My Books of 2025

Looking back at my reading list, 2025 was an underwhelming year.  I did not read any stand-out books to recommend, and for some reason, I took the challenge to read some really thick books, and some of them I struggled to finish.  I also did not chance across really good quality fiction, which was also disappointing.  Like many reading lists, the books that I read this year were not necessarily published in 2025.  They come from across time.  To improve the quality of this list, I have chosen to include my best 3 non-fiction and fiction from 2024/25.

Fiction

Politics on the Edge, Rory Stewart (2024).  This is a political memoire from an Ex Conservative Cabinet Minister who fought the leadership campaign to save the Conservative Party, which eventually swung right, elected Boris Johnson, which led to Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak being PM, and a total defeat for the Conservative Party in the 2024 General Election.   I have followed British Politics since the time I was in University and did Political Science.  I share many of Rory's observations, and benefit from understanding the key question we all would like answered - why the British Parliamentary system may not elect the best leaders for the country.  

Say Nothing, Patrick Radden Keefe (2018).  This is a masterpiece of investigative journalism produced by an American on the Troubles in Northern Ireland.  Keefe tells the story of the abduction of Jean McConville by paramilitary groups, to the conviction of the infamous Dolours sisters who bombed London. Anyone wanting to understand why the divisions in Northern Ireland was/is so acute needs to read this.  The injustice and ineptitude of the British Army and Government, and crimes committed by both sides remain major contributory factors.  A TV Series of the same name was released in 2024 on FX.  This is completely based on the book.  The production is one of the highest rated on Rotten Tomatoes. It was nominated for and won a series of awards.  

Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson (2023).  Walter Isaacson is an award-winning biographer, and his work on Elon Musk is detailed and well researched.  Love him or hate him, Elon Musk is an outlier and a maverick, and because of his tenacity has achieved things that few can even dream of, including building the only private venture that has successfully sent a reusable space craft to space in his bid to colonise Mars.   This book tells his story from multiple angles - his life in South Africa, his many relationships with women, his many children, his adventures with Pay Pal, Tesla and Space X amongst others.  This was published before Musk threw his backing for Donald Trump in the 2024 Presidential Election, so his political adventures remain a missing hole.  There will no doubt be a few more chapters to be written in a future Musk biography.  

Fiction

The Shadow of War, Jeff Shaara (2024).  Writing on events more than half a century ago, Jeff Shaara, a prize-winning author of historical fiction spins a plausible story of events leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The characters are all based on history.  It focuses on Kennedy and Khrushchev, who are caught in a dynamic that drove both the USA and USSR to the brink of nuclear war.  It also shows the leadership that allowed level headedness to prevail, so that both nations could avoid Armageddon.  This is a must read for politicians, military leaders, strategists, and foreign policy practitioners.   

The Women, Kristin Hannah (2024).  This was my first time reading a Kristin Hannah book and it was magnificent.  This story is about an idealistic young woman from the establishment, who chooses to do her duty and head off to 1960s Vietnam in the service of her country.  She volunteers to be a combat nurse on the front line and eventually gets sucked in to go beyond her tour of duty. In spite of the sacrifices, the women involved struggle to both get recognition from their peers in uniform, and from civilians back home.  Like the men, she returns home to an ungrateful America. The rights of this book has been bought by Warner Brothers and anticipate this to be in theaters before too long.  

We Solve Murders, Richard Osman (2024).  BBC personality Richard Osman has reinvented himself as an author and this is his fifth book.  His first, Thursday Murder Club, has been made into a Netflix movie starring Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren and Ben Kingsley.   This will not win Pulitzer Prizes, but Osman has a knack of writing.  I love his work.  This is breezy story about a private investigation agency with a young lady who offers protection written with British humour  Its totally fun.