Books of 2025

Well it’s that time to set up a ‘What I’ve Read This Year’ page, this is where I keep track of what I’ve read in a year and make a list that includes links to the reviews.

I am sort of using StoryGraph to track owned and read books, but I still like this page as it is so satisfying.

This year sees me going on a more horror/folklore oriented kick, so slasher, fungal, ghost stories, mythology, witchy things, and much more – both fiction and non-fiction and for all age groups.

As always I don’t review three star reads or below

1. White Shadows (30/12/25) ★★★★☆
2. Thinking the Photobook (30/12/25) ★★★★☆
3. My Rice is Best (29/12/25)★★★☆☆
4. The Closet (27/12/25)★★★☆☆
5. The Great Green Island (19/12/25) ★★★★☆
6. A Madness of Angels (19/12/25)★★★★★
7. Crisis as Form (17/12/25)★★★☆☆
8. Snake-Eater (13/12/25)★★★☆☆
9. Utterly Lazy and Inattentive (12/12/25)★★★★★
10. Milo and the Mountain (12/12/25) ★★★★☆
11. Scareground (05/12/25)★★★☆☆
12. The Hill in the Dark Grove (02/12/25) ★★★☆☆
13. Made Things (01/12/25) ★★★★☆
14. Menace of the Monster (01/12/25) ★★★☆☆
15. Severed Streets (26/11/25) ★★★☆☆
16. The Dead and the Countess (21/11/25)★★★☆☆
17. Japan: The Cookbook (20/11/25)★★★★☆
18. One-Shot Wonders (20/11/25) ★★★★☆
19. The Frayed Atlantic Edge (17/11/25)★★★☆☆
20. What Stalks the Deep (13/11/25) ★★★★☆
21. The Book of Dragons (11/11/25)★★★★☆
22. Hunt for the Shadow Wolf (09/11/25)★★★☆☆
23. EC Cruel Kingdom (08/11/25) ★★★★★
24. Huxley: The Oracle (06/11/25) ★★★★☆
25. The Wild Isles (06/11/25)★★★☆☆
26. Legends & Lattes (05/11/25) ★★★★★
27. Cat Fight (03/11/25) ★★★★☆
28. Don’t Believe Everything You Think (31/10/25)★★☆☆☆
29. The Best of Tharg’s Horror Tales (31/10/25)★★★☆☆
30. DC Horror Presents (30/10/25)★★★☆☆
31. One Love Chigusa (25/10/25) ★★★☆☆
32. The Refugee’s Daughter (24/10/25) ★★★☆☆
33. Harley Quinn: Wild At Heart (23/10/25) ★★☆☆☆
34. Lost Mars (23/10/25) ★★★☆☆
35. Let Me In Your Window (23/10/25) ★★★★☆
36. Sleeping Beauties: A Graphic Novel (22/10/25) ★★★☆☆
37. Around the World in 80 Books (22/10/25) ★★★☆☆
38. To Clutch a Razor (20/10/25) ★★★★☆
39. Animal Farm: The Graphic Novel (19/10/25)★★★★☆
40. The History of Art in One Sentence (19/10/25) ★★★☆☆
41. Plague House (16/10/25) ★★★★☆
42. The Employees (13/10/24) ★★★★☆
43. Safer Places (09/10/25) ★★★★☆
44. In Ghostly Japan (05/10/25)★★★☆☆
45. Solomon Kane: The Serpent Ring (03/10/25) ★★★☆☆
46. The Demon of Beausoleil (03/10/25) ★★★★☆
47. Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave (02/10/25) ★★★★★
48. The Spooky Season Handbook (02/10/25)★★★☆☆
49. Backlight (01/10/25) ★★★☆☆
50. Stand-In Companion (30/09/25) ★★★☆☆
51. Revenge (29/09/25) ★★★☆☆
52. Tokyo Performance (24/09/25) ★★★☆☆
53. Shockheaded Peter: Part One (23/09/25) ★★★★☆
54. The Chronicles of Lord Asunaro (23/09/25) ★★★★☆
55. The Fungus (22/09/25) ★★★☆☆
56. What Feasts At Night (21/09/25) ★★★★★
57. Midnight Treasure (21/09/25) ★★★★☆
58. Stuff Every Gardener Should Know (20/09/25) ★★☆☆☆
59. Folklore: A Journey Through the Past and Present (12/09/25) ★★★★☆
60. The One Hundred Nights of Hero (09/09/25) ★★★★★
61. Night of the Living Toilet Paper (08/09/25) ★★★★☆
62. The Roots of My Fears (03/09/25) ★★★★☆
63. Cathedral of the Drowned (31/08/25) ★★★★☆
64. Rice, Miso Soup, Pickles (29/08/25) ★★☆☆☆
65. Sympathy Tower Tokyo (25/08/25) ★★☆☆☆
66. Breath of Shadows (24/08/25) ★★★☆☆
67. Heaven, West Virginia (21/08/25) ★★★★☆
68. Cat’s Christmas (21/08/25) ★★★★☆
69. The Secret Painter (20/08/25) ★★★★★
70. Murder at the Black Cat Cafe (18/08/25) ★★★☆☆
71. Mika and the Chiller (13/08/25) ★★★★☆
72. Bridge Planet Nine (13/08/25) ★★★★☆
73. Joel Meyerowitz: A Question of Color (10/08/25) ★★★★★
74. The Book of Biff: Vol. 1 (09/08/25) ★☆☆☆☆
75. Beauty in Photography (08/08/25) ★★★★☆
76. The Society of Unknowable Objects (07/08/25) ★★★☆☆
77. Fear Files: Hide and Seek (06/08/25) ★★★★☆
78. Britain’s Folklore Year (05/08/25) ★★★★☆
79. Briggs’s Dictionary of Fairies (03/08/25) ★★★★☆
80. The Last Gifts of the Universe (02/08/25) ★★★☆☆
81. Twiggy Woman (30/07/25) ★★★★☆
82. Ghosts (29/07/25) ★★★★★
83. Arca (29/07/25) ★★★★☆
84. Unfairies (29/07/25) ★★★☆☆
85. The Society of Free Spirits: A Grave Inheritance (22/07/25) ★★★☆☆
86. Paper Girls: Volume 1 (21/7/25) ★★★★☆
87. Multiverses (20/07/25) ★★★☆☆
88. The Game Master’s Handbook of Proactive Roleplaying (17/07/25) ★★★☆☆
89. Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees (14/07/25) ★★★★★
90. Craftland (11/07/25) ★★★★☆
91. Stone & Sky (09/07/25) ★★★★☆
92. Beneath (05/07/25) ★★★★☆
93. 30 Days of Night: Volume 2 (02/07/25) ★★★★★
94. How to Art (27/06/25) ★★★★☆
95. The Hard Switch (21/06/25) ★★★★☆
96. Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections (18/06/25) ★★★★★
97. Huxley (16/06/25) ★★★★★
98. The Island of Dr Moreau (16/06/25) ★★★☆☆
99. Overleaf: An Album of British Trees (07/06/25) ★★★★☆
100. A Ride Across America (05/06/25) ★★★☆☆
101. The World’s Worst Alien (02/06/25) ★★★☆☆
102. Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master (28/05/25) ★★★★☆
103. Ionheart (21/05/25) ★★★★☆
104. Slow Trains Around Britain (20/05/25) ★★★☆☆
105. The Little Book of Trolls (17/05/25) ★★★☆☆
106. Little Visitors & Other Abductions (16/05/25) ★★★★☆
107. Mayowa and the Sea of Words (14/05/25) ★★★★☆
108. Art Work: On the Creative Life (10/05/25) ★★★★☆
109. Reframing Women Printmakers (08/05/25) ★★★☆☆
110. Uncredited (02/05/25) ★★★☆☆
111. Blueprint to Cyanotype (27/04/25) ★★★☆☆
112. Have You Ever Wondered What You Will Be? (26/04/25) ★★★☆☆
113. The War of the Maps (The Vanished Kingdom Book 3) (26/04/25) ★★★☆☆
114. A Bear Belongs (26/04/25) ★★★☆☆
115. Land of the Last Wildcat (25/04/25) ★★★☆☆
116. Skin Police Volume 1 (23/04/25) ★★★★☆
117. The Secret Romantic’s Book of Magic (23/04/25) ★★★★★
118. Meat Eaters (22/04/25) ★★★★★
119. Don McCullin (19/04/25) ★★★☆☆
120. Bite Risk: Cold Blood (18/04/25) ★★★★☆
121. A Box Full of Murders (17/04/25) ★★★★☆
122. There Is No Giant In This Story (17/04/25) ★★★★☆
123. The Biggest Dog In The Book (17/04/25) ★★★★★
124. The Fib (14/04/25) ★★★★☆
125. EC Cruel Universe (13/04/25) ★★★★☆
126. When I Arrived at the Castle (13/04/25) ★★★☆☆
127. Kick the Latch (13/04/25) ★★★★☆
128. Failed Summer Vacation (11/04/25) ★★★★☆
129. Basil Dreams Big (10/04/25) ★★★★★
130. How To Be A Viking (09/04/25) ★★★★☆
131. Riverskin (09/04/25) ★★★☆☆
132. The Cat Bride (08/04/25) ★★★☆☆
133. Fishfolk (07/04/25) ★★★☆☆
134. Where is the Cat? (07/04/25) ★★★★☆
135. MrBallen Presents: Strange, Dark & Mysterious (05/04/25) ★★★☆☆
136. Wolf Siren (05/04/25) ★★★★★
137. Ghost Town (02/04/25) ★★★★☆
138. North American Lake Monsters (02/04/25) ★★★☆☆
139. A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel (01/04/25) ★★★★★
140. Coven (01/04/25) ★★☆☆☆
141. Heavy Metal Badger (31/03/25) ★★★★☆
142. The Girl Who Sold Time (30/03/25) ★★★★☆
143. Emerald and the Sea Sprites (30/03/25) ★★★☆☆
144. England: A Natural History (29/03/25) ★★★☆☆
145. Sometimes I Just WON’T (28/03/25) ★★★★☆
146. Hank Goes Honk (28/03/25) ★★★★☆
147. The Café at the Edge of the Woods (26/03/25) ★★★★☆
148. Outsider Art (26/03/25) ★★★☆☆
149. The Lost Sunday (23/03/25) ★★★★★
150. The Hotel (23/02/25) ★★★★★
151. Shadowlands (23/03/05) ★★★☆☆
152. Cloud Boy (22/03/25) ★★★★☆
153. The Madman’s Guide to Stamp Collecting (22/03/25) ★★★☆☆
154. Where Did She Go? (20/03/25) ★★★★☆
155. Buzz Sausage Wolf (20/03/25) ★★★★☆
156. The Godfathers of Horror Films (18/03/25) ★★★★☆
157. Incidents Around The House (17/03/25) ★☆☆☆☆
158. Serial Chillers: The Witch in the Wood (16/03/25) ★★★★★
159. Uprooted (13/03/25) ★★☆☆☆
160. Herbal Chronicles (12/03/25) ★★★★☆
161. The Salt Grows Heavy (11/03/25) ★★★★★
162. The Butcher of the Forest (09/03/25) ★★★★☆
163. Idle Grounds (06/03/25) ★★☆☆☆
164. This Place Kills Me (05/03/25) ★★★★☆
165. Strange Tales From Japan (05/03/25) ★★★★☆
166. It Came From The Multiplex (03/03/25) ★★★★★
167. Snails of the Unexpected (01/03/25) ★★★★☆
168. They Bloom at Night (01/03/25) ★★★☆☆
169. Grumpfort (28/02/25) ★★★★☆
170. Aliens Love Underpants (27/02/25) ★★★★☆
171. The Biggest Breakfast (27/02/25) ★★★★☆
172. Faithbreaker (26/02/25) ★★★★★
173. The Many Hauntings of the Manning Family (9/02/25) ★★★★☆
174. I Know What UFO Did Last Summer (16/02/25) ★★★★☆
175. After (12/02/25) ★★★★☆
176. Monsterland (12/02/25) ★★★★★
177. The Invitation (11/02/25) ★★★☆☆
178. The Freak (11/02/25) ★★★☆☆
179. The Green Kingdom (07/02/25) ★★★☆☆
180. How to Be Avant-Garde (06/02/25) ★★★★☆
181. Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs (04/02/25) ★★★★☆
182. Scuttler’s Cove (31/01/25) ★★★★☆
183. The Power of Words (31/01/25) ★★★☆☆
184. Wild Card (22/01/25) ★★★★☆
185. Withered Hill (22/01/25) ★★★★★
186. Epitaphs from the Abyss (18/01/25) ★★★★★
187. Man’s War Against Nature (17/01/25) ★★★☆☆
188. The Democracy of Species (13/01/25) ★★★☆☆
189. Tales From the Folly (12/01/25) ★★★☆☆
190. Stray Cat Blues (12/01/25) ★★★☆☆
191. Here Be Dragons (12/01/25) ★★★☆☆
192. Deadly Ever After (12/01/25) ★★★☆☆
193. Monday, Monday (12/01/25) ★★★☆☆
194. Amongst Our Weapons (11/01/25) ★★★★★
195. False Value (08/01/25) ★★★★☆
196. Joker: DC Compact Comics Edition (07/01/25) ★★★☆☆
197. The Casebook of Carnacki The Ghost Finder (06/01/25) ★★★☆☆
198. The October Man (04/01/25) ★★★★☆
199. Sick Houses (03/01/25) ★★★★☆
200. Nothing But Blackened Teeth (02/01/25) ★★★★☆