Rave Reads of the Year – 5
Rave Reads of the Year – 5
Welcome to Rave Reads of the Year – 5. This month I invite author friends to share one of their Rave Reads of 2025. Today’s choices come from Peter Garrett, Mary-Jane Riley and Victoria Gemmell. #RaveReads2025
Peter Garrett’s Rave Read
Samantha Harvey’s unusual 2024 Booker-prize winning novel Orbital combines a feel of hard science fiction (although the science, convincingly described, is not fiction) with an intense portrayal of the perceptions of the crew of a space station as they observe the Earth from orbit. Despite a strictly practised prohibition of adverbs the language is rich, full of striking images and nuances of colour and texture. The narrative perspective is mostly either authorial or from the point of view, in either second or third person plural pronouns, of the crew as a whole, with rare deep dives into the viewpoints of the individual characters. Ultimately, despite a relative lack of dramatic development and a tendency for the weight of imagery and descriptive adjectives to become a little suffocating, the book succeeds in creating a detailed, dreamlike depiction of Earth as witnessed from outside.
Peter Garrett's Final Diagnosis was nominated for the BSFA Best Shorter Fiction award in 2017.
Mary-Jane Riley’s Rave Read
Wild Moon Rising by Jenny Knight
Wild Moon Rising is Jenny Knight’s debut novel, an unflinching and sensual story of a woman in mid-life who undergoes a transformation while tending to her elderly neighbour's wild garden. Claire has been through divorce and loss. The slow clearing and flowering of the garden mirrors Claire's own transformation of body and spirit and allows her to make peace and understand her past, present and future. It is a book full of symbolism, rooted in the phases of the moon and the folklore of the countryside – written with much warmth, wit and wisdom. Knight tells a powerful story of change, of friendship and of the reclaiming of a midlife woman's place in the world.
Mary-Jane Riley published four contemporary crime novels before writing her first historical thriller novel, Beattie Cavendish and the White Pearl Club – a series set in the Cold War.
Victoria Gemmell’s Rave Read
Into the Magic Shop by James Doty
I've been reading a bit more non-fiction this year, and one of my top picks has to be 'Into the Magic Shop' which is a memoir, written by neurosurgeon Dr James Doty. The book starts from his troubled childhood, where aged 12, he meets a woman Ruth in a local magic shop who teaches him the 'magic' of meditative practices, mindfulness and positive visualisation. The story then follows Jim into adult life where he goes on to practice as a neurosurgeon. I've read lots of books about positive visualisation, and 'manifestation', but for me this holds the edge due to the way we can see the impact the techniques have throughout Jim's life. He emphasises the importance of compassion (when manifesting things you want), as well as adding in a more scientific connection between the heart and mind from his neurosurgeon practice. I came across the book when I saw tennis player Aryna Sabalenka rave about it, saying it helped transform her mental state, giving her new focus.
Victoria Gemmell writes Young Adult mystery thrillers, including cross-over thriller Young Blood .
Other Rave Reads of the Year Posts
#RaveReads2025
Linda Huber, Georgia Hill and Maggie Christensen
Michael Wood, Penny Batchelor and Terri Nixon