I Like To Sound Like A Rainforest (Ruth Goller)

What were our favourite books of the year and what are we most excited to read in 2026? Join the team behind the Ask Penguin podcast to look back at standout titles, memorable podcast moments, and the reading intentions we’re taking into the New Year.



What were the best books of 2025?

The classic guide to sex for seniors, offering real-life stories alongside expert advice “without apology, without shame and with accommodation, levity, humor and joy” (The New York Times)—now updated with a new foreword from the author and new expert tips

Joan Price is talking out loud about a subject that is often ignored or ridiculed in our society: later-life sex.  

In Naked at Our Age, she offers a candid, straight-talking exploration of senior sex in all its colors—the challenges, the disappointments, and the surprises, as well as the delights of love and passion. In this book, real people over fifty—women and men, coupled and single, straight and gay—talk candidly about how their sex lives and relationships have changed with age. No topic related to older sexuality is off-limits. Some are having unsatisfying sex, or no sex at all, and are looking for answers. Price presents their compelling personal stories, followed by wise advice from sex therapists, health professionals, counselors, and sex educators.  
   
Naked at Our Age is an entertaining and indispensable guide to the issues of senior sex and relationships. This new edition of the classic, award-winning book includes a new foreword from the author and new tips from experts.



Naked at Our Age by Joan Price read by Suzanne Toren

Practice a new framework for dismantling racial bias in our society, our workplaces, and ourselves: by learning to detect it as well as people of color do.

How do we combat racism in a world determined to tell us it doesn’t exist?
 
To hold the line against racism, we need to know it when we see it. And as the dominant racial group in our society, White people must take up the charge. The problem, says researcher, DEI leader, and organizational consultant Dr. Evelyn Carter, is that White people haven’t been socialized to detect racial bias in the way people of color do. Racism is more than using racial slurs or overt, hateful speech, and it’s more than unintentional slights; it’s about an entire system that upholds Whiteness as the preferred standard. 
 
Fortunately, detecting it is a skill that can be learned.

Was That Racist? is a re-education, call to action, and practical guide, full of research-backed strategies including how to: cultivate a growth mindset about bias, unlearn colorblindness and practice color consciousness, talk to kids about race and racism – and bring others along for the journey.

At a time when DEI is under coordinated attack, Was That Racist? is the essential toolkit for anyone who believes we all have a role to play in creating a more equitable world.

Was That Racist? by Evelyn R. Carter, PhD read by Evelyn R. Carter, PhD

Leveling up has truly changed Yuuya’s life. In the real world, things have done a complete 180. He’s getting used to his new school and making fast friends—which includes a fluffy companion in the other world. Meanwhile, thanks to his physical prowess and good looks, his popularity is through the roof (though he’s oblivious to this). He’s also finally learned how to use magic! Will it be enough to help him survive fires, assassins, and trials in the wilderness?!

I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too, Vol. 2 by Miku read by Curtis Michael Holland

Some secrets should stay behind closed doors…
 
Gemma’s got it all figured out: she has her amazing best friends April and Anna, a high-flying job, and a dating life that’s strictly no-strings-attached. Men fall at her feet – and she walks away from them without a backwards glance.

Max is a jet-setter with zero interest in settling down. Between London and New York City, he’s in a position of power, working at a luxury hotelier. But when he meets Gemma in a high-stakes hotel pitch, their chemistry is instant, electric…and completely off limits. Why? Because Max is Anna’s brother. And Anna has just one rule: don’t even think about her brother.

But the danger zone is Gemma’s favorite place to be. And some things are worth bending the rules for…

The Suite Secret by Tierney Page read by Will H. Watt and Evelyn Rose

From the international bestselling author of The Drowning Woman, a psychological thriller about a couple rocked by infidelity who moves to a villa in Spain’s Costa Brava to rebuild their relationship, only to welcome a pair of visitors who have no intention of leaving.  

Sydney Lowe’s life in New York is shattered when her husband, Curtis, admits to a meaningless affair with a client. Begging for forgiveness and vowing to prove his devotion, Curtis suggests the couple retreat to a remote hilltop house in Spain to repair their marriage.  

High above the Mediterranean, Sydney and Curtis are working on the isolated property and their relationship when a pair of Australian travelers turns up at their door in dire need of help. Lonely for companionship and desperate for free labor, Sydney and Curtis invite the attractive young couple to stay. But as the days pass, dark secrets come to light, the Lowes’ bond is tested, and not everyone will leave the villa alive.

“Robyn Harding is probably among the writers I most recommend, and once again she has excelled herself with damaged and damaging characters wreaking havoc on each other. I loved every page! When can I read the next one?” ―Liz Nugent, internationally bestselling author of Strange Sally Diamond

Strangers in the Villa by Robyn Harding read by Katherine Littrell

Based in London and Berlin, Let Spin are a cutting edge post-jazz quartet who have been making waves in the UK and European jazz scenes since their formation in 2012. The band comprises guitarist Moss Freed (Union Division; Spike Orchestra), saxophonist Chris Williams (Led Bib; Sarathy Korwar), bassist Ruth Goller (Skylla; Melt Yourself Down) & drummer Finlay Panter (Beats & Pieces Big Band), resulting in an explosive mixture of stylistic influences. Their collaborative way of working and focus on improvisation leads to incendiary live performances, allowing the music to venture into territories that are unforeseen even to the musicians themselves.