My Favourite Books of 2025

 

I have read 54 books this year, a book a week thereabouts which considering I only read at lunchtime and when I’ve got into bed isn’t too bad. There were a couple I didn’t finish, one was so dry I needed a glass of water with it and I just didn’t like the other. A handful were absolute tripe and I’m not sure why I persevered with them, life is too short to read rubbish really. Anyway I’m here to celebrate my absolute favourites of the year of which I have picked out ten listed in no particular order. All cover pics I've lifted from Amazon.

 

The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi. Originally published in 1990 this is about Karim growing up in 1970s South London with an Indian father and an English mother and dealing with racism, family and trying to become an actor. The cast of characters is bonkers, in a good way, and the book is a riot from start to finish. I didn’t want it to end.

 

The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy is about a housewife in 1950s America who, after a period of illness, starts to receive messages from beyond the grave relating to a murdered local girl. Her husband pooh-poohs this and she goes behind his back to see a parapsychologist for help. Her powers grow and her husband resorts to extreme measures to “cure” her. This book made me angry in places because you just know that this is how women were treated back then, even without spooky powers. It’s a really good read with an uplifting ending.

 

 William Boyd’s The Romantic is the epic story of Cashel Greville Ross as he goes from Ireland to London to the Battle of Waterloo, Ravenna, Zanzibar, all over the place. He’s a soldier, a writer, a brewer, an explorer, a felon, a diplomat. He lives more lives than the average cat, this is an absolute epic and really well written.

 

 Piglet by Lottie Hazell is the story of Piglet (a childhood nickname) and her plans to marry. Piglet and Kit appear to be the perfect couple living the perfect life but 13 days before the wedding Kit shares an awful secret and Piglet finds herself torn between following the plans that have been so carefully made and chucking it in. Amazing book, one scene in particular was so tense I actually ended up dreaming about it.

 

We Pretty Pieces of Flesh by Colwill Brown is absolutely heartbreaking in places and hilarious in others. It’s about three girls, best friends, from Doncaster growing up in the early Noughties. It is written entirely in a Donny accent and perfectly captures what it’s like growing up in a Northern town. 

 

 Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez has a wondrous cast of characters as is typical of his books. Parts seem to go off at tangents but it’s all relevant to the story which starts out with a rabid dog biting a bunch of people and a 12 year old girl being the only one to survive. People wonder how and obviously end up at demonic possession, as you would.

 

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, what a book this is. What a truly amazing story. Set in 1960s Nigeria, we follow three lives as they intersect through the civil war and formation and collapse of Biafra. This is one of those books that everybody should read I think.

 

Bit of non-fiction now, A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre is a very thorough biography of Kim Philby and his relationships wit his friends and other people. It is astounding just how many deaths could be laid at this man’s feet and how he got away with being a Russian asset at the heart of MI5.

 

The North Road by Rob Cowen is a kind of biography too but about the Great North Road, aka the A1, aka the A1(M) which runs from London to Edinburgh and pretty much has done since Roman times. Cowen travels the full length of the road and tells of its geography, the stories of people, famous and otherwise, who lived along it and also stories from his own family and their links to the road. As someone from the North-East of England I’ve travelled the road myself a lot and still get excited when I see the signs for The North A1(M).

 

 

Back to fiction and this last book is a sequel to a book I mentioned on my list last year. A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett follows on from The Tainted Cup and is another “impossible” murder mystery for Ana Dolabra and Dinios Kol to solve. Happily it is the second book in a trilogy which means I’ve another one to look forward to.

Those were some of my favourites but honourable mentions also go to Heatwave: The Summer of 1976 by John L. Williams, Mining Men: Britain’s Last Kings of the Coalface by Emily P. Webber and anything I’ve ever read by Silvia Moreno Garcia.

I’ve read quite a bit more non-fiction this year and I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to next year’s 50-odd books already.

Finally, I wish that 2026 treats you well and that all of your endeavours come to fruition. 

The Rowan Project

 

 

First of all, I hope that everybody is having a good festive season and that nobody has been driven too mad by annoying relatives.

I wanted to explain a little about my “Rowan Project”; I’m not calling it a challenge or anything daft like that as that has slightly odd connotations. My aim is simply to knit only patterns from my Rowan books and magazines throughout the next year. I have over 20 in my Ravelry queue though there’s no way I’m going to be able to make all of them in the space of 12 months. I am quite a slow knitter and often just put my knitting down and leave it for weeks, if not months, as something else grabs my attention. If I can complete half a dozen I’ll be thrilled with that. I’m going to share some of my favourites from the queue, the ones that I am most likely to have a go at.

These are in no particular order by the way, I have no idea where I’m starting to be honest.

Salina by Kim Hargreaves, there are quite a few Kim Hargreaves designs here, I really like her style and I’ve knit one of her jumpers before. I really like the Henley neckline, which is something I’ve done before so it shouldn’t hold any nasty surprises.

Salina

 

Demi, also by Kim Hargreaves. This one features a shoulder fastening, which I haven’t done before but I can’t see it being too different from a Henley.

Demi, this is a duffer of a picture, sorry about that but I nicked it off Ravelry so blame them.

 

Cassis by Kaffe Fassett. I love the styling here and can see a black shirt and skirt combo with Cassis in lovely dark jewel tones. The main issue here will be my patience, though I have knit a larger item before and got through it quite quickly, for me anyway.

Cassis, I love everything about this.

 

Jojo by Martin Storey is a smaller project, I would like some little vest tops to wear as underlayers when the weather is cold, like now.

Jojo, isn't this cute? ©Rowan

 

Ravenscar by Sarah Hatton is a lovely little ribbed cardigan, perfect to go over a little vest top in the Summer.

Ravenscar, there were a few in this coastal set that I liked and have queued but I've had to rein myself in a bit. ©Rowan

 

Betty by Amanda Crawford is another little cardigan, I like the asymmetry of this one.

Betty ©Rowan

 

 Eowyn by Theresa Venning looks like a very quick knit, I could use those now, it’s freezing here.

Eowyn ©Rowan

 

Miranda by Leah Sutton, now, I have actually started this. I started it in July 2023 (good Lord, I thought it was last year until I looked it up) and it is currently hibernating but I will get it out again to finish it because I really like it and I want one. It’s the p2togtbl that is really off-putting though.

Miranda ©Rowan

 

Flighty, it’s Kim Hargreaves again and another cute little vest top.

Flighty, another cute vest top.

 

Lambrook by Martin Storey, he is another designer that I really like and he’s from Hull! Or ‘Ull as we say it up North. This has pockets! Pockets!

Pockets!

 

Stella by Chloe Thurlow, this is from the most recent Rowan magazine so hopefully the recommended yarn won’t have been discontinued yet. 

Stella, I do like a bit of chunky ribbing.

 

Enchant by Lisa Richardson is also in the latest magazine, another long cardigan with pockets. I know what I like.

Enchant moar pockets!

 

Also from the latest magazine is Vera by Georgia Farrell, I loved this as soon as I saw it and it has the same name as my Nanna who taught me to knit in the first place.

Vera, I'm almost tempted to knit this in the same colour. Almost.

 

That is quite a long list and there’s no way I’ll manage all those but they are my most favourite from the queue. I’ll have to learn to knit faster which is one of my aims for the coming year; I’m going to try and learn to knit Continental style, I can about manage the knit stitch but purl is escaping me. I was taught to knit English style as a child and trying to get my fingers sorted for Continental is proving awkward but I’m determined to get there as it is much faster. I couldn’t crochet for long enough due to finger positions but I found a way that works for me and I’m hoping the same will happen here.

 I've included the Ravelry links, by the way, in case any of these take your fancy and you want to queue them up yourself.