26ish books 2025

[Tinkhasflown]

A shiny new thread for 2025.

All welcome and note 26 is just a number. Everyone can set their own target and you are welcome here even if you only read 2 books a year.

I personally count the larger novel style books I read to my children and audio books I listen to. Others don't and there are no rules.

I look forward to all your suggestions again this year.

Lots of suggestions for the next Maggie Farrell book, thank you. Will see what is there on my next charity shop round! Will be adding The Kings witches to my to be read list as also loved The Mercies. Would also recommend Burial Rites for anyone who enjoyed The Mercies.

It’s debateable I think whether there are really supernatural elements at play….

i second Marriage Portrait to follow Hamnet

@Orangebadger Yes, I read Burial Rites years ago and loved it. There were definitely similarities between that and The Mercies. You've reminded me that I have The Good People (also by Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites) on my Kindle for ages. Might give that a go next!

@rosyvalentine Burial Rites is also excellent

Finished book 6 yesterday - Onyx Storm - enjoyed it, really looking forward to the next book.
Started book 7 - The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton.
Ive read the sequel & enjoyed it, but found this in a charity shop & happy to read the previous book. It's a bit Jane Austen meets Streampunk meets pirates.

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

I tried to listen to Burial Rites but decided pretty quickly that I need to read it instead. I generally find that I don't get on with fiction audio books as I find it too easy to drift off and lose the plot, whereas I can pick up the thread of non-fiction more easily.

Having said that, I did get Rivers of London on BorrowBox from the library and like the narrator so will stick with it.

7 - My Friends, Hisham Matar

story of exile, friendship and the Arab Spring Upfising and consequential civil war in Libya told from the perspective of a young man who, after getting shot at a protest at the Libyan embassy in London, remains stuck for decades feeling it’s impossible to return home

beautifully written, so bleak in a very “small” and internal way, political as much in the small ways of what does an enforced and then self imposed exile do to a person. Highly recommended

5. And finally: Matters of life and death by Henry Marsh.

Henry Marsh is a retired neurosurgeon and this is his third book. A musing on life, aging, death. A fusion of science and philosophy with a heavy dose of realism due to the experience of being diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.

As an HCP and one that use to work in the same hospital at Mr Marsh ( albeit a very much criticised hospital by him... and justifiably so) I have a bias choosing to read his books. However I would thoroughly recommend them, all of them. Very insightful, well written with a lot of analysis. Also neurosurgeons have a rep as being the most arrogant of all medics. He has a refreshing dose of self awareness that many of his books confront with good humour.

Book 6 The Trial of Lotta Rae by Siobhan MacGowan I enjoyed this historical fiction based on a tragedy and it's aftermath at the time of Emily Pankhurst and the Suffragettes.

1. The Safekeep by Yale van der Wouden
2. Fire by John Boyne.
3. Birnham Wood by Eleanor Catton
4. Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson.
5. The Outrun by Amy Liptrot

read so far. Latest is 6.Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. I really enjoyed this book, not plot driven but great characters, the male characters inner lives were better written than the women. The relationship between the two brothers in the months following their father’s death was so honest, riveting and tense. and the brothers’ dilemmas around relationships made up the central stories and (for me) a satisfying ending.

7 Bridget Jones - Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding. Read this after seeing the film - I actually preferred the book though the Magic Man Tree was hilarious and not in the book.

@Citygirlrurallife that's on my list after I heard the author talking about it snd thought it sounded interesting - glad it's not a dissappoinment

@cromwell44 oh I love The Outrun, super keen to see the film

@Citygirlrurallife it’s a great film. The London parts are more vivid than the book but equally there is a certain low key-ness about it, that reflects the book really well.

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

Storm Child was a tough subject but very easy to read and the ending was good too. Would recommend it.

book 3 - Behind the scenes at the museum (Kate Atkinson)

Have been curious to read something by her. Got this on audible, and feel like Margaret Thatcher has been reading to me..... Amusing, but no love....

I keep hearing about the Rivers of London.... what kind of book is it?

It's set in London - following a policeman called Peter Grant, who ends up talking to a ghost whilst on patrol which throws him into a big case & a secret branch of the Met that deals with 'unusual cases'.
I really enjoyed the first book. The second was good, but not quite as good as the first. I have the next few in the series & will hopefully get through them this year.

I downloaded it on borrow box after it being mentioned here a few times - not my usual sort of book but I’m finding it very entertaining, well written and the narrator is fantastic

Thanks apurplesquirrel and Citygirlrurallif! I might just have to give a try, there is so much hype about it..... I must say criminal thrillers are rarely my cup of tea.... but it is good to diversify!

1. A History of Loneliness - John Boyne 8/10 A powerful story, shocking and so sad; beautifully written.

1. The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac - Louise Kennedy 7/10

I enjoyed every short story in this book, would recommend.

1. The Minders - John Marrs 6/10

I really liked the plot and storylines, the futuristic theme, AI, cyber terrorism etc however I disliked the language used in some of the characters’ narrations which to me was at times cringeworthy and felt more compatible with a rom-com. I liked that each chapter was told from a different minder’s perspective, always ending on a bit of a cliffhanger, which kept the pace up.

1. Spiked by Caroline Campbell - just starting this.

@Totorosfluffytummy We sound like we have similar tastes🙂. I loved History of Loneliness and Trepassers by Louise Kennedy was one of my favourite books of 2024. Thanks for the short story recommendation, I have somehow missed that she'd written
a collection.

6. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith. I found this to be enjoyable entertaining tosh and was racing through in an escapist sort of way until the big reveal of who the murder was. That just really pissed me off! It was all rounded off neatly enough but I'm not happy. I didn't see it coming and it is plausible but it really irked me because it's a bit too clever for the sake of it. I know probably i am being unreasonable.

All that said, I wouldn't rule out reading the next book. I do realise that's illogical too. But it's the first recent crime novel I've read for ages because I just went off them but I was in the market for a new series.

I finished these audiobooks in February:

Unruly by David Mitchell - narrated by the author which was very enjoyable although lagged a bit at one point.

Who do you think you are? by Mark Steel. Also read by the author. This was Mark's experience of looking for his natural parents. His anger at the way his birth mother - and thousands of other young women ('unmarried mothers') were considered as and treated as a scourge on society, and pressurised into giving up their babies for adoption (at a time when abortion was illegal) runs throughout the book. But it's also very funny and warm, and covers the nature v nurture debate in an interesting and moving way. Highly recommend!

Ballet Shoes by Noel Stretfeild - one of my all time favourite books. I wanted to see the play at the National but couldn't so wanted to re-read. This was read by Janet Stretfeild so assume a granddaughter or relative, and she was amazing. Unfortunately she doesn't seem to have narrated many other books else I'd look them up just for her performance.

I also finished:

Caledonian Road by Andrew O'Hagan - for this for Christmas. Lots of interwoven characters and strands. Some worked better than others for me, and I'm not sure I'm clever enough to know what some of them were going on about, but overall I enjoyed it. I grew up around Caledonian Road, with one parent living roughly at each end, although I left London more than 30 years ago, so having that element of the book's setting added extra interest for me.

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella - completely ridiculous premise and plot but a very easy and enjoyable light read to balance things out when Caledonian Road was getting bit much.

Who do you think you are? by Mark Steel. Also read by the author.

I might give this a go. I like his show in R4 abs we're going to see him in May. Thanks for the recommendation