Everything I Read in 2025

With January here, I always like to look back at all the books I read during the previous year. It gives me a chance to see what I read, what I liked about them, and what I learned along the way.

I struggled with a pretty bad case of writer’s block this year, probably the worst I’ve ever experienced. I was able to power through some short stories, but it kept me from working on any longer works—most importantly, the book I’d intended to write: the third and final book in the Bleeders series. Anything of length I worked on caused me to grow frustrated and feel helpless, forcing me to eventually abandon the story and jump to another. I say this because much of what I read in 2025 reflected what I was looking to for inspiration, and the list ended up being a diagram of my blockage and all the ways I tried to fix it.

What follows is a quick rundown of all 22 books I read over the course of the year. Here goes.

Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different by Chuck Palahniuk

As a reader, Chuck Palahniuk had a huge impact on me and many people in my age group, especially with his first three (arguably perfect) novels: Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, and Survivor. So it shouldn’t surprise you that he also offers some excellent writing advice, of both the interesting and actionable varieties. This book is a series of writing essays I would recommend to pretty much any writer looking to add to their toolbox.

Suckerville by Chris Sorensen

This creature feature about blood-sucking leech people is just plain fun. I was looking for a B-movie in book form, probably because I was thinking of writing one. Suckerville was a success, but my own attempt stalled.

Man, Fuck This house by Brian Asman

I picked this one up, as most people did, based on the title alone. I wanted something weirdly funny. What I got was a surreal comedic ride that just gets more bizarre as it goes. It might not be for everyone, but you won’t soon forget it.

My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist by Mark Leyner

Described as a “postmodernist/absurdist book composed of 17 loosely related chapters with no general storyline,” this one is definitely not for everyone. But if you enjoy unique language and dark humor the way I do, it’s well worth the trip to Weirdville.

Body Shocks: Extreme Tales of Body Horror, anthology edited by Ellen Datlow

Seeing the unhinged brilliance of The Substance not only inspired me with its vision, it left me with the desire to consume flesh, and this collection satisfied that urge. Ellen Datlow is one of the masters of anthologies, and this one on Body Horror—while an acquired taste for some—continued her winning streak.

Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player by Robert Rodriguez

After watching a fascinating interview with Robert Rodriguez about his early days breaking into movies, I was inspired to learn more about his story. Luckily, Rodriguez himself literally wrote the book on it. A truly inspiring account of how taking things into your own hands can make you unstoppable.

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

During the summer months, I found myself thinking of writing a thriller novel. That led me to reading a couple of them, starting with this one. It’s the story of a bookseller who discovers that an article he wrote is being used by a serial killer as a model for murder. Smart and fairly straightforward.

Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg

Noir has always been a favorite subgenre of mine (or style, depending on where you fall in that argument), and reading Eight Perfect Murders made me realize I wanted more of the supernatural vibes I’m used to. Falling Angel was where I landed, and I quickly realized it was where I wanted to be. The basis of the 1987 movie Angel Heart, starring Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro, it just got everything right. I did, however, move on from my idea of writing a thriller, partly because I was already knee-deep in finishing something else.

This Town is Sick: Stories from a Cursed Place by Brian Martinez

“You list the books you wrote on your yearly reading list?” you ask. To which I say, “Yes. Mind your business.” Do you know how many times I have to read a book before I publish it? That has to count for something.

In my fight to overcome my case of writer’s block regarding longer stories, I came up with what I thought was a pretty good workaround: a series of short stories, some previously written, that joined together to become one larger story. I really enjoyed finding ways to interconnect the places and characters of a fictional town where lots of bad stuff happens. In the face of misery, I found a spot of joy.

It Came from the Multiplex: 80s Midnight Chillers, anthology edited by Joshua Viola

I think I was still kicking around the idea of writing something schlocky and ridiculous when I picked this one up. It ain’t gonna win any awards, but it’s highly entertaining.

All Tomorrows: The Myriad Species and Mixed Fortunes of Man by Nemo Ramjet

At this point I was getting weird with it, so when I learned about a cult science fiction book written as a billion-year chronicle of speculative human evolution with accompanying illustrations, I jumped. Short, odd, and exactly what it sounds like.

Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp

Every so often I enjoy a bit of self-help, especially when it deals with focusing on the truly important things by cutting off the dead weight. Not a groundbreaking work, but a healthy reminder to find the meat in life.

Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling by Matthew Dicks

By August, my writing had slowed to a crawl. I was thinking a lot about stories and how they affect us, how we pull them from our experiences. This book is full of advice about personal storytelling—especially when spoken aloud—from a man who knows his stuff.

The Bystander: A Horror Movie LitRPG (The Game at Carousel Book 1) by Rob M Lastrel

In all of my 2025 flip-flopping, one idea I floated was to try my hand at the highly popular subgenre of books called LitRPG, in which game mechanics like stats, levels, skills, and quests are part of the story. The Game at Carousel was the closest I could find to what I was interested in trying. Namely, horror-based LitRPG.

Reading this, the first LitRPG I ever read, taught me two things. One, that as someone who grew up playing a grand total of zero RPGs, I was completely out of my element, without the basic background knowledge I would need to write one of my own. And two, even if I did know what I was doing, the best I could hope for was a bad imitation of The Game at Carousel. I enjoyed my read, though, before moving on.

FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven

A number of stories in This Town Is Sick were written in a found footage style (aka epistolary), which is one I really love, so I started thinking about writing a novel in that style. That led me to check out FantasticLand, which I utterly devoured. It’s the story of a group of theme park employees who become stranded after a massive storm hits the park, detailing how they survive as things fall apart and people turn on each other.

A violent and disturbing account, told entirely through interviews, it was also one of my favorite reads of the year, tied for first place with…

Sleep Over: An Oral History of the Apocalypse by H.G. Bells

A very unique take on a mass event, in which all of humankind suddenly can’t fall asleep. What seems like a bunch of spare time at first devolves into the warping and breakdown of society. Also told through a series of interviews, and also excellent. I was very excited to read two books in a row that gripped my attention so tightly.

The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp

Still on my found footage kick, I picked up the story of a cynical journalist detailing his journey as he mocks believers in supernatural tales, while slowly becoming entangled in his own. Arnopp pulled off a clever piece of work here, made all the more difficult by a flawed and often unlikable protagonist.

The Artisan Author: The Low-Stress, High-Quality, Fan-Focused Approach to Escaping the Publishing Rat Race by Johnny B Truant

For a long time, I’ve struggled to fit in with the self-publishing world and its idea of rapid release being the one and only path to success. So when started sharing his frustrations with this long-held belief on Substack, I cheered him on. This book is his collected thoughts on the matter, and also offers some counterpoints and strategies to back them up.

Fat Vampire by Johnny B Truant

After appreciating the message behind The Artisan Author so much, I decided to give Truant’s fiction a chance. And what better choice did I have than some silly horror comedy about the world’s worst vampire? It’s short, it’s sweet, and it does what it says on the tin.

Tastes Like Chicken (Fat Vampire #2) by Johnny B Truant

Well. You gotta go back for seconds.

Maggie’s Grave by David Sodergren

My final fiction read of 2025 was from the author of The Haar, a book I’ve been recommended numerous times but haven’t gotten around to. Maybe 2026 will be its year. But I did get around to Maggie’s Grave, and had a blast doing so. A creepy, funny, and well-told story of a small town blighted by a witch’s curse. Just my speed. And that brings me to…

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Sometime in November, my writer’s block began to crack. I’m not sure exactly what did it, whether it was through any of my actions or simply the passing of time, but little by little, I began to hit my daily goals again. What I do know is that I never would have known the block had broken if I hadn’t shown up every day, stubborn as hell, punching away at the keyboard.

And what did I end up writing? The book I’d been procrastinating on the whole time, of course, the final Bleeder book. In fact, at the time of this writing, I’m nearly finished with the first draft.

Bird by Bird, then, was a fitting cap to the year, a collection of practical advice and life lessons for writers. That advice, simply put, was to break large projects into small ones, to write bad first drafts, to avoid perfectionism, and to embrace the more difficult parts of both writing and life itself.

Too bad I didn’t read it first.

But hindsight being what it is, maybe writer’s block is supposed to happen. Maybe it’s our brain’s way of telling us it needs a rest, that a cup only has so much water to give before it needs to be refilled. And the list you just read? Well, that was how I refilled it this time.

Here’s looking forward to another go-around.