What are we reading in 2025?

New year, new books!

I'm currently reading Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor. (That's very much not new, but it's new to me.)

Thanks for starting a 2025 thread :)

I started out the year with A Magic Steeped in Poison, which I thought was decent.

I read The Ruins of Gorlan by J Flanagan - 1st in the Ranger’s Apprentice fantasy series.
I liked it. It seemed faintly familiar; l may have read it previously, maybe decades ago. I’ll be looking for the next one soon!

I'm reading After the Snow by S.D. Crockett, a dystopian survival story set in a new ice age (or at least, an age in which the Gulf Stream has dissipated due to climate change, causing the British Isles to revert to the temperature of Vladivostok).

The narrative voice is reminiscent of Riddley Walker (perhaps a bit too much so), and while it's readable, I'm not entirely convinced by the social and political changes depicted in the book. I'm only halfway through, though, so perhaps things will come together.

I remember that the last 'new ice age' dystopia I read, Snowglobe, wasn't all that convincing either. Maybe it's a tricky subgenre...

I've just finished The Guinevere Deception, which is a re-read for me. I'm looking forward to the next two books, which I haven't read at all.

I'm reading Blood Red Road by Moira Young. I missed this the first time round, but recently found a copy in a charity shop.

Ed: finished this and was a bit disappointed, considering the awards buzz it had had. Some compelling parts but also a fair few cliches. The ending felt diffuse and underpowered, with one piece of blatant emotional manipulation.

I just finished The Undying Tower by Melissa Welliver. Dystopia set in an autocratic future Britain, where a minority who have genetically stopped ageing are scapegoated for society's problems. Some effective scenes, though I didn't find the world-building convincing (and it was less convincing the more it was explained).

I just acquired The brilliant death by Amy Rose Capetta. I hadn't realised she wrote any YA fantasy. This appears to be set in an alternate Italy.

I recently finished listening to a BBC full cast adaptation of Northern Lights by Philip Pullman for the June TIOLI BBC Bookclub challenge.

Listening to Dear Wendy which is a super cute college age novel about two young people on the ace/aro spectrum. It's fun and feels very fresh.

Also recently read Melt With You, which was a dud for me (just communicate!!) and I Kissed Shara Wheeler, which felt like a fun gay mashup of Paper Towns and Heathers.

I just finished A Game of Scandal, the latest in Laura Wood's series of historical romances centering on an all-female, high-society detective agency.

I read The Missing of Clairdelune, the second in the Mirror Visitor Quartet (translated from French). It started off gently but picked up about halfway through. I also recently read The Secret of the Wild Wood, the second in the Unauwen duology (translated from Dutch) and listened to The Search for the Red Dragon, the second in the Imaginarium Chronicles.

I am reading/have read a million trillion times, SMALL SPACES BY KATHERINE ARDEN, IT'S THE BEST BOOK EVER, AND BY FAR THE BEST QUARTET OF ALL TIME!!!

I read an excellent YA book recently, Let down your hair. It's based on the story of Rapunzel but set in contemporary South London and focuses on Barb, whose lush golden hair has been the defining feature of her life. As soon as she was old enough to join social media, her aunt started her on a career as a hair influencer, and now, at 16, Barb has left school to do this full time. But one day as she's brushing her hair, she notices a bald spot ... We learn Barb's life story in flashbacks - why she lives with her aunt; why she has no friends; what happened when she got a big break; how her friendship with fellow influencer Zal developed. There's a lot of commentary embedded in the story about the pros and cons of social media, about the power of appearances, and what is really important in life. It's a little preachy in places - Zal talking about why people should use alt-text when posted read as if it came from a textbook, not a teenage boy - but otherwise I found this a thoroughly engaging and quite moving read.