Best Books of 2025: Fiction
It was a decent fiction year for me: not too many absolute standouts, but quite a few solid reads. Thanks to the International Booker, I read a number of translated works (into English) – it was a very mixed bag, with several favourites, a couple of mehs and a winner (Heart Lamp) that didn’t work for me at all. But reading more than half of the longlist was a very enriching experience, which I think is the point of the International Booker. I also read a few of the big commercial releases of the year, not something that I always do. It confirmed my experience that I tend to like these books, but they are rarely my firm favourites (although one of them is on this list).
Best Books of 2025: Science Fiction & Fantasy
The most striking aspect of my SFF reading in 2025 was that there was very little SF in the SFF. I only read a few science fiction books, which is very unusual for me. I mostly attribute this to the fact that there seemed to be less interesting science fiction published last year, not many big releases (with the possible exceptions of Tchaikovsky’s Shroud, a minor Scalzi and the final instalment in The Sun Eater series). There is so much more excitement around fantasy at the moment that SF seems to be somewhat crowded out of the market. I will make a more conscious effort this year to ensure I don’t neglect one of my favourite genres like this again.
Best of 2025: Experiences
My overall goal these days is less buying and more doing. Of course, the line between the two is not always rigid, experiences and hobbies often also involve consumption, but work with me here. When reflecting on that noble goal, I realised that my ‘best offs’ mostly focus on things and that I should broaden my perspective on this front as well. I have to admit that compared to books where I have a bit more expertise, many of my favourites in other categories are rather basic. This is not a problem for me, I’m just warning you that you that there’ll be no hidden gems here.
Best of 2025: Books
It has not been easy to put this list together: I read 161 books last year and apart from a few absolute standouts, there were dozens of good books that could all have made the cut on a good day. It is particularly true for non-fiction, where I could almost have separate top tens for certain topics. Anyway, I have suffered, I have doubted, I have agonised and here is the list.
Things I Want: The 2026 Edition
It’s usually around my birthday that I try to publish the annual Things I Want list. This time I’m about a week late, which is pretty good by my standards and releases everyone from the pressure to actually get me anything that’s on the list. Wanting material things these days seems vaguely embarrassing, considering everything else that’s going on. Then again, it’s the ‘everything else that’s going on’ that makes me long for pretty/fun/useful distractions. So be things as they may, here’s this year’s list.
Best of 2025: Beauty & Style
I’ve had a deeply weird start to the year, I guess it’s the combination of fascism, perimenopause, trying to write and watching Heated Rivalry too many times that has been affecting me. As a result, my 2025 wrap-up content is late, but I am planning to get it all out in the next couple of weeks. As you can see, I have consolidated my beauty and style favourites into one post this time, because the vast majority of my faves are the same as last year (or go back even more). Everything I said in my 2024 beauty and style posts still stands, as does the information in my morning and evening skincare routine roundups. Which is great for me as a person, but less great for blogging content. So here are the handful of things I have added to my increasingly stable list this year:
I Tried All the Le Labo City Exclusives in Case You Cannot: Part 2
Sometimes I don’t get to posting my thoughts because I’m too busy or lazy, but there are some topics that seem to be actually cursed. This has definitely been the case with this second part of Le Labo city exclusives testing. At first I was just not in the mood because anything American reminded me about the political situation there. Once I got over that*, I lost my Vanille 44 sample before I had managed to test it properly. After weeks of sulking, I went to Paris almost entirely to obtain that stupid sample (it’s the Paris exclusive) and then lost Cuir 28, which is the Dubai one and even I am not crazy enough to fly to Dubai only for a perfume sample.
Summer Favourites 2025
With temperatures reaching almost 30 degrees Celsius in Luxembourg today its perhaps premature to pronounce summer to be over, but for an Estonian like me, September is definitely an autumn month. So let’s take a moment to look back to my summer favourites: most of these are not limited to hot weather, in case you are interested in trying them out. Not all are new launches either, as I am trying to appreciate things that have stood the test of time rather than always chasing newness.
On Perfume and Politics
Yesterday, my good friend and perfume expert Victoria Belim called out the fragrance brand Les Indemodables for how they use the concept of ‘legendary Russian leather’ in the marketing of their latest scent Vanille Havane ‘Cuir des Abysses’. She pointed out to the company that romanticising the Russian Empire is perhaps not what we should be engaging in right now. Disappointingly, but predictably, the brand replied that this is just a reference to a specific tanning technique (more on this later) and asked whether we should now all stop reading Dostoyevsky. When Victoria shared her thoughts and the brand’s reaction, I went to their Instagram feed and asked them to reconsider the use of the concept – in what I though was a reasonably respectful manner.
My Evening Skincare Routine Now That I Am 45
This is the follow-up to my morning skincare routine that I posted a few weeks ago. Since then, the world has become even more unhinged than previously – a considerable feat – making me reconsider all the ways I spend my money. You will see a number of US brands here (The Ordinary, Glossier, Tatcha, Victoria Beckham), but I think my policy going forward will be to try to avoid them if possible. I will not be a fundamentalist about it and I may still want to support some smaller, independent US brands. The rest of the context is covered in the first post, so let’s get to the evening steps.