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!
Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 760
A very busy month in real life, and a set of stats held up by the fact that it’s the start of the new year and audiobook relistens count to the total again. Relatively restrained on the purchasing front – mostly helped by the fact that a lot of what I wanted to read was in Kindle Unlimited.
Bonus picture: my favourite sign from my visit to Bookends at the start of the month
*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including this month!
Most read author: Kerry Greenwood because all 10 of those audiobooks were Miss Fisher mysteries and no other author got on the list more than once because there were a lot of states to tick off…
Books bought: 2 preorders, 6 ebooks, 1 book. Most of the six were to fill in missing states, although Kindle Unlimited did a lot of that work for me.
Books read in 2024: 413
Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 756
A month spent frantically ticking off the missing states in the 50 states challenge because that was infinitely more achievable than the idea of me carrying around physical books the whole month to try and finish that challenge, or in fact buying the kindle versions of books on the shelf to do it that way (because that is Defeating The Point). But I got there in the end, and the full list of what ticked off what is coming up in the next few days. All in all, a pretty good year in reading – 413 is my highest ever total, but I’m under no illusions that that’s because of the sheer number of cozy crime novella series I’ve read this year. But I couldn’t have completed the 50 states without them this year, so goodness knows what I’ll do next year if I do it again. I will try and pace myself better if I do it again – the mad dash in December isn’t a lot of fun and it meant I didn’t finish any NetGalley books last month because they didn’t fit the missing states. I need to work on that. I think I have done better at keeping my requests there down, but I always say that and I’m not sure it’s true. Anyway: here’s to a fresh start and a fresh slate in January!
Bonus picture: Goodreads tells me over 100k pages last year. Wowzers.
*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 7 this month!
Books bought: we will continue to not talk about it, although I did have a clear out of the bookshelves so that has improved things a little despite the amount incoming..
Books read in 2024: 375
Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 741
Genuinely a really solid month in reading, mostly, but not entirely down to the holiday. I’m still quite a long way short of my 50 states though, and a fair few books short on the beat the to-read pile challenge in my journal, so I’m not sure I can complete both of them this year. Doesn’t mean I won’t try though…
Bonus picture: After writing about Avenue Q, this is from the night after that Q concert – with two of the stars, Jon Robyns and Simon Lipkin doing a late night show together in the West End. It was also wonderful.
*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 6 this month!
Most read author: Charlaine Harris, with the Lily Bard reread
Books bought: moving on….
Books read in 2024: 336
Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 754
A pretty solid month by figures, but still more than I’d like in novellas rather than actual books because that means it’s not reducing either the physical TBR pile or the Netgalley list. Still in the main they’re coming via KU so at least it means I’m getting value out of that membership!
Bonus picture: is it wrong to be proud of a cake?! Any way, I made this and I was so…
*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 7 this month!
Most read author: Sheila Connolly – four in the Fundraising the Dead series
Books bought: still not counting, because Kuala Lumpur was… book heavy
Books read in 2024: 305
Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 747
A pretty solid month I’m going to say helped a fair bit by those long haul flights right at the start. And now we enter the last quarter of the year heading towards the festive season and all the Christmas books…
Bonus picture: Worrals goes East may have been a terrible book, but it did push me over the 200 book mark for the year. Time to up the target!
*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 4 this month!
Favourite book this month: probably Let’s Play Dead by Sheila Connelly, given that I went and bought the first book and third book in the series straight after I finished it and have read the first one already!
Most read author: Probably Patti Benning again, because I read a bunch at the start of the month, but Hugh Morrison coming up fast behind at the end of the month
Books bought: One book-book, two ebooks and a preorder
Books read in 2024: 240
Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 740
A pretty solid month in reading, although ending slower than it started. I was binging through one author at the start of the month, and moved on to mini-binges on a couple of others as we moved through. Not enough Netgalley reading done, which is all pretty standard stuff for me.
Bonus picture: Another picture from the Barbican Conservatory before Kiss Me Kate
*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including this month!
Books bought: Three book-books, four ebooks and two pre-orders
Books read in 2024: 208
Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 736
A pretty solid month of reading all in all. Not as much from the NetGalley list as I should have done, but more from the to-read pile than some months so swings and roundabouts.
Bonus picture: Regents Park on a summer evening. Lovely stuff.
*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 2 this month!
Most read author: Margery Allingham because of the ebooks
Books bought: 5 books and 6 ebooks and one preorder
Books read in 2024: 171
Books on the Goodreads to-read shelf (I don’t have copies of all of these!): 740
I’m going to call this the month of Kindle Unlimited, because it’s true really. I’ve read so much from there this month for various reasons, but it’s really justified its subscription price.
Bonus picture: another Lagos picture. Not that you can really tell!
*includes some short stories/novellas/comics/graphic novels – including 8 this month!
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 