Book Nook Cafe discussion

It's that time of year folks!

Every year at BNC we post our favorite books and the ones that we really disliked. (you will find past lists in this Folder)

The books do not have to be published in 2025, only read by you in 2025.

If you could provide a link and a few words on each book that would be great.

So far this year I've read 64 books
29 non fiction
35 fiction

These are my top rated books. ⭐👍

America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War- H.W. Brands
I enjoyed this one a lot. I plan to read more history books by Brands. 5 ⭐

James- Percival Everett
Loved the story and the writing. 5 ⭐

Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection-John Green
Excellent book. Informative and well written. 5 ⭐

Dead Poets Society-N.H. Kleinbaum
Great book and movie 5 ⭐

End of Watch-Stephen King
Loved this trilogy ⭐

In a Sunburned Country-Bill Bryson
I enjoyed traveling with Bryson. Funny and informative. 5 ⭐

The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement-Sharon McMahon
Excellent short bios. 5 ⭐

Orbital-Samantha Harvey
I enjoyed the audio of this meditative book a lot. 5 ⭐

The CorrespondentVirginia Evans
I enjoyed this epistolary book. Perfect in every way. 5 ⭐

John Quincy Adams-Harlow Giles Unger
Unger knows how to write interesting and informative history bios. I was sad to hear of his passing this year. 5 ⭐

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power- Jon Meacham
Well written and fascinating book on TJ. 5 ⭐

----------------------------
Books that did not resonate with me or meet my expectations. :( ⭐⭐ 👎
I didn't have any 1 stars

Hitler's People: The Faces of the Third Reich-Richard J. Evans
There is a lot of repetition as each new person basically takes part in the same events. My main issue was the writing style which I found very dry. 2 ⭐

The Only One Left--Riley Sager
The numerous twists are so cockamamie it almost became laughable. I am in the minority opinion on this one. 2 ⭐

The Exchange-John Grisham
I found the book to be a slog. There really is little suspense, plot twists or thrills 2 ⭐

The Silent Patient-Alex Michaelides
The plot twists too unrealistic for my tastes. It's an okay mystery/thriller 2 ⭐

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story-Arthur Conan Doyle
The audio was well done. I found the plot to be a bit silly but harmless holiday tale 2 ⭐

City of Night Birds- Juhea Kim
I enjoy ballet but not this book. My main issue was the time jumps. Without any warning, and I mean none, we go back and forth in time. I also didn't care for the story or the reveal at the end. 2 ⭐

Secrets of Adulthood: Simple Truths for Our Complex Lives-Gretchen Rubin
I've enjoyed her other books. This was just some basic aphorisms. A lot of blank on the page. Sorry, but I think it was money grab. 2 ⭐

The Passengers on the Hankyu Line-Hiro Arikawa
the novels concept was a good one. However, for me, the execution didn't work for me. 2 ⭐

The Widow-John Grisham
Slow story and unrealistic. Disappointing ending.

Beyond Columbo: The Life and Times of Peter Falk-Richard A. Lertzman
Atrocious writing and editing. ⭐

I did have a lot of 3 stars (good) and 4 stars (better than expected).
So overall a very good reading year.

Darned good reading year, Alias!

I guess it's time we all looked at our books, to see which we felt was our year's best & worst. Great start.

Thanks, deb.

I’m not ready to tackle the “best of” because I’m still reading books this year, including one I think will get on the next list.

But I can tell you unequivocally that the worst I read this year is The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers. Two cringeworthy unlikeble 30ish women, one a literal train wreck (alcoholic, works fir daddy’s friend’s Chuck-E-Cheese type of establishment and not even good at that) think they know more about who is responsible but the disappearance of their sisters than the detective does. Stupid, predictable “twist”. And the twist doesn’t even matter because you don’t care about any of these people anyway

# 5 Denise wrote:
Stupid, predictable “twist”. And the twist doesn’t even matter because you don’t care about any of these people anyway

Yikes ! I know the feeling. Sometimes you wish they would all just die so the book would end.

I didn't have any really bad books this year, but if I had to list my books in order of like to not like, I would put The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud last.

Best was Ibis by Justin Haynes, I think, a novel that takes place in Trinidad. It was original, creative, and told a good story in gorgeous, distinctive prose.

I also loved We Do Not Part by Han Kang.