I feel like I did not read enough books in 2025, so I am going to have to up the ante in 2026. Before I do that, though, here are my top five books of 2025:

5. My favourite of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s novels so far, The Bewitching.

4. Yael van der Wouden’s sensuously romantic historical fiction, The Safekeep.

3. All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker, my favourite kind of mystery: the slow-burn.

2. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. It made me cry. Enough said.

1. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, another slow-burn mystery that I just can’t get out of my head.