Here’s a collection of books I read in 2025 and what I thought of them – the memorable, the moving and the ones that didn’t quite land. I created this list to reflect on what resonated with me and why. And to give you ideas as to what to invest your time in. Whether you’re looking for inspiration or just curious, I hope you find something here that sparks your interest.
Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver
This book had been sitting on my Kindle for a very long time and I was waiting until I had finished two big writing projects before I allowed myself to read it. That’s because I suspected it would grab my attention and take up a lot of my time. This is a long book but it is an absolute pleasure to read. So original, so enthralling, I just love the way the author has taken the story of David Copperfield and brought it bang up-to-date and introduced us to the people she knows so well in the Appalachian mountains. If only the book about Syria (below) could’ve been as entertaining as this one! I found this book very moving and wonderfully constructed. No wonder it has won prizes. Captivating.
The Map Of Salt And Stars – Zeyn Joukhadar
This was a book club book and it’s one of very few novels I didn’t finish. I found it frustrating to be honest. I wanted to like it. It’s a story of a Syrian refugee family juxtaposed with a mythological heroine travelling around the Mediterranean in ancient history. It’s a while since I tried to read it now so I can’t remember too much about it but I remember finding it disjointed and lacking in depth and emotion. It’s very narrative and story driven and other people in book club loved it, so it might be your cup of tea, but it wasn’t mine sadly. Disappointing.
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas – Hunter S. Thompson
Another book club choice that I really didn’t like. This one I did finish but it made me very uncomfortable. This is a book from the 1950s and I don’t think it has aged well at all. It struck me as highly misogynistic and being a bit of a prude, I didn’t appreciate all the drug based background to everything going on in the story. I found myself skimming through much of it just to get to the end so I could say I had read it. I could see that it’s clearly a classic of its time but again not a book for me. Annoying!
I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes With Death – Maggie O’Farrell
I have latterly discovered Maggie O’Farrell and I’m so pleased I did. I went to see her speak at the South Bank and before I did I really wanted to read her memoir. I love the way she has structured this book around vignettes in her life. It’s the kind of book that made me think, I could do that! I could write snippets from my life rather than one long narrative with a.. leading to b.. leading to c.. It’s such a personal and sensitive telling of often quite extraordinary episodes in her life, all connected with death. Beautifully written as always and inspiring to learn more about such a talented author.
The Marriage Portrait – Maggie O’Farrell
In my efforts to catch up with books written by Maggie O’Farrell, this was another one on the list. I don’t naturally go for historical fiction but I knew it would be good being written by Maggie. This is a beautiful and compelling novel about a fascinating woman in Italian history, that felt totally authentic and believable. Having read Maggie‘s memoir, I wondered whether the Italy trip she describes there was the inspiration for this book. This is a novel you can really lose yourself in. Beautiful locations and compelling characters. I’m always interested in how a book will be crafted when you know the premise and likely outcome right at the beginning. But that didn’t spoil the enjoyment at all. Highly recommended.
Albania (Bradt Travel Guide) – Gillian Gloyer
A great guidebook for Albania which I visited solo in April. I always like to have at least one guide book with me (digitally) when I travel and I made good use of it. This one taught me loads about the places I was visiting and highlighted some places I wouldn’t have discovered without it. Very good.
I read about this book when doing research for my Albania trip. It was described as giving a useful introduction to the blood feuds which have had such a deep and lasting impact on Albanian culture. It’s also written by Albania’s most famous novelist Ismail Kadare. I was pleased to have started this book when I visited his home, which is now a museum in Gjirokaster while on my trip. In the museum there is a film about the various films that have been inspired by this book and it was nice to know what the film was talking about, having already read a significant chunk of it. I found this book fascinating. I didn’t have time to visit the north of Albania, but this book’s depiction of that area really led me to want to visit in the future. I found myself googling whether the story was based in fact and having it confirmed that yes it very much is. A disturbing and enthralling look at life in the highlands of northern Albania. I don’t often enjoy books written in translation, but this seemed to work very well. And I enjoyed the short, somewhat clipped narrative style, which I’m guessing must’ve been quite a revolutionary way to write when it was published. If you want more of an understanding of Albanian culture, this is a must read. Challenging.
This was another book club read and I was so grateful to have been introduced to it. It’s not a book I would’ve found without book club. I loved this engaging tale of the complicated love lives of a group of confused young people in Greenland. It’s a short easy read and some members of our book club didn’t really like it. But I loved it and found it a very enlightening insight into their world. I enjoyed being invited into this world by the very endearing and compelling characters. Fun and feisty.
You Could Make This Place Beautiful – Maggie Smith
I recently went public about my own divorce and I have been looking for books to help me process this year. This is a divorce memoir written by American poet Maggie Smith. I enjoyed it but I think at times she protesteth a little too much! Personally I know divorce is usually about two people and sometimes there was a bit of repetitious wallowing in victimhood. Needless to say her experience was very different to mine. But it was a very well crafted and deeply personal memoir and there was lots of very good stuff in it. It was nice to see her coming through and finding a better more accepting place at the end. Enlightening.
I read about the author of this book, Emily Henry, and how her books are a cut above the usual Chick Lit. I haven’t read any Chick Lit for donkeys years. But as this author seems to get wide ranging and interesting reviews, as well as being very popular, I thought I’d give her a go. I was also interested to read a book by an author who has written five best selling books in a very short period of time. Just how does she do it? I did complete the book but I found myself skimming through a lot of it where I just wasn’t interested in what was going on. Suddenly it got interesting again towards the end, so I slowed down and read more methodically to the end. I don’t think I shall be reading any more because it just didn’t excite me enough, but it was an interesting exercise to read something completely different to what I would normally. I think this is probably good Chick Lit but still not for me. I can see it being made into a very good romcom however and I know that all her books are being developed in that way. I will watch those. Interesting.
Age Proof – Professor Rose Anne Kenny
Now that I have successfully completed my Masters in Gerontology (!), I am even more attuned to who can offer good advice in the healthy ageing space. Professor Rose Anne Kenny is exactly that person and draws most of her conclusions from her own pioneering research and the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, TILDA. So she knows exactly what she’s talking about. We have so much more agency over how we age than we might think. Professor Kenny demonstrates in this brilliant book how 80% of our aging biology is within our control and exactly what we can do to maximize our chances of aging as well as as we can. Illuminating.
Fundamentally – Nussaibah Younis
I read about this book in connection with its short listing for the Women’s Prize. I thought it was excellent. Written by Nussaibah Younis, it’s her debut novel and quite incredible considering that. It tells the story of a heartbroken academic who accepts a role in Iraq working on the deradicalization of Isis brides. The author has a real comedic talent and the book is laugh out loud funny. It’s a real achievement I think to achieve that level of humor when writing about something like Isis! The author also knows of what she speaks. She is herself an academic who has worked with Isis brides in Iraq. This is a fascinating read that will leave you better informed about how international aid can operate and open a window on how government entities operate overseas. It will also keep you on the edge of your seat and highly entertained. Brilliant.
Parable Of The Sower – Octavia E. Butler
This was another book club read that I had heard about but wouldn’t probably have read without book club. I can’t say I enjoyed it as such because I found it a difficult read. But that said, I am very very glad I did read it. It is a fascinating story set in a dystopian near future which happens to be now. It deals with issues of religion, race, how we go backwards when our lives are under extreme threat, man’s inhumanity to man, climate change, trying to survive in an incredibly messed up and threatening world. Word of warning, there’s a lot of violence in this book which I found challenging. People who know me will know that I’m a sensitive soul. But again I’m not unhappy to have read it. I wanted to keep reading it and find out what happened. I think it’s brilliantly written and well worth investing the time. Challenging.
How To Break Up With Your Phone – Catherine Price
I know I have a very dysfunctional relationship with my phone. Kate Codrington had recommended this book and I think it’s excellent. It didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t know already, but it was great to have it all reinforced. And it offers some great advice and an actual plan as to how to revolutionize your relationship with your phone. I have already made a lot of changes. So if you would like to rethink the impact your phone has in your life, this is a great place to start. Start by checking the stats on your phone to see how many times a day you pick it up. I was horrified! Highly recommended.
Butter: A Novel Of Food And Murder – Asako Yuzuki
This was a book club read and one of the very few books I started and didn’t finish. It was described as a best seller and I can imagine some people really liking it. But it wasn’t for me. I don’t consider myself a foodie at all. I realised, reading this book that food doesn’t play a very big role in my life, it’s just fuel to enable me to do what I wanna do. So this book with its copious narratives around food, food preparation and food enjoyment, while possibly delightful for some readers, just left me feeling rather bored! I read a long way into the book and there still didn’t seem to be any tension from the main story of the journalist meeting the convicted serial killer. I ended up asking AI to give me a summary of the book to ascertain whether it was worthwhile me continuing. But sadly that didn’t persuade me either. I don’t usually read books in translation. I don’t think this was an issue of translation though. I think the book would have potentially been equally uninspiring to me in the original. Rather tedious.
Take Back Your Life: Find Hope And Freedom From Fibromyalgia Symptoms And Pain – Tami Stackelhouse
This was a book written by someone I was having on the podcast and I always like to try and read their books if I can. I really enjoyed this and found it very useful to understand fibromyalgia. If you suffer from this debilitating condition or know somebody who does, I recommend this book most enthusiastically. It was full of great ideas, straight talking, support and inspiration for living well despite a diagnosis. Uplifting.
The Safekeep – Yael van der Wouden
I really enjoyed this book. I can absolutely see why it won the Women’s Prize for Fiction. It’s a debut novel which makes this achievement even more remarkable. I found it to be beautifully written, really engaging and a very original and moving story. The book explores the evolution of the relationship between Isabel, a recluse tending meticulously to her Dutch family home and Eva, her brother’s latest girlfriend. The plot twist two thirds of the way through is profound and brings a whole new dimension to this beautiful, thought-provoking novel. Captivating.
I have followed Dr Ellen Albertson for many years now. She’s another woman guiding women through the often rocky terrain of midlife. She was finally coming on my podcast, so I knew I had to read her book. I really enjoyed it. It’s similar but different to mine. It’s more about the emotional and mental work we need to do in midlife and is also very practical and inspiring. It’s a great way to set yourself up for the next stage of life, so you can be authentic, follow your heart and create something amazing, as Ellen says. Inspiring.
Grief… A Comedy – Alison Larkin
This was another book by a podcast guest. I often skim these books because time is tight, but not this one. I absolutely loved it and wanted to read every word. Alison Larkin has lived a quite extraordinary life and has dealt with terrible grief in midlife. But she has risen like a phoenix from the ashes of that grief and done wonderful things. I saw her one woman show at the Soho Theatre in August 2024 and thought she would make a good podcast guest then. Luckily while I was still thinking about it, she got in touch and applied to be a guest. Her podcast will be coming out in autumn 2025, but I recommend you go and read the book before then. The book grew out of the stage show which was itself sublime. The book is beautifully written, very engaging, inspiring, funny. Alison has true talent for writing – and singing and comedy… Gorgeous.
Greta & Valdin: A Novel – Rebecca K Reilly
Another book club read and one I’d never have discovered otherwise. That’s why I’m in book club! I really loved this. Set in New Zealand, it tells the story of two Russian/Maori siblings and their trials and tribulations as they grapple with deep insecurities despite having a strong family background in love. I found this book to be laugh out loud funny. It was particularly nice because the two characters of Greta and Valdin were voiced in the audio version by different actors and I discovered that I knew the actor voicing Greta. So that added to the enjoyment. I did listen to a lot of this through Spotify and Kiwi Natalie Beran was very skillful at bringing Greta and her insecure, comedic voice to life. I did get a bit confused towards the end when there was a lot of tying up loose ends on characters and some more voice actors were introduced. I wasn’t quite sure who was who, but that didn’t spoil my enjoyment. Great fun.
Listen To Your Heart Song: Navigating The Unexpected – Caron Grossman
This was another book by a podcast guest and proved to be really powerful. It tells the story of how Caron survived a heart attack and how heart disease manifests uniquely in women. Which so many people, including medical practitioners, don’t know. Caron‘s own heart attack came after having lost her mother to a heart attack at the age of 13. It’s a powerful memoir and vital resource shedding light on critical health issues that affect millions of women worldwide. As Caron navigates recovery, she becomes an advocate for raising awareness, empowering women to recognize and act on the symptoms that could save their lives. I found this beautifully written and very powerful. Mixed in is Caron’s story of food and alcohol addiction, as well as grappling with grief and effecting a hard-earned transformation. Inspiring.
Journey to HEALING: A Mother’s Guide To Navigating Child Loss – Lisa K Boehm
Written by another podcast guest and one of the most difficult interviews I have ever done. This is a beautifully written book inspiring women who have gone through what I consider to be the ultimate grief of losing a child. It’s also excellent for anyone sadly wanting to support someone in that position or just understand the very nature of that utterly overwhelming grief. Lisa’s story is one of quiet resilience and hope. Salutary.
This was a book club book and it didn’t really grab me. Although some people in book club really loved it. It’s by Tove Jansson the author of the Moomin books, so if you enjoyed those you might well enjoy this. I did enjoy the lyricism of the book. It’s beautifully written and captures summer on a relatively remote Finish island where grandmother and granddaughter explore and experience gentle adventures. I liked the dynamic between the two main characters and I especially liked the grandmother‘s voice as it’s one that’s so rarely heard. It took me a while to work out this wasn’t one story but a collection of stories about these two characters. This is a book that I mostly listened to on Spotify. It’s narrated by Julie Walters, who is an actress I love, so her interpretation of the book really added to it. Gentle and soothing.
Careless People: A Story Of Where I Used to Work – Sarah Wynn-Williams
I’ve long been concerned about the impact of social media and especially Facebook and Meta. A couple of years ago I got completely shut out of Facebook with hackers running ads off my business account. It was a traumatic experience. Trying to get hold of anyone there proved impossible, until a lovely friend stepped in for me. This book confirms all my worst fears and adds many. It is a shockingly intimate portrayal of what life is really like at Facebook. I’m also a China buff and reading about the compromises that Facebook made to exploit the Chinese market, where it continues to be banned, but makes an inordinate amount of money, is deeply disturbing. Facebook’s role in manipulating elections, suppression of dissenting voices and amplification of dictatorship is deeply shocking. What is more shocking is that we have known about this for years and we collectively as a society, do nothing about it. Facebook continues to get away with ‘murder’. I commend the author for being so brave to write this book. It is the ultimate in bridge-burning but so needed. If you want to really understand how you have been manipulated, as has the rest of the world, for the last decade or so, this is a must-read. The author is now under threat of bankruptcy due to being sued by Facebook. So please support her in whatever way you can. Shocking.
We All Want Impossible Things – Catherine Newman
Oh my, where do I begin with this one? An absolutely beautiful book and another one that I mostly listened to. Written in the voice of Ash who is caring for her dying best and lifelong friend Edi. I thought this was exquisite and I loved the many varied characters who come together to care for their dying friend/relative. Having had some experience of death and care homes and also by extension – think podcast guest Kathryn Mannix – this felt very true to life. Even down to the lip balm for the dying friend. A deep and moving exploration of the final weeks of a loved one’s life. And how those caring cope in sometimes challenging ways. And the impact being left behind has on them. Stunning.
Interior Chinatown – Charles Yu
I don’t know where I heard about this one, but it ticked a lot of boxes of what I’m interested in. It had been on my Kindle for quite a while and a coach trip seemed the perfect excuse to listen to it. I have a degree in Chinese and a half Chinese son. That makes this book particularly interesting for me. This was laugh-out-loud funny and a brilliant look at the experience of East Asian immigrants to the US. If you don’t know anything about this world, you will learn so much from reading this book. It’s also a brilliantly ironic pastiche of the US Film and TV industry and how that works day to day, especially for minority minor characters. It’s written so creatively, often dipping into script. The audio version even has film sound effects to add to the immersive experience. Another book that I mainly listened to and despite the narrator not being Chinese, I thought he did a good job with pronunciations and accents. There was only one word – sifu – that grated. Someone should’ve told him he was not pronouncing that one right! Clever, hilarious and fascinating.
Things in Nature Merely Grow – Yiyun Li
I had read about this book and wanted to read it though I knew it would be very difficult. The author, an academic teaching creative writing, has lost two sons to suicide. This is an account of her thoughts and coping mechanisms around processing this greatest of tragedies. There has been a lot of grief in my reading this year. Last year I was looking more at healing. It’s strange how themes come together in what I read. It’s not necessarily that I go looking for such books, but they catch my attention. I had read a review about this book that drew me to it. It’s very powerful and all-encompassing. I’m always interested in how people respond to things that happen to them and this is the ultimate analysis of a mother’s response. As a writer Li is interested in concepts and words and is a very deep thinker. Her skill is in her ability to question almost everything and look at established ideas and concepts from an often radical new angle. She plays with words, investigates them. The fact that she is a non-native speaker of English is, I find, especially as I am myself a Chinese speaker, absolutely extraordinary. Her mastery of the English language is quite mind-blowing. I have read that she finds English an easier language in which to express the concepts she seeks to elucidate. Having studied Chinese and knowing its restrictions, I can completely understand this and it fascinates me. This is a profound and deeply moving account of the abyss that Li now resides in. I find it difficult to write with much eloquence about this book. But this review in the Guardian seems to epitomise what I’m thinking but can’t adequately express. Tragic.
I was introduced to this book by Midlife Chic, a blogger I really respect and whose work I always enjoy. But I didn’t enjoy this book at all. I wanted to read it but I found it excruciatingly uncomfortable almost from beginning to end. I did finish it but I just felt like I was constantly wincing at the main character’s behaviour. Then I wondered why I felt so uncomfortable and I wondered if it was all a bit too close to home. This is a novel about a deeply troubled woman who has lost sight of what is important in life and seeks to destroy others in the online world who are trying to be more positive. She’s the troll so many online influencers encounter. I think perhaps it reminded me of all the mean girls at school and those wounds run deep. But, hand on heart, there was also perhaps an element of midlife envy which I sometimes find myself succumbing to. The main character really isn’t a very nice person but we’re allowed to explore why she’s become that way and what lies beneath her cruelty. It’s a powerful book although I didn’t enjoy it. I listened to some of it and it’s read by the author. This is an interesting thing to do when it’s a novel but I don’t think it quite worked. I think a professional audiobook reader would’ve been a better choice to bring the spoken version to life more. Troubling.
Another recommendation from Midlife Chic and not a book I would normally necessarily have read. I really enjoyed this and found it very original and life affirming. It’s a story of hope in a post apocalyptic world. It’s a very near future and totally believable in terms of what life could be like for the very few people who survive Armageddon. We move between our heroine’s life before disaster and the life she is forced to create in the aftermath. A real page turner. I found this very moving and inspiring. Beautiful.
I wanted to like this Book Club read but I have to confess I really didn’t. It’s the story of a young adopted black man who grows up in a white Jehovah’s Witness environment. That might be complicated enough but he is also gay and eventually flees to London to escape the restrictions of his youth. The story is compelling and the insights into his life and that of Jehovah’s Witnesses was fascinating. I enjoyed the first section and I listened to it which made the patois much easier to understand. The author narrated it himself and he’s a talented voice actor. When I was reading patois in later sections I found it really hard to follow which pulled me out of the narrative. The book felt very autobiographical and sometimes rather self-indulgent. There were bits that just went on too long. The book felt rather disjointed overall and I think would’ve benefited from a stronger edit. Confusing.
Edenglassie – Melissa Lucashenko
I really loved this book. Another one I would not have discovered without Book Club. It’s two stories happening almost 200 years apart in Australia. It’s all about the aboriginal experience and I found it fascinating as well as very moving. At one time in the past Brisbane was known as Edenglassie. I listened to most of it on Spotify and the narration was excellent. I learned so much about the aboriginal experience in Australia from reading this book. The characters were also captivating and beautifully brought to life. The story was both original and compelling. Captivating.
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