26ish books 2025

13. No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai.

This is a thought provoking, semi-autobiographic novel, considered a modern classic in its native Japan.

Yozo, the suicidal protagonist, is awful but pitiful, and clearly very mentally unwell. He's academically bright & superficially charming, but arrogant and lazy, preferring to act like a clown to avoid attention and meaningful relationships. Self-loathing and riddled with anxiety, he masks 24/7 to avoid any conflict whatsoever. He's also a misogynist, and pretty manipulative of everyone he meets.

Whilst the novel is pretty bleak, especially when you read Dazai's Wikipedia page, it's one that will stick with you. There are also reflections about not quite fitting in that will resonate with a lot of people. Definitely recommend.

@MonkeyTennis34 I wasn't sure about it before reading it to be honest, and it took me a couple of chapters to get the feel of the novel but it really is excellent - recommended! I got ambushed by a waterstones book seller a couple of months ago who said it was the best book he ever read and all the staff had loved it which is why I picked it up in the first place.

@Yuja
I’ve been wondering about getting North Woods for a while now. I love the cover and the premise sounds great. Think I will buy it after I’ve read the new Cormoran Strike, which is out on the 2nd September 🙌🏻

19 - North Woods - Daniel Mason. This book was utterly exceptional - it was so unique, beautifully written, clever and haunting I would give it 100 stars if I could. Firmly one of the best books I have ever read.

19. Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie. Another annual holiday read is always a Christie book. Loved this, just a lot of fun to read.

15 Bleachers by John Grisham

Unexpectedly loved this! About American football which is not my thing but there is more to it than the sport. Think fame, relationships, the highs & lows, hero to zero...
Never read a John Grisham before but I really liked his style so will be trying others out. 4 out of 5 stars.

18 - In the Family Way - Laney Katz Becker I downloaded this thinking it would be a light read but it was much more than that - a real exploration into life as a 60s woman in America. Really good, fairly quick read.

14 The Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi

Such a sweet and heart-warming read (albeit sad in places).
The Chibineko Kitchen provides memorial meals - delicious food that evokes memories of, and somehow a final encounter with a departed loved one.

I really enjoyed it and sped through it!
Realise I love Japanese literature.
4 stars out of 5.

Done!

1. Cult Trip, by Anke Richter
2. Out of the Wilderness, b y Elishaba Doerksen
3. The House of My Mother, by Shari Franke
4. Born Into the Children of God, by Natacha Tomey
5. The Passionflower Massacre, by Nicola Morgan
6. Unveiled, by Theophila Pratt
7. Shame, by Jasvinder Sanghera
8. Heaven's Harlots, by Miriam Williams
9. The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig (I put this off for a long time, because it was over-hyped, and I don't usually enjoy over-hyped books)
10. Breaking Free, by Rachel Jeffs
11. Stolen, by Louise Monaghan
12. Through the Narrow Gate, by Karen Armstrong
13. Cloistered, by Catherine Coldstream (recommended if you're interested in what life as a more modern-day nun)
14. Diddly Squat: Home to Roost, by Jeremy Clarkson
15. Girl on a Wire, by Libby Phelps
16. Come Back Lucy, by Pamela Sykes (I saw this recommended on here, and was surprised that I'd missed such a book as a child)
17. Surviving Centrepoint, by Ella James
18. The Way of the Hermit, by Ken Smith (my favourite of this entire list!)
19. My Story, by Elizabeth Smart
20. Missing Me, by Sophie McKenzie (I read the others in the series as a teen, and found this on a second-hand book exchange table)
21. Dark Horses, by Susan Milhalic
22. Love as Always, Mum xxx, by Mae West
23. The Calling, by Fleur Beale
24. In the Clearing, by JP Pomare
25. Pilgrim's Wilderness, by Tom Kizzia
26. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George (I read 'My Side of the Mountain' as a teen, and recognised the author's name, so I thought that I'd give it a go)
27. Sold, by Zana Muhsen
28. Unorthodox, by Deborah Feldman
29. Counting the Cost, by Jill and Derick Duggar
30. The Book of Essie, by Meghan MacLean Weir

It's not a high-brow list, but I demolished quite a chunk of the classics years ago, and now I only really return to my favourites periodically. I've just started 'Empty Cradles' by Margaret Humphreys (filmed under the title of 'Oranges and Sunshine'), and have a glorious stack of TBR books threatening to topple over and suffocate me in my sleep!

Happy reading, everyone!

17 - Wild Dark Shores - Charlotte McConaghy
Amazing read - couldn’t put it down. I think I’m going to need some recovery time to process this book!

21. The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard. I really enjoyed this but there were some really dark plot points I just wasn't expecting at all, I thought it would all be really gentle. It was in keeping just a shock!
Edited - should have said, this is the first of the Cazalet series.

16 - Creation Lake - Rachel Kushner glad I only paid 99p for this as it was a slog, with unbelievable characters and very little plot. Not for me!

19: Welcome to the Word, Baby Girl by Fannie Flagg
This was a little dated but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It felt in a similar vein to an Ann Tyler.

20: Birdgirl by Mya-Rose Craig
I bought this a few weeks back when I listened to her talk about birding, and I found it really interesting.

Had a bit of a slump this year so not read that much and haven't really been keeping proper track, but here's my list according to Goodreads:

Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham
The Husband by B.B. Thomas
Butter by Asako Yuzuki
Cousins by Aurora Vinturini
Strange Pictures by Uketsu
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (probably my favourite so far)
The Trial by S R. Masters
All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
Tampa by Alissa Nutting (DNF)
A Short Stay In Hell by Steven L. Peck
Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata

16) The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse. Brilliant! 3rd book in quartet and looking forward to the 4th.

17) The last devil to die by Richard Osman. These are always my summer holiday reads. This was OK, not as funny as the others and quite predictable so my least favourite of them all.

18) The People on Platform 5 by Clare Pooly. Another holiday read, light easy reading. I really enjoyed this, more than I expected to.

13 The good, the bad and the little bit stupid by Marina Lewycka

Aw Marina, what happened?! Ive read all her other books (eg. Short history of Ukrainian tractors) which were brilliant and actually got me through some very hard times but this one, I just found to be awful. Don't get me wrong, she's a really good writer but the plot for this was just farcical. So far-fetched and unbelievable, I nearly gave up on it.
1.5 stars out of 5.

1. I haven't been entirely honest with you, Miranda Hart
2. The Cracked Mirror, Chris Brookmyre
3. Fairy Tale, Stephen King
4. Storm Child, Michael Robotham
5. All the other mothers hate me, Sarah Harman
6. There are rivers in the sky, Elif Shafik
7. A Killer's Wife, Victor Methos
8. Guilty, Martina Cole and Jacqui Rose

6.The midnight feast Lucy Folley. Enjoyed this with plenty of plot twists, although took me a while to get into it initially.

Struggling with finding time to read this year.

15 - The Sentence by Christina Dalcher. This was just okay! Easy to read which was what I needed but not an amazing book

27. The Boy From the Sea - Garett Carr. An audio read as I was travelling and I can't read a book while in a train. I really enjoyed this. I seem to be drawn to family stories from Ireland. I liked that the narrator of the story was not a main character but talked of "we did this or that in our town"

14 - Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde decided to make a start on some classics that I’ve never got round to reading. This was an enjoyable and short start - can see why it’s a GCSE English text !

13 - Orbital by Samantha Harvey I know this one divides opinion but I really enjoyed it - accepting it for what it is - a beautifully written contemplation rather than a story - helped a lot. It very much hammered home my insignificance in the history of time!

1. I haven't been entirely honest with you, Miranda Hart
2. The Cracked Mirror, Chris Brookmyre
3. Fairy Tale, Stephen King
4. Storm Child, Michael Robotham
5. All the other mothers hate me, Sarah Harman
6. There are rivers in the sky, Elif Shafik

I finished this yesterday and also really enjoyed it. I've shocked myself a bit this year, as that was book 22. Am now starting Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris, it's a bookclub read and hasn't had great reviews from others in the club that have already started it. Anyone else read it?