Books #33

[AllieBee]

The books were so problematic (fat shaming and whatnot...) but I still really enjoyed them and Darrell is just so lovely and she grew so much over the series which was just wonderful to see. Need to find a new book to read now but not sure what since these were so lovely and I just don't know what I feel like reading next. I will have a think and a nosey on goodreads to find a new read (maybe a Christmas one since we had some snow yesterday and today)

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.

 

[ToolaRoola]

I started reading someone’s book over their shoulder on the tube a couple of weeks ago because I couldn’t see the cover but wanted to find out what the chunky book was that was good enough to lug round.

I’d love to see your future list of books on trains!

Us finding physical book readers on the tube.

I'll do a December summary of "Books people read on the train" Will there be a Christmas theme? Are people strong enough to carry and read hardbacks? All will be revealed!

 

[ordinaryjelly]

It is almost two years since I have bought a book myself. I have been given them as gifts/book tokens/passed on to me by others.

I have 5 physical books to read and 31 left on my Kindle. My birthday is in November, so there is no reason reason why I should receive any books before mid-February which is when I estimate I will have been able to clear those 36 books.

The two years shows you how out of control my tbr pile has been, because I can read a 350 page book in two days. Was I have gone through the pile I have wondered why post me thought buying that book was a good idea. I deleted all my Amazon first reads from my Kindle. I have dnf 19 books.

I have a book token burning a hole in my pocket and I am saving it until I am reading my last book.

It feels weird to think there is no longer any towering piles of books with my name on anymore!

 

[Smca53]

I knew I was stingy with 5 star ratings. But I didn’t realise how stingy

What a book though 🩷

 

[LaBlonde]

Spoiler: 25 days. Day 10

I think we all predicted that walking down the mountain would be a disaster. How do they think that sheltering behind a tick is going to offer them any protection from what must be really cold temperatures. How will they survive the night laying on just a wool blanket?

What is the implication of finding Bill's SUV? Was he really trying to get up the mountain to the cabin? Or is it a plant because he knew that sooner or later they would attempt to come down the mountain. Are they truly sure that that was his finger in the stocking? The same ring could be put on another finger.

Who was the man with the rifle? How did he get up the mountain? Has he been there all along? Is he the person with the snowmobile?

I am finding it difficult not to pull a @ToolaRoola and read on? Equally I am enjoying the suspense. I catch myself in the daytime pondering what is coming next.

I can't remember who first mentioned this book, but thank you! It is better than any Advent calender I have ever had.

i’m not reading but enjoying following along with you guys and just wanted to say that i LOVE that “pulling a @ToolaRoola is now thread speak for reading far ahead

 

[aalmaalm]

Im sorry I have betrayed you that kept believing in me! I caved! I finished 25 days!!

 

[Eureka]

I finished my last book of the year this morning which brings my total to 80 for the year. It's the most I've ever read, really proud of that considering I work full time and I'm also in college. About a third of that is audio books, I listen to them in the car and while walking the dog.

 

[LaBlonde]

Read quite a few this month (thanks free KU) please ignore the ridiculous amount of porn I’ve read, they were free, your honour!
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i love everyone here obviously but, my god, this might be the best monthly roundup we’ve ever had

you have no idea how many times i’ve gone back to your post just to look at the cover of AIRPEEN

 

[nbt]

‘Twas I that first mentioned 25 Days and I’m so pleased everyone is enjoying it. Always a worry that something might be a flop!

I’m finding it’s helping bring my reading mojo back a little. Because of the way it’s written, it’s easy to just read a chapter a day and not forget what’s happened so far.

 

[Brightlycolouredbowels]

Spoiler: 25 Days

How many days ago was Adam pushed off a cliff by snowmobile man? FFS not only did he manage to survive that but he’s been wondering around a forest in the snow for 5(?) days and is still alive? Urgh this will be the longest time I’ve been reading a book for this year, the ending better be good!

I always wonder why Spotify and now Goodreads sum up your year before the year is out. I’m currently reading 3 books, 2 I’ll finish at the weekend and 25 days which I’ll finish on Christmas Day, I’m planning on getting through another 5 or 6 before the year is out. It annoyed me that Goodreads told me how many books I’d read this year. There will be more.

 

[Boogs]

I've read 20 books this year. I am around 60% through number 21 (The Ashes and the Star Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent). I hoped to finish it before this evening but i don't think i will manage it. While 20 is not a lot compared to what some people read I am so happy to have gotten back into reading. I loved reading as a child but fell out of the habit. I always did the Goodread's challenge and set targets of 1 book per month but never managed it. It was fantasy books that got me back into it this year. I read all of ACOTAR, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame and also the first two books in the Nyaxia series and the novella Six Scorched Roses.

Besides those I also loved The Nightingale by Krisitin Hannah, The House in the Cerulean Sea and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.

I used to read all the time as a kid (only kid I know who used to get told off for reading too much) but as I got older I found myself reading magazines and the internet more. I joined a book club a few years back to make me read more but I still rarely read for pleasure. In 2022 I read 16 books, in 2023 I read 12 books. I started out this year with 1 in January and 1 in February. Then something kicked in back in March and I’m ending the year on 83. Just a slight increase I don’t think I’ll set a goal for next year but I would like to try and read a minimum of 5 books a month. Reading is so much better for me than doom scrolling.

 

[ordinaryjelly]

I'm in the top 1%, I have read 279 books this year.

I am on 99,109 pages read. I really, really want to get to 100k before the year is out. So 3, 350ish page books. If I didn't have to be sociable before the year is out it would be easy!

 

[ordinaryjelly]

In my quest to reach 100,000 pages I am now at 99,851 so I think it will be easy enough. Then I will be satisfied. But next year I will set the pages challenge at maybe 125,000 pages. 🫣

 

[emerald]

I finished on 19 books in 2024, which I'm happy with considering I didn't touch a novel until July. I set an unambitious but managable goal for 32 this year because that's the age I'm turning

My first book is How Does She Do It? by Paris Fury, which is a rogue choice for me as a childless woman but I find myself drawn to things about big families because it's so removed from my own life; it's interesting to me.

I'm going to try and choose 3 or 4 books to finish each month instead of being stuck with decision paralysis (common theme for me in life in general) or reading 3 or 4 books at a time and making negligble progress on all of them. So my targets for January will be finishing Iron Flame (what a slog that's turning out to be), then Jade City by Fonda Lee, and then Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez.

 

[LaBlonde]

And not everyone has the same views so what's problematic for someone doesn't necessarily need to be problematic for others (aside from properly awful things that should universally be considered problematic)

exactly!

the one that really comes to mind for me is when i read yinka, where is your huzband? last year (and enjoyed it) - which is about a young woman with a very traditional ghanian family trying to cope with being long-term single. in the book she sort of spirals, and expresses things based on that, and there were so many one star goodreads reviews of people being like this book is so problematic and heteronormative and the lead character isn’t accepting and stuff and i was like that is literally the POINT of the book sometimes it’s like every character in every book must be amazing liberal and express the internet’s viewpoint of the month and it bugs me 🫣

on that topic, still loving beartown very much and it’s a great example of having a huge cast of characters, some of whom behave in very difficult ways sometimes, and having them all be completely believable and true to the story that he’s trying to tell.

 

[Katykatykaty]

Spoiler: 25 Days - 15th December

That was a disturbing chapter! I’m so pleased the girls seem unharmed (so far) but poor Bill! I’m desperate to know who this guy is and why he’s torturing these people. Is he just some random psycho or is there a connection somewhere?

This has genuinely been one of my favourite reads of the year and I don’t think it’s because it’s the best book of the year but the experience is brilliant. Reading along with you lovely lot and reporting back every day is just so much fun. Best advent calendar ever!

 

[ToolaRoola]

Forgive me book lovers for I have sinned.

I'm reading ahead on 25 days, I can't cope with the thought of reading a book over that many days and it ruining my reading average.

 

[ToxicPony]

2024 READING ROUND UP

What is your favourite fiction read of this year?

After much back and forth, I have decided to go with 'The First to Die at the End' by Adam Silvera. I bawled, which usually gets a book a 5* rating from me.

Others that stood out:
In Acension by Martin McInnes
Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward
We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
Everyone on this Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson (who is my top pick for best new author to me this year)

What is your favourite non-fiction read of this year?

Apparently out of the 233 books I've read, only six have been non-fiction, so it's not the greatest honour. Probably 'If Nietsche were a Narwhal' by Justin Gregg, about animal intelligence.

What was your favourite audio book of this year?

I don't listen to audio books.

What books surprised you, good or bad?

Surprisingly good: Beneath Devils Ridge by Loreth Ann White. This had been on my kindle for years and I'd avoided it, but I gave it 5*.

Surprisingly bad: Divine Rivals, despite the insane hype I found it boring and a bit pretentious. Also, The Tattooist of Auschwitz. It was insanely popular and I thought it was utterly rubbish.

If you rate books what was your average rating and/or summarise your year of reading.

3.3 was my average rating for the year and I think it summarises it quite well - a LOT of middling, average books and few standouts either great or awful. Definitely fewer 5* than in previous years (roughly 10 percent) but also barely any 1*. My favourite books of this year probably wouldn't have made it in previous years.

This year I set myself a task to read any Goodreads nominees that I had on my kindle, and got through nearly 20 of them in about three weeks.

I barely read any of the booker nominees (only the winner, Orbital) which is unusual for me, but hardly any of them piqued my interest.

I read fewer romance and romance fantasy books than in previous years. I'm finding the genres are both giving diminishing returns.

I extended my love of murder mysteries and also discovered a liking of police procedurals. A surprisingly different mini-genre that I consistently liked was 'lgbt magical cosy mystery'.

I read and really enjoyed a good amount of horror. For the first time ever I started to 'theme' my reading, starting mainly at Halloween with spooky season stories, but following into winter and Christmas.

Have you pre-ordered any books for 2025 yet / which books are you most looking forward to being released?

New books from Ruth Ware, Janice Hallett, Clare Mackintosh, Taylor Jenkins Reid, John Mary's, Gillian McAllister, Kristina Perrin, Sarah Moss, VE Schwab, Emily Henry, Cara Hunter, RF Kuang, Anthony Horowtiz...and many more plus some great looking debuts. I'm very excited about 2025 releases, it looks to be a very stacked year!

Do you have a list of books you are aiming to read next year or do you have any reading goals for the year ahead.

Goals include going through my kindle library and getting rid of books that realistically I don't want to read - I have roughly 400.

I aim to read series closer together rather than spreading them out to 'save' them and forgetting everything that happened between books.

I aim to read some more accessible classics and become cultured as hell.

 

[StrawberryBanana90]

2024 READING ROUND UP - Thanks @Caffeine Fiend - I'm bored at work so will do this now

What is your favourite fiction read of this year? A tough one, but I think I'll have to go with Welcome to Glorious Tuga
The Grace Year and How High we go in the Dark come close though

What is your favourite non fiction read of this year? Cultish - Amanda Montell - I didn't actually read many non-fiction books this year, something I'd like to improve in 2025.

What is your favourite audio book of this year? Not really an audiobook consumer but I listened to Girls in Tears by JW as it was the only format I could get it in and I didn't hate it!

What book/s surprised you good or bad? I.e did something not live up to your expectations or did any surpass any expectations you had for it? Think Again by JW didn't really meet my expectations which was a shame! I could see the vision but I wouldn't say JW's writing is geared towards adults. A pleasant surprise was "The Country Will Bring us no Peace" - it's a weird one, I finished the book and thought I didn't like it but the more I sat with it, the more it stuck with me for some reason? I also surprised myself by enjoying a cheesy F1 romance, Before You

If you rate books what was your average rating and/or sum up your year of reading. Scrolling down my list on Storygraph, I think I had a good year! I started to rate them at the beginning of the year and then just fell off and can't really be bothered to go back and rate. I hit my goal of 55 so I'm happy! Any reading is good reading in my books

Have you pre-ordered any books for 2025 yet / which books are you most looking forward to being released? I haven't personally pre-ordered any but I'm looking forward to the new Hunger Games book Sunrise on the Reaping. I'm hoping 2025 will be the year I finally get into more fantasy related books - I have Godkiller and The Will of the Many on my TBR which I'm looking forward to getting stuck in with

Do you have a list of books you are aiming to read next year or do you have any reading goals for the year ahead, this doesnt have to be quantity based or anything like that. I neeeeed to get through my physical TBR, it's been sat there for way too long now. I think I'm going to plug them all into a random name generator and once a month I have to read at least one of them! I do like to put a quantity on because it's satisfying so I think I'll bump my 55 from this year up to 60!

Happy holidays everyone Wishing you all happy reading in 2025!

 

[daisynoon]

I was pretty generous with my ratings on goodreads where I round up, less so on StoryGraph

Also not sure how I feel about this: