Hi, I’m Max, I write fantasy, science fiction, and genre stories as well as essays on the craft. Help support my writing by upgrading to a paid subscription, sharing my work, or dropping a tip in my hat over at ko-fi!
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What a year. It sure hasn’t been easy but its been good.
Last year I took stock in December of the works I had read and the words I had written and I want to do that again. I’ve been keeping a list of the books I’ve read each year since 2016, and elaborating on it last year - if only for myself - felt good. It was nice to have something to look back on, along with all the essays I’ve written on the works that have had a larger impact on me that I post here on the newsletter.
If there was a theme to this year’s reading, I’d say it was comfort. A lot went on in my life in 2025. Beyond this newsletter, a partner and I founded our own Civil Engineering and Software company and have been working tirelessly to get things off the ground. On top of that, I’ve got the most wonderful wife in the world that I can only hope to make feel as loved as she makes me feel. The work of keeping a home feels so good, but that does not take away the work of it.
Amidst all these going’s-on, the books I gravitated towards were not those that challenged me. There was enough challenge elsewhere. Instead, I turned to old favorites: Authors I know I love, and works that I knew a reread of would make things feel easy, if only for a little while.
I kicked off the year with quite a bit of manga. I haven’t read manga since high school and man, was it the comfort food I needed. Dragon Ball Z is still my favorite comic of any style. I’d never read all of Dragon Ball before, and while I knew the rough story of those books, I’d knew nothing of Dragon Ball Super which I also read a good deal of. I followed these up with a decent chunk of One Piece, which is amazing fun, but quite a lot to catch up on.
Between these reads, I peppered in a few business books - boring - a wonderfully fun book on murder in ancient Rome and a few classics. Tortilla Flat became a new fun read, and sitting down for a few hours with The Old Man and the Sea is always worthwhile.
In line with the manga kick from the start of the year, over the summer I dipped into the old Expanded Universe of Star Wars. Darth Plagueis was a ton of fun to listen to after watching Revenge of the Sith in theaters for its anniversary release, and The Paradise Snare was an easy action romp ten times the fun of Solo .
A few old favorite authors show up next: James SA Corey, authors of the Expanse had a hit with their new series The Captive’s War, and Sanderson did not miss with Isles of the Emberdark. Then, Stephen King took me away this fall: Revival, The Gunslinger, 11/22/63, Insomnia, plus a few short stories from his collections and two of the novellas from Different Seasons led me right into winter. Even with the mediocre King stories, there’s solace in a good time spent with a wordsmith who knows how to make you live with a character, rather than simply watch what they do.
I have yet to finish the collection, but I’d be remise to not mention John Langan’s latest: Lost in the Dark. The titular story was like watching a horror movie, and his writing always feels so good to read. The Fisherman may need to be a reread of mine next year.
Short stories have been a latest fix of mine, starting a Holmes tale by Conan Doyle before falling asleep and finishing it first thing in the morning after waking has been a wonderful way to bookend my days over the stressful holidays.
There’s a few books that I hope to finish before the end of the year, but I’m putting absolutely no pressure on myself to get through them. I’ve had my years of trying to hit a book count and I’m glad they’re behind me. On the docket: A Perfect Spy by John le Carré. His novel The Spy who Came in From the Cold is still the best espionage novel/thriller I’ve ever read. I’ve heard only good things about A Perfect Spy and I’m excited to settle into the slow burn.
I’m also finally committing to the Aubrey-Maturin series with Master and Commander. Throw in the rest of Langan’s new short stories, a few Holmes mysteries and the last novellas in Different Seasons and I’d say that’s a damn cozy year of reading.
There’s more than a few lessons I’ve learned from the words this year, you’ve probably read a few of the essays. If I had to pick some favorites:
Comfort in Another World, when I dipped back into Tolkien
An Hour for a Life on the Old Man and the Sea
So Many Threads on outlining a series with The Mercy of the gods
I also let myself write on other inspirations: talking for the first time on the impact video games and film had on my writing.
The take away on the year is: take comfort where you can. Reading doesn’t need to be an escape, but it can be, and there is nothing wrong with escaping into words once in a while. that’s what stories are for.
I hope you all have had a good year and are looking forward to what is coming in 2026. On my end, you’re about to hear quite a lot about my debut novel! but before that, I’ve got one more story for you, coming out Christmas day.
Thank you again for joining me in this crazy thing that is posting my writing online. Its been a good year of writing and I’m excited for what’s to come!
Below is the list of all the books I read this year, but before that:
Thanks for giving that a read! Check out my own fantasy stories here!
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Love ya!
Max
The Books of 2025:
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Jaco the Galactic Patrolman by Akira Toriyama
Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama
Raising the Bar by Cary Erickson with Lois Lorentzen
Dragon Ball Z by Akira Toriyama
A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum by Emma Southon
Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck
Dragon Ball Super vol. 1-9 by Akira Toriyama and Toyotarou
One Piece vol. 1-13 by Eiichiro Oda
Traction by Gino Wickman
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway
Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski
Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday
Mercy of the Gods by James S.A. Corey
Isles of the Emberdark by Brandon Sanderson
Star Wars: Darth Plagueis by James Luceno
Small Giants by Bo Burlingham
Revival by Stephen King
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Insomnia by Stephen King
Star Wars: The Paradise Snare by Ann C. Crispin
Thank you again. Love you all!
-Max