Books of 2025

It is December and on various platforms appear

Lists of the best books of the year

Curated by editors, publishers, influencers and even a former president

For avid readers like me they are meant

In these handpicked lists I take interest keen

I measure against them to see how prolific a reader I’ve been

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I must have been reading in another universe this year

I am disappointed to see hardly any of the books I’ve read appear

On various lists of best books, I wonder what the reason could be

Am I losing interest in books with merit literary?

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On closer examination I’ve found that a lot of books listed

Include dystopian scenarios and plots impossibly twisted

From such books I have tried to stay away

I don’t want books to leave me perturbed throughout the day

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Books on a wide range of subjects I have read

But I have not chosen them randomly, instead

I have focused on books with characters grounded in reality

I have sought authors who hope for our future see

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I did not read read editors’ picks but I did read

A number of excellent books this year, indeed