The books we loved this year (and why they’re perfect December reads)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that December is when many of us find the time to escape into pages of delight, fact and intrigue. You might race through several paperbacks or pick your way through that gigantic biography, but either way, it’s collapse-in-the-warmth-and-read weather.

So, this year we decided to compile a list of our best holiday reads. It isn’t genre-specific, nor is it all new releases. We simply asked the team (and some friends who read a lot) to tell us about books they really enjoyed this year. Here is what they said…

The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller (Sceptre)

The Big Freeze of 1962-63, western England, two marriages under the microscope as weather conditions worsen and movement is limited, with human tragedy and sadness all around. Why do I love this book? It’s in the storytelling – exquisitely written, brilliantly observed, every sentence a work of art. I was completely immersed in the events of the time and the story of these relationships, trapped in their weather cocoon, reminiscent of being trapped in our homes during the pandemic. A very, very special book. – Kate Rogan

Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt (Jonathan Cape)

This moves with a luminous, deliberate clarity, turning private grief and longing into something that feels both intimately the reader’s own and quietly expansive. Hewitt’s reflections on identity and desire carry a steadiness and depth that linger, like a thought you keep returning to without quite knowing why. It’s a book that subtly reshaped my inner weather, leaving me with a lasting sense of both ache and illumination. – Riley Herbert-Henry

Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Caroline Fraser (Picador)

It’s extremely rare for me to pick a non-fiction book, but this extensive biography of Wilder is so beautifully written and gives such a fascinating accounting of pioneer prairie life, which was extraordinarily harsh and largely unsustainable. The book presents a stark contrast to the romantic version of this life that the Little House books provide, and is also timely as we once again see, on social media, a large group of people claiming to be returning to the homesteading life and the libertarian ideals that often come with it. (Also highly recommended to pair with it: The Antidote by Karen Russell, a novel set in a dust-bowl prairie town which, at its heart, deals with how we choose to collectively forget how a situation came to be, and doing so deny ourselves the opportunity to do things better going forward.) – Karen Eva

A Murder in Paris by Matthew Blake (Jonathan Ball)

Set on the glamorous Parisian Left Bank, A Murder in Paris is a completely mesmerising psychological thriller with a proper twist. When a London memory expert is drawn to the City of Lights by her grandmother’s shocking confession, namely that she committed a murder at the Hôtel Lutetia during the Second World War, past and present begin to collide. Taut and unsettling, this is the kind of page-turner you’ll rip through. – Jenny Buitendach

Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo (Penguin Random House)

A satire along the lines of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Bulawayo’s 2022 novel follows the story of the young goat as she returns to the country of her childhood – a fictionalised Zimbabwe, eaten by its history, and under the boot of dictators past and present. Don’t be fooled by the narrative distance Bulawayo seems to create through her animal protagonists; the recounting of the Gukurahundi is devastating. Part-wry humour, part-social commentary, this is a story of everyday violence, resistance – and hope. – Shirley de Villiers

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Penguin Random House)

Everyone is talking about this new release and for good reason. It’s holiday read territory for sure, and told through a series of letters sent to or by its protagonist, Sybil Van Antwerp. The result? Utter delight. You’ll read this quickly – because it’s not long, and also because you’ll want to. And you’ll have a lump in your throat when it ends. – Sarah Buitendach

The Wedding People by Alison Espach (Jonathan Ball)

There’s something almost fable-like about this story, which shows how, even when we think all options have been exhausted and hope is gone, life can take us down unexpected paths to happiness. At its heart is a woman hell-bent on having the perfect wedding, no matter what, and an uninvited arrival: a lonely woman who’s quietly come undone. In each other they find an unlikely confidante, and the result is funny, tender and effortlessly readable, with very relatable characters. – Victoria Hoar

Exit Wounds by Peter Godwin (Pan Macmillan)

In this, Peter Godwin’s latest book, the four pillars of his life come crashing down. His children leave home for university, his wife departs, he realises he’s been living in exile, and, centrally, his mother dies. It broke my heart and made me laugh. – Julia Twigg

The Hawk is Dead by Peter James (Pan Macmillan)

England’s Queen Camilla is a great reader, and she asked renowned author Peter James to set one of his Detective Grace series in London. He did this and included the queen and King Charles in it (with their permission). The result is fascinating and gripping. It starts in Cornwall, where Camilla was brought up, and then springs to the capital city, and, wait for it… Buckingham Palace. – Jenny Buitendach

‘A Problem from Hell’: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power (Basic Books)

Winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize, this is – subject-wise, at least – not an easy read. Over 600-odd pages, Power tracks the codification of genocide conventions in international law – and their (in)effectiveness in combating this “problem from hell”. While taking the reader through Cambodia, Rwanda, Srebrenica and more, she steers clear of the ghoulish minutiae of violence that’s often the fodder of “war voyeurs”. Instead, she focuses on the politics, mostly domestic, that has paralysed the US response to horror. It’s an indictment of the inaction, indifference and wilful blindness on the part of the one power that could force change. – Shirley de Villiers

The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People’s History of Afghanistan by Lyse Doucet (Penguin Random House)

A chronicle of a city, a country and a community told through a hotel’s story: that’s my kind of concept. It’s especially cool that the hotel at the centre of this big book is the brutalist Intercontinental perched above Kabul, Afghanistan. Hell, has this spot seen it all since it opened in 1969! BBC legend Doucet does a brilliant job of making this book a page-turner about people, while also clueing readers up about this important and gripping area of 20^th and 21^st century history. – Sarah Buitendach

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (Penguin Random House)

I read this as I wanted to experience it before it gets “Ryan Goslingified” (the movie adaptation is out in March). It is a simple but clever adventure, hitting all the right notes, and just a joy to read thanks to its humour and incredible plot. I’m going through a sci-fi phase, and Project Hail Mary seemed so bright and breezy after crawling through Mircea Cărtărescu’s Solenoid. – TJ Strydom

All Fours by Miranda July (Jonathan Ball)

The book that so many 40-plus (and perimenopausal ) women has been namechecking for the past year and really delves into what it’s like to be “a woman of a certain age”. It inspired me to contemplate having a mid-life sexual renaissance of sorts. Like, maybe I’m a lesbian. Maybe I’ve been thinking about partnership and marriage in a much too black and white way. Maybe I’m a prude. I’m definitely a prude! – Anonymous

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall (Jonathan Ball)

A small English village, a first love that never quite fades, a secret that spirals toward a murder trial: Hall’s dual-timeline tale of Beth and Gabriel is atmospheric, gripping and quietly devastating. A tragic accident and a tangled love triangle give this novel its irresistible pull. I started to read this on the plane to France, and finished it on the train – within 24 hours. Just lovely and escapist, and I even cried at the end. – Marina Carlaw

Watching Over Her by Jean-Baptiste Andrea (Jonathan Ball)

Winner of France’s Prix Goncourt, Andrea’s novel finally arrived in English translation this year, and it was worth the wait. At its core, this is the story of a boy who falls for his muse and the art he creates as a result, but it quickly unfolds into a sweeping, compelling 20th-century history of people and places. Andrea conjures Italy’s landscapes so vividly you’ll be tempted to book a trip while still reading. A complete joy from start to finish, it’s exactly the sort of book you want on hand between sea dips. – Sarah Buitendach

Kingmaker by Sonia Purnell (Penguin Random House)

Pamela Churchill Harriman was one hell of a dame. The late daughter-in-law of Winston Churchill, she was his “secret weapon” during the war, and over the years went to bed with an unbelievably impressive array of good-looking, powerful men – including the Italian industrialist Gianni Agnelli. And men aside, Harriman became a formidable political power in her own right. What’s not to love? – Rachel Slack

Lolly Willowes or The Loving Huntsman by Sylvia Townsend Warner (Penguin)

There’s been a lot of chat about “the perimenopause novel” lately – understandable, perhaps, given the current ages of Gen X and Millennial women. My advice: don’t bother with the current crop of contenders; instead, read Sylvia Townsend Warner’s debut, published in 1926. The heroine is middle-aged maiden aunt Laura, known to her family as Lolly, who finally escapes their well-meaning but utterly stifling clutches to go and live alone in a country village. There she meets the Devil, whose persona to her is an amalgam of gamekeeper-huntsman-gardener and to whom she happily gives her soul, thus becoming a very contented witch who doesn’t have to be a dutiful aunt ever again. Sharp, hilarious and beguiling, all at the same time. – Robyn Alexander

Enshittification by Cory Doctorow (Verso)

Even for someone like myself, who strives to maintain a Luddite-like veneer to my life, the idea of a 338-page rant against technology seemed a little daunting. But it turns out if you want to do justice to a full-on rant, it takes at least 338 pages. “Enshitiffication” is a word coined by Cory Doctorow to describe a process created and developed by the handful of tech giants that dominate our lives. You’ve probably experienced it. “First, the platform attracts users with some bait, such as free access; then the activity is monetised, bringing in the business customers and degrading the user experience; then once everyone is trapped and competitors eradicated, the platform wrings out all the value and transfers it to their executives and shareholders.” Doctorow has written a gripping and entertaining tale that essentially describes why capitalism has so far failed to achieve its potential; why we should be worried and what we can do. – Ann Crotty

Heart the Lover by Lilly King (Canongate)

Heart the Lover is a no-holds-barred account of a love impassioned and frozen over years, a farewell to youth and immovable friendship at the centre of it all. King writes the ebbs and flows of connection, yearning and choice with an astute observation and open heart. Alexa, play Love is a Game by Adele… – Shakti Pillay

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams (Pan Macmillan)

It’s hard to escape Zuckerberg and his Metaverse these days, so willingly propelling yourself into the bowels of this hideous structure seemed a tad silly. But a friend bought the book and kept quoting chunks from it, in particular the cringe-inducing meetings with Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Kenny and I had briefly been friends in my university days, so, whatever about Zuckerberg, I felt obliged to read the book. What a chilling account of the inner workings of one of the most powerful organisations in the world. There is of course an element of “he says, she says” here, but there does seem enough other evidence to indicate that Zuckerberg and his executives don’t give a damn about the damage perpetrated by Facebook – as long as there’s a bit of profit in it. – Ann Crotty

My Country, Africa: Diary of the Black Pasionaria by Andrée Blouin (Verso)

For a book first published in 1983, My Country, Africa resonates extraordinarily with the place in which we currently find ourselves as Africans. The book details the history of decolonisation as experienced by Blouin in the Central African Republic, Guinea and elsewhere, and laments the unwillingness of African politicians to turn freedom into a benefit for all citizens, rather than an excuse for corruption. But it’s not just the hard political lessons that the book teaches. You cannot understand the postcolonial condition without understanding how the lives of people brought us to our current reality, and it is from the story of Blouin’s early life that many will find empathy. – Chris Roper

Need even more inspiration? You’ll find more of our fave 2025 reads here.

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