Get lost in a good book: 10 reading recommendations from 2025

If you're looking for something to read in 2026, I have a few suggestions for you to consider. And as always, I encourage you to buy books that catch your eye from independent bookstores, such as Powell’s in Portland or Vroman’s in Pasadena, which are two of my personal favorites. Supporting your local library is also a wonderful option. Here’s to another year filled with great books!

📖 👍👍 Essential reading

• Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight. This book sat on my shelf for at least three years. I finally decided to give it a go in 2025. It was super interesting, well written and much more engaging than I thought it would be. Even if you don’t care about Nike at all, I think you’ll enjoy it.

• How to Stop Time by Matt Haig. What would life be like if you aged much, much slower than everyone else? Complicated. I enjoyed this novel even more than his other books, which are also quite good.

• Game Without Rules by Michael Gilbert. This is a truly excellent book of British spy-game short stories. This author was new to me, but I will be coming back for more!

• The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann. My favorite non-fiction book that I read in 2025. It tells the true story of the British warship Wager, its shipwreck off the coast of Patagonia, and the conflict among the survivors.

• America Fantastica by Tim O'Brien. My last book read in 2025 and one of the most interesting. Just a frenetic (fictional, but plausible) journey through America post-COVID with a bank robbery, kidnapping and epic road trip thrown in for good measure.

📖 👍 Definitely worth your time

• Lowdown Road by Scott Von Doviak. This book is wild and totally implausible. However, it has the absolute BEST opening chapter to any book I’ve ever read. Ever.

• Queen of Spades by Michael Shou-Yung Shum. The story of a mysterious Seattle-area casino populated by a pit boss with six months to live, a dealer obsessing over the mysterious methods of an elderly customer known as the Countess, and a recovering gambler who finds herself trapped in a cultish twelve-step program.

• Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical by Anthony Bourdain. From the best-selling author of Kitchen Confidential, a true, thrilling tale of pursuit through the kitchens of New York City at the turn of the century. A quick, interesting and informative read.

• It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis. A cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, written during the Great Depression, it juxtaposes sharp political satire with the chillingly realistic rise of a President who becomes a dictator to "save the nation.” Very good, but also on the depressing side, like so many excellent novels.

• Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino. OK, Quentin can be annoying at times. Don’t let that stop you from reading this. If you’re interested in American actors, directors and films of the 1970s, it’s an excellent read.

Agatha Christie: Bonus category

I love so many of her books, but some are not great. Hey, it happens when you write as much as she did! Every year I read at least a few. Here is one to try and one to skip if you are a fan of the queen of mystery writing.

📖 👍 Read it

• Death in the Clouds. A woman is killed by a poisoned dart in the enclosed confines of a commercial passenger plane. Flying from Paris to London. Hercule Poirot investigates. Loved it!

📕 👎 Skip it

• The Seven Dials Mystery. I think this novel is being made into a movie soon. The premise sounded great, but I just couldn’t get into this one like I usually do with most of her mysteries.

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👇 See my past book recommendations

• 2024 book list

• 2023 book list

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🤔 What is the state of reading today?

Over the last 20 years, the number of Americans who read daily for pleasure has seen a considerable decline. The number of Americans who read for pleasure has fallen by 40%, according to a new study that was highlighted in this story from The Guardian.

Researchers at the University of Florida and University College London have found that between 2003 and 2023, daily reading for reasons other than work and study fell by about 3% each year.

The number saw a peak in 2004, with 28% of people qualifying, before falling to 16% in 2023. The data was taken from more than 236,000 Americans who participated in the American Time Use Survey and the study was published in the journal iScience.

Jill Sonke, study co-author, called it “a sustained, steady decline” and one that is “deeply concerning."

“Reading has historically been a low-barrier, high-impact way to engage creatively and improve quality of life,” Sonke said. “When we lose one of the simplest tools in our public health toolkit, it’s a serious loss.

The impact of this trend is huge. Individually, what can we do about it? I honestly don’t have the answer other than to keep advocating for reading, supporting local bookstores and donating to organizations that provide reading programs for those in need.

I hope YOU discover some great books in 2026. I would love to hear your recommendations.