My Favourite Books from 2025

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

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

Booking Ahead/Weekly Wrap Up

Sunday Post

Weekly Update

To those of you who celebrate Christmas I hope you’ve had a lovely time and happy holidays to those who don’t I hope you’ve enjoyed the past few days.  I’ve definitely eaten too many naughty treats and not been terribly good at exercising so that’s something I need to work on.  In bookish news I completed The Last Death of the Year by Sophie Hannah, this was okay but not quite as gripping as I’d hoped.  I also picked up and completed What Stalks the Deep by T Kingfisher.  This was also okay, I enjoyed the writing but didn’t think it quite captured the atmosphere I was hoping for.  I’ve now picked up and am hoping to complete before the year concludes The Possession of Alba Diaz by Isabel Cañas – at the moment its slow going so we’ll see.

Next Week’s reads

Hopefully complete The Possession of Alba Diaz by Isabel Cañas and I’m thinking that will be it for my reading for 2025.

Reviews Posted:

  1. Ragwort by Sam K Horton

Outstanding Reviews

Review: Ragwort by Sam K Horton

My Five word TL:DR Review: Like Gorse, Beautiful and Atmospheric

Ragwort is the second book by Sam K Horton that takes place in Mirecoombe, Cornwall during the 1700s.  Once again the story has a mystery at its core combined with a world at strife, the church vying for control and the superstitious villagers still holding firm beliefs about the ‘others’.

If you haven’t read Gorse then I would encourage you to do so first.  Gorse is such a beautiful story to read and I think you would miss seeing Nancy before she is thrust into the role of keeper.  Also, be aware that spoilers for the first book (like Spriggans) may be lurking in this review.

Nancy is struggling with the loss of her father, Lord Pelagius Hunt, and the additional burdens this has placed at her door in the form of becoming the new Keeper (before she was ready).  On top of this there are whisperings of the return of ‘Mother’.  Concerning rumours that see Nancy travelling abroad across the Cornish moors in search of her grandmother.

What I love about this series.  The writing.  Its beautiful and evocative.  A fantastic combination of atmosphere and folklore.  The setting is wild, a little harsh and yet beautiful.  I mean, as with the first story there is a mystery unfolding here and Lord Pelagius Hunt is still stirring the pot (in spite of his demise) and yet I think I could read these books just for the sheer beauty of the prose and the way they make me feel.  Cornwall, and its rugged beauty springs off the pages and it’s quite simply lush.

Which isn’t to say that the story isn’t intriguing, it just took second fiddle to the writing for me personally.

Getting to the story, this one felt a little more convoluted than the first book and it took me some time to get on board with what was going on, but, enjoyable nonetheless and certainly a demonstration of the fact that people are not always as ‘dead’ as they may at first appear.

Nancy played her part very well.  She’s a little unsure of herself in this instalment which was no surprise given her hasty advancement into the role of Keeper.  She also takes herself out of her comfort zone, trekking across the Cornish wilds in search of answers and at last coming to the seaside.  I loved the inclusion of this coastal visit.  Once again Horton’s writing excels and brings the place to life.

In conclusion, this was a great instalment in the series, hopefully there are more stories to come from this fascinating and beautiful world.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating 4 of 5 stars

Can’t Wait Wednesday: Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

CWW

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine.  Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for.  If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to.  This week my book is: Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett.  I cannot wait.  Here’s the cover and description:

A woman who runs a cat rescue in 1920s Montreal turns to a grouchy but charming wizard to help save the shelter in this heartwarming cozy fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of the Emily Wilde series.

Agnes Aubert leads a meticulously organized life—and she likes it that way. As the proudly type-A manager of a much-needed cat rescue charity, she has devoted her life to finding forever homes for lost cats.

But after she is forced to move the cat shelter, Agnes learns that her new landlord is using her charity as a front—for an internationally renowned and thoroughly disreputable magic shop. Owned by the disorganized—not to mention self-absorbed, irritating, but also decidedly handsome—Havelock Renard, magician and failed Dark Lord, the shop draws magical clientele from around the world, partly due to the quality of Havelock’s illicit goods as well as their curiosity about his shadowy past and rumors of his incredible powers. Agnes’s charity offers the perfect cover for illegal magics.

Agnes couldn’t care less about the shop—magical intrigue or not, there are cats to be rescued. But when an enemy from Havelock’s past surfaces, the magic shop—and more importantly, the cat shelter—are suddenly in jeopardy. To save the shelter, will Agnes have to set aside her social conscience and protect the man who once tried to bring about the apocalypse—and is now trying to steal her heart?

Expected publication: February 2026

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