I read 47 books in 2025. Of my favorites:

“There are Rivers in the Sky” by Elif Shafak - such elegant prose.

“My Friends” by Fredrik Backman - a blend of great characters and nostalgia.

“One Day, Everyone Will Have Been Against This” by Omar El Akkad - a brilliantly brutal rebuke of atrocity and response.

“Of Monsters and Mainframes” by Barbara Truelove - very fun mashup.

“Owls of the Eastern Ice” by Jonathan C Slaight - immersive science and travel to remote Siberian locales

#bookstodon

Start 2026 out right: with cosy(ish) inclusive fiction.

Visit https://whitehartfiction.co.uk/discount/2026 today to get 26% of all ebooks and audiobooks, including bundles!

Or use code 2026 to get the same discount.

#bookstodon #lgbtbooks

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two books against pink and dark blue background: A Bit of murder between friends by Elliott Hay and the left hand of dog by Si Clarke. Text reads: Book sale and whitehartfiction.co.uk/discount/2026

My Storygraph reading wrap up is in. 2025 was a weird one and a hard one. Becoming disabled, a tonne of personal stuff, and starting uni hugely hit my reading.

I'm not gonna say it'll be better this year because this year my focus is uni, rest and self care.

#Bookstodon #Reading #ChronicIllness

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Storygraph reading wrap up showing a row of 4 books at the top; The secret of Oki Island, The Magicians Guild, The Face, and The Lazy DMs workbook. Underneath that books 11 and pages 3824. Top genres bar chart with fantasy top with 5, young adult, philosophy, literary and thriller all with 1. Top authors Michael E Shea. A row of 3 book covers beside 5 star reads which shows Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master, Where Nightmares Walk, and Doom and Bloom. Average rating 4.34.

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A selection of book covers; the secret of Oki Island, Motherhood, the dream thief, weightless, the face, return of the lazy dungeon master, where nightmares walk, the lazy DMs workbook, doom and bloom, always remember, the Magician's guild.

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Screenshot showing compared to 2024 number of books down 8% and number of pages down 12%.

Squeezed in one more read for the year!

'The Masquerades of Spring', a novella by Ben Aaronovotch, from his Rivers of London series, features Nightingale operating without Folly sanction in 1920s New York, as seen through the eyes of Gussie Berrycloth-Young, a Bertie Wooster-ish English wizard with his own reasons for having left Blighty behind.

With new narrator perspective and jazz-era setting, I loved this breezy tale of cursed instruments and their provenance. #books #reading #bookstodon

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Hardcover library copy of 'The Masquerades of Spring', a novella in the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch.

Book 30 was Voyage by Stephen Baxter (narrated by a full cast).

In an alternate timeline, JFK survives the assassination and the USA pushes ahead with the space race.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/926161b1-5059-46e0-a006-a03aa9b1cf93

#bookstodon #lgbtbooks

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VOYAGE STEPHEN BAXTER A BBC RADIO 4 FULL-CAST DRAMATISATION BY DIRK MAGGS

Question of the Day: Many famous
bibliophiles think we ought to have more books than we can read. What do you think? #bookstodon

Book 29 was A Bitter Remedy by Alis Hawkins (narrated by Ffion Aynsley & Iestyn Arwel).

It’s 1881 and Non is one of the first women allowed to study at Oxford, which really pisses some people off. And that’s before she sticks her nose into the unexplained death of a student.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/8fa2d19b-9fdd-4f79-a40c-ebb9dc687750?redirect=true

#bookstodon #lgbtbooks

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A Bitter Remedy by Alis Hawkins (narrated by Ffion Aynsley & Iestyn Arwel).

Just finished reading this book. Some things about it really irritated me and it needed editing again. The setting in Wales felt unnecessary as did the Welsh phrases in italics and the frantic retelling of legend in the middle. Anyone else have a view? #bookstodon

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The image features the cover of a book titled "Selfish Girls" by Abigail Bergstrom.

@jamie Oh good luck, hope you enjoy! If you plan on reading the whole series, it's quite an endeavor - it took me a full year, and I had something like four failed attempts before that. But the conclusion is pretty epic.

The Eye of the World is a good story on its own too but it sets up the rest of the series so well I would have had a hard time stopping after that one.

#books #bookstodon #fantasy #reading #TheWheelOfTime

I’ve screwed my sleeping pattern up again recently (past month or so). Been living off about 5 hours sleep every night because I’ve been staying up until 12am/1am and my son wakes me up at 6am without fail. 🫩

Going to start fixing that tonight. I’m now laying in bed and about to start The Eye of the World, part of The Wheel of Time series of books. 📚

Plan on turning the lights out at 11pm. 😴

#Books #Bookstodon #TheWheelOfTime

Book 28 was No Body No Crime, written and read by Tess Sharpe.

When they were 16, Mel and Chloe killed a man together. Two years later, Chloe disappeared without a trace. Six years after that, Mel follows a lead and goes looking for the one that got away.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/cb6122d0-a78e-42e3-88d0-511f94f9d379?redirect=true

#bookstodon #lgbtbooks

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No Body, No Crime by Tess Sharpe My listening supports The Portal Bookshop Libro.fm

@ajroach42 @firestorm #AVL #WNC #bookstodon

Book 27 was The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly (narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies).

Digs into the social, political, geographic, and meteorological situation in Europe leading up to the Black Death AND how it spread AND the changes and repercussions that followed.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/c66660dd-cceb-422d-876f-5ae858fa6cd5

#bookstodon

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The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time John Kelly (narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies). My listening supports The Portal Bookshop Libro.fm

Back when I was both fully-abled and fully employed, I would pre-order books from new authors I'd heard about from book twitter (before it was destroyed).

I loved knowing that for months out I'd have books randomly showing up at my door.

Now I get the same thrill by placing "hold number 30 in line for 3 copies" at my local library.

Award lists are The. Best.

#bookstodon

You know what I want? A list of SFF award sites and their particular bents.

Here are a few off the top of my head. Reply with your favorites!

Hugo - voted by readers https://www.thehugoawards.org/

Nebula Award - awarded by members of SFFWA
https://nebulas.sfwa.org/

Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree Award) -
encouraging the exploration & expansion of gender
https://otherwiseaward.org/

Not sure if they have an award, but to find new authors:

https://fiyahlitmag.com/

#SFF #bookstodon

I finished The Rose Field last night, and as someone who’s read His Dark Materials several times, the ending left me feeling flat.

That’s it?

Perhaps I was tired so missed a bunch of stuff. I stayed awake until after midnight because I didn’t have much left and wanted to see how it all got tied up.

And…it didn’t really.

#Bookstodon

“If my life wasn't funny it would just be true, and that is unacceptable.

What that really means, other than what it sounds like, is, let's say something happens and from a certain slant maybe it's tragic, even a little bit shocking. Then time passes and you go to the funny slant, and now that very same thing can no longer do you any harm.”

— Carrie Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016), from ' Wishful Drinking '

(Photo by Douglas Kirkland in New York City, 1980)

#CarrieFisher #Quote #Quotes #Books #Bookstodon #NYC #NewYorkCity

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Photo of Carrie Fisher casually sitting inside a rusted public trash can on a street corner in Manhattan, wearing a blue jacket, blue jeans, and a maroon hat, colourful socks and sneakers, her legs are facing up and her arms are crossed behind her head as she is excitedly looking towards the camera.

The book “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” by Omar El Akkad is on a lot of best-of lists for a reason. It’s magnificent and thought-provoking.

#books #bookstodon

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One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” by Omar El Akkad

Book 26 was Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff (narrated by Bridget Lappin & Kiana Wu).

Do you want to read a queer cosy eldritch horror? Set in northern Ontario? With positive fat rep? Yeah, you do.

And a huge ‘thank you’ to the publisher for hiring Canadian narrators to voice a Canadian story.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/abf0f74b-ec69-4644-8e15-be818e376365?redirect=true

#bookstodon #lgbtbooks

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Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff (narrated by Bridget Lappin & Kiana Wu).

Book 25 was A Blizzard of Polar Bears by Alice Henderson (narrated by Eva Kaminsky).

Alex secures a dream gig, studying polar bears in northern Canada. But it soon becomes clear that someone is determined to sabotage her mission.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/8a351ea7-8fe7-421e-bd56-cc55cdfa62db

#bookstodon

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A Blizzard of Polar Bears by Alice Henderson (narrated by Eva Kaminsky).

Book 24 was Brigands & Breadknives, written and read by Travis Baldree.

Fern packed up her small-town bookshop and followed her old friend Viv to Thune. But when Fern suffers a mental crisis, she finds herself on a journey, both literal and metaphorical.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/13398f3a-ed1e-4c9e-86ba-26d444d92671

#bookstodon #lgbtbooks

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Brigands & Breadknives, written and read by Travis Baldree.

Book 23 was Cristobal Ritter by Mijo Rebic.

Old-school noir with a high-tech setting.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/e71c205e-6bb2-4058-a42e-8180d46664d4?redirect=true

#bookstodon

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Cristobal Ritter by Mijo Rebic

Lovely humans! Please rave me your favourite fantasy novels. Medieval, olde-time taverns, vikings, hobbit like settings etc thoroughly encouraged.
I've read the Wheel of Time Series and most of LeGuin's EarthSea stuff. I just need a little escape for the coming winter.

#bookstodon #books #fantasy

Book 22 was Love from the Pink Palace: Memories of Love, Loss and Cabaret through the AIDS Crisis, written and read by Jill Nalder.

Actor and AIDS activist Jill Nalder shares her story. It’s primarily a memoir, but it’s fascinating for the setting.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/19a1d871-7cc4-464d-93b9-48b449e0bde0

#bookstodon

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Love from the Pink Palace: Memories of Love, Loss and Cabaret through the AIDS Crisis, written and read by Jill Nalder.

Book 21 was Angels in the Moonlight by Caimh McDonnell (narrated by Morgan C. Jones).

Set in 1999 in Dublin, this is Lethal Weapon meets Sister Act.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/971f9683-e748-4b0c-b804-b93dc177ed8e?redirect=true

#bookstodon

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Angels in the Moonlight by Caimh McDonnell (narrated by Morgan C. Jones).

Just when I thought I couldn't love the library's Christmas tree even more, I read the sign.

'Come and pluck our book tree! Between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on the 22nd, you can pick free books from our Christmas tree and give them a new home. Bring a bag - enjoy your new reads!'

#Dokk1 #Aarhus
#Bookstodon #Libraries

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Christmas tree at Dokk1 Aarhus Main Library Denmark. A book tree about 2 metres tall made of about 60 ever-decreasing circles of used surplus library books, topped by a big star made of book pages. The titles are spine out. White fairy lights are wound all around it. At the foot of the tree, a framed sign - Santa beside a Christmas tree holding a pile of books and the message: 'Come and strip our book tree! Between 10 and 1 on December 22nd, you can pick free books from our Christmas tree and give them a new home. Bring a bag - and enjoy your new reads!'

Book 20 was Several Short Sentences about Writing, written and read by Verlyn Klinkenborg.

A lot of writing craft books focus on the big picture. It was good to read one that digs into the weeds.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/a278dee4-a332-4741-b2b9-6ac4a70e0822

#bookstodon

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Several Short Sentences about Writing, written and read by Verlyn Klinkenborg.