26ish books 2025

10 The Girl With The Louding Voice by Abi Dare

What an amazing book, I couldn't put it down. Set in Nigeria, around 14 year old Adunni. How she was forced into a marriage... and what happened from there. All she wants is an education and to use her 'louding voice' to speak up for herself and other girls in her situation.

Powerful, heartbreaking, memorable. 4 out of 5

@Tinkhasflown
I feel exactly the same….life is short and there are so many good books out there!
I’ve just abandoned Suite Française and I really tried but it just wasn’t for me.

ooof @Tinkhasflown you beat my 3 back to back DNF, so frustrating isn't it! But life is too short....

9 The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada
Surreal Japanese novella.
Im not sure I quite 'got it' though it is very much open to interpretation. Only 92 pages so a super quick read which I got through in a day.
2 out of 5

Needed a really easy read which actually turned out to be that but also well written and structured - if you need something to just relax with It Should Have been you by Andrea Mara is it

21 - A Small Person Far Away, Judith Kerr
Been slowly reading this to DD once a week, rounding off our trilogy, I just adore these books and it's been lovely to share them with her

22 - The Cliffs, J Courtney Sullivan
Frustrating. She's good at prose and dialogue but awful with structure. Just a mess of an overthought, overwritten, under edited book. I did manage to finish but there are a lot of long boring essays/soapbox speeches throughout that felt almost written by someone else. Shame really, if she'd stuck to one theme I think it could have been really good

8: Jojo Finally Home by Johannes Radebe. I love Strictly, love Jojo so it was really interesting to read his life story, it hasn't been easy for him to get where he is today, an inspiring read.

Love Clare Chambers

Just started reading Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers and listening to The Names by Florence Knapp. Both shaping up well.

8. Femlandia by Christina Dalcher
Another dystopian future novel from Dalcher.
The premise is of an all-female community where procreation is generated by sinister means.
I enjoyed it, a page turner but won’t end up on my Keepers Shelf.

23. My Friends- Hisham Matar

Although this took me an age to read, that was due to me being busy and distracted with other things, not an indictment of the book which I very much enjoyed.

A story of 3 Libyan friends living in London in the years of unrest in their home country. It gave a real sense of the love of home whilst trying to live a life away from it. Beautifully written.

8 Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
'A bittersweet tale of family, heartbreak and hope'.
Loved it and did not what to put it down!
This is my first Ann Patchett book but I don't think it will be my last. 4 out of 5

No 14 The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods.
A bit too soppy for me - but a bit of escapism never did any harm - I liked some of the magical realism. Was chosen by the book group I'm in (which is full of 20-somethings who have no children and seem to live in each others' pockets and were weeping and wailing over the Supreme Court judgement - let's just say I'm looking for another book group but it's hard to find one).

18 A Family Matter by Claire Lynch. Oh God this put me through the wringer! Absolutely beautiful and not a subject/ scenario I've read about before. I don't want to say too much because it would spoil it but if anyone saw the film Blue Jean it covers similar territory, also some of it is set in the 1980s and with a lot left unsaid. Opens in 2022 with a man learning he has terminal cancer and deciding not to tell anyone yet and to carry on his usual Thursday routine of the big supermarket shop. Then we meet his adult daughter whom he raised as a single parent. No mention of Covid in case anyone is a bit done with Covid referencing /set novels....
I was so disappointed when I realised I'd finished, I'd thought there were a few more pages but they are factual research related.

A Killing in November by Simon Mason
Sightly ridiculous police whodunnit set in Oxford.

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
Listened to the audiobook of this and I thought the narrator was great. Will definitely listen to CCW’s next one and watch the Channel 4 tv adaptation.

No. 13 The Windsor Knot by SJ Bennett.
Gorgeous mystery set in Windsor Castle with HM QE2 as detective.

14.Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Absolutely loved this book - I honestly can't see why it is so divisive. It's one I didn't want to finish, and now I want to spend hours playing nostalgic games.

17. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. I really enjoyed the first 3/4 with the wit, differing modes of behaviour and those women striking out for themselves and pushing back against expectations. The beautiful setting and their increasing self awareness....For me it got a bit saccharine with the men. I much preferred it without them and the two husbands weren't worthy of their wives. There were some huge plot contrivances which I found pleasing rather than irritating.

13. Frankenstein Mary Shelley. I try to read one classic per year and this has been on my TBR shelf for years! It was OK, the first 3rd of the book really dragged for me and I didn’t find it very engaging at all. But it picked up which was just as well as it may have become my 2nd DNR of the year.

10- The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey
I expected this to be average/ okay - I think the blurb and cutesty front cover and title do not do it justice - it’s much deeper than it looks and is an excellent book. Really enjoyed it

7: Rivals by Jilly Cooper. Another I hadn't read before but had seen the TV series. Great characters, great storylines, a bit less shocking than Riders in terms of sex, violence, homophobia etc although it was interesting how one character's dyslexia was treated (both in terms of the other characters behaviour around it and the descriptions by the author). Very much of it's time though, I was a teenager in the 80s so a lot of the cultural references are part of my growing up (although my life was NOTHING like any of theirs thank goodness).

ugh I had 3 DNF in a row which is so disappointing, one I'll probably come back to later in the year when I have more brain space and less general anxiety (Fire Weather) but here's my latest:

18 - Sunrise on the Reaping, latest Hunger Games book. Read because DS devoured it and wanted to talk about it. I found it meh, least favourite of the HG novels probably because you know Hamitch survives....it got dark at the end though which I appreciated

19 - James, Percival Everett. Loved this, totally held up to the hype

20 - Normal People, Sally Rooney. First Sally Rooney and probably not the best decision (book club choice) because I loved the series so that was just really in my head so I ended up breezing through it as I knew what was going to happen

16. Sister In Law. Fighting For Justice In A System Designed By Men By Harriet Wistrich. Harriet details several legal cases she has been involved with, such as Sally Challen's appeal, the undercover policemen who were romantically involved with activists, and the failure to investigate then attempts to release John Worboys after a pitiful sentence served. Very readable. I'd recommend for anyone interested in law and / or feminism.