Matt's Books and Music

When I designed my Hall of Fame, I wanted to reserve a special place for the best of the best. And so I took the idea of a bookish Olympus, a dwelling place of my twelve literary gods. While there has been a bit of tweaking here and there over the years, for the most part it’s remained consistent, especially at the top. Until this year.

I’ve developed a new tradition over the past couple years to dedicate the last two weeks of the year to re-reads. This has enabled me to revisit some of my all-time favourites, which has led to a shakeup up top. It’s not that I’ve come to enjoy any of the books that dropped a bit any less; only that I’ve come to appreciate others even more. It’s an embarrassment of riches at the top!

Without further ado, here is my Bookish Olympus, as of end of 2025:

12. Ordinary Saints, by Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin (2025) – New

I’m always reluctant to add brand new reads this high, but legitimate questions of recency bias aside, I absolutely adored this new release from last year. Time will tell how it will fare, but as of right now, I’m glad to see it here.

11. The Shell Seekers, by Rosamunde Pilcher (1987) – last year 9

This modern classic has been slowly falling down my Olympus over the past few years, but I’m happy it’s still holding on. It’s absolutely lovely.

10. A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara (2015) – last year 5

This drop for this polarizing novel surprised me a little; we’ll see if it can rebound next year or if the drop is a sign of things to come.

9. Dayspring, by Anthony Oliveira (2024 🇨🇦) – last year 15

Hardly a day goes by when I don’t think about this beautiful, ambitious work that combines poetry, the Gospels, and excerpts from the mystics into a stunning new creation. So I’m not surprised it rose into the Olympus this year.

8. Home, by Marilynne Robinson (2008) – last year 14

This novel that takes place in parallel to the author’s Pulitzer-winning Gilead (2004) has been on a steady incline, and this year it rose all the way into this comfortable position within my bookish Olympus.

7. Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005) – last year 8

It’s hard to imagine this stunning piece of speculative fiction ever slipping out of my top 12.

6. Fifth Business, by Robertson Davies (1970 🇨🇦) – last year 6

This bulwark of the Canadian literary canon is the only title not impacted either way in the olympian shakeup.

5. A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles (2016) – last year 4

I do love a triumph-of-the-human-spirit book!

4. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker (1982) – last year 2

This was a 2025 reread for me and when I finished it I did not expect it to drop at all, let alone two places. But life is full of the unexpected.

3. A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki (2013 🇨🇦) – last year 1

This had been my very favourite novel since I first read it over the new year of 2021. It’s masterful and Ozeki manages to perfectly balance multiple plots, elements, and themes that should not work together. I don’t love it any less than I did previously, but reassessments of other books caused it to drop.

2. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen (1813) – last year 3

As of Christmas 2025, I was expecting to put this at number 1 this year. After all, I’ve read it close to fifteen times now and have never not loved every second of it. If this isn’t my favourite book of all time, then what possibly could be?

1. The Brothers K, by David James Duncan (1992) – last year 7

I first read this book in 2008 and absolutely loved it. I laughed, I cried, I raged, I celebrated. Most importantly thought deeply. But over the years, it had started to fall in my estimation simply due to the passage of time. But I re-read it over Christmas last year and was blown away by it once again. If anything, our current fraught political context made the book’s take on the 1960s even more resonant. And so here it is all the way at number one. And I don’t foresee it dropping anytime soon.