2021 – My year in books!

Here we are on the last day of the year! I hope you all have a lovely New Year’s Eve and ring in the new year with your loved ones.

I do love looking at my Goodreads stats when they’re published! Then I like to post about them for a sense of achievement (and satisfaction!) and also I can record here so I can look back!

Do you like to see your stats too?

For 2022 I am going to use Goodreads and also Storygraph too, in tandem, to see what the differences are in stats!

Here are my stats for 2021:

I read 95 books! 39, 725 pages read, wowee!!!!!

It appears I was flinging those 4 and 5 stars around like confetti and my average rating was 4.4!!

There were some other stats and info but I didn’t want to bore you all and though these were the most pertinent!!!

Have a great evening whatever you are doing! We are staying in and having a family Zoom call!

Welcome to Closing the Chapter!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to ringing in 2022. We had a great time, lots of food, fun and family.

I read 8 books in December! Most of my reviews will be published in January as I didn’t want to mess with Blogmas!!!

I’m moving to bi-monthly updates in the shape of the Sunday post for January as a test (for me!) to see if I’ve actually got enough to contribute so look out for my first post on 15th January!

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📚 Physical/EBooks

A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St Clair

See my review here.

Plated Prisoner by Raven Kennedy
Gild
Glint
Gleam
See my reviews soon!

The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare
Lady Midnight
Lord of Shadows
Queen of Air and Darkness

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🎧 Audiobooks

City of Brass by SA Chakraborty

See my review soon

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What did you read in December?

The Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge is returning for its 6th year in 2022! Designed to help you tackle all the books you keep meaning to read and still haven’t!

I’M SO IN!!!!!!

For 2022 I am setting my goal as 24 books. That’s 2 a month so that’s totally doable I think!!

The guidelines are simple:

• The book must be published in the previous year or earlier (for the 2022 challenge, anything published in 2021 or earlier counts).

• You have to start and finish the book in 2022.

Any format, any genre. Re-reads count, and you don’t have to own the book.

There is no formal sign-up for Beat the Backlist this year. The only request is that if you do post somewhere online about the challenge, please give Novelknight a link back so more readers can learn about BTB!

Hashtags for 22 =
#BeatTheBacklist
#BeatTheBacklist2022

Come join in….you know you want to!!!!

It’s that time of year when we are stuck between Christmas and New Year and because this years been such a stinker, I thought we needed some laughs….in the form of meme’s!

So here you go!!!

The Audiobook Challenge is back for 2022!

It’s ran by The Caffeinated Reviewer – click on her name to find out how to join and  don’t forget to add your link!

Choose your level and rock your ears off!

Use hashtag #2022AudiobookChallenge on social media to alert others of your listens and progress!

I listened to 12 audios in 2021 so I’m going for 10 to 15 listens (Stenographer – can listen while multitasking!!!) and I’m going for the full 15!!!!

Here are the details:

Achievement Levels

• Newbie (I’ll give it a try) 1-5

• Weekend Warrior (I’m getting the hang of this) 5-10

• Stenographer (can listen while multitasking) 10-15

• Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me) 15-20

• Binge Listener (Why read when someone can do it for you) 20-30

• My Precious (I had my earbuds surgically implanted) 30+

• Marathoner (Look Ma No Hands) 50+

• Over-Achiever (Power Listener) 75+

• The 100 Club (Audiobook Addict) 100+



Challenge Details

• Runs January 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022. You can join at any time.

• The goal is to find a new love for audios or to outdo yourself by listening to more audios in 2022 than you did in 2021.

• Books must be in audio format (CD, MP3, etc.)

• ANY genres count.

• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.

• You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads, Facebook, LibraryThing, etc.

• If you’re a blogger grab the button and do a quick post about the challenge to help spread the word. If you’re not a blogger you can help by posting on Facebook or Tweet about the challenge.

• Updates plus a giveaway will be posted twice during the year. The first update will be July 2, 2022, and the last update will take place on December 30, 2022.

Will you join for 2022?

HAPPY BOXING DAY!!!

Boxing Day in the UK

Boxing Day in the UK is the day after Christmas Day, December 26, and is a public Bank Holiday.

Traditionally, it was a day when employers distributed money, food, cloth or other valuable goods to their employees in boxes.

Now it’s a day that brings the start of the post-Christmas sales and also is a time to recover from the excesses of Christmas Day!!!!!

Boxing Day is the day me and my whole family get together to celebrate Christmas (even though last year was a Zoom get together!) We swap gifts, have food and have a drink together.

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! 🎅

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:

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

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Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

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Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

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The Extraordinaires by TJ Klune

Flash Fire by TJ Klune

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What are some of your best books of 2021?

Happy Blogmas!!!

Here we are nearly at the end of the year and I am here with a closure on the Beat the Backlist Challenge! Did I do it??!!

My original post – here, Q1 update – here, Q2 update – here. and Q3 update – here.

I wanted to read 40 backlist books even though I thought that might be a challenge for me!

At the end of Q3 I had read 34 so only needed 6 to reach my next goal….and I just scraped in with 42 backlist books read!!!!

So these are the books that completed my challenge!!!

Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

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The Rising by Kristen Ashley

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A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St Clair

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Gild by Raven Kennedy

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Lady Midnight and Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare

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And not pictured but still loved….

Until December by Aurora Rose Reynolds

Until Talon by Aurora Rose Reynolds

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Did you participate in this challenge?

How did you do?