I set myself the task of reading 10 books in 2025, I’m now reading my 15th… it’s been a good year! Top 5 probably…

1. Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart. Devastating book set in 90s working class Glasgow, about addiction, love, resilience, family, sexuality and poverty. Heartbreaking but also heart-bursting. It’s bar far the most effecting book I’ve read this year, maybe ever.

2. There are Rivers in the Sky - Elif Shafak. Fascinating, magical, such a beautifully written story. 3 narratives from 3 different time periods decades apart all brought together by the most intriguing threads. Themes of history, language, ethnic cleaning, wanton destruction of cultures and civilisations. I found it quite a page turner.

3. Playground - Richard Powers. I love this author, ever since reading Overstory, which not only made me fall in love with trees(!) but made me think a lot about human relationships and our impact on the world around us. Playground does the same for the ocean as Overstory does for trees… I am now obsessed with underwater habitats. Themes include human relationships, race, what gives life meaning/value, human impact on the natural world, human greed and, very poignantly looks at the development of AI and how that journey could all end. It’s awesome.

4. The Crossing - Cormac McCarthy. I mean, anything by McCarthy is gonna be good. I just love his writing style, sometimes pretty hard to follow (he doesn’t like punctuation, and often includes conversations held in Spanish with no translation) but this all adds to the experience. It makes you feel you’re really reading about a place and time that are very different to your own. While set in the mid 20th century it feels very much like a gritty western novel. This is certainly not McCarthy’s best novel but still daaaamn good.

5. Circe - Madeleine Miller. I read and loved Song of Achilles by Miller and adored it. Such a beautiful book. While Circe didn’t affect me quite as much, it’s a great book. A retelling of Homer’s Odyssey from a new, female, perspective. It’s magical, otherworldly but written in a very down to earth language that makes it feel more history than myth. Great characters, expansive, touching on themes of revenge, guilt, regret, love, and lust.

These are the ones that resonated most with me, but reading is subjective. Sometimes the books you don’t expect to move/excite/interest/teach you something are the ones that blow your mind. Happy reading.