I wasn’t able to do a lot in 2025 (see previous post) but one thing that I was able to do almost every night was read before bed. When I tried to count all of the books that I’d got through by the end of the year I was surprised to see just how many there were. So I thought I’d make a list.

I also bought an e-reader (a Kobo Clara BW) mid-way through the year and I’ve been making use of The Gutenberg Project and Standard Ebooks to make my way through a bunch of classics I’ve never read before.

Books

• The Discworld - Terry Pratchett (35 novels)
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (5 novels)
• Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle (9 books, both novels and short stories)
• The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle
• Tales of Terror and Mystery - Arthur Conan doyle
• Hotel Avocado - Bob Mortimer
• Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
• The King in Yellow - Robert W Chambers
• Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
• Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
• Count of Monte Christo - Alexandre Dumas
• Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
• The Importance of Being Ernest - Oscar Wilde
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
• The Mystery of the Yellow Room - Gaston Leroux
• Poirot - Agatha Christie (The first 22 books)
• The Riddle of the Sands - Erskine Childers
• My Man Jeeves - P G Wodehouse
• Right Ho, Jeeves - P G Wodehouse
• Jeeves Stories - P G Wodehouse
• The Paradise Mystery - J S Fletcher
• Piranesi - Susanna Clarke
• The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights - John Steinbeck
• The Hard Switch - Owen D Pomery (graphic novel)

Which makes 91 by my count. Around one every 2.5 days, which isn’t bad going.

Audio Books

I generally listen to podcasts rather than audio books but I did listen to a couple.

• Terry Pratchett: A Life in Footnotes - Rob Wilkins
• Unruly - David Mitchell

Recommendations

Discworld, Hitchhiker’s and Holmes I’ve read countless times before. They’re some of my favourites. Strong recommendation.

Piranesi is fantastic. I would definitely recommend reading that and I would also recommend not reading up too much about it beforehand. Just go straight in. Part of the enjoyment is figuring out what’s going on as you read.

I read quite bit of Wodehouse, who I’d never read before. I can’t say that I love it but it made for good, easy before-sleep reading, especially the short stories. The branding of Ask Jeeves makes a lot more sense once you understand that Jeeves wasn’t just a normal, helpful butler but a reliable companion who always has the answer.

Lastly, Poirot. I’ve always liked Holmes but I’ve never read Poirot and I’m enjoying it. Would recommend as long as you can get past the occasional part that has…not aged well.