All the best books the IMAGE staffers read this year

Sarah Gill, Deputy Digital Editor

When I read a great book, my barometer of my own annoyingness goes all out of whack. I want everyone I know to read it so we can discuss ad nauseum and cast the film versions in our heads. It is for precisely this reason that my copy of John Patrick McHugh’s Fun and Games has been making its way around the various IMAGE staffers’ handbags. It’s an Irish coming-of-age story set in the heady few months between the Leaving Cert and the rest of your life, when sex and intimacy are simultaneously the most unthinkable and all-consuming aspects of your daily life. It also lends a poeticism to GAA that I never personally thought I’d be able to appreciate, having become allergic to all sport early on in life, but such is John Patrick’s magic.

Fun and Games shares my top spot with Wendy Erskine’s debut novel The Benefactors. I adore Wendy’s writing, and this book serves as a window to a modern Northern Ireland with a cacophony of voices fogging up the glass. It’s a story of class and privilege, of motherhood and trauma, of money and love. Honourable mention must also go to Sinéad Gleeson’s Hangstone, which is dark, otherworldly and utterly captivating and Thirst Trap by Gráinne O’Hare, which is a salve for the 20-something soul on the slow march towards 30s-dom.

Dearbhla Lovett, IMAGE First Activations Freelancer

One of my 2025 goals was to get back into reading fiction again, and this was off to such a great start before the summer. However once I got back from my holidays in August I have struggled to pick back up a book, so any advice on getting back into it is greatly appreciated!

During my reading phase, I borrowed a book from our own wonderful Sarah Gill – Fun & Games by John Patrick McHugh. This was one of my favourite reads purely because of its simplicity and innocence. Even though the protagonist is male and the story follows his journey post-Leaving Cert, the novel still brought me right back to my own memories of the summer after the Leaving Cert, and all the long endless days spent with friends and the bittersweet uncertainty about what the future might hold. It was the perfect summer read – warm, nostalgic and slightly awkward at times, what better way to describe being a teenager!

Ruth Maria, IMAGE Magazine Photographer

I am currently reading Manchán Magan’s Thirty-Two Words for Field . I find it is helping me reconnect with our Irish language and I am realising how deeply connected our language was to our land. It is a fascinating language and I never really connected with it before. This book is really doing that for me for the first time as an Irish person.

Meghan Killalea, Marketing Account Executive

I was lucky enough to select two incredible books off of my bookshelf before my summer holidays this year, both of which have been on my TBR for far too long. The first was The Song of Achilles, which is a beautiful retelling of the story of Achilles and Patroclus. A moving, unputdownable read, this climbed into my best reads as soon as I picked it up. The second was Hamnet, which I’m delighted to see is being made into a movie. This has cemented itself as one of my favourite books of all time. Its unique storytelling style and heartbreaking portrayal of loss had me hooked the whole time I was reading it. I leant it to my Mom after I finished, who loved it equally as much as I did. If you haven’t read either of these yet, I would highly recommend picking up a copy.

Hannah Stapleton, Junior Events Assistant

It had been at the top of my wishlist for months, if not over a year, so when I bought Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love, I felt as though I had fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine! I very rarely finish a book thinking, wow, that was life-changing’. This book was the exception. Coming everywhere with me for weeks. Every chance I got I was lost in Dolly Alderton’s world. It was like I had gained a big sister.

Featuring a chapter titled ‘Everything I Knew About Love at Twenty-One’, as someone who is twenty-one, I realised just how much love there is in my life. As Dolly herself reminds us, so much love comes from our female friendships. I think this is a must-read. For anyone in their twenties, and also for anyone who wants a good book, that will make them laugh, cry, and learn to love their life all that little bit more.

Shayna (Sappington) Healy, Branded Content Editor and Wedding Editor

Crime: Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra – I was glued to this book from page one. It turns the typical thriller structure on its head by starting in the middle of a crime – a woman is putting her child to sleep when she realises there’s a man in the house and she must do what she can to protect her family. There are lots of twists and turns, and it will leave you deeply unsettled, questioning who the real ‘bad guy’ is.

Fiction: Thirst Trap by Grainne O’Hare – I will never not recommend this book. It follows a group of friends who are each, quite frankly, an absolute mess. Filled with humour, heart and a fresh but frank approach to grief, it will have you calling your friends immediately afterwards to remind them how much you love them… and how much another sesh needs to be planned asap.

Mystery: The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman – I devoured these books on Audible. They follow a group of pensioners who solve crimes involving their retirement home, and while the plot always keeps you on your toes, it’s the characters that will keep you coming back. Each one is so real and lovable, I found myself laughing along at their antics and one-liners; with a background in TV, it’s no wonder the author is a master at characterisation!

Lizzie Gore-Grimes, Editor-in-Chief

When I saw that Ann Patchett, Clare Chambers and Ann Napolitano (all authors I really enjoy) were full of praise for The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, I knew I wanted to read it, and it didn’t disappoint. I have since bought two copies to gift to other people. It’s a story told through letters (which I love); celebrating the dying art of brilliant letter-writing.

The protagonist, Sybil, is a 70-something-year-old retired court clerk living in Maryland, who is a voracious reader, writer, and passionate gardener. The book, while a ‘gentle’ read, is never dull, Sybil is prickly and tricky with strong views. She is also witty and sharp with a wry view of the world which she expresses in the daily epistles she fires off to various people in her life, some friends, some public figures. She is also a flawed character who is compelled to face up to the complicated relationship she has with her daughter, a story thread which is dealt with in a moving and compassionate way in the book. An intelligent and generous read.

Meg Walker, Sub Editor, IMAGE Magazine

Julia Kelly’s memoir, Still (New Island) is a powerful exploration of grief. By taking a fresh perspective on her mother’s postmortem report, Julia attempts to put her beloved mother back together again in an extraordinary display of love.

Katie Brady, Marketing & Memberships Executive

Back in January, I absolutely inhaled Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe. I’m sure many people enjoyed the titular Hulu dramatisation, but if you haven’t read the book, I can’t recommend it enough.

It details the story of the Price sisters and, more broadly, the Troubles in the North. It may be intimidating in size, but it is such an accessible read that questions of memory, justice and our shared past become so digestible that it reads like a piece of fiction you simply can’t put down.

Ellen Ince, Event Manager

I’ve recently read Pitch: How to Captivate and Convince Any Audience on the Planet by Danny Fontaine and it’s definitely a must-read! Fontaine delivers a masterclass in persuasive communication, showing you how to truly connect, influence and inspire. The book’s three-act structure makes it easy to follow, guiding you through the art of pitching, from crafting compelling narratives to mastering delivery and building genuine connection with your audience. What I enjoyed most is how Fontaine breaks down complex communication strategies. The book isn’t all theory – it includes real-world examples, from high stakes billion-dollar pitches to everyday conversations which makes it engaging and authentic. Whether you’re pitching a product, a project, or yourself, Pitch gives you the toolkit.

Megan Burns, Editor, IMAGE Interiors; Managing Editor, IMAGE

Without a doubt the best book I read this year was A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. It’s not a new book, it was published 10 years ago, but I have long seen it on must-read lists and finally got around to reading it this summer on a trip. It’s a hefty tome, but I think I read it in two or three days, I literally couldn’t put it down. It’s beautiful and devastating in equal measure, and made me both fall utterly in love with all its characters, and sit weeping more than once. As fast as I flew through it, I was then heartbroken to have finished it, as it felt like I was saying goodbye to friends. Being such a devastating read, I don’t recommend it lightly, but few books have ever moved me the way this one did.