My Favourite Books from 2025
1 January 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A Tangle of Time, Best of the Best, blog, Books, Fantasy, Greenteeth, King Sorrow, My favourite books for 2025, The Dead Husband Cookbook, The Everlasting, The Knight and the Moth, The Place Where They Buried Your Heart, The Rush, Vianne, Victorian Psycho
Happy New Year everyone.
Every new year I try and choose my favourite books from the year before. It involves some tough decisions because I do read a lot and I’m usually very fortunate to enjoy some fantastic books. This year has been no different (although my reading has been slightly less than normal) and my highlights can be found here. I had so many good books this year that I’m going to post this quick before I change my mind!
Without further ado let’s look at my top ten books from 2025. In no particular order (because I definitely can’t choose a No.1):
The Rush by Beth Lewis
Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
Vianne by Joanne Harris
King Sorrow by Joe Hill
The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow
The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine
The Hexologists: A Tangle of Time by Josiah Bancroft
The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry
The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill
Bookish Highlights for 2025
31 December 2025
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Ancient History, Book Reviews, Booking Highlights for 2025, Books, Fantasy, fiction, Horror, Murder Mystery, New to me authors, Period, reading, romantasy, Series, Thrillers
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:
- Grave Empire by Richard Swan
- Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill
- Vianne by Joanne Harris
- A Far Better Thing by HG Parry
- My Ex, the AntiChrist by Craig DiLouie
- The Hexologists: A Tangle of Time by Josiah Bancroft
- Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber
- King Sorrow by Joe Hill
- The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow
- The Blackfire Blade by James Logan
Horror:
- Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
- Senseless by Ronald Malfi
- Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
- It Was Her House First by Cherie Priest
- My Ex, the AntiChrist by Craig DiLouie
- Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
- The Cold House by AG Slatter
- The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry
Great additions/conclusions to series:
- The Crimson Road by AG Slatter
- Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett
- Paved With Good Intentions by Peter McLean
- Another Fine Mess by Lindy Ryan
- Damned by Genevieve Cogman
- Ring the Bells by CK McDonnell
- Ragwort by Sam K Horton
Romantasy:
- Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis
- Paladins Grace by T Kingfisher
- Swordheart by T Kingfisher
- The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst
- Hemlock and Silver by T Kingfisher
- A Honeymoon of Grave Consequence by Stephanie Burgis
- The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
Historic/Period Drama/Ancient History
- Daughter of Chaos by A S Webb
- A Fortune Most Fatal by Jessica Bull
- The Rush by Beth Lewis
- Bewitching by Silvia Moreno Garcia
- No Friend to This House by Natalie Haynes
- No Women Were Harmed by Heather Mottershead
- House of Splinters by Laura Purcell
- The Last Witch by CJ Cooke
- The Austen Christmas Murders by Jessica Bull
Murder Mystery/Thriller:
- Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
- The Vipers by Katy Hays
- A Fortune Most Fatal by Jessica Bull
- The Maid’s Secret by Nita Prose
- We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough
- The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North
- The Countdown Killer by Sam Holland
- The Bodies by Sam Lloyd
- The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine
- Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham
New to Me Authors:
- Molly O’Neill
- Steve Jones
- Heather Mottershead
- Natalie Haynes
- Shalini Abeysekara
- Francesca May
- Jackson Ford
- Rachel Gillig
- Lauren Wiesebron
- A S Webb
- Josh Malerman
- Virginia Feito
- Devney Perry
Countdown to 2026: The Final Day – Bottle of Bubbly – your first read in the New Year
31 December 2025
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A Box Full of Darkness, Bottle of Bubbly, Countdown to 2026, Day 31, Simone St James, The Final Day, Your First Read in the New Year
Once again I am counting down to the New Year, as with the previous years I shall be highlighting at least one book per day to fit the prompt on that given day. The main aim for this countdown is to highlight some of my reads during the past year and to shine the spotlight on them once again (although some of the prompts relate to forthcoming reads).
Today is the final day of the countdown to 2026 and a list of prompts can be found here if you wish to join me in counting down to 2026 and casting a spotlight on some of your favourite books.
Today’s Prompt: Bottle of Bubbly – your first read in the New Year:
For today’s prompt I’ve chosen A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St James. It’s one of the first books on my shelves in the new year, I really like this author and I’m very much looking forward to this.
0 Days Remaining
See you all in the new year
Countdown to 2026: Day 30 – Family and Friends – a book with great characters
30 December 2025
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A book with great characters, Christina Henry, Countdown to 2026, Day 30, family and Friends, The Place Where They Buried Your Heart
Once again I am counting down to the New Year, as with the previous years I shall be highlighting at least one book per day to fit the prompt on that given day. The main aim for this countdown is to highlight some of my reads during the past year and to shine the spotlight on them once again (although some of the prompts relate to forthcoming reads).
Today is Day 30 of the countdown to 2026 and a list of prompts can be found here if you wish to join me in counting down to 2026 and casting a spotlight on some of your favourite books.
Today’s Prompt: Family and Friends – a book with great characters:
For today’s prompt I’ve chosen The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry. At first glance this may appear like an unlikely contender for today’s prompt with its creepy house vibe, not to mention the font itself screams ‘horror’, but, the characters really make this novel stand out and in fact it is my favourite by the author so far.
1 Day Remaining
Tomorrow’s prompt: Bottle of Bubbly – your first read in the New Year
Countdown to 2026: Day 29 – A roaring fire – a book that was heartwarming
29 December 2025
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A book that was heartwarming, A Roaring Fire, Countdown to 2026, Day 29, Nita Prose, The Maid's Secret
Once again I am counting down to the New Year, as with the previous years I shall be highlighting at least one book per day to fit the prompt on that given day. The main aim for this countdown is to highlight some of my reads during the past year and to shine the spotlight on them once again (although some of the prompts relate to forthcoming reads).
Today is Day 29 of the countdown to 2026 and a list of prompts can be found here if you wish to join me in counting down to 2026 and casting a spotlight on some of your favourite books.
Today’s Prompt: A Roaring Fire – a book that was heartwarming:
For today’s prompt I’ve chosen the conclusion to a series that I really enjoyed. The Maid’s Secret by Nita Prose. I really enjoyed reading about Molly, she is such a unique character and whilst this final chapter wasn’t perhaps my favourite of her adventures it was a really great way to end her story. I cannot wait to see what this author comes up with next:
2 Days Remaining
Tomorrow’s prompt: Family and Friends – a book with great characters
Books and travelling with Lynn 