Never one to live moderately, I now belong to 3 book groups. I’m reading more than ever and I’m reading books and exploring authors that I never before knew about. Recently, we were asked to share a list of all-time favourite books. This is my list in no particular order… We’d love to hear about your favourite books this year. You can post your tops books in the comments section below.

Geraldine Brooks     Memorial Days (2025)) A memoir. Reflecting on the death of her husband while on retreat on Flinders Island.

Haruki Murakami    The City & Its Uncertain Walls (2023) A multilayered & complex novel about relationships, love, reality & shadows.

Roddy Doyle     The Woman Behind the Door (2024) The world of Paula Spencer has moved on from the domestic violence she endured. Funny, insightful and hard to put down.

Hanif Kureishi       Shattered  (2024) An accident reshapes his life, relationships and ways of thinking. A beautiful moving memoir.

Claire Keegan       Small Things Like These  (2021) Tells the story of an Irish coal merchant & how the past intrudes on his life. Understated and powerful.

Irvin Yalom     Creatures of a Day   (2015) More tales of psychotherapy from this world- renowned psychiatrist.

Gabriel Byrne  Walking with Ghosts   (2020) The actor is also a powerful storyteller, and his memoir is stark, vivid and engaging. Simply wonderful writing.

James Rebanks  The Place of Tides  (2024) very different from his lake District farming books but equally magical in its description of eider duck farming in remote Norway.

Jan – Philipp Sendker   The Art of Hearing Heartbeats (2002) A love story by This German author. Its set in Burma & is part mystery, full of interesting characters and very moving.

Ocean Vuong  The Emperor of Gladness (2025) Such a wonderful story of two very different people saving each other. An unlikely friendship that is enthralling in its humanity.

There are many resources out there to boost your summer reading. There are also online book clubs, so you don’t even have to leave home! Books can provide us with brain food, friendship, broaden our thinking and challenge us. If you don’t want to join a book club set up your own tea and chat about books with a friend. Libraries are wonderfully helpful, low-cost resources to help you explore the world of reading.

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