Books became the medium I kept returning to more this year than any other. A mix of seasonal depression and anhedonia for the first half of the year meant that other forms of media that I enjoyed like music and video games weren’t hitting like they usually do. As such this will be the first of the three “2025 media of the year” posts.
I will start this blog post with some statistics and then I will get into each book in my 2025 books of the year list. The books will be listened in ascending order of when I read and reviewed them.
Table of Contents
Statistics
So let’s talk some fun numbers. All of my book reading this year was tracked within Storygraph and as such all statistics regarding said reading come from there.
I read 61 books with an average time to finish of 2 days. 80% (49 books) were fiction titles, the remaining 20% nonfiction (12). Compared to 2024, I read a lot more books and blew way past my reading goal of 52 books a couple months ago. Turns out there is not much else to do in the hot summer months when I’m not interesting in gaming. So I read a lot.
The vast majority of the books I read (80% or 49) were categorized by Storygraph as “medium paced” books. With “slow paced” books being my least favourite pacing style at 7% (4 books). Slightly over half the books (51% or 31) were 300-499 pages long with 31% being less than 300 pages and 18% being 500+ pages. The ideal length of a book for me continues to be in the 300-499 pages range.
The most interesting statistic this year was the “format” stat. More specifically, 62% (38) were print copies with digital being the remaining 38% (23). This is due to me using the Toronto Public Library system more and borrowing physical print copies of books. This gave me an excuse to go outside and touch grass books which is one way I stave off the worst of the depressive episodes. Shoutout to public libraries, y’all are a wonderful resource in so many ways.
The heaviest reading month in terms of page count was May where I read 6 books accounting for a total of 2951 pages. This was the month where I mainlined the Daevabad Trilogy within a week. That was not a feat I repeated throughout the year as it is not a sustainable pace of reading for me. I came close in July with 8 books and 2465 pages.
This year I also marked more books as “did-not-finish” than any year previously. 5 books to be exact. A really bad book at the beginning of the year changed my perspective on not finishing a book. I am more likely to DNF a book now if I am not vibing with it instead of pushing through and finishing a book.
Alright I think that is enough numbers. Let’s get into the books.
They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
There are many points in this book where I was driven to tears at the poignancy of Hanif’s writing. There is a sheer, almost overwhelming amount of imagery to Hanif’s writing. The writing paints these visuals, situations, environments filled with emotions and vibes that I found myself visualizing in my head really well.
Review: They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
Essay collections continue to be one of my most favourite forms of non-fiction writing and Hanif’s first collection of essays is a standout this year. In 2026, I want to read more of Hanif’s other essay collections.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
This book is not an easy read, in fact it is quite the harrowing one. Omar Al-Akkad’s critique here of Western liberal hegemony is well thought out and written in a direct style that eschews euphemisms and instead gets right to the crux of the matter at hand. This is a book that a lot of people would do well to read and internalize; especially those among us who still hold on to the mirage of neoliberal ideals.
Review: One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
This book was so impactful that I had to take a break from reading non-fiction for months until I read Everything is Tuberculosis in November. It is the non-fiction of the year as far as I am concerned and I don’t think anything else came close.
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
Having the two main characters of your book be oppressor and oppressed is a difficult path to walk. It is very easy to fuck this kind of dynamic up by not depicting the nuance involved in such a relationship or not having the uncomfortable conversations that two characters like this are going to end up having. It would have been easy for this book to have Sciona depicted as the enlightened hero who throws away her oppressive ways and saves the oppressed underclass from their misery. The book does not do that, it opts to take the harder route and have a story with more nuance. I appreciate that.
Review: Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
I seem to have a bit of a thing for well-written critiques of colonization and colonial systems in the form of fantasy novels. Like with Babel last year, Blood Over Bright Haven falls into that rarefied category. If you enjoyed Babel, you should definitely read Blood Over Bright Haven.
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
Death of the Author is Nnedi Okorafor’s best book yet, I think she has outdone herself. It wraps the science fiction that Okorafor is so good at in a meta fictional blanket, a story about a disabled Nigerian author exploring complex themes in a nuanced and thoughtful way that will leave an impression on you long after you have finished the book.
Review: Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
Truly one of the most interesting, and unique books I have read this year and it is also the best science fiction this year. Though to categorize it strictly within science fiction doesn’t do it justice. This book weaves in other genres in a way that is just sublime.
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
I genuinely was not expecting to be hit like a truck by this book. I felt myself really connecting with Cyrus and his depressed self, trying to find meaning in life through the creation of art, through the concept of martyrdom and death. Depression is something I am quite familiar with, it is something I have dealt with on and off over the past decade or so and I found the way it was portrayed in this book to be quite realistic.
Review: Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
In a bid to read more literary fiction, I put Martyr! on my to-be-read pile at some point early in the year. I am usually skeptical of literary fiction books that are very popular but this one’s popularity is well deserved. Some of the most emotionally impactful fiction I read this year.
Jade City by Fonda Lee
Jade City is the first fantasy book I’ve read where I genuinely felt like I was in a movie, the book felt cinematic in the way the characters talked to each other, the way scenes played out, the way the fights happened, the talk of honor and family – all of it felt straight out of a action movie. The back of the book has a blurb from Ken Liu comparing this book to the best classic Hong Kong gangster films. I haven’t seen any of those films but that seems like an apt comparison.
Review: Jade City by Fonda Lee
This is just a straight up banger from start to finish. I want to read the remaining two books in the trilogy in 2026 and I’ve heard good things about those books as well. In general, I want to finish more book series in 2026 and this is the first on that list.
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
Katabasis is R.F. Kuang back on her bullshit and I fucking love it. This book is an intriguing character study that explores some dark and heavy themes with the requisite amount of nuance. It uses a journey through Dante’s Hell as an extended metaphor for the exploration of the main characters’ academic trauma in a way that I found to be cathartic.
Review: Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
I think it is safe to say at this point that I am a bit of a R.F Kuang fan. At 2339 words, the review for Katabasis is the longest book review I’ve written this year, I think you should go read it. Going into 2026, I want to go back into catalogue and read the R.F Kuang books I haven’t read namely The Poppy War trilogy and Yellowface.
The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
I just had so much fun reading this book. It has been a long while since I’ve read a book where the sheer experience of ingesting the characters, the world, the plot was so much fun. The book was a wild ride all the way through and I enjoyed every bit of said ride. The way all the discrete elements of the book come together is just really really really good.
Review: The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
As I write this, the Illumicrate special edition hardcover of this book is on its way to me. I don’t usually spring for buying special editions that are not available in Canada but this book deserves the best copy I can get. Also I feel a little bad paying only a discounted 3 dollars for the ebook copy. This book is absolutely a steal at that price.
I need the sequel as soon as possible, please and thank you.
The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
The Emperor of Gladness is a very well written literary fiction novel with a big heart that tells a touching story filled with complex & colourful characters doing their best in a world that is content to abandon them.
Review: The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
Coincidentally, this is the second book in this list written by a poet. Maybe I have a thing for literary fiction written by poets. Like with Martyr! this was also quite emotionally impactful and one of the very few books where the slow pace works in the book’s favour. Not the kind of book that I can read all that often but when I do it is one that I have to let percolate through the ol’ brain matter for a while.
Concluding Thoughts
Every book I finished reading this year got a review published on this blog (with the exception of the Daevabad trilogy which got one review instead of three), that means 59 book reviews and also 61 opportunities to think critically about each book. Even books I did not enjoy or I thought were middling improved my ability to critique works in the medium as a while. I am quite proud of the quality of my book reviews this year which I think have generally improved over years past.
I am grateful for everyone who has read my reviews and am even more grateful to the few folks who have told me directly that they enjoyed my reviews. I mostly write these reviews for the sake of personal fulfillment but extrinsic validation of the work I put in is always great and especially when my reviews have an impact on what other people read!
As for the upcoming year, I have not set any definite reading goals as of yet. I want to continue reading and reviewing as many books as I can. I also hope to continue and diversify the genres of fiction I read and read more non-fiction. As mentioned earlier, I also want to complete/continue any series that I started this year which include a fair few.
I also want to continue my engagement with the social aspects of reading. Hanging out in the lexi aka newlynova Discord with other readers and talking about books has been a great source of joy in the past couple months and I hope to continue participating in discussions there. It is really fun to talk about books with fellow book nerds!
Thank you to all the booktubers whose videos I watched and enjoyed this year, in no particular order – caricanread, lexi aka newlynova, Elliot Brooks, readwithcindy, thisstoryaintover, Plant Based Bride, The Book Leo, Tori Morrow.
Last but definitely not least, thank you to all the authors for writing books that make feel all kinds of emotions. In a world, where every creative medium faces off against the LLM scourge, books like these are a good reminder of what the human creative spirit is able to create.
Here’s to another wonderful year of reading!
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