Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for his list of Favorite Books read during 2025. As I’ve said before, they don’t have to be books published in 2025, just read last year. Here’s what Jeff said. “I just went through what I’ve read and wrote each book down chronologically, which is the way I’m listing them, rather than a 1 to 15 ranking. Looks like they are mostly fiction this year. Let’s get started:”
Chris Whitaker, All The Colors Of the Dark. An outstanding way to start the year. This is a long book, but a beautifully written one that is worth sticking with, with missing persons, a serial killer, and a brave kid saving another and finding himself.
Liz Moore, The God Of the Woods. I thought the Whitaker would be my favorite book when I read it, but I liked this one even more. In 1975, a 13 year old girl vanishes from her summer camp in the Adirondacks. She is the daughter of the camp’s owners, and it turns out her older brother disappeared – and was never found – a dozen years ago. Moore brilliantly tacks back and forth between those time periods and several others in this totally engrossing and beautifully written book, probably the best thing I’ve read all year.
Jo Callaghan, Leave No Trace. This one brings back British Supt. Kat Frank and her AI Aide Lock, who appears as a hologram and can process information in record time. This time a man is found crucified at the top of a hill in a rural area. I love this series, but start with the first. Frank is recently back at work after a personal trauma in the first book.
Stephen Spotswood, Dead In the Frame. I read a few new historical mysteries this year (Rob Osler’s The Case Of the Missing Maid nearly made the list too), but this was my favorite, the latest in the post-WWII PI series featuring brilliant Lillian Pentecost and her assistant and Watson, narrator (former sideshow performer) Will (Willowjean) Parker, a wonderful creation. This time Pentecost is framed for murder, and Will and their associates must get her out and solve the murder. Start from book one, Fortune Favors The Dead.
Curtis Sittenfeld, Show Don’t Tell. I read a lot of short stories – at least one a day since August of 1975 – and I’m always looking for new authors. I’ve read all the mystery stories I own, but I read plenty of mainstream fiction collections too, and Sittenfeld, whose first name is actually Elizabeth, came to my attention through a newspaper column she wrote. This is her second collection (You Think It, I’ll Say It was her first), and I really like her writing. Besides the two collections, I read her novel PREP, based on her own experiences as a scholarship student at a prestigious prep school (she went to Groton). Good stuff.
Andrew Welsh-Huggins, The Mailman. This one started as a novella but he expanded it into a novel. It was one of the most propulsive books I can remember reading in a very long time, one that moves fast and almost never takes a break and slows down. Mercury Carter (great name) is The Mailman, a former postal inspector who takes his job as a deliveryman seriously – when he promises a “parcel” will be delivered, he doesn’t quit until it is done. Sometimes the parcel is a woman escaping an abusive husband. Don’t miss this one if you like thrillers like Lee Child’s Reacher or Nick Petrie’s Peter Ash or James Byrne’s Dez Limerick.
John Scalzi, When The Moon Hits Your Eye. Another winner from SF master Scalzi. What happens when, one day, the Moon seems to have literally turned to cheese? A fast, terrific read, and the ending is a step way above the “it was all a dream” ending you might fear.
Allen Eskins, The Quiet Librarian. Eskins’ books are always set in Minnesota, but they tend to be very different from one another. This one concerns Hana Babik, the title character, whose past life in war-torn Bosnia comes back to haunt her. She might look overmatched to the evil villains, but she can hold her own against the worst of them. Very good book.
Stella Sands, Wordhunter. I liked this book way more than I expected to. Maggie Moore is a genius when it comes to solving linguistic puzzles. She has to help the police when a stalker turns rapist, and leaves notes that could just give a hint of who he is. Then the daughter of the local Mayor is taken… . Makes nice use of rural Central Florida.
Virginia Evans, The Correspondent. Sybil Van Antwerp is the title character, who somewhat reminds me (if you squint a little) of Olive Kitteridge. She corresponds with a large number of people, whether they like it or not. I’ve always enjoyed epistolary books and this one is well worth a try.
Cara Hunter, Making a Killing. Yay, DI Fawley and his North Oxford team are back. If it isn’t the best of the series, it is still way above average. This is another series that needs to be read in order.
Amity Gaige, Heartwood. This is mostly a tale of two women: 42 year old Valerie Gillis, a woman determined to hike the entire Appalachian Trail, but who is now lost in the woods, and Lt. Beverly, the tough Maine Game Warden determined to find her and bring her home safely. Valerie writes letters to her mother as she waits. I did think this went on a little too long, and I found parts overwritten, but it is never less than engrossing and worth reading.
Tim Sullivan, The Dentist. Thanks to Lesa for recommending this. So far I’ve read the first five books (plus three short stories) in this series about “on the autism spectrum” Sgt. George Cross of the Bristol police, a brilliant cop who has trouble with personal relationships and dealing with other people, but who always solves his cases, along with partner Josie Ottey. This year’s Cara Hunter discovery for me.
John Scalzi, The Shattering Peace. Scalzi is back, both on this list and with the latest (after a decade) in his Old Man’s War series. This hearkens back to two earlier books in the series, but you really should start at the beginning and go from there if you like them.
Michael Connelly, The Proving Ground. I must admit to preferring Harry Bosch to his half brother Mickey Haller, but I’ve enjoyed the Lincoln Lawyer series too. Now Haller has abandoned his criminal defense practice for civil work, here taking up a “to the moment” story: a boy murders his ex-girlfriend, supposedly at the urging of his AI “girlfriend” who encouraged him to get rid of her. He’s going to plead out, but the mother of the dead girl wants to sue the AI company and get them to acknowledge fault, as well as change the algorithm so this doesn’t happen again.
Non fiction:
Ann Hood, Morningstar: Growing Up With Books. I haven’t read a lot of Hood, but I’ve really liked what I have read, particularly her memoir FLY GIRL, about when she became a flight attendant on her way to being a writer. This one talks about her childhood, her love of reading, and the books that meant so much to her then – Marjorie Morningstar, The Bell Jar, The Outsiders, The Harrad Experiment. A perfect book for my tastes.
There’s only one book on that list I’ve heard of before. Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to give some of these others a look.
You and Jeff read entirely different types of books, Mark. You tend to read cozy mysteries, and Jeff reads a little more police procedural type, short stories. Maybe a little darker. There are some terrific books on his list, though.
Great list Jeff – I haven’t read any of these, but I’ll now add some of them to my wish list.
I’d love to read the Curtis Sittenfeld – I do have her AMERICAN WIFE, though I haven’t read it yet.
I would LOVE to read MORNINGSTAR and FLY GIRL (I remember you talking about the latter before) but unfortunately neither is in our library system. I will see if secondhand copies are available – but if those come from the US the postage is often higher than the price of the book!
That’s so tough, Rosemary. I think books should be easily available to all of us, no matter where we live, but that’s the librarian in me. I don’t know if Tim Sullivan’s police procedurals are your style, but his books were originally published in the U.K. before the U.S.
Thanks to you, Jeff, for introducing me to Jo Callaghan’s series. The books just get better and better.
I agree Lesa! And although Tim Sullivan’s books started life here in the UK, our library system doesn’t have them – goodness knows why. When I look at the ‘New Books’ displays in the central library in the city centre, I honestly do wonder who on earth will want to read some of them – I wish I was the book-chooser!
We have a number of fav books in common, Jeff! I am a huge Stephen Spotswood fan (I just went to his website last week hoping that there might be a new book coming, but I didn’t see one listed), and I need to read the Ann Hood book as I loved Fly Girl. And the Quiet Librarian sounds intriguing!
The Quiet Librarian is excellent! I think Allen Eskens is one of the most underappreciated authors today.
Lesa, thanks for posting my list, which was fun to put together. By coincidence, I am reading book six in the Tim Sullivan/George Cross series, THE TEACHER, at the moment.
Thank you, Jeff, for putting together your list. You’re now ahead of me. I have The Monk up next. I have a new to me series lined up. We’ll see what I think. It’s set in Edinburgh and it’s by James Oswald, a police series featuring Inspector MacLean. We’ll see. It might be too graphic for me. I have a few others before I get to that, though. First one is Natural Causes, available free on Amazon.
I also have that Oswald book – the first of 14! – and it does look dark.
I’m really enjoying THE TEACHER, by the way. Ottey is busy with her house move, so George has to deal with a new – temporary – superior, who is – frankly – a jerk. Can’t wait for his comeuppance.
Oh, I always look forward to a good comeuppance.
Jeff, We shared three titles-When the Moon Hits Your Eye, Heartwood and The Corerespondent. Wordhunter sounds interesting. Thank you for sharing.
Hi, Jeff. This is a great list. I’ve read the Spotswood and Connelly books, and I have the new Mail Man book from NetGalley to read. Oh, and The Correspondent is waiting for me at the library–for the second time. There are a few books on your list that I have thought about reading, and I think I will have to pick at least one to read because it keeps coming back to me. Thank you!
I finally ordered ‘The Mailman’ last week, since you and so many others have said it’s so good. And I also bought a copy of ‘Wordhunter’ (not read yet) based solely on your review some months ago. Thanks for your list!
Several of them are already on my list, so good to have a peek at them, thank you!
Loved your list, Jeff! Thank you.
i’ve read and enjoyed four of them, one of which is also on my faves list.
Thanks to everyone who read my list and commented. Can’t wait to see everyone else’s lists.
Great list, Jeff. I have read some and read others my that author and have several on reserve already. The Whittaker sits here waiting for me to have the nerve to start such a long book. I will compile on and put it on my blog since I don’t really know this one
Very sleepy when I wrote this and I let it get away with out corrections and it picked up my post from today. Sorry, Lesa.
No problem, Patti!