2025 reads

Partial list of 2025 highlights, no lowlights.

William Morris has long been an interest of my wife and I. This year, I finally got serious about reading more deeply in his work beyond a few key speeches/ essays and News from Nowhere.

I did do a News from Nowhere re-read, and I was reminded of how ahead of its time it was in many ways. Or more likely, how much certain ideas have slipped culturally. How radical were family abolition or prison abolition really once upon a time...

Anyways, the real highlight was The Wood Beyond the World. Really showcases what fantasy can be. Certain Marxist Critics owe fantasy an apology! On top of that, a broader apology is owed to William Morris, not just for his contributions to fantasy, but generally, as Elizabeth Miller details in Slow Print (probably the only nonfiction book I will be recommending for reasons that will become clear shortly!)

Alasdair Gray - Let's start with a confession: I still have not read Lanark. But,

I did read Poor Things, and it is a novel I cannot stop thinking about. The sort of Discourse Interventions he does with the Fabians and early 20th century feminism are fascinating. Even if you think it's a bad book or something, it's hard to ignore its reflexivity, the way it positions itself in literary history, the way it takes up its genre conventions. On the subject of the movie, it was similarly fascinating to me how Yorgos seems to be setting Poor Things in an alternate timeline: in the novel, WWI and WWII and eugenics haunt every word, but Yorgos does not bring this. Instead, there is levity and a retrofuturism of that age... as if war does not loom.

And this brings us to A History Maker. Much of the scifi in the Poor Things film reminded me of the imagery in History Maker, as I've said elsewhere. I do not think History Maker is as good as Poor Things, but it is an interesting take on scifi, a genre whose birth makes a cameo of sorts in Poor Things. It's hard not to read these two books together. As I become more Graypilled and familiar with his biography, I have a feeling I'll figure that relationship out some more. No doubt some of you are screaming at your monitors. Tune in next year or the year after for the listicle where I have a sidebar that figures it out! Part of my interest in Morris, too, came from reading Gray. Again, I'm sure I'll have a more developed line of thought on this in a year or two, but a specter is haunting Gray's works and it's definitely Morris shaped. Novel where Gray's shrander is William Morris or something... Someone figure that out and dm me

John Ashbery - Alight let's keep this one short. Finally acquired the Library of America volume of his work and started from the beginning. As I write this I'm in Rivers and Mountains. I guess what's been most striking so far is how Ashbery early Ashbery is.

Jim Thompson - Numerous people have been telling me to read Thompson for years, and I did not. One of my greatest failings as a reader is that if you recommend me a book it will take me years to read it despite the volume I typically read. There's no reason for this, I am just insufferable. In fact, it's not clear to me what would motivate someone to read all this, and I say this as person who's read well nevermind

Pop 1280 - goated

A Hell of a Woman - goated

The Alcoholics - interesting but would not recommend

Simenon - The truth is, Simenon completely derailed my reading plans for the year. I read like 40 Simenons. I also moved across the country, so I think some grace is due, but still what the hell was I doing.

Romans durs - I personally think these are more hit or miss than the Maigret novels, but the highs are exceptionally high.

Three Bedrooms in Manhattan - might be his best. All his (French) talents are on display

The Little Man from Archangel - this is one of my favorite kinds of Simenon: A novel where a small community turns against a character. In our current moment, I am constantly reminded of the interrogation the police chief subjects our Jewish main character to, asking why he never wore his... alright not spoiling it. Monsieur Hire's another one in this camp.

Red Lights - I did not like this novel front to back but it's a tremendous depiction of traffic, and I know people are interested in that kind of thing now [urbanism]. The Neighbours as I recall had some of that too which I read after seeing a Scott Bradfield video mention it.

Monsieur Monde Vanishes - he characterizes the bourgeoisie so well at times, and if you're some kind of marxist reading this you're probably aware of that. This and The Man Who Watched Trains Go By are two of the archetypal examples I've read so far.

Maigret - doctor, I was given a bottle of Maigret pills and I swallowed them all...

I'd like to recommend a double feature: Maigret Enjoys himself and Maigret Takes a Room.

I think for some people these are too formulaic (valid even his romans durs are too truthfully), but I just thoroughly enjoyed reading Simenon riff with his foil, Maigret. To me, he's very good at changing pace with things like Maigret Sets a Trap or Maigret in Court. He's one of those storytellers where I simply enjoy the telling.

An issue I would like to address: many do not like the non-Paris Maigrets, and I think this is a mistake. As I see it, the problem is mainly with the early Maigrets: Simenon had not quite nailed down the formula until he was maybe 20 or 30 deep in the series (still investigating that). Later entries that feature Maigret in the countryside are among my favorite: for instance, Maigret Afraid (featuring a small town itching to turn on someone) and Maigret Goes to School.

But of course, once again, the marxists reading this are all chanting "class class class class" upon my mention of school, so let me just recommend Maigret and the Good People of Montparnasse for them.

Martin Beck - In an effort to prevent me from reading only Simenon this year, Tren recommended the Martin Beck books.

The Laughing Policeman - The first three books in the series are fairly common storylines these days (though it is through their influence to some extent), the kind of stuff you might see on SVU. By the fourth entry, the cumulative weight of the series begins to kick in and a new higher stakes investigation occurs. Also, urbanism. If I was a Youtuber, I would do a video like "why urbanists need to read Martin Beck."

The Abominable Man - This might be the series high point. My marxism meter was vibrating off the table as I read it, uncharted levels.

Cop Killer - Hell yeah

The Terrorists - I did not love the ending, but they really did it on an overall level.

Sidenote: I did begin preliminary inquiries into Per Wahloo's solo efforts, and The Generals is a take on utopian societies for our time in many ways. Like if you remember the Kim Stanley Robinson/ Jameson formulation of 'anti-anti-utopian' this probably subverts that kind of thing.

Manchette - I ended up interested in Manchette less from my crime fiction era and more because of my love of Creation Lake

3 to Kill - this is what some marxists think Simenon is (not me I'm woke)

No Room at the Morgue - I did read some Hammett this year, and seeing Manchette shift gears into Hammett mode really solidified Manchette as a great writer for me. I've heard Rachel Kushner mention his journals too, so I'm optimistic about his range if you know what I mean.

Fatale - I know i've already mentioned Yorgos, but I just need someone to film the end sequence of this book.

James Crumley - Folks, we are hardboiled right now - let's talk The Last Good Kiss.

This is a favorite of the Goblin Bunker (shout out Lynn), and it's not hard to see why it's such a crowd pleaser within just a couple pages of reading.

Never trust a writer

Man the 60s really ended ended huh. Like it's not even 10 years later... everything happens so much. Well, vote!

Joseph Hansen - Another Scott Bradfield recommendation. Scott's spoken so highly of the Brandstetter books across numerous videos, I had to see what all the fuss was about. These also sounded like LA classics too, which was a minor theme for the year in retrospect.

It's probably not going to sounds like a ringing endorsement, but I think I read the first three in the series. It is genuinely refreshing tho to see a gay 70s view of LA thru a life insurance claims investigator.

What's also compelling, as someone who lived 10 years in LA, is seeing the ranches and citrus groves of what LA once was. Tho a few rich enclaves still try to maintain the facade, there really are not any 'small towns' left there these days. The 70s are a different story, literally.

At the same time, Brandstetter is at home in still familiar LA eateries with casts of characters I've very much seen IRL. Like Simenon, he explores the local ambiance well and 'crimes' are uncovered through investigations of the various social milieus. If you don't fuck with France (respect), check these out instead

And this of course ties in to depictions of Hollywood's cowboy actors, for instance.

Nathanael West - Continuing on with LA roundup, I read The Day of the Locust.

Just kidding, I need to register my opinion that Ms Lonelyhearts was way more compelling to me. Maybe I'm wrong! I thought there was much to Say here in the age of social media, down to Ms Lonelyhearts going by his handle only

Helen Potrebenko - read Taxi! after a viral post by oomf; oomfie was right! Great read and in 'the canon' with a Century of Clouds. Highest praise!

Holly Raymond - I did not read a ton of poetry last year (which is being Addressed this year), but I did revisit a fave, Mall is Lost. One of my favorite contemporary books of poetry! Salute!

Le Guin - time now to pivot to F&SF. I am engaging in an Earthsea reread and completed the original trilogy in 2025:

The reread confirmed, once again, that Farthest Shore is my least favorite.

Tombs of Atuan only becomes more apt with time.

Wizard of Earthsea is so well written sentence to sentence, to me. As an upholder of Scott Bradfield Thought, I have to agree the Earthsea books are the best thing she wrote. A blessing I found these as a child and have returned to them now as an adult.

Sofia Samatar - A year or two ago, I read Le Guin's Eye of the Heron, and found it lacking. In many ways, The Practice, The Horizon, and The Chain felt like a success where Eye of the Heron was a failure. The Practice read to me like an instant classic, the way Wizard of Earthsea does. Cover to cover execution in a way rarely seen. A Samatar reread may be coming in 2026

Nadia Afifi - read all her books, and am left only wanting more of her works, a further exploration of the cyberpunk themes she's been exploring.

Rebel's History of Mars - I do want to single out how compelling the dual narrative structure was while I was reading it. It felt very 'of the moment' to have that simultaneous 'present' always juxtaposed with a sort of lounge duree.

I also feel compelled to say, if you pick up the Sentient trilogy, it is NOT YA. It simply begins the narrative with the main character LEAVING school. Read on.

Jack Vance - Speaking of the longue duree...

Somewhat like Jim Thompson, I've long, stubbornly, NOT been into Jack Vance. I tried multiple times to start the Dying Earth books from the beginning, which is apparently very wrong. Do not do this. Anyways, with recommendations from Tren citing the War Nerd, I had to finally get into it

The Gray Prince - Overall: very good book. I do have to note, it's very funny how he starts this off with a compelling female character only to abandon her like 20 pages in to follow the adventures of a couple young men. Great book though. He couldn't have done it like Doris Piserchia anyways

The Languages of Pao - I just now remembered that I meant to read what Le Guin said about this one.

Emphyrio - If you're reading this because you know me from poetryland, and you are interested in reading a 'classic' of the science fiction genre, check this out.

Maske: Thaery - Might have been my favorite Vance read of the year. Does everything so well that people like the War Nerd commend Vance for.

Great Art by Liz Ryerson is certainly the best book 'about' video games I've ever read. Might even be the book of the decade.

M John Harrison - I read Viriconium and the Kefahuchi Tract books in the last quarter of 2024, and I started the new year (2025 that is) off strong with The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again. This year (2026), I am in the midst of the Course of the Heart as I write this. I still need to read his short fiction! I suppose I should end there, with something to look forward too...

Thank you for reading! Did this because I've always enjoyed reading these annual retrospectives and to jump back into blogging... Just trying out something new here. I do hope to continue on with it. More importantly though, I hope you found something worthwhile to read!