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The year of the animal. I got to see a boar, bear, leopard, ape, pig, penguin, and eagles and dragons. Here’s my list of 55 books read and rated in 2025.

(* Indicates it has been read before.)

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Five stars

The Boar and the Eagle, A. D. Hamilton, 2025
Bastard out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison, 1992
The Samurai, Shūsaku Endō, 1980
Brighton Rock, Graham Greene, 1938*
Ordinary Bear, C. B. Bernard, 2024
On the Beach, Nevil Shute, 1957*
Fourteen Byzantine Rulers (The Chronographia), Michael Psellus, c. 1078
Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, c. 1591–95*
Caliban Shrieks, Jack Hilton, 1935

Four stars

The Castle of Otranto, Horace Walpole, 1764
Only When I Larf, Len Deighton, 1968
‘Salem’s Lot, Stephen King, 1975
Japanese Death Poems, Written/compiled by Yoel Hoffmann, 1986
The Crazy Kill, Chester Himes, 1959
The Leopard, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, 1958
Japanese Literature: A Very Short Introduction, Alan Tansman, 2023
Double Indemnity, James M. Cain, 1936
The Go-Between, L. P. Hartley, 1953
Ninja, Kuroi Hiromitsu, 2019
I Married a Dead Man, Cornell Woolrich, 1948
C. S. Lewis: A Very Short Introduction, James Como, 2019
The Big Gold Dream, Chester Himes, 1960
The Eagle Has Landed, Jack Higgins, 1975
Secret Rendezvous, Kōbō Abe, 1977
The Big Nowhere, James Ellroy, 1988
Herodotus: A Very Short Introduction, Jennifer T. Roberts, 2011
Sicilian Uncles, Leonardo Sciascia, 1958
Counterfeit Worlds: Philip K. Dick on Film, Brian J. Robb, 2006
Kes, David Forrest, 2024
Blind Man With a Pistol, Chester Himes, 1969
Lady Chatterley’s Lover, D. H. Lawrence, 1928
Dr. No, Percival Everett, 2022
Scoop, Evelyn Waugh, 1938*
L.A. Confidential, James Ellroy, 1990
The Penguin Book of Dragons, Edited by Scott G. Bruce, 2021
Tenochtitlan 1519–21, Si Sheppard, 2018
Ramillies 1706, Michael McNally, 2014
Swag, Elmore Leonard, 1976
Rork!, Avram Davidson, 1965
Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh, 1945
George III, Jeremy Black, 2020
Go Tell It on the Mountain, James Baldwin, 1953
Endgame, Samuel Beckett, 1957
Paperbacks from Hell, Grady Hendrix, 2017
Edward VIII, Piers Brendon, 2016
Bound to Violence, Yambo Ouologuem, 1968
Family Crests of Japan, Edited by Stone Bridge Press, 2007
Hackenfeller’s Ape, Brigid Brophy, 1953
George VI, Philip Ziegler, 2014

Three stars

The Darling Buds of May, H. E. Bates, 1958
The Hotel Avocado, Bob Mortimer, 2024
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Cory Doctorow, 2003
Trapp’s War, Brian Callison, 1974
Dead Poets Society, N. H. Kleinbaum, 1989

Two stars

The Labyrinth Makers, Anthony Price, 1970

One star

N/A

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Appendix
Along with the 55 titles listed above, I also read 22 books on F/SF role-playing games, photography, TV and wildlife. These are a different kind of reading as they are a mix of pictures, stats, tables, maps and photos. They are all rated five stars.

2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide (Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook), Wizards of the Coast, 2024
2024 Player’s Handbook (Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook), Wizards of the Coast, 2024
2024 Monster Manual (Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook), Wizards of the Coast, 2024
Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting, Andrew Kolb, 2020
Call of Cthulhu Starter Set, Mike Mason and Friends, 2022
Wonderland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting, Andrew Kolb, 2024
Hard City, Nathan Russell, 2022
Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying Core Book, Nils Hintze, 2020
Vivian Maier, Various, 2020
Don McCullin, Various, 2020
Blade Runner: The Roleplaying Game, Various, 2020
Through the Hedgerow, Jonathan Rowe, 2024
Dungeon Module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands, Gary Gygax, 1979*
Dungeons & Dragons Expert Rulebook, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, 1981*
The Dying Earth Roleplaying Game, Laws, Snead, Freeman, 2001
Doctor Who 50: The Essential Guide, Justin Richards, 2013
Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game: Core Rulebook, Matt Forbeck, 2023
Wildlife of Britain & Ireland, Various, 2008
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants (Dungeons & Dragons Expansion Book), Various, 2023
Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons (Dungeons & Dragons Expansion Book), Various, 2021
Dragonbane (Core Set), Various, 2023
Kill the Pig, Masahisa Fukase, 2021

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Previous years: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024.

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