Favorite Books of 2025

Without intending to, I went deep on four writers this year: Roberto Bolaño, Michel Houellebecq, Philip Roth, and Eric Hobsbawm.

At the time I immersed myself in the novelists, I recall seeking escape from reality. Looking back on the year, however, there appears to be a sinew connecting all four authors: a preoccupation with exhaustion and what comes after. None offered easy answers.

Hobsbawm mapping the collapse of the long nineteenth century. Roth chronicling the unraveling of American optimism. Bolaño elucidating the horrors at modernity’s center. Houellebecq imagining posthuman futures.

The rest of the list plows similar territory: technology as system of control, alienation in contemporary life, and the weight of history.

The readings also appeared to presage my own exhaustion with 2025. What comes after? On verra.

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

Truly excellent. A fitting read for today’s world.

I took a shot at answering what I believe to be the ‘hidden center’ of the novel.

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

Extraordinary. Roth has a preternatural ability to bore into the human psyche.

The Real World of Technology by Ursula Franklin

Based on Franklin’s CBC Massey Lectures, this is a prophetic look at the impact of technology upon people. I was particularly enamored with her taxonomy of prescriptive and holistic technologies, and the implications for technology as liberator vs. system of control.

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman

Lived up to the hype. Postman’s argument that television fundamentally restructures discourse—making serious public conversation impossible—connects to Franklin’s taxonomy noted above. Written in 1985 but just as relevant today.

The Possibility of an Island by Michel Houellebecq

I read through most of Houellebecq’s catalogue, but this one sticks with me. Perhaps it’s the Huxley influence—technology as trap rather than liberation, a theme that connects to both Postman and Franklin.

The ‘Age of’ quartet by Eric Hobsbawm

Absolutely phenomenal. The entire sequence is a masterclass in seeing patterns across centuries while never losing sight of the human stakes. Heartily recommend.

Marcovaldo, Or, The Seasons in the City by Italo Calvino

A delightful detour into the comedic and absurd.