BOOK ONION, FALL 2025
and you thought the last list was long
Hello,
This is a semiannual letter where I list my favorite Substack posts of the last half-year. For reasons of supreme silliness, I present it as a fake awards show called Book Onion (because layers, and pages, and metaphors). The laureates are more than welcome to save the badge, print it out, and proudly present it to strangers. Although that might raise some concerns.
So, the last post had 29 laureates. But this one, this one has 43!! I’m running out of fake awards!
***This is a long post with a lot of links that might be truncated in emails. I highly recommend you click on the title to read the whole thing without interruption.***
As usual, the only two rules for this list are that the post is written in the relevant period of time and that it is not under a paywall at the time of writing this list (beginning of January 2026). There are many brilliant posts under paywalls—alas, we will miss them here.
Without a doubt, the absolute MVP of these six months has been one of my favorite publications, The Republic of Letters. And it’s not surprising—they deliver bangers every single goddamn day. They are a machine gun of eloquence. In no particular order, here are the articles I truly enjoyed. Congrats to Kern Carter, Wim, vāneçka, Benji Taylor, and Larisa Rimerman.
In addition, a feature of TRL that I really like is their interviews, some of the best on the platform in general. Here are three great ones (bringing the total count of Book Onions to staggering 8!) with William Deresiewicz, Liza Libes, and Naomi Kanakia:
Another Substack-based publication that never ceases to deliver is, of course, The Metropolitan Review. Amazing essays by Tom McAllister on indie publishing (a topic dear to my own heart), Alexander Sorondo1 on Alan Moore (another topic dear to my own heart), and Aled Maclean-Jones on the Mission Impossible movies, but actually on the nature of knowledge (another topic… you get the picture).
In personal Substacks, the most awards this time go to Liza Libes: four great essays with themes ranging from personal to literary to political. Liza always writes in a way that always induces contemplation and often a little sadness. Reading Liza often feels like trying to catch a butterfly and slamming into a glass wall.
Not when she talks about Brodsky, though!
Three Book Onions go to Naomi Kanakia. Not a huge surprise—she is brilliant, after all. And I also think these three make a little series of their own. If I were to define the common idea of this mini-series, it would probably be that in order to innovate, you can make up something completely new, but it’s often enough just to look way back and see what was working then. I honestly learned a lot from these three posts, and especially the last one switched some gear within me. We’ll see where it leads.
Another triple laureate this time is Adam Mastroianni, who honestly needs no introduction. One of his posts is published in Seeds of Science and two in his own Substack. His insights are somehow infuriating to me, because he makes me think in the direction I don’t always want to, but that always pays off.
Finally, a double Book Onion recipient is Sam Kahn. He writes on a variety of topics, but the two essays I chose cover politics and are, in a word, controversial. This is incidental. I recommend reading both of them carefully (even if I don’t necessarily agree with what is written). If anything, they are honest, heartfelt, and brave.
And one more double-whammy, this time from two different authors, but united by the noble cause of praising half-forgotten fantasy writers. I am a huge fan of both, so amazing job, Lisa Kuznak and Lev Grossman, for reminding us of the greatness of Stephen R. Donaldson and Fritz Leiber!
Now we go to single whammies, and what whammies they are. First, and not surprisingly, Gurwinder with this gem of an essay.
Second, Sam Harris and this rumination on the information wars.
Next, Linda Caroll with this (last-minute-to-fit-into-this-post) essay on the dangers (moral and legal) of using AI. Somehow, all three of the above-mentioned essays fit together into a nice, hellish variety pack.
The next section of the BOs (we have to do sections due to the sheer amount of laureates) is all about writing about writing. First, Lincoln Michel with his heartfelt reflection on style.
Then, Kevin Kelly with this exceptionally informative post on self-publishing.
Then, Mason Currey on a supporting correspondence between two authors. This is what Substack is so great at! In the past people had to jump through hoops (like going outside and meeting people, brr) to get this level of support.
Finally, Michael Mohr’s essay on Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Dog”:
The next section is roughly called “History, culture and history of culture.” First comes Scott Alexander with an incredibly in-depth article on the Fatima Sun Miracle. This is literally about half a book’s worth of research and analysis.
It’s hard to top that, so nobody tried. Now, for something completely different (and much shorter): a story fo the Venecian winged lion by Peter Frankopan!
Next, a brilliant discussion of the so-called Dark Ages and whether we should really call them that, by Holly A Brown. This is, honestly, one of my favorite subjects in the history of art, and I hope I will have an opportunity to study it a little deeper. For now, articles like this help immensely.
Next, a tour de force: a provocative piece by Ralph Stefan Weir on the true colors of the Greek and Roman statues. Did you ever ask yourself why true-color reconstructions of these statues look awful? This is an answer.
Finally, if you love long posts with colored maps, you can’t go wrong with Peter Nimitz. The specific one that I recommend is on the history of the Slavic people. An obligatory Pushkin quote is included.
And another one of the colored-map-posts, not less brilliant, but on a completely different topic. Tomas Pueyo discusses the reasons for the unexpected relations between climate and economic growth. The fact that this is published on Substack and not in Nature is a part of the failure of the academic systems. But at least we win from it short-term—we can read it.
And now comes the last and my favorite category, which is, of course, “No categories.” We’ll start with the obvious ones. 2025 was the year that vāneçka has started his Posts from Underground series. Here is the first part, but of course, the Book Onions recommendation is to read the whole thing. Dostoyevsky might be spinning in his grave as you read this, but vāneçka uses his rotational energy to fuel his wild imagination. Let’s hope this one is a perpetuum mobile!
Naturally, this publication continues to assert that one of the best things on Substack is Larisa Rimerman’s memoir series, The Wrong Country, a heartfelt and true story of her life in the Soviet Union. In particular, we recommend this chapter:
Speaking of memoirs, I also really enjoyed this piece by Ross Barkan. This is a tribute to the author’s father, but it is also an essay on writing, on how disjointed stories, scenes, words go through the writer’s mind, transform, merge and become a novel. “Writing a novel is inevitably an act of excavation,” says Barkan.
To lift my spirits, I often open Buckwheat Blues. Here is an example of that effect—and also a model of how to be an old geezer in a way that other people might enjoy it too. An inspiration, for sure.
Finally, a piece by Etgar Keret. It is incredible how three short paragraphs can make you cry.
Best,
Ꙝ
Incidentally, I just finished Alexander Sorondo’s novel, “Cubafruit,” and thoroughly enjoyed it. I might write a review at some point, but I just wanted to mention it here as well.
Thank you for mentioning my name in your brilliant analysis of last year's writings. You give so many unknown names to open for new readings.
How many brilliant minds you're making us discover, Konstantin. It makes me think that humankind is not doomed, after all.