I am an avid reader. Not only do I partake in the activity “reading”, I have also incorporated this into my personality. Last year, I decided to note down every book I read. At the end of each month, I would choose my favourite and then I would write them into my journal in my grand “book ranking”.

Thanks to this, I got my favourite book of 2025 without having to think back on each book at the end of the year.

This one deserves a special mention: The Idiot by Elif Batuman.

Instead of limiting this list to the ones that made it into the “ranking”, I have decided to simply provide you with the entire list of books I read.

I won’t be able to provide you with a detailed description and/or rating of all the books (due to the fact that I have simply forgotten my immediate impressions). This year, I will create a list like this at the end of each month - that will include ratings.

Books of 2025

(in order of having read them)

January

1. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (1)

2. The Obsession by Jesse Q. Sutanto

3. The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (2)

4. The Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

5. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

February

6. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

7. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

8. Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

9. Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick

10. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

March

11. All the things we never said by Yasmin Rahman

12. The Queen’s Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

13. The Brothers Hawthorne by Jennifer Lynne Barnes

14. Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi

15. Meat Market by Juno Dawson

16. Elektra by Jennifer Saint

17. Animal Farm by George Orwell

18. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll

April

19. Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi

20. Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter

21. Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald

22. Messenger of Fear by Michael Grant

23. Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

24. The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

25. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (- does it count as a book?)

May

26. Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

27. Hera by Jennifer Saint

June

28. You’d be home now by Kathleen Glasgow

29. Solitaire by Alice Osman

30. After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid

July

31. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

32. The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

33. Ithaca by Catherine Webb

August

34. Lark and Kasim start a revolution by Kacen Callender

35. Dear Martin by Nic Stone

36. The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe

37. Moonrise by Sarah Crossan

38. What’s left of me by Kat Zhang

September

39. Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas 3)

October

40. Dracula by Bram Stoker (4)

41. Girl Abroad by Elle Kennedy

42. An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi

November

43. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

44. Powerless by Lauren Roberts

45. Eros and Psyche by Luna McNamara

December

46. Lore by Alexandra Bracken

47. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

48. Medea by Rosie Hewlett

49. The Idiot by Elif Batuman

Ranking

Yes, I am aware of the fact that I nearly, nearly read 50 books in total. Of course it pains me to not have reached a round number. To be honest, I thought I read more books than 49.

Anyway, in my junk journal of last year I included a book ranking (which I will most certainly be doing again this year).

This is the finished result:

1 my favourite book by month has been boldened

2 any books that I reread are written in italics

3 not a very productive reading month, what with back to school and all: I didn’t like the book very much, but was forced to note it down as “favourite”

4 this took me a very, very long time to read - I needed the break of “Girl Abroad” afterwards