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Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?

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Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?

#421

Post by sejje »

mcswell wrote: post #238
numbsafari wrote: post #164

This year: - I read the entire “Frog & Toad” collection. Probably about 30 times, some stories more. - “Little Shrew’s Day”… probably 25 times. - Many of the “Construction Site” series books, especially the OG “Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site”. The “Garbage Crew” and “Airport” books featured heavily. - Started to mix in some “Pete the Cat” titles. - “Detective Dog Nell” got a lot of air play. Lots of others,…

Back in the day, I read the Berenstein Bears more times than I wished (my wish would have been zero times), to my kids who are probably about the same age as you. It was such a relief when I could start reading them the Narnia Chronicles, and much later Lord of the Rings.

I've always thought it seemed early, but in my first grade class we read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe aloud as a group.

I don't really remember us having much trouble. I was hooked, and I read the whole series by third grade. I had trouble finding a couple of them, which held me up.

I got into many other books those years. My Friend Flicka, Black Beauty. The Hobbit. White Fang, Hatchet. The Forest Runners. Where the Red Fern Grows.

Still some of my favorites on that list. They really shaped my life, actually.

Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?

#422

Post by vintagedave »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #365
vintagedave wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read the series and have really enjoyed the TV show. It felt like it was made for fans (the portrayal of the embedded show, Sanctuary Moon, was wonderful and I felt like whoever did their hairstyles had an immense amount of fun), yet accessible without knowing the story. Murderbot’s self-narration was good; I wanted more since it drove so much of the book but what was there in the show carried its personality well.…

Thanks for the analysis. I've been reading it with a thought toward how I might've adapted it for video. The narration seemed incredibly challenging (and kept making me think of "A Christmas Story", of all things). The integration of "Sanctuary Moon" sounds particularly fun. I definitely see Murderbot as genderless and seeing it as gendered is going to be weird. Fortunately, the series isn't particularly "dear" to me…

Yeah, I have solid mental images of both those books too, and I'd be really hesitant to watch any version of them for fear they'd be too... generic? Not that it's someone else's vision (for me), just that it would be Netflix/Hollywood Cyber Slash Noir. I can't imagine anything worse than them looking like every other set-in-the-future adaptation.

I've never seen "A Christmas Story" (Wikipedia shows it as very American-cultural-icon) but reading the synopsis, I'm surprised how many parts of it are semi-familiar, perhaps culturally reflected in other ways. It'll go on the to-watch list. And looking forward to the narration!

Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?

#423

Post by 1000100_1000101 »

The Locked Tomb series: - Gideon the Ninth - Harrow the Ninth - Nona the Ninth

Liked the first Locked Tomb, didn't really enjoy the remainder of the series.

The Witch King (from the Murderbot author), was alright.

The Time Travellers Almanac. Time Travellers Almanac was meh. A set of short stories, but many retreads of the same ideas we've seen over the decades. There was one good story, and one other interesting concept...

Road to Roswell and Crosstalk. Connie Willis' books were great, as usual.

Brzrkr. Keanu's book was meh.

The first five of the Kate Daniels Series: - Magic Bites - Magic Burns - Magic Strikes - Magic Bleeds - Magic Slays

Kate Daniels is doing an acceptable job filling in for Dresen's absence, though book 3 and 4 go a bit heavy on the romance side.

Pre-orders pending on the next Murderbot book (Platform Decay), and Dresden (Twelve Months)

Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?

#425

Post by sillyfluke »

kashyapc wrote: post #107

My top book of the year: Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times , Alan Walker A riveting read by a legendary musicologist and biographer. Walker spent about ten years researching this. It is 700 pages, which seems daunting but he makes this authoritative bio absolutely enjoyable. It's also a "corrective biography", it dispels a lot of myths. This book is one of the best examples of accessible writing with flair. What a wr…

>it is less famous than the "happier" nocturne that follows it

Funny, despite the youtube numbers to me it always seemed to me like Op.1 b-flat minor was the one that would be overplayed left and right (movies and whatnot), maybe because people thought they fit be a moody scene or piece of art better.

>give them an attentive listen and play them on a high-quality audio system

I have no music background and I would like tips on this because I'm partial to the preludes (raindrop etc) for example and they have softer key and louder key parts and I want to blast the softer side without overblasting and distortion occuring when it gets to the louder end of the piece and I wish somebody would remaster a normalized version of the recordings. I don't know if this is idiotic since I have no idea how worse it would make the pieces...

Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?

#426

Post by Evil_Saint »

sphars wrote: post #249
j_w wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the Stormlight Archive: You have to world build. The first book definitely felt like a slog for the first half-ish. Not much that feels like major plot events happen yet, but if you look at it with the understanding that it's intended to be 10 books, a lot of exposition is needed. The payoff is worth it, IMO.

I just finished book 4, some chapters of which I started skimming (mostly the Venli/Eshonai throwback ones). I want to finish the series but it's such a slow burn it's getting tough, especially when I have other books on my TBR. I'll get around to book 5 sometime next year. I did really enjoy the first book, kinda want to go read it again.

I hated book 5. I thought 4 was the worst of series until I read 5.

The ending was just really shitty and stupid to me.

Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?

#428

Post by ChristopherDrum »

I tried to read a mix of things, especially "classics I never got around to." I didn't meet my personal target of 30 books (got sidetracked writing my blog), but definitely read things that stuck with me.

Notable and beautiful

- "The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead

- "Blind Sight" by Meg Howrey

- "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. LeGuin

Non-fiction

- "Workflow"

- "Game Engine Black Book: Wolfenstein 3D"

- "Debugging: The 9 Indispensible Rules for Finding Even the Most Elusive Software and Hardware Problems"

The rest (all first-time reads)

- "Absolution" by Jeff Vandermeer (I enjoyed it but it was kind of unnecessary)

- "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte (I don't get the fascination with it)

- "Strange Pictures" by Uketsu (odd)

- "Starship Troopers" by Heinlein

- "Rendezvous with Rama" by Arthur C. Clarke

- "Ubik" by Philip K. Dick

- "Mickey 7" by Edward Ashton

- "Fugitive Telemetry" and "System Collapse" by Martha Wells

- "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson (I was surprisingly into it)

- "Glass Houses" by Madeline Ashby

- "Cover Her Face" by P.D.James

- "The Crystal Shard" by R.A.Salvatore (I needed to see what Drizzt is all about)

- "James" by Percival Everett (maybe my biggest disappointment of the year)

- "Alien Clay" by Adrian Tchaikovsky

- "Some Desperate Glory" by Emily Tesh

- "Sea of Rust" by C. Robert Cargill

Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?

#429

Post by jharohit »

sharing a few books I recommended in my annual list (recommend reading!) https://rohitjha.com/blog/reading-highlights-2025/

Non Fiction:

- Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future by Dan Wang (2025)

- How to Live an Extraordinary Life by Anthony Pompliano (2024)

Fiction:

- The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (1956)

- Consider Phlebas (Culture Series #1) by Iain M. Banks (1987)

- The Way of Kings (2010, Stormlight #1) & Words of Radiance (2014, Stormlight #2) by Brandon Sanderson

Re: Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?

#430

Post by anotherevan »

branon wrote: post #83

The Gulag Archipelago is on my shelf, when I rotate back to Russian authors (big fan of Dostoevsky, Nabokov, Bulgakov) I will hopefully get to it. Here's my log for 2025, most recent at the top. Currently I am slogging my way through Heinlein's "The Number of the Beast" which I'm not a fan of. Halfway done with it though! Gabrielle Zevin, "The Hole We're In" (not my usual genre, enjoyed this though) Robert A. Heinlei…

If you're on a Heinlein kick, try and catch Farmer In The Sky. It's about the only one of his I re-read every few years or so. Don't know why.
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