What happened in The Situation Room on September 11th? How quickly would we all perish in a nuclear war? What if Quebec had voted to secede from the rest of Canada in 1995?
This was a tough year for world events. Wouldn’t it make sense, then, to dive into fiction? To escape this world and splash into another, pondering problems that aren’t my own for once?
Sure it would! But my brain doesn’t make sense. I’ve been on a nonfiction kick ever since That One won the election. And those are the types of questions that have been bopping around my head for the past twelve months.
Half of the books I read in 2025 were nonfiction, which is a considerable change from the past couple of years. The fiction books I did read (and actually enjoy) were on the zany side, more slapstick comedy than the edge-of-your-seat thrillers I usually indulge.
The pace of my reading was also down significantly compared to 2024. I only managed to read 15 books–16 if you count my current book, which I won’t finish before New Year’s Eve–compared to the 21 I finished last year.
One positive change is that I finally invested in a Kindle Paperwhite after years and years of resisting ebooks. I decided to go for it ahead of my November trip to San Francisco after realizing that an actual book would be too heavy for my carry-on bag. You know what? It turns out I love this thing. It’s changed what and how I read for the better.
- Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell (12/28–1/5)
- The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark (1/7–1/12)
- Two Old Men And a Baby by Hendrik Groen (1/13–1/25)
- Ladies’ Lunch And Other Stories by Lore Segal (1/26)
- The Situation Room by George Stephanopoulos (1/27–2/3)
- The Next Civil War by Stephen Marche (2/28–3/8)
- Cults by Max Cutler (3/8–3/16)
- Orbital by Samantha Harvey (3/22–4/5)
- Six Crises by Richard Nixon (4/10–5/3)
- Southern Storm by Samme Chittum (5/3–5/10)
- The Morning After by Chantal Hébert (5/19–6/2)
- Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen (6/24–6/30)
- An Affair to Dismember by Elise Sax (9/20–9/24)
- Citizen Pain by Elise Sax (9/26–10/20)
- How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley (11/1–12/24)
- How to Hide An Empire by Daniel Immerwahr (11/26–)
If you’re interested, I wrote some thoughts on each book below. Follow me on Goodreads to keep up with what I’m reading any given day. (And follow me on BlueSky for my thoughts on everything else.)
1) Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
Dec. 28, 2024 – Jan. 5
⭐⭐⭐
A girl disappears, and it gets weirder from there. A fine read with an absolutely bizarre twist at the end. I’d never physically cringed at a book before. It would’ve gotten four stars if not for that uncomfortable ending.
2) The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark
Jan. 7 – Jan. 12
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Julie Clark is the master of writing incredible characters into an unforgettable story. It’s a thrilling cat-and-mouse game between a con artist and the journalist out to expose her.
3) Two Old Men And a Baby by Hendrik Groen
Jan. 13 – Jan. 25
⭐⭐
I loved Hendrik Groen’s two diaries. This was a flat, awkward prequel that was tough to get through.
4) Ladies’ Lunch and Other Stories by Lore Segal
Jan. 26
⭐⭐⭐
Do you remember when you were a kid and you’d listen to the adults talking about things you vaguely understood, vignettes of voices melding into the hum of appliances and ticking clocks? That’s this book. I was very much not the intended audience. But I didn’t mind the hour I spent reading it.
5) The Situation Room by George Stephanopoulos
Jan. 27 – Feb. 3
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Stephanopoulos runs through the history of the White House’s Situation Room, starting with its predecessor gathering spaces up through the recent past. If you’ve ever wanted to be a fly on the wall during crises and some of the most important decisions made in modern presidential history, this is the book for you.
6) The Next Civil War by Stephen Marche
Feb. 28 – Mar. 8
⭐⭐⭐
A collection of scenarios about how a second American Civil War might play out. This book probably felt current right after its publication during the early Biden administration, but it feels woefully outdated given what’s unfolded since Biden’s successor took office.
7) Cults by Max Cutler
Mar. 8 – Mar. 16
⭐⭐
This read like a history textbook, which would’ve been fine if I were studying for an exam, I guess.
8) Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Mar. 22 – Apr. 5
⭐⭐⭐
This book wasn’t for me, but I gave it three stars because Harvey does a phenomenal job describing our planet’s physical characteristics in vivid detail. Otherwise, I don’t get the hype.
9) Six Crises by Richard M. Nixon
Apr. 10 – May 3
⭐⭐⭐
This was Nixon’s launching pad for his second (and successful) run for the White House, running through the six crises of his political career up to that point. Nixon portrays himself in the best possible light, of course, but it’s remarkably introspective for such a paranoid crook. What a weird little guy he was.
10) Southern Storm by Samme Chittum
May 3 – May 10
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I’ve been interested in plane crash investigations since I was a little kid. It’s fascinating to understand the sequence of events that lead to a crash, watch how experts unravel the mysteries, and then see how the industry applied those findings to make future crashes less likely.
This was an exceptionally well-written read about an awful tragedy. Southern Airways Flight 242 flew into a thunderstorm on approach into Atlanta in April 1977. Intense hail destroyed the engines, forcing the plane down in a crash that killed more than 60 people.
11) The Morning After by Chantal Hébert
May 19 – Jun. 2
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quebec has toyed with the idea of sovereignty for decades. The Canadian province held its first referendum on sovereignty in 1980, which fell in a resounding defeat. Sovereigntists were determined to try again, culminating in the exceptionally close referendum of 1995.
What would have happened in Quebec had voted to separate from the rest of Canada? The author interviewed a handful of high-profile figures from the “yes” and “no” camps to reveal the plan (or lack thereof) if Quebec had voted to secede on that chilly October day.
I deeply appreciated this book as a newcomer to Canadian history.
12) Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen
Jun. 24 – Jun. 30
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Want to read a book that’ll give you nightmares? This is a realistic look at how a global nuclear war would play out, going second by second from the first missile launch until the effective end of human civilization.
My reading pace had slowed considerably by this point, but it stalled out completely for a couple of months until I got my Kindle in September.
13) An Affair to Dismember by Elise Sax
Sep. 20 – Sep. 24
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A twentysomething woman is on track to take up her grandmother’s matchmaking business. This zany novel made for a fun, funny, interesting, and kinda weird read. It’s best if you imagine the events taking place in a cartoon rather than real life.
14) Citizen Pain by Elise Sax
Sep. 26 – Oct. 20
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The sequel to An Affair to Dismember was just as zany and enjoyable as the first book. There are something like eight books in this series, and I’m looking forward to reading all of them next year.
15) How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley
Nov. 1 – Dec. 24
⭐⭐⭐⭐
A serial shoplifter, a granny with a mysterious past, a dead woman’s dog, and a teenage father all work to save their community center from certain demolition. I’m drawn to fiction books about retirees living their best lives. I’m not sure why. I’m only 34. But there’s a spirit of Hendrik Groen running through this novel that I loved. It’s a fun and satisfying read.
