Ten excellent books on authoritarianism and resistance. A new post from me: readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/01/03/a...

I started my first book of 2026 yesterday. The Oppermans by Lion Feuchtwanger. I'm reading an ebook version a friend unearthed for me. The Persephone edition I have had for years, is too chunky for my hands to cope with. A German classic first published in 1934. 📚💙

...And here's everything I read. It's lovely looking back at all the books I read.

So, here are my favourite books of 2025. It was pretty close with some books (nearly picked 2 by Penelope Lively). Typically, most books are backlisted titles. I think I may have only read one book published in 2025 anyway. Full list with publication year for context in alt text.💙📚

As is often the case, some of my favourite books this year were by women writers in translation, including Claudia Piñeiro, Alba de Céspedes, Mariana Enriquez, Sibilla Aleramo and Eileen Chang. #BookSky 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/12/21/m...

Finally - my book stats and best books read in 2025! librofulltime.wordpress.com/2025/12/31/b... #booksky 📚💙💡

Yay. Finally finished my Christmas jigsaw.

Me: "It doesn't matter in the least how many books someone reads in a year." Also me "shit, this is possibly my worst ever year, in terms of the number of books read. (Will probably end on 84 ish). Haven't thought of a best of list. Should I bother? 💙📚

My 2026 page-a-day book has arrived. I'll be reading it alongside my good friend @lyzzybee.bsky.social in 2025 we've been reading David Olusoga's Black History for Every Day of the Year. Really looking forward to this, I always read my page-a-day book over breakfast. A good start to the day. 💙📚

Today's been blissfully quiet and chilled. Saggy old fav jumper, rubbish telly and a Christmas jigsaw, I haven't had enough chance to get stuck into. Also, reading The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. Set in a very snowy isolated Scottish lodge just before and after New Year. 💙📚

I really enjoyed reading The Weather in Tregulla for ##DeanStreetDecember. Stella Gibbons is an excellent storyteller weaving stories of various deeply flawed characters together. This one with the lovely setting of Cornwall. She was madly prolific, and I still have several of her novels to read.

From the archive for Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, #BornOnThisDay in 1896, thoughts on THE LEOPARD (tr Archibald Colquhoun). A beautiful, elegiac novel, shot through with a yearning for times past. The writing is sublime. #BookSky 💙📚 #BOTD jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2020/05/19/t...

Today on the blog, a festive mystery: “A desire to move furniture is a desire for life. “(Celia Fremlin, The Long Shadow) madamebibilophilerecommends.co.uk/2025/12/23/a...

Finally, @lyzzybee.bsky.social I can join in with #DeanStreetDecember I have started reading The Weather in Tregulla by Stella Gibbons. She's always a good storyteller. 💙📚 @deanstpress.bsky.social

Goodness! I am reading so slowly this month. A mixture of more busyness than I've been used to lately and bad hands when I'm reading an actual physical book (it's not available for Kindle). Going to a Christmas quiz night this evening, after which I will be fit for nothing. 🙂🎄

Oh I adore her. I always envy those who haven't read everything she wrote.

Finally getting round to settling down to watch S9 of Seaside Hotel (Badehotellet) on Channel 4. Thank you Channel 4 for giving us S9 and 10 just before Christmas. There's some amazing Danish TV available but this one is my favourite.

Ooh this is a lovely reminder of a novel I really enjoyed a couple of years ago. 💙📚

Re-reading this lovely Christmassy novel from 1950. Ten Days of Christmas by G B Stern. The first big family Christmas after WW2. The children want to do a play, there are quarrels, tensions and a complicated family. A shame it hasn't been reissued. 💙📚

You’re welcome @heavenalibooks.bsky.social - Stories for Lovers publishes Jan 13th! #WomenWriters #MargaretAtwood #DorothyPatker #VirginiaWoolf

Ooh, a lovely early Christmas present this morning. Thank you @britishlibrary.bsky.social @gpwigglesworth.bsky.social these look delightful. 😍📚💙

A few days late with this one, but the novel is so well suited to the season... From the archive for Willa Cather, born on 7th Dec 1873, some thoughts on MY ÁNTONIA. This classic novel, set in 19thC America, seems to embody the pioneers' spirit. 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2016/06/28/m...

...in which the poet laureate goes to his shed, and I have fun exploring the results!! #simonarmitage kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2025/12/09/t...

Totally absorbing read. “Nothing made me forget the world like reading did. Nothing made me think about the world like reading did. Nothing else filled me up. Nothing else emptied me out. Sentences and paragraphs would drift through my head like clouds.” ― #ArundhatiRoy, Mother Mary Comes to Me

'Lippman takes up the Agatha Christie mantle in her newest novel, Murder Takes a Vacation, in which Tess Monaghan’s longtime sidekick, Mrs. Blossom, gets her turn in the spotlight.' CrimeReads have picked Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman as one of their best books of 2025 📚

Started my first Christmas read of the season. Who Killed the Curate by Joan Coggin. It's delightfully silly so far, a number of laughs at the constants puzzlements of ditzy Lady Lupin, who is trying hard to be a good vicar's wife. Perfect for a busy week. 💙📚

Well this was excellent. I will definitely want to read more by her - the ghost in the bookshop one sounds particularly intriguing. Looking forward to hearing what my book group pals thought of it. 📚💙

Thanks are due to @neglectedbooks.com for bringing this terrific novel of exile from 1940 back from the brink. Insane to me that an utterly compelling depiction of German Jewish life was written by a non-Jewish English woman who eventually spent much of her life in New Zealand.

Well, not to speak too soon, I hope, but very much enjoying this book so far.

A Snapshot of My Reading #10 alifeinbooks.co.uk/2025/12/a-sn...

Looking for a Christmas present for that loved one who always has a story to tell? I will be delivering a memoir masterclass @gladlib on 30 May 2026.🎅🎄🎁 www.gladstoneslibrary.org/event/memoir...

Starting this tonight, The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich. It's my book group's next read and I haven't read Louise Erdrich before. 💙📚

Big news! We’re giving away a Snowball Accessibility Assessment worth over £250 👉 To enter, hit the link below or in our bio and enter details. That’s it. bit.ly/3K3jlk7 🩵 Know a business that should enter too? Tag them so they don’t miss out. 🎉 Winner announced December 19th, 2025. Good luck!

I have been meaning to read this for years. Bobbin Up by Dorothy Hewett. An Australian, working class novel, following the lives of four young factory workers. I'm reading a Kindle version I've had for ages. Funny how different these two cover images are. 💙📚

This is such a fun read. A comedy of manners with bodies getting carted around all over the place. Total chaos. I have no memory of where I got this book, and hadn't even heard of the author before I picked it up. Very silly, but I am enjoying it.

A nice, cosy Sunday. Pj's and a old jumper, started a new jigsaw, finished my book, watched a silly film, ate some chocolates. Time to choose a new book to read while I drink my tea. 💙📚

"Lady L. hated yellow and she wondered how the flowers had found their way into the Ming vase. There had been a time when every bouquet in the house had first to be presented to her for inspection and approval." #NovNov25 #BookSky 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/23/l...

I enjoyed #Strictly all the more knowing noone else was going home. Gutted for La Voix. So entertaining tonight. 💃🕺 1 vote for Alex 2 votes for Karen 2 votes for Balvinder

The apartment I moved into a month ago overlooks a large local nature reserve. I am becoming an armchair wildlife spotter. So far I have seen: Many squirrels, magpies and pigeons. Small birds hard to identify at a distance. A few foxes (or same one several times) A badger A jay A parakeet.

Now reading: Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout. The third Lucy book. I always forget how much I enjoy reading Elizabeth Strout, and haven't read nearly enough of her books. 💙📚

New on the blog this week, I've written about CHILD OF ALL NATIONS by Irmgard Keun (tr. Michael Hofmann). A striking coming-of-age story of exile in 1930s Europe, told through an engaging narrative voice. #GermanLitMonth #BookSky 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/c...

How wonderful is this!! Thank you so much @buriedinprint.bsky.social for sending me this. ❤️

Lovely review on Instagram for Furrowed Middlebrow's The House Opposite by Barbara Noble. #bookreview #booksky www.instagram.com/p/DRAhRtWgaCE/

It seems my world weary soul needs certain kinds of 'nice' books at the moment. Having to try and not just read vintage middlebrow and golden age mystery. I'm craving them. However, I just started The Mingham Air by Elizabeth Fair. The last of her books I had to read. @deanstpress.bsky.social 💙📚

Well I finally finished (it hurt my brain) with help from @piedwarbler.bsky.social 😁

The #Hiddenbooksgame is here. It's totally fiendish. After getting 5 in ten minutes, I feel I may be stuck for several hours now. @nationalbooktokens.bsky.social 💙📚

We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation in 2025! "Each of these books arrives in English in expert and accessible translations that honour the art and voice of their original authors." tinyurl.com/f9sccz4v

I put a call out on FB for jigsaws - so I didn't have to buy any more. I'm now in the midst of a jigsaw explosion, think I may enough to last me until about February maybe even longer. 😁 It's little things that keep me happy these days.