Cee Will Book Club: 2025 Reads, Listens, and Th0ts

my reads, listens, and thots from the year compiled in one place

by cee will

about a 5 minute read

I would not be able to tell you the name of the last book I finished before January 2025. Weird flex, I know. The hyperlexic child to word-adverse adult pipeline is deeply troubling and deserves a 4-part investigative docuseries à la Where Are They Now? I have no excuses, only half explanations that are equal parts overwhelm due to the sheer amount of pages that exist, the lack of perceived time to read leisurely, and the unrelenting gravitational pull of micro-blogging sites that purport the idea that Brevity is King. In actuality, words are only as overwhelming as you make them. We make time for the things we value, and brevity, although useful at times, can lead to rampant misinformation and brain atrophy. I guess what I’m saying is… it really is them phones. 

At the beginning of 2025, I decided that I wanted to use my phone as a tool for good and intently engage with literature more often than I had in recent years. Evidenced by my half-cracked copies of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance and My Year of Rest and Relaxation, I knew that I needed a different approach. I realized that 1. I know how to read, so I have nothing to prove to naysayers who “don’t count” audiobooks as “real” reading and 2. My brain has grown and ebbed and flowed and I should work with my current capabilities rather than try to battle a former version of myself. If I want to engage with literature and remain a lifelong scholar, I simply must engage with literature, no matter the medium. 

The people I met this year through audiobooks have molded me and introduced me to realities I was not privy to. I saw new worlds through the eyes of a Baltimore teen in the early 00’s outcasted for being an early adopter of Southern Hip-Hop, a shy kid from Philly turned global sportswoman icon, and a pre-teen sock detective who learned to engage curiously about her neighbors, family, and friends (hey, kinda like me!).

Of the 45 books I engaged with this year, 37 were written by people of Asian, African, or Latin American descent, 15 were written by Black women, 8 featured queer narratives, and 5 books came from the minds of professional athletes. Common themes explored were parental/familial loss and estrangement, heavy drug use, sexual assault, LGBTQ+ identity, disability justice, relationship repair, relationship destruction, grief, divorce, and racial identity. My heart broke and opened many times over, often concurrently. In 2026, I can only hope for more cathartic, liberatory writing to find me. 

Read below for general notes and observations. Scroll a bit further for a full list of Cee Will’s 2025 reads:

  • I like memoirs because I am very nosy and I enjoy learning one’s intricacies. Why are you like that? What happened to you? What was your relationship with your older brother like? Wow. Jot that down…

  • I do not like romance because they tend to follow one of several predictable storylines. Uncanny event happens for two unknown parties, unlikely connection forms between the parties, major miscommunication occurs, reunification scene, happily ever after. The End.

  • Is there a mandate that requires that cacophony be used at least once in order to keep your book deal? I blame Big Vocab

  • Gender and sexuality identities are unique to the individual. Though I could not relate to many narratives shared, I appreciated the vulnerability needed to share certain topics publicly

  • I notice when one’s writing is supported by a ghost writer or dictated to a third-party. Key features of this style of writing are loose sentence structures and repeated transition words. That said, I think that’s okay. Not every book will win a Pulitzer, but every story has value

  • While reading Building Material by Stephen Bruno, I originally thought it was a fictional memoir written by a fictional doorman turned author. I realized Mr. Bruno was a real boy halfway through. Whoops! Your story is valid.

  • 10/10; Would Recommend:

    • Ain’t No Sense In Wishing - Lawrence Burney

    • How to Say Babylon - Safiya Sinclair

    • I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying - Youngmi Mayer

    • Know My Name - Chanel Miller

    • Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All - Chanel Miller

    • The Ugly Cry - Danielle Henderson

    • There's Always This Year - Hanif Abdurraqib

 

Favorite Memoirs:

  • A Song For You - Robyn Crawford

  • All Boys Ain’t Blue - George M. Johnson

  • How to Say Babylon - Safiya Sinclair

  • I’m Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy

Complete List of Borrowed Titles (in alphabetical order):

fin.