It's been a good year for reading. Not so much for blogging, despite the fact I promised so much back at the beginning of the year. Not much point in beating myself up about it, I just didn't really get into the swing of it, despite downloading the app to my phone, so I could easily incorporate pictures.
This is a round up of what I've read this year:
1. Dancing Barefoot by Glyn Brown (technically read in 2024, but this felt like the book that rekindled my reading mojo).
2. Queen B by Juno Dawson
3. Quite by Claudia Winkleman
4. When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill - this was one I absolutely loved, and wished would actually happen.
5. No Life for a Lady by Hannah Dolby
6. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia - a bookclub read and one I devoured. Loved the premise and the ways it stayed true to the gothic tropes. Made me want to dive into the author's entire back catalogue (on which more later).
7. Garbo Laughs by Elizabeth Hay
8. The Myster of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah - my first non Christie Poiroit. I loved it.
9. The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Jayne Ashford
10. Agatha Christie by Laura Thompson - one of those books I have owned seemingly for decades (it was signed, so must've bought it at a literary festival of yesteryear)
11. Wyvern and Star by Sophy Boyle - I found a hard copy on the Southbank's second hand bookshop stalls, but baulked at the price and so found it on kindle. Quite glad I did, because it was awful. There's apparently a sequel. Not going to be seeking that out.
12. Joan by Katherine J. Chen - this, on the other hand I loved and was just the sort of historical novel I needed. Can't quite ever get enough of Joan of Arc and the various ways she's presented.
13. The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell. Ashamed to admit I remember nothing of this book.
14.The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley - loved, loved LOVED this. Will be seeking out anything by her in the future.
15. The Safe Keep by Yael Van Der Wouden - read this just before it started winning prizes. Think this is one of my top 5 books of the year.
16. Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue
17. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Tutton
18. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
19. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
20. The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak - adored the premise of this and the writing was lyrical. Will be seeking out her other work.
21. The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers
22. Mayflies by Andrew O'Hagan
23. Tangerine by Christine Mangan
24. Kim Jiyoung, born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
25. Poison for Teacher by Nancy Spain
26. Maurice by E.M. Forster
27. Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain - this has forever cemented the fact that I find her work unutterably dull. It had all the makings of a thrilling read, and was instead a total let down.
28. Palmerino by Melissa Pritchard
29. Bellies by Nicola Dinan - this was another book club pick and quite divided the group as to it's literary merit. I quite liked it for the viewpoints it shared, but agreed it was very much a 'first novel'.
30. The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
31. Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
32. The Yellow Kitchen by Margaux Vialleron - another of my top 5. I adored the writing of female friendships and devoured this practically in a day.
33. Ordinary Love by Marie Rutkoski - I think I was supposed to adore this, but it fell a little flat for me. Not entirely sure why.
34. The King's Witches by Kate Foster
35. Malibu Rising by Tyalor Jenkins Reid - eh, I loved the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but this didn't feel anywhere like it it's league.
36. Smoke and Silk by Fiona Keating
37. Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood
38. Before we Were Trans by Kit Heyam - I started an LGBTQ+ bookclub and this was the second book (first was Carol, which isn't on my list because I didn't re-read it!). Wonderfully interesting deep dive into the history and variation according to culture of Trans people.
39. Cecily by Annie Garthwaite - another of my top 5, which when you think it's 'just' historical fiction, shows that there's still life to be breathed into the wars of the roses.
40. The Library Thief by Kuchenga Shenje
41. Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville West love letters
42. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
43. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
44. The Glass Maker by Tracy Chevalier - another of my favourites. I had my Honeymoom in Venice and I was missing it, so dived into this. I find Chevalier's writing to be a bit hit and miss, but I adored this and the interesting use of time.
45. Pelican Girls by Julia Mayle - this is firmly in my top 5. Loved everything about it.
46. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
47. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
48. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - WHERE OH WHERE has Shirley Jackson been all my life?!? Clearly sitting in front of my nose, but I adored it and want to read all her other work right now!
49. Lieutentant by Kate Grenville
50. Meet me at the Surface by Jodie Matthews - Queer Cornish Folk Horror - Fantastic and weird.
51. The Familiars by Stacey Halls
52. Dracula by Bram Stoker - never read it before, suprised at how simply written it was.
53. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Prachett - have read a couple of his before, but I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship
54. Deviants by Santanu Bhattacharya
55. Swing Time by Zadie Smith
56. To the River by Olivia Laing - loved it, want to do the walk
57. Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall
58. All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville West - now I don't need to read anything else by her
59. Freezing Point by Anders Bodelsen
60. The Sandcastle by Iris Murdoch - only the second Murdoch I've ever read, and it bored me. Unlike The Bell, which I adored.
61. Salka Lady of the Lake by Francesca Simon
62. Carpe Jugulum by Terry Prachett
63. Blackout by Marco Carocari
64. Human Rites by Juno Dawson - the last of the HMRC quartet. I loved this entire set up, and will likely re-read them again next year. I am very much in my witch era.
65. The beautiful ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - after my initial encounter with this author, I was very much looking forward to this, but it didn't live up to my expectations. It felt very middle of the road. I still plan to seek out more of her work though.
66. The Electricity of Every Living Thing by Katherine May
67. Silent Night by Sophie Hannah - another Poiroit and aptly set at Christmas.
There's still a day of the year to go, what will I read tomorrow?
Unfinished:
1. Hags - I have had this for a couple of years and have been meaning to delve into it. Sadly four mentions of JKR in the first chapter and a weird half apology that the framework was going to be straight, because that was her experience meant that I put it down and then shortly aferwards consigned it to a charity bag.
2. The Sentence by Louise Erdrich - I was liking this, but for some reason put it aside and didn't pick it back up again. I think it might be a January book.
3. At least two books by Rebecca Solnit. I love her writing, but whenever I've picked them up, it's not been quite the right time, or the text has been so tiny that I felt I needed stronger glasses. Again, January reads.
4. Death Goes on Skis by Nancy Spain - thought this would be an ideal christmas read, but the cast of characters was so chaotic, I felt I needed a family tree close at hand
5. Mill on the Floss by George Eliot - got a bit bored, didn't go back to it.
6. Still Life by Sarah Winman - I have no memory of the second chapter, having tried to go back to this earlier in December. Clearly don't need this in my life.
I'd like to aim for 100 books in 2026, but we'll see where the year takes me!
