My To Be Read Pile 2025 Edition

Twice a year I like to list out my To Be Read Pile on the blog. I would like to say it keeps me accountable, but who am I kidding. I do love to have a small selection of books to choose from when selecting my next reads. I find that when I get to 35-40 books, I do start to feel a little overwhelmed, I'm someone who doesn't like THAT much choice. What can I say, I'm contrary? I am interested to see just how many books I have.

In case you have missed any, below is a list of previous To Be Read posts.

I've split this list into 2024 books and the 2025 books include books received for Christmas and my birthday and anything else I have bought. Here we go!

2024 Books (11 Books)

The Wild Remedy by Emma Mitchell - Well this looks beautiful. A book about immersing ones self in nature to help with our mental health
I Left my Tent in San Francisco - Non-fiction travel biography about a woman having the most disastrous adventure in the San Francisco. When I have time I will tell you all about MY disastrous adventure in San Francisco which involved a lot of drink, a lot of sick and the worst hangover of my entire life.
Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon - Also known as the book I lose the most. Honestly somewhere there is a collection of selection and all my lost editions of this brilliant book.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou - Inspirational and important. Read this year's ago, but keen to read again
The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White - The Lady Vanishes is based on this book.
Unnatural Death by Patricia Cornwell - Death is rarely natural whenever Dr Kay Scarpetta is involved.
Give Unto Others by Donna Leon - I love these crime books, gorgeous Venice, wonderful food and sweet Guido solving murders.
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg - Already reviewed on the blog, but I'm feeling the need for a re-read.
Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers - Not my usual read, but it sounds intriguing. Also can we talk about that beautiful cover.
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt - Talking of beautiful covers. A friendship between a night shift cleaner and an Octopus. This could be interesting.
Summer at Fairacre by Miss Read - You didn't really think my To Be Read pile wouldn't include a Miss Read did you? Silly Rabbit.

2025 Books

For ease, I have split this list down into sections.....

Classics (2 Books)

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - I'm currently reading this as a readalong with my lovely mother-in-law.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Yes I know I have reviewed this already, but I've succumbed to the beautiful Chiltern Classics books and they are next level gawjus.

Childrens (1 Book)

Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton - A reader of the blog reached out and suggested that I read this. 'In the dead of night, a cloaked figure drags a heavy box through icy streets'. How good does this sound!!

Crime (14 Books)

Murder on the Marlow Belle by Robert Thorogood - Latest in the Marlow Murder Club series from the creator of Death in Paradise.
The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths - Not a Dr Ruth Galloway but a time-travelling detective.
Little Red Death by A.K. Benedict - From the author of The Christmas Jigsaw Murder is a non-Christmassy crime boo, but with a fairy tale theme.
Ice Town by Will Dean - A Christmas pressie and one set amongst ide and snow. One for Summer then.
The Suspect by Rob Rinder - Could not put down The Trial, this has all the hallmarks of being a real page-turner.
Pay Dirt by Sara Paretsky - Latest in the V.I Warshawski books. She is just fab.
A Very Lively Murder by Katy Watson - My dear husband used bookshop.org to recommend cosy crime novels, and it delivered this which was duly bought for Christmas.
The Three Dahlias by Katy Watson - And then we could not resist getting another one by the same author.
The Wizard of the Kremlin by Giuliano Da Empoli - Spotted at Waterstones in Newcastle and duly purchased in my local branch. Politics and Power in the Kremlin feels a bit like reading real life at the moment.
Abandon by Blake Crouch - The plot of this book sounded Linwood Barclay interesting.In 1893 every inhabitant of a local mining town disappears suddenly with no evidence of foul play. Investigative journalist sets out to explore the town in present day. This is already giving me the shivers.
Cragside by L.J. Ross - Number 6 in the DCI Ryan series set in the North East.
The Girl in the Photo by Heidi Amsinck - Absolutely adore a bit of Scandi-Noir and the last one I read delivered during Twixmas 2024.
Tea on Sunday by Lettice Cooper- I don't think a more English sounding author or book title has ever been delivered. Another of the wonderful British Library Crime Classics series.
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith - I had a yearning to revisit Mme Ramotswe for this wonderfully gentle crime series.

Fiction (17 Books)

The Christmas Tree Farm by Laurie Gilmore - Described as a spicy Hallmark movie. Oh my!
A Recipe for Christmas by Jo Thomas - A romance against the backdrop of a chocolate-making course in Switzerland. This is exactly my sort of book
Home for Christmas by Heidi Swain - Back to Wynbridge with Heidi Swain, this involves a letting of a house to a difficult author, and the subsequent shenanigans that occur.
Same Time, Next Week by Milly Johnson - This lady needs her own comedy gig. At a recent event she had me hooting with laughter
The Island Getaway by Lucy Diamond - Think a group of holidaymakers on Kefalonia with a lot of baggage....and I'm not talking luggage here.
The Artist by Lucy Steeds - Not my usual book, but reviewed everywhere and my interest was piqued
The Book of Witching by C.J. Cooke - A present from my friend Bec. She always gets me cracking titles.
The Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hurst by Katie Lumsden - I don't know what the trouble is, but I bet it's good!
The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - Not a new to me book, but I definitely fancy a re-read. A lot of my family have this in their top 10.
The Winners by Fredrik Backman - I am steeling myself to be put through the emotional wringer with this novel.I adored the first 2 in the series. If anything happens to Benji then I will find Mr Backman and go all Pulp Fiction Samuel L.Jackson. You have been warned.
New York Actually by Sarah Morgan - One of Sarah's older novels.
Sleepless in Manhattan by Sarah Morgan - Another of Sarah's older novels. I love a bit of punning with films/book titles. This one is based on The Muppet Christmas Carol.
The Christmas Cottage by Sarah Morgan - No punnage this time, but another Christmas novel
All I want for Christmas by Karen Swan - Once I finish this, I predict I will want to go to Copenhagen.
Winter Spirits: Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights - A great collection of authors contributing a suitably spooky Christmas.
The Strawberry Patch Pancake House by Laurie Gilmore - Every one of these titles makes me want to eat my bodyweight in delicious sweet treats.
Mona of the Manor by Armistead Maupin - I haven't read Tales of the City in years, and this is newly published after a break since the last Tales of the City book. woohoo!

Non-Fiction (4 Books)

A Thousand Feasts by Nigel Slater - Less a cookbook, more a musing on great meals. I loved The Christmas Chronicles and this looks similar
The Fat Girls Guide to Marathon Running - Now let's not get too excited here. I do love a book about running, and this is the story of a body-positive woman who ran a marathon.
Trails and Tribulations: The Running Adventures of Susie Chan- Recommended by Sophie Raworth on Between the Covers, this follows the amazing story of Susie Chan who took up running at 35 and competed in the gruelling Marathon de Sables.
Cher: The Memoir by Cher - The incomparable Cher. I can't wait to read all about her fabulous life.

And that is your lot! 50 books. 50!!!!!!!!! That is my biggest list to date, but do you know what - listing them all has made me VERY excited to start reading them.