/dev/posts/

Books I have read in 2025

Published:

Updated:

Books I have read in 2025. Should be mostly spoiler free.

Table of content

Summary

Fiction:

Non-fiction:

We Do Not Part

We Do Not Part (작별하지 않는다) (2021) ~ Kang Han (한강)

Type: fistorical fiction.

A very atmospheric/surrealistic story haunted by Korean's history, and especially the Jeju Island massacre (1948—1949).

Apparently thematically related to Human Acts (소년이 온다, Lit: A Boy comes) (but I did not read that one).

Rose/House

Rose/House (2023) ~ Arkady Martine

Type: science fiction mystery.

A short story about a murder happening in an AI house.

The Haunting of Hill House

The Haunting of Hill House (1959) ~ Shirley Jackson

Type: gothic ghost horror.

A classic horror story. I found this book somewhat underwhelming.

No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.

– The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson

Silo

Silo series ~ Hugh Howey:

Type: dystopian science fiction.

The whole humanity is living un an underground structure…

The Plot Against America

The Plot Against America (2004) ~ Philipp Roth

Type: alternate history autobiography.

This is the author's (own) autiobiography in an alternative history where Charles Lindbergh wins the US elections against Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940. Charles Lindbergh was a (real) famous aviator, isolationist and considered a Nazi sympathizer (although he may have regretted his position afterwards) and received a Commander Cross of the Order of the German Eagle by Hermann Göring. In this alternate history, because of Lindbergh's election, the US antisemitic forces grow stronger. Philipp Roth's family being of Jewish origin, they are worried about the evolution of the US society.

There are some similarities between this alternate history and the 2016 election of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. For example, Lindberg was (in the real history) a prominent member of the America First Committee (AFC), an US isolationist movement in 1940—1941. The ”America First” motto was used by the opponents of the intervention of the US in both World War I and World War II and has been one of Donald Trump's motto as well.

Publication by real Lindberg in 1939 :

We, the heirs of European culture, are on the verge of a disastrous war, a war within our own family of nations, a war which will reduce the strength and destroy the treasures of the White race, a war which may even lead to the end of our civilization. And while we stand poised for battle, Oriental guns are turning westward, Asia presses towards us on the Russian border, all foreign races stir restlessly. It is time to turn from our quarrels and to build our White ramparts again. This alliance with foreign races means nothing but death to us. It is our turn to guard our heritage from Mongol and Persian and Moor, before we become engulfed in a limitless foreign sea. Our civilization depends on a united strength among ourselves; on strength too great for foreign armies to challenge; on a Western Wall of race and arms which can hold back either a Genghis Khan or the infiltration of inferior blood; on an English fleet, a German air force, a French army, an American nation, standing together as guardians of our common heritage, sharing strength, dividing influence.

– (real) Charles Lindbergh, 1939

Declaration by real Lindberg in 1941 (Des Moines Speech):

It is not difficult to understand why Jewish people desire the overthrow of Nazi Germany. The persecution they suffered in Germany would be sufficient to make bitter enemies of any race. No person with a sense of the dignity of mankind can condone the persecution the Jewish race suffered in Germany. But no person of honesty and vision can look on their pro-war policy here today without seeing the dangers involved in such a policy, both for us and for them. Instead of agitating for war the Jewish groups in this country should be opposing it in every possible way, for they will be among the first to feel its consequences. Tolerance is a virtue that depends upon peace and strength. History shows that it cannot survive war and devastation. A few farsighted Jewish people realize this and stand opposed to intervention. But the majority still do not. Their greatest danger to this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio, and our government.

– (real) Charles Lindbergh, 1941

References:

Ubu Roi

Ubu Roi (Tr: King Ubu) (1895) ~ Alfred Jarry

Type: satirical pre-surrealist play.

Classical French play (with a lot of profanity and a lot of non-sense).

CAPITAINE BORDURE Eh ! Mère Ubu ! que nous donnez-vous de bon aujourd’hui ?

MÈRE UBU Voici le menu.

PÈRE UBU Oh ! ceci m’intéresse.

MÈRE UBU Soupe polonaise, côtes de rastron, veau, poulet, pâté de chien, croupions de dinde, charlotte russe…

PÈRE UBU Eh ! en voilà assez, je suppose. Y en a-t-il encore ? Oeuvre du Domaine public – Version retraitée par Libre Théâtre 4

MÈRE UBU, continuant. Bombe, salade, fruits, dessert, bouilli, topinambours, choux-fleurs à la merdre

– Ubu Roi, Alfred Jarry

References:

We

We (Мы) (1924) ~ Evgueni Zamiatine (Евге́ний Ива́нович Замя́тин)

Type: dystopian science fiction.

The book takes places in a dystopian totalitarian world-wide regime (One State / United State, Единое Государство) in which the people's lives are scientifically organized and controlled. The book is considered to have been an inspiration for Huxley's Brave New World (1931) and Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).

The style of the book is quite weird. I found the book to be very modern and underrecognized.

Born in 1884 in Russia, the author, Evgueni Zamiatine, participated in the Russian Revolution of 1905 (as a Bolshevik). Whereas he was a proponent of the revolution and Bolshevik sympathizer, he became critic of the Party (especially on the topic on freedom of speech, censorship). Written in the early 1920s, We can be understood as a harsh critique of the soviet regime and was therefore censored in the Soviet Union. It was first published abroad:

In 1931, Zamiatine obtained the authorization from Stalin to leave the USSR and went to France. He died in Paris in 1937.

The main character of the book, D-503 (Д-503), is an mathematician working on a spacecraft supposed to teach the One State's scientific truth to any extra-terrestrial life form it would find. Evgueni Zamiatine was himself a naval engineer and D-503 can therefore assumed to be Zamiatine's alter ego.

In another hundred and twenty days the building of the Integral will be completed. The great historic hour is near, when the first Integral will rise into the limitless space of the universe. A thousand years ago your heroic ancestors subjected the whole earth to the power of the United State. A still more glorious task is before you,—the integration of the indefinite equation of the Cosmos by the use of the glass, electric, fire-breathing Integral. Your mission is to subjugate to the grateful yoke of reason the unknown beings who live on other planets, and who are perhaps still in the primitive state of freedom. If they will not understand that we are bringing them a mathematically faultless happiness, our duty will be to force them to be happy. But before we take up arms, we shall try the power of words.

— D-503, We, Evgueni Zamiatine

The way to rid man of criminality is to rid him of freedom.

— D-503, We, Evgueni Zamiatine

References:

Wayfarers

Wayfarers series (1‑3/4) ~ Becky Chambers

Type: solarpunk inclusive space-opera science fiction.

Mankind went to space and found a bunch of extra-terrestrial sentient species with widely different cultures and physiology but which still manage to cohabitate, for the most part, in harmony.

These books describe a very optimistic future (in constrast to books such as Liu Cixin's Remembrance of Earth's Past series, i.e. The Three-Body Problem and its sequels 😀) where people find way to accept each other even if they are fundamentaly different (from different species, from different trees of life) which is quite refreshing.

There is a fourth volume, The Galaxy, and the Ground Within (2021) (which I did not read yet).

‘All you can do, Rosemary – all any of us can do – is work to be something positive instead. That is a choice every sapient must make every day of their life. The universe is what we make of it. It’s up to you to decide what part you will play.’

— The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers

Mickey7

Mickey7 (2023) ~ Edward Ashton

Type: satirical dystopian science fiction.

Quite funny.

Bong Joon Ho's (봉준호) Mickey17 movie is based on this book.

There is follow up book Antimatter Blues (2023) which I did not read.

Here's a thought experiment for you: Imagine you found out that when you to to sleep at night, you don't just go to sleep. You die. You die and someone else wakes up in your place the next morning. He's got all you memories. He's got all your hopes and dreams and fears and wishes. He thinks he's you and all your friends and loved ones do too. He's not you, though, and you're not the guy who went to sleep the night before. You've only existed since this morning and you will cease to exist when you close your eyes tonight. Ask yourself—would it make any practical difference in your life? Is there any way that you could tell?

— Mickey7, Edward Ashton

The Expanse

The Expanse (1‑3/9) ~ James S. A. Corey

Type: space science fiction.

These are the first three books of series of 9 books. They take place in a not-so-distant future where mankind has managed to colonize Mars and some satelites in the Asteroid belt as well as some satelites of Jupiter. Great story and characters.

La fille de l'ennemi du peuple

La fille de l'ennemi du peuple (Tr: The daughters of the People's enemy) (2023) ~ Lélia Dimitriu

Type: historical autobiography.

This book is in French only.

The story of the author and her family in Romania (mostly between 1939 and 1967). The books depicts Romania during World War II, aligned with the Axis at the beginning of the book in 1944, liberated by the Red Army in 1944, occupied by the Soviet and turned into the Socialist Republic of Romania in 1947.

Us. Diary of a Fall

Us. Diary of a Fall (Мы. Дневник падения) (2025) ~ Dmitry Alekseyevich Glukhovsky (Дмитрий Алексеевич Глуховский)

Type: compilation of journalistic political articles.

Sadly, this book does not appear to be available in English. I read it in French (Journal sous dictature, Comment j'ai vu la Russie Basculer).

A compilation of articles of Dmitry Glukhovsky (journalist, author of the dystopian post-apocalyptic Metro/Метро book series which were adapted as first-person shooters) written between 2012 and 2023. This talks, among other things, about internal affairs of Russia, the occupation of Crimea, the attacks against Ukraine, etc. The author has a very direct way of expressing his ideas that I really like.

In 2022, Dmitry Glukhovsky was condemned in absentia to 8 years in prison for spreading “false informations“ about the russian army (and the war against Ukraine).

Is the title of the book supposed to be a reference to We (Мы) by Evgueni Zamiatine?

References:

Maus

Maus (1980—1991) ~ Art Spiegelman

Type: historical biographical graphical novel.

A (famous) graphical novel about the author's father life. The author's father was a Polish Jew who survived from Auschwitz, Grodd-Rossen and Dachau.

La Meute, Enquête sur la France Insoumise de Jean-Luc Mélenchon

La Meute, Enquête sur la France Insoumise de Jean-Luc Mélenchon (Tr. The Pack, Investigation on Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La France Insoumise) (2025) ~ Charlotte Belaïch, Olivier Pérou

Type: essay.

This book is in French only.

An investigation about La France Insoumise (LFI) (Tr: Unbowed France) (a French radical left-wing party) and its leader, Jean-Luc “La République, c'est moi” Mélenchon. The authors depict the party as authoritarian were the powers are centered in the hand of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his favorites, were power is asserted by fear and psychological violence with a pervasive culture of political purges (of anyone showing some kind of dissent). Depending on your prior opinion on LFI, you will probably either think that you knew all that already or that this is journalistic trash.