Litsy

#Top25Of25 Part 2 of 4

These last days of the year I‘ll be sharing my 25 favorite books of the year, arranged by the stars I gave them.

Today I share the 7 books I rated with 4.5 ⭐️

Yesterday I showed my 4.25⭐️ rated books.
Tomorrow i‘ll share four 4.75⭐️ books followed by four 5⭐️ reads.

TheKidUpstairs Loved Fault Lines. Axeman's Carnival and Woman on the Verge are both on my #AuldLangSpine list from @CBee so I'll be reading them in the New Year - glad to see they've got your stamp of approval as well! 11h

squirrelbrain Axeman is on my list too! 11h

BarbaraBB @TheKidUpstairs @squirrelbrain Axeman is so good. I have another book by her on my list too this year:

Remote Sympathy

11h

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BarbaraBB @TheKidUpstairs I saw @CBee ‘s choices for you and remember thinking you‘re a good match! 11h

CBee @BarbaraBB 😘😘😘 11h

CBee @TheKidUpstairs have you read any of the Elements books by Boyne? I‘ve read all but the last one and they were all on my #ALSpine list for last year. Just another rec or two if you haven‘t read those already 😉 11h

sarahbarnes A few here that are on my TBR! 11h

BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes Have you read Fault Lines? I think you‘d love that one. Just like I did 👯 11h

AmyG Ooooo thank you. I tend to enjoy the books you like. 11h

Lesliereadsalot How did I miss Fault Lines??? 10h

sarahbarnes It‘s on my TBR!! I need to move it up the list it sounds like! 😊 9h

BarbaraBB @AmyG Yes we do! Will you be sharing your favorites too? 9h

BarbaraBB @Lesliereadsalot It‘s kind of a must read for you 😘😉 9h

BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes You do 😘 9h

AmyG I am doing the 12 of 25….my favorites of the year one day at a time. 9h

BarbaraBB @AmyG I‘ve seen the challenge. Will certainly check out your choices! 8h

Suet624 Of course I‘ll be taking screenshots of all of your posts. 8h

BarbaraBB @Suet624 💕💕 8h

Deblovestoread I have good reading ahead of me apparently. Received Fault Lines and Axeman as Christmas gifts and have the Boyne, Everett and Lamb on my shelf. Loving your list! 6h

BarbaraBB @Deblovestoread Wow! They‘re all so good! Lucky you! 6h

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CBee

The Road to Dalton | Shannon Bowring

January and February 2025 😊 January was an #ALSpine pick from @CSeydel and y‘all know how much I raved about the HMRC series this year 😁 #12Booksof2025 @TheEllieMo

lil1inblue Juno Dawson is February's #queerbc author. Now I know what to read! 🤩 2d

TheEllieMo I‘ll be honest, being an accountant from the UK it took me a while to work out that you weren‘t talking about His Majesty‘s Revenue and Customs 🤣🤣 2d

CBee @lil1inblue ohhhhhh I hope you love it! The whole series is amazing 😁 1d

CBee @TheEllieMo omg 😂😂😂😂😂 1d

43 likes4 comments

JamieArc

The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain: Lyrics for Stacey Kent | Kazuo Ishiguro

You might think I should be posting Obama‘s book list but I was geeked out to see his music list because it is book-related. It includes I Wish I Could Go Traveling Again by Stacey Kent. The tagged book is lyrics written by the author to be sung by Stacey Kent, including the one on this list. This was one of my favorite books of the year. It is a wonderful reading/listening/looking at art experience.

JamieArc (This list was cut off, FYI. There are a few more.) 1w

JamieArc @Karisa This was on my #ALSpine list. Tagging you in case this makes you want to get to it 😊 1w

dabbe Oh, lordy, how I miss this man in office. 😢 1w

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JamieArc @dabbe I feel you! 😣 1w

Amiable I love that he posts these lists. 😍 1w

JamieArc @Amiable Me too! And they are an impressive range. 1w

Karisa @JamieArc 🥰 Thank you! @dabbe Right??! 😭 1w

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BarbaraBB

Nols Winter Camping (Special) | Buck Tilton, John Gookin

#WintercampLitsy tent 🏕️

We have our winners: The Correspondent, Cursed Daughters and So Far Gone!

Hopefully we‘re in time for you to add them to your X-mas wishlist!

We‘ll read them in the above order, with the 1sr#t discussion on Jan 17. More details about the discussion of each book will follow separately.

For now we hope you‘re happy with the outcome. Helen, Holly and I are looking forward to our first wintercamp with you all! 🤍❄️

Hooked_on_books, squirrelbrain, LitsyEvents

BarbaraBB @Addison_Reads @Amiable @AmyG @BarbaraJean @Bkclubcare @BooksandCoffee4me @Bookbuyingaddict @BookNAround @Bookwormjillk @Butterfinger 2w

BarbaraBB @BookwormAHN @Caroline2 @Catlass007 @CatGusMax @CarolynM @CBee @CatMS @ChaoticMissAdventures @Chelsea.Poole @Christine 2w

BarbaraBB @CogsOfEncouragement @Cseydel @Cuilin @Dabbe @Daisey @DavidDiamond @Debinhawaii @Deblovestoread @DGRachel @ErikasMindfulshelf @Flaneurette @fredthemoose 2w

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BarbaraBB @Gatheringbooks @Gissy @Graciouswarriorprincess @ImperfectCJ @JamieArc @Jas16 @KLyn1 @Megabooks @Allthebooks @KT1432 2w

BarbaraBB @JenP @Jenreadsalot @Jess @Jhod @JoyBlue @JulesG @Karisa @Kitta @Kristy-K @Kspenmoll @Larkken @Laughterhp @LeeRHarry @Leniverse @Lesliereadsalot @Maggie4483 2w

BarbaraBB @Mcctrish @maich @MeganAnn @Merelybookish @Meshell1313 @Monalyisha @Oryx @peaKnit @Prairiegirl_reading @PuddleJumper @quietjenn 2w

Kitta Yay!! So excited. 2w

monalyisha Hey there! Hope you have fun, all. You can remove me from the tag, if you please. 🩵 2w

Kitta Thanks for organizing!! 2w

BarbaraBB @Read4Life @RaeLovesToRead @Reggie @rockpools @Roary47 @Ruthiella @Sace @Sapphire @Sarahbarnes @Soubhiville @Skygoddess1 @Suet624 @Texreader @sblbooks 2w

BarbaraBB @Thekidupstairs @TheBookDream @Triplem80 @TrishB @Vonnie862 @Well-ReadNeck @willaful @youneverarrived @yourfavouritemixtape @zukeeyah 2w

BarbaraBB @Thekidupstairs @TheBookDream @Triplem80 @TrishB @Vonnie862 @Well-ReadNeck @willaful @youneverarrived @yourfavouritemixtape @zukeeyah (edited) 2w

Caroline2 Cursed daughters in 99p on kindle at the mo! 👍 2w

BarbaraBB @Caroline2 That‘s very good news!! 2w

Caroline2 Great choices! I can‘t wait to read them. 😃 2w

Jess Yes! So excited. Can‘t wait to read these three. 2w

Oryx These all look great 2w

Prairiegirl_reading I voted for the correspondent thinking I already have it and really want to get to it but I think most people have already read it so I‘m thrilled! 2w

BarbaraBB @Prairiegirl_reading I thought so too but it was the number one by far! 2w

JenReadsAlot So Far Gone was good! Excited about the other two! 2w

Bookwormjillk Yay! I haven‘t read any of those yet. 2w

Jas16 I own two of the three so that makes things easy. Looking forward to it. 2w

Soubhiville Awesome, I‘m excited! Thank you! 2w

TrishB Look good 👍🏻 I‘ve read The Correspondent thanks to Barbara! Just got Cursed Daughters for 99p. Will go and track down the other one now! 2w

Meshell1313 Ooh exciting!!! 🎉❄️ 2w

Lesliereadsalot Can‘t wait! Have only read The Correspondent and loved it. 2w

TheKidUpstairs Love it! The Correspondent was so good, I look forward to discussing it with everyone. And I've loved books by the other two authors so I'm really looking forward to those! And bonus, I know my library has both! 1w

Kitta @TheKidUpstairs I just checked my Libby and the wait for the library for these is 15 weeks!! Oh no. 1w

Ruthiella Awesome! Looking forward to all three! 1w

Amiable Ooh, I‘ve already read 2 of these! Sweet 1w

DGRachel This looks like a good list! The only one I‘m really leery of is Cursed Daughters. I hated My Sister the Serial Killer, but my review said I like the writing just not the plot, so fingers crossed I like this one better. 1w

GatheringBooks I‘ve already read Cursed Daughters! Yay!! Have to find the other two books while here in the US. 😍 1w

AvidReader25 Oh I LOVED The Correspondent! 1w

Megabooks Yay! Looking forward to camp!!! 1w

BarbaraJean As tends to happen for me, the last book to be read is available immediately, and the wait for the first book is 20+ weeks on Libby 🥴 I did put The Correspondent on my Christmas list, though 🤞🏼 1w

JamieArc The Correspondent matches up for me perfectly since I planned to read it for #ALSpine from @Karisa ‘s list 1w

AmyG Thank you so much!!! 🙌🏻 1w

Larkken Yay! Let‘s hope the Libby holds will be kind to me this time… 1w

Suet624 Yay!!! 1w

Deblovestoread Fun!! I've read the first two which will be great to discuss and have the 3rd on my TBR. 1w

BkClubCare Oh goodie! The Braithwaite hasn't even made my radar. 👏 1w

BkClubCare @GatheringBooks - FYI the audio of The Correspondents is phenomenal, in case you (or anyone) enjoy. 1w

ChaoticMissAdventures Excited! I have already read Correspondent, and Cursed Daughter is my bookspin book this month so I feel ahead for 2026! 1w

KT1432 Yay!! I have Cursed Daughter already and was interested in the other two! 1w

Zuhkeeyah Yay!! Please include me in the tag list for winter camp 1w

BarbaraBB @Zuhkeeyah We definitely will! 1w

Texreader Books are put on hold! 1w

CBee The Correspondent was a top read of 2025 for me - might have to reread for camp! The other two, especially the Jess Walter, sound amazing! 1w

Chelsea.Poole I‘ve read The Correspondent and So Far Gone. Looking forward to the discussions. I was hoping Cursed Daughters would make an appearance so I‘ll borrow that one. Thanks for putting this together you all! 1w

Bookbuyingaddict Loved loved loved 🥰 the correspondent and other two on my wish list 😍thank you , merry Christmas 🎅 1w

Christine Oh yay, I really enjoyed So Far Gone and absolutely want to read the other two!! 🩵 1w

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TheKidUpstairs

Litsy Awards: This is for tracking the Yearly Litsy Awards | Listy Awards

Great idea, and thank you for the template @CSeydel 🎉 #MyLitsyAwards

Best buddy read - I always love #CampLitsy and this year was no exception. I LOVED the worlds Okorafor created. (Honorable mention goes to Wild Dark Shore, it was a VERY hard choice!)

Characters to hang out with - I just want to curl into a corner of the witches tea shop and never leave 💗

Cont'd in comments 👇

TheKidUpstairs Best #AuldLangSpine book - another hard choice to make, I had such a good list from @CarolynM but I'm going with this one as it was the most unexpected delight! 2w

TheKidUpstairs Best New to Me Author - this was the year I first read Penelope Lively, and I adored her writing, will definitely be enjoying more in future! And, through the aforementioned #ALSpine pick, I discovered Gail Jones. I read two of hard this year, and will be exploring her backlist in future! 2w

TheKidUpstairs Sequel worthy - if you like legal thrillers and haven't read Kia Abdullah, I highly recommend her! This one ended with one storyline open ended, so I can only hope there is a sequel coming!!!! 2w

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TheKidUpstairs Biggest Surprise - I rolled my eyes at the description of this one, and expected pretentious nonsense. But I absolutely LOVED it, from first page to last. Just the right amount of quirky, with enough depth to anchor it. 2w

Ruthiella Penelope Lively is such a great writer. I‘ve only read three from her, but all were very good. 2w

CSeydel Love it! 😍 I haven‘t read most of these but they all sound amazing! 2w

TheKidUpstairs @Ruthiella do you have a favourite? this was my first, but I'll be looking for more!

Moon Tiger

Ruthiella @TheKidUpstairs Moon Tiger was also the first that I read. Since then I have read Consequences and

According to Mark

Karisimo Was a top read for me this year too!

Death of the Author: A Novel

TheKidUpstairs @Ruthiella Thank you, I'm stacking both! 2w

TheKidUpstairs @Karisimo SO good, right? And I know we're not alone, I saw it on a few #AuldLangSpine lists, including the one I got from @CBee 2w

CBee @TheKidUpstairs choosing between WDS and Death - oof, I agree that‘s tough! Must look into the book about witches - I‘ve read so many witchy books this year 🧙‍♀️ 2w

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CBee

Auld Lang Syne: A Song and Its Culture | Morag Josephine Grant

Thank you, universe, for used bookstores. Amen and amen. @TheKidUpstairs @monalyisha #auldlangspine #ALSpine #2026

TheKidUpstairs Amen! Great finds! 2w

TheKidUpstairs Happily, I've been able to find all but one from your list throughout my local libraries. I'm hoping for a bookstore gift card or two for Christmas that I can use to purchase the last hold out! 2w

AnnCrystal 📚👏🏼🥳👍🏼💝. 2w

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vivastory Out is such an interesting read!! 2w

CBee @TheKidUpstairs yay!! Crossing fingers for bookstore gift cards 🤞🏻🤞🏻 2w

CBee @vivastory oh yay! Glad to hear you liked it. 2w

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Sapphire

Wild Dark Shore | Charlotte McConaghy

So excited to receive my #auldlangspine2026 list from @Lesliereadsalot I have not read of any of these titles! I do own the tagged title so will start there, but the highlighted ones are all ones I am very interested in reading. Thank you @monalyisha for another great match. I count @CBee and @TheKidUpstairs as Litsy friends from prior matches and from this list hope the same with Leslie this year. #alspine #auldlangspine

squirrelbrain Such a great list! 4w

Lesliereadsalot I hope you love these books as much as I did! Wild Dark Shore is such a good story. Happy reading! 4w

CBee @Lesliereadsalot glad to see another fan of Woman on the Verge! It was on my list as well 😊 @Sapphire some great choices here 💚 4w

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Lesliereadsalot @CBee Isn‘t this so fun? 4w

CBee @Lesliereadsalot yes! So glad I decided to do it again 👏🏻👏🏻 4w

JuniperWilde I love this list! North Woods is exceptional 4w

monalyisha Love to hear about relationships formed! Thank you! And enjoy. 😊 4w

Lesliereadsalot @JuniperWilde A Language of Limbs is really something! Wild Dark Shore too. 4w

AmyG The tagged and North Woods are just fabulous. 4w

Sapphire @monalyisha thank you! It can‘t be said enough. You have a gift and share your magic with us! 4w

Sapphire @JuniperWilde I love it too! Almost all completely new to me. But I see these titles on several lists. And look at this enthusiasm. I have good times ahead 4w

Sapphire @Lesliereadsalot happy reading to you too! 4w

Sapphire @AmyG thank you. I hope to get to at least all 4 highlighted. Probably not all 4 in January. But we have a cold spell in Texas so who knows! 4w

TheKidUpstairs 💕💕💕 This looks like a great list! Saltwater and Woman on the Verge are both on the list I got from @CBee and Wild Dark Shore was on both of our lists! 4w

CBee @TheKidUpstairs I actually grabbed Saltwater from the library after seeing @Lesliereadsalot rave about it 😊 4w

Chelsea.Poole Fab list @Lesliereadsalot —several of these have made my list this year or in years prior. 4w

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willaful

Auld Lang Syne: A Song and Its Culture | Morag Josephine Grant

An intriguing list! The Last Unicorn is an old fav and I've also read Every Heart a Doorway, but most of the others are new to me! Right now I'm most interested in Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch and Song of the Huntress, and will probably save the Shusterman for February #AuthorAMonth.

(I think I'm missing one book though...?)

@shortsarahrose

thanks @monalyisha!

shortsarahrose No books missing (I did have a long parenthetical comment about reading Scythe before Thunderhead, but Scythe technically isn‘t on the list because I didn‘t read it this year). Song of the Huntress was an #ALSpine pick from @BookmarkTavern - it‘s so good! 4w

willaful Oh, a continuing pick, how cool! I can't remember if I did that or not -- did I put “Project Hail Mary“ on my list? If I didn't, I should have.

I definitely put several books from Camp Litsy on it, and have been seeing those on a lot of other lists as well. 4w

monalyisha Oh, the list goes from 1 to 3. Ha! I caught it on one of the other lists but didn‘t notice on this one. After a while, the text all starts to blur. 😵‍💫😅 Great graphic! Love the heading. 4w

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shortsarahrose Good catch @monalyisha - I was obviously sleepy and didn‘t notice last night. I think you‘re missing

Summer Sons

shortsarahrose Project Hail Mary wasn‘t on the list but I can definitely add it as a “bonus pick.” And a good recommendation, too - I purchased a copy earlier this year but haven‘t read it yet! 4w

willaful @monalyisha thank, I was rather pleased with it! 4w

willaful @shortsarahrose I was looking for 5 star reads and only gave it 4 but it's really stayed with me and probably should have been a 5 star. 4w

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CBee

Auld Lang Syne: A Song and Its Culture | Morag Josephine Grant

This is going to be an adventure, Megan! I haven‘t heard of most of these and can‘t wait to delve into this list more. I love Rebecca Wait (I‘ve read two of her books), and I‘ve heard great things about Stone Yard, BUT I will very likely start with The Hounding and Raja the Gullible as those are both already on my TBR. Very excited! Thank you 💚💚 @TheKidUpstairs @monalyisha #ALSpine

CBee @TheKidUpstairs also, I started Story of a Heart on audio a while back but, well, big mood reader 😂 I‘ll try again! I love that we both loved the Okorafor and the McConaghey (I am a super fan). 💚💚 If you‘d like to email we can! Would love to get to know you better! 4w

AmyG You would love Wild Dark Shore. 4w

CBee @AmyG I‘ve read it 💚 And of course loved it. It was on my #ALSpine list for Megan 😂 4w

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TheKidUpstairs @CBee I LOVED Story of a Heart, but it's a very difficult read (there were many many tears), so it's definitely one you have to be in the right headspace for! I was surprised by the McConaghy, because I was one of the few who did not love Migrations, so I wasn't expecting to like it, but I could not put it down. I'm totally up for emailing, I'm megansbrady@gmail.com 😁 4w

TheKidUpstairs And The Hounding and Raja the Gullible are GREAT places to start. Very different styles, both completely engrossing, entertaining and thought provoking in their own ways! 4w

CBee @TheKidUpstairs thank you for the heads up! Maybe I‘ll dip in and out of it. 4w

CBee @TheKidUpstairs they both sound amazing! I‘m excited! 4w

TheKidUpstairs Since you mentioned that you do audio, I should point out that both A Thousand Threads and Liliana's Invincible Summer are fantastic on audio! Especially Threads, Cherry's narration is wonderful. 4w

vivastory This is a great list 📚📚 4w

CBee @TheKidUpstairs I‘d forgotten Neneh Cherry wrote a memoir! Definitely going to check that one out. 4w

squirrelbrain I just posted on @thekidupstairs post that the list could have been mine, but so could this one- we have such similar taste! 4w

CBee @squirrelbrain I have a feeling I‘ll enjoy so many of these! 4w

CarolynM Lovely to see some #ozfiction on your list @TheKidUpstairs I love Moon Tiger too. 3w

53 likes13 comments

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