Best Books Read in 2025

This was a good reading year. Well, I didn't have a lot of choice of activities in January and February. I listened to a LOT of audiobooks. Then in November, I neglected to add titles to my spreadsheet. Trying to fill in the missing ones was problematic since I read some books online, and others I already, in a fit of efficiency, took down to our library building and put them away. I have a record of reading/ hearing 117 books. It is more for certain... maybe 10 more? Not sure.

The total certain pages are 34,377 for what it's worth. 62% were what I call "escape reading"- just for enjoyment and no other purpose. Those were primarily fiction mysteries.

Here's the western sky at 5:42 pm on Christmas Eve. We can already tell that it's staying light noticeably later. Hooray! I'm definitely feeling the negative effects of the long hours of darkness.

Now that I've paid the photo tax...

Here are the ten books I have selected as the best reads of 2025, in alphabetical order.

Title	Author	Genre
Brief Review
The Cranefly Orchid Murders	Cynthia Riggs	cozy mystery
This is another series I recommend if you like cozy mysteries. Each title has a plant in it. This series is set on Martha's Vinyard and stars the nonagenarian, Victoria Trumbull. The atmosphere and characters of the New England setting are wonderfully done. If you have any experience with people from and life in this area you'll have plenty to chuckle at. I love the details of the island setting and the unusual place names. This is regional fiction at its best.     In this particular story, an elderly woman who owns "Sachem's Rock" does not want to leave it to her estranged family. But everyone wants that land. Developers, the tribal nation, the village, conservationists. Who will win out?     I have reviewed most of the books in the series at Victoria Trumbull mysteries. (I have to order the others through interlibrary loan to finish them.)
Force of Nature	C.J. Box	thriller
I listened to this whole series while I was down with the shingles. The hero is Joe Pickett, a state game warden in Wyoming. This is just the kind of series I like every so often. They are violent and a little off-beat, with a cast of remarkable characters. I choose this as one of the best.     Joe Pickett's friend, Nate Romanowski, has a past in Special Forces, but he ran afoul of most authority figures long ago. He lives off the grid both literally and emotionally. His former commander is out to eliminate all those who know anything about a high-level crime. He figures he can draw Nate out of hiding by targeting his friend Joe Pickett and Pickett's family.     Each book stands alone, but the convoluted situations will make more sense if you read them in order.
Lost in the Wild	Cary Griffith	survival
The true stories of two young men who became lost in separate incidents in the Minnesota Arrowhead are told in a parallel fashion. Both survived- one because he used his knowledge and common sense, the other from pure luck. (This was a re-read for me- perhaps the third time. It's still great.)     I find survival stories gripping because with the amount of time I've spent outdoors alone, sometimes pushing limits more than my friends would like me to, I think about the scenarios that could result in my needing to use these kinds of skills.
Oxcart Angel	J.A. Arnold	juvenile fiction
This is historical fiction for middle grades through junior high. I bought it in North Dakota because it was inexpensive, and I'm always looking for a variety of writing examples for middle grades.     Well. This is an excellent book. It's one of the best examples I've read of showing the reader, not telling.     Claire is 13 years old. Her father is French and her mother was Native American. She calls herself a Metis, but most everyone despises her as a half-breed. After her mother's death, she and her father load the few things that will fit on an oxcart. They barter for a half-dead ox to pull it and head for Minneapolis from their home on the Canadian border in Pembina.     Although written for a young audience, this is a great tale of what life was like at the time in the Dakota territory during the Civil War.
The Private Patient	P.D. James	mystery
If you like classic mystery, you just can't go wrong with P.D. James, but I think this one is especially good. This was a re-read for me. It's the last book in the Adam Dalgliesh series.     An investigative reporter who carries a terrible facial scar from childhood finally decides to have it removed. She sets up an appointment with a famous plastic surgeon who offers care in London or at a manor house in the country. She chooses the manor house.     The plot is complex even for James. I just found it satisfying.     I'm working on reviewing all of the Adam Dalgliesh books
Sons of Fortune	Jeffrey Archer	literary fiction
Archer typically writes books that span several generations, skillfully weaving in both the history, culture and relationships of the characters and their extended families. This one not only has all that, but it's a "separated twins" tale.     The baby boys end up going to different homes after their birth. Another baby born on the same night does not live, and a nurse feels it is unfair for one family to have two boys and the other none. She tells the twins' mother that only one of them lived, and gives the second baby to the woman whose child died.     The boys grow up in different social classes never knowing about the other. They end up going to similar private schools- one on merit the other by social position. We see their lives moving closer and closer together, but will they meet and realize who they are?
Thunderstruck	Erik Larson	true crime
Is this history or true crime? Yes. The stories of Marconi's struggle to understand wireless communication is juxtaposed with one of the nost famous murders in British history- that of Dr. Crippin's killing of his wife.     Crippen was the first criminal in history to be apprehended with the use of radio communication.     Erik Larson has written some great books, and a few that are sort of middle of the road. I thought this one was really good.
When You Find My Body	Denis Dauphinee	survival
This is the true story of Geraldine Largay who disappeared on the Appalachian Trail in 2013. Her body was found several years later. She kept a journal through all the time she survived.     To me, this book is riveting. There is a lot we'll never know about what happened to her: how she actually lost the trail, why she made some of the decisions she did. But it did answer some of my questions about her story. She was an experienced hiker, that is true. What she was not was experienced in outdoor skills which is not the same thing. If she'd been more educated on those topics she would certainly have survived.
The Sabateur	Andrew Cross	espionage thriller
This is based on the true story of Norwegians who risked everything to sabotage the Nazi heavy water plant, critical to Germany creating an atomic bomb, during WWII.     It is based on recently declassified documents, and is a great war thriller about a topic you've never heard much about.
When Understanding is Enough	Dale Jackson	self-help
Yes, this is written by a good friend of mine. But that's not why it made my top ten list. Some of us just aren't wired to be very empathetic people. Sometimes, when we do care about someone, we don't know what to do to actually be helpful.     Dale gives clear guidelines for how to listen constructively to those who need understanding more than they need advice. Hint. Everyone needs understanding more than they need advice. Easy-to-understand and process guides like this really are worthy.

I was fairly productive today. Yeah me.

See Best Books Read in 2024

Best Books Read in 2024

 Read 83 books this year. Not bad. I was hoping for 100, but that didn't happen. Over 30,000 pages- not a very good way to track it because so much depends on the size of the book and the size of the type. But it probably averages out. This does not count the books I edited. That adds another 6 or 7 to the total. I probably should count those since I read them multiple times, eh?

Sunrise from December 14 for fun.

Here are the ten books I have selected as the best reads of 2024, in alphabetical order. I cheated and included one whole series because 5 of the books got my "excellent" notation.

Title	Author	Genre
Brief Review
Butch Karp series	Robert Tannenbaum	thrillers
I discovered the Butch Karp books this year, although they are about 20 years old. You will either like these or not. They are semi-believable and semi-outrageous, but it's a mix that I find wonderful. The series progresses from Butch meeting Marlene while they are young and both work for the DA through to their retirement years. They books are set in New York City with a few trips to other locations.     We watch their children grow up. Marlene discovers that she prefers confronting evil in a personal, armed manner, while Butch respects the courtroom. Their adventures take them through horrendous confrontations with criminals. An almost mythical man who lives in the world of the underground street people becomes part of the story, and also a Vietnamese criminal who becomes their daughter's protector. Of course there is a nemesis who continually confronts them.     My favorites in the series are: Resolved, Absolute Rage, Justice Denied, Reckless Endangerment, Act of Revenge. But it's best to read the books in order. You can find my reviews at Butch Karp series
Clear Thinking in a Messy World	Ken Samples and Mark Perez	non-fiction
This is an easy-to-read overview of how to use logic to clarify not only your own thinking, but to help you sort out the mixed signals you get from the "world:" social media, friends, family, organizations, advertising, etc.     The book is written from a Christian perspective, but the authors are very careful not to show bias. For every example they give that would support a Christian worldview, they give an example from a materialistic view. This is one of the many books published by Reasons to Believe.     Highly recommended. One of the top reads of the year.
Contagion	Robin Cook	medical thriller
Robin Cook's writing is inconsistent. He's either right on or really bad. This one is right on. I did stay up all night reading.     A woman in hospital dies from a strange infection. Of course, the medical team is trying to track down the source. Then another person also dies from the same virus.     Sounds like your typical medical investigation right? Nope. Soon, they have a couple more deaths from something very rare, but not the same as the first deaths. This pattern continues. There is no reasonable way these people could have contacted such rare infections. What is going on?
Iron House	John Hart	thriller
Michael and Julian are brothers who grew up in a horrific orphanage. Michael becomes the strong and aggressive one, while Julian is fearful and artistic.     The book follows the unfolding of their lives. Julian is adopted by a Senator's family and continues to need constant protection, but Michael becomes an enforcer for the mob. Their lives once again intersect after Michael tries to leave organized crime.
The Lincoln Highway	Amor Towles	literary fiction
This book is definitely one of the best three of the year. I expected it to end badly since it is literary fiction, but the ending is quite satisfactory.     Emmett has just been released from a detention home and returns to his own house to find his father dead and younger brother Billy in need of care. He had been sent away because he had accidentally killed a man. Soon a couple of neer-do-wells that Emmett knows from the reform school show up.     It is never said so in so many words, but Billy may have Aspergers. He is precocious and unusually focused. He is fascinated by a book he is reading throughout the novel. The book Billy reads is a book I wish I had written. I absolutely love it: Abacus Abernathe’s Compendium of Heroes, Adventurers, and Other Intrepid Travelers.. It contains adventurers whose names begins with each letter of the alphabet. These are everything from classical to contemporary, and there is a world map on the endpapers showing where they were from. The letter Y is left blank. It stands for YOU, and the reader is invited to write his or her own adventure. Billy is unsure where to start his story.     Anyway, they set off from Nebraska to drive the Lincoln Highway to California, but Emmett's "buddies" turn that into a trip that causes them to double back to New York and is fraught with adventure after adventure. There is never a dull moment.
Lost on a Mountain in Maine	Donn Felton	true adventure
I discovered this short book at least a month before learning that Angel Studios has turned it into a movie.     In the 1950s, several young boys with a couple of adults set out to hike up Mount Katahdin in Maine. Twelve-year-old Donn gets separated from the group in the fog. He has only rudimentary woods skills. Soon, his wet jeans have rubbed his legs raw and his feet are too swollen to keep his shoes on. He tries to hold on to his clothes while continuing to attempt to move downhill, but before a couple of days have passed, he has nothing except his underwear. Against amazing odds, he finds an occupied cabin after a week of attempting to follow a waterway downstream and is rescued.     I had never heard of this story, but apparently he gave talks throughout the east about his experiences. I really want to see the movie.
The Ryer Avenue Story	Dorothy Uhnak	literary fiction
This is one of those epic novels that spans four decades as it spins out the story of consequences arising from a childhood tragedy.     Six friends raised in a tough neighborhood of the Bronx manage to kill a bully who continually torments them. The father of one of the children takes the blame and is sent to prison.     As the book progresses, we learn how the children grow to adulthood and how they deal with knowing the truth.
The Silent Patient	Alex Michaelides	psychological thriller
A psychiatric patient refuses to speak, but one therapist believes he can get through to her. I don't want to give any more of the story away.
T is for Trespass	Sue Grafton	mystery
This is one of the Kinsey Millhone books. Kinsey is a rather sassy and independent private detective. I like them all, but this one is outstanding.     The elderly, cranky neighbor of Kinsey and Henry, Gus, takes a fall and is badly injured. When he is able to return home, he needs the care of a home nurse since his only relative, a neice, lives in across the country in New York. Kinsey does a background check and hires Rosie to care for Gus. However, Gus fails to improve and Rosie moves in to help full-time.     Kinsey becomes suspicious, but Rosie continues to get good recommendations wherever Kinsey checks. The situation goes from bad to worse.
Whip Hand	Dick Francis	mystery
I had kind of forgotten how good a writer Dick Francis is.     Like almost all of his books, this one is set in the world of English horse-racing and the jockey world. It is part of the Sid Hally series (there are four books by Dick Francis and two more by his son). Sid is a jockey who has lost a hand from a bad fall where the horse landed on him. He tries to find a new place for himself in the world, and ends up investigating the unexplained deaths of highly promising race horses who did well as two-year-olds but suddenly died or were incapacitated the next year. Regular testing has turned up nothing.     This book is the one of only two to ever win both the Gold Dagger and the Edgar Award. The other is The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John LeCarre.

See Best Books- second half of 2023

Adventurous Women 1 - Libby Riddles

 I have a few series of posts going that I add to from time to time, because, honestly, some days just don't have anything very exciting to write about.

There is a feature on Amazon called Listmania. You can still find it if you dig deep although it used to be given better exposure. The list I created was called "Adventurous Women." I love adventure books, and particularly stories that feature the girls who are out to push their physical limits and find that thrill of sport.

I'm going to add this feature to my blog possibilities, and review one book on that list from time to time.

First (for no particular reason), I'll tell you about the book Race Across Alaska, by and about Libby Riddles. She was the first woman to win the Iditerod sled race, in 1985, at age 28. The book was written in 1988.

The narrative jumps right into the race, with a day-by-day account of the action. You don't need to know anything about racing sled dogs, because you'll learn it all as you go. It's an exotic enough sport for most of us to hold the attention. Small maps accompany each entry. Background is woven into the narrative.

There are also sidebars explaining some of the background information needed to understand terminology or sledding philosophy.

Riddles' fame has been somewhat eclipsed by Susan Butcher, who went on to win the Iditarod four times. But Libby Riddles was the first woman to have what it takes to win. And the name of Mary Shields has been completely forgotten. She was the first woman to complete the race. Her time wasn't good, but in 1974, most people didn't even think women could do something like that.

I actually liked this book so much I read it onto tapes for my mother when she was still alive. Maybe that's why I'm sharing it first. It was one of the first books I read about an adventurous woman (although I had read a bio of Amelia Ehrhart before that for sure, and probably others)

In other news: all the usual- I edited, I worked on projects. I wrote chapter 39 in Vacation from DMS, 604 words.

See Books