Books #33

[cill2019]

I had to share my beautiful birthday present from my family, absolutely adore them I may or may not have cried

 

[Smca53]

I convinced my mum to read 25 Days as well

I’ve just discovered…

She did a ToolaRoola on me

 

[ordinaryjelly]

I made it! 281 books. 100, 098 pages. I set my goal every year at 104 books, so two books per week. Laying in a hospital bed leaves me nothing else to do but read. I don't really watch TV and I try not to just scroll on my phone. It is surprisingly easy to read a 350ish page book when you have nothing else to do.

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

I've had a really crap reading year. It does feel like Ive read all the good books or that Ive read such good books now my expectations are much higher.

Would anyone be interested in a 2024 reading round up? If so I will get the questions up over the weekend

 

[ordinaryjelly]

Merry Christmas you lovely lot. I have said it before but this is by far the best thread on Tattle, I think it is the only one where we can disagree, it be respected and not cause a 43 page hysteria about why you are wrong.

Everyone above has said what I would have said about 25 Days, so I won't repeat. It was such a fun reading experience even if it wasn't some literary genius. I have never before taken a whole month to read a 350 page book!

 

[cill2019]

Happy new year book friends!
I’ve decided this year I’m not doing a goal. I found it just put too much pressure on especially as I’m a slooooooow reader. My aim this year is just to enjoy books, take my time and read I started Manacled yesterday which will probably take a year but I’m so chuffed with myself I managed to download a cover for it onto my kindle and I’m listening to ACOTAR today (re listen)
I hope everyone has had a lovely festive period, it’s been an amazing time in the Cill household as my little non verbal babe has found his voice here’s to good times and happy reading

 

[Lorny]

Hope you don’t mind me joining in here. I started reading fiction again at the start of this year after 10 years of only reading biographies and history books. I was a big reader in my teens/early 20s but once I started doing my dissertation I lost the ability to concentrate on novels and just never got back into it which always bothered me. I’ve managed to get my old love for it back and reading through these threads has given me plenty of new recommendations for my TBR list too. I’ve just downloaded 25 Days too to join in the advent read along

 

[nbt]

 

[LaBlonde]

I really struggle with the idea of books being seen as problematic. I think in many ways we learn so much from how things used to be and that's how progress is made. Books are generally 'of their time' and I think these books were probably set around 1940s. I think it's a fascinating insight into how far we have come and I would hate to lose that by seeing books sanitised. One of my favourite older authors is Monica Dickens and I guess she would definitely be seen as 'problematic' now but I still enjoy her books.

i absolutely agree with this.

i see it even in current books where the goodreads reviews are dragging certain characters for not acting certain ways or expressing problematic views even when those things are expressed for plot reasons. i think we need nuance in what and how we read and, like you, i hate the idea of older books being sanitised or impacted by what we now know about their authors (like enid blyton or roald dahl). just let them exist as they are!

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Happy New Year Book friends. I spent last night with a glass of fizz and my kindle. Im sure a few of you did too. Hoping for health, happiness and excellent books for us all im 2025 x

 

[HoGi]

I love my kindle(s) and will implore anyone to get one, but on this holiday so many people are using them and it means I can't nosey at what they are reading! It's great in reverse that they can't see I'm reading smut but I wanna know what people are reading, mainly to increase my ever growing tbr list lol

 

[cherrymoon]

Read quite a few this month (thanks free KU) please ignore the ridiculous amount of porn I’ve read, they were free, your honour!

 

[nbt]

Don’t come at me for giving 5 stars to Harry I truly found it interesting, okay? I shall be taking no further questions about this. Also, I actually received a text from a family member asking if it was an ironic 5 star

 

[Mamacita]

Goodreads is getting cheeky with me eh

I've read less books than last year but actually read about 2000 pages more so I'll take that as a win!

 

[ordinaryjelly]

I couldnt sleep last night so I finished 25 Days at around 4.30am

I'll be interested to hear what everyone thinks once they have finished.

So many people sitting with @ToolaRoola. You'll all be getting coal in your stockings.

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Ive had a think about the 24 books I want to read next year.

Kindle/Digital

Ask Again, Yes - Mary Beth Keabe
The Winners - Fredrik Backman
The Late Americans - Brandon Taylor
Prep - Curtis Sittenfield
The Most Fun We Ever Had - Claire Lombardo
Glasgow Boys - Margaret McDonald
Kala - Colin Walsh
Just For the Summer - Abby Jimenez
Come and Get it - Kiley Reid
Lazy City - Rachel Connolly
Pretty Girls - Karin Slaughter
This Summer Will Be Different - Carley Fortune

Physical Books

Funny Story - Emily Henry
Blue Sisters - Coco Mellors
The Survivors - Alex Schulman
Long Island Compromise - Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Ginger and Me - Elissa Soave
Scabby Queen - Kirsten Innes
Same As It Ever Was - Claire Lombardo
Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver
My Vampire Plus One - Jenna Levine
The Secret History- Donna Tartt
The Ink Black Heart - Robert Galbraith
The Full Gold Ranch series by Elsie Silver

I am going to assign the summer and obviously autumn themed ones (looking at you Donna Tartt) but try and pick up the rest as and when.

 

[LydiaDeetzHat]

Yes, I hate DNF’ing and rarely do it even though I keep telling myself I need to get better at it - life is too short and there are too many books, etc.

I too feel like it’s a waste of money

think of itlike this.. if you DNF you have "wasted money" . if you carry on reading a book you don't like then not only have you still wasted the money, you have wasted the time as well.

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Happy Holidays / Christmas / Festive times book friends Hope you all had a lovely few days, even if you dont celebrate.

I received the Playing for Keeps series in physical book format for Christmas and a personalised book embosser. The rest of my holiday will be spent embossing all my books I admitted to my partner today that when I was a child my mum once bought me a date stamp and I spent hours turning all my books into 'library books' with a little hand made slip inside. The look he gave me 🫠

 

[inksmear]

I am on 41 of my 50 book challenge. I could possibly make it if I really push reading in the evening rather than scrolling nonsense on my phone.
Got in a huge slump but finished Lost at Sea by Jon Ronson which I gave three stars to because it was an easy and interesting read. The format of the short stories in each chapter made it easy to read when my brain was a bit frazzled after work.

I am now reading Just Like You by Nick Hornby. It is neither here nor there really but it is a way to pass the time.

This year I really tried to get back into reading after a few years of really struggling to concentrate. It has been quite up and down because of various difficult life events and an extremely busy, stressful and demanding job which utterly drains me a lot of the time but I really feel like I met my goal. Fave books of the year were The Bee Sting by Paul Murray and Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. Definitely taking my re-discovered love of reading into 2025 with me and honestly, this forum has helped more than anything to keep me inspired to pick up the books! 🥹

 

[Libbylulu]

Love this, so simple but effective