What's with today, today?

 Well, once again that was a year. But the worse the years get, the more books I read, so here's what I read in 2021. 56 new books all up, almost back to pre-kid reading levels!  Longest book Caliban's War by James A. Corey part of an epic sci-fi series ('The Expanse' series). My friend recommended these and ended up buying me the first one so that I would read it- they are a lot of fun! And occasionally irritating. But mostly very fun. Shortest book And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. Ironically I think this took me longer to read- I'm pretty sure I started it in 2020. But it's a poetry collection so I dipped in and out. I'm glad to have read it. Iconic. Oldest Book this is also And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou (1978). I read mostly pretty recent books this year. Newest book I think this goes to The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik, September 2021. The cliffhangers in this series are intense, it's a must read as soon as it comes out! Reading themes I we...

Well it's good to be finished with 2020 isn't it? I read a lot more again in 2020 (42 books)- it was a good year to get lost in a good book. On top of these new books, I also reread the Harriet Vane and Peter Wimsey mysteries by Dorothy Sayers, for comfort reading. Shortest book Little Witch Academia (176 pages) vs Longest Book The Mirror and the Light (883 pages). Oldest book if I counted rereads it would be Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers (1930), other The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia McKillip (1976), while the newest book is close to a tie between A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik and Piranesi by Susanna Clark, both published in September 2020. Reading themes  In the middle of the year I read a couple of non-fiction books which I roughly categorised as about 'the North'- Names for the Sea by Sarah Moss (a British writer writing about Iceland) and Findings by Kathleen Jamie (a Scottish writer writing largely about Scotland). Other than that I found myself readi...

Happy new year one and all! Time to look back over the reading year that was 2019. This was the highest number of new books read of any year since I had my first baby, so that seems like a positive thing! 36 books- not huge but I did feel like I had some time to read this year. So what was 2019 like? Let's break it down: Longest book - Lethal White by Robert Galbraith vs shortest book - Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell. Shortest book wins here- it was a charming and pithy essay extolling the virtues of children's literature. Lethal White was the latest installment in a detective series that seems to be losing its way, or rather the author has different opinions on where it should go than I do. Reading themes I feel like a large part of the year was dominated by Dodie Smith. It started when I read 'Guard Your Daughters' by Diana Tutton, a book which I'd seen compared to 'I Capture the Cast...