2025 - What I've read

At the start of the year, I set myself a couple of goals – one was to read 26 books in total. The other was to read as much in German as in English. I managed to achieve one goal and didn’t do too badly on the other one.

I used Storygraph to keep track of my reading stats. In total I read 27 books, 7 of which were in German. Although that’s just over 25% of the total, if I look at the number of pages I read in German that was more than 30%.

I think I’ve realised that the books I read in German need to be relatively easy – if the language is too advanced it takes me a long time to get through them. I was also much more motivated at the start of the year with reading in German and lost a bit of impetus later on in the year.

Overall though, I’m pleased that I managed to read 6777 pages in total, over 2000 of which were in German.

Here’s a list of the books I read, starting from January. The ones that I enjoyed the most are highlighted in bold.

1. Die Enkelin by Bernhard Schlink

2. In Einem Zug by Daniel Glattauer

3. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

4. The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy

5. Eine Handvoll Worte by Jojo Moyes

6. Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel

7. Life & Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee

8. Seinetwegen by Zora Del Buono

9. After the Quake by Haruki Murakami

10. Again Rachel by Marian Keyes

11. Orbital by Samantha Harvey

12. 1984 by George Orwell

13. My Name is Lucy by Elizabeth Strout

14. Schachnovelle by Stefan Zweig

15. Getting Better: life lessons on going under, getting over it, and getting through it by Michael Rosen 

16. The Man who Planted Trees by Jean Giono

17. Things I Don't Want to Know by Deborah Levy 

18. Halbinsel by Kristine Bilkau 

19. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

20. The Tremor of Forgery by Patricia Highsmith 

21. Becks letzter Sommer by Benedict Wells

22. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

23. Three Days in June  by Anne Tyler

24. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

25. Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

26. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

27. Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor

I went to two book readings this year – to see Elaine Feeney and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in the old botanical gardens in Zurich on a lovely evening in July. Both writers were inspirational women with strong messages. I’m looking forward to reading the books I bought on those evenings in 2026.

Do you have a reading goal for 2026? If you want to read more in English and would like some support and encouragement, join one of my book clubs.

Read more about them here.