Best Books of 2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choi, Susan. Flashlight. A novel about family crises and family secrets. The novel is fuller rendition of her 2020 story, "Flashlight."

Desai, Kiran. Sonia and Sunny.  

Kitamura, Katie. Audition.  

Markovits, Benjamin. The Rest of Our Lives. 

Miller, Andrew. The Land in Winter.  

Szalay, David. Flesh.  

The Beginner's Guide to Decorating Pottery: An Introduction to Glazes, Patterns, Inlay, Luster, and Dimensional Designs by Emily Reinhardt

 Ceramic artist and designer Reinhardt offers the third book (after Sunshine Cobb’s The Beginner’s Guide to Hand Building) in the “Essential Ceramic Skills” series. Reinhardt’s title is a great introduction to surface decoration; it focuses on the most appealing aspect of pottery making—the patterns and glazes. The book gives useful tips for safety and how to position pieces in the kiln. She also warns crafters to test underglazes. The book encourages experimentation and describes how it led to the author’s signature gold luster and the decision to make functional objects as well as art pieces. The author provides instructions for creating tableware, coasters, ceramic beads, and vases. For the tableware and spoons, there are explanations about how to use nontoxic, food-safe glazes. In the “Gallery” sections, the book spotlights the creative work of other ceramicists. There’s also an extensive list of supplies, tools, and publications, plus recommendations for books, workshops, residencies, and podcasts.

Functional and beautiful, this book will likely inspire readers want to perfect their pottery techniques. An excellent and useful purchase for libraries with vibrant art communities.

One Step Sideways, Three Steps Forward by Dr. Rosemary Grant

 

Research scholar emerita, B. Rosemary Grant recounts her amazing accomplishments with humility and humor in this delightful memoir. Growing up in the Lakes District in England, Grant was surrounded by wildlife. Since her village, Arnside, was near a tidal bore, she quickly learned to read the tides. She learned to love science because, as she puts it, she was surrounded by science. Like many women pursuing a career in the sciences, however, she faced numerous obstacles; hence, the “one step sideways” in the title. Even her forward-thinking father believed that a university career and a family were mutually exclusive. Fortunately, Rosemary met Peter Grant while teaching embryology in Canada. The two would fall in love, go on to marry, and forge a rare partnership that would greatly profit the field of evolutionary biology.  Though she had to forestall her Ph.D.  project while Peter actively pursued his, Rosemary later earned her Ph.D. from University of Uppsala. Combining research with family life, Rosemary produced a landmark study of rapid evolution in the Galapagos that germinated from forty years of research. 

Don’t miss this incredible story of an evolutionary scientist who combined her love for science with love and devotion to her family, the environment, and many social causes.