I've read fifty books in 2025, up a little on last year. I seem to have settled into a routine of sorts with my reading and I think this amount is what I'd expect to read in a year at the moment.
I've continued to read some classics, my favourite of the ones read this year is The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I've still got plenty of classics waiting on my bookshelf so I shall continue with these next year.
I've now come to the end of the Dr Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths. There are fifteen books in all, I read the first one towards the end of last year and I've read the rest this year. What a fantastic series this is. Dr Ruth Galloway is a forensic archaeologist who helps the police solve cases. There's a new murder/mystery to solve in each book, but more than that, the characters in these books are just brilliant and it's the wanting to know what happens in their lives which keeps you turning the pages. If you haven't read this series I can wholeheartedly recommend it.
A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
The Janus Stone - Elly Griffiths
The Teashop Girls at War - Elaine Everest
Winter's Wishfall - Ceri Houlbrook
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
The House at Sea's End - Elly Griffiths
The 24-Hour Cafe - Libby Page
The Shell Seekers - Rosamunde Pilcher
A Little Place in Prague - Julie Caplin
Nella Last in the 1950s - Nella Last
A Room Full of Bones - Elly Griffiths
We All Live Here - Jojo Moyes
A Christmas Wish at Woolworths - Elaine Everest
Dying Fall - Elly Griffiths
The List of Suspicious Things - Jennie Godfrey
The Outcast Dead - Elly Griffiths
The Appeal - Janice Hallett
The Ghost Fields - Elly Griffiths
This One Life - Amanda Prowse
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides
One Last Secret - Adele Parks
The Woman in Blue - Elly Griffiths
Always You and Me - Dani Atkins
Lady Susan - Jane Austen
The Watsons - Jane Austen
Sanditon - Jane Austen
New Horizons for the Woolworths Girls - Elaine Everest
The bookshop of Secrets - Kerry Barrett
My Darling Boy - Helen Cooper
Anna O - Matthew Blake
The Chalk Pit - Elly Griffiths
The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
The Four Winds - Kristin Hannah
The Dark Angel - Elly Griffiths
The Time Machine - HG Wells
The Stone Circle - Elly Griffiths
All Things Consoled - Elizabeth Hay
A Terrible Kindness - Jo Browning Wroe
No One Saw a Thing - Andrea Mara
Tell Me Everything - Elizabeth Strout
The Lantern Men - Elly Griffiths
The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah
The Night Hawks - Elly Griffiths
Jamaica Inn - Daphne du Maurier
In the Time of Five Pumpkins - Alexander McCall Smith
The Locked Room - Elly Griffiths
The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories
The Last Remains - Elly Griffiths
The Impossible Fortune - Richard Osman
My favourite read this year is undoubtedly The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Eleanor bought me this book for Christmas last year, I'd read so many great reviews of it and every one of them is so richly deserved.
Other favourites were The List of Suspicious Things, The Silent Patient, The Four Winds and A Terrible Kindness. The whole of the Dr Ruth Galloway series is definitely up there too. It's been a very good year for finding great books.
Eleanor bought me Holy Island by LJ Ross for Christmas 2024 but I haven't got round to reading it yet. I've had the next four in this series bought for me this Christmas, so I now have the first five books in the DCI Ryan series. I'm hoping to get started on these very soon, though there's twenty five rather hefty books in this series so it may take me some time to work my way through them all.
Do you keep a tally of the books you've read? I'd love to know what your favourite books of the year are, please do tell me in the comments, it's always good to have recommendations.
I have a book page on my blog and pop a photo of every book read, I also record the titles in and address book, handy to refer to when out. This year I read 82 book which is about average for me.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good haul of books. Yes, I keep a notebook with all the books I read in a year. if I enjoy a book, I do re-read it and some I re-read on a regular basis. I usually include a bit about the books I have read in my New Year blog post. If you enjoyed 'The Woman in White', perhaps try 'The Moonstone' also by Wilkie Collins - written in the same way as 'The Woman in White', from different characters' viewpoints. It's a mystery/thriller concerning a stolen diamond, amongst other things. There have been some very good radio dramatisations of it as well as some good TV adaptations (Keeley Hawes and Greg Wise being my favourite) too.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes and happy reading in 2026!
Ellie
Oh waouh ! you have read so many books, I'm impressed ! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas !
ReplyDeleteMy favourite books on tomorrows post - a few overlaps with your reading, my total was 108.
ReplyDeleteHow great that you enjoyed the series that much. I love it. You asked if we kept a tally of books read, no BUT, I had to start keeping a tally of how many photos taken as the new used camera body can only snap 100,000 photos. So this time, I'm keeping a tally to see how long the new used camera body will last me before I have to start looking for one that can handle more than 100K.
ReplyDeleteSo no book list, just photos.
50 is a great amount. I do keep track and will have a list of the 100 books that I read this year, in a couple of days over on my blog.
ReplyDeleteThat is quite an amount of books, I never document the ones I read but presently, I am reading quite a lot of the Persephone books. I have never had a taste for crime, fantasy or sci-fi so the books I read might be quite limited for most people and I would hesitate to recommend anything.
ReplyDeleteI have had mainly books for presents this year which is nice - I like to have a stock of books by my bed, I will however, keep some of the titles you have mentioned in mind.
Well done on your reading ...
ReplyDeleteMy library books are due back soon, I may just look for the Kristin Hannah book you recommend.
Happy New Year Wishes.
All the best Jan
Wow, that is amazing. I used to read a lot, but too much seems to get in the way now, though I am part way through Heroic Animals by Clare Balding. It's interesting. Take care & hugs.
ReplyDeleteA fantastic selection of books, what a treat. You can travel far and wide, in time and space so much to learn and enjoy when reading a book. I have a book list page on my blog, very helpful in the library when making sure not to choose something I've read before!
ReplyDeleteYou certainly had a good year as far as books and reading were concerned. The Woman in White is long overdue for me to reread. I don't keep a tally but generally read an average of at least one book a week, including rereads.
ReplyDeleteHappy reading in 2026. xx
That's quite a list of books 📚 You are an avid reader and an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing, and warm greetings from a retired lady living in Montreal, Canada ❤️ 😊 🇨🇦
That is a fantastic number of books read this year. I do like murder/mysteries so the Elly Griffiths appeal most to me but 'The Nightingale' by Kristin Hannah also needs to be on my book list.
ReplyDeleteNo big read list here but I have managed a couple of ancient classics, 'The Illiad' and the 'Odyssey'. Tough reads but I survived and conquered them. 😊