My 5* reads last year were: The Safekeep (I also did not guess the twist?!!); The Names; The Correspondent. I do read novels that aren’t called “The Whatever” though!
Would you consider including links that don’t go to Amazon? E.g. www.hive.co.uk supports independent book shops ❤️
Thanks for this - love a long list of book recommendations. I read and agree with you on The safekeep (also guessed the twist - sorry!) and Tuga. My book of the year was Butter by Asako Yuzuki. Gave it to my mum for Xmas (German edition) and paired it with Divine 70% Dark Chocolate with Ginger & Orange. Look up the cover of the German edition and you’ll see that I’m quite proud of my first pairing ☺️. Can‘t wait to read her new one Hooked.
Great post - a few I’ve read and agreed with (Sandwich! Safekeep!) and a few I’ve not read to add to my list. My best of 2025 was Piglettes (short and brilliant YA book which I’ve gifted to everyone since reading it) and Prophet Song (devastating). But flippin eck how did you get through so many?! Im wowed!
Love this! Agree on Clare Chambers, have read both of those and have ordered another three of hers to read. Also loved You Are Here. Like others, I enjoyed The Safekeep but also found the twist predictable sorry Ruth! 😆
One of the best books I read last year was Maggie O'Farrell, The Marriage Portrait. I was reading it on the train from King's Cross to Newcastle when I noticed her sitting across the aisle from me! I was too shy to say anything...
Ah, thanks for featuring California Gold. I'm chuffed to bits that your quote is on the cover (I've just seen the final jacket and it's still on the front!). And it's perfectly normal to not like an author's book as much as you love others they have written...I have similar feelings often! It's always a fun punt. May books be written by human beings and their ability to write well *and* shitely - and not A.I. - forever.
Sandwich was my book of the year so I'm definitely going to read Small Bomb. I thought I'd read The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas on your recommendation but obviously not! I don't know who recommended it but I read it in a weekend (which is rare for me these days). It's totally gripping, and also stylistically interesting.
Agatha Christie can be a bit hit and miss IMO. And much as I love Poirot to watch, I'm not as keen on the books. The Thirteen Problems is one of my favourites (Miss Marple short stories, and most of them are bangers!) or I would say check out the non-Marple/Poirots. Maybe Sparkling Cyanide, The Pale Horse or Endless Night.
Crackin' effort here...you could have read a Russian C19th novel in the time it must have taken you to compose.
Dialogue. I am right there with you. Those over- explained, indulgent, totally unbelievable conversations are a feature of bad American films too and bring out all sorts of eye rolling and grumbling from me to the irritation of fellow film watchers. I think it is just bad writing; compare your example with some of the dialogue in 'You are Here'...Nicholl's witty, British and understated but revealing so much. Anyway, I feel better for getting that off my chest. Off to finish, 'Death at the Sign of the Rook' because Kate Atkinson and Sarah Winman can do no wrong.
Great list - have read most and agree with your reviews. I read We All Want Impossible Things and then Sandwich and had the exact response to you but the other way around - adored the former but only liked Sandwich as just felt a bit too familiar. Would second other people’s recommendations of Heart the Lover, The Names and Nesting. Also enjoyed The Wedding People and The Husbands as fun reads, and Emily St Mandel’s books for slightly more literary. Oh and Lucy Carmichael by Margaret Kennedy (same sort of vibes as the Miss Buncle book maybe?). And also Curtis Sittenfeld’s latest short stories (Show Don’t Tell) - largely about women in their 40s+. Also loved Small Bomb - and indeed all of Lissa Evans’ other books - v funny and heartwarming!
Love this sort of post! I read 155 books last year, and there was quite a lot of overlap with your list. After you raved about Sandwich, I recommended it to my book group, and although I loved it, hardly anyone else seemed to get it for some reason. Loved The Safekeep, but I also guessed the twist. And I loved the Tuga one, need to read the second. I completely agree with you about Small Bomb, I thought it was brilliant, although I read it in 2024. I follow Lissa Evans on Twitter (not that I’m on it much these days, the cesspit it is) and she kind of hinted that there might be a follow-up concentrating on the sisters, so here’s hoping.
Night Climbing by Sarah Day was brilliant, I really enjoyed The Eights by Joanna Miller, Night Watching by Tracy Sierra is the only book that has ever given me a jump scare, and I can’t remember if you’ve read Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, a worthy Booker winner. Highly recommend Jane Casey’s Maeve Kerrigan series and the Strike books by JK Rowling if you haven’t read those. Real “lose yourself in” books!
Fantastic list and includes some of my favourite reads too - especially We All Want Impossible Thjngs and both Clare Chambers’ books. Look out for: Nesting by Roisin O’Donnell, Heart the Lover by Lily King, Other People’s Fun by Harriet Lane, Trespasses by Louise Kennedy, Nightwatchjng by Tracy Sierra and Broken Country by Clare Lesley Hall, if you’ve not come across those already.
I think the slowness of the Agatha Christie highlights how much contemporary literature, especially crime fiction, has sped up - readers now expect to be drawn in and intrigued from page 1.
I have also read many of the same books and agree with your reviews (am halfway through Flesh). 2025 was my introduction to Kent Haruf and I adoredhis trilogy too. My book of last year was All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker. I listened to it on audio and was blown away. I also loved Remarkably Bright Creatures, Albion, Consider Yourself Kissed and We Are All Guilty Here.
Mostly agree with you (as I’ve read a lot of the same books!) but would say:
- the Safekeep, though wonderfully written, is an incredibly obvious twist (sorry!)
- I thought Small Bomb was pretty trite and was a bit confused by the hype
- I thought Sleep was more compelling on reflection afterwards than during - but I’m quite a quick reader so that does sometimes happen. I thought you expressed that feeling of simultaneous claustrophobia and fear/lack of boundaries extremely well. I also enjoyed The Names by Florence Knapp which also has that in one of its storylines and is nail biting as a result
- if you haven’t read Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt - it was one of my books for the year. All about motherhood, control and repairing general damage in a way which was amazingly hopeful but not saccharine (and often brutally unkind)
- I absolutely LOVED Ripeness by Sarah Hall which has just come out; a very generous, open hearted book which I feel is unusual these days
- definitely read the follow-up to Glorious Tuga which is, if possible, even more wonderful
- Land in Winter is very good (Andrew Miller is a fantastic writer) but his style is definitely sloooooow so maybe ease into it
Thank you for these recommendations! :) The best book I read in 2025 was, hands-down, "The Burning Library" by Gilly Macmillan. It's basically a female-focused Da Vinci Code, about two competing secret societies, and it was so well-written and well-paced! Other honorary mentions were A Killer Wedding, which was a glamorous murder mystery at a wedding in Ireland, and Breathless, which was an epic thriller about climbers trying to survive a murder-filled mountain expedition.
My 5* reads last year were: The Safekeep (I also did not guess the twist?!!); The Names; The Correspondent. I do read novels that aren’t called “The Whatever” though!
Would you consider including links that don’t go to Amazon? E.g. www.hive.co.uk supports independent book shops ❤️
Added loads of these to my StoryGraph to read list on your rec, thank you kindly.
Thanks for this - love a long list of book recommendations. I read and agree with you on The safekeep (also guessed the twist - sorry!) and Tuga. My book of the year was Butter by Asako Yuzuki. Gave it to my mum for Xmas (German edition) and paired it with Divine 70% Dark Chocolate with Ginger & Orange. Look up the cover of the German edition and you’ll see that I’m quite proud of my first pairing ☺️. Can‘t wait to read her new one Hooked.
Great post - a few I’ve read and agreed with (Sandwich! Safekeep!) and a few I’ve not read to add to my list. My best of 2025 was Piglettes (short and brilliant YA book which I’ve gifted to everyone since reading it) and Prophet Song (devastating). But flippin eck how did you get through so many?! Im wowed!
Ruth, please try the autobiography of Agatha christie, highly entertaining. And then the book the eleven missing days, for the gossip.
Love this! Agree on Clare Chambers, have read both of those and have ordered another three of hers to read. Also loved You Are Here. Like others, I enjoyed The Safekeep but also found the twist predictable sorry Ruth! 😆
One of the best books I read last year was Maggie O'Farrell, The Marriage Portrait. I was reading it on the train from King's Cross to Newcastle when I noticed her sitting across the aisle from me! I was too shy to say anything...
AND RUTH YOU MUST READ THE CORRESPONDENT
Ah, thanks for featuring California Gold. I'm chuffed to bits that your quote is on the cover (I've just seen the final jacket and it's still on the front!). And it's perfectly normal to not like an author's book as much as you love others they have written...I have similar feelings often! It's always a fun punt. May books be written by human beings and their ability to write well *and* shitely - and not A.I. - forever.
Sandwich was my book of the year so I'm definitely going to read Small Bomb. I thought I'd read The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas on your recommendation but obviously not! I don't know who recommended it but I read it in a weekend (which is rare for me these days). It's totally gripping, and also stylistically interesting.
Agatha Christie can be a bit hit and miss IMO. And much as I love Poirot to watch, I'm not as keen on the books. The Thirteen Problems is one of my favourites (Miss Marple short stories, and most of them are bangers!) or I would say check out the non-Marple/Poirots. Maybe Sparkling Cyanide, The Pale Horse or Endless Night.
Oooh, going to put the sleepwalkers on my list right now!
Crackin' effort here...you could have read a Russian C19th novel in the time it must have taken you to compose.
Dialogue. I am right there with you. Those over- explained, indulgent, totally unbelievable conversations are a feature of bad American films too and bring out all sorts of eye rolling and grumbling from me to the irritation of fellow film watchers. I think it is just bad writing; compare your example with some of the dialogue in 'You are Here'...Nicholl's witty, British and understated but revealing so much. Anyway, I feel better for getting that off my chest. Off to finish, 'Death at the Sign of the Rook' because Kate Atkinson and Sarah Winman can do no wrong.
LOVE Kate Atkinson! Also thank you for your recognition of effort 😂
Great list - have read most and agree with your reviews. I read We All Want Impossible Things and then Sandwich and had the exact response to you but the other way around - adored the former but only liked Sandwich as just felt a bit too familiar. Would second other people’s recommendations of Heart the Lover, The Names and Nesting. Also enjoyed The Wedding People and The Husbands as fun reads, and Emily St Mandel’s books for slightly more literary. Oh and Lucy Carmichael by Margaret Kennedy (same sort of vibes as the Miss Buncle book maybe?). And also Curtis Sittenfeld’s latest short stories (Show Don’t Tell) - largely about women in their 40s+. Also loved Small Bomb - and indeed all of Lissa Evans’ other books - v funny and heartwarming!
Love this sort of post! I read 155 books last year, and there was quite a lot of overlap with your list. After you raved about Sandwich, I recommended it to my book group, and although I loved it, hardly anyone else seemed to get it for some reason. Loved The Safekeep, but I also guessed the twist. And I loved the Tuga one, need to read the second. I completely agree with you about Small Bomb, I thought it was brilliant, although I read it in 2024. I follow Lissa Evans on Twitter (not that I’m on it much these days, the cesspit it is) and she kind of hinted that there might be a follow-up concentrating on the sisters, so here’s hoping.
Night Climbing by Sarah Day was brilliant, I really enjoyed The Eights by Joanna Miller, Night Watching by Tracy Sierra is the only book that has ever given me a jump scare, and I can’t remember if you’ve read Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, a worthy Booker winner. Highly recommend Jane Casey’s Maeve Kerrigan series and the Strike books by JK Rowling if you haven’t read those. Real “lose yourself in” books!
The first third or so of Night Watching was absolutely terrifying!
Fantastic list and includes some of my favourite reads too - especially We All Want Impossible Thjngs and both Clare Chambers’ books. Look out for: Nesting by Roisin O’Donnell, Heart the Lover by Lily King, Other People’s Fun by Harriet Lane, Trespasses by Louise Kennedy, Nightwatchjng by Tracy Sierra and Broken Country by Clare Lesley Hall, if you’ve not come across those already.
I think the slowness of the Agatha Christie highlights how much contemporary literature, especially crime fiction, has sped up - readers now expect to be drawn in and intrigued from page 1.
Love your books Kayte!
Oh thank you! ☺️
I have also read many of the same books and agree with your reviews (am halfway through Flesh). 2025 was my introduction to Kent Haruf and I adoredhis trilogy too. My book of last year was All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker. I listened to it on audio and was blown away. I also loved Remarkably Bright Creatures, Albion, Consider Yourself Kissed and We Are All Guilty Here.
Mostly agree with you (as I’ve read a lot of the same books!) but would say:
- the Safekeep, though wonderfully written, is an incredibly obvious twist (sorry!)
- I thought Small Bomb was pretty trite and was a bit confused by the hype
- I thought Sleep was more compelling on reflection afterwards than during - but I’m quite a quick reader so that does sometimes happen. I thought you expressed that feeling of simultaneous claustrophobia and fear/lack of boundaries extremely well. I also enjoyed The Names by Florence Knapp which also has that in one of its storylines and is nail biting as a result
- if you haven’t read Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt - it was one of my books for the year. All about motherhood, control and repairing general damage in a way which was amazingly hopeful but not saccharine (and often brutally unkind)
- I absolutely LOVED Ripeness by Sarah Hall which has just come out; a very generous, open hearted book which I feel is unusual these days
- definitely read the follow-up to Glorious Tuga which is, if possible, even more wonderful
- Land in Winter is very good (Andrew Miller is a fantastic writer) but his style is definitely sloooooow so maybe ease into it
-
I also guessed The Safekeep twist! Did love it though.
I also thought that twist was incredibly obvious! I did enjoy it though. I thought it was quite slow to start but ended up being worth it.
Just me then!! Ffs
I didn’t see the twist coming AT ALL! What is wrong with me! 🤣
My Mum didn’t get on with Small Bomb either but she’s giving it another go..
Thank you for these recommendations! :) The best book I read in 2025 was, hands-down, "The Burning Library" by Gilly Macmillan. It's basically a female-focused Da Vinci Code, about two competing secret societies, and it was so well-written and well-paced! Other honorary mentions were A Killer Wedding, which was a glamorous murder mystery at a wedding in Ireland, and Breathless, which was an epic thriller about climbers trying to survive a murder-filled mountain expedition.
I’ll add this to my list!