2025: End Of Year Thoughts

When we talk about the world being global, it’s easy to imagine overwhelming vastness and perhaps feel a little lost in it. When in fact the world is not stretching away from us, it’s coming to us. Wherever we are, we are surrounded by language, food, music, beliefs and histories that originate from beyond our immediate location. We don’t have to travel to experience cultural exchange, instead it happens in our schools, workplaces and neighbourhoods, offering everyday opportunities to stretch our thinking and considerations.

Our senses impose on us a particular kind of knowledge of the world. And they are limited, aren’t they? But what if the world around us is entirely different than our imperfect senses try to convince us?

The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk

This closeness brings challenges as well as rewards. International events in 2025 have shown us that political decisions, environmental shifts and social movements are not bound by borders. No place is truly insulated from what happens elsewhere. But, alongside the uncertainty this can bring is the possibility of deeper understanding. Exposure, good and bad, to different cultures and ideas can make us more curious and capable of seeing the world from perspectives other than our own.

This is why reading novels that reflect the global landscape matters. Fiction allows us to experience difference without fear, to sit inside another life and recognise both its specificity and humanity.

One man hurried his daughter across the street to avoid us, and when she said that we looked quite normal he muttered, “They’re not like you and me.”

The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey

That thinking shaped our decision to read “around the world” in 2025, our 19th year of bookclub. It’s humbling to reflect on how much has changed since 2007, not just around the world but in our reading group as a reflection of the wider world. Back then, our choices were narrow. We read mostly men, and very little translated or cultural fiction.

By comparison in 2025 every book took us somewhere different. Germany, Poland, Italy, Antarctica, Britain, Palestine, Ukraine, America, Ireland and Morocco. Each author was a compelling guide to their country and culture and provided clear messages on societal pasts and potential futures.

They’d drive at full speed on the road to Azemmour, or fall asleep in the sun high above Casablanca, among the laundry and the giant satellite dishes. They’d wake up to the song of the muezzin summoning the faithful for evening prayer, and all the white roofs would already be orange from the setting sun.

As Rich As The King by Abigail Assor

We also welcomed three new book club members this year. Tessa, Sally and Bridget have brought their own worldly experiences to discussions. Thank you, and welcome!

We ended the year at Brick Eatery, talking through our best of the best. With a broader reading list and a more varied membership there was less consensus than in years past, which felt refreshing. Though, Wild Dark Shore did take the unofficial award for most atmospheric setting, and there were a couple of clear overall favourites. Most importantly, our differences and commonalities prompted lively discussions about what was memorable, what has stayed with us and how our feelings have evolved about some of the titles.

It’s what you all do, in the free world. You waste your freedom and your clear skies on things that don’t matter, like politeness and the perfect lawn. That’s why I can’t go back. I lived in a stupor and now, it’s like, all the colors are saturated. Like someone took electrodes to my eye rods and jolted them. You become like a lizard, where there’s no past or future, where everything’s trained on the present.

Endling by Maria Reva

Here’s some of our thoughts:

Best Cover:
Bridget: Endling
Jodie: The Book of Guilt
Rachel: The Book of Guilt
Sally: Endling
Tessa: Before The Queen Falls Asleep

Best Character:
Bridget: Vincent from The Book Of Guilt
Jodie: Alessandra from Her Side Of The Story
Rachel: Alessandra from Her Side Of The Story
Sally: Vincent from The Book Of Guilt
Tessa: Mother Night from The Book Of Guilt

Favourite Animal:
Bridget: Lefty the snail in Endling
Jodie: Cynthia the dog in The Book Of Guilt
Rachel: The albatross in Wild Dark Shore
Sally: The ponies in The Book Of Guilt
Tessa: Cynthia the dog in The Book Of Guilt

Best ending:
Bridget: As Rich As The King
Jodie: Her Side Of The Story
Rachel: Her Side Of The Story
Sally: The Book Of Guilt
Tessa: The Empusium

Runner Up Best Book:
Bridget: Hum by Helen Phillips
Jodie: Her Side Of The Story by Alba de Cespedes
Rachel: The Book Of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey
Sally: The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk
Tessa: The Book Of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey

Book Of The Year:
Bridget: The Book Of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey
Jodie: The Book Of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey
Rachel: Endling by Maria Reva
Sally: The Book Of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey
Tessa: Endling by Maria Reva

I could reproach her for having subjected me to that climate of perpetual exaltation which, above all, made me completely devoted to the myth of the Great Love and thus unintentionally led to the painful situation I find myself in today.

Her Side Of The Story by Alba de Cespedes

Pictured: Brick Eatery in Monaco, Nelson