News by Julie

1st Dec 25

Books for Christmas 2025

Don’t you just love it when someone gives you a thoughtful book as a present? Perhaps a book that you have heard about but never got around to buying or an author you’ve never read before who turns out to be your new favourite? We’ve been sifting through new releases and chosen our favourites reads from 2025 – fiction, non-fiction and children’s books. It’s been a good year for unusual stories and here they are, the books that give us a warm fuzzy feeling when we see them on our bookshelves. Take your pick and don’t forget to buy some for yourself!

Happy reading and Merry Christmas from Kirstin and Julie

Fiction

The Silver Book by Olivia Laing It’s the tail-end of an Italian summer in 1974, and English art student, Nicholas, is sketching the churches of Venice. He has the looks of a Renaissance angel and an obvious artistic flair, irresistible to the wandering eye of Danilo Donati, celebrated costume and set designer. Donati is in need of an apprentice (and another lover is always welcome). In The Silver Book by Olivia Laing, real-life people and events meld artfully with fiction, as Nicholas is invited into the decadent world of 1970’s Italian cinema and the lives of directors Federico Fellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Through the prism of the cinematic arts and its legendary characters he bears witness to a turbulent Italian era.

Flesh by David Szalay This year’s Booker Prize winner, David Szalay’s Flesh is the story of working-class boy, István, who rises from poverty in communist Hungary to join London’s super rich. The road there is far from obvious and has little to do with István’s skills or intelligence and everything to do with a series of random coincidences. The prose in Flesh by David Szalay is as sparse as István’s emotional life but as addictive as any of the drugs consumed in London’s nightclubs. Szalay’s portrayal of masculinity is intriguing and unlike anything I’ve read before. An unusual and addictive read which I finished in two days.

Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico It’s 2010, millennial couple Anna and Tom are living the dream in Berlin. From their home office – an apartment in the coolest part of the city furnished with Danish design armchairs and exotic plants – they create tasteful websites and clever brand strategies for hip hotels and microbreweries. They hang out with interesting, likeminded people from all over the world. Life seems perfect, but are they happy? Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico is a spot on portrayal of a generation for whom everything is possible, and nothing is permanent. Very funny in an understated way and one of my best reads this year.

Colony by Annika Norlin Disillusioned by her job and city life, and suffering from a serious case of burnout, Emelie decides to ‘check out’ for a while. She packs her tent and sleeping bag, turns off her phone, and seeks refuge in a little clearing deep in the Swedish forest. Once there, Emelie stumbles upon an unusual group of people who have taken ‘escaping it all’ to a whole new level. Curious, she befriends one of them and is drawn into a bizarre, cult-like existence. Colony by Annika Norlin, a bestseller in Sweden, is both a charming and disturbing portrait of misfits; both funny and creepy, and really enjoyable.

Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is not a new book, but could as well have been written today. Written in 1953 during the dark days of McCarthyism, Bradbury portrays a world of enormous TV screens airing game shows all day, a robot with a mind of its own, persecuted academics, banned books, school shootings, communication through earpieces – sound familiar? Written in 1953 during the dark days of McCarthyism, American classic Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a scarily prescient sci-fi novel that will leave you gobsmacked. A must read.

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood Deservedly longlisted for the Booker Prize 2025, the beautiful and evocative Seascraper by Benjamin Wood tells the story of Thomas Flett, a young man living in an English coastal community in the mid-twentieth century. His days consist of drizzle and drudgery, dragging for shrimp on the beaches, a gruelling job that is wrecking his body. Its almost succeeded in claiming his spirit too, except for one tiny flickering flame that Thomas nurtures when he sings and plays guitar. When an American movie director improbably shows up in his village, Thomas is offered a chance of reinvention, if only he can break free from the shackles of his past.

There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak A raindrop falling on the head of King Ashurbanipal in the Mesopotamian city of Nineveh 2600 years ago kicks off the sweeping novel There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak. The drop of water resurfaces as a snowflake on the tongue on a newborn baby on the banks of the river Thames in 1840, in a water bottle in Iraq in 2014 and, finally, as a teardrop on a houseboat in London in 2018. Shafak interweaves three stories to make an epic, enjoyable journey through time and geographies which offers glimpse into the incredible history of Mesopotamia which I knew nothing about.

Clear by Carys Davies Winner of the Ondaatje Prize 2025, and Wales Book of the Year, the captivating Clear by Carys Davies is one of our favourite recent reads, devoured as a one-sitting treat. Set on a far-flung Scottish island in 1843, it tells the tale of John Ferguson, a man of God, sent to evict Ivar, the island’s last remaining tenant farmer. When an accident upon his arrival leaves John incapacitated, Ivar takes him in and tends him. They share no common language, life experience or world view, but in Davies’ touching story of solitude and human connection, a tentative companionship is born.

Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito For those with a deliciously dark sense of humour and a taste for the macabre, Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito is an unmissable treat. Set in 19th-century England, this is the tale of Miss Winifred Notty, both demure governess and vengeful murderess. Arriving at her new placement with the well-to-do Pounds family, Winifred tells us that in three months time everyone in the house will be dead. Cue a journey into the mind of a female psychopath in a cleverly parodic novel that borrows brilliantly from Victorian literature (with a nod to Charles Dickens, in particular). This sensationally cinematic book is already in the Hollywood movie pipeline.

Eurotrash by Christian Kracht Originally published in German in 2021, it’s taken years for Eurotrash by Christian Kracht to make it into English translation. Witty, reflective, and frequently disturbing, Kracht’s semi-autobiographical tragicomedy stars the man himself, as a middle-aged Swiss writer embarking on a road trip around Switzerland with his elderly mother. Recently released from a mental institution, and potentially on her last legs, it could be both their final holiday together, and Kracht’s only chance to get her to confront the implications of their family’s Nazi past.

The Story of a Heart by Rachel Clarke A testament to love, altruism, and modern medicine, The Story of a Heart by Rachel Clarke is one of sixteen titles unveiled on the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction Longlist. In this compelling account of one child’s gift of life to another, Clarke introduces us to Max, a nine-year-old with a failing heart, and Keira, a girl whose heart will sustain him after her death in a car crash. With unfailing warmth and sensitivity, Clarke relays the story of two families during the bleakest moments of their lives, and the aftermath of their decisions. Alongside this, we learn the medical and cultural history of the heart transplant and the philosophical significance of ‘the chief mansion of the soul’.

Wow! What an incredible collection of short stories. I gobbled them up in one sitting, moved, shocked and spellbound. Parental love, grief, guilt and rejection echoes through the tales of Good and Evil and Other Stories by Samanta Schweblin, each with a surprising, original twist. Highly recommended.

Non-Fiction

With the climate crisis breathing down our necks, interest in nature books has surged. Some are wonderfully uplifting, others more challenging reads. Is a River Alive? by Robert MacFarlane is a bit of both as he takes us from the magnificent cloud forests of Ecuador to the sprawling wilderness of Canada via the lifeless river Adyar in India. MacFarlane raises philosophical and legal questions around what is ‘alive’ and therefore has the right to legal protection, but mostly this book is about nature and the incredible people fighting to save it.

Adventures in the Louvre by Elaine Sciolino

A fortress, a palace, and now one of the world’s most marvellous museums, the Louvre has undergone several transformations in its centuries of existence on the banks of the river Seine. Enticingly subtitled ‘How to Fall in Love with the World’s Greatest Museum’, Adventures in the Louvre by Elaine Sciolino invites us to a place that’s very close to the author’s heart. A gallery companion comprised of history, appraisal and personal vignettes along with some illuminating insider interviews, Sciolino’s labour of love is an oracle for Louvre virgins and veterans alike.

Birds as Individuals by Len Howard A delightful read for fans of nature writing, bird life, and old-school English eccentrics, the 1952 book, Birds as Individuals by Len Howard has been deservedly reprinted as a Vintage Classic. The author, Gwendolen (Len) Howard left her life as an orchestral musician in London in the late 1930’s, to pursue her calling as a naturalist in the Sussex countryside. Here, she built a small house, Bird Cottage, threw the doors and windows open to the birds of her garden, and lived the rest of her days in intimate observation of her avian housemates and (literal) bedfellows.

The Evin Prison Bakers' Club by Sepideh Gholian A unique and intriguing concept, The Evin Prison Bakers’ Club by Sepideh Gholian is both a prison memoir and recipe collection; a celebration of baking, as resistance, therapy, and heartfelt tribute to fellow detainees. Gholian, a human rights activist, is to date, still incarcerated in one of Iran’s infamously brutal prisons. Beaten and tortured, she remains unbowed, having smuggled out the contents of this book in order to tell the world about Iranian repression and to raise a beacon of hope.

Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood. Atwood’s reluctantly written memoir should be fascinating reading for fans of her countless brilliant books. Expect humour, political engagement and lots and lots of Trump bashing.

How to End a Story by Helen Garner If you have eons of time to kill over Christmas, we can recommend Helen Garner’s, Australia’s Grand Dame of literature, 800 page diaries, rumoured to be the ‘the greatest, riches journals since Virgina Wolf’s’. How to End a Story, just won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction and has had rave reviews.

Children’s Books

The Night Creatures: Firefly by Robert Macfarlane and Luke Adam Hawker. 5-8 years. A fearful child stumbles her way through shadowy landscapes in the depths of winter and learns how and where to gather light and hope, be it a sparkle of fireflies, a ‘snowdrift’s shine’ or a ‘comet’s shimmer’. In an uncertain world, we must ‘seek what’s glowing’, a timely message in this metaphorical story of searching for light and holding it close. Written in verse by the always splendid Robert Macfarlane, and illustrated by Luke Adam Hawker (from his original beautiful copper-plate etchings), it’s one to cherish.

Clever Crow by Chris Butterworth and Olivia Lomenech Gill. 5-8 years. Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2025, this engaging book champions the humble common crow. Along with details of their everyday lives, we learn how they wield sticks to dig up bugs, pretend to bury tidbits to fool their rivals, and tumble gleefully on snowy rooftops. They may well be the smartest of all birds. Gill’s gorgeous mixed-media illustrations artfully convey the birds’ movements, energy, and sheer playfulness. Complete with an index and activities for observing and recording crow life, this is the ideal book for any young nature-lovers in your life.

The Last Bard by Maz Evans. 8-11 years. Will Davenant is the last living relative of William Shakespeare. When he inherits a copy of the Bard’s complete works, he discovers that he can summon the characters from within its musty pages. As someone who has experienced more of life’s tragedies than comedies, can the likes of Lady Macbeth, Juliet, and Yorick’s skull help him turn his life around. A joyous read, clever, funny and warm-hearted. The perfect stocking filler for young bookworms and the latest release from one of our best children’s authors.

The Secret World of Spider Webs by Jan Beccaloni and Namasri Niumim. 8-11 years. This unique and wonderful book is dedicated to the artistry and technique involved in the creation of cobwebs, from the everyday spiral type hanging in your attic window, to the awesome water web, suspended between a twig on a river bank and a mid-river rock (all the better to catch those pesky water-striding insects that march across the surface of the water). Annually, spiders catch and munch 800 million tons of insects, approximately the same weight as all the humans on Earth. Here, we learn how they do it, complemented with striking foil-stamped illustrations.

Hansel and Gretel by Stephen King and Maurice Sendak. 8-11 years. How’s this for a dream team? King, the master of horror, quoted as saying ‘Brave kids lost in the woods are sort of a specialty of mine’, and Sendak, beloved creator of simultaneously enchanting and unsettling children’s books. This stunning version of the Brothers Grimm classic combines King’s words with images that the late Sendak had originally created for an opera. With some minor tweaking, King’s suitably dark spin on the tale conjures the chills, aided by Sendak’s remarkable illustrations (the candy house is a master stroke).

AI for Beginners by Rose Hall and Rachel Firth. 10+ years. A hot topic and one that can be tricky to discuss with children (not least because many adults are clueless), this introduction to Artificial Intelligence makes a great gift for curious minds. The bright comic-strip layout ensures that younger readers are not swamped by text. Questions are answered and debates sparked. What exactly is AI and how will it change the world? Is it worth going to school and doing homework if AI can do everything so much better? A clear, balanced and essential guide.

Songlight by Moira Buffini. Teen/ YA. Winner of the YA Book Prize 2025, and the perfect gift for fans of dystopian epics, Songlight is set in a turbulent post-apocalyptic world, riven with environmental scars, and perhaps predictably, still engaged in constant warfare. Some of its inhabitants are blessed with the gift of songlight, a telepathy that can cover great distances, but in this place of oppression and division, telepaths are denounced as ‘unhumans’ and ruthlessly persecuted. In book one of a planned trilogy, we join Lark, hiding her songlight gift and in great peril. A cracking tale of resistance and resilience.

The Rose Field: The Book of Dust Volume Three by Philip Pullman. Teen/ YA. At last, the Northern Lights series draws to a close, and what a finale. Our heroine, Lyra, now a young woman, is on a desert odyssey, seeking reunion with her beloved daemon, Pan (part of her very being), and answers to the mysteries of Dust. As ever, Pullman, a master storyteller, delivers a richly cinematic tale full of drama and wonder, whilst prompting his readers to consider questions of what it means to be alive in this world. A generation of readers have grown up with Lyra, The Rose Field crowns a magnificent thirty year project.