It will no doubt come as a shock to you that I don't read books in a normal way. I find myself dipping in and out of them a few chapters at a time. There are rare exceptions where I will read a book cover-to-cover. I try to be strict about whether a book is being read or paused, and allow myself to context switch appropriately. I enjoy leaving myself on a cliff-hanger and picking the book up again in a week or so. The outlier here is that I do allow myself a physical book and audiobook alongside each other. Audio books are identified with an icon like so
I endeavour to have no more than a couple of books on the go at once, otherwise things may just get too complicated. Likewise, I try to only ever have an armful of books queued up so as to not overwhelm myself
Queued
- Without Merit
- Poirot's Early Cases Agatha Christie
Reading
- Quicksilver Zenith Stan Nicholls
Paused
Finished
- Reaper Man Terry Pratchett
- The Night She Disappeared Lisa Jewell
- The Love of My Life Rosie Walsh
- Watching You Lisa Jewell
- The List Yomi Adegoke
- Murder Before Evensong Richard Coles
- Quicksilver Rising Stan Nicholls
I am not sure how long I will leave books in a Finished state before migrating them to the below Archive; this will depend on the rate at which I get through books and recording them on here
Archive
Books, along with a one-line review, will be migrated to the Archive once they have been finished (this includes being abandoned) for a time yet to be determined
2025
- Citizen Charlie Brooks
Horses and espionage. An interesting premise, but I unfortunately saw the twist a mile off. Still entertaining though - In Too Deep Lee Child
My first Reacher novel, chosen because we were on holiday. I enjoyed it, but the series feels a bit overwhelming given there are like 100 books - A Foreign Country Charles Cumming
Brilliant writing. I am going to be using this as a baseline for spy novels in the future - Something Wicked This Way Comes Ray Bradbury
Sorry Martin and other literary purists. I didn't like this - Nighthawking Russ Thomas
The sequel to Firewatching. Just as good to be honest. I'll be checking out the rest of the series - Slow Horses Mick Herron
This is one my mother bought for me. She knows I like a book like this so it was a dead cert - It's All About the Bike Robert Penn
I read this while I was recovering from a bike-hobby-ending injury. It made me really want a brand new bike. Proper interesting - The Ministry of Time Kaliane Bradley
Such a clever concept of time travel. Perfect balance of love, action, and thought-provoking writing - All of us are BrokenFiona Cummins
Horrifying! Right until the ending and then it gets even worse. It starts with the worst bit, so the rest of the book is spent in dread of the events leading up. Really well-written - Genuine Fraud E. Lockhart
No idea where I found this one. Reckon we picked it up on holiday somewhere. Short but sweet, not much in terms of progression but not bad for a short book - Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin
Beautiful. Desparate to get Kayleigh to read this but not sure she will appreciate it - The Switch Lily Samson
Read this on holiday. It got more and more farfetched as I read, wouldn't read it in my normal life but a good holiday brainrot read - How to Kidnap the Rich Rahul Raina
This was so fun. A little wacky in places but honestly such an entertaining read - Rivers of London Ben Aaronovitch
Another one from when I was younger. I never finished this the first time round, just didn't get into it. Much more successful this time round, will certainly be looking for the whole series - 16 Ways to Defend a Walled CityK. J. Parker
Loved this! I saw some reviews that the ending was disappointing but I disagree. This is part of a series and I'll definitely be on the lookout for them - Charmed Life Diana Wynne Jones
Re-read this from when I was a kid. Still just as magical but felt very dated. Won't be reading it to the kids - A Darker Shade of Magic V. E. Schwab
Loved the vibe of magic in this book, especially Kell's coat - Firewatching Russ Thomas
I don't normally go for a detective novel, but when I do they are always fantastic. Set in Sheffield, so gets extra points. Sequel queued!
2024
- The Left-Handed Booksellers of London Garth Nix
Really enjoy English folklore, so I adored this. Have the sequel in my sights, and then another is due for publication in 2026 - Snuff
Terry Pratchett
Perfect end to the Vimes arc - A Popular History of Sheffield J. Edward Vickers
I am disgustingly ignorant of the history of my city, this went a good deal of the way to fix this - Rotherweird Andrew Caldecott
Weird. I didn't totally get on with it but I enjoyed a lot of the fantasy and alternative history elements
Do you have a comment to make on my content? Start a discussion in my public inbox by emailing ~ols/public-inbox@lists.sr.ht; you can see the inbox here