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Hello 2026! Before we leave 2025 as a distant memory, it’s time to showcase my ‘best and worst’ reads and watches of the past year. This year, each book cover or film/tv poster is backed by the medal colour it deserves.
I haven’t gone into great detail as I find that I mostly like just seeing what’s on people’s lists rather than actually diving into the content (which perhaps is a problem and do let me know if you think the same 😂) and to be honest my memory is also not great.
Overall, in 2025, I read and watched less things than the year prior, despite wanting to become a film girlie and to read consistently.
Reads
In 2025, I read a total of 63 books, reaching 21,002 pages, with an average rating of 3.45⭐! This a decrease from last year in all areas, but I still gave away lots of 4⭐. As per usual, my most read genres are fantasy and romance, this year also saw me reading more mysteries than last year.
All book titles are linked to their TheStoryGraph page.
Graphics from TheStorygraph
Best Reads
I loved Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn! It was such a delight and so lovely to see our two leads actually have conversations. This was such an easy, enjoyable read and definitely deserves all 5 stars I gave it.
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennet has been super hyped since it came out in 2024 and I understand why. The science elements were really interesting and the investigation was fun and intriguing. I love the Holmes/Watson relationship our main characters have and I’m excited to see what happens next in this world.
This non-fiction memoir – The Bookshop Woman by Nanako Hanada – reads like fiction and was such an impactful read. I really appreciated the work that Cat Anderson did with the translation!
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Worst Reads
I hated The Warriors by Sol Yurick (⭐). There were no likable characters, and often their intentions/actions didn’t really make sense. The pacing was also way off – this book is only 200 or so pages long and it took me four months to finish. I understand that it’s meant to represent the awful behaviour of the young boys in these New York gangs in the 60’s, but there was no substance. And the authors note at the end of my copy riled me. Yurick came off as pretentious and holier-than-thou. It made me uncomfortable that this white man felt the need to write a book about young Black boys doing crime and not listening to their social workers.
I don’t care if this is a spoiler, but I was so glad I read a review before going into the book so was somewhat prepared as there is a gang rape scene that spans several pages.
Just watch the film instead.
Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid was boring (⭐⭐). And I’m more annoyed that I felt compelled to read the full thing because it’s only 134 pages and the ending was so pointless. I get it, revisionist history should be combatted, but this just wasn’t well paced/written. Also, sometimes history is boring and we don’t need to know the full picture.
I wanted to love What a Way to Go by Bella Mackie (⭐⭐.5) mostly because the cover is stunning. However, again, it was kind of boring. The amateur sleuth chapters were dull and were only useful near the end, which was ridiculous. The supernatural element was kind of fun, but felt repetitive and didn’t really add anything to the plot. Olivia was kind of iconic though.
Watches
In 2025, I logged 70 entries on Letterboxd. I don’t think I watched anything outside of this, apart from my usual rewatches of Victoria Woods’ ‘Dinnerladies’ which I love with every fibre of my being.
Overall, my average rating is kind of middle of the road at around 3⭐. I also had a very varied watch diary, which certainly saw long gaps between watches. I’m hoping in 2026, I can be more consistent. Also, my World Map is abysmal, I really need to prioritise a lot more international films, especially from South American and African countries. I have so many on my to watch list, but it’s just so easy to stick on an English language film and cross stitch.
All film titles are linked to their Letterboxd page.
Graphics from Letterboxd
Best Watches
I don’t normally put in things that I’ve already seen or read into these as I think it gives things an unfair advantage. However, I re-watched The Secret of Moonacre (2008) this year after over a decade and I had so much fun! It’s genuinely one of the best films ever made. It’s so cute and whimsical~
Lisa Frankenstein (2024) easily nabbed silver! This was so fun and everything I wished Heathers should have been. This had exactly the right mix of fun, camp horror and heart-warming moments.
My first Cillian Murphy watch comes in at 3rd place with Breakfast in Pluto (2005). I loved that the whimsy and charm simultaneously doesn’t downplay the troubles, yet, it’s a film full of hope and warmth.
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Worst Watches
I gave all of these films 1.5⭐ and honestly, that kind of feels generous.
10Dance (2025) was one of my most anticipated Netflix releases and I’m so disappointed. I wanted to love this and instead I was given two men I hated. We barely know them and there’s absolutely no basis for their “relationship”. I felt uncomfortable throughout and yet it was also somehow boring. One of the main characters is half-Cuban, yet whenever Cuba or Latinos were brought up, it seemed almost derogatory and just emphasised stereotypes. Aki and Fusako are basically the reason I didn’t give it half a star, those women deserve so much better dance partners!
That Disney fox truly is the only reason why I don’t hate Robin Hood, because he is insufferable in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and I would have happily seen him perish in a dungeon. Also, it was boring.
The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (2021) is one I wanted to love, instead I was so bored and felt stupid. Wes Anderson makes stunning films, but the writing on this one was so pretentious and disjointed.
What were some of your favourites in 2025? What would you recommend to avoid? Thanks for reading!
I hope you’re having a lovely day and staying safe 💕
DramaRambles 🌸 
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