Reading in 2025

Below is a list of everything I read in 2025, including a couple of short stories and a few rereads.

In June, I started reading The Expeditionary Force series, and that effectively stopped all other reading. I have no regrets.

• Democracy in Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives by Sami Sage & Emily Amick
• In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
• A Man without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut
• One Woman's River: A Solo Source-to-Sea Paddle on the Mighty Mississippi by Ellen Kolbo McDonah
• Carbolics: a personal motoring disinfectant by James May
• The Answer is No by Fredrik Backman
• That's Not Right by Scott Meyer
• A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
• The Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout
• The Egg by Andy Weir

This is the point in my list where my reading began to move in a single direction.

• Expeditionary Force #1 Columbus Day by Craig Alanson
• Politically Correct Bedtime Stories by James Finn Garner
• Expeditionary Force #2 SpecOps by Craig Alanson
• Expeditionary Force #3 Paradise by Craig Alanson
• Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe by Bill Bryson
• Expeditionary Force #3.5 Trouble on Paradis by Craig Alanson
• Expeditionary Force #4 Black Ops by Craig Alanson
• Expeditionary Force #5 Zero Hour by Craig Alanson
• Expeditionary Force #6 Mavericks by Craig Alanson
• Expeditionary Force #7 Renegades by Craig Alanson
• Expeditionary Force #7.5 Homefront by Craig Alanson
• Expeditionary Force #8 Armageddon by Craig Alanson
• Expeditionary Force #9 Valkyrie by Craig Alanson
• Expeditionary Force #10 Critical Mass by Craig Alanson
• Expeditionary Force #11 Brushfire by Craig Alanson
• Expeditionary Force #12 Breakaway by Craig Alanson
• Expeditionary Force #13 Fallout by Craig Alanson
• Expeditionary Force #14 Match Game by Craig Alanson
• Expeditionary Force #15 Failure Mode by Craig Alanson
• Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire by Don Martin
• Expeditionary Force #16 Aftermath by Craig Alanson
• The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt by Riel Nason
• Expeditionary Force #17 Task Force Hammer by Craig Alanson
• Hansel and Gretel by Stephen King
• Expeditionary Force #18 Gateway by Craig Alanson
• The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim: a Hercule Poirot Short Story by Agatha Christie
• Todos Los Fantasmas de Esta Casa/All the Ghosts in This House by Frydha Victoria
• The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown
• The Pearl by John Steinbeck
• We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I just noticed that I didn’t include any comic books on my list this year. I’m not entirely sure I read any! I’ve been in the middle of a reread of Transmetropolitan for a while—so says my Kindle. I'll try to pay more attention to that this year.

I did not finish/DNF'ed eight books this year:

• Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI by Karen Hao
  • This was a book club pick, and I just couldn't get into this book. I might have AI information fatigue. I don't know if I'll come back to this one.
• 107 Days by Kamala Harris
  • I think I wasn’t ready to read this. I felt like I was making myself read it, so I put it back on the shelf after about 40 pages. In a few years, I may revisit it.
• This is How We End Things by R.J. Jacobs
  • Returned to the library after reading trigger warnings.
• Cloistered by Catherine Coldstream
  • Might try this one again. I wasn't in the mood for this type of book.
• Slewfoot: a Tale of Bewitchery by Brom
  • I loved what I read of this book, but I had to return it to the library before I finished. I’ve checked it out a couple of times since, but never made the time to finish it. I’ll revisit this one in the fall, I’m sure.
• The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls by Mona Eltahawy
  • Trigger warnings for days! This book is important and necessary, but it wasn't for me. I didn't need this book. So, I returned to the library for someone who needed it.
• Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
  • Not my taste. Returned it after only a few pages. To be fair, I should have read some reviews before borrowing it.
• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
  • Not my taste, again.

I'm very excited to finish reading some slow reads that I started in 2025. I acquired several new and used books that I look forward to reading as well.

I've also started a book club on Fable to help me prioritize reading my Oxford Very Short Introduction book collection. More on that in my upcoming Reading in 2026 post.