December 2025 Reading

You’ll have to wait a little longer for my Best of 2025 list (I'm having a hard time narrowing it to ten) but here is my December reading.  I think my favorite was the newest installment of the Thursday Murder Club.  Osman's gift for conveying what his characters are thinking is impressive.  That is why I think a voiceover would have made the Netflix adaptation even stronger (also it should have been a multi-part series).

Suspense

The Charity Shop Detective Agency by Peter Boland (2022). Several months ago, I started listening to this mystery about three friends who volunteer at a charity shop somewhere near Dorset. They are upset when a favorite client is murdered and decide to (somewhat ineptly) help the police with their investigation. When my library canceled its Hoopla subscription, I was left stranded mid-story and it took quite a while to find a print copy from ILL. Probably not worth the effort but I hate not finishing a book.

The Star and the Shamrock by Jean Grainger - a final WWII novel for the year

In the first book of this WWII trilogy, a desperate mother in 1939 Berlin sends her children to what she hopes is safety in Britain. Ariella Bannon is a German Jew, married to Peter, a Catholic who was arrested five months ago for defending an old lady from Nazi thugs. She is afraid her husband is dead and is worried for her children: Liesl (10) and Erich (7). There is a chance to get them out of Berlin: a humanitarian effort, Kindertransport, is rescuing children from Nazi-controlled territory and bringing them to Britain. 

The Night of Fear by Moray Dalton, for Dean Street December

This is my third entry for Dean Street December, and it seems appropriate for it to be a mystery by an author I’d never heard of until Dean Street Press reprinted 15 of her books. Starting in 1924, Moray Dalton published 29 mysteries, most of which feature two detectives, Scotland Yard inspector Hugh Collier and private inquiry agent Hermann Glide. I thought I had chosen the first in the series but as it is set at a Christmas house party in the country, it was still very suitable.

Spell the Month in Books - and Merry Christmas!

Spell the Month in Books is hosted by Reviews From the Stacks and occurs on or near the second Saturday of each month:

D - Dead Scared by Sharon Bolton.  This is the second in the Detective Constable Lacey Flint series and was truly unnerving. Lacey is sent undercover to Cambridge University to investigate a series of student suicides that police suspect are linked to a predator manipulating vulnerable young women online.  

Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

This unusual historical novel from writing duo Gaynor and Webb uses the early years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign as the backdrop for the friendship and developing romance between Jack Devereaux, a young chef from New Orleans, and Olive Carter, an ambitious young journalist for the BBC. 

Rhododendron Pie by Margery Sharp, for Dean Street December

This was a great choice for Dean Street December! Ann Laventie is the youngest of three in an eccentric family in Sussex, beginning with a distinguished father with an independent income from his wife; a mother who was injured in a riding accident and cannot walk; sister Elizabeth, a witty essayist; and Dick, an artist. They are all attractive and intelligent, but Ann’s role seems primarily to admire the others as she does not believe she has any particular skill except observing and appreciating.

My Life in Books - 2025

Using only books you read in 2025, answer these prompts without repeating a book title (links in the titles will take you to my reviews where they exist).

In high school, I was: Out of Bounds (Val McDermid)

Boston Public Library reveals its top 10 checked out books of 2025 list

 The Boston Public Library (which is my library) just announced its end of year statistics and most checked out books (across all platforms) of 2025, which is interesting.  The library lent 7.5 million physical and digital items in 2025, up from 6.6 million in 2024. 

Overdue by Stephanie Perkins

Ingrid Dahl is a bubbly 29-year-old library staffer at the North Ridgetop Branch Library who for four years has shared the Circulation Desk with Macon Nowakowski, known for being somewhat grumpy to patrons, although not to Ingrid. When Ingrid’s younger sister gets engaged, she and her long-time boyfriend Cory start talking about marriage themselves and realize they aren’t ready. Because they’ve been together since they were 18, they decide to take a break for a month and date other people, then decide if they want to get married.

November 2025 Reading

This month I especially enjoyed The Correspondent (fiction), The Proving Ground (suspense), The Jazz Barn (nonfiction), and Searching for Shona (juvenile historical fiction). I also liked Evvie Drake Starts Over because it was a romantic comedy with convincing characters and realistic dialogue – this doesn’t always happen!  The Librarians was clever and enjoyable, although I could not always follow the plot!

Six Degrees of Separation - from Seascraper to The Horse and His Boy

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where it ends up. This month’s starting point is Seascraper by Benjamin Wood, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize. It’s a historical novel set in Ireland about a young man trawling for shrimp who dreams of artistic fulfillment.

WWW Wednesday - December 3

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Murder While You Work by Susan Scarlett, for Dean Street December

Lively and attractive Judy Rest has given up nursing but is still determined to do her bit for the war in this WWII mystery by Susan Scarlett, aka Noel Streatfeild. Judy is heading to the country to work at a munitions factory, and has a meet cute on the train when a studious-looking young man obligingly crawls about on the floor retrieving the lipstick she dropped.