--- description: Find out why "Stay Dead" is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'Stay Dead' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2025 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40464c8c63b06422/6998cb3a07a30db03177d7ba/100_Books_2025_Stay-Dead-Natalie-Shapero.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 12, 2025 # Stay Dead by Natalie Shapero by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  There’s chaos in Natalie Shapero’s 2025 National Book Award-longlisted poetry collection _Stay Dead_—chaos that reflects the modern political and social world to which she’s responding. In one poem, “Nightstand,” the speaker looks to finally read a book about trauma and recovery, but is constantly interrupted by tornado drills, her dog, her doorbell, and several other small and large violations. The tension rises, and the ironic poem ultimately ends before the chaos can settle, leaving readers to sit with that discomfort. Shapero’s speaker often defies conventions of grammar, embodying chaos on the phrase level. “Bandages stocked in the padlocked aisle, claim denial, bird spikes, rent hikes,” Shapero lists in another poem, then asks, “Why wouldn’t I want more of what God made?” Her humor is balanced by earnestness—musing on whether being born is “worth it,” while in the same breath taking seriously what it means to be a writer in our tumultuous time: “I had to make sure/ I would not leave the world with my feelings/ unfinished.” —_Rebecca Schneid_ **_These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser._** **Buy Now:** _Stay Dead_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781556597121 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/4oqogKG "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. Stay Dead: 100 Must-Read Books of 2025 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329552/stay-dead/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329552/stay-dead/"},"headline":"Stay Dead","datePublished":"2025-11-12T13:00:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T01:03:12.769Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329552/stay-dead/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","ecommerce","Special Project"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40464c8c63b06422/6998cb3a07a30db03177d7ba/100_Books_2025_Stay-Dead-Natalie-Shapero.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40464c8c63b06422/6998cb3a07a30db03177d7ba/100_Books_2025_Stay-Dead-Natalie-Shapero.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329552/stay-dead/","name":"Stay Dead"}}]}] ```