A
Literary Saloon
&
Site of Review.

Trying to meet all your book preview and review needs.


Contents:
Main
the Best
the Rest
Review Index
Links

weblog

crQ

to e-mail us:



In Association with Amazon.com


In association with Amazon.com - UK


In Partnerschaft mit Amazon.de

the Complete Review


Most Popular Reviews - 2025


     Here are the reviews that attracted the most interest at the complete review in 2025, first the top 50 for the year and then the top 15 each month of the year.

2025

     [Reviews with an asterisk (*) were first posted in 2025.]

  1. Voice of a Dream, Glaydah Namukasa
  2. Strange Pictures*, Uketsu
  3. The Director, Daniel Kehlmann
  4. Perfection*, Vincenzo Latronico
  5. Ballerina*, Patrick Modiano
  6. The Remembered Soldier*, Anjet Daanje
  7. Your Steps on the Stairs*, Antonio Muñoz Molina
  8. The Empusium, Olga Tokarczuk
  9. We Computers*, Hamid Ismailov
  10. The Fortress, Mesa Selimovic
  11. The Aesthetics of Resistance, Peter Weiss
  12. The Sleepwalkers, Scarlett Thomas
  13. The Proof of My Innocence*, Jonathan Coe
  14. Perspective(s)*, Laurent Binet
  15. 2666, Roberto Bolaño
  16. The Plains*, Gerald Murnane
  17. The Summer House*, Matsuie Masashi
  18. On the Calculation of Volume (Book I), Solvej Balle
  19. Vanishing World*, Murata Sayaka
  20. Your Name Here*, Helen DeWitt and Ilya Gridneff
  21. Ellmann's Joyce*, Zachary Leader
  22. Sons and Daughters*, Chaim Grade
  23. The Amateur*, Robert Littell
  24. Command Performance*, Jean Echenoz
  25. People's Choice Literature*, Tom Comitta
  26. The Secret Hours, Mick Herron
  27. On the Calculation of Volume (Book III)*, Solvej Balle
  28. The Story of the Stone, Cao Xueqin
  29. The Anatomy of Melancholy, Robert Burton
  30. The Holy Innocents*, Miguel Delibes
  31. Effingers*, Gabriele Tergit
  32. The Place of Shells*, Ishizawa Mai
  33. Heartpiece, Heiner Müller
  34. The Lost Steps, Alejo Carpentier
  35. The Sea, the Sea, Iris Murdoch
  36. Sympathy Tower Tokyo*, Qudan Rie
  37. Death and the Gardener*, Georgi Gospodinov
  38. Theory & Practice*, Michelle de Kretser
  39. Stella Maris*, Cormac McCarthy
  40. A Play of Giants, Wole Soyinka
  41. Taiwan Travelogue*, Yáng Shuāng-zǐ
  42. The Museum of Innocence, Orhan Pamuk
  43. American Psycho*, Bret Easton Ellis
  44. An Accidental Man, Iris Murdoch
  45. The Lily in the Valley*, Honoré de Balzac
  46. Old Soul*, Susan Barker
  47. Marshland*, Kaga Otohiko
  48. Trilogy, Jon Fosse
  49. Rosa Mistika*, Euphrase Kezilahabi
  50. Montevideo*, Enrique Vila-Matas

Return to top of page.


      Previous month's position given in brackets.
      Not applicable ("n.a.") indicates book is new.
      "-" indicates book was not among top 50 reviews.

December, 2025

  1. The Fire Within, Touhfat Mouhtare (n.a.)
  2. The Man Who Died Seven Times, Nishizawa Yasuhiko (n.a.)
  3. The Smithsonian Institution, Gore Vidal (n.a.)
  4. Vengeance is Mine, Friedrich Torberg (n.a.)
  5. Beloved Son Felix, Felix Platter (n.a.)
  6. Adventures of Max Spitzkopf, Jonas Kreppel (n.a.)
  7. Across the Acheron, Monique Wittig (n.a.)
  8. Effingers, Gabriele Tergit (12)
  9. The Director, Daniel Kehlmann (25)
  10. Boryslav in Flames, Ivan Franko (n.a.)
  11. Gone Tomorrow, Lee Child (n.a.)
  12. Scorpions, Kurahashi Yumiko (n.a.)
  13. Montevideo, Enrique Vila-Matas (2)
  14. On the Calculation of Volume (Book III), Solvej Balle (14)
  15. The Child's Child, Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell) (n.a.)

Return to top of page.

November, 2025

  1. Your Name Here, Helen DeWitt and Ilya Gridneff (n.a.)
  2. Montevideo, Enrique Vila-Matas (n.a.)
  3. Eye of the Monkey, Tóth Krisztina (n.a.)
  4. The Snow Was Dirty, Georges Simenon (n.a.)
  5. The Cavalier, Nathalie Quintane (n.a.)
  6. Businessmen as Lovers, Rosemary Tonks (n.a.)
  7. The Four Deaths and One Resurrection of Fyodor Mikhailovich, Zoran Živković (n.a.)
  8. The Fortress, Mesa Selimovic (3)
  9. let me tell you, Paul Griffiths (n.a.)
  10. Artificial Truth, J.M.Lee (7)
  11. Sad Tiger, Neige Sinno (10)
  12. Effingers, Gabriele Tergit (6)
  13. let me go on, Paul Griffiths (n.a.)
  14. On the Calculation of Volume (Book III), Solvej Balle (n.a.)
  15. Freezing Down, Anders Bodelsen (28)

Return to top of page.

October, 2025

  1. The Name on the Wall, Hervé Le Tellier (n.a.)
  2. Short Circuit, Wolf Haas (n.a.)
  3. The Fortress, Mesa Selimovic (11)
  4. The Sweet Dove Died, Barbara Pym (n.a.)
  5. The Sixteen Satires, Juvenal (n.a.)
  6. Effingers, Gabriele Tergit (n.a.)
  7. Artificial Truth, J.M.Lee (n.a.)
  8. Satantango, Krasznahorkai László (-)
  9. Gabriel's Moon, William Boyd (41)
  10. Sad Tiger, Neige Sinno (n.a.)
  11. Stella Maris, Cormac McCarthy (10)
  12. Destruction and Sorrow beneath the Heavens, Krasznahorkai László (-)
  13. Alien Gods, Lee Suhyeon (n.a.)
  14. Animalinside, Krasznahorkai László (-)
  15. The Call of the Friend, Choi JaeHoon (n.a.)

Return to top of page.

September, 2025

  1. Voice of a Dream, Glaydah Namukasa (1)
  2. Swallows, Kirino Natsuo (n.a.)
  3. Killing Stella, Marlen Haushofer (n.a.)
  4. Into the Weeds, Lydia Davis (n.a.)
  5. Centroeuropa, Vicente Luis Mora (n.a.)
  6. Art on Fire, Yun Ko-eun (n.a.)
  7. Theory & Practice, Michelle de Kretser (12)
  8. On the Calculation of Volume (Book III), Solvej Balle (n.a.)
  9. Dealing with the Dead, Alain Mabanckou (n.a.)
  10. Stella Maris, Cormac McCarthy (n.a.)
  11. The Fortress, Mesa Selimovic (22)
  12. Mistress Koharu, Tsujihara Noboru (n.a.)
  13. We Computers, Hamid Ismailov (2)
  14. Invisible Helix, Higashino Keigo (n.a.)
  15. Chinese Songs in a French Key, Pauline Yu (n.a.)

Return to top of page.

August, 2025

  1. Voice of a Dream, Glaydah Namukasa (22)
  2. We Computers, Hamid Ismailov (n.a.)
  3. Sympathy Tower Tokyo, Qudan Rie (n.a.)
  4. Death and the Gardener, Georgi Gospodinov (n.a.)
  5. The Emotions, Jean-Philippe Toussaint (n.a.)
  6. Patchwork, Tom Comitta (n.a.)
  7. Marshland, Kaga Otohiko (n.a.)
  8. Butter, Yuzuki Asako (24)
  9. The Sleepwalkers, Scarlett Thomas (9)
  10. The Final Girl Support Group, Grady Hendrix (n.a.)
  11. Bad F**king, Kurt Palm (n.a.)
  12. Theory & Practice, Michelle de Kretser (n.a.)
  13. Good & Safe, Liesl Ujvary (n.a.)
  14. From Ted to Tom, Edward Gorey (n.a.)
  15. Strange Pictures, Uketsu (14)

Return to top of page.

July, 2025

  1. American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis (n.a.)
  2. Blowfish, Jo Kyung-Ran (n.a.)
  3. The Girl with the Golden Eyes, Honoré de Balzac (n.a.)
  4. Speaking in Tongues, J.M.Coetzee and Mariana Dimópulos (n.a.)
  5. Serge, Yasmina Reza (n.a.)
  6. The Laboratory, Rabindranath Tagore (n.a.)
  7. One Shot, Lee Child (n.a.)
  8. Fish Letters, Goderdzi Chokheli (n.a.)
  9. The Sleepwalkers, Scarlett Thomas (109)
  10. The Highest Exam, Ruixue Jia, Hongbin Li, and Claire Cousineau (n.a.)
  11. cake & prostheses, Gerhard Rühm (n.a.)
  12. The Pearlsong (n.a.)
  13. The World's Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant, Liza Tully (8)
  14. Strange Pictures, Uketsu (21)
  15. The Holy Innocents, Miguel Delibes (26)

Return to top of page.

June, 2025

  1. The Book, Stéphane Mallarmé (n.a.)
  2. Exophony, Tawada Yoko (n.a.)
  3. The Living and the Rest, José Eduardo Agualusa (n.a.)
  4. A Fictional Inquiry, Daniele Del Giudice (n.a.)
  5. The City, Valerian Pidmohylnyi (n.a.)
  6. Wilde West, Walter Satterthwait (n.a.)
  7. Twilight of Crooks, Mwalimu Johnnie MacViban (n.a.)
  8. The World's Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant, Liza Tully (n.a.)
  9. At the Louvre (n.a.)
  10. The Questions of Milinda (n.a.)
  11. People's Choice Literature, Tom Comitta (1)
  12. New Story of the Stone, Wu Jianren (61)
  13. The Director, Daniel Kehlmann (10)
  14. Rosa Mistika, Euphrase Kezilahabi (8)
  15. Hidden Heroes (n.a.)

Return to top of page.

May, 2025

  1. People's Choice Literature, Tom Comitta (n.a.)
  2. The Holy Innocents, Miguel Delibes (n.a.)
  3. Oromay, Baalu Girma (n.a.)
  4. The Summer House, Matsuie Masashi (n.a.)
  5. The Labyrinth of Fortune, Juan de Mena (n.a.)
  6. Sakina's Kiss, Vivek Shanbhag (n.a.)
  7. Enuma Elish: The Babylonian Epic of Creation (n.a.)
  8. Rosa Mistika, Euphrase Kezilahabi (n.a.)
  9. Ellmann's Joyce, Zachary Leader (2)
  10. The Director, Daniel Kehlmann (14)
  11. Your Steps on the Stairs, Antonio Muñoz Molina (12)
  12. Decolonising the Mind, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (-)
  13. Vanishing World, Murata Sayaka (1)
  14. The Innocent Libertine, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (17)
  15. Conclave, Robert Harris (-)

Return to top of page.

April, 2025

  1. Vanishing World, Murata Sayaka (n.a.)
  2. Ellmann's Joyce, Zachary Leader (n.a.)
  3. The King of a Rainy Country, Brigid Brophy (n.a.)
  4. The Remembered Soldier, Anjet Daanje (n.a.)
  5. Semishigure, Fujisawa Shuhei (n.a.)
  6. The Arsonist, Egon Hostovský (n.a.)
  7. The Ways of Paradise, Peter Cornell (n.a.)
  8. Khosrow and Shirin, Nezami Ganjavi (n.a.)
  9. Perfection, Vincenzo Latronico (2)
  10. The Amateur, Robert Littell (4)
  11. The Empusium, Olga Tokarczuk (9)
  12. Your Steps on the Stairs, Antonio Muñoz Molina (3)
  13. Mrs. Lilienblum's Cloud Factory, Iddo Gefen (n.a.)
  14. The Director, Daniel Kehlmann (27)
  15. Strange Pictures, Uketsu (10)

Return to top of page.

March, 2025

  1. The Plains, Gerald Murnane (n.a.)
  2. Perfection, Vincenzo Latronico (n.a.)
  3. Your Steps on the Stairs, Antonio Muñoz Molina (n.a.)
  4. The Amateur, Robert Littell (n.a.)
  5. Sons and Daughters, Chaim Grade (n.a.)
  6. The Peach Blossom Fan, Kong Shangren (39)
  7. The Aesthetics of Resistance, Peter Weiss (25)
  8. Mrs. Lilienblum's Cloud Factory, Iddo Gefen (n.a.)
  9. The Empusium, Olga Tokarczuk (16)
  10. Strange Pictures, Uketsu (9)
  11. Perspective(s), Laurent Binet (2)
  12. Command Performance, Jean Echenoz (3)
  13. The Hashish Films of Customs Officer Henri Rousseau and Tatyana Joukof Shuffles the Cards, Emil Szittya (7)
  14. Shyness and Dignity, Dag Solstad (-)
  15. Ballerina, Patrick Modiano (15)

Return to top of page.

February, 2025

  1. The Lily in the Valley, Honoré de Balzac (n.a.)
  2. Perspective(s), Laurent Binet (n.a.)
  3. Command Performance, Jean Echenoz (n.a.)
  4. Near Distance, Hanna Stoltenberg (n.a.)
  5. First Love, Shimamoto Rio (n.a.)
  6. Saara, Mbarek Ould Beyrouk (n.a.)
  7. The Hashish Films of Customs Officer Henri Rousseau and Tatyana Joukof Shuffles the Cards, Emil Szittya (n.a.)
  8. The Magpie at Night, Li Qingzhao (n.a.)
  9. Strange Pictures, Uketsu (1)
  10. Play of Giants, Wole Soyinka (37)
  11. Die Trying, Lee Child (n.a.)
  12. On the Calculation of Volume (Book I), Solvej Balle (34)
  13. The Place of Shells, Ishizawa Mai (4)
  14. The Suicides, Antonio Di Benedetto (14)
  15. Ballerina, Patrick Modiano (2)

Return to top of page.

January, 2025

  1. Strange Pictures, Uketsu (n.a.)
  2. Ballerina, Patrick Modiano (n.a.)
  3. The Proof of My Innocence, Jonathan Coe (n.a.)
  4. The Place of Shells, Ishizawa Mai (n.a.)
  5. Old Soul, Susan Barker (n.a.)
  6. Taiwan Travelogue, Yáng Shuāng-zǐ (n.a.)
  7. Perversity, Francis Carco (n.a.)
  8. There Lives a Young Girl in Me Who Will Not Die, Tove Ditlevsen (n.a.)
  9. New Inventions and the Latest Innovations, Gaston de Pawlowski (n.a.)
  10. The Rest is Silence, Augusto Monterroso (12)
  11. The Empusium, Olga Tokarczuk (10)
  12. Voice of a Dream, Glaydah Namukasa (-)
  13. The Propagandist, Cécile Desprairies (11)
  14. The Suicides, Antonio Di Benedetto (3)
  15. The Lost Steps, Alejo Carpentier (18)

Return to top of page.



© 2026 the complete review

Main | the New | the Best | the Rest | Review Index | Links