The Best-of-'25 List!
My favorite new reads from this year!
And here we are, at the end of all things! I had a great year in reading, and I’ve found some real gems. If you want to buy these books, the links are all for my affiliate account at Amazon—buy through there, and I’ll get a small commission.
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Let’s ride!
Sunrise on the Reaping
The fifth overall installment in The Hunger Games—and the second overall prequel—proves that Collins is taking this concept seriously, and only adding more to it when she has something of substance to say.
Naturally she loves her characters and she has affection for the setting that she’s crafted, but these books are really more philosophical than they let on, and her background in the classics continues to shine through in her writing. Long after the YA glut of the 2010s has ended, she keeps showing why her books were always a cut above their peers.
Superman:Red Son
The Elseworlds banner of DC comics allows creators to examine “What if”-style scenarios for established characters. RED SON considers what would have happened if Superman landed in the Ukraine in 1938 instead of Kansas. Not only was this an aesthetic pleaser, it was—in the truest sense—a superhero horror novel.
Had Kal-El become Soviet instead of American, it would have resulted in the end of time. But you have to read the book to see how.
By the Great Horn Spoon!
I would not have guessed that a middle-grade book from the 1960s would have been so good, but BTGHS delivers. This is a clinic on how to write historical fiction for young readers, with a constant give-and-take of rewards and punishments as the protagonists strive toward their coal. Go read it.
The New Trail of Tears
Forced collectivism isn’t just a recipe for failure—it’s a genocide against the human spirit. Most people might not consider welfare to be an instrument of said collectivism, but they’d be wrong. Riley goes even farther than that and paints a picture of the “bigotry of low expectations,” which continues to rob Amerindians of their future.
Hunter Ninja Bear
Somehow two books about the 1849 Gold Rush ended up on this list. I didn’t plan on it. HNB is about a Ninja in Japan whose village is obliterated by an evil bear; he sails to America to find a hunter who kills bears in the California mountains, hiring him to get revenge on the bear. What comes next is an insane came of rock-paper-scissors with three characters bound up in the loops, wrapped in some of the best graphic novel art I’ve ever seen.
Airframe
This dude can’t do anything small. AIRFRAME is a techno-thriller that also examines the law and the media, as a woman tries to figure out what went wrong on a trans-Pacific flight to Los Angeles. It came out thirty years ago and everything in it about corporate BS, union shenanigans, journalistic dishonesty, and legal maneuvering is truer than ever. I love reading a competent protagonist who figures out how to solve several problems with the same action. What an awesome thriller.
Not Stolen
Fynn-Paul does the homework that CRT-tards refuse to do, showing exactly how land that once belonged to Amerindians became American land through sales and treaties. He’s honest about the bad parts and also honest about the facts.
Haters can cope and seethe. America continues to rock. Until you read this book I refuse to care what you think about colonialism.
Five Decembers
FIVE DECEMBERS came out of nowhere, and was the rare book that I picked up based on a podcast interview with an author. I figured I was in for an enjoyable period piece/detective procedural set in Hawaii in the 1940s.
And I was. It just happened to be in Hawaii in 1941. That’s all I’m going to say about it. What a beautiful and haunting book.
Admiral of the Ocean Sea
The defining biography of Christopher Columbus. S.E.M. is fair and honest in his treatment of a man who is not controversial, people just have bad takes about him. Watch the video, then read the book.
Saints & Strangers
I’ve read 20-some-odd books about the Pilgrims. This is my new favorite.
Washington Irving Bio
I’m glad I finally made time to read the biography of one of my favorite American writers. This is the second bio I’ve read by Jones, and he does a great job. This is more of a personal favorite but if you like biographies, check this one out.
And that’s all for this year. Thanks for reading, and again: if you can, become a paid subscriber!