2025 in Books

2025 was the year of accidental resolutions and practical reading. I’d resolved not to buy new books, and between work taking over my life and a Sherlock Holmes box set that had been gathering dust on my shelf (a prize I’d ignored for far too long), I found myself in a strange reading rhythm. Between the detective’s monotony, I squeezed in some heavy hitters—Dostoevsky’s brilliance, Kafka’s surrealism, and a philosophy novel that I’m still processing. The year was a mixed bag of necessity and genuine literary love. Here’s what defined my 2025 reading journey.

1. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Classic beyond temporal and spatial bounds. The character development in this book is phenomenal—Dostoevsky masterfully crafted not just Prince Myshkin but also the seemingly insignificant Hippolyte. That quote stuck with me: “children we are and so wonderful it is that we can be children still.” What made this profound was how insignificant Hippolyte’s death was meant to be, yet how memorable he became.

I’m somewhat able to get the parallels between Prince and Jesus. Except for rising after 3 days, Prince rose after 3 years post a 3rd-degree nervous collapse. Naive in his ways, he embodied absolute forgiveness and kindness (although I’d call him a simpleton). It was this trait that further reinforced Nastasya’s guilt and doomed her. The master-slave morality at play here is chef’s kiss. This book started my year strong, and it set an impossibly high bar for everything that followed.

2. Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan

If teen Netflix shows were a book, this would be it. Stereotypical characters throughout. But would not judge too hard as it is literally a children’s book. Had a smart talking orangutan which was nice. Light, fun, forgettable. A palate cleanser after Dostoevsky’s emotional devastation.

3. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

This was my first Agatha Christie, and I’m glad I liked it! Nice impressionable characters. Nothing outlandish, but honestly sincere.

4. The Bangalore Detectives Club by Harini Nagendra

Could have been a short story. That’s really all there is to say about it.

5. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

And so begins my descent into Holmes madness. Could have been a short story. The Mormon backstory in the second half felt like a completely different book was stitched in. Not the best introduction to the detective. Objectively boring.

6n7. The Sign of Four & The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Erm! BORING zzzz. Like sure, haters will says why did I even continue reading if it’s that boring. It is because I am not a kid. And no, I didn’t want to discontinue reading. Nor did I want to invest in something worth-while which would get shelved becuase of my other priorities. Let me hate!

8. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

It has to be okay at best. Homesies would argue that this book humanizes Sherlock but wa! wa! wa!; truth be told it is kinda boring. Apologists tell me “oh but Shahid it’s because it was written as periodicals and compiled as a book later” or “it was standard art at that time.” Well, I am no one to do transformative justice over there. If that is the reasoning, then the Bible has better character development even though it was written 2,000 years before.

Two and a half stars because it puts me to sleep. Won’t re-read but would recommend only for the sake of completeness.

9. The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

I, as my friends will also support the claim, have an Instagram problem. “Lack of attention” is what they say. I would like to add this book to my portfolio in my defense, because nothing challenged my attention, or lack thereof, more than this book.

Eh-est book in the history of eh books that I have read so far. 1 star. By this point, I think I had reached peak Holmes fatigue. Maybe I should have spaced these out over a decade instead of cramming them into a year.

10. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Surreal. Whichever day I wake up as a vermin is gonna be a bad day, and perhaps even a bad life. PS: it’s not about me turning into a vermin.

Kafka’s ability to make the absurd feel so devastatingly real is unmatched. The alienation, the family dynamics, the slow realization that nobody really cares—it all hits different. This is the kind of book that stays with you, makes you think about it at 3 AM. 5 stars.

11. There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury

Beautiful. Nightmarish but beautiful. Considering it was written in the 50s, it has a tone to it that’s both nostalgic and terrifying. The story of the automated house continuing its routines after humanity is gone is haunting.

Also makes me sincerely think that in 2025, an apt spinoff would be where the machines continue crawling but this time the nuke comes later while the Alexa table piece recites “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace.”

PS: I mean the poem by Richard Brautigan. Do check it out. Definitely worth a read.

12. Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder

Here’s some lore: I started this book 10 years ago. It was a gift, and I read the initial few chapters at face value—one of the first serious books I ever attempted. I was intrigued. Majestic themes, puzzling mysteries, building tension. Like, how did this guy record a video of himself in ancient Greece?? The gifter took the book back and said, “No, you’re not ready :sob: :sob:.”

And since then, I’d been asking myself: am I ready now? Am I ready NOW? I finally finished it in 2025, and honestly, I loved it. Perhaps a little too much. Reading it felt like oscillating between two versions of me—the 14-year-old devouring the mystery, and the present me savoring the philosophy. As an atheist, I was particularly waiting for Descartes and Spinoza, and Gaarder didn’t disappoint.

This is one of those books I’d read again. Lowkey, I want to gift it to a kid for 10 days and then take it back—full circle, you know?

---

Reflections on 2025

Looking back, 2025 was less about grand literary ambitions and more about making do with what I had. The no-new-books resolution, combined with being perpetually swamped with work, meant I leaned on convenience—hence the five Sherlock Holmes books that kept me company during commutes and helped me sleep. Not transformative, just there.

But between the functional reading, I found some genuine gems. The Idiot and The Metamorphosis hit hard—both wrestling with alienation and being fundamentally misunderstood. And Sophie’s World, with its 10-year journey from “you’re not ready” to finally finishing it, became one of those quietly profound experiences I didn’t expect to have this year.

If 2025 taught me anything, it’s that sometimes the best reads aren’t the ones you plan for. They’re the ones that have been waiting patiently on your shelf, or the ones that remind you why you fell in love with reading in the first place. Here’s to 2026 and hopefully more intentional choices (and maybe buying a book or two).