2025 in Reading

Introduction

Here’s most all the books I read in 2025:

1. The Tea Dragon Festival by Kay O’Neill (comics)
2. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (audiobook)
3. Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand and translated by Brian Hooker (play)
4. The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center by Rhaina Cohen
5. The Tea Dragon Tapestry by Kay O’Neill (comics)
6. The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill
7. Life Admin: How I Learned to Do Less, Do Better, and Live More by Elizabeth F. Emens
8. She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan (audiobook)
9. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen (audiobook)
10. Spill by Cory Doctorow (audiobook)
11. Sabriel by Garth Nix (audiobook)
12. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr (audiobook)
13. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
14. Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar (play)
15. He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan (audiobook)
16. The Invisible Hand by Ayad Akhtar (play)
17. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport (audiobook)
18. Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (audiobook)
19. The Vegetarian: A Novel by Han Kang translated by Deborah Smith
20. Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 1 by Ryoko Kui
21. Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 2 by Ryoko Kui
22. Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 3 by Ryoko Kui
23. Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle (audiobook)
24. Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 4 by Ryoko Kui
25. Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 5 by Ryoko Kui
26. Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 6 by Ryoko Kui
27. Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 7 by Ryoko Kui
28. Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 8 by Ryoko Kui
29. Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 9 by Ryoko Kui
30. Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 10 by Ryoko Kui
31. Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 11 by Ryoko Kui
32. Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 12 by Ryoko Kui
33. Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 13 by Ryoko Kui
34. Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 14 by Ryoko Kui
35. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (audiobook)
36. Red Team Blues by Cory Doctorow (audiobook)
37. One-Dimensional Man by Herbert Marcuse
38. The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow (audiobook)
39. The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer (audiobook)
40. Please Come Off-Book by Kevin Kantor (poetry)
41. A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
42. Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich
43. Life Admin Hacks by Mia Northrop & Dinah Rowe-Roberts (audiobook)
44. Picks and Shovels by Cory Doctorow (audiobook)
45. Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life by Kristen Ghodsee
46. Era of the Eclipse by Tim Pratt
47. Dwarf Stars 2025 edited by Miguel O. Mitchell (poetry)
48. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (audiobook)
49. The 2025 Rhysling Anthology edited by Pixie Bruner (poetry)
50. How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler by Ryan North (audiobook)
51. Godsrain by Liane Merciel
52. The Accessibility Operations Guidebook: To making accessibility work more sustainable by Devon Persing
53. Academic Exercises by K.J. Parker
54. Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory Doctorow (audiobook)
55. The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs
56. Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler (audiobook)
57. The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler (audiobook)
58. The Tigers, They Let Me by Anis Mojgani (poetry)
59. Pizza Witch (2017) by Sarah Graley (comics)
60. The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen
61. Pizza Witch (2025) by Sarah Graley and Stef Purenins (comics)

Standalone Stories

• The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill: I loved this middle-grade fantasy story. To me, it felt like very much a Trump era (first term) book, but it’s ultimately a comforting, heartwarming book about neighbors and community, and I highly recommend it to folks feeling despair in these trying times.
• Sabriel by Garth Nix: I liked this and see how it’s a classic. I also feel like it would have done more for me if I had read it earlier. If you’re looking for classic fantasy with an interesting world and some cool necromancy, check this out.
• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna: I enjoyed this well enough. If you’re looking for a cozy romantasy beach-read, I’d recommend it.
• A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers: This was a re-read. It remains brilliant and comforting.
• Era of the Eclipse by Tim Pratt and Godsrain by Liane Merciel: These were a ton of fun. They are published by Paizo and set in their Starfinder/Pathfinder campaign settings. If you’re a TTRPG nerd looking for a romp, I’d quickly recommend these, but I think more generic SFF fans might enjoy these as well if you’re looking for a fast-paced, pulpy adventure.
• Academic Exercises by K.J. Parker: This is a collection of short fiction (including a couple novellas) set in a fantasy world with lots of western Europe academic energy. Parker does a great job writing unreliable narrators with strong voices. I thought Purple and Black was the gem in the collection, so I’d say start with that, and if you like it, take comfort in knowing there’s more in store.

Series

• The Imperial Radch trilogy by Ann Leckie: This was a re-read. I still love it, and I enjoyed re-reading it a lot. On my initial read, I thought Ancillary Sword (the middle book) felt the oddest and was maybe the least interesting. This time around, I actually enjoyed that one the most. I think it’s a really nice microcosm of the series as a whole, and I savored the way Breq inserted herself into the local politics.
• The Radiant Emperor duology by Shelley Parker-Chan: If you are looking a classic Chinese drama with a modern, feminist take, this is for you. I was, and I enjoyed it for that. In that sense, it reminded me of The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang. If you have other novels to recommend that are similar to these ones, please let me know. I would love more in this space.
• The Parable duology by Octavia E. Butler: I read this because Octavia Butler is excellent and these novels are unfortunately prescient/timely. This was a challenging read but indeed excellent and something I’d widely recommend. What I loved most about this duology is something that I hadn’t seen talked about as often: this is about someone who is building a religion — a new, unique, incredibly interesting religion. I love these novels for that aspect of them, and if you’re generally someone who is into religion, I highly recommend both of these books.
• The Martin Hench series by Cory Doctorow: This series was super fun! I honestly don’t know anything else like it except for other Cory Doctorow novels. These books are about a tech-literate forensic accountant who undoes the cruel schemes of powerful scumbags. These books aren’t for everyone, but if they are for you, I suspect they’ll feel like a rare treat. They did for me.
• The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo: I enjoyed this because of course I would. This is for all the spoken word poetry people out there.

Short Fiction

I wrote six short fiction reviews for Skiffy and Fanty in 2024. Check out all my reviews at skiffyandfanty.com/author/cameronncoulter/ to see my favorite stories from the year and to get my thoughts on them. But if I had to narrow down all those stories to a handful that have stuck with me, I’d go with these.

“Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being” by A. W. Prihandita (published in Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 218): This is an intelligent and simply fun story with a wonderfully weird alien who faces bureaucratic healthcare systems and cultural marginalization.

“Tell Them a Story to Teach Them Kindness” by B. Pladek (published in Lightspeed Magazine Issue 176): Jude Towers curates stories for classes at Milwaukee Elementary, but not stories written by actual people. Jude has to use RIGHTR, a generative AI tool, to make the stories. It’s part of an effort to make sure the stories students read are “100% unique” so that students “can’t use bots to write their essays for them.” I found this to be a smart, engaging story about literature, generative AI, and what it means to be a reader.

“Hi! I’m Claudia” by Delilah S. Dawson (published in Uncanny Magazine Issue 64): This story takes the form of a chat log between an unhappy, lonely father and a dangerously helpful chatbot. There’s been some unfortunate stories in the news lately about chatbots leading people toward unadvisable actions. This is a story about just that.

“Hungry Ghosting” by Anne Mai Yee Jansen (published in Nightmare Magazine Issue 154): This ghost story about the horrors of dating did an excellent job making me sympathize with a murderous ghost.

“The Walled Garden” by Fiona Moore (published in Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 226): A cozy, post-apocalyptic tale about the engineering challenges and human considerations faced by those who are working to make things work out.

Manga & Comics

• Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui: This was great. Don’t be fooled by the quirky elevator-pitch (fighting your way through a dungeon and eating the monsters as you go) — this actually does have an engaging, more meaningful story going on. The dungeon itself was well thought-out, and the characters are well developed and really likeable. (I loved Kabru!)
• Pizza Witch (2025) by Sarah Graley and Stef Purenins: Gorgeous, unique, and playful!

Nonfiction

• The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center by Rhaina Cohen: This is an amazing book about how we undervalue friendship to our detriment. I recommend this approachable, engaging book to everyone, and I hope it encourages you to value friendship more highly, seek greater intimacy in friendship, and be more open to deeper, more committed friendships. I did for me.
• Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life by Kristen Ghodsee: I super loved this book. It’s a feminist survey of utopian thinkers and projects, and it explores alternative, more communal ways to organize our households, raise and educate children, and share things. It’s is more academic than The Other Significant Others but still approachable for a general audience. If it at all sounds interesting to you, I’d quickly recommend it.
• How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler by Ryan North: This is a smart and serious (yet approachable) nonfiction book wrapped in a playful, fictitious conceit. It taught me a lot and made me so grateful for civilization and everything that includes.
• The Accessibility Operations Guidebook: To making accessibility work more sustainable by Devon Persing: This is a thoughtful, helpful book that I would quickly recommend to my fellow digital accessibility professionals.
• Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory Doctorow: This book is excellent, and I enjoyed it. The title pretty much sums it up.
• The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs: This was fun! I recommend to all the politics/activism/education nerds out there.
• The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen: This is for history and notebook nerds. I found it to be a thoughtful, detailed, and surprisingly interesting study into the important piece of technology that is the notebook.