Five books. Every month. A variety of topics from different genres.
Here is the list from November 2025. Clicking on the title will direct you to the original post on MORE TO COME.
The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust (2024) by Francis S. Collins combines philosophy, Christian theology, sociology, and some degree of self-help in his effort to promote a more civil society. In this thoughtful and ultimately optimistic book, Collins works to get us beyond societal divisions and back to the sources of wisdom. He sees four core sources of judgement and clear thinking: truth, science, faith, and trust. After an introductory chapter about the challenges of seeking wisdom in troubled times, Collins draws on his work from the Human Genome Project and heading the National Institutes of Health to dive into each of these elements. Collins believes that “building the ultimate path to wisdom will depend on individuals” and that path “runs right through our hearts and minds.” The thrust of that argument is that we need to do a better job of listening to one another. It is that simple and that difficult.
Josephine Baker’s Secret War: The African American Star Who Fought for France and Freedom (2025) by Hanna Diamond is an enlightening and thoroughly researched history of how one of the most famous celebrities of her time became a spy for the French Secret Services during World War II. Josephine Baker’s fame as a cabaret singer in the interwar years was well known. She also came to be recognized for her civil rights work in America and her humanitarian efforts globally in the 1950s and 60s. But drawing on contemporary sources, Diamond found that Baker was a valuable spy. A US wartime counter-intelligence officer said she served as “our No. 1 contact in French Morocco.” Her support of the allied mission “at great risk to her own life” included helping pass along information that proved crucial at key moments, such as after the allied landings in north Africa in 1942. Diamond’s important new account helps explain the motivation for Baker’s involvement and how her celebrity, rediscovery of her African American roots, and unusual social fluidity made her success as a spy possible while also shaping her post-war advocacy.
History Matters (2025) by David McCullough (edited by Dorie McCullough Lawson and Michael Hill) is a posthumous collection of thought-provoking essays—many never published before—by the Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and bestselling author. McCullough, who passed away in 2022, wrote eloquently and carefully about the American experience. He told us why American history mattered. David began an essay on the hard, essential work of being an American citizen with a few simple lessons from the past, the first being that “nothing of lasting value or importance in our way of life, none of our proudest attainments, has ever come without effort. America is an effort.” History is not dead in these pages; in fact, history is living and unfolding. And we are an important part of that history.
The Accidental Vineyard: An Old House, New Vines, and a Changed Life in Wine Country (2025) by Richard A. Moran is a heartfelt memoir that begins with a spontaneous drive into California wine country in an attempt to lull a fitful, crying son to sleep. On the drive Moran, his wife Carol, and their three children chance upon an old Victorian house for sale. They make the commitment to restore the house, even though it had challenges by the boatload and would disrupt Rich’s busy, corporate consulting business. Both of those facts turned out to be keys to finding the well-rounded life he didn’t know he was seeking as the journey began. Before he knows it, Rich and his family are also wine makers. Moran—in simple yet compelling language—happily lets us all in on the secrets he and his family uncovered in following their dreams. This is a memoir full of heart and humor, which I discuss with Rich in the 20th installment of my Author Q&A series.
A Good Natured Riot: The Birth of the Grand Ole Opry (1999) by Charles K. Wolfe is a highly readable yet thoroughly documented account of the early years of The Grand Ole Opry. What makes Wolfe’s book so compelling “is that it shows the intersection of the birth of the Opry with so many other important, and often overlooked, cultural moments.” In doing so, Wolfe examines the background and lives of the key performers on the early Opry to an audience that has largely forgotten Uncle Jimmy Thompson, Dr. Humphrey Bates, Uncle Dave Macon, DeFord Bailey, along with the radio fiddlers and hoedown bands of the era. It is a masterful work.
WHAT’S ON THE NIGHTSTAND FOR DECEMBER (SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT THE WHIMS OF THE READER)
- Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experience by Allen C. Guelzo
- A Child is Born: A Beginners Guide to Nativity Stories by Amy-Jill Levine
- Coffee by Dinah Lenney
- Common Sense by Thomas Paine
- The Late Monsieur Gallet by Georges Simenon
Keep reading!
More to come . . .
DJB
NOTE: Click to see the books I read in October of 2025 and to see the books I read in 2024. Also check out Ten tips for reading five books a month.
Photo by anotherxlife on Unsplash
MORE TO COME... 