A very special splainer reading challenge
Editor’s note: For the first Advisory edition of the year—like last year—our former book editor Anushree Kaushal is back with the immensely popular splainer reading challenge for 2025. You can reach out to Anushree at kaushalanushree@gmail.com to share notes or just to say hi:)
Written by: Anushree Kaushal, a freelance editor and writer
Hello splainer family—how has 2024 been? What have you been reading?
I had a rather disruptive reading year, filled with unintended breaks and lost momentum, but most of the books I read were deeply fulfilling. Looking back, I find that my reading has become more intentional, and more in sync with the issues that affect the world, and have a direct impact on me and my community. I have been gravitating toward books on climate, the cities that I inhabit, my personhood, and labour. Bogged down as I may have been with these big concerns, I have not forgotten the smaller things that make me happy: mysteries and detectives, valuing my free time, delighting in languages, jokes I find funny and human creativity.
For your reading challenge for the year 2025, here are twenty-four prompts on subjects that will, hopefully, make you think and introspect, give you time to relax and soothe, and rejuvenate and invigorate you. There are two books for each prompt that I have either read or plan to pick up in the coming year (and you can too). Have a great year, all!
Climate change and more: ‘The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth’ by Elizabeth Rush, is an account of a 2019 voyage to Antarctica to study the Thwaites Glacier considered alongside the idea of motherhood and a rapidly melting world. ‘Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet’ by Hannah Ritchie, a data-driven big-picture book that will make you hopeful about finding solutions to some of the most pressing problems facing the world today.
Crime fiction but with social issues: ‘All the Sinners Bleed’ by SA Cosby, a serial killer stalks a religious, racially-charged small town helmed by its first Black sheriff. ‘Long Bright River’ by Liz Moore, a woman in the grips of addiction goes missing and her police officer sister grows obsessed with finding her.
Some vampire resurgence fiction: ‘Vampires of El Norte’ by Isabel Cañas, a Western with fangs, set in 1840s Mexico. ‘Nestlings’ by Nat Cassidy, a disturbing ‘Salem’s Lot-like novel set in an exclusive New York City residential building.
Memoirs about a specific profession: ‘Private Equity: A Memoir’ by Carrie Sun, from the sole assistant to a Wall Street hedge fund’s billionaire founder, an examination of privilege, extreme wealth, identity, mental health, work culture, and more. ‘Uncanny Valley’ by Anna Wiener, about a woman who moves from publishing to the tech industry, coming face-to-face with the realities of startup culture, ambition, and power.
A book that has been on your backlist for too long: ‘Me Talk Pretty One Day’ by David Sedaris, a collection of humorous essays from a veteran comedian. ‘Ashenden’ by W Somerset Vaughn, a series of spy stories set around the Great War by the author of ‘Of Human Bondage’, inspired by his own experiences!
Historical fiction set in Asia: ‘Those Opulent Days’ by Jacquie Pham, a murder mystery set in 1920s French-colonial Vietnam—an enthralling combination. ‘Memory of Light’ by Ruth Vanita, a celebration of queer love and poetry, set in Lucknow preparing for King George the Third’s fiftieth birthday gala.
Books that remind you of your fave shows: ‘Faculty Lounge’ by Jennifer Mathie, for my ‘Abbott Elementary’ fix after the latest season is over. ‘Excavations’ by Kate Myers has a ‘Bad Sisters’ vibe that has me hooked.
Fiction about AI: ‘In the Blink of An Eye’ by Jo Callaghan, a human detective is paired with an AI detective to solve crimes! ‘Klara and the Sun’ by Kazuo Ishiguro (soon to be a film!) about Klara, an Artificial Friend that has been purchased for a little girl called Josie.
Books with a sense of place: ‘Clear’ by Carys Davies will bring a remote island off Scotland to your doorstep. ‘Last Christmas in Paris’ by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb—it’s in the name! Christmas may have passed, but it’s still a great read for who says the holiday season is over?
Books about sports: ‘The Racket’ by Conor Niland, a funny, revealing memoir by a not-so-great tennis player who toured for years alongside the sport’s crème de la crème. ‘Boundary Lab: Inside the Global Experiment Called Sport’ by Nandan Kamath, where the jacket copy says, “Why should we care about sport and its governance? Within the covers of Boundary Lab lie the answers.”
Non-fiction about women in an unequal world: ‘Feminist City: A Field Guide’ by Leslie Kern, an exposé of the social inequalities hidden built into our cities and neighbourhoods, reimagining the city from a feminist point of view. ‘Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men’ by Caroline Criado Pérez, an extraordinary deep-dive into how data that runs the world fails to take gender into account, building a world that skewed in favour of men.
A different take on travel: ‘Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women’, edited by Siobhan Lambert-Hurley, Daniel Majchrowicz and Sunil Sharma, incredible firsthand accounts from Muslim women travellers from the 17th to 20th centuries writing across ten languages. ‘Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel’ by Shahnaz Habib, a personal and cultural history of travel from an Indian Muslim woman in the context of colonialism, capitalism and climate change.
Books bout food: ‘Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Travels’ by Caroline Eden, a travel and cookbook writer cooks, for a year, in her Edinburgh basement, recipes she has collected during her travels across the world. ‘Masalamandi: A Guide to the World of Indian Spice Blends’ by Sadaf Hussain, an exploration of the history and cultural significance of some of our favourite masalas from across the country.
Feel-good books: ‘The Wedding People’ by Alison Espach, a woman in shambles is mistaken for a wedding guest in picturesque Cornwall; heartwarming adventures ensue.
‘I Hope This Finds You Well’ by Natalie Sue, an office comedy about “an admin worker accidentally gains access to her colleagues’ private emails and DMs”? Sign me up!
History that is not a ‘tome’: ‘To The City: Life and Death Along the Ancient Walls of Istanbul’ by Alexander Christie-Miller, a history of the Turkish city through the lives of those who live along the ancient walls. ‘Everyday Reading: Middlebrow Magazines and Book Publishing in Post-Independence India’ by Aakriti Mandhwani, a history of print culture in a country that allowed its people to find a voice outside of nationalism or religion.
An exploration of religion: ‘Fervor’ by Toby Lloyd, the chilling tale of a close-knit Jewish family that begins to suspect that their daughter is a witch. ‘Devout: A Memoir of Doubt’ by Anna Gazmarian, in a society that pits faith against medicine, an Evangelical comes to terms with her bipolar disorder diagnosis.
Set in the very near-future, dealing with issues of today: ‘Loneliness & Company’ by Charlee Dyroff, about a woman who joins a company researching the cure for loneliness. ‘Prophet Song’ by Paul Lynch, an examination of a country in the grips of a tyrannical government and a Booker winner to boot!
Set amidst a disaster of sorts: ‘The North Line’ by Matt Riordan, about a man who joins an Alaskan fishing crew and finds himself in unforgiving waters—both within himself and out on the Bering Sea. ‘The Drift’ by CJ Tudor, amidst a heavy snowstorm, three individuals find themselves in three unique and horrifying situations fighting for survival.
Psychological horror: ‘Model Home’ by Rivers Solomon, a ‘new kind of haunted house novel’ about three Black siblings who return to their traumatising childhood home and neighbourhood after their parents die of not-so-natural causes. ‘Monstrilio’ by Gerardo Sámano Córdova, a stunning meditation on grief where a mother cuts out a piece from her deceased son’s lung that begins to grow into a monster.
A proper fantasy, with a new and exciting world: ‘Kings of the Wyld’ by Nicholas Eames, a crew of mercenaries with their glory days behind them get the band back together for ‘one last tour across the Wyld.’ ‘The Will of the Many’ by James Islington, a young man joins the all-powerful Catenan Republic to reveal its deepest darkest secrets.
Romance to make you feel ooey-gooey: ‘Just for the Summer’ by Abby Jimenez, a man and woman—whose dates find their soul mate soon after they break up—decide to date each other to break their curse. ‘One-Star Romance’ by Laura Hankin, a struggling writer meets the man who gave her book a very public one-star rating at her best friend’s wedding. What could possibly go wrong. . .or right?
Women in translation: ‘Our City That Year’ by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Daisy Rockwell, originally published in Hindi in 1998, the novel is a searing account of a society burdened by extremism. ‘Greek Lessons’ by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith, a language teacher losing his vision forms an unfathomable bond with a student who has lost her voice.
Where a character comes ‘back’: ‘Not What She Seems’ by Yasmin Angoe, a former town pariah returns home to tend to her injured grandfather, only to find herself in the middle of something sinister that may have something to do with her own past. ‘The Return of Ellie Black’ by Emiko Jean, a girl who disappeared years ago resurfaces in the woods of Washington state, but her behaviour brings more questions than answers to the detective who had been looking for her.
Anything you want!: ‘The Last Party’ by Clare Mackintosh, a rich, disliked man dies at a New Year’s Party at the border of England and Wales. Whodunnit?! ‘Lolly Willowes’ by Sylvia Townsend Warner, a classic about a woman who turns to witchcraft when her newfound independence is threatened by societal expectations.
