“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! 🎅
It wouldn’t be Christmas without some funny memes!
I know you’re probably all busy wrapping presents, cooking, last minute shopping or being with family so you might need a laugh!
Here you go!
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 that 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:
The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer
We Fell Apart by E Lockhart
Dire Bound by Sable Sorensen
Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer
What have been your best books of this year?
Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! And audiobooks. Don’t forget audiobooks!
In other words, if you can read it or if it can be read to you – no matter how you got it – it belongs in Stacking the Shelves.
The Stacking the Shelves meme was originally hosted at Team Tynga’s Reviews. It is currently hosted by Reading Reality.
No Sunday post today as I haven’t read anything!!!
After getting 20 books in October, the tbr situation couldn’t have got worse could it?!
Not quite.
But 9 new books when I only read 7 in November…..
Books I Bought
Son of the Morning by Akwaeke Emezi
Mate by Ali Hazelwood
Empire of the Dawn by Jay Kristoff
To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast
Advanced Reader Copies
Wolf Worm by T Kingfisher
The Tricky Business of Faerie Bargains by Reena McCarty
Innamorata by Ava Reid
West of Wicked by Nikki St Crowe
The Dark Lords Guide to Dating by Tiffany Hunt
I’d better get reading!
I took part in 3 annual reading challenges this year, an audiobook challenge which I have already updated on and also the Goodreads challenge and a Beat the Backlist challenge…..let’s see how I did!
Goodreads
I set my goal to 65 books and I’m now up to 79 books read!
Beat the Backlist
I said I wanted to read 20 backlist books and I only read 17….so I failed!
I don’t think I’m going to do any challenges in 2026 (apart from Goodreads). I’ll take a year off and see if that takes the pressure off a bit so I can get back into ‘fun’ reading again!
Did you join a challenge for 2025? How did you do?
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 41 books that I haven’t read, bought tears to my eyes!!!
So I have added only 6 here, I won’t bore you with the full list!
The Second Death of Locke by VL Bovalino
Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross
Silvercloak by LK Steven
Mate by Ali Hazelwood
The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
What about you, have you got a lot of books left over?
I think it’s always nice to look back and see that I’ve accomplished something in the year so thought I’d see if I finished any series in 2025!
My provisional goal was to finish 6 and I did it!!!
(Also let’s not talk about how many series that I haven’t finished and also new ones I’ve started this year *incoherent mumbles* )
So here we go……
1) Dominion by Abigail Owen
2) The Legends of Thezmarr by Helen Scheuerer
3) The Scarlet Veil by Shelby Mahurin
4) Plated Prisoner by Raven Kennedy
5) Scarlet Revolution by Genevieve Cogman
6) Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff (well I hope to finish soon!)
How many series did you finish this year?
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.
I hope you had a great week!
Yes, it’s Monday not Sunday, but I had a blogmas post yesterday so didn’t want to dual post!
My son chose this week to fracture his elbow! Playing dodgeball and crashing into a wall did not go well for him! They won’t cast it as he’s over 16 but we have a visit to the fracture clinic this week!
I did do a reread of a book that I’m about to start a sequel to (I couldn’t remember details so had to reread!)
I’m still listening to Empire of the Dawn – only halfway through!
Wicked: The Faces and Places of Oz by Universal
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley (reread)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
See my review soon!
Blogmas – Anticipated 2026 books
Blogmas – Festive Points Game
Blogmas – Audiobook Challenge
Blogmas – 2026 Book Plans
Blogmas – Series Finished in 2025
Blogmas – Books I Didn’t Read….
Blogmas – Challenge Updates!
What have you read lately?
So at first I thought about just recycling my 2025 goals like a lazy person with no time (that’s me!) But then I decided to actually have ‘A Serious Think’!!!
In 2025, I feel like I changed as a reader.
I’m working more hours in my new job, and it’s a demanding role where I really have to concentrate. I used to be able to listen to audiobooks whilst working, but now I can’t.
I’ve also cancelled a couple of book boxes and I’m skipping more often when the picks don’t interest me. But… I’m still led by the FOMO, and I find myself preordering more, meanwhile reading less, which means my TBR is bigger than ever!
So for 2026, here’s what I’ve come up with:
I know that sounds strange for a reader, but I want to savour quality over quantity. Looking back at my Goodreads goals from the past few years, I’ve already been doing this naturally, but I want to be more intentional about it.
• 2025: 80 books
• 2024: 119 books
• 2023: 185 books
I originally set my 2025 goal at 52 books and ended up reading 80. So for 2026, I’m taking the average of 66 and going with that!
This is mostly aimed at preorders, which are my weakness. I’ve decided to pause and ask myself, “Do I actually need this?” And if the answer isn’t an immediate YES, I will wait a few hours and see if Future Me still needs it!
Romantasy and PNR romance are my first loves, and I was SO thrilled when they became popular again in 2022/23. So in 2026, instead of buying new romantasy releases and letting them sit on my shelves for months (or years!), I’m going to try to read them right away.
Just three goals for 2026, hopefully simple and manageable and I hope they’ll help me enjoy my reading even more!
What are your reading goals for 2026?
CJRTB Books 