Ask HN: Books in 2025
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Usually I hit a book a week pretty reliably, but this past year has been particularly crazy according to my audible purchase history. There are around 80 titles that I've added in 2025 and I've completed the vast majority of them. Some stand outs for me:
Dungeon Crawler Carl - One of the few novels that I think it actually much better in audio format. The narrator is excellent and it's a fun adventure that never takes itself too seriously. I'm not into litrpg typically, but I really enjoyed the 7 novels in the series so far.
The Laundry Files - I've made it through seven of these books and I really like the mix of mundane government IT with supernatural horrors. Tropes come up like the government tracking paper clip usage, and then you'll get a mystical explanation that makes sense in world so suddenly tracking individual paper clip usage doesn't seem so ridiculous. Generally a fun series, but it seems to be moving towards a revolving cast that I'm less interested in continuing on with.
The Library at Mount Char - One of my favorite books this year. Quite dark and mysterious. I liked the payoff and character arcs. But really it's the well maintained atmosphere that pulls everything together.
There Is No Antimemetics Division - What might the science and research of literally unknowable things look like? Things your mind rejects or presences which can influence your mind to make themselves invisible and leaves no memories behind. Weird novel that doesn't hold your hand too much.
Heavy Weather - A sort of modern cyberpunk meets western novel. Storm chasers following a predicted F6 super tornado across the US south.
The Running Man - I'm not typically a King fan, but I do like some of his works. I have fond memories of the movie from childhood nostalgia so finally gave it a try. I do think it's one of his better works according to my tastes.
Mickey7 - I'm a sucker for time loops and death loops and adjacent novels. This was a short but fun book.
The Society of Unknowable Objects - Small group of people collect mysterious objects from around the world to keep humanity safe.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - Another one dealing with memory. What would it be like to be immortal, but everyone you interact with forgets about you minutes after you leave them.
Edge of Tomorrow - Time loops!
The Troop - Decent read if you like horror novels. One of the better horror novels I read for the year.
Dungeon Crawler Carl - One of the few novels that I think it actually much better in audio format. The narrator is excellent and it's a fun adventure that never takes itself too seriously. I'm not into litrpg typically, but I really enjoyed the 7 novels in the series so far.
The Laundry Files - I've made it through seven of these books and I really like the mix of mundane government IT with supernatural horrors. Tropes come up like the government tracking paper clip usage, and then you'll get a mystical explanation that makes sense in world so suddenly tracking individual paper clip usage doesn't seem so ridiculous. Generally a fun series, but it seems to be moving towards a revolving cast that I'm less interested in continuing on with.
The Library at Mount Char - One of my favorite books this year. Quite dark and mysterious. I liked the payoff and character arcs. But really it's the well maintained atmosphere that pulls everything together.
There Is No Antimemetics Division - What might the science and research of literally unknowable things look like? Things your mind rejects or presences which can influence your mind to make themselves invisible and leaves no memories behind. Weird novel that doesn't hold your hand too much.
Heavy Weather - A sort of modern cyberpunk meets western novel. Storm chasers following a predicted F6 super tornado across the US south.
The Running Man - I'm not typically a King fan, but I do like some of his works. I have fond memories of the movie from childhood nostalgia so finally gave it a try. I do think it's one of his better works according to my tastes.
Mickey7 - I'm a sucker for time loops and death loops and adjacent novels. This was a short but fun book.
The Society of Unknowable Objects - Small group of people collect mysterious objects from around the world to keep humanity safe.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - Another one dealing with memory. What would it be like to be immortal, but everyone you interact with forgets about you minutes after you leave them.
Edge of Tomorrow - Time loops!
The Troop - Decent read if you like horror novels. One of the better horror novels I read for the year.
The Last Days of the Dinosaurs by Riley Black.
Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker..
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Greene.
Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen..
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy D. Snyder.
Animal Farm by George Orwell.. (a re-read)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
1984 by George Orwell. (a re-read)
Night by Elie Wiesel..
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes.. (a re-read)
When Breathe Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley.. (a re-read)
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette Mccurdy.. (a re-read)
If you're interested, check out my blog post where I talked about some of the mentioned books here -
https://www.rxjourney.net/30-things-i-know
Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker..
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Greene.
Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen..
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy D. Snyder.
Animal Farm by George Orwell.. (a re-read)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
1984 by George Orwell. (a re-read)
Night by Elie Wiesel..
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes.. (a re-read)
When Breathe Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley.. (a re-read)
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette Mccurdy.. (a re-read)
If you're interested, check out my blog post where I talked about some of the mentioned books here -
https://www.rxjourney.net/30-things-i-know
Thank you, appreciate it.
I also wrote a blog post in this theme: https://www.bakonyi.info/blog/books-of-2025
That's a small list. Haha. How many books did you plan to read this year? I have been struggling to reach my reading target too (24, 2 for each month of the year).
I like the variety in the list, though.
I planned on doing something like that in my blog for the books I've read this year, but there's still days left in the year to read another book or two.
I like the variety in the list, though.
I planned on doing something like that in my blog for the books I've read this year, but there's still days left in the year to read another book or two.
Dragons of Autumn Twilight was the first novel I read that I actually enjoyed on my own and turned me on to the world of fantasy novels! I still have very fond memories of that series of books.
What books have you read in 2025?