For the past month I’ve been highlighting a book a day during the Countdown to 2026, just to shine a little more light on some of the books I read this past year.

During 2025 I didn’t read as many books as I would usually, mainly due to a couple of periods where I had various issues that stopped me picking up, or even wanting to pick up books.  That being said I read 83 books last year and I will say that I picked up some fantastic books.  Below is a quick spotlight on various books broken into different categories.

Tomorrow I shall be posting my Top Ten Books for 2025

Happy New Year to you all.

Fantasy:

1. Grave Empire by Richard Swan
2. Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill
3. Vianne by Joanne Harris
4. A Far Better Thing by HG Parry
5. My Ex, the AntiChrist by Craig DiLouie
6.  The Hexologists: A Tangle of Time by Josiah Bancroft
7. Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber
8. King Sorrow by Joe Hill
9. The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow
10. The Blackfire Blade by James Logan

Horror:

1. Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
2. Senseless by Ronald Malfi
3. Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
4. It Was Her House First by Cherie Priest
5. My Ex, the AntiChrist by Craig DiLouie
6. Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
7. The Cold House by AG Slatter
8. The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry

Great additions/conclusions to series:

1. The Crimson Road by AG Slatter
2. Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett
3. Paved With Good Intentions by Peter McLean
4. Another Fine Mess by Lindy Ryan
5. Damned by Genevieve Cogman
6. Ring the Bells by CK McDonnell
7. Ragwort by Sam K Horton

Romantasy:

1. Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis
2. Paladins Grace by T Kingfisher
3. Swordheart by T Kingfisher
4. The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst
5. Hemlock and Silver  by T Kingfisher
6. A Honeymoon of Grave Consequence by Stephanie Burgis
7. The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

Historic/Period Drama/Ancient History

1. Daughter of Chaos by A S Webb
2. A Fortune Most Fatal by Jessica Bull
3. The Rush by Beth Lewis
4. Bewitching by Silvia Moreno Garcia
5. No Friend to This House by Natalie Haynes
6. No Women Were Harmed by Heather Mottershead
7. House of Splinters by Laura Purcell
8. The Last Witch by CJ Cooke
9. The Austen Christmas Murders by Jessica Bull

Murder Mystery/Thriller:

1. Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
2. The Vipers by Katy Hays
3. A Fortune Most Fatal by Jessica Bull
4. The Maid’s Secret by Nita Prose
5. We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough
6. The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North
7. The Countdown Killer by Sam Holland
8. The Bodies by Sam Lloyd
9. The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine
10. Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham

New to Me Authors:

1. Molly O’Neill
2. Steve Jones
3. Heather Mottershead
4. Natalie Haynes
5. Shalini Abeysekara
6. Francesca May
7. Jackson Ford
8. Rachel Gillig
9. Lauren Wiesebron
10. A S Webb
11. Josh Malerman
12. Virginia Feito
13. Devney Perry