Books I've read in 2025 and I dearly recommend them

Of the books I read in 2025, the ones below delighted me, and you may want to consider them if you are looking for "something good to read."

Where eagles rest – Gabriel Chifu

The crazy desire to dance – Elie Wiesel

Free – Lea Ypi

Elif Shafak – There are Rivers in the Sky 

‘Return to myself’ and ‘Remain to me’ - Alex Andronic

The Door - Magda Szabó

Visiting a man's house in the absence of his wife – Adriana Bittel

The loneliness of a woman - Ileana Vulpescu

The Return – Gabriela Dumitriu

The End of Whispers – Ruta Sepetys

So late in the day – Claire Keegan

The Crime Seller – Fani Țurakova

Life has unlimited transport network season ticket – Diana Popescu

More than the past – Ana Blandiana

The Bilingual Brain – Albert Costa

Seven Virtues and a Sinful Death – Alexandru Lamba

Life Without Fear – Bertrand Russell

The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It – John Tierney 

TheMan Who Forgot His Wife – John O’Farrell

Catch the Rabbit – Lana Bastasic

Ex Igni Natus – Alex Andronic

How to Stop Time – Matt Haig 

Geniului 10 – Mircea Ignat, Florin Hălălău

The Barbarian Chronicle – Ana-Maria Negrilă

Dance of the Happy Shades – Alice Munro

First, there's the silence – Ioana Maria Stăncescu 

The Plath Earth – Anca Zaharia

8 Stories from the Mosilor Avenue – Adina Popescu

Pulse - Julian Barnes

After the End - Adrian Sângeorzan

Retroversions. Anthology of prose written by women – coordinated Cristina Ispas

Sister – Rosamund Lupton

A Natural Novel – Georgi Gospodinov

All rivers flow into the sea / ... And the sea is never full – Elie Wiesel

The road is long, the heat is intense – Radu Aldulescu

The conspiracy of the sheets – Jan Cornelius

Rock Paper Scissors – Alice Feeney

Life, life, tied with thread – Ileana Vulpescu

The body of the soul – Ludmila Ulițkaia

A panic attack – Ionuț Șendroiu

On Stand-By –Adina Popescu

The Kiss Before Death – Ira Levin

Parrot trills – Luminița Rusu

Diary at the End of the World, vol. II – Vasile Ernu

Orange – Anda Simion

The Forest Girl – Otilia Țeposu

Skylight – José Saramago

Feminist Writings – Laura Sandu

A mother's diary – Anemari-Helen Necșulescu

Restless legs syndrome – Ioana Unk

A Therapeutic Journey – Alain de Botton 

The Twilight Realm – Therese Bohman

My life in 1984 – Gelu Diaconu

Three women, with me, four – Hanna Bota

Don't look back – Tudor Călin Zarojanu

The challenge of a life – Nina Marcu 

From Trauma to Healing – The School of Life (Alain de Botton)

Zgârcă’ - Nicoleta Cătălina Gal

The novel ‘Zgârcă’ by Nicoleta Cătălina Gal

Moderation has been derided for some time now. We live fast and smart, and financial independence has become a term that describes the impossible, if we analyze how much we depend on taking out loans.

Victor and Olimpia Silvestru, the couple at the center of the novel ‘Zgârcă’, achieve financial independence. After spending money on phones, watches, and fancy restaurant outings, they decide to adopt a certain type of frugality that may seem a bit eccentric (they collect bottles for 50 cents, hunt for deals and discounts, and follow a list of necessary items to keep track of what they spend their money on and curb any impulsive spending). Their circle of acquaintances, friends, and family all have opinions and advice to offer, and the reader is not left unmoved by their prejudices or absurdities.

The blunt dialogues make for delightful reading, but they also invite introspection. What do moderation, stinginess, wealth, and goodness mean to each of us? Victor's thirteen rules hover over everything, perhaps offering a little encouragement to introspection. I don't want to reveal them all, but here are two of them:

"Rule 1: Doing your job faster than others means getting extra work or fixing the work of those who don't do it quickly. Or well. It's your fault for being perfectionist and dedicated.

Rule 2: Learn to say No.

..."

And other little gems from the novel:

"...

Making a mistake on your own, even if you find it hard to forgive yourself, only affects you and doesn't make you feel as bitter as when you make a mistake on someone else's behalf.

To come back and also to stay away from a place, you only need one thing: to remember the way.

..."

A Fantastic 'Thank You!'

It was really beautiful yesterday at the Gaudeamus Book Fair. You can see here some pictures.

A big thank you to all the fantastic people that honored me with their presence at the book fair, but also to those that could not be there and sent me best wishes.

The Fantastic Autograph

The pen is ready for fantastic autographs. I'll see you tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. at booth 92 of Cassius Books.

Reading from „Când ești mic, ești fantastíc” ('When you're little, you are fantastic)

On Saturday, 6^th of December 2025, I will meet you at the Gaudeamus book fair. At 11:30, I will be at the Cassius Books Publishing House Booth (booth number 92) to sign an autograph on your copy of the „Când ești mic, ești fantastíc”.

Until then, a reading (check the text under the video to read it in English).

(the text I read translated from the Romanian)

She shook her head, trying to chase away that awful thought. It was too much!

"Are you cold? You seemed to be shivering."

"No. I was thinking about what you said. That people always laugh at other people. Why?"

"Lu says it's just a defense mechanism."

"What does that mean?"

"That they want to protect themselves. I'll laugh at you first, before you get the chance to laugh at me, and that way I can escape." 

"Oh, I see," said Irina, tucking her black hair behind her ears. "I wonder how grown-ups manage to cope with something like that.

"I guess you get used to it or try to avoid it. Or who knows?" Clara's eyes widened. "Maybe you attack first. People always laughed at me because of my teeth."

"Really?" Irina swallowed hard. She had thought about Clara's teeth too, but she hadn't attacked her.

"Yes. They call me 'lostritza'. Of course, at first I had no idea what that was, then I found out it's a type of fish. But now I don't care, that's why they're so worried about finding me another nickname." 

"I don't understand why children are mean. They call me shorty, and even though I know it's silly and that I'll grow, that nickname really upsets me."

"Yes, actually, it's not the nickname that upsets you, but the fact that the others laugh, isn't it?" asked Clara.

"Yes, you're right." 

For a moment, both girls looked at each other without saying anything. It's good to find someone to share your pain with, someone who understands what you're going through without you having to explain so much. Irina glanced in the mirror and noticed that her face was no longer as red as before. Only the tip of her nose remained redder than the rest, as if she were some kind of Rudolph. She remembered her mother, who liked to call her little she-Rudolph, especially in winter when she came in from outside with a red nose. She smiled. And the smile was returned in the mirror by Clara.

"It's good to talk to someone."

"Yes," Irina laughed. "That's what I was thinking just now. Where were you the last few times when my colleagues were mocking me?"