—and are the key to breaking free.</p> by Sofia Samatar on Bookshop.org US!
Tordotcom
The boy was raised as one of the Chained, condemned to toil in the bowels of a mining ship out among the stars. His whole world changes—literally—when he is yanked “upstairs” and informed he has been given an opportunity to be educated at the ship’s university alongside the elite.
On Tyranny
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
Crown
The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.
On Tyranny is a call to arms and a guide to resistance, with invaluable ideas for how we can preserve our freedoms in the uncertain years to come.
The Deluge
The Deluge
Check out The Deluge - <b>A <i>New York Times </i>Notable Book</b><BR> <b>“This book is, simply put, a modern classic. If you read it, you’ll never forget it. Prophetic, terrifying, uplifting.” —Stephen King</b><BR> <BR><b>From the bestselling author of <i>Ohio</i>, a masterful American epic charting a near future approaching collapse and a nascent but strengthening solidarity.</b><BR><BR>In the first decades of the 21st century, the world is convulsing, its governments mired in gridlock while a patient but unrelenting ecological crisis looms. America is in upheaval, battered by violent weather and extreme politics. In California in 2013, Tony Pietrus, a scientist studying deposits of undersea methane, receives a death threat. His fate will become bound to a stunning cast of characters—a broken drug addict, a star advertising strategist, a neurodivergent mathematician, a cunning eco-terrorist, an actor turned religious zealot, and a brazen young activist named Kate Morris, who, in the mountains of Wyoming, begins a project that will alter the course of the decades to come.<BR> <BR>From the Gulf Coast to Los Angeles, the Midwest to Washington, DC, their intertwined odysseys unfold against a stark backdrop of accelerating chaos as they summon courage, galvanize a nation, fall to their own fear, and find wild hope in the face of staggering odds. As their stories hurtle toward a spectacular climax, each faces a reckoning: what will they sacrifice to salvage humanity’s last chance at a future? A singular achievement, <i>The Deluge</i> is a once-in-a-generation novel that meets the moment as few works of art ever have. by Stephen Markley on Bookshop.org US!
Simon & Schuster
In the first decades of the 21st century, the world is convulsing, its governments mired in gridlock while a patient but unrelenting ecological crisis looms. America is in upheaval, battered by violent weather and extreme politics. In California in 2013, Tony Pietrus, a scientist studying deposits of undersea methane, receives a death threat. His fate will become bound to a stunning cast of characters—a broken drug addict, a star advertising strategist, a neurodivergent mathematician, a cunning eco-terrorist, an actor turned religious zealot, and a brazen young activist named Kate Morris, who, in the mountains of Wyoming, begins a project that will alter the course of the decades to come.
Read
- The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick (fiction) 3.5 out of 5 stars
- Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (fiction) 4 stars
- Think Faster, Talk Smarter by Matt Abrahams (nonfiction) 4 stars
- The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra (fiction) 5 stars
- The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle (nonfiction) 3 stars
- A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers (fiction) 3.5 stars
- The End of the World as We Know It (many authors) (fiction) 4 stars
- The Night Ends with Fire by KX Song (fiction) 3.5 stars
- The Wanderers by Chuck Wendig (fiction) 4 stars
- Wayward by Chuck Wendig (fiction) 4 stars
- Atomic Habits (I reread every year) by James Clear (nonfiction) 5 stars
- The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (fiction) 5 stars
- A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennet (fiction) 4.5 stars
- The Devils by Joe Abercrombie (fiction) 4.5 stars
- A Most Beautiful Thing by Arshay Cooper (nonfiction) 4 stars
- The Practice, The Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar (fiction) 5 stars
- The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey (fiction) 3.5 stars
- Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaivkovsky (fiction) 4 stars
- Dare to Lead by Brene Brown (nonfiction) 3.5 stars
- Polostar by Neal Stephenson (fiction) 4 stars
- A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab (fiction) 3.5 stars
- Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil by VE Schwab (fiction) 4 stars
- The Doors of Midnight by RR Virdi (fiction) 5 stars
- On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder (nonfiction) 5 stars
- The Armored Saint by Myke Cole (fiction) 4 stars
- The Future by Naomi Alderman (fiction) 3.5 stars
- The Emire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff (fiction) 4.5 stars
- More Perfect by Temi Oh (fiction) 5 stars
- Nettle and Bone by Ursala Vernon (fiction) 4.5 stars
- Echo of Worlds by MR Carey (fiction) 4.5 stars
- The Deluge by Stephen Markley (fiction) 5 stars
- The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss (fiction) 4 stars
- The Fourth Wing Series by Rebecca Yarros (fiction) 3.5 stars
Still Reading
I slow-burn through non-fiction books (especially if I enjoy them).
One Hand Clapping by Niklay Kukushkin (nonfiction) 5 stars
This beautiful and amazing book follows and explains evolution unfolding in our universe and world to ultimately land on the emergence of consciousness. My favorite book of the year.
Proto - How One Ancient Language Went Global by Laura Spinney (nonfiction) 5 stars
A close second when it comes to favorites. This book traces the history of the Indo-European languages.
Other "Still Reading" Books:
- Deep Work by Cal Newport (non-fiction) 4 stars
- Between Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History by Moudhy Al-Rashid (nonfiction) 5 stars
Gave Up
I disregard books that rank below a 3.5. Not enough time in the day to continue reading something that isn't educating me or bringing enjoyment.
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (nonfiction). I mean, I had to try. It's a nice enough book - with lots of obvious conclusions.
- Gardens of the Mood by Steven Erickson (fiction)
- Shogun by James Clavell (fiction). I loved the TV series. The book, not so much.
- The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown (fiction)
- Orbital by Samantha Harvey
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