Readings 2025

by

Since I have been asked many times (and many book lovers are now doing it), I am providing a list of all the books I read in 2025. I read fiction and non-fiction, with Knausgård, Harvey and Shafak being my favourite fiction writers. Knausgård is an old acquaintance, Elif Shafak is a new discovery. I was particularly amazed by ‘Patchouli’ by Bettina Rolfes, a book about a shared flat in Bochum, where I lived for several years. A German book that I only became aware of through an English translation is ‘Go, Went, Gone’ by Jenny Erpenbeck. I thought this novel was very successful. Among the non-fiction books, I found Bernd Roeck’s history of the Renaissance to be excellent, and I also think A.N. Wilson’s biography of Goethe is worth reading.

Da ich vielfach gebeten wurde und es von vielen Buchfreunden inzwischen gemacht wird, bringe auch ich hiermit eine Leseliste aller Bücher, die ich 2025 las. Ich las Fiction und Non-Fiction, wobei Knausgård, Harvey und Shafak mir am besten unter den Romanen gefallen haben. Knausgård ist ein alter Bekannter, Elif Shafak ist eine Neuentdeckung. Besonders verblüfft war ich über „Patchouli“ von Bettina Rolfes, ein Buch über eine Wohngemeinschaft in Bochum, in der ich mehrere Jahre lang wohnte. Ein deutsches Buch, das mir erst durch seine englische Übersetzung bekannt wurde, stammt von Jenny Erpenbeck „Go, Went, Gone“. Ich fand diesen Roman gelungen. Von den Sachbüchern fand ich ganz ausgezeichnet die Geschichte der Renaissance von Bernd Roeck. Die Biografie Goethes von A.N. Wilson halte ich auch für lesenswert.

Klausbernd’s reading list. Dina, being more visual, insisted on photos.

Here comes the list

  • Beaudelaire, Charles: Blume des Bösen (collection of poems that had a major influence on Brecht in particular)
  • Bound, Mensun: Ship Beneath the Ice (about the search for the wreck of the ‘Endurance’)
  • Delaney, J.P.: Believe Me (A kind of crime thriller about what is a game and what is not)
  • Eco, Umberto: Faith in Fakes (about modern media)
  • Erpenbeck, Jenny: Go, Went, Gone (a successful novel about life as a refugee in Berlin)
  • Fatland, Erik: Border (a well-researched travelogue about Russia’s neighbouring countries)
  • Forna, Aminatta: Happiness (a moderately successful big-city novel)
  • Grann, David: The Wager (an excellently written non-fiction book about a shipwreck)
  • Harvey, Samantha: Orbital (an excellent novel about life on a space station)
  • Hill, Peter: Stargazing (about the life of a lighthouse keeper)
  • Holmes, Richard: The Age of Wonder (history of science during the Romantic period)
  • Hornby, Nick: Slam (a briskly written teen novel)
  • Kagge, Erlin: Philosophy for Explorers (book with some original tips for expedition participants)
  • Kagge, Erling: The North Pole (one of the best books I have read about polar expeditions.)
  • Kennedy, A.L.: All the Rage (a successful collection of partly erotic short stories.)
  • Kingsolver, Barbara: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (about the modern food industry and how to escape it)
  • Knausgård, Karl Ove: The Third Realm (a novel consisting of loosely connected stories)
  • Langmuir, Erika: Allegory (interpretation of allegorical images)
  • Laxness, Halldór: World Light (a dark book reminiscent of Hamsun)
  • Lynch, Paul: Grace (about Ireland during the famine. Highly acclaimed, I found it tedious)
  • Mackie, Bella: What a Way to Go (humorous novel about the death of a wealthy fraudster)
  • Mariani, Scott: The Templar Secret (a successful action thriller)
  • McEwan, Ian: What We Can Know? (a utopia in which the utopian aspect is not in the foreground)
  • Mellors, Coco: Blue Sisters (novel about the various aspects of city life)
  • Mitchell, Laurence: Flint Country (well-researched book in which we are mentioned)
  • Moss, Kate: The Taxidermist’s Daughter (gothic novel that I really liked)
  • Nesbø, Jo: Wolf Hour (crime novel about how to become a murderer)
  • O’Farrell: The Marriage Portrait (about the life of the nobility during the Renaissance in Tuscany)
  • Olah, Natalie: Bad Taste (a political book about the function of taste)
  • Owens, Delia: Where the Crowdads Sing (a failed novel)
  • Persson, Leif: Falling Freely, as if in a Dream (about the assassination of Olof Palme)
  • Phillips, Jonathan: The Life and Legend of Sultan Saladin (well-researched book, easy to read)
  • Roeck, Bernd: The World at First Light (detailed history of the Renaissance)
  • Rogan, Charlotte: The Lifeboat (about shipwrecked people on a lifeboat and decisions about life and death)
  • Rolfes, Bettina: Patchouli (realistic book about life in a shared house in the 1970s.)
  • Shafak, Elif: There are Rivers in the Sky (an impressive novel about water, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the battles of ISIS against the Yazidis.)
  • Smith, Zadie: The Fraud (the novel remained obscure to me)
  • Stonex, Emma: Lamplighers (mystery of the deaths of three lighthouse keepers)
  • Sykes, Plum: Wives like us (ironic novel about the English upper class in the Cotswolds)
  • Thompson, Harry: This Thing of Darkness (detailed biography of FitzRoy and his relationship with Darwin)
  • Wilson, A.N.: Goethe (a detailed biography that views Goethe as Faustian)
  • Zafon, Carlos Ruiz: The Labyrinth of Spirits (about the crimes committed during the Spanish Civil war, one exciting story follows another)

I found most of these books worth reading. I’m currently reading “James” by Percival Everett, but I’m only on page 57.

Die meisten dieser Bücher fand ich lesenswert. Gerade lese ich “James” von Percival Everett, bin aber erst auf S. 57.

Fiction books 2025
Fiction favourites 2025
Non-fiction books 2025
Non-fiction favourites 2025
Huge inspiration 2025

Frohes Lesen auch im neuen Jahr
Klausbernd 🙂

P.S. I couldn’t find Zafon’s “The Labyrinth of Spirits” in our library anymore. I am afraid our Bookfayries have hidden it. Instead, I am showing “The Shadow of the Wind” I read a couple of years ago.

P.S. Zafon’s “The Labyrinth of Spirits” ist aus unserer Bibliothek verschwunden. Ob unsere Buchfeen daran schuld sind? Stattdessen zeige ich hier “The Shadow of the Wind“, einen Roman, den ich vor Jahren las.



© text and illustrations, Hanne Siebers & Klausbernd Vollmar, Cley next the Sea, 2026

63 thoughts

  1. Dear Klausbernd,
    what an awesome reading list! I can’t wait to dive into your various lists and discuss them with you. I’m at the airport and boarding starts in a few minutes. Bad weather has delayed the flight with more than 5 hours. I’m glad I have my book in handbag!
    More later.
    Kram
    Annalena xx

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • Dear Annalena

      Oh dear, more than five hours delayed. We hope you have an interesting book to read. Well, five hours is one book more or less. What are you reading?

      Have a good flight and a wonderful new year. We hope we’ll see you in 2026 – or we will come to Stockholm. That’s Kb’s favourite city.
      With lots of love ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ and hugs 🤗 🤗 🤗 🤗
      KRAM
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Dear Per Magnus
      What are you doing during these holidays?
      We tried to phone you, but in vain.
      With lots of love
      xxxxxxxx
      KLEM
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Dear Darlene

      What are you reading and what have you read?

      For 2026, we have one big reading project. We want to read “In Search of Lost Time” by Marcel Proust again.

      All the best for 2026
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • I recently finished The Grapes of Wrath. It was incredible. Although it was depressing, I’m glad I read it, finally. A good depiction of the times in the USA.

      Like

    • Thank you, dear Bob 🙏 🙏

      We love all three books, too, and look forward to many more interesting books in 2026.

      Wishing you a wonderful new year
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Richard

      Umberto Eco’s book is one in a series of more or less scientific essays he wrote. They are not that easy to read, but it’s worth reading them. Eco’s novels are much easier to enjoy.

      Wishing you a great new year
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • And what are you reading, dear Audrey?

      A lot of visitors on our blog asked me to publish my reading list. As I keep a diary about the books I read, it was easy to get the list together. But with some books we had problems finding them in our library, although we have a library program.

      Wishing you a great new year
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • I have read many indie-published books as well as a few traditionally published ones. My reading choices are not too systematic, I’m afraid.
      Do I understand that your have a catalogue of your home library? If so, I am impressed! (I used to be a cataloguing librarian.)

      Like

  8. What an extraordinary year of reading, Klausbernd. This is not simply an impressive list, but a testament to a life lived in conversation with ideas, history, and imagination. The breadth alone is remarkable, yet what strikes me most is how your reading opens doors for others.

    Through the books you choose, mention, and reflect upon, many of us are introduced to writers, histories, and perspectives we might otherwise never encounter. Your reading radiates outward. It doesn’t stay contained on the page. I count myself fortunate to have learned a great deal through the paths you’ve explored and shared so thoughtfully.

    Thank you for this generous glimpse into your year. It’s a reminder of how deeply reading can shape not only an individual mind, but a community of readers.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Rebecca

      Many years ago, I read ‘Creativity’ by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He recommends reading books regularly from fields you are actually not interested in. For years, I have been doing this. In my list, there are four books I wouldn’t have read otherwise:

      Hornby, Nick: Sam
      Kingsolver, Barbara: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
      Owe, Delia: Where the Crowdads Sing
      Sykes, Plum: Wives like us

      Hornby and Sykes I enjoyed reading. With Kingsolver’s and Owe’s book, I was very happy when I had finished them. Of course, you learn from (nearly) every book. It seemed to me that it’s important to break the automatism of reading similar books all the time, otherwise you get one-dimensional.

      Thank you very much for your kind comment 🙏 🙏 and wishing you and your family a wonderful New Year

      Hugs and kisses
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Klausbernd,

      I agree with you completely. Reading beyond our usual territory keeps the mind supple and curious. It prevents us from becoming too comfortable inside a single groove. My natural home has always been non-fiction, but over the last two or three years I’ve consciously returned to fiction, and it’s been quietly rewarding. Right now I’m reading A Heart Full of Headstones by Ian Rankin, an Inspector Rebus novel. I’m enjoying how fiction can illuminate moral complexity and social texture in a way that feels different, but no less truthful.

      You’re absolutely right! We learn from nearly every book, even, perhaps especially, from the ones that challenge our patience or expectations. Breaking reading habits opens unexpected doors, and your own wide-ranging reading continues to do that for all of us who follow along.

      Thank you for this thoughtful exchange, and for the generosity of your reading life. Sending best wishes and many hugs to our dear friends, The Fab Four of Cley.

      Like

  10. Da sehe ich doch die eine oder andere Gemeinsamkeit. Kagges Nordpol-Buch habe ich jüngst auch verschlungen, Harveys Buch fand ich grandios, und auch McEwan habe ich sehr gern gelesen. Auf ein neues spannendes und erhellendes Lesejahr 2026. Viele Grüße

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Liebe Constanze,

      wir sind große Fans von Erling Kagge und nicht nur wegen seiner Bücher über seine Expeditionen, sondern auch wegen seiner Anmerkungen zum Sammeln von Kunst. An Harveys Buch gefällt mir besonders, dass es im Gegensatz zu amerikanischen Romanen fast keine Action aufweist. Es ist besonders. Und McEwan …, well, er ist ein Meister des Romans seit ewigen Zeiten.

      Habe herzlichen Dank.
      Wir wünschen dir alles nur erdenklich Gute zum neuen Jahr
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Von Knausgård haben wir auch alle Bücher gelesen. Von ihm gefällt uns am besten “The Wolves of Eternity“. Wir lieben besonders die philosophische Seite dieses umfangreichen Romans.

      Mit lieben Grüßen vom Meer und alles Gute zum neuen Jahr
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Reading your list my mind is ordering me to do way better in picking up worthwhile books . . . have read but one . . . well, I know what one of my New Year’s resolutions will be > thank you for that !

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thank you very much 🙏 🙏

      I hope you find some interesting authors you didn’t know.

      Wishing you a wonderful New Year
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Dear Terry

      Don’t worry, I am a professional reader. I can read quite fast and remember well what I’ve read. I learned this when I was young for my first job.

      Wishing you all the best for the New Year
      Klausbernd and
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Good afternoon, dear Paul

      Thanks for mentioning “The Trees”. We’ll surely have a look at it. We enjoy “James”; it has many levels. In the beginning, we had to get used to this “correct incorrect” language.

      Wishing you a happy and healthy 2026
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Ute

      Thanks for liking Kb’s list. He could read from morning to night, but we don’t let him.

      Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year full of joyfull readings
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  25. Klausbernd, what an extraordinary year of reading. I’m always struck by the range you cover — from Renaissance history to polar expeditions to space‑station fiction — and how you weave personal connections into the list, like discovering Patchouli because of your years in Bochum.

    I also love your note about breaking the habit of reading only within our comfort zones. That reminder feels especially valuable heading into a new year.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thank you VERY much, dear Willy

      Most of the books on my list cover my interests. Only a few I read because they were chosen by a book group I am a member of.

      Wishing you all the best for the new year
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  26. Dear FabFour, dear Klausbernd,

    Looking at your extensive reading list and extraordinary range of books, the first thought that came to my mind was “how lucky the four of you are because you’re such an avid reader!”
    Knowing you and bearing in mind as we get older and are more prone to accidents and not always good health, you’re hardly the one to get grumpy because you are not as active as before. I can picture you with a smile on your face sliding into your reading chair with a book and a notebook and fine stickers and not for one minute feeling sorry for yourself because you can’t run to Blakeney Point like you used to do years ago. Am I right? 😄

    For myself, I must admit, apart for the Norwegian authors, most of the books are new to me. I love it!
    I have ordered three books from you list for further studies
    The World at First Light
    There are Rivers in the Sky
    Orbital
    and I’ll most certainly return for further inspiration.

    Siri and Selma, have you found the book you removed? Where did you misplace the “The Labyrinth of Spirits”?

    When will Dina publish her list? I’m looking forward to her nature-photography list.

    Klem
    Per Magnus

    Like

    Reply

  27. 🙂 Ach, du liebes Lottchen! What a list!

    Na, fad ist Dir bei der Lektüre sicherlich nicht gewesen. Ein gutes Buch ist unbezahlbar.

    Was machst Du mit den gelesenen Büchern? Behälst Du sie alle? Oder trennst Du dich von weniger interessanten Lesestücken?

    Weiterhin fröhliches Lesen und liebe Grüße von der Waterkant,

    Claudia 🙂

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.