26ish books 2025

There's a new thread for us all!

Evening 👋

I have just finished my first book of 2026!

(1) The French for Christmas by Fiona Valpy

I am trying to read what I own - it was an enjoyable but forgettable read....

Onto the next!

Happy reading everyone 😄

I did finish another one yesterday before year end!

34 The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey This was dated and modern at the same time. A good crime novel, some great characters, a lot to like but there was also some horrible, nasty misogyny. I can't really explain as it would amount to spoilers but I found it quite shocking. I accept that this is what people thought and probably plenty still do but it tainted it for me.

Welcome @Clairedebear101286

Hey 🖐

I would love to join you all this year - I took part in the 50 books challenge this year and made it to 32 books read - I have a busy year ahead so I think 26 books or more is a bit more realistic challenge and less pressure also.

I hope the slower, less competitive pace will mean I get to know people and build some rapport.

I am starting this year with a book called 'The French for Christmas' by Fiona Vaply - a romance novel which is easy to read and understand!

Happy reading everyone :)

I only managed 24 books, must try harder this year!

I managed 30 books this year - a mixture of actual books, audiobooks and kindle. Some re-reads as well as new stuff. I DNF 5.

I’ve been terrible at keeping up with the thread/posting anything this year as I joined the 50 book thread for the first time but it moves so fast I could not keep up! So I will look out for a new 25 books thread and start as I mean to go on. I’ve also seen a ‘read what you own’ so I may join that although I do have a Christmas book token burning a hole in my pocket…

33. Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb. Far shorter and much more light weight and chatty than his other novels. Told by a lad of around 10, set late 1964 up to just after the school Christmas show, with the school being a Catholic one with lots of opportunities for farce. Not as Christmassy as I'd hoped but the finale Christmas show is well set up and funny. I liked the little details of the narration through the child's eyes, such as his observation that the new teacher has two bottles of perfume in her bag - the lily of the valley one, which he is allergic to and makes him sneeze, and one called cognac.

This is my list. I have read slightly more this year than I normally do. I have found a few new authors which, as you can see, I'm now working my way through their series.

1, The Mercy Chair by M W Craven
2, For Reasons Unknown by Michael Wood
3, The Body Beaker by M W Craven
4, The Crucifix Killer by Chris Carter
5, Nobody’s Hero by M W Craven
6, Outside Looking In by Michael wood
7, Making a Killing by Cara Hunter
8, The Executioner by Chris Carter.
9, Thea and Denise by Caroline Bond
10, A Room Full of Killers by Michael Wood
11, Zodiac by Conrad Jones
11, The Unthinkable by David Challen
12, The Fall by Martin Kemp
13, The Night Staller by Chris Carteby.
14, Blood Flowers by Jay McGuiness
15, The Murder Mile by Lesley McEvoy
16, Leave No Trace by Jo Callaghan
17, Poison Tides by Jay McGuiness
18, Two Kinds of Stranger by Steve Cavanagh
19, Human Remains by Jo Callaghan
20, The Killing Song by Lesley McEvoy
21, The Death Sculptor by Chris Carter
22, The Final Vow by M W Crave
23, Keep2Laughing by Chris McCausland
24, Gone Before Goodbye by Reece Witherspoon and Harlan Coben
25, The Kill List by Nadine Matheson
26, The Christmas Book Hunt by Jenny Colgan
27, The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan

DNF All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker.

I have added several of the books you have all.posted to be read next year and will be looking out for next year's thread.

1 How We Disappeared - Jin Jin Lee
2 The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey
3 The Swimmer - Graham Norton
4 A Doula's Journey - Hazel Tree
5 A Spell of Good Things - Ayòbámi Adébáyò
6 I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, Christina Lamb and Malala Yousafzai.
7 Wishful Drinking - Carrie Fisher
8 The Other Side of the Bridge - Mary Lawson
9 My Cousin Rachel - Daphne Du Maurier
10 Orbital - Samantha Harvey
11 10 minutes 38 seconds in this Strange World-Elif Shaak
12 The Blackwater Lightship -Colm Tóibín
13 The Sun over the Mountains - Suzie Fletcher
14 Nesting - Roisin O'Donnell
15 Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively
16 Us Three - Ruth Jones
17 Sketches from the Periphery : A Novel - MP Summers
18 The Girl with the Louding Voice - Abe Dare
19 Apeirogon : a novel about Israel, Palestine and shared grief - Colum McCann
20 The Testament of Mary - Colm Tóibín
21 Grace -A Novel. Paul Lynch
22. My Own Story - Emmeline Pankhurst
23 My Friends- Hisham Matar
24 Femlandia - Christina Dalcher
25 The Heather Blazing - Colm Tóibín
26 Berserker - Adrian Edmondson
27 The Boy From the Sea - Garett Carr
28 The Ministry of Time - Kaliane Bradley
29 Girls - kirsty Capes
30 All the Lives we Never Lived - Arundha Roy
31 When The Cranes Fly South - Liza Ridźen
32 Go Set A Watchman - Harper Lee
33 Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
34 Strange Fruit - Lillian Smith
35 Fundamentally - Nussaibah Younis

My list for 2025. I enjoyed so many of these. As always, there's a couple I could take or leave and I did have a couple of others that I didn't finish so I haven't added them but for the most part I feel I read well for my preferences.

I haven't read at all in December and it has shown in my phone scrolling usage for sure. I have already downloaded some new books on my Kindle for the 1st and I got vouchers for Christmas. So, I'll get back on the reading wagon and join you all again in 2026.

(I also want to reduce my MN usage but will come on here for reading inspiration)

Sorry post has cramped up..bot sure what happened 🤣

Have followed through year but not commented much...have loved reading more this year and think I have just snuck a full 25 in!

1. Remarkable bright creatures
2. James
3. My brother's name is Jessica
4. Small things like these
5. Foster
6. The satsuma complex
7. The power & the glory (dnf)
8. A house of special purpose
9. Black Moon

Phew! Just managed to fit in number 25.
Marble Hall Murders by Antony Horowitz.
The last (boo!) in the series and fantastic as ever.
Lesley Manville was brilliant on audible.
Thanks to audible, this is the first year I’ve finished 25 books.

I’m on a short holiday so managed to fit in one more before the end of the year! 30 - The Names, Florence Knapp. This has been much hyped but I’m afraid it wasn’t really for me and I’m a bit gutted that it’s ended my year rather than the brilliant Ian McEwan I just read! I thought this was going to be about nominative determinism, but it’s not really. There are 3 story lines depending on the given name of the child, but none are properly developed and there are too many characters that you can’t get to know properly. It’s quite well written and I liked it enough to finish it but certainly not one I’ll remember.

31 The Painted Veil - Somerset Maughan A quick read and pretty good. It must have been absolutely scandalous when it was published, in some ways very modern and in others quite old fashioned.

32 Big Little Lies - Lianne Moriarty I have not seen the TV programme but I really enjoyed this. Quite thought provoking about violence against women and relationships in general.

33 Camino Island - John Grisham This was thoroughly enjoyable. A great character in it. A bit like Jack Reacher novels but without the violence. Not surprising really as it is commercial fiction.

I think all the above will stay with me.

I doubt I will fit another one I before the end of the year!

Thanks for the recommendation. Just started. Will be #1 for the 25 books in 2026. Await the link to the new thread - please. 🙏🏻

Managed to squeeze in another before the end of the year, thanks to a couple of rare days with little to do. 29 - What We Can Know - Ian McEwan. I got this for Xmas and was really looking forward to reading it as I’m generally a fan of McEwan. It didn’t disappoint - beautiful language, unique and layered story, so much to think about. Loved it.

15: A Mind of My Own by Kathy Burke. Really interesting read, Kathy had a very difficult childhood with her mother dying when she was very young and an alcoholic father. The story of how her career unfolded is really interesting too,

I absolutely love Station Eleven ❤️ I buy it for everyone !
Glad you found us and look forward to slow-ish paced reading with you on the 2026 thread

32. Birding by Rose Ruane. Two parallel stories about women in their 40s who are lost and trapped. Set in a faded seaside town. Felt a bit Mike Leigh and I love his films. One is a 90s one hit wonder who is struggling with how she was treated. The MeToo movement is compounding it for her and she's trying to process what went on. The other lives a very claustrophobic life with her over bearing mother, including wearing matching dresses and hairstyles and sharing a twin bedroom. She has things to work through as well. Their stories overlap a few times.

It was very entertaining- the cover comments say it's really funny but I couldn't see that, although you could easily read it on holiday. Several words I didn't know but I didn't look them up because I didn't want to break off from reading, which maybe gives an idea of how engrossing I found it.

DNF- The Snow Child by Eowen Ivey. Started with high hopes and wanting a wintery read over Christmas but I just got increasingly bored and didn't care. I found it so repetitive too. I got about halfway then switched to the audiobook and gave up on that too.

Hello all. Kindly pointed this way by @Yuja so squeezing in before the end of the year. I've hit the target though some of them are audiobooks which I greatly enjoy.
My best book of the year was Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel. She was a new writer for me so I'm looking forward to reading more of her work. I've got books on my Christmas list for my family so hoping Santa brings me a couple 😀

I started book 28 yesterday; hoping I can finish it before the end of the year:

2025 books read

1. Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
2. Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
3. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
4. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
5. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
6. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
7. The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
8. Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
9. Blade Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
10. A Court of Thorns & Roses by Sarah J. Maas
11. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
12. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
13. Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch
14. Fate Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
15. The Binding by Bridget Collins
16. A Court of Mist & Fury by Sarah J. Maas
17. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
18. A Court of Wings & Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
19. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
20. A Court of Frost & Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
21. Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas
22. Godmersham Park by Gill Hornby
23. Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas
24. Broken Holmes by Ben Aaronovitch
25. Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
26. The Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski
27. A Court of Silver Flame by Sarah J. Maas
28. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

I haven't managed as many as I'd have liked either, but in mitigation 3 of mine were extremely long (Pillars of the Earth and sequel and the Barbra Streisand memoir). Life has got in the way big time in the last 6 months. Never mind. I'm going to do what I have done for the last few years and open up the whole thread on one screen then copy and paste out all my own book entries into a word document to keep as an ongoing record. I might finish one more this year.