Best books I read in 2025

I read much less in 2025 – partially due to too much work, partially due to getting stuck on some books (for example: the audiobook “de kleine blonde dood” which is so emotionally heavy that I have to switch it off regularly).

10. Que cada cosa cruel sea tú que vuelves – Julio Cortazar: Accessible poetry, yet with a bite.

9. Henry and June: The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1931-1932 – Anaïs Nin: And so
I read Nin for the first time; there is a first time for everything.

8. Otobiografías : la enseñanza de Nietzsche y la política del nombre propio – Jacques Derrida: a bit of Derrida never hurts to make me question everything

7. Alkibiades – Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer: This book was work because of its length, but deeply rewarding.

6. Para consistencia – Mauricio Maldonado Munoz: Colleague of USFQ, who gifted his poetry bundle and I deeply enjoyed reading it (in gardens in Tokyo, to make it even a bit more magical).

5. Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier: A classic, and for good reasons.

4. Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada – Pablo Neruda: A reread of this classic; first time I read the Dutch translation, this time I read the original Spanish.

3. The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera: A reread of this classic; although the first time I read it in Dutch translation (when I was 15, and I never recovered my childish romantic notions of love after that) and now I read it in an English translation.

2. White Nights – Fyodor Dostoyevksi: I was in a bit of a reading slump and wanted to read something short and easy. Should have known better than to pick Dostoyevski, but I don’t regret it.