2025 Solo Book Club: Membership of One
- Dan Hoeye
- Dec 5, 2025
- 9 min read
My earliest memories of discovering the world of books trace back to third grade and the school library at Northwest Elementary School in Dodge City, Kansas. Yes, that Dodge City, with Boot Hill and Miss Kitty and the enduring Wild West charm. If you ever find yourself wandering southwestern Kansas (unlikely, but hear me out), the town’s legendary spirit still lingers, a genuine slice of Americana worth a visit.
Even now, if I close my eyes, I see that little library, its shelves towering over my 10-year-old self. Back then, claiming a book felt like a small miracle: Just scribble your name on a card, hand it to the kind lady at the counter, and walk away into adventure, mystery, and knowledge. So. Many. Books! Stories bursting with wild escapades, hidden mysteries, and moments of laughter; books crammed with scientific marvels and practical wisdom. My hungry imagination plotted and planned for library day like it was the highlight of my week, maxing out my book allotment in mere minutes, then hatching schemes for following week’s conquests. For the red-headed, chubby 10-year-old me, books were my gateway to everywhere and everything and my thinker and imaginator traveled freely. I loved that little library and everything it represented and gave. It was a paragon of hope and possibilities.
So, check this out: Reading is actually good for you. No, seriously. Reading calms frayed nerves, reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, and even improves your sleep. Google it; it’s all there. The mental rewards are equally profound—increased empathy and understanding, sharper memory (with a slower fade as years go by), keener analytical skills, and an ever-expanding knowledge of the English language to improve both written and spoken word. In short, reading makes you better and brighter. Hmmm…
Fast forward to about a year ago. On the cusp of 2025, I found myself making lists of things to start, keep, and quit for the coming year. Somewhere along the way in 2024, it hit me that I’d fallen deeply under the spell of my phone. Ugh. Not phoning, just scrolling. Mindlessly. Social feeds and valueless games. Distractions aplenty. Double ugh. In a moment of clarity, I asked for a Kindle for Christmas. Suddenly, I felt like my 10-year-old self again…planning, scheming, and imagining. I returned to my personal library (these days, more digital than physical), dashing through virtual aisles, swapping ideas with fellow book lovers, and scrawling a list of 12 exciting reads for coming year. Thus, the 2025 Solo Book Club was born—a club of one, but what a valuable membership!
So, I started purposeful reading again this year. IT WAS FREAKING AWESOME! Below you’ll find the roster from my 2025 Solo Book Club (trademark pending…JK!). Now, this is just the books I read for the Club. No work assignments, scripture study, college teaching prep, or the daily news. No random magazines or poetry plucked from the coffee table at my doctor’s office waiting room. Not that there wasn’t a good deal of all that in 2025, but following is my curated picks from the Club only, a few personal notes on each, and the adventure they brought me. My original list had just a dozen titles, but I lost count and ended up reading 18. Oh, and while my mind feels sharper from this 12-month exercise, my soul feels transformed. Truly. I felt more layers this year through reading and experiencing these great books. I imagined, considered, and pondered. Deeply. I slowed down a little. I put my phone down, a lot. I think I loved more honestly and took my own dreams, and the dreams of others, more seriously. Maybe it was just a good year and reading had nothing to do with it. Maybe.
I leave it to you. If you want to think better, sleep deeper, dream bigger, and live greater—read a book. Heck, read lots of books and be a whole lot better in a whole lot of ways. My list of tomes, novels, and works of words for the 2026 Solo Book Club is all set and I can’t wait to get started. Let me know if you want to join the Club. There’s room. Or heck, start your own Solo Book Club. Either way, the membership is free and the rewards are positively profound. Getting a little better is just a few pages away. If you happen to visit the library, I’m the chubby, red-headed kid in the adventure section sitting on the floor with a book. Hope to see you there.
2025 Reading List:
The Giver by Lois Lowry (January) My first book of the year on my new Kindle. "The Giver" was a great, fairly easy read. I finished it in two days and am not necessarily a fast reader; not slow, but not a speed reader. It's given me a lot to think about regarding agency and our right to choose. I highly recommend it to readers, tweens, teens, and the much older (like me).
Whew! This is a great book. I only read the first in the series, so I'll have to swing back around at some point. Experiencing Atwood's writing voice is like swimming in deep butter – buoyantly-rich and challenging. I loved it. It's not for the faint of heart or head; I found myself needing to look up at least one word on each page (thankfully, the Kindle has a built-in dictionary!). A great read that really made me appreciate my life.
While I'm focusing this year's reading on general "top books to read" lists, I'm a fan of Grisham's fiction and am peppering in his books throughout 2025. "The Broker" is a great read and I enjoyed reading it for, I think, for the third time. Grisham does a great job sharing details of the environment and situations of his stories. Clearly, he does a great deal of research before writing. As is the case with all his books, this one pitches suspense from first to last page.
My fourth book so far this year. "Animal Farm" is a relatively short book but a deep and thoughtful read. I think this is my third reading of this Orwell fiction but it's the first time I felt uneasy reading it. It's alarming, really. Emotionally disturbing, in fact. Happy to have read it again to be reminded but even happier to move on to the next book. =)
"A Time to Kill" was Grisham's first novel and didn't do well at first but gained a following after his second book's success ("The Firm"). I love this book! Great read! As a father of five, the storyline is not an easy one to digest, but worth the invested time. Also, I read this book with one of my brothers and that added some fun to it. He and I had some great conversations about Grisham, the story, the themes, and more.
I read "The Old man and the Sea" first when I was in 9th grade, then again one summer in college. I loved it. However, reading it now in my mid-50s I realize that this is the right time to read it. I understand this Old Man now, perhaps. Hemingway too, perhaps. At least, greater, deeper than I could have in my teens and 20s. Relatively short book that needs to be on everyone's must-read list. Rich in personal insight and a great view of the grooves etched in the souls of those who have struggled through life while winning moments along the way. A must-read.
Ah, this was just a delight to read. Science fiction meets entertainment...it's simply a fun read and I find it to be massively better than the movie (2013). If you're looking for a wonderfully entertaining, sci-fi / fantasy read for your early teens or yourself, I highly recommend it. Awesomesauce.
"The Firm" was Grisham's second book and really launched his writing career. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, but this is one of the very few instances where I think the movie might actually be better than the book. Don't get me wrong, it's a good read! The movie, however, might be slightly better.
I've read this book about 10 times and enjoyed it this time every bit as much as I ever have. I'm on my 3-week solo motorcycle ride and this was the perfect book to consume on the road. Full of wonder, curiosity, fear, bravery, new experiences, discovery, and the start of becoming something new and awesome. Worth the read, regardless of how many times you've read it. Adventure on!!!
I've read it before, but I really enjoyed listening to this audio book while on my motorcycle trip in July. It's such a great book and the movie is equally entertaining, in my experience. Grisham does a wonderful job of pulling me into these intense situations and makes me feel like I know the characters. A good, fun read.
My goodness, this book. Jeesh. The concept of aging vs. decaying and that aging includes experiences, learning, and growing and should be coveted and not avoided appeals to me so deeply these days. I loved consuming this book. If you haven't read it, read it. If you have read it, read it again. To live, and die, in a way that gives to others is, to me, the greatest of all life's gifts.
If Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens collaborated on a book, this is exactly how it would have read. "The Thirty-Nine Steps" a fun spy thriller written in 1915 and it captures pre-WWI vibes. I loved reading it. It's just a fun read, period. Highly recommended.
I read this Dickens classic nearly every year in December. I absolutely love it. I enjoyed it a little early this year AND did something different... I listened to the Apple Books eBook version, narrated by LeVar Burton (Reading Rainbow, Star Trek, Roots, etc.)! It is a fantastic read and a delightful listen. Mr. Burton is extraordinary and I couldn't recommend it higher. Love my traditional intake of this magical story.
What a joy! Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, of Sherlock Holmes fame, wrote this book many years after writing his detective mysteries and it should be on every young person's must-read list. You can't do better for adventure fiction. If you haven't read it, just do it! It's a great read.
Fascinating, relatively short read. "As a Man Thinketh" is a self-help book published at the turn of the beginning of the 20th century and is a look into the past as much as it is a look at one's self. I found some delightful insight, as told by the number of lines I highlighted via my Kindle, that I'll pin to my vision board. Suggested read! Especially considering its length and semi-historical value. Really glad I read it.
Generally, I read a great deal of fiction, so this was a departure. "107 Days" is not by any stretch great literature but it is an account of a great journey and that holds a lot of value to me. Politics aside, I truly enjoyed learning about what the last several months of a presidential campaign looks like. Fascinating!!! Whether I agree with one side of the aisle or the other, I have a lot of respect for the commitment, effort, and strength it takes to do what the author did in these 107 days and nights. Really glad I read it and recommend it to those who, like me, can be inspired by those who reach high.
Considered a literary masterpiece, "We" is attributed as the original dystopian novel that books such as "1984" and "Brave New World" inspired. Originally written in Russian, the English translation is a head maze of disharmony in harmony and unhappiness in controlled paradise. I'm extremely glad I read it and happy I got through it. This book is far smarter than I am, but I'm 100% happy to have consumed and felt it. A brilliant piece of writing filled with important lessons to consider.
From the author of, "Eat, Pray, Love,” this book was a gift from one of my closest friends. He knows me well and thought this might be a good way for me to connect to my creative side. It's a great read! Not just for creative types, I think the wisdom and insights shared apply to anyone wanting to rise above the daily chores of this and that and think and do on another level. Great way to end a year of reading great books.
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