2025 Reading Round-Up
The good, the bad, the ugly.
I have always been a bookworm. Perhaps it was inevitable. My Mum was a nursery school teacher before I was born and became a librarian when she returned to work, so my childhood was full of nursery rhymes, music (Mum was, as her first teacher training probation review notes, “An enthusiastic, if not particularly skilled, musician”) and, of course, books. Some of my earliest memories are of being taken to the library after school so Mum could finish her work-day, and the delight I found in selecting the books that called to me from the low-sided picture-book boxes in the children’s corner. I graduated quickly to the bookshelves, moving from ages 5-8, to 8-12, and then onto my first ‘adult’ books - mostly Agatha Christie crime thrillers that I would storm through in a day. The library staff-room had a portable heater that I would lean against - probably too closely, in retrospect, and it’s lucky I didn’t singe my clothing or my self - and disappear into different worlds until it was time to close up.
I used to be able to shut the world out as soon as my eyes hit the page. Curled up on the armchair in the living room, my family could be watching TV, conversing loudly - hell, the ceiling could have fallen in - and I would be oblivious to it all. I find this much harder now and conditions have to be ‘just right’ to read comfortably: no music with lyrics, no films on in the background with complex dialogue, pillow just so in the small of my back, lighting good and bright (though no big light, ever.) Very occasionally, though, I will discover a book that can put me back into that trance like state and for that couple of days or weeks of reading, it feels as though fairy dust is coating the ends of my fingers, leaving little traces as I turn each page.
When words don’t come to page as easily as I’d like and a find myself creatively blocked, a little voice sometimes tells me that it’s because I am a reader, not a writer, and that I should stop pretending to be both. I tend to ignore this voice (unless I’m feeling very fragile), but I definitely was a reader first. Reading is, and always will be, one of my greatest pleasures. Talking about books - the worlds I’ve explored and ideas I’ve been introduced to - is another.
So, without further ado. Here is my 2025 Reading, Wrapped.
*I use (and have for the last three years) StoryGraph to track my reading. It is independently owned, founded by a black British woman, isn’t bogged down with advertising, and offers superior and super interesting statistics for your reading. It isn’t yet as established as Goodreads, but you can help it become so by making the switch! I am not sponsored - I just really like it. You can find my profile at @els_rosec.
Quick stats:
Books read: 59
Pages read: 18,957
Top ‘mood’: Reflective
% Fiction: 29%
% Non-fiction: 71%
Top Genre(s): Literary/Memoir
Average rating: 3.85
DNF’s: None
Part of me was really surprised by the very uneven split of fiction vs non-fiction books, as I am a vocal advocate for reading more fiction. However, a part of me knew this to be the case, as some months have felt like a real slog to get through any books, which I find happens when I read too much of the dense stuff. In this last month, though, I’ve been reading more fiction and have relished in being sucked into the story, feeling joy if I’m five minutes early to an appointment as it allows me to squeeze in a page or two, and actively seeking additional minutes to read more. It’s been a nice reminder of why I fell in love with reading in the first place, so one of my 2026 goals is for this to be as 50/50 a split as I can make it.
I was also a bit surprised by the DNF stat, as I have no qualms about not finishing a book I don’t like. There were some pretty low rated books this year, but they were all either very short, or very easy reading, so I found myself finishing them just to know what happened. But you will never find me forcing myself to finish a chunk of heavy text. Nuh-uh.
5 Star Fiction Reads ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Emperor of Ocean Park, by Stephen L. Carter
The Five Wounds, by Kirstin Valdez Quade
The Sentence, Louise Erdrich
5 Star Non-fiction Reads ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rooted: Stories of Life, Land and a Farming Revolution, by Sarah Langford
Chasing the Scream, by Johann Hari
From the Ashes, by Jesse Thistle
Lost Connections, by Johann Haru
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate, by Naomi Klein
The New Odyssey: The Story of Europe’s Refugee Crisis, by Patrick Kingsley
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir, by asha bandele and Patrisse Khan-Cullors.
Highly Recommended
All my 5-star reads I would suggest are must reads, but here are some bonus books that are absolutely worth it, too.
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot, by Mikki Kendall
Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging, by Aqua Hirsch
On Beauty, by Zadie Smith
The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription for Long-Term Thinking, by Roman Krznaric
Wild Fell, by Lee Schofield
Does it Matter? by Alan Watts
Empireland, by Sathnam Sanghera
Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery, by Scott Kelly
Wilding, by Isabella Tree
Our Hideous Progeny, by C.E McGill
And just for fun… my worst-rated books of 2025
Julia, by Sandra Newman (2 stars)
Milk Blood Heat, by Dantiel W. Moniz (2.5 stars)
Boy Parts, by Eliza Clark (1 star)
A Short History of the World in 50 Failures, by Ben Gazur (2 stars)
This One Wild and Precious Life, by Sarah Wilson (2.5 stars)
Wildwood, by Roger Deakin (2.25 stars)
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo (1.75 stars)
Wow Els, and yes surprising the fiction/non fiction split xx
Wow! Impressive that you read 50+ books!! Noted down your recommendations 🤗