The Most Realistic Book Club in the World
The state of the art in English Language Pleasure Reading
I had no idea what I was getting into.
The original idea was, “I’ll ask all my readers here to tell me what they enjoyed reading and re-reading this year, regardless of what year the book came out.”
Being the hardcore “shut-up-I’m-reading” denizens that you all are, my cup was FILLED.
I realized, belatedly, that the tradition in modern media, is to discuss new releases— to sell what’s new. The reality of the book-reading public is that we are more frequent readers of the past. The accurate picture of the English language reader is someone whose appetite goes back decades and even centuries.
You don’t care what time it is!— that’s the reality. Yet I don’t think I’ve seen another “media book list” this year, which canvassed what is truly on our reading desks.
The “true life of the reader” is more interesting to me than the new-releases flak. I see how subjects and styles from our intellectual past come roaring back. They stage revivals and reinterpretations of every mind they touch.
Where To Find It All . . .
I thought it was be “nice” to provide a link, the year of publication, and biographical information to each title.
You might say, “Oh let Claude do it,” but you would be mistaken. I find that AI tools, even asked the simplest of tasks (when did this book come out and Wikipedia page for author?)— It fucks it up! The AI reply is inaccurate and incomplete. So I did the whole thing manually.
I HAVE BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS.
(Thank you helter skelter).
What You Liked
I see two main groups: those of you who gravitated toward S/F/F — in myriad fusions and innovations.1
Then, there are those who primarily relish memoir and biography, history, the culture of storytelling.
For non-fiction, (excluding biography), your interests were contemporary politics and philosophy, psychology and ecology.
You’ll find your comments below, and my sort!
What I Liked
Okay, the novel I devoured while screaming with delight this year was The Director, by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin from the original German.
Because I was so impressed with Benjamin’s translation, I ended up reading the new unexpurgated Kafka diaries. Incredible. It’s like the I Ching— just let the book fall open to a page and read it aloud.
The cherry on top was I realized I had PUBLISHED Benjamin’s work in the past and didn’t realize it! One of the last things I did at Audible; I produced When I Fell From the Sky: The True Story of One Woman’s Miraculous Survival by Juliane Diller. The casting and directing was so superb because of the quality of the English translation.
But back to The Director, because its story blew my mind so hard I had to chase several threads in tandem. It’s a novel, based on the life of G.W. Pabst, a genius of German cinema, the man who brought Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks to the public, who fled Nazi Germany for Hollywood.
But guess what? HE WENT BACK. He went back to Germany and reluctantly but doggedly made films for The Reich, on pain of… well, you can guess. You are not going to BELIEVE the ending. And, although Kehlmann had to make up some of the gaps, the basic structure is all true!
Daniel Kehlmann is a German author who has lived and worked for many years, in Harlem, NY. I mean, yes, he commutes, but he speaks/writes perfect English. Yet he composed his work in German, found a German publisher first, was translated and distributed widely all over Europe and Asia and FINALLY got a deal for an American edition. We are seeing his mouth-dropping story, 2 years after the rest of the world.
If that sounds strange to you, strap on your stupid, because it is the future. The hot seat of literary fiction has moved overseas. The best lit-fic writers are turning to the UK, the Commonwealth, for their debuts, their newest works. That, and American micro-presses, who come and go like fireflies. Why? Because when you read the “brain drain” of US science and medicine, physics, mathematics— well, that happened to the creative artist brains too. They have LEFT THE BUILDING.
Trump’s (et al) destruction of 80+ years of intellectual and education dominance have been destroyed in . . . Uh, about 4 years.
Applause, everyone?
I remember years ago, when I was trying to comprehend a site project: my family was going to tear down one structure and build another in its place. I had no sense of construction, at that time, I had never made anything with my hands!
I asked my partner, dreading the answer, “But how long will it take to demolish?”
Everyone laughed: “Demolition? Easy! —A day. It’s no time to destroy something; it’s building something anew that requires so much care and time.”
And there you have it. We are existing in a demolition site. Hazmat suit time.
American publishing in 2026 is primarily genre publishing, with a handful of celebrity exceptions. (In other words, no “serious” fiction without guaranteed box office and international sales).
Nonfiction titles? Yes, the hottest topics, are still a US publishing breadwinner, they always will be. (“How to be rich, thin, laid, not crazy”).
Political journalism is best consumed in the journalists’ native habitat. It’s difficult at this moment to publish book-length works whose legacy will survive. Instead, historical works are where the American authors are shining, where hindsight is all.
The Publishing Dirt
Listen to my audio broadcast, above— I’m a longtime analyst of what gets acquired, read, and sold. Your surveys were a gold mine for “what is going to happen next.”
How To Get These Titles?
Your library carries virtually every one.2
History
A Short History of Scotland by Andrew Lang 1911. Yes, the same Author who did the “color” fairy books!
The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson, 2020 - Churchill, the Blitz, et al.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown, 1970. I remember reading this with a group of kids in high school— changed our lives.
Lies My Teachers Told Me by James Loewen, 2018.
“I knew Christopher Columbus was a racist dick, but I didn’t know he was profiteering off the bodies of young girls . . .”
Danubia: A Personal History of Habsburg Europe by Simon Winder, 2014. I’ve never gotten personal with the Habsburgs before! ;-)
Historical Fiction
My Name is Emilia Del Valle by Isabel Allende
Classics
*Such, Such Were the Joys and Other Essays by George Orwell:
“This incredible collection is read by the same audiobook voice actor, Frederick Davidson, who recorded a number of P.G. Wodehouse tales. So, you get brilliant rock-the-world essays from Orwell, written in the 20s, 30s, 40s, read to you by Bertie Wooster. Can’t get anymore fun than that.”
Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes, Balzac, 1838-1847.
“I’m about a quarter way through War and Peace.”
Tolstoy wrote his epic in 1869, and I highly recommend my fellow Substacker, Simon Haisell, who hosts and teachers a weekly pleasure read for W&P, complete with character maps and lists. He is such a gifted guide. Note: I only signed up for Simon’s course because I wanted to put this on my answering machine: “I can’t come to the phone right now because I’m reading War and Peace.”
Language
Origin of Language: How We Learned How to Speak and Why by Madeleine Beekman:
“A fabulous read, that sorta confirmed my long in the making self-satisfying theories about the when and why language was invented and by whom, and what resulted over the years.”
Science Fiction
The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley, 2017.
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, 1956.
Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino, 2025.
Hench: A Sci-Fi Novel of Heroism in the Age of Social Media and Data Science, by Natalie Zina Walschots, 2020.
Fantasy
Wearing the Lion by John Wiswell, 2023. Hercules!
Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders, 2025.
The Alley of Whispering Pages: Some Bookstores Find You When You’re Ready by Wynne Ashwick, 2025.
S/F/F Series Releases!
The Rose Field, concluding Philip Pullman’s second trilogy The Book of Dust, 2025.
Hemlock and Silver by T. Kingfisher, 2023.
“Maybe not the best of the series, but “Hemlock and Silver” was good, new this year, and I like T. Kingfisher.”
The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey, 2020.
The Complete Drive-In series by Joe Lonsdale, 2020.
The Complete Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe (1980-1983).
SB: I produced all of Gene Wolfe’s 20th Century sci-fi, working with his estate and casting Jonathan Davis. I was amazed at how the fans found it right away!
Horror/Gothic
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, 1962.
Mexican Gothic by Sylvia Moreno Garcia, 2020.
Daphne du Maurier goes South.
Animal Fiction
Feral Creatures by Kira Jane Buxton, 2021
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Picks and Shovels: A Martin Hench Novel by Cory Doctorow, 2023
Something to Hide by Elizabeth George, 2022.
“It’s 701 pages and took me ages to read as I was experiencing the National No-Attention-Span affliction. But even with long gaps, the fact I could pick up the latest Detective Lynsey story every time, was a testament to George’s flawless character development.”
Maggie Terry, by Sarah Schulman, 2018.
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell, 2014.
Okay, this a magical realism mystery thriller, but I’m including in this cat, because I think it suits the audience!
Friday the Rabbi Slept Late, by Harry Kemelman, 2015
Ecology
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer, 2013.
Health
The Undying by Anne Boyer, 2019.
Ambiguous Loss: Learning to Live with Unresolved Grief by Pauline Boss, 2021.
Politics
A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling, 2020.
Perfect example of book I would open just bc of the title. Well-done.
That’s Revolting: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, 2004.
Massacre of the Dreamers: Essays on Xicanisma, 20th Anniversary edition by Ana Castillo, 1994.
The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity by Sarah Schulman.
“I felt called out by this book when Sarah mentions that when gay men comment on her books it’s always the non-fictions ones (But I mean, she did write Let the Record Show!) So anyway, I went back to the library and borrowed “Maggie Terry,” which was not what I expected though I expected I’d love it and I did.”
The Hungry Season: A Journey of War, Love, and Survival by Lisa M. Hamilton. Set in Vietnam and Laos.
Hollywood/Music
*Rebel Without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player by Roberto Rodriguez, 1995.
In her audiobook disclaimer, Cher reminds us she is famously dyslexic, and that while she didn’t want to disappoint her fans, there was no way she could “read” the book, page to page. You may wonder, “Well, how did she write it?” She sat for long interviews with a ghost writer.
House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films by Kier-La Janisse, 2015.
The Disney Version by Richard Schickel, 2019.
“A deeply satisfying combination of “that’s what I’ve been saying!” and “I never thought of that!”
The Uncool: A Memoir by Cameron Crowe, 2025
Art & Fashion
The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Jessel, 2023.
“Part feminist, part art history of who’s missing. Also research for my current doco I’m making about a Prague lesbian artist murdered in 1942 by the Nazis, Gertrud Kauders.”
Chinatown Pretty: Fashion and Wisdom from Chinatown’s Most Stylish Seniors by Valerie Luu, 2020.
Memoir
Spare by Prince Harry, 2023.
This is the audiobook that transformed the audio biz, much like Shades of Grey made ebooks a thing. Read by Big H, of course.
How To Lose Your Mother by Molly Jong-Fast, 2025.
(Susie reviewed here)
Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk by Kathleen Hanna, 2023.
Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye by Marie Mutsuki Mockett, 2015.
“Half Japanese woman visits her family’s Buddhist temple near Fukushima power plant to bury her grandfather. Her father recently died, too. She visits family and has trivial and profound conversations with Zen priests, family, and ordinary Japanese people about death and its rituals.”
We Will Be Jaguars by Mitch Anderson, 2024.
Bread of Angels by Patti Smith, 2025.
Roman a Clef
Paris, 7AM by Liza Wieland, 2019.
“About an imagined year in Paris with poet Elizabeth Bishop in 1937.”
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollingsworth, 2004. “Tremendous.”
Jews Without Money by Michael Gold, 2004
Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told by Jeremy Atherton Lin, 2025.
All Fours by Miranda July, 2024
Brutalities: A Love Story by Margo Steines, 2023.
“…and you as Santa.”
Biography, Lit Crit, and Shorts
Loving Sylvia Plath: a reclamation by Emily Van Duyne, 2024.
Fables of Mind by Joan Dayan, 2019.
“This book is such an audacious take on Edgar Allan Poe that it has me excited about Poe and about the possibilities of academic writing.”
Virginia’s Apples by Judith Barrington, 2024. A collection of 14-mini-memoirs of writers who influenced poet Barrington’s life.
Poetry
Gabrielle Calvocoressi’s The New Economy, 2025.
Novel, Literary Fiction
James, by Percival Everett, 2024.
The Man Who Fell In Love with the Moon by Tom Spanbauer, 2000.
“I reread The and it will always be the most memorable.”
A single short: “Earth to You” by Sara Jaffe
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner, 2024
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor, 2025.
Biography of X: A Novel, by Catherine Lacey, 2023.
“Currently working my way through Torrey Peter’s Stag Dance (2025) and just read We Have Always Lived In the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Both books are so vivid and evocative, I love living inside of them.”
Generational Saga
The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright, 2023.
Angela Flournoy’s The Wilderness, 2025.
I Thought My Father Was God: And Other True Tales from NPR’s National Story Project, 2002.
“Almost all action sentences, no swoony weather reports or the dreaded “But first I must go back to the town’s founding…” It got me writing memoir which is a blast, can’t stop… Discovered I know nothing about my father’s past. Didn’t notice it was weird until this collection.”
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Julia Whelan, 2017
Graphic Novel/Comix
Gender Queer by Maia and Phoebe Kobabe
Children’s, But Still
The Very Fine Clock by Muriel Spark, illustrated by Edward Gorey.
“I know that’s a children’s book, but I’ve been a fan of Edward Gorey since encountering his work in The National Lampoon back in the seventies!”
In Case You Missed It
Susie Reading Thurber: The Night Before Christmas
The legendary James Thurber wrote the parody, "A Visit from Saint Nicholas in the Ernest Hemingway Manner" for the Christmas Eve edition of The New Yorker in 1927.
If you don’t see the title you suggested to me, it is because I received your survey on the late side. OR, the title you gave me, I couldn’t find— one thinks we remember a title name but we get the exact wording wrong. I didn’t want to guess.
If you would like to support a local bookstore, check out bookshop.org. If you want instant access to every format, used copies, signed copies, etc, try my individual links above. If you are in a mood to “Stick it to Jeff” — believe me, no one understands like an ex-FAANG employee such as myself. But your holiday book shopping is not the most brutal way to wield your sword. I’ll explain more in my audio broadcast at the top!
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey was compulsively readable though the main characters weren't pleasant people. It's a lengthy but oddly addictive and sometimes off-putting book. Lacey places the story in a future time when the United States has split into Northern and Southern territories, with the progressives ruling in the north and the fundamentalists in the south. She reimagines Emma Goldman as a powerful politician whose assassination precipitates the divide. When it wasn't annoying me, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Fabulous! Now you’ve saved me from having to look at ANY of the million other year end book lists!