KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The Aftermath: War does not truly end when fighting stops.
- Don Quixote: People often live by the stories they believe, not by reality.
- Night Watch: In the past, mental illness was treated with cruelty, not care.
- The Long Walk: The real horror is losing hope slowly.
- Roadwork: Untreated grief can destroy a person from within.
- The Running Man: Society can turn human suffering into entertainment.
- Brotherless Night: War mainly hurts ordinary families, not just soldiers.
- Human Acts: Remembering victims is a moral responsibility.
- Desperation: Fear and faith often exist together.
- The Stand: Even after collapse, human choices still matter.
- Elevation: Kindness can quietly change lives.
- Joyland: Growing up often means learning to live with loss.
- Kairos: Toxic love can be as damaging as political chaos.
- Anxious People: Human connection can fix all troubles.
- It's Ok to be Angry about Capitalism: If the system seems unfair to you, you are not wrong.
- Love in the Time of Cholera: Love that refuses to wane even after decades.
- The Mist: When fear takes over, people become a bigger threat than the threat itself.
OVERVIEW
As the year came to an end, I felt the need to look back and bring together everything I read. Many of these books deal with war, loss, mental health, and people under extreme pressure. Stephen King appears the most in this list, which comes as no surprise, he remains my all-time favourite author. Alongside King, I also read historical and literary fiction that focuses on trauma, aftermath, and survival.
1. THE AFTERMATH
The reasons behind getting this book were its price and subject. I had found this book at a ridiculously good discount rate last year, and World Wars and historical subjects are my favourite; therefore, I could not resist to purchase it.
Very little popular literature focuses on the reconstruction of Germany after World War II, and that is precisely where The Aftermath stands apart. While the horror of WWII, the Holocaust, and concentration camps dominate the collective memory (and rightly so), the difficult moral, social, and emotional rebuilding that followed is often overlooked. Most of the WWII fiction I have read, All the Light We Cannot See, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, centers on suffering during the war.
As a historical fiction enthusiast, this novel did not try hard to grip me. Its quiet strength lies in its reflective tone and historical significance. If you are interested in post-war literature and the ethical questions of recovery, this is worth your time.
2. DON QUIXOTE
As a literature student, I had generally read about this classic book but never thought of reading it, as I was already busy with lots of other books. But my interest was piqued by The Platform. In the movie, the protagonist takes this book with him unlike others who bring along survival tools like a knife.
Often described as the first modern novel, Don Quixote remains one of the most impressive and extraordinary works of the Spanish Golden Age. Despite its massive size, the book is remarkably engaging.
What struck me most was how modern it feels, especially its constant wrestling with reality and illusion. The question of what is real and what is imagined runs throughout the novel, making it feel uncannily postmodern. At times, it reminded me of metafiction and narrative self-awareness long before such terms existed.
3. NIGHT WATCH
I purchased this book out of my love for Pulitzer winning-work as I have been reading them for years and they never disappointed me.
An intense and emotionally demanding read, Night Watch is set during the Civil War era and explores the treatment of people with mental illness at the time. The novel is haunting and, at moments, graphically brutal, but it is equally a story of endurance and quiet resolve.
Among my previous reads dealing with mental health, Dear Child and Rabbits for Food, this one stands out for its historical depth and emotional weight. I’m sure there are others on my shelves, but these were the first that came to mind.
4. THE LONG WALK
It is a Bachman book that means it is supposed to be much dreary and bleak as compared to usual King's work.
The Long Walk makes you feel physical pain. Its central premise alone ensures a dark, exhausting, and deeply depressing experience. Stephen King’s descriptive power is on full display here, the fatigue, psychological breakdown, and gradual transformation of the characters are almost visceral.
Like many of King’s works, the slow erosion of hope is written so convincingly that you experience it alongside the characters.
5. ROADWORK
It is also a Bachman book. Roadwork is basically the story of a man having a long, intense personal crisis, shown in a very realistic way. It is his angry and sad monologue about his disappointment and frustration with life. There are no monsters or supernatural events,just a man slowly falling apart because he cannot accept change.
At its heart, Roadwork is about getting older, feeling cynical, and dealing with loss. It looks at what happens when the stable, predictable life you expected disappears, and when trying to adapt feels like giving up instead of moving forward.
6. THE RUNNING MAN
It is another Bachman book. Fast-paced, brutal, and unsettlingly prophetic, The Running Man feels eerily close to our present reality. Its portrayal of extreme socio-economic inequality, media manipulation, and state-sponsored cruelty mirrors contemporary anxieties with alarming accuracy.
King’s dystopian vision depicts a society where entertainment replaces ethics and desperation becomes spectacle. Ordinary people are crushed under systems designed to exploit them for profit and distraction. The novel’s relentless pace reflects the pressure it places on its protagonist, and, by extension, on the reader. What makes it truly frightening is not its futuristic setting, but how little imagination it takes to see its world emerging around us.
7. BROTHERLESS NIGHT
A powerful historical novel with a strong social realist approach, Brotherless Night explores individual and collective grief caused by a war that is essentially a brutal power struggle between two factions.
The narrative is filled with compassion and moral complexity, highlighting the immense human cost borne by families trapped in an unjust and devastating conflict.
8. HUMAN ACTS
A raw and reflective novel, Human Acts confronts the atrocities humans are capable of committing, and the fragile resilience of those who survive them.
Painful yet necessary, the novel forces the reader to sit with discomfort, memory, and unresolved grief. It confronts brutality without sensationalism and forces the reader to sit with discomfort, memory, and grief.
I have already discussed its key symbols and motifs in a separate blog.
9. DESPERATION
Desperation is a relentless rollercoaster of horror that is almost impossible to put down. As the novel unfolds, the characters gain surprising depth, adding emotional weight to the chaos. The duality of personalities, meticulous attention to detail, and escalating horror make Desperation both terrifying and strangely awe-inspiring.
The novel balances sheer terror with philosophical inquiry, asking whether meaning can exist in a universe saturated with suffering. It is terrifying and exceedingly awe-inspiring.
10. THE STAND
This is one of Stephen King’s finest works and I truly regret not reading it earlier. Even before starting, I knew I was approaching something monumental, given its legendary reputation. That reputation is well-earned. The Stand is epic in scope, rich in character development, and haunting in its vision of collapse, survival, and morality.
11. ELEVATION
A great departure from King’s usual style, Elevation is slim and symbolic. It feels more like a long short story than a conventional novel, something that could easily fit into a future collection.
Subtle and emotionally restrained, the story explores themes of kindness, connection, and transcendence without sentimentality. It showcases a gentler side of King’s storytelling, proving that he can evoke meaning without horror or excess.
12. JOYLAND
I have already discussed Joyland in detail in another article, so I will not repeat myself here. Do check that piece out if you’re interested.
13. KAIROS
Kairos is a deeply disturbing tale of a toxic relationship unfolding against a backdrop of political instability and ideological decline. The novel is steeped in obsession, nostalgia, and emotional decay. The narrative style felt intentionally disorienting, perhaps part of its appeal, but it made the book challenging to fully grasp. Intriguing, yes, but not an easy read.
14. ANXIOUS PEOPLE
Anxious People is about ordinary people having a really bad day. It starts with a strange situation: a failed bank robbery turns into a hostage drama during an apartment viewing. But instead of action and crime, the story focuses on the emotions, fears, regrets, and loneliness of the people involved. Each character is anxious about something, like money, relationships, parenting, failure, or the future. As the story unfolds, you realize that no one is truly imprudent and impulsive. They are just overwhelmed and trying their best.
15. IT'S OK TO BE ANGRY ABOUT CAPITALISM
In It's Ok to be Angry about Capitalism, Sanders explains how modern capitalism benefits the very rich while making life harder for ordinary people. The system does so through low wages, expensive healthcare, student debt, and job insecurity. He argues that anger can be healthy and productive if it pushes people to demand fairness, dignity, and basic rights.
16. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA
I have already talked about one of its key themes in a separate article. Florentino loves Fermina from youth, but she marries someone else. Instead of moving on, Florentino waits for more than 50 years, living his life while holding onto hope. The novel shows love as messy, patient, foolish, loyal, and sometimes painful affair.
17. THE MIST
The Mist is about a small town suddenly getting covered by a thick mist with a terrifying creature lurking inside it. People take shelter in a supermarket, but the real horror is not just the monster outside. Fear, panic, and blind belief turn people against each other. King shows how quickly ordinary people can become dangerous when they are scared and around those who can exploit them in the wake of it.
CONCLUSION
Putting this wrap together helped me see my reading year more clearly. I was drawn more toward books that are emotionally heavy and often unsettling, but also thoughtful and powerful. Stephen King once again dominated my reading, proving why he continues to be my favourite. Overall, this was a challenging but rewarding reading year, and these books shaped it in a lasting way.