The Wasteland Reviewer

The Wasteland List: Best First Reads of 2025

How often do you sit there thinking about what to watch? You might have an endless watchlist that keeps piling up (I certainly have one myself). Sometimes you are just in the mood for a type of film or a certain filmmaker or actor and want to take yourself into a deep dive. As someone who watches so many movies, I have people asking me for recommendations all the time. One of the best feelings as a cinephile is recommending a film and that person loves it. Take this wealth of cinematic knowledge and experience and enjoy some recommendations on me. Genre. Subgenre. Filmmaker. Actor. Composer. Writer. Genre. Story. Trope. Cliché. Any other cinematic elements or them. Here is The Wasteland List:   

Best New Reads of 2025 

Fences

A powerful play from August Wilson that captures the lives of one black working-class family and the dynamics that bring them together and tear them apart all accentuated with poignant and engrossing dialogue and complex characters.

Maus 

Art Spiegelman’s powerful graphic novel that combines an intimate story about a father/son conflict while also capturing the horrors of the Holocaust through a clever reimagining with mice and cats (making it accessible to a much younger audience).

The Cabin at the End of the World 

A dark and twisted tale drenched in blood, paranoia, and faith as a gay couple and their daughter are put in the most impossible situation by four individuals (or heralds) of the apocalypse, filled with plenty of rich thematic work and rich characters.

Lady Killer 

Joelle Jones crafts such a deliciously cool and engrossing graphic novel about a sexy, alluring, and dangerous mother-by-day, assassin-by-night who finds herself in all types of wildly violence, thrilling, and entertaining scenarios, ripe for an adaptation someday (hopefully).

Into the Woods 

One of the most iconic musicals from the esteemed creator Stephen Sondheim, this reimaging of iconic fairy tale characters is filled with all types of fun characters, sharply written songs, and plenty of dark twists and turns in its narrative.

House of M 

One of the most bold and complex X-Men stories out there, this reality wrapping arc is one with plenty of twists and turns as well as a huge cast of iconic mutant characters all trying to explore this haunting and engrossing mystery around the Scarlet Witch.

Strange Planet 

A clever and hilarious wrapping of relatable themes and situations, Nathan W. Pyle finds such a unique way with words and delivers plenty of funny and thoughtful commentaries on the world around us through the perspectives of these strange alien beings.

Chain-Gang All-Star

Bold, brash, and big, this twisted dystopian narrative is centered by a nationally televised gladiatorial show but fleshed out by its rich themes about race, sexuality, and identity while delivering strong characters and a thrilling narrative from start to finish.

Dark Places 

Gillian Flynn is full of dark twisted stories and this is one of her best narratives that explores the legacy of one brutal night that has changed the lives of a woman who put her brother away for murdering their family which is filled with complex characters and dark twists and turns.

Sunrise on the Reaping

An incredible addition to the Hunger Games canon, this new prequel explores the tragedy of Haymitch’s past and the competition that changed his life forever while also laying the seeds for future rebellion to come.

The Life of Chuck 

Stephen King takes a bold leap into a wholly new space as he explores humanity in such a unique and unexpected way narratively, thematically, and linguistically through this multi-faceted narrative about the multitudes of human experience.

Jurassic Park: The Official Script Book 

The screenplay for Jurassic Park sells itself with its great story, impressive collection of interesting characters, and rich thematic work, then you get plenty of behind-the-scenes perspective on the script writing and bringing the film to life.

The Wiz 

Another iconic musical expressed in words, which has plenty of great songs with clever lyrics while this takes a unique and fresh twist to the iconic The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum with its culturally black twist on the story.

Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs of a Literary Forger 

Lee Israel’s story is fascinating as she takes readers through the wild ride that her life became when she began forging famous writers to make ends meet all told through a sharply written and engrossing memoir.

Glengarry Glen Ross 

David Mamet’s play is a sharply written, caustic, and biting experience that explores the cutthroat business of real estate filled with fascinating, flawed, and complex characters who are pitted against each other in a greedy narrative.

Planet Hulk 

A game changing book for the iconic green comic character who is whisked away to another world where his power, aggression, and will become his weapons in overthrowing the power of Sakaar filled with action and interesting characters.

The Groucho Letters

A fascinating collection of letters by the iconic comedian Groucho Marx and others who sent him letters in response which comes together to offer an engaging and hilarious experience full of impressively sharp and biting language and an intriguing insight into the man.

Mad As Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies 

A fascinating look in the making of the 70s sharply biting satire on news and media with a deep exploration of the “how it was made” along with a rich perspective on the influence that Network still has today with our present state of media.

A Wealth of Pigeons 

Legendary comedian, Steve Martin, brings to life a collection of hilarious jokes with some great comic illustrations from the extremely talented Harry Bliss making for one of the most charming and smile-inducing reads you will have in a while.

Mathematica: Mathematics from Ancient Times to the Modern World 

Mathematics has a long (and I mean LONG) and storied history over 1000s of years and this coffee table book is a deep dive into the individuals that crafted this system and all the different evolving aspects of math with some engaging timelines for the perfect snapshot.

More Scary Stories to Tall in the Dark

 A blast from the past, this series of horror tales for young audiences has been so influential amongst other type series with each of these short tales giving a quick burst of terror and some eerie imagery from the imagination of Alvin Schwartz.

Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Killer Unit 

The true and cases behind the beloved and acclaimed Netflix series, this nonfiction book takes readers into the dark and twisted cases that would help shape the FBI’s unit that would explore, research, and take down the rising tide of serial killers.

Sharp Objects 

Another unnerving and twisted tale from the mind of Gillian Flynn, this tale looks at the women of the Preaker family as a cold case in their small hometown uncovers some dark secrets all with the sharp storytelling and rich character work of this acclaimed author.

The Maltese Falcon 

A classic story that would be etched into pop culture as the basis for one of the greatest noir films of all time, this novel has a great core mystery that is surrounded with layered, interesting, and morally grey characters and plenty of good, hard-boiled atmosphere.

Ghost World 

A graphic novel that has since been lauded as one of the best coming-of-age visual novels out there, Daniel Clowes work boasts such unique and engrossing illustrations while telling such a strange and offbeat tale of Enid and Rebecca.