Putting together my favourite reads of the year is always such a treat. There are usually books that I knew, the moment I read them, would make the final list – while others come as more of a surprise as I look through my notebook.
I’ll do proper stats etc soon, but my overall reflection is that 2025 was quite an average reading year – with some real stand-outs. For different reasons, I dearly love all the books on this list, and have followed my usual caveats: no re-reads and no author can appear more than once. Click on the title to take you to a review – or, for one of them, the podcast episode where Rachel and I discussed it.
Here we go, in reverse order!
10. Mrs Dalloway: Biography of a Novel (2025) by Mark Hussey
From my review: “It’s amazing how comprehensive he can be in a relatively short space. Mrs Dalloway: Biography of a Novel does two things marvellously: give a huge amount of relevant, fascinating, detailed information in a distinct and enjoyable way, and remind me why I love Woolf’s novel so much. Now, of course, I am impatient for Hussey to give the same treatment to all the rest of Woolf’s oeuvre.”
9. Bookish (2025) by Lucy Mangan
From my review: “Even in the sadder moments, there is a warmth that flows through Bookish. How do you capture it? How do you make a book feel like curling up a sofa for a natter with a dear friend? I suppose by being an excellent writer, and that is a keynote of Bookish. It’s a hoot, it’s self-deprecating and simultaneously celebratory about the reading life.”
8. Love (1925) by Elizabeth von Arnim
From my review: “I prefer von Arnim on flippant form, and love her most when she manages to be ironically witty while still having a serious point (Father is the best example), and I found the melancholy rather overtook the irony in the second half. But I still think Love is up there with her best novels.”
7. Catherine Carter (1952) by Pamela Hansford Johnson
From my review: “It is suffused by the author’s affection for the main characters, even when they are being weak and flawed. In that way, it reminded me of Elizabeth Goudge. It’s by a long distance my favourite of hers so far.”
6. Perfection (2022) by Vincenzo Latronico
I didn’t write a review, because it was on a podcast instead. What I loved so much about this novella, translated by Sophie Hughes, was how unusual it was. The main characters really represent a generation. There is no dialogue, and we don’t get to know them as individuals, but it says so much about the millennial experience, and with calm beauty.
5. Treasure Hunt (1952) by Molly Keane
From my review: “She manages to people the novel with ‘normal’ characters and those who are borderline grotesques without it feeling uneven. Philip and Veronica are sensible, thoughtful, driven people who react much as you might expect to much-loved parents/uncle/aunt who behave foolishly – there is a warmth to the novel that means you never feel the generations are antagonists, even when they have very different wishes.”
4. The New York Trilogy (1986) by Paul Auster
From my review: “What makes Auster so good is the quality of his writing – and what makes it so refreshing is that he isn’t playing needless games with it. So much postmodern fiction ends up being convoluted and self-indulgent. Or, even if we are being more charitable, the style is co-opted as part of the postmodernism: it intends to confuse, or blur the boundaries between reality and irreality, or highlight the fictionality of what you are reading. In City of Glass, he lets all of those fascinating things come through character and plot.”
3. The Equations of Love (1952) by Ethel Wilson
From my review: “I bought The Equations of Love by Ethel Wilson in Canada back in 2017, based on her being a Persephone author. Since then, I’ve read another couple of novels by her – but I think this overlooked gem might be her masterpiece.”
2. Blue Postcards (2021) by Douglas Bruton
From my review: “I think Blue Postcards is a brilliant book. Bruton has clearly researched Klein in depth, and has written about him in a form that allows freedom to make something much looser and more interesting than a traditional biography.”
1. Follow Your Heart (1994) by Susanna Tamaro
From my review: “The first section of the novella is really just Olga walking around her home, remembering, thinking, reflecting. It is in the form of a letter to her granddaughter, but in the same way that Gilead by Marilynne Robinson is a letter to John’s son […] That is to say, Olga’s granddaughter is the one being continually addressed, but we have no idea if this letter will ever be sent – it’s really a way for Olga to frame her thoughts. And it’s beautiful. She is painfully honest with herself, not allowing the refuge of any comforting lies – whether about her own behaviour, the future of this relationship, or even about the lifespan of the birds and beasts she delights in seeing.
“Tamaro’s (and [translator Avril] Bardoni’s) major achievement is that capturing of voice. That’s what carries you through a book like this, and there is a rich gentleness throughout.”
Have you read any of these? What would you like to read next? The main thing I noted is that half of them came from this year’s ‘read the year’ clubs, which proves what an ongoing success they are for my reading life!
I read Treasure Hunt many years ago (I read all of Molly Keane’s books back then), but can’t remember much about it. I haven’t read any if the others on your list, but the von Arnim is on my (huge!) TBR pile.
Thank you, Simon, for all you do in the bookish community and wishing you all the best in 2026!
thanks Lelly! Happy new year
What a lovely top ten Simon! Of course happy to see the Bruton in there, and also to be reminded that I must read the Dalloway book. Loved the Auster too, and was given the Mangan for Christmas. Ahem – I have devoured it already!! Happy New Year!
Haha, excellent! It is perfect for the post-Christmas limbo too.
Happy New Year. Lovely to see the Auster well up there. Predictably, it’s the only one of your picks I have read, but it’s lovely to read about all the others.
I was surprised by how much I loved it! And keen to read more.
I’m pleased to see Blue Postcards on your list – I enjoyed it too, although Woman in Blue is my favourite Bruton so far. I would like to read some of your other choices as well, particularly the Mangan and von Arnim. Happy New Year!
Will definitely have to get to Woman in Blue before too long.
Happy New Year!
I loved Blue Postcards and Follow Your Heart. The New York Trilogy has been on my radar for a while; you have brought it back to the forefront of my mind again.
I’ve also read Bookish (dare I say I thought it was only OK – a bit curate’s egg?!) and Perfection (I see why it is admirable but it was not a book I enjoyed reading).
The Mark Hussey I really want to read. I am hoping it might come out in paperback.
I love that you’ve read so many of them, Sarah! And especially that you also loved my top 2. I’m interested to see which Rachel will pick from the list for our next episode.
I’m always so excited to see your list! I am now more convinced than ever to read the Tamaro.
Happy New Year and I hope 2026 holds wonderful things for you. I’m looking forward to catching up in person this spring!
I really want to compare notes on the Tamaro with more people! So looking forward to spring :)
It’s always a pleasure to see your Books of the Year list, Simon, and am happy to say that I’ve also enjoyed Love and Treasure Hunt. I am just about to start Catherine Carter and I have the same edition as the one pictured. Happy reading in 2026!
Oh wonderful! Hope you find Catherine Carter as compelling and wonderful as I did.
Blue Postcards is definitely one of my favourite reads of 2025 too. I have Woman in Blue in the TBR which I’m looking forward to.
I have just read Hope Never Knew Horizon and loved that too! What a writer.
What is the read the year book club selection for 2026?
1961!
A super top ten! I have only read Love, but I really want to read Mrs Dalloway and Bookish and cannot really comprehend why I haven’t already!
Thanks Liz!
I was pleased, but not at all surprised to see The Equations of Love on your list. I went on a tear through Ethel Wilson’s small oeuvre as a very young man after reading The Innocent Traveller for a Canadian Literature class. I’ve not revisited her work since, but you’ve encouraged me.
A Happy New Year to you!
It was such a wonderful surprise! I’ve read three others by her (though not Innocent Traveller yet) and this was head and shoulders above the rest.
Any chance that any of these (in particular the von Arnim and the Ethel Wilson) might be candidates for the BLWW series? I see BLWW have another short story collection coming out for Valentine’s Day – and I’ve read and enjoyed all of them so far – but we haven’t had a new novel in almost a year . . . .
Lovely to see your list of top reads, which is full of good things! Elizabeth von Arnim’s Love sounds wonderful, and like anonymous, I’m wondering if it might be a candidate for the BLWW series at some point in the future?
So many people I follow have been raving about Douglas Burton over the past year or two, and it’s great to see that you’re among them – definitely an author I should try sometime! .
I think there’s a fair overlap in the Venn diagram of books we read but it isn’t always visible day-to-day; here, though, we’ve four good reads in common. (And I’ve mentioned before just how much I love Ethel Wilson, one of my MustReadEverything authors. Let me know if you have a hard time locating her and I will happily check for her second-hand here.) Also I see there’s an excellent-sounding option by Pamela Hansford Johnson for 1961; it would ba a purchase for me, but it sounds VERY interesting. Glad you’ve had such a fab 2025 on-the-page!
I rushed to her Wiki page, of course, but can’t see which is the 1961 PHJ? And yes, I think we definitely have overlap – and sometimes those are the best reading buddies, where I can learn a lot from your reading and then enjoy where it overlaps.