2025 Book List - Fiction

As always at the beginning of a new year, I like to share my book list from the previous year. In 2025, I read 32 books, both fiction and non-fiction. Below you can find my fiction list; here you can find my non-fiction list. My top reads in the fiction section were Kerkhofblommenstraat (Lara Taveirne), The Light Between Oceans (M.L. Stedman) and The Island of Sea Women (Lisa See).

Books marked with a * were read with the Marine Social Science Book Club.

Star of the Sea - Joseph O'Connor *

This book explores the Great Famine in Ireland during the 1840s, a catastrophe that forced countless people to emigrate to the United States. It follows a ship's journey across the Atlantic, shedding light on the lives of some of those on board.

Reading it made me reflect on modern migration, across treacherous and unpredictable seas. These travelers leave behind everything familiar for a place that offers little hope. And yet, as the book makes clear, the alternative - staying - is often far worse.

It struck me that, today, many in Europe are highly resistant to immigrants, yet we too were once in that position. And an entire nation, after all, has been built on that despair. A nation that today wants to evict all immigrants.

This wasn’t my favorite read, but the story matters. It opened my eyes to a piece of history that I knew far too little about.

That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz - Malachy Tallack *

A quiet book about a lonesome man in a small village in the countryside, who slowly learns to break down his barriers through a cat and a girl.

Simple, but lovely. A great book to read in winter.

The light between oceans - M.L. Stedman

About a lighthouse keeper and his wife who make a decision that can only break hearts. Loved this book. Highly recommended.

Krekel - Annet Schaap

Apparently this is a love-or-hate book, as was Schaap's previous book Lampje. Reading this book sure requires some imagination and fantasy, but I loved every single page.

Kerkhofblommenstraat - Lara Taveirne

A book set in early 20th-century Flanders, written by an author with an extremely rich vocabulary. The words (and dialect) she uses immediately transport you to a different time and atmosphere, a society with sharply divided classes and very different norms.

Horrid cover. Gorgeous book. 

Night Swimmers - Roisin Maguire *

Set in a small Irish coastal village during Covid, Night Swimmers by Roisin Maguire tells a story of pain, loss, and healing. The sea is never far away, playing an important role in the healing process as well.

Although opinions about this book and the main (female) character were mixed in our MarSocSci Book Club, I loved both.

The Island of Sea Women - Lisa See

One of my best reads this year.

I’ve always been a big fan of historical novels, especially when they teach you something about history you’ve never even heard about before. Like the Jeju massacre, for example. Or the existence of communities led by freediving women in South Korea.

Beautifully written. Heartbreaking. Ever so important.

If you haven’t read this already, please do.

Playground - Richard Powers

Unbelievably insightful, this book. I've read some really good books over the past year, but what Richard Powers attains with this novel is nothing short of next level. I usually take pencil-notes in non-fiction books, but never before did I feel the urge to do that in a novel.

Powers not only touches on life in the ocean and the evolution of science, he also explores equality between men and women, social justice, ecological destruction, and traditional knowledge. What feels at first like a lovely read about the sea (and it is) turns out to be a nudge for his readers to critically think about the ease with which we hand over personal information to multibillion-dollar companies in exchange for the free use of their platforms. It encourages you to reconsider your daily use of AI as the faster way to information, and makes you reflect on the future of what we are currently creating.

Laser-sharp, mind-blowing book. I don’t have all the words for this one yet. Still contemplating how I really feel after reading it...

Also read

• Meisjes van krijt - Lara Taveirne
• The Book Club for Troublesome Women - Marie Bostwick
• Le Gros Chat et la Sorcière Grincheuse, volume 2
• Le Gros Chat et la Sorcière Grincheuse, volume 3
• Galàpagos - Kurt Vonnegut *
• Wild - Kristin Hannah
• Sloddervos - Dinand Woesthoff and Dore van Montfoort
• Girl in Pieces - Kathleen Glasgow
• The Life Impossible - Matt Haig
• Ik zie de zee - Mia Goes (ed.) and Anke Roder