Hello friends – I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and your year has started off with some great reads. Thank you again for your kind words on my last post. I really do miss being here in this space so I hope I can at least check in a bit more regularly this year.
We had a very nice and quiet holiday. Believe it or not, the only new books I got were two books from Seth’s Christmas Ghost Stories collection. For the past several years, it has become a tradition for me to read one of these on Christmas. They are quick and with some really striking black and white artwork.
I really wanted to read a holiday story for the wintery atmosphere as here in Austin I was in shorts and t-shirts for both Christmas and New Year’s. Unfortunately one book I started in December was just not the one for me and so I DNFd it. Let me tell you last year I must have DNFd at least seven books. I think I was just really having a hard time focusing.
Now a new year and I’m excited about what new books I’ll discover. I’m carrying over one read, Among the Wicked by Linda Castillo. This is the eighth book in the Kate Burkholder series. I’m half way through and it’s really good. Typically I wouldn’t read another mystery at the same time but for my new book of the year I started With No One As Witness by Elizabeth George. I’ve read several of the first books in the series and wanted to read in order but this is a book for my February book group so making the exception. I needed to start this one too as it’s quite a chunkster at 774 pages.
I also have my new reading journal ready! Someone had asked me if I do graphs and all other kinds of trackers but this is just a simple notebook where I keep track of reading notes. For example, characters, quotes, etc. I do add a picture of the book cover and a sticker or two just for fun. I have found that keeping notes helps me remember the books much more which is great as I’m so behind on my book reviews! We’re not going to talk about just how behind I am!
So that’s a bit of the start to my new year. Let me know if you got any bookish presents or what new books you’ve started. I hope you have a great weekend!
Oh, your Christmas weather reminds me of when we lived in San Diego. I remember having to turn the AC on one Thanksgiving since we were all dressed in fall clothes and it wound up being something like 80 degrees that day!
You and Kay are big Kate Burkholder fans, and I really should give them a try. I think I read the first in Castillo’s series, but that was decades ago. Elizabeth George’s books are huge, aren’t they? I’m reading a big book right now, but it’s quite good. Herman Wouk’s The Winds of War, which has been on my shelves since we moved back to Lincoln from Texas in the early 2000s!
I gave myself three books for Christmas and bought three more with a gift card. I’ll be posting about those later in the month. Now to stop doom-scrolling and go curl up with my book. Happy to see you here again!
Love the idea of your reading notebook! And Castillo’s Kate Burkholder series is one of my favs. Happy reading! 😀
It sounds like you had a nice Christmas, Iliana. Mine was quiet too. My reading journal is fairly simple too. One year I tried to get fancy with it, but it was just too much work. I’ve been really wanting to die into Elizabeth George’s mysteries. Maybe I should make a point to at least start the series at the beginning. I don’t have to make it a year goal, but it can be an ongoing one. I’ve been toying with the idea of reading all my Medusa themed novels that are sitting on my TBR. Other than that, I really haven’t given much thought to reading plans for the year. I am just not in the right head space to want to plan much, I think. I hope you have a good week and enjoy your reading this year.