The Books That Shaped My Year (2025)

The year has come to the end. When the year started I was reading Anxious People by Fredrick Beckman. It was Beckman’s writing style, wit, humor, resonance with day to day life. That after finishing Anxious People. I was again drawn to Beckman’s novel A Man Called Ove. The book didn’t disappoint.

For the first half of the year I was regular at going to a book meetup every Sunday. We had a joke running around in the meetup. Never a Sunday passes when we don’t have a Beckman book in the book stack.

Had always heard about Ruskin Bond books. Never really read any during childhood. Started with Ruskin Bond’s most acclaimed book The Room on the Roof that he wrote during his teenage years. I was amazed by the descriptions of everyday things. Be it season, tree, lake, river. You’ll keep imagining the place, people, scene. You are never too old to read Ruskin Bond. 😉

This year I had a realization: the phase of life you’re in often determines the books that come to you, rather than the other way around.

This was how I picked up The Midnight Library again. The book I purchased somewhere around 2022 based on a friend’s recommendation. Read couple of pages and abandoned it in the mid. This year I gave it another try and WoW, loved it. Glad I came back to the book.

Being once in a while close to the river or rather right in it. I have also been pulled to the books that tell more about the river. One fine day a stroll in the Bahrisons Bookstore. Came across Ruskin Bond’s novel All Roads Lead to Ganga. All his books are a reminder Look around, nature is beautiful.

While in early days I used to read a lot of Non Fiction or self help books. This year I was drawn to Fiction.
Between all the fiction. Wanted to pick a book to learn a thing or two about day to day economics. Read So You Want To Know About Economics by Roopa Pai. Gives answers to a lot of questions. More like Economics 101. Its never to late to learn anything.

Bought The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy during my solo travel to Kerala. Have heard about the book a lot but never read. Purchased from a cozy, little bookstore Kochi Books. Going to a new place, new bookstore and getting a book. Becomes a sweet memory. I read this one only about only a 100 pages or so.

Along similar lines there is another book Ladies Coupe by Anita Nair. The book is a story about a single girl who is on a train journey to Kanyakumari. En route she meets other women from different walks of life. She is trying to find answer to whether a women can be happy alone. Its a story of women’s search for strength and independence.

Ofcourse like every other book lover. There are books I purchased and didn’t read. It was “We The Citizens. Strengthening the Indian Republic” by Khyati Pathak, Anupam Manur, Pranay. A bunch more are there from previous years. 😄

In between the year for months. I didn’t pick up any book. Attention was divided between several things. Marriage season, work, errands, stress and what not. Skipped all the book meetups, no travel. Fast forward to December.

What bought me back to reading after a long gap was Fredrick Beckman again. Sunlight, a cup of hot coffee, a loved book in hand and a chocolate cookie can make you happy. The year comes to an end and I again found Beckman books in my hand. Novel A Deal of Lifetime followed by Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer. 🙂

And, in case all along you were waiting for only the reading list. Here it is:

1. Anxious People, Fredrick Beckman
2. A Man Called Ove, Fredrick Beckman
3. The Room On The Roof, Ruskin Bond
4. All Roads Lead to Ganga, Ruskin Bond
5. Ladies Coupe, Anita Nair
6. A God Of Small Things (yet to complete), Arundhati Roy
7. So You Want To Know About Economics, Roopa Pai
8. A Deal Of A Lifetime, Fredrick Beckman
9. Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, Fredrick Beckman
10. The Midnight Library, Matt Haig

This year, I also let go of around 20 books. Which were lying around. It is difficult to let go even if you know you are not going to read them. If you know of any better place who take back pre-loved books and donate them at right places. I am all ears. Please do let me know. 🙁

The books listed above are in no particular order. I loved them all. They have made me laugh, giggle, smile, imagine. Some led to having a lump in the throat. A book has the potential to make you go through all the emotions. Sometimes nothing at all, at times all of it at once.

Needless to say. Coming year is going to be more of Fredrick Beckman. I plan to read all of his books. ❤️