Shogghoth

Looking back on 2025 personally, was an amazing year of setting and accomplishing personal goals. Regardless of the other circumstances of what the year brought, I always want to appreciate growth whenever it happens. One of those personal goals that I had going into this year was a continuation of a prior year’s goal of reading 15 books. In January of 2025, I set the goal to be 25 books as an increment from the prior year’s goal. I ended the year over that goal with 30 books finished, either listened to in audio format or read physically. I am proud of this and hope to continue this tradition into the new year, as I believe the ideas and questions each story brings with it, whether it be fiction or nonfiction changes me and how I perceive what’s around me.

So in reflection for last year, I want to write down the list I have completed and accompany it with the thoughts I had post mortem. They will not be rated on any scale, and all opinions are my own. My hope in writing this would be to spark a conversation about literature and maybe share some new things you can read or new thoughts to include in their head.

Enjoy.

1.Dune Messiah- Frank Herbert

Dune Messiah was one of the first books I read this year, and it focused a lot on demystifying Paul’s journey from the prior book, his rise to become Emperor, his Jihad in his name, and also his family, Chani, and his Sister Alyiah, being two major focuses of the story. I enjoyed the book’s stark departure from the hero’s journey the first book had, while also deconstructing the cult of personality, while deepening the universe of Dune. Personally, I can’t wait for the film adaptation.

2.A Swim in a Pond in the Rain- George Saunders

This book’s premise was to bring a college russian literature class to the everyday reader. The Structure of the book had you reading a short story by a famous russian author like Chekhov, Tolstoy, and the like, then the book dissects the piece and discusses what is so great about it to the academic’s eyes. Its a fantastic reference for a creative and someone who wants to write a story and who needs more tools in their belt to keep a reader engaged. I found after reading it I could pick out symbolism, set-up,s and how a good story subverts your expectations as much as meets them.

3.The Silent Patient-Alex Michaelides

This story was recommended to me for its mystery, and I can say that it delivers. A murder mystery with a twist and an interesting main character who brings you along for the ride.

4.I Who Have Never Known Men- Jacqueline Harpman

This was another recommendation from a friend, and what stuck out to me was its desolation. It was written parallel to the holocaust but also held a strong theme of legacy and the power of community and what to do under the crushing weight of time. The ending especially stuck with me, not looking to solve the world’s mysteries but to have you make peace with being within it. The story in the end makes you appreciate the company of friends and the beautiful, fleeting moment which they grace our lives.

5. The Haar- David Sodergren

I already wrote about The Haar in another post, and what I say there still stands. If you are looking for a horror novel in which you root for the monster, this is the book for you.

6.The Poppy War- R.F Kuang

This book was another recommendation, and I had the pleasure of reading it alongside someone, which elevated the experience for me as we both shared our thoughts and how we thought the story would end. The shared experiences were helpful to motivate me to finish this quite lengthy story in a quick cadence. I sadly didn’t continue the series after this book,k but I do want to know what happens to Rin. I enjoyed the thoughts on war and how strategy mixes with the physical reality of the people who are sacrificed for the end goals of a society. The horrors of what is done in the name of ideas and how you are shaped by the ordeal. Highly Recommend.

7.The Wager-David Grann

The Wager was a nonfiction story focusing on an infamous British shipwreck in the 18th century along the coast of Patagonia on what is now Cheaps Island. The book has an amazing ability to condense the situations surrounding the disaster and also give you multiple perspectives of the crew based on the notes and reports they wrote after and during the marooning. Great if you are interested in old sailors’ tales.

8.Monstrillio- Gerardo Samano Cordova

Monstrillio is a story that grew on me the more I reflected on it. Originally, I assumed it was a saforic story about a monster. Upon thinking about it again recently, I began to see the deeper message about love and what I took as neurodivergence. Learning how someone who loves another so deeply but also can’t help but hurt them in the end was a powerful and tragic thing to witness. Finding a way to overcome the monster inside was difficult for monstrillio and how can one go against one’s nature or brain, pushing him subconsciously into the voracious habit. I would recommend it, but I will give caution that some of its themes are hard to read.

9.Entangled Life-Merlin Sheldrake

The Entangled Life was one of the best nonfiction books I read all year. It made me look at fungus in a new way and also made me annoy my friends with plenty of fungus facts. It opened my brain to be more perceptive to the ecosystem and how it fungus is the living gel that keeps Mother Nature talking to itself.

10.Station Eleven- Emily St. John Mandel

Station Eleven was a post-apocalyptic read whose focus on many characters made it a joy to experience. I wrote more about it in another post.

11.The Hellbound Heart- Clive Barker

My first time going into the Hellraiser series and reading the book definitely made me as disgusted as the movie would have. Had great themes on nihilism, masochism, and horror that disturbed me. Great short book for classic horror fans.

12.Blindsight- Peter Watts

Blindsight was incredible. It was the best Sci-fi book I had read this year, but that doesn’t mean that it was easy. It talks about a lot of real-life science as its basis to explain the world and Rorchach and it means I had to look up a lot of words and concepts so that I could properly understand. It made me look up and watch Peter Watts ‘ lectures and also made me want to read the sequel. The most horrifying thing it taught me was a neurological understanding, which makes the title of the book make sense, and also changed how I view humanity.

13.Ultra 85- Logic

Yes, Logic has written some books. I admire it for being a complete story and for someone branching out of creative fields. I didn’t like the book, though. I think its themes on escapism and the future of elitism were understated, but I disliked the character writing, which all felt like Logic in different wigs.

14.The Metamorphosis- Franz Kafka

The Metamorphosis was a short story some people said they read in highschool which I decided to read on that notion. I found it interesting how it handled the change and the tragedy that befalls the main character.

15.The Pine Barrens- John Mcphee

The Pine Barrens was an anthropological piece that focused on the deep, shrouded woodlands in the middle of New Jersey. The people who live there are its history and its ecology. It was interesting to understand the history of some place I wouldn’t have chosen as my ideal field of study.

16.Earth Abides- George R Stewart

Earth Abides talks about the apocalypse and was written years before it became such a common topic to write about. Some parts were clearly outdated from the 50s, but others stuck with its understanding of how the world would change without society and how the torch of knowledge be passed in a world which no longer rewards the intellectually curious.

17.Martyr- Kaveh Akbar

I read this book in a day. It had so much personality and emotion and felt so real. Made me reflect on my experiences and think about the idea of martyrdom. Big Recommendation from me.

18.Cuba Libre-Elmore Leonard

I wrote about Cuba Libre already so you can read it in that post.

19.Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas -Hunter S Thompson

I became obsessed with this book after reading it, and also went down a rabbit hole of learning about its author. It spoke on trying to get understanding in the modern world, and its real-life account of Vegas and the absurdity which followed its unreliable but real narrator made it such a unique read. Can enlightenment be found in every drug imaginable, or are we deluding ourselves?

20.Ancient Mesopotaomia

This book surprisingly had no author attributed to it and basically talked about the history of the Fertile Crescent from ancient Sumer to Babylon and how the people in the earliest parts of civilization made their way.

21.The Lost City of Z- David Grann

I wrote about this book in another post. Great Nonfiction account of the danger of obsession.

22.Anthem-Ayn Rand

I wrote about this book in another post. Need to read more of Ayn Rand’s work.

23.Chaos Making of a New Science -James Gleick

The book that made the field of Chaos Theory popular. I read which discussed the universal laws of Chaos in our universe and how it was discovered and how it is literally everywhere. From convection to weather to fractals, I learned about the repeating patterns of nature and how harmony is such a careful balance.

24.Name of the Rose-Umberto Eco

Such an Amazing story. Finishing it made me immediately order more of Umberto Eco’s books, as I love his prose and how he writes and thinks. A murder mystery in a 16th century monistary, which you learn about God, Faith, life as a monk, and the pursuit of an ideal. I wish I could experience this story again.

25.Candide-Volatire

Candide was my first real book on Philosophy. It asked the question of how one can be good in a world so cruel. I enjoyed it and its ending, especially.

26.The Art Thief- Micheal Finkel

The Art Thief is a true story about a guy who stole about 2 billion dollars of art with his girlfriend, all in the 1990s. He kept it all in his attic, and his story is a wild one on the basis of obsession.

27.Plato’s Republic- Platon

Probably the most influential book written in the last two thousand years. It ponders the concept of justice and society, and how one creates the need for justice and for people to follow and believe in its tenets. It had so many ideals and a lot of good questions that I want to read it a second time. Socrates really is one of the best philosophers.

28.Love Triangle- Matt Parker

Any book that had me relearning my high school trig and soh cah toa deserves a medal, and the love triangle had me writing equations to solve and thinking about ray tracing.

29.The Left Hand of Darkness -Ursula K LeGuin

I read this book right before Pluribus came out, and seeing Carol reading it in the show makes me think I need to look deeper into the story. I enjoyed it for its portrait of a sexless society where gender is truly fluid. What really changes and what stays the same with humans when the roles are less defined

30.The Road-Cormac McCarthy

The last book I read this year, which was an apocalypic depressing story about survival and finding the will to continue on in a world that beats you down at every moment. How does someone carry that torch? It also discusses a lot about fatherhood and the role of the parent.

This concludes the thirty books I read this year. I hope to write about this again next year with another thirty, as I already have a pile next to my desk which needs attending to. I hope to hear from people on what they read this year and discuss what stuck with them. Happy New Year and onto 2026.