What I read in 2025

by Samuel Vaiter

I did not read a lot, at least fiction, at the start of 2025, but I had a more steady rhythm starting in August. It more or less coincides with the moment my 7yo started reading heavily himself. Most of them happened on my Kindle.

Two of my most beloved this year are Autoportrait de l’auteur en coureur de fond (What I Talk About When I Talk About Running in English, 走ることについて語るときに僕の語ること in Japanese according to Wikipedia) by Haruki Murakami, and Dungeon Crawler Carl (tome 1) by Matt Dinniman.

Running, Crawling and Judging

Until now, I had read only 1Q84 by Murakami, which fascinated me ten years ago, but I never took the time to explore his work. Autoportrait de l’auteur en coureur de fond, whose translation was done by Hélène Morita, is thus my second (or fourth depending on how to count 1Q84 three volumes) piece by Murakami. If there is nothing related to surrealism in this book, I think the parallel he draws between the physical effort and the intellectual effort is beautiful. It may be considered as a “small” Murakami, but for me, it is a beautiful book.

On the other side of the literature spectrum, I started the Dungeon Crawler Carl serie by Matt Dinniman. The LitRPG series started as a self-published novel on Royal Road. It is as repetitive and enjoyable as a good RPG. I don’t know if people who do not play (or dislike) RPGs can enjoy it, but on the contrary, any RPGs’ player should read it! I already read the second tome Carl’s Doomsday Scenario and plan to read the remaining ones in 2026. Princess Donut is my favourite character of the year, and even if the style is probably not the best out there, turning a page is always a pleasure.

I could (and should?) have put Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen to form a podium, but as a reader not a fan of long descriptions, I was not 100% into the book, especially in the second act/volume. Still, this is clearly a masterpiece, and respectively to the period it was written, it is a necessary read. Around a striking description of the 19th century England, the moral is that one should be able to recognize its own errors to be able to advance in life.

The others

Beyond these three books, I read a few others, whose list below is not totally exhaustive (but mostly). My main categories were dystopian, SF, and thrillers this year.

Dystopian

After watching the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale, I was looking for a dystopian book, and read Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. I really enjoyed the second half, the start was a bit slow for my taste, and I was not a fan of the writing style itself. But the story is compelling.

How to not forget? This is the main theme explored in Cristallisation secrète (密やかな結晶 in Japanese, The Memory Police in English) by Yōko Ogawa. I could say this is a “poetic 1984” but I am not even sure that the dystopian aspect is really that important. For me, the central point of the book is the place of our memories in our lives.

Science-Fiction

Last year, I discovered (and read the three volumes of) the series The Three-Body Problem (三体 in Chinese) by Liu Cixin which kind of revigorated my interest in SF. My SF readings this year were less striking, but still enjoyable.

Intrigued by the trailer of Silo on Apple TV, I read Wool (the first part of the Silo series) by Hugh Howey. The characters, the “world” and the mystery are great. The writing is ok-ish, though a bit “flat”. It is a good mindless SF read.

I was expecting a lot from Replay by Ken Grimwood since I heard a lot of dithyrambic things about it. Think 22/11/63 by Stephen King, with a loop twist. This is excellent, with a very strong writing. Still, a few months in, I forgot most of the details and just remembered a general (positive) impression.

Thriller / Polars

As my first polar of the year, I read Octobre (Kastanjemanden in Danish) by Søren Sveistrup translated into French. It is fine. Mutilation, sex and mystery will always work, but I found some unnecessarily gory and sex scenes, but the intrigue was strong. The translation is good. In contrast, Hurlements by Alexis Laipsker was just plain gore and I guess I am not the target of this kind of writing. Moreover, Montalvert and Venturi were a passable duo.

I read the third tome of the Handmaid series by Freida McFadden two years ago without realizing that it was a series. So I read this year the first one, The Housemaid, which is very close in construction from my memories of the third one. Central theme: “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. It works really well.

Others

La Supplication : Tchernobyl, chronique du monde après l’apocalypse by Svetlana Alexievitch is one of the few books that I stopped reading (around 50% in). Not really because it was of low quality, but mostly because it was a tad too repetitive for me. Or maybe I was not in the mood This is a set of testimonies of the horrors of Tchernobyl, but also the horrors of humanity.

I really enjoyed reading the Hunger Games series. But Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins feels like one book too many. On paper, it should be good: centered around Haymitch, more direct, more brutal, but no: I think I just had enough of this universe.

Parce que je t’aime is my first book by Guillaume Musso, whose main theme is impossible mourning. It is an easy read and I am not sure there is a lot to say in addition the the fact that the style is really working.

Looking to read in 2026

Overall, I am quite happy with my readings of the year. I have started Kafka sur le rivage by Haruki Murakami which I an really enjoying, and look forward to reading at the start of 2026 these books:

tags: bookshelf