Jun 13
Books 21-30 of the year 📖
seen from Italy
seen from Canada
seen from United Kingdom
seen from France
seen from Germany
seen from T1
seen from Spain
seen from China
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from Japan
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seen from Russia
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from China
Books 21-30 of the year 📖
1 & 2 book asks
1. Book you've reread the most times?
Probably Jeanette Winterson - Written on the Body. I reread every few years. I can't get enough of the prose and the yearning.
2. 5 favourite books of all time.
As above, Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson.
Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett. What cruelty imposed drives women to madness? As an avid cross-dressing enjoyer, this was an S-tier book by one of my favourite authors.
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay. It's a rollercoaster written from a dream and the pace is incredible.
If You're Happy by Fiona Robinson. UQP publishes some amazing books and this is a standout. An unsettling at times anthology of short stories that are quintessentially Australian to the point I can feel the dew on my bare feet in the paddock, the crisp, clear smell of the eucalyptus morning, the low fog and cattle in the distant, the warbling of magpies and the background screaming of a circling flock of cockatoos. Wonderfully evocative.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I am a fan of domestic gothic and most other gothic genres, but this one is exceptional. The prose and pace, the plot and characters. It's a compelling book.
2025's stand-out fiction reads
If you look at this list and you think we have crossover in our reading tastes, please recommend me a book to enjoy in 2026!
Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos My favourite of the year! Very funny, very dark, very short. Reading this felt like plugging myself into mains electricity.
The Lowlife by Alexander Baron Puts me so believably in the shoes of someone with whom I have almost nothing in common, so that as I read I thought 'yeah if I were him I would have done that too'. Tragicomic.
Tragic Magic by Wesley Brown I'm entranced by how this writer uses language.
Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx Vibrating with believability. Takes you there.
The Meaning Of Night by Michael Cox Slow paced victorian mystery with plot reveal on plot reveal on plot reveal, and a deliciously untrustworthy first-person narrator.
A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters I am not immune to the lure of the monk mystery
The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk A high-effort/high-reward read & a remarkable feat of writing. Totally transporting and not at all what I expected.
The Glass Pearls by Emeric Pressburger A very impactful & challenging book that I have appreciated mostly in retrospect - the ending in particular has stuck with me.
A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel She's done it again - Hilary Mantel knew how to write messy interpersonal relationships!
Bird in a Cage by Frédéric Dard Mediocre characters (imo) deliver a spectacular noir mystery plot with a great ending.
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsey Tense!!!
The Forgery by Ave Barrera Unexpected! Playful! I got along very well with the pace and the writing style.
"Łatwo jest podjąć spokojną, rozsądną decyzję z wieczora, co innego zaś wprowadzić ją w czyn w jasnym blasku dnia."
~Joan Lindsay:"Piknik pod Wiszącą Skałą"