The best books of 2025

It’s difficult to summarise a year of reading, but when I think about recent months, I can point to an event that was quite influential to my reading – the ABC Best Books of the 21st Century poll.

I attended the launch of the event months ago, and so had followed the poll with interest. I particularly liked the enthusiasm with which Facebook users joined the countdown.

Readers listed their top 10s and I loved finding out the books that fellow Australians had loved over the years. I noted some recurring books and authors, and found Facebook users that shared my taste in books almost exactly. It was by far the most fun I’ve had on social media … ever.

I noticed that The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne made multiple appearances on people’s lists, so I found a copy in my local op shop and agreed that it was a wonderful, heartfelt read.

The countdown itself was fascinating – who doesn’t love a book list? Some inclusions were surprising, but most were not. It was unsurprising that the top book was a crowd-pleaser, and there were quite a few in the Top 10 that I loved too – A Gentleman in Moscow, Burial Rites, Demon Copperhead, A Little Life, Wolf Hall and The Dictionary of Lost Words. I expected My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante to rate more highly, but I could see why most of the books were widely beloved.

This year, I’ve continued to adore books in all formats, including hardcopy, ebooks and audiobooks.

One genre that has been new to me, but very enjoyable has been older children’s historical fiction by Jackie French and Katrina Nannestad. I’ve listened to these audiobooks during long car rides with my kids and they’ve all been swept away by the stories of courage during wartime.

I’ve started listening to Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie books, and even though they’re quite up and down, they’ve been enjoyable listens on the whole.

I finally listened to Yellowface and The Bee Sting, and thoroughly enjoyed both. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid definitely wasn’t my favourite books of this author’s, but it was unique in its plot about female astronauts joining NASA, and interesting in parts. I felt the love story and the astronaut’s relationship with her niece were a bit laboured, though.

Recently, I finished The Ministry of Time, which I liked but didn’t love. However, the idea of time travel was very clever and engaging.

I’ve been reading Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series with my daughter, and enjoying that, as well as Katrina Nannestad’s The Girl, the Dog and the Writer series.

My reading highlight of the year was Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, who has become one of my favourite writers. I love the beaty and subtlety of Ishiguro’s writing, and the haunting idea behind this novel. Other highlights were James by Percival Everett and Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood. As usual, Jane Austen was perfect company in Persuasion – there’s something that is satisfying about reading older books, compared with their newer counterparts. Perhaps it’s the challenge and distraction of reading old English, which can take a while to get used to, or the slow pace of the story?

The first books on my list for 2026 are Sofie Laguna’s new novel The Underworld (seeing Sofie in Ballarat was a huge bookish highlight of the year for me!) and re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird with my 15-year-old son. I can’t wait to hear his thoughts.

What were your reading highlights of 2025?