We started using our local library this year and it has been wonderful. I've read more books compared to previous years, and I've read things I probably wouldn't ordinarily read. It has been great. I thought I'd share my 2025 list here as I'm quite pleased with how I got on. It is in chronological order, starting with le Carré in January. Anyone else read any of these this year? Any favourites? Any recommendations for 2026 based on the below?
A Legacy of Spies – John le Carré
Brighton Rock – Graham Greene
The Outsider – Albert Camus
Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir
The Man Who Planted Trees – Jean Giono
The Fall of Hyperion – Dan Simmons
Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
Tokyo Express – Seichō Matsumoto
Quantum Physics Made Me Do It: A Simple Guide to the Fundamental Nature of Everything – Jeremie Harris
The Promised Land – Erich Maria Remarque
The Winter of Our Discontent – John Steinbeck
Cannery Row – John Steinbeck
Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties – Elijah Wald
The Offing – Benjamin Myers
Dannu’s Man – Terry M. Dunn
The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
The Pearl – John Steinbeck
The Lonely Londoners – Sam Selvon
Pine – Francine Toon
An Artist of the Floating World – Kazuo Ishiguro
Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut
Goodbye to Russia: A Personal Reckoning from the Ruins of War – Sarah Rainsford
Karla’s Choice – Nick Harkaway
Magpie Murders – Anthony Horowitz
Takeaway: Stories From a Childhood Behind the Counter – Angela Hui
Sweet Bean Paste – Durian Sukegawa
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption – Stephen King
Moonflower Murders – Anthony Horowitz
Marble Hall Murders – Anthony Horowitz
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
The Book of Trespass: Crossing the Lines that Divide Us – Nick Hayes
Currently reading: We Fight Fascists: The 43 Group and Their Forgotten Battle for Post-war Britain – Daniel Sonabend
Happy New Year, all.
by rsoton
3 Comments
Where do you find the time for all these books? in a good case I finish about 6 books a year.
Big Benjamin Myers fan here – read more of him! I loved Cuddy.
How was Karla’s Choice? I’ve got it, but not read it yet.
I have read Project Hail Mary and Slaughterhouse-5 this year. PHM was my favourite book of the year and I enjoyed Slaughterhouse-5 a lot.