Books #40

[SaintLeo]

Good reading day for me. I hit a 500 day streak on StoryGraph and finished Probably Nothing by Lauren Bravo. There’s always something satisfying about finishing a book on the last day of the month to make the stats nice and neat!

5 books for me in November -

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami - sorry Murakami lovers but this fell a bit flat for me, maybe because I had big expectations going in. I just didn’t really connect with any of the characters so ended up not really caring what happened to them.

The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie - wanted a quick palette cleanser and this did the job. She never lets us down!

Somewhere Beyond The Sea by TJ Klune - I think like most reviews on here this was a bit of a let down after THITCS. It had some lovely moments but let down by the preachy-ness elsewhere.

My Friends by Fredrik Backman - One of my favourites of the year. Loved the characters and the story. All the feels!

Probably Nothing by Lauren Bravo - an ok light rom-com read. One of those I enjoyed but it won’t stay with me.

 

[veronica71]

My November reads - five stars all round

just had a Quick Look at Kindle daily deals and December won’t be a no buying month and that’s before I get into the monthly ones!!!!

 

[Brightlycolouredbowels]

2025 READING ROUND UP

What was your favourite fiction read of this year?
Death in the Spires by K.J. Charles - I love all her books but that’s the only one I read this year.

What was your favourite non-fiction read of this year?
I only read 5, 2 Marie Kondo which were re-reads, Steeple Chasing by Peter Ross Shakespeare by Judy Dent and The Governor by Vanessa Frake. They were all very different and all at least 4 stars so I can’t choose between them.

What was your favourite audio book of this year?
I only started listening to Audiobooks this year and only while driving so they’re normally quite easy books so I don’t have to concentrate fully. They were all 3 or 4 stars so can’t really choose between them. Perhaps End Game by Monica Murphy, typical american college football romance.

What book/s surprised you good or bad?
The Atlas Six Trilogy was really disappointing, hundreds of pages of waffle, as was the After series, hundreds of pages of two people screaming at each other and then making up.

If you rate books what was your average rating and/or sum up your year of reading?
My average rating was 3.7 I think I rate books quite highly. My lowest were 2 stars and I finished everything I started.

Have you pre-ordered any books for 2026 yet / which books are you most looking forward to being released?
I had to pre-order 3 to get by triple points at Waterstones. So I’ve got Strange Buildings by Utesku coming in Feb, Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson in in April and The Third Volume of Under the Oak Tree in June. At some point I’ll spend the Waterstones points I’ve accrued and then stop buying from Waterstones (I don’t buy physical books very often anyway) and start using my local brilliant indie bookshop more. I will NOT be pulled into the Waterstones sphere by special exclusive signed copies, which are always a let down of a random squiggle anyway.

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?
I read 130 books this year (16 audio) which has been my highest by far, my own spreadsheet says I’ve read 39793 pages which is frustratingly close to 40000, goodreads says I’ve read 45,379 pages because it’s counted the audiobooks whereas my spreadsheet doesn’t.

I only managed to read so many this year because about 30 of them were 200ish pages so I think I will be much closer to 100 books this year, I’ll set my target as 50 though because I always do.

I spent a very exciting half an hour earlier today organising my tbr spreadsheet for 2026 - I’ve been looking forward to doing it for over a week.
I currently have 183 books on my tbr, plus the 3 I’ve already pre-ordered will be 186. I have an amazon wishlist for kindle books I want to buy and will slowly buy them up if/when they come up on 99p deals. I’m hoping that this time next year my tbr will be below 100.

Edited to add:
I have just worked out how many books I bought vs how many I read and I have a net decrease to my tbr of 17 that needs to be better next year!

 

[veronica71]

I love these!!! Going to have to go back and add to my lists!

2025 READING ROUND UP



What was your favourite fiction read of this year?

All the Robert Galbraith Strike books. Thankful for this thread or I’d never have even looked at them

Also Queen and Countess by Anne O’Brien - I love historical fiction and Anne’s books are some of the best and better than Phillipa Gregory

Oh and finally read Little Women and bloody loved it


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

I read probably more non fiction than fiction

Cacophony of Bone by Kerri ni Dochartaigh is quite possibly the most beautiful book I’ve ever read

I’m glad my mom died by Jeanette McCurdy was a raw read

The Mystery of Princess Louise, The Witches:Salem 1692, All the Presidents Men, How to be a bad botanist and Killing Thatcher were all really good reads too

What was your favourite audio book of this year?

N/a

What book/s surprised you good or bad?

Little women surprised me by how lovely it was. Wuthering heights surprised me by how bloody miserable it is and unromantic!!!!

If you rate books what was your average rating and/or sum up your year of reading?

I rate them but it tends to be a five unless I hate it

Have you pre-ordered any books for 2026 yet / which books are you most looking forward to being released?

Nope

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?

My reading goal is always 52 books a year but I smashed it this year (currently on 100 - would be more but I seem to have got into the darts ) - I will probably stick with it at 52 but my plan is just to read as much as I can!! I don’t plan and am very much an interest based reader and one book will lead to another and so on so it’s impossible to make any plans. I have also decided that despite having over 500 physical books and 500 kindle books to read I am not having a book buying ban cos books are life and it could be worse - I could be hooked on drugs.

 

[pinkmug]

I've just finished I'm Glad My Mom Died. It deserves all the praise it gets. It might be the most stripped back and accessible yet harrowing writing I've read this year.

 

[Tofino]

Last night I finished The Gift by Cecelia Ahern, a book that has been sat on my bookshelf unread for more than 15 years.

Unfortunately it was not worth the wait and only a 2 star read for me. I may have even DNF it if I hadn’t had it for so long, but I was determined to see it through. It’s been really satisfying to finally get it read and cleared so I may target some of the other books that have been sitting on my shelf for more than a decade. It’s time to read them or get rid!!


The book I ordered from America is arriving tomorrow! It’s been fun watching the tracking - it was at Heathrow yesterday!

 

[veronica71]

I suffer from the same condition so please be gentle with me

I’m on to my third read of the year (and haven’t bought a book since NYD ) - finished the magpie murder trilogy (which I LOVED) and now on to Queen James which I’ve wanted to read for ages and glad I took the risk and got for 99p on kindle just before Xmas knowing my family would probably once again ignore it on my list I just love medieval history so much

 

[Eureka]

I haven't bought any Kindle books this year but have done a few massive charity shop trawls. My bookshelves were in a somewhat manageable condition this time last year, now they are packed to bursting. I reckon I've bought about 50 books this year but who can resist when the charity shop practically gives them away. I just love looking at them though, being around books, seeing them all lined up on the shelves just brings me so much joy and calm.

 

[LaBlonde]

FINALLY HAD MINE

i wish it included things for the past few weeks, i’m on 86 now 🥲

 

[Boogs]

Glad I am not the only fool who collects series without reading any. I always convince myself that 99p is nothing but when you’ve got over a thousand unread books already on your kindle

 

[ordinaryjelly]

My husband actually hit pay dirt with his book gifts this year. I do suspect my 14 year old daughter has my wish list open while she read some books out.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Stoner by John Williams
This Mothers Land by Nikki May
The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wounden

 

[TreeBranch]

I am now attempting to read The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang as I really enjoyed Yellowface and quite enjoyed Katabasis, but I’m struggling to get into it..

My book club from pre-covid is rebooting at the end of this month and I am super excited! We are reading The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4, which I loved growing up, but I need to refresh my memory and reread. I loved Adrian Mole growing up and have read the series several times, and enjoyed it so much I even completed a NaNoWriMo novel one year set after The Prostrate Years

 

[ToxicPony]

Why is it when characters have sex for the first time the rest of the book is just them doing it the entire time

I know exactly what you mean. You wait 70 percent of the book for the slow burn and then the next chapter is just them going at it in their cornflakes.

 

[wishiniwasskinny]

I’m currently reading Atmosphere as my first book of the year and I am FLYING THROUGH IT. Excuse the sort of pun. I am enjoying it so much I will finish it very quickly.
Definitely plan to read more TJR after this. I’ve only read The 7 Husbands prior to this and it was some time ago.

 

[CommentBelow]

Has anyone seen the list of upcoming books in 2026. Some big authors publishing next year.
- Kate Quinn
- Jennette McCurdy
- George Saunders
- M.L. Stedman
- Emma Straub
- Douglas Stuart
- Laurie Frankel
- Kathryn Stockett
- Ann Patchett
- Maggie O’Farrell
- Daniel Mason
- Ashley Elston
- Alice Feeney
- Mary Kubica
- Leigh Bardugo (3rd in the Alex Stern trilogy)
- Emily St. John Mandel
- Abby Jimenez
- Carley Fortune
- Katherine Center
- Tia Williams
- Rachel Gillig (follow up to the Knight and the Moth)
- Patrick Radden-Keefe
- David Sedaris

!!! I think I’m going to make some notes in my 2026 diary of release dates !

And I was hoping I might actually reduce my TBR next year 🫠

 

[QueenBW]

OMG. I finished the Reese Witherspoon book and it was SO bad (imo of course.) What a terribly written book. The characters were so inconsistent or plain unbelievable. Also. PORKCHOP? I'm sorry. Am I meant to take a character namef after a pig's loin seriously?

 

[daisynoon]

I see The Correspondent is a 99p deal - I really enjoyed this last year. It's an epistolary novel about a woman who writes letters to everyone. There are some difficult subjects covered (e.g. death of a child), but I found it a lovely, warm read overall.

 

[Hannahebee]

 

[Harlot O'Scara]

Boss has given me an Amazon gift card for Xmas. It doesn't count as buying new books if it's not your money, right? Right?

 

[nbt]

Happy first of advent reading day!