2025 Reading List

A list of the books I completed reading in 2025.
(E) = co-read with Elise. (Ez) = read to Ezekiel.




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The Pōrangi Boy - Shilo Kino

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Published by Huia Publishers: Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021 (2020). Niko Te Kainga-mataa lives in the small town of Pohe Bay, a predominantly Māori community where the New Zealand government is planning to build a prison. Niko's grandfather, Tangaroa, is opposed to the prison, saying that it is going to be built on Māori land that is being watched over by the taniwha Taukere. Unfortunately, Tangaroa is known as the "pōrangi man" (crazy man), and throughout the book we see that he has lost some of his mental faculties - even to the point of urinating on people. As his grandson, and as someone who also wants to stand up against the prison being built, Niko too is labelled as pōrangi. Through the book, Niko has to wrestle with his own beliefs regarding Taukere, as well as learning to take a stronger leadership role in the community, particularly in the area of protesting the prison. Being written by a Māori author, Shilo Kino,  The Pōrangi Boy has a very authentic M...
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The Runaway Jury - John Grisham

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Published by Century Books: London, 1996. I had been interested in reading a John Grisham novel with Elise, and remember enjoying this one a lot when I last read it many years ago. A high-profile case of tobacco industry versus the estate of a smoker is being prepared in Biloxi, Mississippi, and both sides are anxious to have the right jury selected. We are introduced to Nicholas Easter, who is suspiciously non-suspicious, and soon are aware that he is positioning himself intentionally to get on to the jury. Once he succeeds in doing so, this mystery is increased when a woman named Marlee enters the scene and begins to interact with Rankin Fitch - a behind-the-scenes wheeler-dealer who is working to achieve a positive outcome for the big tobacco companies. Marlee begins showing her ability to influence the jury in subtle ways, and is obviously hoping to tempt Fitch into working with her for an undetermined outcome. As the story progresses we see a lot of elements in play, with particul...
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My Top 5 Books of 2025

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This is the first time I have done a 'yearly' top 5 (although I did a ' Top 5 Top 5s ' previously, after my 5th book list), but it seems to fit with the year ending in a 5. Anyway, this is entirely subjective, and is an indication of where I currently sit in regards to these books. The list might even be different if I was asked on a different day. The following are not reviews of these books per se, but each one has been reviewed, and that review can be found by clicking on the title of the book in question. Also, these are ranked in the order that I read them, rather than specifically 1-5 or 5-1. That would take a while longer to sort out! The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. I will give this one the award for 'Best Audiobook of the Year' and 'Best Whodunnit of the Year'. I listened to this over the Summer holidays last year, and enjoyed it enough that I listened to the rest of the series in the same year. Twisty, humorous, a bit unpredictable (a...
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