Best and worst of 2025

What was the most enjoyable book you read in 2025 from the list, and what was the worst?

I did not read many 1001 books in 2025 but I really liked The siege of Krishnapur and 1Q84. I am currently enjoying the cleverness of La disparition/A void.

As for the one I least enjoyed, I could not finish Fool's gold.

I read five, and my favourite, by a long shot, was The Secret History.
My least favourite was Neuromancer which really surprised me because I was sure I was going to love it - too high of an expectation perhaps.
>1 paruline: I am a real fan of 1Q84 too!

The secret history was so good!

The most enjoyable was a reread of The Go-Between. I also liked Berlin Alexanderplatz a lot. The least enjoyable was Beckett’s How it Is, a big disappointment since I usually love Beckett. I also disliked Nicola Barker’s H(A)PPY quite a bit, and The Blind Owl.

I only read three books from the list this year, but I did love The Mandarins by Simone de Beauvoir adn Ancestral Voices by Etienne Van Heerden

>5 japaul22: I'm encouraged: The Mandarins will likely be my next read.

>5 japaul22: I too loved Ancestral Voices. One of those gems I would never have found without the 1001 list. Oh and >1 paruline:, I also liked Krishnapur a lot. The best of the Troubles books.

I managed to finish 28 books off the list. There were no 5* reads this year, but I had two 4.5*, Germinal by Emile Zola and a fun surprise, Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith.

I had a rare 1* read this year, Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West. And I was surprised by how much I disliked Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams.

I read about 24 books. I loved the weird dream-logic of The Unconsoled, A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing was harrowing, and A Void was a little too clever for pure enjoyment, but I did love the rewrite of "the Raven" and the "to be" speech from Hamlet, without using the letter "e" of course.

Broad and Alien Is the World is one of those books where you know it will end badly, but you keep hoping maybe it won't. The Colour is solidly well-written with a happier ending.

While The Thinking Reed was also well-written, the amount of privilege on display was infuriating contrasted with current events. Life of Christ was not what the title implied. I was hoping for a fictional retelling (a la the wonderful Barabbas but instead it was closer to a series of lectures/sermons.

For me it was an average reading year overall but a terrible list year. I just read three books from the list and none of them were great. I think I liked Agnes Grey the most and was disappointed by Foucault's Pendulum that was just too long.

The books I enjoyed least this year were The Wild Boys and Fanny Hill- both just felt like too much. The Wonderful O was a delightful, quick read. The audio was very fun.

I checked nine books off the list in 2025, with Agnes Grey being my favourite and The Cider House Rules my least favourite.

I read 9 books from the list last year and although not one book totally stood out for me, I did enjoy The Plague by Albert Camus. As for dislike, I really had trouble finishing Elizabeth Costello by J.M.Coetzee.

I managed 22 list books this year. I had a run of 4/5 books that I enjoyed in the last few months, including Calvino's Our Ancestors and Carpentier's The Lost Steps. Three fails for the year - Death Sentence by Horowitz, London Fields by Martin Amis and How It Is by Samuel Beckett, the last two being 1.5/5 books for me.