Lifestyle
Hunker down with these 13 mysteries and thrillers from 2025
Mysteries and thrillers are enjoyable no matter the season, but there’s something extra satisfying about curling up in the winter with a warm drink and an all-engrossing read. The 13 (spooked already?) books in this list, recommended by NPR staff and critics, fit the bill: stalkers, witchcraft, missing persons, suburban horror — there’s something here for every thrill-seeker. And for more nail-biters, check out Books We Love, our annual year-end reading guide.
All the Other Mothers Hate Me, by Sarah Harman
This book got me out of a reading rut! It’s about a mom who is struggling to keep her life together – while simultaneously trying to solve the mystery of her son’s missing classmate. It’s got fun twists and turns and characters who surprise you. Very plot driven and definitely hard to put down. — Elissa Nadworny, correspondent
Audition, by Katie Kitamura
I guess I could explain the plot to you: An actress meets up with a man who is convinced she’s his mother. It turns out she’s not. I think? Maybe she is? Or, maybe she’s not but actually kind of is? What is a mother? The most impressive thing about this Booker Prize finalist is how Katie Kitamura plays with the narrative and toys with the reader without being overly clever about it all. She’s stingy with details and answers, but generous with intrigue and depth. — Andrew Limbong, correspondent, Culture Desk and host, Book of the Day
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is many things: a clever nesting doll of narratives, a sanguine revenge thriller stitched inside the corpse of an old vampire yarn, and a fearsome accounting of America’s murderous past. Lucky for us, Stephen Graham Jones has bound it all together with a hero (antihero?) for the ages — a man from the Blackfeet tribe, aptly named Good Stab, who is determined to right the wrongs of the past, even if it takes him a few lifetimes. — Cory Turner, correspondent and senior editor, Education
Death of the Author, by Nnedi Okorafor
This book will keep you guessing until the last chapter. The plot jumps back and forth between two connected stories: one about a human author and one about a robot obsessed with human stories. The book tackles some big themes, including fame and immigrant identity. But one of my favorite things about it is that the robot storyline is absolutely gripping. I couldn’t put this book down, and thank goodness I didn’t, or I would have missed the final twist! — Rebecca Hersher, correspondent, Climate Desk
Elita, by Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum
This absorbing midcentury American take on Nordic noir opens with two men apprehending a seemingly feral girl on Elita, a tiny island in the Puget Sound that for years has been home only to a federal men’s prison. Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum elevates the moody mystery with her choice of protagonist – Bernadette Baston, a scholar of child development and single mother, who consults on the girl’s case. Bernadette is fascinated by the child’s fierce independence in a world that sets stark constraints on the lives of women and girls. She must fight for her own independence in order to uncover the girl’s origins in this slow-burn study of insular communities and working motherhood. — Kristen Martin, book critic and author of The Sun Won’t Come Out Tomorrow: The Dark History of American Orphanhood
Heartwood, by Amity Gaige
Heartwood is a perfect thriller for people who don’t like thrillers (🙋♀). A nurse nicknamed Sparrow who is trying to move past the trauma of working during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic disappears while hiking the Appalachian Trail. The narration alternates among three women: a state game warden leading the search, a lonely retiree who becomes very invested and the missing woman herself, whose plight is told via the journal that keeps her going while lost. Heartwood is equal parts gripping and moving, filled with empathy and hope — not just for Sparrow’s safe return but for human connection overall. — Arielle Retting, senior editor, Newsroom
Julie Chan Is Dead, by Liann Zhang
Julie and her estranged twin, Chloe, may look identical, but that’s where the similarities end. Julie works at a supermarket, while her sister revels in the love of millions as a social media influencer. But when Chloe dies, Julie realizes she can pass for her twin – if people don’t look too closely. What follows is a thrilling, haunting look at the upkeep of pretending to be someone you’re not, whether on-screen or in person. As Julie goes to brow-raising lengths to keep up the farce and maintain her newfound audience’s love, you’ll find yourself asking whether she has a limit. — Hafsa Fathima, assistant producer, Pop Culture Happy Hour
The Naming of the Birds, by Paraic O’Donnell
This Victorian mystery novel is Dickens meets Sherlock Holmes meets La Femme Nikita, and it wears its genre conventions proudly. The heroes: a brilliant, gruff police officer and his bumbling assistant, aided by a plucky lady journalist. The crimes: elaborate serial murders of insignificant elderly men. The killings are connected to the book’s prologue, a harrowing tale of mistreated orphans seemingly in training to be assassins. The reader knows this, but the detectives do not, giving the events a frisson of dramatic irony as the body count ticks up. — Holly J. Morris, digital trainer
Old Soul, by Susan Barker
Jake and Mariko meet when they both miss their flight out of Osaka and decide to share a meal. Later, drunk, Mariko tells Jake about how her twin brother died, and Jake is eerily reminded of a beloved friend’s strange death. The deceased both began behaving differently shortly before they died, after meeting an exceptionally charming woman, and both had biological oddities discovered during their autopsies. Could it have been the same woman? If so, who is she? And what is she after? If you, too, are a sucker for books that follow a central mystery through the stories of seemingly disparate but ultimately interconnected characters, this one is a must. — Ilana Masad, book critic and author of Beings
The Stalker, by Paula Bomer
The antihero of Paula Bomer’s novel is Doughty, a liar, misogynist and dyed-in-the-wool sociopath who manages to fail upward by preying on women who fall for his deceit. The novel chronicles his time in New York City, where he hurts everyone he can, with no semblance of guilt or even basic humanity. This is, in part, a darkly funny novel, and Bomer walks a fine line brilliantly – the moments of humor don’t detract from the book’s important themes. — Michael Schaub, book critic
The Tokyo Suite, by Giovana Madalosso, translated by Bruna Dantas Lobato
The dual narratives of The Tokyo Suite grip the reader right from the opening chapters, which alternate between the points of view of a mother distracted by her job as an executive and the nanny who kidnaps the exec’s daughter. As this two-hander unfolds, Giovana Madalosso plays with the reader’s sympathies as both protagonists entangle themselves in the consequences of their bad choices. By the end, you’re certain the only path forward is tragedy, but instead you’ll be left thinking about what happens beyond the pages long after you close the book. — Leland Cheuk, book critic and author of No Good Very Bad Asian
Vantage Point, by Sara Sligar
A summer mystery with a rich, troubled family and a curse? Sign me up. Vantage Point is set on a secluded island in Maine and reads like a tech thriller with the soul of a gothic dynastic horror story. It’s told from the dual perspectives of Clara, the youngest member of the wealthy, politically connected and highly unlucky Wieland family, and Jess, Clara’s childhood best friend who’s married to Clara’s brother, Senate hopeful Teddy. When a series of deepfake videos targets Clara and then Jess, it feels as though the famous Wieland curse has come into the digital age. The book is a rich drama about friendship, class and inherited trauma — all in the package of a propulsive yarn. — Barrie Hardymon, senior editor, Investigations Unit
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, by Grady Hendrix
In the 1970s, young women who got pregnant before marriage were sent to homes to have their babies away from prying eyes. It was like a magic trick — a practice in concealment, disappearance and forgetting. In a state of complete powerlessness, hidden away in the stifling heat of St. Augustine, Fla., Fern — not her real name, never give your real name — meets other young girls like herself. Then a visiting librarian gives Fern a book on witchcraft, and she learns what she is willing to give up in return for that power. — Christina Cala, senior producer, Code Switch
This is just a fraction of the 380+ titles we included in Books We Love this year. Click here to check out this year’s titles, or browse nearly 4,000 books from the last 13 years.
A recently installed sign at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as photographed on Jan. 10. The center’s name change has not been approved by Congress.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
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Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Two senior staffers have departed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. — one of whom was officially on the job for less than two weeks.
Kevin Couch had been announced as the Kennedy Center’s new senior vice president of artistic planning on Jan. 16, at which point he was hailed as a “visionary entertainment leader” with “over two decades of experience in artist management, global booking and high-level brand partnerships,” including booking live events in San Antonio, Tulsa, Little Rock and Springfield, Mo.
Couch, who is a drummer, confirmed to NPR on Wednesday evening that he had resigned from the federally funded center, but declined to share any details.
Meanwhile, the Kennedy Center’s senior director of artistic operations, Sarah Kramer, confirmed to NPR on Wednesday evening that she had been fired after a decade working there.
The Kennedy Center did not respond to NPR’s multiple requests for comment.
Since President Trump became chair of the performing arts complex and later moved to change its name to the Trump Kennedy Center, several prominent artists have canceled their planned performances and presentations of their work. Cancellations announced this month include the composer Philip Glass, opera star Renée Fleming, the banjo player Bela Fleck and the Seattle Children’s Theatre. The Kennedy Center has told NPR in prior statements that the artists cancelling have been doing so under pressure from “leftist activists.”
The center’s name change did not receive the required approval from Congress. Last month, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board, filed a lawsuit against President Trump, the center’s president Richard Grenell, and others over the name change.
Jennifer Vanasco edited this story.
Lifestyle
‘No lines and big, wide-open runs’: This woodsy ski town is like Mammoth without the crowds
You are a beginning or intermediate skier, allergic to long lift lines, more interested in peace and quiet than après-ski action. Or you have young kids, ripe for introduction to skiing or snowboarding. Or you simply want a rustic mountain getaway, one where you can amble through a woodsy little village with zero Starbucks.
These traits make you a good candidate for June Lake, the eastern Sierra town that lives most of its life in the shadow of bigger, busier Mammoth Lakes.
“It’s way family-friendlier than Mammoth,” said Daniel Jones after a day of June Lake snowboarding with Lorena Alvarado and children Gabriela Gonzales, 7, and Amirah Jones, 2. They had come from Riverside, a first-time visit for the kids.
After a day of snowboarding at June Mountain, Daniel Jones and Lorena Alvarado of Riverside head for the parking lot with children Gabriela Gonzalez, 7, and Amirah Jones, 2.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Like me, they’d arrived in time to savor the sight of the Sierra under all the snow that fell in late December. That storm knocked out power for several days, but led to the opening of all the trails on June Mountain, the town’s ski resort.
The main road to June Lake is the 14-mile June Lake Loop, a.k.a. State Route 158, which branches off from U.S. 395 about 10 miles north of the exit for Mammoth, roughly 320 miles north of Los Angeles.
Once you leave 395, things get rustic quickly. The two-lane loop threads its way among forests and A-frames and cabins, skirting the waters of June Lake and the lake’s village, which is only a few blocks long. Check out the three-foot icicles dripping from the eaves and keep an eye out for the big boulder by the fire station on the right.
After the village, you pass Gull Lake (the tiniest of the four lakes along the loop) and the June Mountain ski area. Then, if you’re driving in summer, the road loops back to 395 by way of Silver Lake and Grant Lake.
The June Lake area in the eastern Sierra includes several bodies of water. Rush Creek, seen here, feeds into Silver Lake a few miles from the village of June Lake.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
But in winter, the northern part of that loop is closed to cars, Maybe this is why the village, mountain and environs so often feel like a snowbound secret.
As for the June Mountain ski area, its 1,500 accessible acres make it much smaller than Mammoth Mountain (with whom it shares a corporate parent). And it has a larger share of beginner and intermediate runs — a drag for hotshots, maybe, but a boon for families.
By management’s estimate, June Mountain’s 41 named trails are 15% beginner level and 40% intermediate. (At Mammoth, 59% of 180 named trails are rated difficult, very difficult or extremely difficult.) Leaning into this difference, June Mountain offers free lift tickets to children 12 and under. (Adult lift tickets are typically $119-$179 per day.)
From the chairlifts at June Mountain ski resort, visitors get broad views.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
The ski area is served by six chairlifts, and just about everyone begins by riding chair J1 up to the June Meadows Chalet (8,695 feet above sea level). That’s where the cafeteria, rental equipment, lockers and shop are found and lessons begin.
That’s also where you begin to notice the view, especially the 10,908-foot Carson Peak.
“Usually, me and my family go to Big Bear every year, but we wanted to try something different. Less people. And a lot of snow,” said Valeriia Ivanchenko, a 20-year-old snowboarder who was taking a breather outside the chalet.
“No lines and lots of big, wide-open runs,” said Brian Roehl, who had come from Sacramento with his wife.
“The lake views are nice, too,” said Roxie Roehl.
June Lake is a 30-minute drive from Mammoth. Because both operations are owned by Denver-based Alterra Mountain Co., Mammoth lift tickets are generally applicable at June. So it’s easy to combine destinations.
Or you could just focus on June Lake, an unincorporated community with about 600 people, one K-8 public school and one gas station (the Shell station where 158 meets 395).
In summer, when it’s busiest, fishers and boaters head for the lakes and you can reach Yosemite National‘s eastern entrance with a 25-mile drive via the seasonal Tioga Road.
The Tiger Bar has anchored June Lake’s downtown since 1932.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
In winter and summer alike, the heart of June Lake‘s village is dominated by the 94-year-old Tiger Bar & Café (which was due to be taken over by new owners in January); Ernie’s Tackle & Ski Shop (which goes back to 1932 and has lower rental prices than those at June Mountain); the June Lake General Store and June Lake Brewing.
At the brewery — JLB to locals — I found Natalie and Chris Garcia of Santa Barbara and their daughter Winnie, 18 months old and eager to chase down a duck on the patio.
“This is her first snow,” Natalie Garcia said, adding that June Lake “just feels more down-home … less of a party scene.”
“We built a snowman,” said Chris Garcia.
Natalie and Chris Garcia of Santa Barbara play with their daughter, Winnie, and a duck at June Lake Brewing.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
It’s fun to imagine that rustic, semi-remote places like this never change, but of course they do, for better and worse. The Carson Peak Inn steakhouse, a longtime landmark, is closed indefinitely. Meanwhile, Pino Pies, which offers New Zealand-style meat pies, opened in the village last spring. (I recommend the $13 potato-top pie.)
Pino Pies, open since 2025 in June Lake, offers New Zealand-style meat pies.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Next time I’m in town I hope to try the June Deli (which took over the former Epic Cafe space in the village last year) and the June Pie Pizza Co. (New York-style thin crusts) or the Balanced Rock Grill & Cantina. And I might make a day trip to Mono Lake (about 15 miles north).
I might also repeat the two hikes I did in the snow.
For one, I put crampons on my boots and headed about 3 miles south on U.S. 395 to the Obsidian Dome Trail, a mostly flat route of just under a mile — great for snowshoes or walking dogs.
For the other hike, I headed to the closed portion of June Lake Loop and parked just short of the barricade. Beyond it, a hiker or snowshoer finds several miles of carless, unplowed path, with mountains rising to your left and half-frozen Rush Creek and Silver Lake to the right.
When part of Highway 158 closes to auto traffic in winter, hikers and snowshoers inherit a broad, mostly flat path with views of Silver Lake.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
“You get up to the lake and you hear the ice cracking. It’s wonderful,” said Mike Webb, 73, whom I met on the trail with his son, Randy, 46, and Randy’s 10-year-old and 12-year-old.
“This is serenity up here,” said Webb. “If you’re looking for a $102 pizza, go to Mammoth.”
Philadelphia (1993)
Library of Congress
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Library of Congress
Two actors received double recognition when the Library of Congress announced its most recent additions to the National Film Registry, a collection of classic films intended to highlight film preservation efforts and the depth and breadth of American film.
Bing Crosby, the popular midcentury crooner, starred in White Christmas (1954) and High Society (1956). And Denzel Washington starred in Glory (1989) and Philadelphia (1993), all now part of the registry’s roundup of the country’s most culturally significant films.
Created in 1988, the National Film Registry adds 25 films every year. New additions are usually announced in December of each calendar year. The Library of Congress did not explain why its 2025 films were announced in 2026.
Half a dozen silent films were added to the registry, more than usual. Many of them were recently discovered or restored. The oldest, The Tramp and the Dog (1896), is an early example of “pants humor,” which comes from the fun of watching people lose theirs. It is likely the first commercial film made in Chicago. The Oath of the Sword (1914) is the earliest known Asian American film, about a Japanese student in California yearning for his beloved back home.
Other newly added silent films include the first student film on record, made in 1916 at Washington University in St Louis, Mo. and Ten Nights in a Barroom (1926), a melodrama with an all-Black cast, one of only two surviving films made by the Colored Player Film Corporation of Philadelphia.
Four documentaries were added to the collection, including Ken Burns’ first major documentary, The Brooklyn Bridge (1981).
Widely familiar additions include one Boomer classic – The Big Chill (1983) – and several Gen X ones: Before Sunrise (1995), Clueless (1995) and The Karate Kid (1984.)
The Karate Kid (1984).
Library of Congress
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Library of Congress
“I’m amazingly proud,” star Ralph Macchio told the Library of Congress in an interview. “The National Film Registry and film preservation are so important because it keeps the integrity of cinema alive for multiple generations.”
Other contemporary movies added to the registry include The Truman Show (1998), Frida (2002), The Incredibles (2004) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), set in an Alpine resort in the 1930s. Director Wes Anderson credited the Library of Congress for inspiring the movie’s distinct visual style.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Library of Congress
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Library of Congress
“When we were first starting to try to figure out, how do we tell this story… the architecture and the landscapes… they don’t exist anymore,” Andserson said in a statement, explaining that he started his research in the Library of Congress “We just went through the entire photocrom collection, which is a lot of images. And …we made our own versions of things, but much of what is in our film comes directly – with our little twist on it – from that collection, from the library, the Library of Congress.”
The entire list of movies added to the National Film Registry for 2025 follows in chronological order.
• The Tramp and the Dog (1896)
• The Oath of the Sword (1914)
• The Maid of McMillan (1916)
• The Lady (1925)
• Sparrows (1926)
• Ten Nights in a Barroom (1926)
• White Christmas (1954)
• High Society (1956)
• Brooklyn Bridge (1981)
• Say Amen, Somebody (1982)
• The Thing (1982)
• The Big Chill (1983)
• The Karate Kid (1984)
• Glory (1989)
• Philadelphia (1993)
• Before Sunrise (1995)
• Clueless (1995)
• The Truman Show (1998)
• Frida (2002)
• The Hours (2002)
• The Incredibles (2004)
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