Tag: monthly stats

Books read this month: 30*

New books: 26

Re-reads: 4 (all audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 6

NetGalley books read: 1

Kindle Unlimited read: 8

Ebooks: 11

Audiobooks: 4

Non-fiction books: 1

Favourite book: hard to pick – the Phryne Fisher was bittersweet but lovely, the Helen Ellis was fun and I still really, really love Romantic Comedy even if I didn’t love the audiobook narrator’s rendering of the male characters!

Books bought: moving on…

Most read author: Jenn McKinlay if we’re looking at the new reads, Dorothy L Sayers if we include the re-reads too.

Books read in 2025: 346

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 802

I wrote a whole list of books that I was going to read in November at the start of the month, and then about a week later I did an audit of the 50 states challenge and realised that I needed to throw the original list out of the window. And so my major achievement for the month is ticking 16 (!) states off the list. Eight of those were already on either the virtual pile or the physical pile and another four came from Kindle Unlimited, so that was pretty good too. Now I just need to keep the momentum going and tick the last states off – we’re into single figures now so it’s very, very doable…

Bonus picture: I finished the beat the to read shelf bookcase in my journal. All of those green colours are mysteries of various types so you can see a bit of a pattern there…

*often includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – 3 this month!

Books read this month: 32*

New books: 27

Re-reads: 3 (2 audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 7

NetGalley books read: 6

Kindle Unlimited read: 11

Ebooks: 3

Audiobooks: 4

Non-fiction books: 4

Favourite book: Probably What You Are Looking For is in the Library

Books bought: lets skip over this…

Most read author: Jill Churchill – two more Jane Jeffreys books

Books read in 2025: 314

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 802

So after the progress of September on the NetGalley and pile front, October wasn’t quite as strong. The bright side is that the six NetGalley books I did read include all of the October releases, so for once I’m keeping pace with that, but the list is being somewhat propped up by novella and Kindle Unlimited. A lot of them were me trying new mystery series – and not always to great success. But if you don’t try them you don’t know, and I guess at least I’m getting the value out of my KU subscription!

Bonus picture: After the clock change, I’ve got sunrise on the train again – as opposed to dark until London – for a week or two. And this week the colours were amazing, although the frost in the fields is a sign of the weather to come…

*often includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – 9 this month!

Books read this month: 33*

New books: 28

Re-reads: 5 (all audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 9

NetGalley books read: 10

Kindle Unlimited read: 4

Ebooks: 5

Audiobooks: 5

Non-fiction books: 7 (!)

Favourite book: Breakneck

Books bought: 8 ebooks and some actual books…

Most read author: tough to tell – two Jill Churchill books, two Tom Mead, but also some quite long non-fiction which might be more than both!

Books read in 2025: 284

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 803

A pretty slow start to the month, but a solid month in reading in the end because of the holiday and more than four hours on the plane to Gran Canaria and back. I’m particularly pleased with the number of books from the NetGalley list this month – I’m still way behind, but it’s my best month in ages on that front, so I’m going to try and keep that going if I can, although the actual physical pile is worryingly huge at the moment so I need to try and get that down too!

Bonus picture: some more sunshine and palm trees from my reading spot on holiday!

*often includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – but not this month!

Books read this month: 32*

New books: 25

Re-reads: 6 (all audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 10

NetGalley books read: 4

Kindle Unlimited read: 3

Ebooks: 5

Audiobooks: 9

Non-fiction books: 4

Favourite book: probably The Mitford Girls, even though I haven’t written about it yet!

Books bought: possibly slightly better than last month, but still way too many

Most read author: T P Fielden of the new stuff, but Agatha Christie and Nancy Mitford if you’re including the re-reads

Books read in 2025: 251

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 808

Another fairly solid month in reading – especially considering that the Mary Lowell Mitford book is 700 pages long and that takes time, and there aren’t a lot of short stories on this month’s list.

Bonus picture: yarn bombing in Northampton for the rugby, courtesy of my mum!

*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 1 this month!

Books read this month: 31*

New books: 23

Re-reads: 8 (6 audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 4

NetGalley books read: 1

Kindle Unlimited read: 12

Ebooks: 5

Audiobooks: 6

Non-fiction books: 0

Favourite book: Dear Miss Lake probably

Most read author: Judith Flanders – three books in the Sam Clair series.

Books bought: too many

Books read in 2025: 219

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 799

I mean I think you must be bored of me telling you that it’s been a really busy week/month at this point, because I feel like I’m always typing it. But it really is true. In July I had a work trip to Accra, two theatre trips and a concert to name but a few. And the malaria pills and the overnight flight home really wiped me out and it’s taken (is taking?!) a while to recover. But given all of that, I’m pretty pleased with the stats for the month, even if they don’t include any non-fiction books *again*. Must really try and sort that out this month. Possibly wishful thinking though.

Bonus picture: another picture from Accra.

*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 3 this month!

Books read this month: 31*

New books: 22

Re-reads: 9 (5 audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 5

NetGalley books read: 6

Kindle Unlimited read: 5

Ebooks: 10

Audiobooks: 5

Non-fiction books: 0

Favourite book: maybe A Murder for Miss Hortense of the new stuff, but I’ve really enjoyed the re-reads too

Most read author: Nicola Upson with the three Josephine Tey books I hadn’t read because they were on offer and Anne Granger with the last two Mitchell and Markbys and the new Campbell and Carter.

Books bought: 4 ebooks, about four book-books and also a pre-order arrived

Books read in 2025: 188

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 795

A pretty solid month all in. The heatwave made it a bit hard to concentrate towards the end of the month and I’m still behind on the new releases but I read a lot of stuff I enjoyed and at least I finished the Mitchell and Markby reread so there’s a fighting chance I might read some more new stuff in July.

Bonus picture: the crowd (and me) outside the Palladium to watch Rachel Zegler so Don’t Cry for Me Argentina from the balcony. I could see her arm and her side profile at best – but I only got there ten minutes before. When I had walked past an hour earlier there were already more than a hundred people in the prime spots and I wasn’t prepared to wait that long!

*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 3 this month!

Books read this month: 32*

New books: 13

Re-reads: 19 (5 audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 6

NetGalley books read: 1

Kindle Unlimited read: 6

Ebooks: 13

Audiobooks: 5

Non-fiction books: 0

Favourite book: of the new things that I read, probably On Turpentine Lane.

Most read author: Ann Granger with 14 (!) books (re)read – see below

Books bought: still too many – especially given that I had to buy the Mitchell and Markby‘s because I had borrowed them from a friend when I read them the first time.

Books read in 2025: 156

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 793

After finishing the Ruth Galloway binge last month, I have gone on an even more intensive binge re-reading the Mitchell and Markby books after I bought that one at Baddesley Clinton despite everything else that was demanding to be read. This is why the NetGalley total is so measly – just the one, right at the start of the month before the binge started – and explains the lack of non-fiction too. The good news here (I guess) is that I’ve only got a couple left to read before I’ve finished the series and then I’ll have to read other things. But it probably says something about where my head is at at the moment that I’ve retreated into cosy murder mystery re-reads.

Bonus picture: Despite the re-reading last month, I am ahead of schedule on my beat the TBR pile bookcase. Of course some of this is due to the Elly Griffiths binge – check out all those dark green books – but there’s basically just a lot of murder mystery in my first five months of physical book reading!

*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including this month!

Books read this month: 30*

New books: 22

Re-reads: 8 (5 audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 10

NetGalley books read: 6

Kindle Unlimited read: 5

Ebooks: 4

Audiobooks: 5

Non-fiction books: 1

Favourite book: Tough – but I’m going to go with The Last Remains because I thought it finished the Ruth Galloway series off so nicely

Most read author: Probably Kerry Greenwood – with three Corinna Chapmans, but it would be tight on page count with the two Elly Griffiths and Sally Smiths’ two Gabriel Vine books.

Books bought: still too many

Books read in 2025: 124

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 789

Lots of stuff going on in the real world too but still pretty solid month in reading all in. Onwards to May!

Bonus picture: House plant progress with a flower coming on a new plant

*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including this month!

Books read this month: 33*

New books: 24

Re-reads: 9 (9 audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 17

NetGalley books read: 2

Kindle Unlimited read: 3

Ebooks: 1

Audiobooks: 9

Non-fiction books: 0

Favourite book: I mean one of the Ruth Galloways, I just don’t know which one…

Most read author: Elly Griffiths – 12 Ruth Galloway books…

Books bought: still too many

Books read in 2025: 94

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 780

A pretty good month in reading all in, although it has presented a problem or two. A massive, massive binge like I’ve been on with the Ruth Galloway series reduces the options for Books of the Week – because of my rules about repeat authors and later books in series – and that in its turn presents issues for the Quick Reviews, as you could see on Wednesday. But given that I’ve very nearly finished the series now, April should be better on that front. I might even finish a non-fiction book…

Bonus picture: Progress on this year’s Beat the to-read Pile bookshelf – we are ahead of schedule! Reader, it will not last. It never lasts! Also: boy oh boy can’t you see the Ruth Galloway binge impact – in volume and colours.

*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 2 this month!

Books read this month: 30*

New books: 20

Re-reads: 10 (9 audiobooks)

Books from the to-read pile: 2

NetGalley books read: 5

Kindle Unlimited read: 10

Ebooks: 3

Audiobooks: 9

Non-fiction books: 1

Favourite book: Hard to decide – either The Favourites or The Crossing Places per my stats page on Goodreads

Most read author: hard to tell because only one book finished for everyone except the Ngaio Marsh and Agatha Christie re-listens, but I did start a second Elly Griffiths book so maybe her?

Books bought: too many

Books read in 2025: 61

Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 760

A solid month in the end, although a fair few novellas and audiobook re-listens in there. Onwards to March!

Bonus picture: A relic of my student days is that I am unable to resist a cocktail with Midori in it, even if it comes with googly eyes.

*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 5 this month!