This year in 2025, I plan on reading fifty books, and this list comprises a map of some of the novels and prose I will hopefully sink into. My reading goals for 2025 are much more ambitious than previous years, as I believe that this year is the turning point in my life in which I should delve into the classics, fairytales, and stories that I’ve wanted to read for so many years now, yet have never found the right time or place to do so.
January
The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak, is the story of two families whose ancestors and culture are tangled in time and lies, and how these unspoken truths are eventually untwined when the families meet and realize how the differences in their history is what can finally break their barriers, and bring them together.
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a novella of Gregor Samsas transformation into a life sized bug, and how his metamorphosis uncovers the true ecosystem of his family, and the dramatic irony of his narration.
February
The Paris Review is a literary magazine that has been publishing excerpts of poetry and short stories by renowned writers for over 50 years now. And their Spring 2024 issue is no different from the rest, featuring stories from incredible writers such as Alice Notley, Julien Columea, Jhumpa Lahiri, and many more.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh, is about a woman in her early twenties who tries to escape her melancholy life through gratuitous sleep.
The Life of Irony and the Ethics of Belief by David Wisdo, is a reflection on the qualities of a true ironist, and the contrasts that an ironist and a devout maintain.
In Haruki Murakami’s Novelist as a Vocation, he writes about his writing process as a novelist, and the methods in which he takes to find inspiration for the characters, world, and stories that he creates.
March
The Idiot by Turkish novelist Elif Batuman, is a fictional story about a college freshman at Harvard University, and how she courses through friendships, classes, and adolescent experiences.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, is the story of an 13 year old boy living in New York City, who’s life changes after unexpectedly losing his mother. This sudden loss completely alters the trajectory of his life, as he coasts through his adulthood and stays transfixed on small painting that reminds him of his mother and the torments that he’s endured from his life.
Sylvia Plath’s Unabridged Journals are a collection of diary entries that she kept over the last years of her life, published after her death in 2000.
The Handmaids Tale is a classic science fiction novel of the 20th Century, in which Atwood creates a futuristic American society, where birthrates decline and societal life never sees rest.
April
The Stranger, is a short novella of a man who fortuitously falls into the scene of a murder.
The brilliant Wuthering Heights, is a gothic novel that creeps into the relationship of Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, from years ago.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is the first of Rowlings heptalogy of a fantasy series. The first book follows Harry, a 10 year old boy who finds out that he is a wizard. Harry is accepted into Hogwarts, a commendable school for witches and wizardry, and in this new school, he finds friends for a lifetime, and uncovers secrets about the school and wizarding world.
“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live” -Albus Dumbledore
All the Beauty in the World is a fictional story about a man who becomes a guard at the Metropolitan Museum, and is given the tremendous task of guarding centuries worth of art, history, and intelligence.
May
Pride and Prejudice is the classic story about a young woman who lives in the England countryside with her family, and is acquainted with Mr. Darcy.
Jane Eyre is the gothic story of an orphaned woman with a troubled past, who is faced with decisions that test her strength, love, and ideologies.
Norwegian Wood follows the story of a college student in Tokyo, who finds young love, yet seeps in the loneliness of the loss of his close friend.
June
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, is a tempestuous thriller that follows the young couple, Amy and Nick Dune, who seem to have a perfect marriage and life, until Amy suddenly goes missing, and all clues leading to Amys disappearance, point towards Nick.
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont is the story of an elderly woman who wishing to spend her last living days at a hotel, unexpectedly finds friendship in a young writer.
The Third Gilmore Girl, is a memoir of actress, Kelly Bishops life, and all of the stories, moments, and memories that she will never forget from it.
Nathaniel Hawthornes Scarlet Letter, tells the story of a woman who conceives a child through the sins of affair, and is enforced to wear the letter A for adultery, as a showcase of shame.
July
Heidi, is a lovely store of a young orphaned girl, who goes up to the Alps to live with her grandfather, and finds happiness in her family and friendships.
Madame Bovary is the story of a woman who chooses to live a life above the one she was given, in order to find an escape from her barren life.
Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, is a contrasting tale of two sisters who seek love in different manners, but both agree that the only way to pursue respectable but enchanting love, is through sense and sensibility.
There Are Rivers in the Sky follow three characters linked in time of a single raindrop.
August
The Little Friend by Donna Tartt, tells the story of a woman who uncovers the secrets behind the murder of her brother from years ago, when they were children.
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid, is a fictional novel that follows a family’s annual Malibu beach party that ends in secrets, disaster, and flames.
Fourth Wing, is a dystopian story that follows Violet Sorrengail, daughter to the commanding general of Navarre, and her journey as she trains to become a dragon rider.
Joan Didions, The Year of Magical Thinking, is an introspective and honest story on grief, marriage, and the waves of life.
September
Grimm’s Complete Fairytales is a collection of the Grimm Brothers’s fables and folk tales.
Tezer Özlüs short story follows a young Turkish woman’s healing journey, as she recovers from her desolation.
Pachinko is a historical fiction story of Sunja, a young woman living in Korea, who is faced with two men and two decisions that offset generational misfortune.
October
Our Town, by Thornton Wilder, is a beautiful play script of all the passages of life, from childhood to marriage to prolonged death.
Orphan Pamuk’s Snow, follows Ka, a journalist who returns to Istanbul, the city in which he grew up. Only to find that the city is not how he left or remembered it to be. After these discoveries, he sets off to Kars, a town located in the border of Russia, in order to rekindle his never forgotten love, and uncover the reasons behind the religious differences that he found in Istanbul.
In Ascension follows Leigh, a marine biologist, who joins an agency to uncover the deep origins of the Cosmos. However, in order to discover these mysteries, she has to decide whether she will leave her mother and sister behind, so that she can embark on such an enthralling scientific experience.
November
The Princess Bride, is a fantasy classic by S. Morgenstern that Goldman read as a child, but reconstructed once he became older.
Alice Adventures in Wonderland, tells the story of Alice, a young girl who sees a white rabbit with a pocket watch, and decides to follow it to see where it takes her. This rabbit leads her a down a literal and figurative rabbit hole, of wondrous discoveries, fantasies, and friendships.
The Care of Fine Books by Jane Greenfield, is a detailed exposition of how one can clean, preserve, and take care of valuable books.
December
The Woman Destroyed, by French philosopher and writer Simone De Beauvoir, tells three stories of three different women who are essentially ‘destroyed’ through the hardships and experiences that they face.
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty is a fictional mystery about a group women, who are connected through their children, but become true friends when they face a tragedy together.
Crazy Rich Asians uncovers the lavish lives of the three most rich Chinese families in Singapore, when Nick Young, son to one of the most affluent families, brings an unwelcomed guest to a significant family event.
Nicholls’s One Day, tells the story of two people, who are destined to be together, and will wait even till eternity if they have to.
The Brothers Karamazov is a 19th century murder mystery, verging into the lives of three Russian brothers, and the social, sex, and sociatal life of Russian men.
I hope that from my reading map, you have found some books that you would like to read too, or have taken some inspiration to grow your reading goals as well.
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