Books Read in 2025
It was another
good year for reading, either the old-fashioned way, on paper, or on my Kindle,
or audiobooks for my weekly drives to the office, etc. This past year I read 21
novels (did not finish about 3 for various reasons), 4 personal memoirs or autobiographies,
re-read two of my favorite classics, and 16 non-fiction books to grow
artistically, spiritually or personally. Now, for all of these I left a
rating and review on Goodreads, so for any of the books listed you can get more
information on my thoughts by clicking
here for my Goodreads "books read" list.
Novels
The Lioness of Boston by Franklin, Emily
The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1) by Sanderson, Brandon
As well, more tremendous books I enjoyed were:
The Good Earth (House of Earth, #1) by
Buck, Pearl S.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Smith, Betty
Cyanide & Happiness: Punching Zoo by
Wilson, Kris (this one is SO SO SO funny)
The Memory Police by Ogawa, Yōko
The Mercy of Gods (The Captive's War, #1)
by Corey, James S.A.
Clear by Davies, Carys
The Birds and Other Stories by du Maurier,
Daphne
These books were also good, though
not on my Best of Lists:
Playground by Powers, Richard (as always,
the writing was superb, but there was no real plot, I lost interest halfway
through, which is not easy for a Powers book)
How to Read a Book by Wood, Monica (Monica Wood is one of the best writers out
there, no question, but, well, I don't know, I just couldn't get fully into
this one)
The Drowned World by Ballard, J.G.
Dune Messiah (Dune #2) by Herbert, Frank
Planet of the Apes by Boulle, Pierre
Kill Your Darlings, Issues 1 - 4 by Ethan S Parker & Griffin Sheridan
Yellowface by Kuang, R.F.
Kahless (Star Trek: The Next Generation) by Friedman, Michael Jan
Space: 1999: Aftershock and Awe by Gaska, Andrew E.C.
Personal Memoir or Autobiography
These books
were all tremendous and I highly recommend all of them. Listed in order of my
favorites:
Cinema Speculation by Tarantino,
Quentin
Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: And Other
Lessons in Life by Caine, Michael
Gilliamesque: A Pre-posthumous
Memoir by Gilliam, Terry
The Director Should’ve Shot You: Memoirs of the Film Trade by Foster, Alan Dean
Re-Reading the Classics
Re-read two of my absolute favorites. This probably made the fifth reading of F451, but only the second time (since high school) of the out of this world novella by Hemingway. In order of reading. Both are near perfect (and about equal on the depressing meter, ha ha).
Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury, Ray
The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway, Ernest
Creative/Artistic Growth
I read some incredible books on art and creativity this year. Without question,
the most powerful, and a book every artist of any type has to read, is The
Artist's Way. It's been on my To-Be-Read list for 40 years. Same with Wild
Mind, the follow-up to Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones, but
which is far, far superior. Both of these books are Must-Reads.
The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to
Higher Creativity by Cameron, Julia
Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life by Goldberg, Natalie
These other
books were also tremendous and gave me many good nuggets of wisdom and
inspiration.
How to Make a Living As a Writer by
Bell, James Scott
Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to
Success by Weiland, K.M.
The Steal Like an Artist Audio
Trilogy by Kleon, Austin
Art and Fear by Bayles, David
Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness Into Words by Penn, Joanna (this got a bit repetitive and a little off-track halfway through but the first third of the book is fantastic)
Spiritual Growth
Of course, I'm constantly search for a closer relation with Jesus and refining my sense of faith. Along with (almost) daily prayer journalling, I ask always, What is True, Lord, and what is made up by people trying to put You in a box? Always read to grow. Of course, Bible-reading itself, daily (I've slipped on this recently, I admit) is also a must - just don't fall into th trap of worshipping the Bible. Use it to learn about God, not to make it your god. There was one non-Christian book, more a Buddhist treatise, on the list, and it was so good it made my top list. But all of these are extremely insightful in their way. In order of value, I think, to me at least:
Moving Mountains: Praying with Passion,
Confidence, and Authority by Eldredge, John
The Art of
Living by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Future of Faith by Cox, Harvey
Draw the Circle: The 40 Day Prayer
Challenge by Batterson, Mark
How to Be Filled with the Holy
Spirit by Tozer, A.W.
Fresh Wind, Fresh
Fire by Cymbala, Jim
Heaven by Alcorn, Randy (This one
started off on-target, but as it moved along I felt like Alcorn was catering
more to the fundamentalists and spending too much time on the traditional
concept of hell, which I think is wildly misguided, though not having another
working theory I usually keep my mouth shut about that. I'm tired of people
falling back on this, however. In this book, especially, it felt inserted in to
keep people from badmouthing it. Too bad, because Alcorn's discussion of heaven
felt very inspired)
Self-Improvement
Lastly, these two books were very helpful in the areas they cover, and I highly recommend both:
Siblings Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too by Faber, Adele
Hedges: Loving Your Marriage Enough to Protect It by Jenkins, Jerry B.
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