Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to read every book on this list next year! Or maybe just one, I’m not the library police.
As a little Christmas treat, I’ve taken some time to bug everyone I know as well as get some recommendations from our listeners to compose a list of 20 recommended guaranteed bangers for you to read next year! Or your money back. I asked everyone to give me a blurb, and as you can see some people wrote a few paragraphs while others did just a few words. You can find all of these conveniently on a Goodreads Shelf below, although StoryGraph has no such function. I have provided a link to each book on StoryGraph if that’s your jam. Remember, keep on truckin’! And support your local bookstores.
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin (Contemporary Fiction, Romance)
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A beautiful, decade-spanning love story that primarily follows two flawed, sometimes unlikeable game developers as they grow up and navigate life; to clarify, this is a story about love, but it is not a romance. Zevin does an excellent job of leveraging the unreliable narrator trope, opting for these subtle revelations that recontextualize information rather than retreading the same scenes from both characters’ perspectives. She also plays with the form a bit because the characters are game developers, which is fun and makes for some interesting prose. – Max - Legends and Lattes – Travis Baldree (LGBT, Fantasy)
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The self described “high fantasy and low stakes” books are exactly that. Extremely cozy and truly lovely. Perfectly paired with your coziest blanket, your favorite tea or coffee and a baked good. I devoured both and cannot recommend them enough to anyone who wants to snuggle down with a short little treat. I also recommend the companion book Bookshops & Bonedust! – Alexa - Have A Nice Day!: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks – Mick Foley (Autobiography)
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It’s this extensive autobiography of one of the craziest men to ever wrestle, and the kind of book you can open at any page on any day and have fun reading some crazy story, some behind the scenes tidbits about some titan of the industry back in the day, etc. You know the book goes hard when the first chapter is all about how the guy lost his ear during a match in Germany without knowing the language, and it only gets crazier from there. It’s also written by the man himself, adding to the likeability of his persona in and outside the ring. – Mateusz - From Blood and Ash – Jennifer L. Armentrout (Fantasy, Romance)
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I like the male protagonist and I think it does a good job of worldbuilding., It is about propaganda and how you can lie to a whole kingdom, so I love that! With some romance thrown in. – Tabatha - Unsouled – Will Wight (Fantasy)
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These are fun shonen anime-esque books about a weak martial arts disciple who needs to get stronger. The author has frequently given the ebooks away for free and the audiobook narration is top notch. I recommend the entire Cradle series! – Dirith - Belladonna – Adalyn Grace (Mystery, Romance)
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It’s a supernatural murder mystery/romance series with a gothic setting. The main character can’t die and can talk to spirits and Death himself. She moves in with a new family and works to stop the next murder to finally find a place to settle/call home. I just read the entire series! – Becca - Scythe – Neal Shusterman (Dystopian, Sci Fi)
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This story tells the tale of a far future, one in which death itself has been defeated. Medical science has advanced so far that people can now be resurrected from death as carelessly as if one was heating up a burrito in the microwave, so in order to curb population growth an order of the only people who can truly end a life called Scythes roam the earth, killing people either at random or… perhaps for some kind of agenda? The book follows two apprentice Scythes competing for the chance to become a master of death. Also, it’s from the author of Unwind, so you know it’s gonna get really fucked up by the end. – Nirav - Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold – Stephen Fry (Classics, Comedy)
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Mythos is a modern collection of Greek myths, stylishly retold by comedian Stephen Fry. It transforms the adventures of Zeus and the Olympians into emotionally resonant and deeply funny stories, without losing any of their original wonder, and features his classic voice and irreverent writing style. No matter if you’re a Greek myth expert or a newcomer, you’ll love the fresh take he has on the myths that built our civilization. – Jess - Middlegame – Seanan McGuire (Dark Fantasy)
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Alchemy and alternate history, bound together by time loops that resonate with Steins;Gate, take the reader on a roller coaster ride across the hidden landscape of America. You’ll appreciate the entire Alchemical Journeys trilogy if you love the intricacies of complicated sibling relationships and the blurred lines between what is human and what is divine. – Axel - The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi – S.A. Chakraborty (Fantasy, Adventure)
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An awesome (and inclusive) pirate adventure that gave me so much joy as I read it. The story telling and characters are all wonderful. One of those stories where everyone is your favorite character for different reasons. – Annie - Piranesi – Susanna Clarke (Fantasy, Speculative Fiction)
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Piranesi lives in quite the unusual house – an infinitely large mansion of endless hallways and corridors, lined with thousands of unique statues. Its three floors make up the entire world, with a basement of ocean, a ground floor of land, and a top floor which touches the skies. Piranesi has found his purpose exploring and meticulously documenting every room and hall in the house. There is only one other person in the house—a man of science known as The Other, who meets with Piranesi twice a week and asks for help researching A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi continues exploring, evidence emerges of a third living person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing an entire world beyond the one Piranesi has always known. – Nikhil - The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman (Mystery)
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My favorite book I read this year, and the rest of the series. I fell in love with the characters immediately and I couldn’t stop reading. I really enjoy seeing old people being cheeky, getting into trouble, and having adventures that are usually reserved for the youthful. – Lyndsey - Incidents Around the House – Josh Malerman (Horror)
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A deeply unsettling, thematically engaging horror novel that made me really mad at bad parents. One scare in particular is going to stick with me forever. I read it in one sitting so it’s the definition of a page turner. – Andrew - The Bear Snores On – Karma Wilson (Children’s)
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A lovely little story about animals coming together to survive a harsh winter with friendship and snacks. – Alexa (ft. Yetito) - A River Enchanted – Rebecca Ross (Fantasy, Romance)
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This is the first book of a duology about a bard saving the island he called home. I thought it was a sweet story, and I liked the magic system and the characters. – Rachel - Beloved – Toni Morrison (Historical, Magical Realism)
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The language is uniquely evocative. It places the reader so much in a time, place, mood, and emotion. It’s original, unpredictable, and creative. I’ve never read anything like it before! – Brian - The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann (Nonfiction, History)
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The Wager is a real account from ships journals and captains logs about this Royal Navy ship’s voyage to Spain and all the hardships they had to face while out at sea and going around Cape Horn which was extremely dangerous. It’s actually an insane story, an explanation wouldn’t even do the terrible things they experienced justice. – Jordan - Hug Machine – Scott Campbell (Children’s)
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This one’s a hit! – Patrick (feat.) Yetito - The Alchemy of Moonlight – David Ferraro (LGBT, Fantasy)
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A queer YA werewolf romance in a world where all Gothic novels are true! – Kate - Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros (Fantasy, Romance)
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It is a great world building book, fantasy, dragons, badass women/men. Hidden secrets and WAR COLLEGE! It is also pretty popular and would get you a lot of listeners because the third book Onyx Storm is coming out in January. – Tabatha (feat.) Rachel - Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shebly Van Pelt (Magical Realism, Mystery)
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Delightful feel-good read where an older woman becomes besties with an octopus at the aquarium she works at. The octopus has his own chapters and he is very sassy and clever! – Sav
Thanks for listening! Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and as wonderful a 2025 as possible.
A COURT OF BROS AND BROSES 
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