Scroll through our 2025 reads to find your next best read for 2026
We all have different reasons to read. Some search for knowledge, some for an escape from everyday life and others simply for the pure joy that reading can give. But we believe that every reader could use someone, once a in a while, to introduce them to something new and refreshing. Just a path to make a quick side-quest, to see and feel something different.
That's why we thought about sharing all the books that we have read in 2025. We hope to inspire our readers to undertake a new reading journey.
In the form of a blog article (new on our website!) you will find an exhaustive list of all the 67 books from 49 different authors that we (Julien and Anaël) have read in 2026. It is hereby important to mention that our writings do not aim at being academic, or to follow a certain thinking pattern. We will write about the impression, feelings and pleasure or displeasure each book impressed on us. This is not to be seen as a literary critique on the books but rather as a personal reflection and shared thoughts of what we liked and disliked in each book.
We will gradually write and share our thoughts and some insights on each of them as the weeks go by. You will be notified through our social-media channels (instagram/facebook) and newsletter each time an edit is done so you will know when to expect new content. On top of the blog article you will also find the date of when the last edit was made in case you access it directly on the website.
Is there a title about which you would like to know more and that hasn't yet been commented? Please do not hesitate to contact us so we make sure that we treat it in our next edit. -J
Spirituality, Mysticism and Beliefs
- Beginner's mind, Zen mind by Shunryu Suzuki. Soto Zen Buddhism
If you are looking for a book that will introduce you to the practice and philosophy of Soto Zen Buddhism, this book might be worth checking out. Presented as a collection of talks it is a good starting point for new students. Shunryu Suzuki's explanations on the nature of being a beginner, or what the beginner's mind can create as possibilities is food for thought for all the other practices of life.
- Wintering, The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, By Katherine May.
This book is a memoir exploring the parallels between nature's apparent resting period during the winter and phases of 'winter' in our human lives. We follow the unravelling of the winter months, starting in September and ending in March. Through Katherine May's personal story, thoughts and explorations we are encouraged to think differently on the use of these cold, dark winter months. What winter means for nature is compared to the 'winters' we may experience throughout our lives. Touching on philosophical, spiritual and psychological aspects this book explores subjects as diverse as wintering, health, burnouts, recovery, Western nordic cultures, healing through cold and warmth, outdoor swimming, bees and birds.
- Walking on the Pastures of Wonder: In Conversation with John Quinn by John O'Donohue
- Tao Te Ching a translation by Ursula K. Le Guin
Philosophy and (analytical) psychology
- Crisis of narration by Byung Chul Han
- The Archetypes and the Collective unconscious by C.J. Jung
- Memories, Dreams, Reflections by C.G. Jung
- The body keeps the score by Bessel van Kolk
- An Autobiography of Trauma, A Healing Journey by Peter A. Levine
- The freedom to be free by Hanna Arendt
- Ecce Homo by Friedrich Nietzsche
- Thus spake zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
People and society / Journalistic
- Why I write, a collection of essays by George Orwell
-Auschwitz and After by Charlotte Delbo
- Radio Surobi by Raphael Kraft
- Elixir by Kapka Kassabova. Environmental & Cultural journalism
More than an ode to nature’s healing powers, this book is a vibrant testimony of the diversity of human cultures and what communities can achieve through millennia of shared life in the heart of nature.
Besides inspiring its readers to interact more with nature and seek the simplest and yet wonderful things it has to offer, this book exposes the evil and destruction that organized political regimes can wreak upon whole populations that seek only a life of peace and quiet. Whatever the moral purpose, fanatic and organized regimes posess a destructive power that goes beyond the mere destruction of our habitat. More than a simple critique of a system, this book is a beacon of hope and wonder for whoever is on the brink of losing faith in the human capability of living in harmony with nature and each other.
Here, Kapka Kassabova shares the beautiful and sometimes sad stories of very special people that live in the heart of the Balkans and never let go of love and attachment to each other and trusted in the one and only power humanity might never come to fully understand: the regenerative power of mother nature. -J
Literature and fiction, light or heavy
- The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
- The goodman Jesus and the scoundrel Christ by Phillip Pullman
- Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
- Goodnight Tokyo by Atsuhiro Yoshida
- Premier de cordée & La grande crevasse by R. Frison-Roche - French adventure Literature This classical piece of French literary fiction was written by a journalist from the French capital that abandoned mundane life to go back to the ground of his ancestors at the foot of the Mont-Blanc.
These stories takes you all the way to the beginning of the 20th century in the mountains surrounding the city of Chamonix, where the Bourgeoisie was discovering the pleasures and inherently attached dangers of mountaineering. Frison-Roche knew how to beautifully intertwine themes as courage, love, an the development of the ego through mental an physical challenges, all while respecting the force of nature that humans are still incapable of bypassing even in our time.
This book is not only worthwhile for alpine fanatics nor adventure seekers. This story is for all ages and sexes and can be re-read many times through a lifetime. -J
- The dream of a ridiculous man by F. Dostojevsky
- Les mots by JP Sartre
- Strange News from another planet by Herman Hesse
- Vol de nuit, Terre des hommes, Courrier sud by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
- Jean de Florette, Manon des sources by Marcel Pagnol
- Ecrire, L'Ete 80 by M. Duras
- Voices of the fallen heroes by Yukio Mishima - Japanese classic literature This collection of essays from the very well famous (or infamous?) Japanese writer is not for the faint hearted. This being my first step into Japanese literature and after being warned by other fellow readers about its style and themes, this reading experience was one of the most refreshing I have had in a long time. I can not say that a sensation of unease left my body before I finished reading all those stories, but my original anguish was quickly replaced by a feeling of curiosity and I soon found myself reading, one story after the other, as I could not wait to see what would come out of Mishima’s quill.
Although themes as death, blunt sexuality and generationless life struggles were omnipresent and often mingled together in his stories, I found Mishima's writing very much more sensitive than I origninally expected. When I finished reading this collection of novellas, a nostalgic feeling stayed with me for a few days. But it was not a bad nostalgy, it felt as if due to the realisation that life can be short, go ways you might not have expected and that living it is the only and most beautiful option. -J
- Boek 1 by Martin Rombouts
- Time must have a stop by Aldous huxley
- Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Fantasy & Sci-Fi
If you are a philosophical soul, in search of the spiritual or maybe a 'realistic' type of person, please don't shy away from imagination, it might reveal more and even make sense of every day mysteries. Since the dawn of our time we've imagined narratives to make sense of what our lives are, of what it means to suffer, to rejoice and to die. There's a lot of solace hidden in fantasy and sci-fi, revealing solutions to our earthly problems while coming from imagined worlds, often very estranged from ours. If you want to read more about this here is the link to Ursula K. Le Guin's website and speech about Fantasy: Some Assumptions about Fantasy.
- The Hobbit By J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Lord of the Rings: The fellowship of the ring, The two towers, The Return of the king by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Space crone by Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Word for World is forest By Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Earthsea Quartet: Wizard of Earthsea (Vol One), The Tombs of Atuan (Vol Two), The Farthest Shore (Vol Three) Tehanu (Vol Four) by Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Left hand of darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Farseer trilogy: Assassin's Apprentice (Vol One), Royal Assassin (Vol Two), Assassin's Quest (Vol Three) by Robin hobb
- The Tawny man trilogy: Fool's Errand (Vol One), The Golden Fool (Vol Two), Fool's Fate (Vol Three) By Robin Hobb
- Fitz and the Fool trilogy: Fool's Assassin (Vol One), Fool's Quest (Vol Two), Assassin's Fate (Vol Three) by Robin Hobb
- Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro
- The Witcher Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski
- The Witcher, The last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
- Le crime du comte de Neville by Amélie Nothomb