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.

10 - The girl with the louding voice (Abi Dare). It is a YA, and it shows; but I really enjoyed anyway especially the end. I thought it was all obvious, but I was wrong :-)

11 - Currently devouring "The Glassmaker" (Tracy Chevallier). Not sure how good it is....but is certainly a page turner!

31. Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall. I had a job getting hold of this and it turns out it's been one of Reese Witherspoon's book club choices and apparently had a fair bit of social media buzz . I can see why because it's great. I was gripped from the off and for me it didn't flag or misstep at all. I don't want to give much away because it's carefully plotted. There are things I wondered about that came true but I think that's more careful seeding (sp?) than predicable clunkiness.

I loved the descriptions of life on the farm and the close knit family, the character observations and diologue. Her descriptions of children were particularly believable.

Main character Beth lives on a farm in a small village and her rich, posh first love returns and throws her off kilter. We also know from the off that she ends up watching a court trail, but not the details of who or why. I know that makes it sound like chick lit but it's really not!

24 - stone yard devotional - Charlotte Wood I downloaded this on kindle this morning and finished it just now. It was so beautifully written - a slow moving, quiet book but an intelligent read about grief, forgiveness, atonement, human connection and other themes. I hadn’t read much of last year’s booker last other than the winner so I’m glad I got to this

25 - Heartwood Amity Gaige this was a brilliant read, some beautiful writing and about more than you would think from reading the blurb. It’s about a missing hiker and the search for her, but more deeply it’s an exploration of mother-daughter relationships. Recommended

25 Yeonnam-dong's Smiley Laundromat by Kim Jiyun

A Korean bestseller.

'Situated at the heart of a rapidly gentrifying district of Seoul, the laundromat is a place where the extraordinary stories of ordinary residents unfold'

Im not sure if this got a bit lost in translation but I found it a bit too whimsical and it didn't quite flow. An easy light read though.

2.5 stars out of 5.

24. Antarctica by Clare Keegan. A series of short stories by this amazing author. Enjoyed lots and as ever I was in awe at how much she packs in to such few pages. It’s quite dark, some more so than others, a couple especially leave you with chills!

25. Chocolat by Joanne Harris.
    I really did not enjoy this at all. I really have no idea why I just DNF it as it took me so long to read ( through boredom)

Gabriel’s Moon - William Boyd. I picked this up in a charity shop yesterday morning and binged it over the last 24 hours - so good! Really loved it and will be being myself the sequel today as an early birthday present to myself 😅

27 - The Predicament - William Boyd - the follow up to Gabriel’s Moon, reviewed below. Just as compulsive - I hear there’s a 3rd coming next year so I’m looking forward to that

26 Gilbert Filbert and his big MAD Box by Ian Gilbert & Andy Gilbert

The story of one boy's desire to make a difference and help his mother find her smile again.

More of a self help / thinking toolkit than anything but could be read as a simple, sweet story. I enjoyed it - and it got me to my 26 books in 2025!

3 stars out of 5

30 Gone with the Wind - what a book! I loved it. It was written in such an immersive way, a war book, a love story, extraordinarily engaging. It was hard to put down and at places hard to start because what had happened and was about to be described was just too awful. A great portray of various characters that are pretty unusually written, two anti heros that the reader should hate but I didn't. A great portray of the societal constraints on females. Written from slave owners perspectives so of course it is racist but it gives an insight into many different forms of racism and how it permeated America. I could read it all again straight away, all 1058 pages of it.

28 - The Artist - Lucy Steeds
I thought this was beautifully written and a good debut, but as a story I thought it was just okay. All the ‘twists’ I felt were predictable and a bit trite. I do think Lucy Steeds is a good writer though and perhaps one to watch for the future.

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
9. Apt Pupil, Stephen King
10. The Silent Guest, Sally Rigby
11. The Surgeon, Tess Gerritsen

@yuja I have just been given The Artist for my birthday, but I probably won't start it until next year now.

I realised I misnumbered my last one which should have been 28, so:

29: Butter by Asaka Yuzuki
Absolutely loved this one, the combination of food descriptions and the intrigue just really worked for me.

30: Death in the Holidays by Kitty Murphy
I liked this but nowhere near as much as the second one in the series. They are murders set around a close knit group of friends at a drag club in Dublin.

@DiggoryVenn to be fair I think I’m in a minority! Most people seem to think it’s really good

I havent been active on this thread much, i will try harder next year! I thought id woefully failed my reading goal - i thought Id said 18. Im just finishing book 13 and a quick scroll back shows my goal was 12 to 15 so im happy with that!

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.

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

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 😀

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.

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

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,

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.

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

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!

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.