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| Before I had started reading |
A year ago this month, in January of 2025, I began writing a line or two or three of description for each book read, but that only lasted a month, and beginning in February I went back to the more bare-bones author, title (fiction/nonfiction, year) format. Some of these were re-readings, and you will see occasional binges. Many of the books in this list I discussed on blog posts in 2025, and you can use the search bar at the top of the blog to find those posts where they exist. Want to know more? A couple books on the list I might not remember at all, but you can ask! Here then are the books I read over the last twelve months.
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| View from bank to harbor on a December morning |
1. Thomas, Kai. In the Upper Country (fiction, 2023). Brilliant novel of refugees from American slavery who joined forces over generations with indigenous peoples of the U.S. and Canada in a quest for freedom. Tales within tales. A tour de force.
2. Reade, Charles. The Cloister and the Hearth: A Tale of the Middle Ages (fiction, 1861). Picaresque historical novel set in the late 1400s, with every element a reader could ever desire. Adventure, love, humor, philosophy, description, atmosphere, etc.
3. Estes, Eleanor. The Moffats (juvenile fiction, 1941). Every now and then I re-read the always charming books about the Moffat and Pye families, enjoying Louis Slobodkin’s simple illustrations as much as the stories I first discovered in grade school. For me, they never grow old
4. Lane, Eric & Michael Oreskes. The Genius of America: How the Constitution Saved Our Country and Why It Can Again (nonfiction, 2007). The authors stress that many compromises were necessary for the Constitution to come into being in the first place and that its structure of checks and balances were designed to prevent despotism. Recent and current winner-take-all strategies from the White House, in Congress, and in a loaded Court system have all been partisan attempts in recent decades to short-circuit what the authors of this book call our Constitutional Conscience. Full text of the United States Constitution included as an appendix.
5. Godden, Rumer. A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep (nonfiction, 1987). The second book of memoir from this prolific author (she wrote and had published over 60 books, both fiction and nonfiction) tells of her childhood and young womanhood, and motherhood mother, covering years in India, England, and Kashmir.
6. Barr, Nevada. Firestorm (fiction, 1996). Although the firestorm in this novel was confined to wilderness and did not touch urban areas, descriptions of the blaze and its aftermath were difficult to read as fires raged in the L.A. area this January.
7. Gilbert, Elizabeth. Committed: A Love Story (nonfiction, 2010). Memoir plus explorations of the history of marriage, along with customs in a couple of other countries the author and her then-future husband visited.
8. Wang, Qian Julie. Beautiful Country (nonfiction, 2021). Another memoir, this one from a young woman who came to the U.S. from China with her mother to join her father who had come before.
9. Orcutt, William Dana. From My Library Walls: A Kaleidoscope of Memories (nonfiction, 1945). Where did he find room for bookshelves with all the portraits and framed letters he had hanging on his library walls?
10. Lenski, Lois. Houseboat Girl (fiction – juv., 1957). Simple story and simple illustrations tell of a vanished way of American life. (Now, if only I could find my copy of Phyllis Crawford’s Hello, the Boat!)
11. Gilbert, Elizabeth. Signature of All Things (fiction, 2013). Enormous canvas brilliantly executed.
12. Smith, Alexander McCall. The Enigma of Garlic (fiction, 2022). Comforting, as his books generally are.
13. Hamilton, Mary Mann. Trials of the Earth (nonfiction, 1992/2017). One woman’s life, working and raising a family in Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta in the late 1800s.
14. Hughes, Sian. Pearl (fiction, 2024). A small book but not slight, this novel gains substance as it goes along.
15. Harrison, Jim. Dalva (fiction, 1988)
16. Ahmed, Samira. This Book Won’t Burn (fiction, 2024)
17. Houston, James. Ghost Fox (fiction, 1977)
18. Eig, Jonathan. King: A Life (nonfiction, 2024)
19. Kaur, Valarie. See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love (nonfiction, 2020)
20. Stander, Aaron. Smoke and Mirrors (fiction, 2024)
21. Maxwell, William. The Chateau (fiction, 1961)
22. Carter, Jimmy. Keeping Faith (nonfiction, 1982)
23. Brooks, Geraldine. Memorial Days (nonfiction, 2024)
24. Braun, Lilian Jackson. The Cat Who Went Up the Creek (fiction, 2002)
25. Benedict, Marie & Victoria Christopher Murray. The Personal Librarian (historical fiction, 2021)
26. Wilkerson, Charmaine. Black Cake (fiction, 2022)
27. Christie, Agatha. The Clocks (fiction, 1964)
28. Egan, Timothy. Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis (nonfiction, 2012).
29. Stark-Nemon, Barbara. Hard Cider (fiction, 2018)
30. Anderson, Peter. Heading Home: Field Notes (nonfiction, 2017).
31. Hesse, Hermann. Steppenwolf (fiction, 1927)
32. Base, Ron. The Dame with the Sanibel Sunset Detective (fiction, 2017).
33. Base, Ron. The Two Sanibel Sunset Detectives (fiction, 2013)
34. Base, Ron. The Hound of the Sanibel Sunset Detective (fiction, 2014)
35. Base, Ron. The Four Wives of the Sanibel Sunset Detective (fiction, 2015).
36. Zimmerman, Marilyn. In Defense of Good Women (fiction, 2025, ARC)
37. Base, Ron. The Sanibel Sunset Detective Goes to London (fiction, 2016)
38. Ardizzone, Heidi. An Illuminated Life: Belle da Costa Greene’s Journey from Prejudice to Privilege (nonfiction, 2007)
39. Farjeon, J. Jefferson. Mystery in White: A Christmas Crime Story (fiction, 1937)
40. Reich, Robert B. Aftershock (nonfiction, 2010).
41. Cook, Olive. Breckland (nonfiction, 1956)
42. Williams, Niall. This Is Happiness (fiction, 2019)
43. Smith, Ali. There but for the (fiction, 2011)
44. Perkins, Lynne Rae. At Home in a Faraway Place (fiction, juv., 2025)
45. Hudson, Marjorie. Indigo Field (fiction, 2023)
46. Dobyns, Jay. No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels (nonfiction, 2009)
47. Brooks, Robert R. R. A Tumult of Years (nonfiction, 1980)
48. Dutourd, Jean. Pluche, or the Love of Art (fiction, 1970)
49. Sweet, Melissa. Some Writer! The Story of E.B. White (nonfiction, 2016).
50. Sherratt, Yvonne. Hitler’s Philosophers (nonfiction, 2013).
51. Bennett, Arnold. Riceyman Steps (fiction, 1923).
52. Bennett, Arnold. The Card (fiction, 1911).
53. Bennett, Arnold. Imperial Palace (fiction, 1930).
54. Davies, Robertson. What’s Bred in the Bone (fiction, 1985).
55. Parini, Jay. Benjamin’s Crossing (fiction, 1997)
56. Benjamin, Walter. Berlin Childhood around 1900 (nonfiction, 2006 Am. ed.)
57. Behrman, S.N. Duveen (nonfiction, 1952).
58. Levi, Lia; trans. Antony Shugaar. The Jewish Husband (fiction, 2009).
59. Milne, Christopher. The Path Through the Trees (nonfiction, 1979).
60. Base, Ron. The Sanibel Sunset Detective Returns (fiction, 2011)
61. Tomkins, Calvin. Living Well is the Best Revenge (nonfiction, 1971).
62. Cambridge, Colleen. Mastering the Art of French Murder (fiction, 2023).
63. Atkinson, Kate. Behind the Scenes at the Museum (fiction, 2020).
64. Cambridge, Colleen. A Murder Most French (fiction, 2024)
65. Trollope, Fanny. Domestic Manners of the Americans (1832)
66. McMurtry, Larry. The Last Kind Words Saloon (fiction, 2014)
67. Ofaire, Cilette, trans. Beren Van Slyke. The San Luca (nonfiction, 1935)
68. Gerber, Dan. A Voice from the River (fiction, 2005).
69. Clarke, Stephen. A Year in the Merde (fiction, 2004).
70. Stimson, James A. King Noanett: A Story of Old Virginia and the Massachusetts Bay (fiction, 1896).
71. Mulvahill, Karen. The Lost Woman (fiction, 2025).
72. Trueblood, Valerie. Criminals: Love Stories (fiction, 2016)
73. Daudet, Alphonse. Lettres de mon moulin (nonfiction, 1869)
74. Seth, Vikram. The Golden Gate (fiction/sonnets, 1986)
75. Bennett, Leslie K. Peaks & Valleys (fiction, 2024).
76. McMurtry, Larry. Lonesome Dove (fiction, 1985)
77. Everett, Percival. James (fiction, 2024)
78. Buck, Pearl S. My Several Worlds: A Personal Record (nonfiction, 1954)
79. Mason, Miriam E. Caroline and Her Kettle Named Maud (fiction, juv, 1965)
80. Bayles, David & Ted Orland. Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking (nonfiction, 2001)
81. Swanson, Julie A. North of Tomboy (fiction, 2025)
82. Bell, J.H. The Dish Boat (fiction, 1943)
83. Butterworth, Oliver. The Enormous Egg (fiction – juv., 1956)
84. Kipling, Rudyard. The Second Jungle Book (fiction, 1895)
85. Zuravleff, Mary Kay. American Ending (fiction, 2023)
86. Walker, Martin. The Templars’ Last Secret (fiction, 2017)
87. McNeer, May. Give Me Freedom (nonfiction – juv., 1964)
88. Oakley, Mary Ann B. Elizabeth Cady Stanton (nonfiction, 1972)
89. Clark, Jennifer. Kissing the World Goodbye (nonfiction, 2022)
90. Eggers, Dave. Zeitoun (nonfiction, 2009)
91. Lerner, Betsy. The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers (nonfiction, 2000)
92. Lopez, Barry. About This Life: Journeys on the Threshold of Memory (nonfiction, 1998)
93. Garner, Bryan A. & David Foster Wallace. Quack This Way (nonfiction, 2013).
94. Brooks, David. The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life (nonfiction, 2019)
95. Lawrence, D.H. Etruscan Places (nonfiction, 1932)
96. Anderson, Joan. A Year by the Sea (nonfiction, 1999)
97. Fuentes, Robert “Carlos.” The Vacation: A Teenage Migrant Farmworker’s Experience Picking Cherries in Michigan (nonfiction, 2025)
98. Mulherin, Timothy. This Magnetic North: Candid Conversations on a Changing Northern Michigan (nonfiction, 2025)
99. Dykeman, Wilma. The French Broad (nonfiction, from “Rivers of America” series, 1955(
100. Erdrich, Louise. The Bingo Palace (fiction, 1993)
101. Shingarev, A.I. The Shingarev Diary (nonfiction, 1978)
102. Youngquist, Mark D. My Joy Journey with Amy (nonfiction, 2025)
103. Terkel, Studs. Hope Dies Last (nonfiction, 2003)
104. Mosley, Walter. Farewell, Amethystine (fiction, 2024)
105. Myette, Jack. Prison: The Inside Story—Transforming Lives as an Officer and Educator (nonfiction, 2025)
106. Kemelman, Harry. Tuesday the Rabbi Saw Red (fiction, 1973)
107. Ibid. Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet (fiction, 1976)
108. Ibid. Thursday the Rabbi Walked Out (fiction, 1978)
109. Ibid. Someday the Rabbi Will Leave (fiction, 1985)
110. Wilkerson, Charmaine. Good Dirt (fiction, 2025)
111. Jacobs, A.J. Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection (nonfiction, 2012)
112. Byfield, Barbara Ninde. A Parcel of Their Fortunes (fiction, 1979).
113. Tyler, Anne. Clock Dance (fiction, 2018)
114. Williams, Niall. The Year of the Child (fiction, 2024)
115. Forbes, Kathryn. Mama’s Bank Account (1943)
116. Mosley, Walter. Little Green (fiction, 2013)
117. Camus, Albert, trans. Matthew Ward. The Stranger (fiction, this edition 1993)
118. McHugh, Ernestine. Love and Honor in the Himalayas: Coming to Know Another Culture (nonfiction, 2001)
119. Dahl, Roald. Boy (nonfiction, 1984)
120. Williams, Niall. History of the Rain (fiction,
121. Whybrow, Helen. The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life (nonfiction, 2025)
122. Backman, Fredrick. Britt-Marie Was Here (fiction, 2016)
123. Harris, Kai. What the Fireflies Knew (fiction, 2022)
124. White, E.B., ed. Martha White. E.B. White on Dogs (nonfiction, 2013)
125. Styron, William. Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness (nonfiction, 1990)
126. Camus, Henri. Le premier homme (fiction, 1994)
127. Waganese, Richard. Medicine Walk (fiction, (fiction, 2016)
128. Paul, Elliot. The Last Time I Saw Paris (nonfiction, 1942)
129. Lanham, J. Drew. The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature (nonfiction, 2016)
130. Quinn, Spencer. Dog On It (fiction, 2009)
131. Quinn, Spencer. Thereby Hangs a Tail (fiction, 2010
132. Quinn, Spencer. To Fetch a Thief (fiction, 2010)
133. Goddard, Todd. Devouring Time: Jim Harrison, a Writer’s Life (nonfiction, 2025)
134. Walsh, Jenni L. Sonora (fiction, 2025)
135. Goldstein, Rebecca. Incompleteness : The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Gödel (nonfiction, 2005)
136. Collins, Chuck & Mary Wright. The Moral Measure of the Economy (nonfiction, 2007).
137. Steves, Rick. On the Hippie Trail: Instanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer (nonfiction, 2025) Note: He and his travel pal did not hitchhike at all and did not stay in youth hostels, so they might have been on the “hippie trail,” but they did not travel as “hippies.”
138. Grant, Stephen Starring. Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home (nonfiction, 2025).
139. Harrison, Robert Pogue. The Dominion of the Dead (nonfiction, 2003).
140. Hudson, W.H., ed. & intro by Edward Garnett. Letters from W. H. Hudson, 1901-1922 (nonfiction, 1923).
141. Paul, Elliot. The Life and Death of a Spanish Town (nonfiction, 1937).
142. Wieseltier, Leon. Kaddish (nonfiction, 1998)
143. Stratton-Porter, Gene. At the Foot of the Rainbow (fiction, 1916)
144. Quinn, Spencer. The Dog Who Knew Too Much (fiction, 2011).
145. Karinthy, Frigyes. A Journey Round My Skull (nonfiction, 1939).
146. Cousineau, Phil. The Book of Roads (nonfiction, 2015)
147. Kehlmann, Daniel; trans. Ross Benjamin. The Director (fiction, 2023)
148. Joyce, James; ed. w/ notes by Seamus Deane. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (© 1964)
149. Casebeer, Karen. The Lure (fiction, 2025)
150. The Epic of Gilgamesh
151. Whyman, Paula. Bad Naturalist: One Woman’s Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop (nonfiction, 2025)
152. Burke, James Lee. Another Kind of Eden (fiction, 2021)
153. Goldstein, Rebecca Newberger. 36 Arguments for the Existence of God (fiction, 2010)
154. Frank, Anne. Diary of a Young Girl (nonfiction; definitive edition)
155. Riordan, John J. The Dark Peninsula (nonfiction, 1976)
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| Wind makes wave lines in drifted snow. |
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