Dec 31, 2025
two excuses before we start:
- as a child i wasn’t allowed to watch television and had things from which to run away, so i read a lot
- in my 20s in went to grad school and had to read at least three books a week
this is all to say that
Stats
i read 158 books this year and, again, i wont apologize. this is two less books than last year, so I quess you might say i’m slowing down. i still confuse my gs and qs always tho
i also gave up on 26 books, often early, in case you confuse my obsessiveness for a sort of masochism
Favs (no order)
Paul Celan - 70 Poems
Astounding
Walter M Miller - A Canticle for Leibowitz
My second time reading. Dude knew that deathly serious stuff is never serious without a few little jokes; or, god no surprise this guy did a suicide
Lucy Ellman - Ducks, Newberryport
I just sank inside this book. I wish it were longer.
J. G. Ballard - High-Rise
Post-facto: i read an intro to a collection of his short stories calling ole JG a “surprisingly normal man”. Sorry, I’ve read this shit. He was not normal
Stephen King - Duma Key
Stephen King tries Murakami. And it’s in Florida!
Garielle Lutz - Complete Stories
If I ever get around to adding reviews to my site bookshelf you’d see how up and down I really am with these, but overall they’re fantastic in a ( me at least) new way
Stephen King - 11-22-63
Only king could write a book about killing lee harvey oswald that’s almost half a self-consciously nostalgic look at the 50s. Like all great king books, he stumbles headfirst into something unpleasant and profound.
Other Notable Books
Gordon Burn - Happy Like Murderers
Realistically, a fave, but i just finished it in the last few days, and its very gruesome. However I’ve already started imitating its voice.
The Animorphs series (finished it this year)
I am 30 or 40 years old and I need to make record of this.
In conclusion
- This was a year primarily of sci-fi, which I didn’t realize till now. I am trying to write an encyclopedic sci-fi novel, perhaps that’s why.
- I love to look back at books like this. Because I read voraciously I read these at home, in the park, on the train, on vacation, and so many other places. It’s an accidental collection of small memories