We’re celebrating the end of the year with a look back over our favourite reads of 2025, from new releases to backlist gems, best book club books, best non-fiction, best comfort reads and more. Between us we read over 350 books in 2025. Listen in to hear the ones we loved best. We’ve also got a radical new idea for a book club involving cold-water swimming and the works of Robert B. Parker, and how to embrace DNFing without guilt. Join us for recommendations to see you through the festive season and set your new reading year off in style.
With Phil Chaffee and Sarah Oliver
Booklist
Mother Mary Come to Me by Arundhati Roy
The Silver Book by Olivia Laing
Crudo by Olivia Laing
Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngoze Adiche
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
Heart the Lover by Lily King
Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley
The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enrigue
Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart
Lake Shore by Gary Shteyngart
Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm
The First Man by Albert Camus
Robert B. Parker novels
Question 7 by Richard Flanagan
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Muybridge by Guy Delisle
The Sense & Sensibility Diaries by Emma Thompson
The Lockwood & Co novels by Jonathan Stroud
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower
Shattered Lands by Sam Dalrymple
Maurice and Marilyn, or A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhurst
Agent Zo by Clare Mulley
The Devil Two Step by Jamie Quattro
Train Dreams by Denis Johnston
Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnston
The Director by Daniel Kelman
We Do Not Part by Han Kang
How to End a Story by Helen Garner (3 volume diaries collection)
The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner
This House of Grief by Helen Garner
Eucalyptus by Murray Bail
Wild Thing by Sue Prideaux
Nonesuch by Francis Spufford
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2 Comments
Thank you, Kate, Phil and Sarah for a rich conversation full of valuable reading suggestions. I loved hearing of Sarah’s love of stories set outdoors – that’s such a revelatory preference and one that makes me reflect on books I’ve particularly loved and what their predominant settings were. I’ve just finished reading Arundhati Roy’s “Mother Mary Comes to Me” and am in the afterglow of knowing I’ve read some really fine writing. I was glad to hear the proper pronunciation of her first name – thank you, Phil, for that! This podcast added many titles to my TBR list that I’ve noted in my journal, the page is filling. Back to reading. Happy New Year, your podcast is one of my faves.
Ah Lucy, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’m so glad you enjoy the pod. Sarah is such a delight to have on, mainly because I never know what she’s going to say next – always a good quality in a guest. I don’t know if you ever caught the episode, but Sarah’s least-favourite read we’ve done on the pod was Piranesi, which she hated. No outdoors! I am also just finishing up Mother Mary Comes to Me and oh my goodness, what a book. I messaged Phil to say I thought he’d undersold it – he pinged back to remind me it was one of his top books of the year and his review was full of superlatives! We are so lucky to be able to read her work. Long may she continue. Happy new year, I hope lots of great books come your way.