What Did You Read in October 2025?

I don’t think it will happen, but 2025 could be the first year that the books I’ve read outnumber the movies I’ve seen. It may be close. Stay tuned.

October was a good reading month including (of course) some horror, crime fiction, a classic, and a lot of nonfiction. Here we go:

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Not Pictured Fiction

Untitled (2025) ???

This is a novel in manuscript written by a good friend. It has a title, but I don’t want to reveal it without his permission and can’t tell you the plot, but I can say it’s a terrific novel with strong elements of supernatural horror. Let’s hope it’s published soon. I’ll keep you posted.

Pictured Fiction

The Golden Spiders (Nero Wolfe #22, 1953) Rex Stout (2x)

In 1988 a lady named Martha Holliday introduced me to the wonders of Rex Stout’s greatest creation, detective Nero Wolfe. I spent the next two years reading all 33 Wolfe novels and 39 novellas/short stories. And then I started over. The Golden Spiders wasn’t the first Wolfe book I read, but it was fairly early. I like it even more now than I did then. A 12-year-old street kid named Pete hires Wolfe to find the woman who stopped her car at a red light, looked at him out the window, and mouthed the words “Call the police.” Wolfe takes the case only to discover that the woman, wearing golden spider earrings, has mysteriously disappeared. Soon, death follows. Then another death. I never tire of reading the adventures of Nero Wolfe and his wise-cracking assistant Archie Goodwin, and this is a good one.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (2025) Stephen Graham Jones

I’d heard of Stephen Graham Jones for years, but this is my introduction to his work. Wow… I need to read more from this guy. The current discovery of a Lutheran pastor’s diary from 1912 recounts the clergyman’s encounters with a Blackfeet named Good Stab who relates a strange and terrifying tale that may extend from the past into the present. Jones weaves a masterful story filled with modern-day relevance and brutal violence. This is the best horror novel I’ve read in a long time.

The Age of Innocence (1920) Edith Wharton

I read this as part of The Catherine Project, a five-week book discussion led by my friend Ann Glenn covering this and another Wharton novel I plan to include next month. I’ve seen the 1993 Martin Scorsese adaptation (which is stellar), but no film can cover everything in a book this dense, and The Age of Innocence is wonderfully rich, touching on concepts of society, money, manners and ethics, and more set in 1870s New York among the well-to-do.

Not Pictured Nonfiction

The Wisdom of the Bullfrog: Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy) (2023) Admiral William H. McRaven

Every now and then I like to read a book on leadership. This quick, short read is obviously going to contain a heavy military slant, but most of it applies to the civilian world. Worth a read.

Pictured Nonfiction

Caring for One Another: 8 Ways to Cultivate Meaningful Relationships (2018) Edward T. Welch

Everyone is hurting at some point, and many suffer under intense hardship. People often think that pastors and elders are the only ones who should comfort and help those around us. No, all Christians should do this. This small book, a condensed version of Welch’s Side by Side, gives you the basics for going beyond the surface level in building relationships with and helping those who are suffering.

Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry (2024) Austin Frerich

If you were incensed by Patrick Radden Keefe’s Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty (2021), prepare yourself for the injustices and corruption of Barons, which chronicles the rise to power of several corporate giants running rampant and largely unchecked in the food industry. These monopolies (several of whom you and I probably support without knowing it) are not only causing small-businesses to fail, they’re also one of the main reasons Americans are less healthy than we were just a generation ago. It doesn’t take much effort to link these practices to the current problems we’re having in healthcare. If you think I’m exaggerating, you need to read this book.

Isaiah For You: Enlarging Your Vision of Who God Is (2021) Tim Chester

Isaiah has always puzzled me, exposing my ignorance of that Old Testament book. (I wish I could say that’s the only one that puzzles me.) Last year I started The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction Commentary by Alec J. Motyer, and soon discovered I needed a more basic introduction, so I picked up Isaiah for You, one of several volumes in the God’s Word for You series. Even this short book blew me away with how much is going on in Isaiah, how it’s a bridge to the New Testament pointing to Christ, covers more than one exodus, shows God’s holiness and love for His people, and more. For an introductory book, it has enormous scope. I’ll tackle the Motyer commentary soon, so we’ll see what happens.

Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature (2025) Becky Siegel Spratford

Anthologies frequently disappoint, often turning out to be a mixed bag, but Why I Love Horror contains no weak spots and some brilliant ones. Spratford, a librarian and master of readers’ advisory, asked 18 horror writers to tell us what drew them to dark stories. Some essays are highly personal, even terrifying. My favorites come from two writers I have not yet read: Josh Malerman (Bird Box) and David Demchuk (Red X). Spratford suggests the best starting point for each author as well as recommendations for comparable writers. Could we possibly see a second volume? Let’s hope so.

Darkness Visible: The Cinema of Jonathan Glazer (2025) John Bleasdale

I recently reviewed this book.

Making a Difference: Impacting Culture and Society as a Christian (1986/2019) R.C. Sproul

Sproul (who died in 2017) shows how Christians should respond to various philosophies (pragmatism, relativism, existentialism, etc.), worldviews, and issues related to economics, science, the arts, government, and more. This book is a good starting point for these topics, but is quite dated. (A lot has happened since 1986.) Often the discussion questions at the end of each chapter aren’t answerable based on that chapter’s information. An update would help, but the book is still useful for the basics.

Attending upon God without Distraction (1695) Nathanael Vincent

When I picked up this book, I naively believed much of it would be focused on how to prevent wandering thoughts during worship services. It is that, but it’s so much more, touching on every aspect of our lives. It is both convicting and encouraging, but prepare yourself for the period language. (Yet methinks I am becoming accustomed to the manner in which the utterances doth operate.)

The Certainty of Faith (1903/2025) Herman Bavnick (translated by Daniel Schrock)

At some point most Christians struggle with the assurance of their faith. This small book (just over 100 pages) provides a wealth of instruction and comfort by grounding our faith and hope in Christ. It touches on science, apologetics, how different faiths (or none) embrace assurance, the value of experience vs. biblical revelation, and the solidity and trustworthiness of the promises of God. This is a book I will return to again and again.

That’s it for my October reading. I hope you’ll find something here to explore. Noirvember is coming up, so look for some good noirish crime fiction from me next month. In the meantime, let me know what you read in October, good, bad, or meh. Thanks for reading!