Episode 223 - 2025 Favourites

It’s episode 223 and time for us to discuss our favourite reads (and other things) from 2025! We talk vampires, monster romance, cultural studies, linguistics & language, and more. Plus: Guess how many of our favourite reads are actually from 2025 (it’s more than zero!).

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards

Genres (and "genres") we covered in 2025:

• Fiction
  • Episode 207 - Monster Romance
  • Episode 2010 - Romantasy
  • Episode 214 - Non-Traditional Storytelling
  • Episode 216 - Rural Noir/Grit Lit
  • Episode 219 - Vampires
  • Episode 221 - Epic & High Fantasy
  • Episode 222 - Books from the 1980s
• Non-fiction
  • Episode 206 - Cultural Studies
  • Episode 209 - Design
  • Episode 212 - Linguistics & Language
• Other
  • Episode 213 - Found Books
  • Episode 218 - Book Club Books

Favourite Fiction

• For the podcast
  • Anna
    • Of Monsters and Mainframes (2025) by Barbara Truelove (Episode 219 - Vampire Fiction)
  • Jam
    • Strange Love (2019) by Ann Aguirre (Episode 207 - Monster Romance)
  • Matthew
    • Hunger's Bite (2025) by Taylor Robin (Episode 219 - Vampire Fiction)
  • Meghan
    • Assassin’s Apprentice (1995) by Robin Hobbs (Episode 221 - Epic & High Fantasy)
• Not for the podcast
  • Jam
    • Delicious in Dungeon (2017-2024) by Ryoko Kui
  • Matthew
    • Revolutions: Mars (2024-2025) by Mike Duncan
  • Meghan
    • Between Two Fires (2012) by Christopher Buehlman
  • Anna
    • Mercy Thompson series (2006-2024) by Patricia Briggs
      • Moon Called (2006)

Favourite Non-Fiction

• For the podcast
  • Matthew
    • Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages (2018) by Gaston Dorren (Episode 212 - Language & Linguistics)
  • Meghan
    • Clever Girl : Jurassic Park (2024) by Hannah McGregor (Episode 206 - Cultural Studies)
  • Anna
    • Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985) by Neil Postman (Episode 206 - Cultural Studies)
  • Jam
    • In Other Words (2015) by Jhumpa Lahiri (Episode 212 - Language & Linguistics)
• Not for the podcast
  • Meghan
    • A Natural History of Empty Lots: Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys, and Other Wild Places (2024) by Christopher Brown 
  • Anna
    • Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires (2022) by Douglas Rushkoff
  • Jam
    • Twenty Questions (2023) by Mac Barnett
  • Matthew
    • Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape (2021) by Cal Flyn

Other Favourite Things of 2025

• Anna
  • Bear and Breakfast
  • Nongshim Shin Ramyun Stir Fry Gourmet Spicy Noodles With Cheese
  • New York City
  • FunkyFrogBait
• Jam
  • Getting into drag (and writing a friend-newsletter about it)
  • Penguin Cafe Orchestra
  • “Touch Fabric” project (Glurp)
• Matthew
  • Akira, vol. 6 by Katsuhiro Otomo
  • Akira Club by Katsuhiro Otomo
  • Type Help
  • Dungeon Chill
    • The Mysterious Serial Experiments Lain PS1 Game
  • The Tim Traveller
    • The First Ever WORLD Tram Driver Championships
  • Grand Sumo Highlights
    • Blue Whirlwind: A Ukrainian sumo wrestler
• Meghan
  • Anciients (prog metal)
  • Comforting (atmospheric metal)
  • Long pool

Runners-Up

• Jam
  • Fawns’ Blood by Hal Schrieve (Episode 219 - Vampires)
  • Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (Episode 218 - Book Club Books)
  • Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra, translated by Megan McDowell (Episode 214 - Non-Traditional Storytelling)
  • Two Point Museum (Jam has clocked 150+ hours)
  • Wikipedia (consider making a donation!)
• Anna
  • Guards! Guards! By Terry Prachett
  • Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans
  • Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis
  • Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis
• Matthew
  • 25 tracks from 2025
  • Books
    • Inheritance (Episode 214 - Non-Traditional Storytelling)
    • Data Feminism by Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein
    • The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy by David Graeber (Episode 206 - Cultural Studies)
  • Comics
    • Akane-Banashi (vols. 4-6) by Yuki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue
    • The Apothecary Diaries (vols. 2-4) by Itsuki Nanao and Nekokurage
    • Beetle & the Chimera Carnival by Aliza Layne
    • Blue Period (vols. 13-14) by Tsubasa Yamaguchi
    • Brain Damage by Shintarō Kago
    • Deprog by Tina Horn and Lisa Sterle
    • Dial H for Hero, vol. 1: Enter the Heroverse & Dial H for Hero, vol. 2: New Heroes of Metropolis by Sam Humphries and Joe Quinones
    • Fool Night (vols. 2-4) by Kasumi Yasuda
    • GACHIAKUTA (vol. 1) by Kei Urana
    • Home Office Romance by Kintetsu Yamada
    • Houses of the Unholy by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
    • Mermaid Saga (vols. 1-2) by Rumiko Takahashi
    • Vampirella: Dark Powers by Dan Abnett and Paul Davidson / Red Sonja: The Superpowers Collection by Dan Abnett and Jonathan Lau
    • The Wrong Earth (vol. 1) by Tom Peyer and Jamal Igle
• Meghan
  • French
    • À l'ombre du moulin : une enfance à Gatineau 1934-1948 by Bernard Lacroix
    • Deep café : Une jeunesse avec la poésie de Léonard Cohen by Malcolm Reid
  • Non-fiction
    • The Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist by Liz Pelly
    • A Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting by Casey Johnston
    • 2 Trans 2 Furious: An Extremely Serious Journal of Transgender Street Racing Studies edited by Niko Stratis and Tuck Woodstock
    • From Ants to Zombies: Six Decades of Horror Video Games by Bitmap Books
  • Fiction
    • Horror/Dark Fantasy
      • Sunshine by Robin McKinley
      • Don’t let the Forest In by CG Drews
      • The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
      • A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
      • Agents of Dreamland (Tinfoil Dossier #1) by Caitlín R. Kiernan
    • Fantasy
      • Circe by Madeline Miller
      • To Clutch a Razor (Curse Bearer #2) by Veronica Roth
      • The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
    • Scifi
      • Martin Hench (series) Cory Doctorow
      • Paradox (series) by Rachel Bach
    • Romantasy / Romance
      • One Dark Window (The Shepard King Duology) by Rachel Gillig
      • A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
      • Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
    • Translation
      • Set My Heart on Fire by Izumi Suzuki, translated by Helen O'Horan
      • Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes

Articles, links, and other media

• NYPL's Top Ten Comics and Graphic Novels of 2025 (Posted October 3rd!!!!)
• Never Satisfied by Taylor Robin
• List of avant-pop artists
• Mangasplaining Episode 1: Akira Vol 1

25 Non-Fiction Politics Books by BIPOC Authors:

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

• The Border Crossed Us: The Case for Opening the US-Mexico Border by Justin Akers Chacón
• Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by adrienne maree brown
• The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Log Off: Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix by Katherine Alejandra Cross
• Iran in Revolt: Revolutionary Aspirations in a Post-Democratic World by Hamid Dabashi
• Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis
• One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
• Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal by Mohammed El-Kurd
• Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country by Patricia Evangelista
• From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai'i by Haunani-Kay Trask
• We Are Each Other's Liberation: Black and Asian Feminist Solidarities edited by Rachel Kuo, Jaimee A. Swift, and TD Tso
• The Antifa Comic Book: 100 Years of Fascism and Antifa Movements by Gord Hill
• Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics by bell hooks
• 21 Things You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government: A Conversation About Dismantling the Indian Act by Bob Joseph
• We Do This 'Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice by Mariame Kaba
• Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
• Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America by Paola Ramos
• The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth by The Red Nation
• My Seditious Heart by Arundhati Roy
• As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resistance by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
• Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else) by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò
• How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective edited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
• Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism by Harsha Walia
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson
• “Indian” in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power by Jody Wilson-Raybourd

Give us feedback!

• Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

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Join us again on Tuesday, January 6th when we’ll be beginning our year of “listener suggested genres” with History!

Then on Tuesday, February 3rd we’ll be discussing Queer Romance!