My Top 10 Books of 2025
As with all my annual lists, these aren’t all new books but they were all new to me in 2025. And re-reads do not count, so some incredible favorites like Train Dreams by Denis Johnson or Dark Voyage by Alan Furst don’t appear here. A couple of these were audiobooks, but I say those count, especially when you’re life gets busy as hell and the country is falling apart into the dumbest plutocracy of all time and you just want to escape, lie in bed in the dark, and listen. Anyway, these are some damn fine reads. Enjoy!
Honorable Mention: Winter Solstice by Nina MacLaughlin
I read this after I made this list but I want to give a shout-out to these astoundingly beautiful essays (or one long essay) about the winter solstice, the onset of winter darkness, and our many modern and ancient rituals and relationships to this time of year and all the changes that take place. It really was the most poetic prose I’ve read in a while and deserves mention and high praise.
10. The End of the Drive by Louise L’Amour
A collection of short stories (some very very short) set in (shocker!) the old west. I hadn’t read any westerns in a while and these were fairly eclectic, with stories of escaped prisoners in the Mexican desert, farm hands trying to start a new life, revenge tales, survival tales, just a good batch of comfort fiction that isn’t as awkwardly xenophobic as some older western tales can get. Solid stuff.
9. Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig
Chuck wrote a banger of a book here. The beginning is a bit of a slow burn, but once the story bites down on you in a very dramatic way pretty early on, it does NOT let go. Fascinating, claustrophobic, and frightening, it’s the kind of book you’ll think about long after you’ve finished and moved on to others. I’ll never think of “millennial gray” decor the same way again. Chuck is a hell of a writer, especially if you like anything in the horror/thriller genre.
8. Notes from an Island by Tove Jansson with art from Tuulikki Pietila
This is a short beautiful story of the author and her wife (who provided the art) moving on to a semi-remote and fairly desolate island and spending most of the year there for a huge portion of their lives. They built cabins, fostered relationships with locals, and wrote/painted during their down time about all of their cheerful visits and harrowing challenges to survive in a pretty harsh environment. But it was such a calming, charming little book.
7. Expensive Basketball by Shea Serrano
A perfect follow up to his previous book Basketball (and Other Things), this time about how basketball is beautiful because of all thing stats you can point to and even more so because of all that you cannot. All the things that FEEL expensive about basketball, the massive moments, the unforgettable players. Most of all, I love that Shea loves the San Antonio Spurs as much as I do. He writes with such joy and passion. It’s an easy book to love.
6. Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule
While I’m starting to lean into the “true crime is getting annoying” camp, with the glut of gleeful podcasters reveling in all the mayhem, this one is an undeniable classic. To be this close to the subject and NOT write about it would have been a crime, and she handles the subject with tact and curiosity. This was an audiobook listen, but I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It’s a detailed look into just how manipulative Ted Bundy was.
5. Pastoral, 1994 by Joe Wilkins
This is the kind of poetry I always hope I find when I crack open a new collection. If you enjoy the work of Wendell Berry, Willy Vlautin, Donald Hall, or J Lester Allen, you’ll enjoy this. It’s agrarian and get-your-hands-dirty blue collar yet with an eye for gorgeous detail and delicate subtlety. An excellent poetry collection that I’ll probably read once a year for a long, long time..
4. End of the World As We Know It (Various Authors)
I couldn’t wait for this book, which was probably my most hyped read of the year, and it did not disappoint. There are a huge array of styles and voices in this one, from villains and monsters to heroic duos and sentient animals on the run. I loved how many stories went in unexpected directions while all played in the worldwide sandbox of Stephen King’s The Stand. An incredibly fun collection that definite gave me plenty of edgy chills.
3. The Stand by Stephen King
Yeah, I read it to read the new collection of short stories and yeah it was my first full read-through. Incredible. I get while some say the ending is a little controversial and less meaty than the early sections, but I’d call the first 65% of this book the best King horror I’ve read, save for the last 65% of Salem’s Lot. Just nonstop dread as you follow a series of characters you quickly come to care for/ It’s a long but fun read and I am so happy I waited to pair it with End of the World…
2. Into Thin Air by John Krakauer
I only vaguely heard about the disastrous year of Everest in 1996, so listening to this audiobook was one of the more intense literary experiences of the year. How often do you get someone with skills of this writing caliber right on the scene of something so intense and tragic. The buildup, the aftermath, all the players, it felt like I was right there taking each excruciating step with them up the mountain. A classic and must read (or listen, I suppose).
1. Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I Have Not Visited and Never Will by Judith Schalansky
This may seem like an odd choice considering the last few bangers, but for a geography, history, and nautical nerd like me, this was pure gold. Each entry is a few pages at most, but each one reveals the fascinating and often deadly history surrounding some of the most remote corners of the world, where mankind has only touched briefly one or twice due to brutal conditions or vast distances from any civilization. I loved reading each poetic little entry, then rushing to Wikipedia to learn all about the island’s history and getting all the backstory. It was such a fun read and I cannot recommend this book enough. The best reading experience of the year.
