Reading 2025: Fiction

 Fiction I read in 2025: 

1.    The Exchange by John Grisham

2.    Camino Ghosts by Jonn Grisham

3.    All the Glimmering Stars by Mark Sullivan

4.    The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens

5.    None of This is True by Lisa Jewel

6.    My Friends by Fredrik Backman

7.    The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

8.    Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy

9.    The Caretaker by Ron Rash

10.   The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

11.    The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

12.    Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

13.    The Widow by John Grisham

I would recommend any/all of these with #9 The Caretaker being my favorite, and #11 The Correspondent coming in at a close second. 

Rash (The Caretaker) is a brilliant writer, the author of Serena which I read a couple of years back. which was excellent but dark, and with few redeemable characters. I liked this one better. 

Virginia Evans deserves high praise for The Correspondent, which is equal parts funny, poignant and moving. Being a letter writer myself, this one was perfect for me. 

Grisham continues to crank them out (three on this list), and I continue to read them. Fortunately, I have a friend who buys all of them and passes them on to me when he is done. 

Culpability (#12) is certainly worth your time if you have any interest in, and/or concerns about, Artificial Intelligence. 

#6 My Friends is another solid read by Fredrik Bakman, author of A Man Called Uve and others I have enjoyed. 

#3 All the Glimmering Stars is nothing short of disturbing and one likely to stay with you long after you have finished. Masterfully written, it is based on the true story of two teenagers kidnapped in the 1990s and forced to become child soldiers in Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army. It reminded me of how much injustice there is in the world and how largely insulated I am from it. 

My nod to the classics was #10 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. My interest was piqued when a pastor in my church referenced it while preaching on Romans 7 and the Apostle Paul's struggle with his sinful nature. I very much enjoyed this one and will likely read something similar in 2026. 

Speaking of 2026, Happy New Year to all of you. I hope to be reading more now that I am retired and look forward to sharing more titles. I hope you will do the same.