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) jmid-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 in 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.