I normally do another Backlist challenge but for 2024, I thought I’d do my own!

Feel free to join in and let me know in the comments how many books you’ll go for!

Information:

* An annual challenge to read your tbr!

* THE GOLDEN RULE: The books you read must be published in the previous year or earlier, ie not in 2024.

* Set your goal and if you want, name your books, no pressure!

* Audiobooks, ebooks, paperbacks, hardbacks; they all count!

I set my goal in 2023 at 20 but I managed to read 28. I also added another rule for myself that these books must have been on my actual tbr with a date before 31 December 2022 and not bought/borrowed before this date.

So for 2024 I’m going to stick to the same, 20 books that have been on my actual tbr at 31 December 2023.

I’m not going to name books as I’m a mood reader but I have 98 books on my tbr so plenty to choose from!

Because I loved Storygraph when I tried it in 2022 I decided to keep going and run in tandem with Goodreads again this year.

I had a brilliant reading year! I’ve read more books this year than I have in years and I think it’s all due to how much I’ve ramped up audiobook listening!

~ I smashed my reading goal of 140 by reading 184 books – that was 76,320 pages!!!!

~ I sprinkled those stars around!

~ Now this is one that really surprised me! I knew I’d listened to a lot of audiobooks, but I didn’t realise they made up 48% of my reading! Wowzers!

~ So lets talk non-fiction – in 2022 I had read 1% which was 1 book, so I made an effort this year and read 5 non-fiction books which equates to 3%!!!! A step in the right direction!

I think for 2024 I will carry on using both Storygraph and Goodreads as I can’t seem to let Goodreads go and I love the stats on Storygraph. It’s no bother doing 2 each time I read a book, literally takes seconds!

I tend to do posts like this every Twixmas, aka Crimbo Limbo, and have updated a bit this year with Twitter messages instead of the normal ‘I dont know what day it is’ memes!

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!!!

And if anyone has any recipes for leftover ham, I’d be most grateful 🤣

Happy Christmas to you all!

“I hope the magic of Christmas fills every corner of your heart and home with joy — now and always.”

I’ll probably be off here until the 27th as we have stuff planned so hope you all have a lovely time filled with fun, family and food! 🎅

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer  It’s a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received.

Hi everyone, hope you’ve had a good week and Happy Christmas Eve Eve! 🎅

I hope you’ve been good this year and that Santa brings you some nice presents!

A Sunday post on a Saturday because I’ll be doing family stuffs tomorrow! This week has been busy at work trying to get everything done that I wanted to and also finishing off last minute Christmas offerings but we are ready!

I managed to read a couple of books from my tbr this week and also a buddy read of Crescent City to get up to date for when book 3 is released.

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New Arrivals

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez

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What I’ve Read

🎧 The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

🎧 Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎧Crescent City 1 by Sarah J Maas (reread)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Look out for my reviews soon!

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You might have missed…..

Blogmas – Books I Didn’t Read in 23
Review – Once Upon a Frosted Star by MA Kuzniar
Blogmas – Beat the Backlist: a close
Blogmas – Best Books of 2023

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What have you read lately?

HAPPY BLOGMAS!

Here we are with the end of the year fast approaching and a time to reflect on the best reads of the year!

We all love books here so wanted to spread the love and post about them!

I did a post halfway through the year which you can see here  and these are the rest of the fabulous books I’ve loved this year (not necessarily released then, I read then!)

I’ve read so many great books this 2nd half of the year but these are the ones that really stood out to me:

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Fall of Wrath and Ruin by JLA
House of Roots and Ruin by Erin A Craig
The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young
Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig
Heartsong by TJ Klune

What have been your best books of this year?

BEAT THE BACKLIST CHALLENGE

Happy Blogmas!

I joined in with Novelknight’s 2023 challenge and here we are at the end!

I had 60 backlist books on 31st December 2022, and I knew it would be too much pressure to say I’d read them all, so I said I’d like to read 20.

• By the end of April, I had 30 left on my list,
• By the end of September, I had 18 left on my list,
• At this point, I have 12 left on my list!

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t read all 60! But I did read the 20 I said I would (I actually read 30 in the end)!!

For the rest, I did a huge unhaul, I was ruthless! And it felt so refreshing!

Here’s some that I read in the last quarter:

My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
Malice by Heather Walter
Penmort Castle by Kristen Ashley
Sea of Ruin by Pam Godwin
Happyhead by Josh Silver
Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye
Cruel Illusions by Margie Fuston
Hollen the Soulless by Denali Day

I’m doing my own challenge for 2024 – you can join HERE

I’ve racked up so many new books I haven’t read in 2023 so it’s ON!!!!

Title: Once Upon a Frosted Star

Author: MA Kuzniar

When the snow falls, she will be free…

The invitations always arrive the same way – without warning, appearing around the city on the first snowfall of the year, simply inscribed with ‘Tonight.’

When struggling artist, Forster, finds an invitation, he’s bewitched by the magic of the evening, swept up in the glamour of this notorious annual party and intrigued as to who is behind them.

Determined to find out more about the mysterious host, Forster discovers an abandoned manor house silent with secrets and a cursed woman who is desparate to be free…

‘Second star to the right and straight on til morning.’

Forster, Marvin and Rose follow those instructions and it’s the start of a tragic love story in this historical fantasy read……

Forster is intrigued by the mysterious host of the annual lavish parties so investigates and this leads him to Odetta. But she has a few secrets……and a curse. I won’t say anymore about the plot though!

The start was very slow, I really only got into it around the halfway mark but I did love the setting, all wintery, and perfect for this time of year and the writing was beautiful and tore at my heart!

I also loved how Detta didn’t really hide anything from Forster and that he was so smitten with her that he’d do anything to help her but, like Marvin and Rose, Forster just fell a bit flat for me and I found them a bit dull.

I did enjoy Midnight in Everwood but think this book was slightly more raw and real.

Happy Blogmas!

I thought it might be fun to look back at my tbr books that were added this year but I didn’t get a chance to read.

I thought I’d done really well at reading books I’d bought this year but I counted 39 books that I haven’t read, bought tears to my eyes!!!

So I have added only 5 here, I won’t bore you with the whole 39!!!!

What about you, have you got a lot of books left over?