The best books of 2025

This list is part of the best books of 2025.

Join 1,210 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2025

Book cover of My UnHollywood Family

Don Dupay ❤️ loved this book because...

A great book about what really happened when Robert Crane was a kid. Evokes a lot of empathy for what he and his sisters went through.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Teach 🥈 Immersion
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Robert David Crane ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked My UnHollywood Family as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

June 29, 1978 will live on in the mind of one man indefinitely.

It remains a date burned upon his brain. In the mind of a young man who had just celebrated his 27th birthday two days before - Robert David Crane - the oldest child and oldest son of actor and radio personality, Bob Crane, this date will never leave his consciousness, and can never be forgotten. It is the date of his father's murder, the day the life of celebrated and beloved TV actor and star of Hogan's Heroes, Bob Crane, was destroyed by an awkward and ungainly…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of City of Suspects: Crime in Mexico City, 1900–1931

Don Dupay 👍 liked this book because...

An interesting book about old time crime and mysteries. A good read.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Immersion 🥈 Originality
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Pablo Piccato ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked City of Suspects as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In City of Suspects Pablo Piccato explores the multiple dimensions of crime in early-twentieth-century Mexico City. Basing his research on previously untapped judicial sources, prisoners' letters, criminological studies, quantitative data, newspapers, and political archives, Piccato examines the paradoxes of repressive policies toward crime, the impact of social rebellion on patterns of common crime, and the role of urban communities in dealing with transgression on the margins of the judical system.
By investigating postrevolutionary examples of corruption and organized crime, Piccato shines light on the historical foundations of a social problem that remains the main concern of Mexico City today. Emphasizing…


My 3rd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of City of Weird: 30 Otherworldly Portland Tales

Don Dupay ❤️ loved this book because...

This was an oddball book my wife had that I read and enjoyed. Some of the stories are really crazy and weird. Very Portland.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Writing 🥈 Immersion
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Gigi Little (editor) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked City of Weird as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

City of Weird conjures what we fear: death, darkness, ghosts. Hungry sea monsters and alien slime molds. Blood drinkers and game show hosts. Set in Portland, Oregon, these thirty stories blend imagination, literary writing, and pop culture into a cohesive weirdness that honors the city's personality, its bookstores and bridges and solo volcano, as well as the tradition of sci-fi pulp magazines. Including such authors as Rene Denfeld, Justin Hocking, Leni Zumas, and Kevin Sampsell, editor Gigi Little has curated a collection that is quirky, chilling, often profound--and always perfectly weird.


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Behind the Badge in River City: A Portland Police Memoir

By Don Dupay ,

Book cover of Behind the Badge in River City: A Portland Police Memoir

What is my book about?

"Pimps, prostitutes, safe crackers, murderers, drug addicts, thieves and thugs—and of course, the Portland Police Bureau—Don DuPay introduces them all in this candid, entertaining and brutal look at the stark realities of police work. DuPay, a 17 year veteran of the force, has written an intimate memoir that will take the reader on an unforgettable journey, pulling back the curtain to reveal the true and shocking machinations that fueled police culture, during his time. It’s a world of danger and contradictions, where officers are torn between their duties and the demands of survival. Police officers get dressed, strap on a gun and go to war. It’s a different war every day but it’s still a war. In this unforgettable story, the reader is never left to choose between the good guys or the bad guys. DuPay keeps it real as he wrestles with a vocation that nearly destroyed him. DuPay provides, startling revelations about the corruption, burn-out and heartache that he experienced during his time on the force—dynamics which remain a common pattern in long-term law enforcement careers. Second edition includes new stories, photos."

Book cover of My UnHollywood Family
Book cover of City of Suspects: Crime in Mexico City, 1900–1931
Book cover of City of Weird: 30 Otherworldly Portland Tales

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