Retrospective 2025: Books

This past year’s reading took me across islands and interiors, courtrooms and kitchens, remote landscapes, and tightly bound communities. I was drawn to stories set in places to which I traveled over the past year, to voices reclaiming agency, and to books that sit comfortably with moral ambiguity rather than tidy answers. Alongside literary fiction and nonfiction that grapple with justice, ecology, history, and belief, I returned often to mysteries and series novels that I've read over the years, my comfort reading.

All the books are very good, but for nonfiction I recommend Lovely One, The Wager, The Woman with the Cure, and Mythos (audiobook version). For fiction, take a look at Demon Copperhead, James, and The Bandit Queens.

1. 1. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Alan Bradley The first in a series of twelve books that feature Flavia de Luce, a precocious young. motherless sleuth who dabbles in chemistry and annoys the police by solving murders. This mystery centers on a rare stamp.

2. The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag, Alan Bradley The second Flavia book solves the mysterious death of a puppeteer.

3. A Red Herring Without Mustard, Alan Bradley A fortune teller is at the center of this Flavia de Luce book.

4. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Alan Bradley Snowbound suspense, actors, and a famous actress keep Flavia sleuthing.

5. 44 Scotland Street,  Alexander McCall Smith Set in Scotland, a warm, lightly comic portrait of interconnected lives.

6. The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax, Andrew Cartmel This series was a gift to my husband, who is an expert in vinyl records. I understand enough about record collectors to get great joy from reading this series. The main character gets hired to find rare records but always ends up in the middle of a murder mystery. Dead wax is the area on an LP between the music and the label.

7. The Vinyl Detective: Run Out Groove, Andrew Cartmel

8. The Vinyl Detective: Victory Disc, Andrew Cartmel

9. Raven Black, Anne Cleeves Bleak landscapes and psychological depth anchor this  mystery set in the Shetland Islands.

10. Commonwealth, Ann Patchett Well-written story of family, chance, and the long shadow of shared history.

11. State of Wonder, Ann Patchett An another amazing story that explores science, ethics, and obsession set deep in the jungle.

12. Butter, Asako Yuzuki Food, desire, and female autonomy intertwined with quiet menace. Inspired by the true story of "The Konkatsu Killer," a con artist and serial killer known for cooking great food and poisoning men.

13. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver A fierce, compassionate portrait of poverty, addiction, and endurance in modern Appalachia. Fantastic writing.

14. The Bellwether Revivals, Benjamin Wood Genius, madness, music, and the seductive pull of belief set in Cambridge.

15. Please See Us, Caitlin Mullen Murder in Atlantic City provides a haunting look at vulnerability, survival, and unseen lives.

16. Migrations, Charlotte McConaghy Climate grief, human displacement, and the ache of vanishing species.

17. Once There Were Wolves, Charlotte McConaghy Rewilding as both ecological necessity and emotional reckoning.

18. All the Colors of the Dark, Chris Whitaker A missing person, a serial killer, love, hope and more.

19. Nora Webster, Colm Tóibín A restrained, luminous study of grief, independence, and becoming oneself again.

20. Whisky Galore, Compton Mackenzie Set in Scotland, a comic tale of whisky scarcity, community, and moral flexibility.

21. I Might Be in Trouble, Daniel Aleman A sharp, fast-moving comic noir that blends crime with moral unease and contemporary anxiety.

22. Dark Island, Daniel Aubrey Set in Orkney, Scotland, a tale of isolation, suspicion, and menace collides on a remote island where secrets refuse to stay buried.

23. The Wager, David Grann A riveting true story of shipwreck, survival, and the moral unraveling of men pushed beyond limits.

24. Outlander, Diana Gabaldon Set in Scotland, time travel, history, and romance woven into an immersive, epic narrative. The first of the series.

25. A Refiner’s Fire,  Donna Leon The 33rd book in the Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery Series. Set in Venice, Brunetti once again deals with corruption while he exhibits quiet moral persistence.

26. Tell Me Everything, Elizabeth Strout  Ordinary lives rendered extraordinary through emotional precision and moral attention.

27. The Teacher, Freida McFadden A psychological thriller featuring a math teacher.

28. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks.  Set in Scotland, a descent into psychological darkness that is disturbing and provocative.

29. The Last Judgement, Iain Pears Art history, ambition, and murder intertwine in a cerebral, historically rich mystery. I found it a bit too ponderous.

30. The Human, the Orchid, and the Octopus, Jacques Cousteau & Susan Schiefelbein A reflective meditation on wonder, stewardship, humanity’s responsibility to nature, and how we've screwed it up. Quite depressing. So much so that it took me a long time to finish it.

31. If Beale Street Could Talk, James Baldwin A lyrical, devastating exploration of love under the weight of racial injustice.

32. The Ghost Orchid, Jonathan Kellerman Number 39 in the Alex Delaware series. Another psychological suspense grounded in character, motive, and the darker edges of human behavior.

33. Time, Love, Memory, Jonathan Weiner The science of genetics told as an unfolding human story of obsession and discovery. I learned a lot about the fascinating world of fruit flies and genetics.

34. The Girl Who Wrote in Silk, Kelli Estes Set in the San Juan Islands, family secrets unfold across generations, linking history, memory, and identity.

35. Lovely One, Ketanji Brown Jackson The amazing memoir of one of our Supreme Court justices. I learned a lot about the justice system and was inspired by the life she and her husband created. Very well written. It's a must-read.

36. Snowflake, Louise Nealon Set in Ireland, a tender, sharply observed coming-of-age story shaped by distance, longing, and self-doubt. This was one of the Dublin city-wide reads. I found it a bit depressing.

37. The Woman With the Cure, Lynn Cullen A compelling portrait of medical innovation, ambition, the polio vaccine, and the women history nearly forgot.

38. Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, M. R. James Eight elegant, slow-burn dread short stories from a master of the genre. Not my typical read but I wanted to know more about the genre.

39. Circe, Madeline Miller. Greek myth retold from a woman’s perspective, addresses solitude, power, and self-definition. Riveting!

40. The Bandit Queens, Parini Shroff Set in India, dark humor and quiet rebellion collide in a story about women, rumor, and power.

41. James, Percival Everett A reimagining of Huckleberry Finn that restores intellect, agency, and moral authority to Jim. Fantastic!

42. Playground, Richard Powers Technology, freedom, and the environment seen through four human lives drawn together in a sweeping story.

43. The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, Robert Dugoni An amazing story about a red-eyed boy and how he dealt with difference.

44. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson Set in Scotland, a timeless meditation on duality and repression.

45. The Woman in Cabin 10, Ruth Ware Suspense at sea, built on doubt and perception.

46. Zero Days, Ruth Ware Tech, paranoia, and flight make for a modern thriller with momentum.

47. Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education, Salman Khan An optimistic case for AI as a tool to broaden human learning without replacing the need for teachers.

48. Dark Water, Sara Bailey  Set in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, an atmospheric and unsettling tale where place amplifies menace.

49. Mythos, Stephen Fry  Greek myths retold with wit, warmth, and modern sensibility. Very amusing and enlightening. Stephen Fry reads the audiobook.

50. The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones Horror as reckoning, rooted in Native American culture, guilt, and consequence.

51. Elevation, Stephen King A small, strange story that blends the supernatural with empathy and quiet transformation.

52. Kon-Tiki, Thor Heyerdahl A daring experiment that blurs science, myth, and human stubbornness.

53. The Life and Death of St. Kilda, Tom Steel Set in remote Scotland, an island culture shaped, and ultimately undone, by isolation.