Between a government shutdown, three vote-a-ramas in the Senate and a new president taking office, it’s been a busy year for members of Congress. But spending bills weren’t the only page-turners they read.
Every December, we ask lawmakers, lobbyists, think tank types and other Beltway insiders the same question: What did you read this year?
With America’s semiquincentennial approaching, history was a particularly hot topic this time around. Add in some naval strategy, fabulist noir and reflections on going home, and you have the book list that propelled them through 2025.
Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity. Looking to save on a used book? Check out our recommendations from 2024 and 2023.
Roswell Encina, president & CEO of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society
“The Greatest Sentence Ever Written” by Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster, 2025) “I recently watched Isaacson discuss his new book on C-SPAN and was instantly captivated. I ran out to buy it that same day. In just 67 pages, he reminds us of the enduring power of the Declaration of Independence, what binds us together, strengthens our democracy, and fuels our national aspirations. Whether you’ve seen the Declaration at the National Archives or have been fortunate enough to view Jefferson’s handwritten draft at the Library of Congress, this book rekindles a profound truth: America’s promise lives in the words we continue to strive to live up to.”
Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla.
“World on the Brink” by Dmitri Alperovitch and Garrett Graff (PublicAffairs, 2024) “Pragmatic and does an excellent job of telling the history of our relationship with China and how it is different from our prior Cold War fight with the USSR.”
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
“A Perfect Frenzy” by Andrew Lawler (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2025) “Provocative book about how Lord Dunmore’s offer to arm enslaved Virginians was a major cause of the American Declaration of Independence.”
“Paper Girl” by Beth Macy (Penguin Press, 2025) “Beautiful memoir by Virginia’s best listener about going home after years and trying to make sense of what happened to the place where you were raised.”
Former Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., senior vice president of U.S. program and policy for The Rockefeller Foundation
“The Anthropocene Reviewed” by John Green (Dutton, 2021) “A book I read with my kiddo about the current geological age. Before you think it’s too high-brow, it’s largely a series of essays in which John Green delightfully and informatively reviews elements of life on a five-star scale. His views on Diet Dr. Pepper (4 stars) and the Taco Bell breakfast menu (3.5 stars) made me laugh out loud. And I was genuinely moved by his chapters on the human capacity for wonder (4 stars) and sunsets (5 stars, of course).”
Betsy Fischer Martin, executive director of the Women and Politics Institute, American University
“Far from Home” by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska (Forum Books, 2025) “What struck me most was her unflinching honesty about what it takes to maintain your independence in today’s Washington. It’s a political memoir that actually feels authentic.”
Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah
“Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious” by Ross Douthat (Zondervan, 2025) “Douthat’s book was of particular interest to our office, as most of our constituents are religious, and it’s something we really value in our office. We think the rest of the country could benefit from Utah’s example!”
“The Real Retirement Crisis” by Andrew G. Biggs (AEI Press, 2025) “Provides economic insights into America’s retirement norms. It’s meant to be both informative and thought-provoking for our team.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
“A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children” by Haley Cohen Gilliland (Avid Reader Press, 2025) “Speaks with such grace about resilience — how the roots we inherit can blossom into courage and compassion. I loved this book because I saw these women in action firsthand with love in Buenos Aires when our congressional delegation joined them in wearing white — and their story reminds us that even in turbulent times, beauty and hope still find their way forward.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.
“Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation” by Zaakir Tameez (Henry Holt and Co., 2025) “Tells the story I never knew, of how passionate abolitionist Charles Sumner, who hated politics and politicians, ended up in the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts in the first place and then came to be violently assaulted on the Senate floor by South Carolina Rep. Preston Brooks. It then follows Sumner’s difficult convalescence and the central role he played in the coming of the Civil War and everything to follow. Absolutely riveting.”
Daniel Schuman, executive director of the American Governance Institute
“Divided Parties, Strong Leaders” by Ruth Bloch Rubin (University of Chicago Press, 2025) “A smart, richly observed look at how party factions shape leadership power and legislative outcomes. Dr. Bloch Rubin is my favorite kind of political scientist — someone who clearly spends time listening to members and staff, and who captures Capitol Hill as it actually works. Tracing the past half-century, she shows that when parties contain two or more strong factions, leaders can maneuver and legislate; when they don’t, leadership loses the ability to set the agenda.”
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind.
“The Neptune Factor” by Nicholas A. Lambert (Naval Institute Press, 2024) “Well over a century ago, Alfred Thayer Mahan prophesied that a nation’s power was proportional to its influence on the seas. The esteemed naval historian Nicholas Lambert documents the accuracy of this prediction. Describing Mahan as ‘the first global strategist,’ Lambert presents a timely reexamination of his subject’s theory of ‘Sea Power.’ A navy’s function was to promote commerce, not merely win decisive battles, Mahan wrote during the ‘first age of globalization,’ when the flow of ships, goods and money accelerated along with their geostrategic importance.”
Jason Dick, editor-in-chief of CQ Roll Call
“Shadow Ticket” by Thomas Pynchon (Penguin Press, 2025) “Thomas Pynchon is having a moment. His 1990 novel ‘Vineland’ gets adapted by filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson into ‘One Battle After Another,’ starring some of the biggest movie stars on the planet (Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro) and becomes an Oscar front-runner. And a few days after the film’s release, Pynchon’s latest novel ‘Shadow Ticket’ is published, a fabulist noir set in 1932 Wisconsin and Budapest (and many other locales, ranging from Chicago to backroads Balkan boondocks). The protagonist of ‘Shadow Ticket,’ swing-dancing private detective Hicks McTaggart, finds himself tossed around two continents, caught up in the tides and riptides of economic collapse, a crumbling old world order, the rise of Nazi fascism and a spy- and criminal-filled march toward world war. But it’s not all grim. Come for the International Cheese Syndicate, stay for the BAGEL (Bureau Administering Golems Employed Locally).”
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