Washington Post book critic Ron Charles
2025 gave us a holiday of great books. To help you build your never-ending reading list, here are five books we've particularly enjoyed over the past 12 months:
Simon and Schuster
Debut novel by Lukas Schaefer. “Miss” (Simon & Schuster) won this year's Kirkus Prize for Fiction. The story takes place in and around a boxing gym in Austin, Texas, where two lonely teenagers strive to change their identities, wherever it takes them.
This sweaty comic masterpiece tackles some of the hottest social debates and is stunning.
Read the excerpt: “Blunder” by Lukas Schaefer
“Miss” by Lukas Schaefer (Simon & Schuster), in hardcover, e-book and audio formats, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble And Bookstore.org
Directories Landmark 
Susie Dent's debut novel. “Guilty by Definition” (‎Sourcebooks Landmark) meets an Oxford dictionary editor who begins receiving strange messages about her sister's long-ago disappearance.
Following these clues, she finds herself drawn into literary mysteries and unsolved parts of her past. Readers who enjoy wordplay as much as suspense should seek out this clever mystery.
Read the excerpt: “Guilty by Definition” Susie Dent
“Guilty by Definition” Susie Dent (‎Sourcebooks Landmark), in hardcover, eBook and audio formats, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble And Bookstore.org
Riverhead Books 
“Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Struggle for a Black State” (Riverhead Books) by Caleb Gale traces Edward McCabe's rise through Kansas and the Oklahoma Territory as black migrants sought land, security, and power during the Jim Crow era.
Faced with hostile politics and brutal opposition, McCabe fought for community and self-determination, and Gale charts this tense landscape to reveal a crucial but long-hidden chapter in the struggle for freedom.
Read the excerpt: “Black Moses” by Caleb Gale
“Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Struggle for a Black State” Caleb Gale (Riverhead Books), in hardcover, eBook and audio formats, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble And Bookstore.org
Calebgayle.com (Official website)
Knopf 
Karen Russell “Antidote” (Knopf) is a dazzlingly original novel, oscillating between fable and history.
Set in Depression-era Nebraska, this wild storm of a tale follows a prairie witch and a high school girl immersed in a turbulent Western epic of tragedy and ambition, Manifest Destiny.
Read the excerpt: “The Antidote” by Karen Russell
“Antidote” by Karen Russell (Knopf), in hardcover, e-book and audio formats, available online Amazon, Barnes and Noble And Bookstore.org
Crown 
Rick Atkinson “The Fate of the Day: The War for America, from Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777–1780” (The Crown), the second book in his planned trilogy, chronicles the American Revolution with compelling narrative power.
Moving from battle to diplomacy, he brings Washington, Franklin and their rivals to life while tracing the country's struggle for independence. The result is a thrilling period piece just in time for America's 250th anniversary.
Read the excerpt: “The Fate of the Day” by Rick Atkinson
“The Fate of the Day: The War for America, from Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777–1780 (second volume of the revolutionary trilogy)” by Rick Atkinson (Crown), in hardcover, ebook and audio formats, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble And Bookstore.org
Historian Rick Atkinson (Official website)
Rick Atkinson on how the US Army was born and how a free nation emerged (“Sunday Morning”)
That's it for Book Report. It's been so much fun talking to you about good books over the past year. Here are many more in 2026.
I'm Ron Charles. Until next time, read on!
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