Books #40

[Boogs]

2025 READING ROUND UP

What was your favourite fiction read of this year?
Probably Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka.


What was your favourite non-fiction read of this year?
Either The Tell by Amy Griffin or Straight Up by Ruby Tui.

What was your favourite audio book of this year?
Straight Up was good as I listened to it driving to Women’s Rugby World Cup matches because I loved Ruby Tui as a pundit so it was great to learn more about her.

What book/s surprised you good or bad?
I have read a load of crap this year as I was determined to make the most of Kindle Unlimited and I read The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy purely because it was free and was really pleasantly surprised by it.

If you rate books what was your average rating and/or sum up your year of reading?
My average rating was 2.7 as I have read loads of crap on Kindle Unlimited and am a tough rater. I don’t think I’ve rated any books a 5 this year.

Have you pre-ordered any books for 2026 yet / which books are you most looking forward to being released?
I am trying to avoid buying new books wherever possible and my TBR is out of control.

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 for this year was 100 and I am on my 120th. This year I am trying to go for quality rather than quantity so I’m going to set a goal of 50 and try to do the alphabet challenge to mix things up a bit.

 

[anniemouse]

Another book tracker app you guys might be interested in. It told me I have a reading age of 35. It has a few cool features, like you can use it to disable your social media for a short time to focus on reading.

 

[emmer_moans]

Another book tracker app you guys might be interested in. It told me I have a reading age of 35. It has a few cool features, like you can use it to disable your social media for a short time to focus on reading.
View attachment 3837542
View attachment 3837543

ooooh I shall check it out

edit: ah, not yet on Google App store, the desktop website says join waitlist. I'm guessing it's an apple based app for now with scope to move to android soon. I do have an ipad though so will try it there.

 

[anniemouse]

ooooh I shall check it out

edit: ah, not yet on Google App store, the desktop website says join waitlist. I'm guessing it's an apple based app for now with scope to move to android soon. I do have an ipad though so will try it there.

Ah that’s a shame. I hate it when apps aren’t on all the places.

 

[emmer_moans]

Ah that’s a shame. I hate it when apps aren’t on all the places.

I've got it on my ipad now, it does look pretty. I will import my goodreads and check it out

 

[ordinaryjelly]

I've only managed the alphabet challenge once before - there seem to be so few books for certain letters which interest me! X was an easy romance, Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon.

My Z was Zorrie by Laird Hunt - a quiet, short book set in the Great Depression in Indiana, following a "radium girl", which I knew next to nothing about before picking up the book. I'd recommend it, though - it was the sort of read which crept up on me

I will remember those for next year. I think I need to step outside of my comfort zone to complete this challenge. I guess that is why it is a challenge though!

 

[tarahalls]

I’m loving reading everyone’s 2025 roundups, so thought I’d do mine -

2025 READING ROUND UP

What was your favourite fiction read of this year?
A few popular books I very much enjoyed including The Wedding People & The Names but I like to find under the radar books & The House of Broken Bricks was probably my favourite. So beautifully written, almost poetic

What was your favourite non-fiction read of this year?
I’ve slacked in non-fiction this year so don’t have many to choose from - I’ll say Wilding by Isabella Tree

What was your favourite audio book of this year?
N/A

What book/s surprised you good or bad?
Broken Country. I could be here all day describing my hatred for this book & bafflement at the hype. Other disappointments were Atmosphere & My Friends which broke my heart because I love FB

If you rate books what was your average rating and/or sum up your year of reading?
Apparently average 2.7 on my tracking app but I’m pretty stingy with my ratings, I have to actually feel something to award 4+ stars

Have you pre-ordered any books for 2026 yet / which books are you most looking forward to being released?
I have a few on order pre-release from the library, getting the hang of it now so no more 72 of 72 for me

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 year I set my target for 120 books but having DNF’d 15 & a few of those reading 200+ pages before giving up set me back & I found myself reading rubbish to just reach 120 🫤 Next year I’m going to focus more on quality over quantity & after reading The Count of Monte Cristo posts on this thread it’s on my list, along with a few more non-fiction but whatever happens I just love reading so what will be will be

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

 

[AllieBee]

December round up.

No real stand outs for me, although currently reading Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales which is beautifully written.

The book in my pic which says coming soon is a book called Well This Is Awkward by Esther Walker.

Finished the year on 143/104 books so happy with that. I will probably reset next year's target to the same and aim to complete all the Goodreads 3 monthly challenges as well.

 

[LaBlonde]

my december reads to finish the year

good spirits - bk borison
pole position - rebecca j caffrey
lovelight farms - bk borison
game changer - rachel reid
days you were mine - claire leslie hall
fake dates and mooncakes - sher lee

 

[Blueblue123]

With all the festivities, I haven't picked up a book since 16th December when I made a start on The City and its Uncertain Walls.

Here are my December reads!

 

[daisynoon]

I will remember those for next year. I think I need to step outside of my comfort zone to complete this challenge. I guess that is why it is a challenge though!

Xingu by Edith Wharton is a short story about a book group which I would recommend- pretty sure it was available on Project Gutenberg too!

--

my december reads to finish the year

good spirits - bk borison
pole position - rebecca j caffrey
lovelight farms - bk borison
game changer - rachel reid
days you were mine - claire leslie hall
fake dates and mooncakes - sher lee

Ahh, I had Game Changer on my library reserve list, but seems like I shouldn't bother!

 

[LaBlonde]

Ahh, I had Game Changer on my library reserve list, but seems like I shouldn't bother!

do not! i’ve heard it’s the worst of the series and it shows: absolutely infuriating. it was originally captain america fanfic though so it’s fun to identify what character is meant to be who i just hope the rest are better!

 

[daisynoon]

My December! Crooked Cross and The River Has Roots were my standouts, though generally a good reading month

 

[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!

 

[DianaBanana]

2025 READING ROUND UP

What was your favourite fiction read of this year?

The Women by Kristin Hannah. I read it in January and it’s really stayed with me. That’s really rare for me

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

I haven’t read much non-fiction, but my favourite is Quite by Claudia Winkleman.

What was your favourite audio book of this year?

This will also be Quite by Claudia. I don’t really get on with audiobooks, but autobiographies are the exception, particularly when they’re narrated by that person. I don’t think I’d have enjoyed this book half as much if I didn’t have Claudia narrating it.

What book/s surprised you good or bad?

Hello Beautiful, it’s so highly rated I was really looking forward to it, but I just couldn’t get on with it at all.

A good surprise was Frank and Red. A random 99p kindle deal buy that is never heard of and ended up really enjoying.

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

3.57 according to StoryGraph

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

No pre-orders yet. I don’t really pay much attention to what’s being released really. The only exception being Marian Keyes books, as I’ve adored her for years.

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?

Next year I want to focus less on numbers. I set a goal of 100 books for this year, and I reached that in August, so I increased it to 150. I did make it (I read 160 in total), but there were times when picking up a book felt like a chore, and it took some of the enjoyment out of it for me. I don’t ever want to feel like that about reading, so I’m setting my goal to 52, and leaving it there.

I also intend to give the Strike series a try, after seeing how loved it is on the thread.

 

[Kerrie86]

@DianaBanana i love Marian Keyes too, it doesn’t look as though she’s got anything new announced yet. Anybody out there makes me bawl every time I read it.

 

[DianaBanana]

@DianaBanana i love Marian Keyes too, it doesn’t look as though she’s got anything new announced yet. Anybody out there makes me bawl every time I read it.

Me too, I think that’s my favourite of hers! Not expecting anything new from her in 2026, as she does always say it takes her 2 years to write a book unfortunately…

 

[anniemouse]

2025 READING ROUND UP

What was your favourite fiction read of this year?

The Women by Kristin Hannah. I read it in January and it’s really stayed with me. That’s really rare for me

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

I haven’t read much non-fiction, but my favourite is Quite by Claudia Winkleman.

What was your favourite audio book of this year?

This will also be Quite by Claudia. I don’t really get on with audiobooks, but autobiographies are the exception, particularly when they’re narrated by that person. I don’t think I’d have enjoyed this book half as much if I didn’t have Claudia narrating it.

What book/s surprised you good or bad?

Hello Beautiful, it’s so highly rated I was really looking forward to it, but I just couldn’t get on with it at all.

A good surprise was Frank and Red. A random 99p kindle deal buy that is never heard of and ended up really enjoying.

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

3.57 according to StoryGraph

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

No pre-orders yet. I don’t really pay much attention to what’s being released really. The only exception being Marian Keyes books, as I’ve adored her for years.

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?

Next year I want to focus less on numbers. I set a goal of 100 books for this year, and I reached that in August, so I increased it to 150. I did make it (I read 160 in total), but there were times when picking up a book felt like a chore, and it took some of the enjoyment out of it for me. I don’t ever want to feel like that about reading, so I’m setting my goal to 52, and leaving it there.

I also intend to give the Strike series a try, after seeing how loved it is on the thread.

I loved the audio of Quite. It was like Claudia was sitting chatting to you over a coffee

 

[cowtastrophe]

The Hallmarked Man is 99p on kindle in case anyone was waiting to buy it!

 

[Kerrie86]

The 99p January deals are better than they’ve been for the last few months from the looks of it! A few books on there I’ve seen recommended including the wedding people.