Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books I Read in 2025

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Best Books I Read in 2025

I am generally pretty stingy when it comes to giving a book a grade of 5/5. Looking back over the last 5 years I have given somewhere between 2 to 4 books the top grade each year. For 2025, I have 13! I am pretty sure that is the most ever for me. So what was different this year? The only thing that I can think of is that I wasn't working for the first 7 months of the year, so I was reading purely for enjoyment. I wasn't trying to read on the commute, or before going to bed or during lunch breaks. There's certainly been a drop in the grades since I went back to work.  Other than, it might just have been an extraordinary first half of the year.

So here are my top 10 13 books for 2025

Midnight in Paris by Gillian Harvey - I started off with several books set in Paris. I have read quite a few of Gillian Harvey's books over the years and enjoyed them all, but this one just really worked for me! (my review)

The Paris Bookshop for the Broken-Hearted by Rebecca Raisin - Another author who I have read a lot of books from. I love the way that she writes about places, books and foods, and this one combined those very well. (my review)

The Wedding People by Alison Espach - I had heard such good things about this book and it completely lived up to expectations. (my review)

The Jam Maker by Mary-Lou Stephens - I went to hear Mary-Lou Stephens talk about this book and knew that I was going to enjoy it! (my review)

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley - I don't reread much, but I have read this book about 4 times now. it is still a 5/5 read for me every time. This one isn't pictured in the collage in order to fit all the others in. (my review)

Pictures of You by Emma Grey - I met Emma Grey at a reader's retreat a couple of years go but it took me that long to actually read one of her books. This was the first of two 5/5 reads by this author this year! (my review)

The Women by Kristin Hannah - This book seems to be a love it or hate it kind of book. I loved it! (my review)

Beartown by Fredrik Backman - What can I say that hasn't already been said about Fredrik Backman. I really must find time to read the second book in this trilogy! (my review)

Eat Your Heart Out by Victoria Brownlee - This was a surprise 5/5 book for me! It was just so much fun. (my review)

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson - I have enjoyed all of this author's books now, but this one is my favourite. (my review)

The Whisky Widow by Karen Brooks - This book had me wondering why on earth I had not read Karen Brooks before. So good! (my review)

The Last Love Note by Emma Grey - The second entry from Emma Grey on this list! Can't wait for her new book! (my review)

An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister - This author is an academic who specialises in romance and popular fiction, and you can tell! This book is now doing the rounds of my book club. Even our octogenarian member enjoyed it! 

One of the pleasing aspects of this is that 7 of these books are by Aussie authors!

I love seeing everyone's best of lists each year! Do we have any in common?

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

 

Do you ever get the feeling that you are late to the party? I did with this book. I started hearing about it at the end of last year and immediately wanted to read it, but by that point it had already won the Goodreads Reader's Fiction prize for 2024.

When Phoebe Stone checks into the beautiful Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, she has a plan. She is wearing an emerald silk gown, has no luggage and is alone. Her plan is to have one night of indulgence and then she will kill herself. Phoebe is at rock bottom as she is recently divorced, her cat has died, her work is going nowhere, and she has to still see her ex and his new partner (who used to be Phoebe's friend) at work. 

It immediately becomes clear that Phoebe is the only guest in the hotel who is not there for a six day wedding extravaganza. When Lila, the bride, finds out what Phoebe's plan is she is absolutely appalled. Nothing, nothing can ruin the event that she has spent a fortune on so that it will be just perfect. 

Soon, despite her best efforts, Phoebe finds herself sharing confidences with various members of the wedding party, and getting more involved in the event than she ever thought possible. Whilst Lila is projecting the image of the perfect happy bride, the reality is different. As they swap stories, it becomes clear that happiness is an illusion. Phoebe looks back over her life, her marriage, her career. Is it possible that Phoebe could find a way out of her own unhappiness?

I am going to put it out there now. I loved this book! It is smart and funny, sad and hopeful, and so many more things. Lila could have come across as a bridezilla, and she possibly is to a degree, but she is also a woman who believes that it is a expected that she will have this perfect life, and she is trying really hard to achieve it, despite everything. Phoebe believes that she has nothing to live for, and finds that despite everything that has led her to this place, she might be wrong.

The book is structured in an interesting way too. Each chapter is one of the days in the lead up to the wedding. This makes for some very long chapters (which I don't necessarily love) but it also gives the events more gravitas as the actual wedding day gets closer and closer.

Someone asked me recently how do I decide if a book is a 5 star read or not, and I have to say that it is very unscientific for me. It all comes down to how I feel when I close the book! A book doesn't have to be technically perfect, but if I close it with a huge sigh and a smile on my face, and I have felt all the emotions when I read it, then it's five stars. Bear in mind, I am very stingy with my 5 star gradings so it is all about that elusive feeling! If I have loved a book but don't quite get that gut feeling then it will be 4.5 stars which is still an excellent grade. This book, gave me all the feelings, and so is a 5 star read. Even though I read it a couple of weeks ago, it still gives me those feelings!

Rating 5/5

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Never Reviewed

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's them is Books I Never Reviewed. When I set my reading/blogging goals this year, I said that I wanted to make sure that I reviewed all the historical fiction I read and all the books by Aussie authors. So far, I have well and truly exceeded that and have reviewed just about everything I have read. It isn't my intention to go back to reviewing every book I read as there is too much "I am so far behind" pressure that comes with that, but when it happens organically....great.

So I will start with the couple of things I have read but not reviewed this year, and then go back to last year's list to see what I can find there!

The Wedding People by Alison Espach - I read this a couple of weeks ago and absolutely loved it! It's a 5 star read for me. I intend to review this later this week.

Never Want to Sea You Again by Leonie Woods - This is a short story freebie from the author's Substack page. It's a fun, forced proximity romance. One fun thing is that you can choose if you want to read the spice version or the not so spicy version of the story! I chose the spicy version. A billionaire's secret daughter hides on board a yacht and finds herself in the middle of the ocean with a grumpy sailor! 

The Venice Hotel by Tess Woods - I read this towards the end of last year and really enjoyed it! It brings together a group of characters in a Venice hotel at Christmas time and they end up having to work together to help one of the guests. It was darker than I expected but very good!

The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley - You know, I have read all but the last book in this series and never reviewed any of them! I listen to them all on audio and they are big books. I do find the accents that are used, and the fact that there are different narrators for every audiobook, a bit odd. Maybe when I finish the series I will do some kind of retrospective review!

The Last Night in London by Karen White - I meant to pick up a Madeline Martin book when I started this one, but I liked it nonetheless!

The Ex Factor by Rachael Johns - This was another free short story and is still available on Substack. In this story a woman returns to the town and the husband she left behind so that she can get her divorce papers signed. This one was a bit spicy too!

Before We Forget Kindness by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - This is part of the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. I have reviewed a couple of them but not all of the. Seeing this author at Melbourne Writers Festival was one of my bookish highlights of last year. I listen to this series on audio too!

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods - Another audio read. I liked this one, without loving it. It's about a bookshop that has disappeared and a modern quest to find out what happened there. I am super excited about Evie Woods next book which is out soon called The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris!

The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson - Yes, another opportunity to gush about how amazing Laura Pearson is. I have now read three of her books and they are all so unusual with really imaginative ideas! And, of course, great reads! My favourite is The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine, but this comes a close second.

The Yellow Wood by Minnie Darke - I have been a huge fan of Aussie author Minnie Darke since I read The Lost Love Song which is an absolutely beautiful book. This was an Audible only book about a free spirited woman who doesn't want to be tied down to anyone or anywhere and the artist who loves her and is trying to move on.

The Presidents Hat by Antoine Laurain - Over the last couple of years I have become a bit of an Antoine Laurain fan girl. There's every chance I will still review this for Paris in July later this year.

And yes, I know that is eleven choices but I thought I would throw in an extra given that two of them are short story freebies from the authors!

Have you read any of these?

This week...

 I'm reading

I seem to be getting into a pretty steady reading pattern over the last few weeks of finishing three books and starting another couple!

This week I finished reading The Many Futures of Maddy Hart by Laura Pearson. Her last book was one of my favourites of last year. I liked this one too, but maybe not quite as much. You can read my review here!

I then allowed myself to choose to read a non review read. The Wedding People by Alison Espach had really been calling to me over the last couple of months, so I decided to read it, and I loved it! Last year I only had three 5/5 reviews for the whole year. This was my third one for this year! So good!

I then read The Secrets of the Rose by Nicola Cornick which is a dual timeline telling the story of English Jacobite supporters, and a Victorian heroine, and then the modern storyline. My review will be up later this week. I did enjoy the book.

I picked up The Fall Risk by Abby Jimenez from Amazon First Reads this month. I hadn't read this author before, so this feels like it was a good intro to her style. I liked it! I smiled, but I was also a bit confronted by the mentions of guns but I guess that is my Australian sensibilities shining through. Overall I gave it a 4/5 rating.

Now I am reading The Paris Dancer by Nicola Rayner. After all, I haven't read a book set in Paris for at least two weeks! This one is due for review next week.

I mentioned last week that I have chosen to listen to Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, narrated by British actress Rosamund Pike, as my selection for the theme of classics for my face to face bookclub. So far it is really good!

In other bookish news, I went to an author event for Aussie author Karina May where she was talking about her new book That Island Feeling. It was a lot of fun. I've posted a review of the book and talked a little about the event here. There were even these gorgeous oyster Gingerbread biscuits! Delicious!

I am going to another author event tomorrow night which I will tell you about next week!



I'm watching

We binge watched the new series of Muster Dogs last week. In the first series, they had a litter of kelpie puppies and trained them to see which was the best working dog. In the second series, they did the same with a litter of collie puppies. This time, they took three of each, and they then trained them up to see which breed was the best working dog for working with stock like cattle and sheep. It is the most wholesome TV Show in so many ways, including showing what it can be like to be a farmer these days in Australia. Here's the trailer, which I hope you can see, otherwise try googling the show to see some puppy goodness 

We watched a couple of movies this weekend. One was called Summerland which is a story about a woman who is forced to take in a young boy who has been evacuated from London during WWII. I liked this one.

We also watched The Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. This was entertaining, although I am glad we didn't go and pay to see it at the movies!


Life

Last Monday night we went to see British comedian Jack Whitehall, along with his parents Michael and Hilary! We love their show Travels with my Father, and so we were excited to go and see their live show. We weren't disappointed! The first half of the show was Jack Whitehall doing his comedy routine, and then the second half was the three of them doing what was portrayed as a Q and A Session. Of course, it was carefully scripted but it was a lot of fun!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: 2024 Releases I was Excited to Read But Still Haven't Gotten To

Review: That Island Feeling by Karina May

Blog Tour: Paris Bookshop for the Broken Hearted by Rebecca Raisin

Blog Tour: The Many Futures of Maddy Hart by Laura Pearson

Weekend Cooking: Baked Tuscan Chicken

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - January Statistics

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date and Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz

Top Ten Tuesday: 2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t Gotten To

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is 2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t Gotten To (will you be prioritizing these this year?)

So the hardest thing about this topic is limiting the list to just ten, but I have somehow managed it.

The Mirror by Nora Roberts - I listened to the first book in this trilogy so my intention is to listen to them all. I do, however, have several audiobooks on the go so not sure when I will get to this one!

A Secret Garden in Paris by Sophie Beaumont - I really want to read this. If nothing else, I will definitely get it read before this years Paris in July event.

The Last Illusion of Paige White by Vanessa McCausland - I loved this authors last book so I really want to read this one too.

The Wedding People by Alison Espach - I didn't know I was excited to read this one until the very end of this year. I have started this one, and so far, so good!

Dirrayawadha by Anita Heiss - Such a bad reader. Anita Heiss was at the reader retreat I went to last year, she was on our table for dinner, she was great company..... and yet I still haven't managed to read this one!

The Kings Messenger by Susanna Kearsley - This is one of my favourite authors ever and yet I still haven't read her latest release

A Certain Kind of Starlight by Heather Webber - I intended to read this one before now. I honestly did!

The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan - I have only read one Jennifer Ryan book but I liked it a lot so I requested it for review....and still haven't read it!

At the Stroke of Midnight by Jenni Keer - I did read the first page of this one, and then realised I had some deadlines and haven't gone back to it yet. I will though...at some point.

The Dubrovnik Book Club by Eva Glyn - This sounds so good!

Which one of these books should I move up the priority list?