The goal for 2025 was to read 215 books, the usual assortment of fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novels. However, the significant change for me was switching from buying Marvel TPBs in favor of their Marvel Unlimited digital service. As a result, reaching the goal proved challenging, and I came pretty darn close.
As always, I try to vary the reading by genre and author, sampling new voices and trying out classics I have missed along the way. More than a few were read for the faculty book club, titles I would likely never have read otherwise.
There are always standouts, titles I would like to recommend to the curious. The faculty read Allen Levi’s Theo of Golden, which I adored. It apparently has a bit of a story, as recounted in the Washington Post.
Two other works of fiction stood out to me: Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead and Alice Elliott Dark’s Fellowship Point, both of which were recommended by Deb and are notable works of contemporary fiction. Having enjoyed Karen Russell’s Swamplandia, I gobbled her The Antidote, one of my favorite works I read this year.
Perhaps the most disappointing work of fiction was Marie Benedict’s The First Ladies, which read like a Wikipedia page on the friendship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Bethune, with some dialogue.
Also disappointing was the overhyped James, Percival Everett’s not-quite retelling of Huck Finn. It was a parallel-universe version of the story, and not all that enthralling. I found Sandra Newman’s Julia: 1984 from her point of view to be a more successful experiment.
Kate suggested I would like Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing series, even though the notion of romantasy was not compelling. Sure enough, I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the fantasy, while the romance was cloying and hyperbolic. That said, I look forward to the fourth book whenever it arrives.
In the classics, I finally sampled Jules Verne with his From the Earth to the Moon, which was interesting, although the flat characters bothered me. Similarly, Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford (heard via the excellent CraftLit podcast) was diverting.
On the nonfiction side, I dove into a bunch of Hollywood lore, from the making of Airplane! to Janine Baisinger’s Hollywood: The Oral History and Box Office Poison by Tim Robey. I also enjoyed Viola Davis’s memoir. Adjacent was Josephine Baker’s Fearless and Free: A Memoir, a memoir written during her life, but only recently translated into English for the first time.
While I consume quite a few graphic novels from the big comics publishers, I have always tried to keep my eye out for other works. As my experience on the Ringo Awards jury taught me two years ago, there’s a lot of other notable works out there. Therefore, I paid particular attention to the Best Of lists published by The Post and The New York Times. I ordered several I thought would engage me, and while several await reading, I can heartily endorse Mimi Pond’s inventive and fascinating Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me.
I read quite a bit of graphic nonfiction this year, and I learned much from Whistleblowers: Four Who Fought to Expose the Holocaust to America. So, it came as no surprise to me that Abrams ComicArts published the useful Making Nonfiction Comics: A Guide for Graphic Narrative.
I now read all my DC and Marvel titles digitally, staying a month or three behind the curve, but it saves me a lot of space (and some money). I continue to read an assortment of magazines, always trying to catch up, it seems, being months or years behind some titles (sadly, most of the TwoMorrows output).
Currently, I have R.F. Kuang’s Babel on the coffee table, and I am listening to Jill Lepore’s We the People, her history of the Constitution, on my headphones.
I’m lowering the goal for next year, given the digital alterations to my comics. Still, I find myself looking forward to many forthcoming releases, and my TBR stack at home and my Want to Read list on Goodreads remain substantial. I imagine catching up whenever I retire, but I suspect that’s a pipe dream, a healthy one, according to studies.
#Tags: Airplane!, Alice Elliott Dark, Allen Levi, Barbara Kinsolver, Box Office Poison, Cranford, Demon Copperhead, Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me, Elizabeth Gaskell, Fearless and Free, Fellowship Point, Fourth Wing, From the Earth to the Moon, Hollywood: The Oral History, James, Janine Baisinger, Josephine Baker, Jules Verne, Julia, Karen Russell, Making Nonfiction Comics: A Guide for Graphic Narrative, Marie Benedict, Mimi Pond, Percival Everett, Rebecca Yarros, Sandra Newman, The Antidote, The First Ladies, Theo of Golden, Tim Robey, Whistleblowers: Four Who Fought to Expose the Holocaust to America