Soon it will be that time again, when I crunch up numbers, post stats, all that jazz. Perhaps before that, though, some notes I made along the way during the year. Many of them posted in Facebook – either on my own wall or in the Bookaholics group – some I just wrote here, to jot down some thought about my reads.

Jan 10

Started reading TJ Klune’s Into This River I Drown. I’m on the third page (in Kindle, on my phone, so prolly still on page one or two) and I feel emotions stirring.

I don’t know how he does it, but anything he writes ALWAYS hits me to my very soul. Maybe not the best book(s) to read on a bus…

Feb 1

Feb 17

Feb 24

Love this book! Love its feel, its atmosphere, its ambiance; just as it says on the cover (love its cover! and it matches my hair ), it’s poetic, eerie, and beautiful Has the same feel as The Phantom of the Opera (though I actually haven’t READ it yet – it’s next in line). – Gothikana, by RuNyx

And, just look at that awesome tarot bookmark I found!

#gothikana#tarot#bookmark#beautifulbookcover

Feb 25

Well, I had a good staycation, back to work tomorrow. I read a book a day, except last weekend (when I finished Sanditon) and today (when I read 2/3 of The Phantom of the Opera). And then some; reading a 3 in 1 book in Kindle, halfway through the second book of the book. Have done little else all week, which is exactly the way I wanted it.

Feb 25

Very peculiar. Reading my supposedly illustrated copy of The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (and being a bit disappointed by the journalistic style lacking all the feeling and mysterious air of the movie/opera/theater versions).

Supposedly illustrated bc there is not one single illustration in the book. Also, the first 15 chapters lack page numbers – the numbering starts at 1 on page 3 of chapter 16.

Some sort of Amazon ”printed in Poland” copy of the book. But at least the story seems to be there

March 3

Every now and there are posts asking about undervalued books/authors. I never remember any at that point, but as I started to read The Labyrinth on Dreaming Books (by Walter Moers) I felt that here I have an example of an author who/whose books books should be way more famous.

And to take it a tad further, especially these Dreaming Books books should be way more famous – apparently where Moers is known, he’s mostly known for The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear, not his other works so much.

I have read Bluebear, and a couple other Moers books, and while I have enjoyed all of then, in my opinion, Dreaming Books books are far superior. Highly recommended for fantasy adventure lovers, especially if you also love books about books (and writing)!

>> why aren’t the other Moers books translated yet??!

March 23

I’ve had this book in my library for quite some time now. A few years, maybe? Somehow hadn’t gotten around to reading it, despite meaning to, so many times. Until today.

I don’t know what I expected, exactly, but I find the book quite peculiar. Strange atmosphere, somehow quite film noir. Slow paced and vague, a bit prickly. Everyone’s tense and acting odd and when does one ever lie down to nap on a first visit to someone – and it’s happened twice already.

And yet I am weirdly hooked. Intrigued and irritated at the same time. Wanting to go on and put the book away. Perhaps that’s what makes it special.

The Price of Salt (or Carol), by Patricia Highsmith

April 1

I mean, if you create a fantastical fantasy world which is supposedly totally out of this world and its religions, you just do. not. have Christmas. Churches (cringe) I can overlook, but not Christmas. No, you do NOT have Christmas in Nevermoor. Humph.

Otherwise a truly delightful book [Nevermoor – The Trials of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend]

April 17

Tää on kirja Andystä, mut tää on ennen kaikkea kirja täynnä Andyn tajunnanvirtaa millon mistäkin. Funtsin ja funtsin miks se tuntuu niin tutulta, kunnes sivulla 258 sen hogasin: mun teiniajan päiväkirjat on täynnä ihan samanlaista, ihan samalla kielellä kirjotettua tajunnanvirtaskeidaa

[Lamppu Laamanen: Andy]

April 21

Anyone else here read the Dark Verse series by RuNyx?

I read her Gothicana and really liked the style, so obviously needed to see if she’d written more, thus landing on this series. I finished the first book, The Preadtor, last night, and while I thoroughly enjoyed the story, loved the writing in general, and am totally reading the entire series (starting The Reaper today), I have but two complaints:

– Inconsistancies in dates and date math is really hard for me to get past

– 2-3 yo toddler IS NOT A TOOTHLESS BABY who sits on a table gurgling and gigling!!! I mean, RuNyx is young, but still. Really confusing to me when the age of a kid is stated as almost 3 and then the behavior described is that of a 5 month old

These aside, I love this darkish mob series and recommend them to anyone digging that kind of stuff.
>> but where is the last book lagging? The Syndicater

Edit Nov 27: Book 6 was finally published and so I read it as soon as I got it in my Kindle. Nice wrap-up for the series.

May 16

I read some rather dark abd grim stuff for a while there (RuNyx’ Dark Verse series, and TJ Klune’s Immemorial Year duology), and while they broke me and appalled me and I hated them but I LOVED them (and how does that work even?), I needed something lighter and sweeter to read.

So yesterday I started Elodie’s Library of Second Chances by Rebecca Raisin (pictured), which I found through this group a while ago. Thank you It touches my soul. It makes me cry, because it’s just so lovely. Exactly what I needed: kinda light-weight, but full of the brighter BETTER side of being a HUMAN.

May 17

I admit that most I ever knew about Frankenstein’s ”monster” before was that he was an abomination created by a mad scientist named Frankenstein. Seen the pictures and refs, obviously.

So, now I’m 2/3 into the original story, and I wholeheartedly disagree with anyone claiming that Frankenstein was NOT the monster. If anyone in this story is one, it’s definitely him: playing god and then abandoning his creation (like gods do), leaving him to fend for himself in a world scared of *difference*.

A horror story it is not. No, it’s a tragedy. It’s a tale as old as time. A miserable misundersrood lonely soul, shunned by society. Poor ”monster”, shame on Frankenstein.

June 9

Ready Player One meets D&D. Davi keeps on rebirthing into a fantasy world to save it and gets tired of starting over on the good side and decides to beat the Dark Lord by becoming the Dark Lord. Which is where the book starts – we don’t get much of the Groundhog Day there, only whatever mentions Davi makes of her memories of alle them previous lives.

When your book has footnotes 😊 but also the footnotes have footnotes 😄 Totally my kind of side thoughts upon thoughts upon thoughts and then some kind of stuff, that 😂

Edit Dec 24: OBVIOUSLY, this book is to be continued, too. At the point of finishing this one, there was no other sign of the sequel anywhere, other than the ad at the end of the book, claiming that book 2 was to be published earlier this year. Welp, finally sometime in the autumn I found book 2 in amazon.com, to be published in May 2025.

June 14

Ever thought those adventures featuring insane coincidences involving high-level politicians, double-crossing con-artists, murderous crews, buried and then lost treasures, caves and holes riddled with spiders, snakes and scorpions, drug lord accomplices handling shit with a gun and a wad of cash, outlandish tech hauled around in a Cessna almost as ancient as the civilizations it’s used to uncover, and… maybe you get the gist? are a bit farfetched?

I tell you, this TRUE STORY (together with the accounts of historical escapades) has it all and then some! I constantly need to remind myself that I’m reading non-fiction, not an Indy Jones manuscript or one of Gibbins’ Jack Howards or smtg.

Intriguing, unbelievable, amazing story of finding the truth behind the legend of Ciudad Blanca, in Honduras.

The Lost City of the Monkey God, by Douglas Preston

June 18

Well, that Atlas Six trilogy was a rather intense experience… First one was more fast paced, second slowed down, the first half of the third book was a bit boring but then it sped up to some sort of climax. Anyway, the entire trilogy was more in the heads of the SIX than real action, so heavy read, psychologically intense.

The minds of those SIX, geez, it was just the ugly complexity of utter humanity, and I kinda usually like my reads a bit more glossed over, so that I can escape humanity in its raw form instead of diving into the muddy depths without scuba gear. After finishing the last 200 or so pages of the trilogy last night in a frenzy, I had oppressive dreams all night, not really nightmarish in any way, just, heavy.

July 5

Chuckles. The characters writing back and forth to each other are just so real. I could totally see their personalities via their letters, notes and accounts of each other. I was quite apprehensive about the format of the book at first – letters, journal notes, missives, annotations… – but the story just flowed through them bouncing like rapids on rocks, joyfully and effortlessly. The mystery unraveling bit by bit as the two main characters (of the present day) went through their joint archives trying to figure out what exactly happened to their siblings who disappeared together.

In the end (or rather, even quite a bit before reaching the end) I came to thoroughly enjoy the penpal-format of the story as it touched a nostalgic part of me, reminding me of what it was like to write long letters by hand, wait for days before the replies came, hoping and anticipating and then reveling in the letter of the other. Such a different way of communicating than the instant messages of today! So yes, this book was an absolute delight!

A Letter to the Luminous Deep, by Sylvie Cathrall

(And shucks! Obviously “the story will be continued”! A Letter from the Lonesome Shore to be published in May, 2025 – obviously already preordered!)

July 16

If Les Miserables was written today, it would never be published as it was. I admit: I didn’t read probably half of the book faithfully at all, skimming through pages on end, occasionally just flipping through pages on end. Vast descriptions of places and their history, detailed scenes from historical events that have little to do with the story itself, multitudes of sideline stories that really could’ve been a couple sentences instead of a dozen pages long, lengthy introductions of minor characters, way too many names and dates, soliloquies that go on for pages, long dialogues of little or no value in the big picture…

Ok, some of it sets the scene, some of it is of consequence, but no I do NOT need to know the full history of the sewers of Paris, nor what happened to Brunesau (why was that character even introduced?) in them in times before the story, just to appreciate and understand what went on in them as Valjean carried Marius through them.

I loved the main story and maintained my ability enjoy it only by skipping the tedious history lessons, the inconsequential not-even-side-characters, the stuff that didn’t build it. So maybe it was meant to be read thoroughly, but I simply could not bore (or confuse, what with all the dates and names and places and…) myself to DNF:ing the book by trying to plough through the backstories, sidelines, balloons pinched from the air.

Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo

Aug 10

A sweet magical story, loved reading it, even though I was a bit confused when it wasn’t actually *magical*, i.e. not fantasy, not magical realism, but a fantastical drama, or something. Anyway, a book to love ❤

The Wishing Game, by Meg Shaffer

Aug 24

At some point during the past couple of years I decided to start to fill in at least some of my gaps in classics, buying and subsequently reading stories like Mary Shalley’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (which is still unread but next on my list of paper books).

Somehow (well, algorithm-how, obviously) I stumbled upon this series by Theodora Goss: The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club, books as follows:

• The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter
• European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman
• Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl

The protagonist is Mary Jekyll, the daughter of Dr. Jekyll, who after her mother dies, discovers not only the truth about her dad, but that there are quite a few other women, daughters or “daughters” of these “scientists” ie. alchemists who dabble in vivisection and alteration of humans. Even Sherlock Holmes is part of these spin-off stories.

These (as you see I’m a bit over halfway through the second book) have lead me to discover (and order) more of these alchemist/scientist stories from the 19th century, such as The Island of Doctor Moreau (H.G. Wells) and Rappaccini’s Daughter (Nathaniel Hawethorn).

I have greatly enjoyed these Coss’s books, they’re witty and funny and fun adventures!

Sept. 14

There’s a first for everything they say. Well, didn’t see this coming, but I’m actually reading a trilogy by the Finnish author Antti Tuomainen, in English. For reasons.

Yes, I’ll state the reasons: the original Finnish book can’t be bought in physical format; it’s only available in eBook services like BookBeat, which I don’t use, while in Kindle it’s NOT available in Finnish. So this is what happened, I’m reading the English translation of a Finnish book…

Anyhow, it’s an intreresting experience! Locations are right here in my hoods, and all names of places and people are in Finnish. Even some very Finnish things are preserved in Finnish, like “lonkero”, not translated/changed. Then, however, most idioms etc. are translated and sometimes I stop to wonder what the original text was. Some examples here:

• “The moon looked like creamy Finnish cheese” > Oltermanni?
• “Henri: Nobody calls me HARRY.” > Harri??? How’s that a nickname for Henri? Oh, HENKKA?
• “Minttu K using ‘Honey’ when addressing Henri her boss” > Kulta? Kultsi? Muru? WOT? None of them fit into a Finnish mouth very well…

Fun books, though. And for the record, I don’t much like reading Finnish translations of English books either, and do the same brain gymnastics around the text the other way round on the rare occations that I do find myself lost in translation (sic).

(Antti Tuomainen: The Rabbit Factor, The Moose Paradox, The Beaver Theory)

Sept. 28

I recently read (and loved) My Effin’ Life by Geddy Lee (left pic). From Geddy I learned that while Rush was writing and recording their album Clockwork Angels, Neil Pert was actually working with Kevin J. Anderson on turning the underlying story into an actual fantasy book by the same name (right pic). I definitely needed to get that!

So I did and now I’m reading it. Even with no knowledge of Rush and their music, the book – steampunk scifi fantasy – is truly an enjoyable story, but for a Rush fan, a real treat! Besides delving deep into the story behind the album lyrics, getting some meat around the album bones, it is riddled with bits and pieces of Rush lyrics from all of their work, making reading even more fun, a lyrics-treasure hunt of sorts.

Oct. 24

Veronica Speedwell I’m smitten

You know how it goes You’re lured by the cool cover, so you get the first one, you like it, so you get the second one too. It grows on you and suddenly you’re in love by book three and witness yourself buying the rest of the series in one small click to your Kindle, and neglecting everything else on your TBR, you find yourself fully immersed in the series Oops

Veronica Speedwell, the very modern Victorian lepidopterist lady with a twist in her family ties, and the grumpy but ah so romantic companion Stoker. Witty dialogue, clever mysteries, and references to British calssics.

“Reader, I carried him”

Dec 1

I usually steer away from hype, from anything that’s hyped, but this one I picked out before I realized there was any hype about it, even though I only got the book in November. And, well, it’s well worth it’s hype. A wonderful story that I didn’t want to end, at all! But end it did, eventually, Leaving behind this ethereal feeling that if I just look in the right place, I can step right into the story myself. And this book by Shaffer actually WAS magical for real as well as a story (ref. The Wishing Game)

The Lost Story, by Meg Shaffer

More bookish musings to come, once the year is over and it’s time for the full recap!

Last time I read this many books in one year I was probably in my teens, if even that. When I was studying in the Uni, I had little energy to read anything beyond the exam books (but of course I did, a dozen books a year, perhaps). When the kids were little, I had little time for myself, between the fulltilme job and family, and what time I did have, was late at night when I was exhausted. Still, I did read maybe that dozen books a year (disregarding all the kids’ books I read to them). Gradually, when they grew older, I started to have more time for reading and I think some sort of average was 35 books per year, for a long time.

Kids are all adults and living their own lives now. We have our dogs, we have our routines, we have our together time, but I seem to find more and more time to read. Last year it was 82 books (30 948 pages), year before that 63 books (24 563 pages), while the year before that was right at the average of 35 books. This year I have read 102 books, a total of 39 304 pages, books ranging from 56 to 868 pages long, with an average book length of 385 pages. There’s still almost a week left of the year. I’ll surely finish at least my current Kindle read by then, A Fate of Flame by Tessonja Odette (49% read currently), potentially even another one. I doubt I’ll reach 40 000 pages, though.

Let’s take a look back on my reading year, with Goodreads’ Year in Books as our guide, and see some highlights and my book picks, month by month. A little bit of insight and maybe even reading tips to the likeminded.

January

The pick: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches (Sangu Mandanna)
A fun, sparkly, and warm story, where the magic could be found equally in witching and finding a love and a place to belong. I loved this so much I looked for more books by Mandanna, got a couple to my Kindle too, only to realize they are essentially totally kids’ books, not even YA, so I haven’t really gotten to them. I’m sure one day I will – I don’t really have any scruples regarding reading kids’ books, when I get to the mood.

The meh, the almost-DNF: The Witch of Willow Hall (Hester Fox)
A dreary gothic story with potential for so much more. None of the themes were really explored to their full potential, not the witchiness, not the love story, not really even the tragedies.

The predictable: 22 Seconds (James Patterson & Maxine Paetro)
I mean, you know what you get, and you get that and nothing more, nothing less. Good entertainment, guaranteed mystery.

The indie surprise: The Glory Box series (Claudia Marcin)
With indie, you never know what you get. Many I have DNF:d, most have been ok, some have been diamonds in the rough. This series was definitely in the diamond category. A scifi mystery series with an ending even I couldn’t predict until at the very end, right before the revelation. Sincere recommendation!

The new discovery: The Wee Free Men (Terry Pratchett)
i.e. the Tiffany Aching storyline of Pratchett’s Discworld series, also my very first of Pratchett apart from Good Omens (cowritten by Pratchett and Neil Gaiman) which I read in 2022. More accurately, I finally started Wintersmith (which I’d randomly picked from a used books table at the Helsinki Book Fair in 2021) in January, immediately realized I loved the writing AND that the story I was reading started in the middle of a longer story. In fact, exactly the middle, as Wintersmith is book #3 of the 5 Tiffany books. So I put my bookmark in that one and ordered the other 4 books from Amazon and started from the beginning with this one, The Wee Free Men. And loved it. Fun adventures and a bit of suspense in a fantasy world. Obviously went on to read them all, which segues us to February.

February

The sweetest: And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer (Fredrik Backman)
More of a short story than a novel, it is the story of a grandpa losing his battle agains Altzheimers, of his days inside his memories, of moments with his grandson. Warm and heartfelt, sweet while bitter. A piece of life.

The lightest: Mystery of Thorn Manor (Margaret Rogerson)
I loved the first Thorn book, Sorcery of the Thorns. I didn’t not love this sequel, but it most certainly wasn’t a novel with a fullblown plot or anything. I mean, it didn’t pretend to be either. It’s a book that would probably bear the number 1.5 if the Thorns were to become an actual series, which I doubt they will. It’s a lightweight, entertaining, and fun novella with bubbly magic.

The domestic (Finnish): Taikuri ja taskuvaras -trilogy (Anniina Mikama)
February was quite a bit of a YA month for me, between the Tiffany Achings, Thorns, and this Finnish scifi/fantasy series. I liked the series quite well, and in my opinion it got better as the story unfolded, book 3 being the best of the trilogy,

March

The pick: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry (Fredrik Backman)
A Backman-kind-of sweet story that tastes like life. The grandma who, in her death, ties everything and everyone together after years of disparaging between people who really should just love each other, be a family even if they actually aren’t one. The little girl, the granddaughter, who serves as the glue and ribbon, by being the executor of grandma’s letter-legacy. Sweet and heart-warming, true Backman quality.

The doggo: Love, Clancy (W. Bruce Cameron)
It’s the doggo, Clancy, telling the story of humans - his and a few other ones – and their often incomprehensibly (to the dog-mind, anyway) complicated relationships and goings-on. That, and a bit of butt-sniffing and doggo-love. A lovely read, while it didn’t inspire me to get more of Clancy.

The LGBTQ+ love: Delilah Green Doesn’t Care (Ashley Herring Blake)
At this point, maybe I’ll begin by stating that I am bisexual (and actually polyamorous by nature if not in practise, at least not currently), and I would love to see more queer in books. I don’t pick books based on the sexuality of their characters, but sometimes I get tired of the heteronormative in romance, and even more the one true love (even when being torn between two love interests, making me scream “just have them both in a V and be done with it!”) trope. Polyamory is quite difficult to find in mainstream (i.e. not indie) lit, and the few indie titles I’ve tried, went to the DNF category for other reasons. Gay love (guys or gals), however is starting to be a bit more common, while still mostly only in their own genre, at least where main characters are concerned.
Anyway, Delilah Green is most certainly lesbian, and starts the delightful three book series by Blake, where a queer trio finds their loves (oh yes, still the one true love thing). Things get a bit steamy in these books, so if it’s not your thing, don’t pick them up. I loved these for romantic reads – the third one in December when it was published.

The grand finale: Chain of Thorns (Cassandra Clare)
This book ended The Last Hours trilogy, which has spanned over three years, at least? It also ended the Shadowhunters era, as after this book Clare moved on to create a new and different fantasy world, one I’ve yet to delve into (Sword Catcher, on my TBR, in my Kindle, waiting). IMO, the Shadowhunter books were getting a bit tired, a bit repetitive, so a good time to say goodbye,

The segue: Fractured Fables 1 & 2: A Spindle Splintered & A Mirror Mended (Alix E Harrow)
Looking for more of Alix E Harrow after The Ten Thousand Doors of January (my probably very favorite book of 2022), I found these Fractured Fables where the protagonist travels through (and fixes as she goes) a myriad of variations of the story of the Sleeping Beauty, until stumbling into a puzzling version of Snow White. This duo of fairy tale retellings plunged me head on to the next month(s) of Twisted Tales.

April

The three in one: White Haven Witches, books 1-3 (T.J. Green)
So, actually three books counted as one, so technically book count of the year should be 2 books higher… Anyway, a fun, witchy, and even romantic fantasy mystery series, the books 4-9 (in two 3 book sets) of which are waiting in my Kindle for the right moment to dive back into the quirky world of Avery and Alex and the rest of the White Haven Coven.

The doggo: A Spot of Trouble (Teri Wilson)
Dalmatians do it again: bring together two people who otherwise would’ve never. Light and fun, and full of dognanigans!

The best Twisted of April: What Once Was Mine (Liz Braswell)
The first Twisted Tale I got. Oh, I ordered a total of 10 of them – not quite all of them, but most, leaving out those I didn’t like/haven’t read in their original, erhm, Disney original, form. I was almost tempted to continue on to the Disney Villains series, but decided to pass. Anyway, What Once Was Mine is the retelling of Rapunzel, and the best one I read in April, but also right at the top of them all.

May

The most expected: In the Lives of Puppets (TJ Klune)
The most recent book from one of my very favorite (and very queer) authors, TJ Klune. A book that was supposed to be published in September of 2022, but ended up coming out only in May 2023, due to Klune changing publishers (which also resulted in full new beautiful editions of my maybe favorite Klune series, the Green Creek quadrology, which I promptly proceeded to order as they come out, even though I’ve read the series in Kindle already).
Oh so the Puppets. A bit of a scifi book, and also sort of loosely a retelling of Pinocchio, putting it right into the theme of things in May 😀 Not my favorite Klune book, but certainly guaranteed Klune goodness!

The best Twisted of May: As Old As Time (Liz Braswell)
Obviously, Beauty and the Beast, this one. And a lovely version it was too! I actually 5-starred several of the tales in May, but I think this one is my pick of them as my favorite in May.

The least liked Twisted: Once Upon a Dream (Liz Braswell)
The book I least enjoyed of all of the Twisted Tales was the retelling of the Sleeping Beauty. I don’t know, I’ve never been a huge fan of the original story, either, and this one simply didn’t hit the spot with me, at all.

The new author: Reflection (Elizabeth Lim)
Also at the top of my Twisted Tales picks is this retelling of Mulan, which also lead me to seek more books by its author, Elizabeth Lim. We’ll meet Lim again in my July books.

The curiosity invoker: Unbirthday (Liz Braswell)
I believe I have read (or listened to) Alice in Wonderland, the original story, as a kid. I’ve obviously seen a movie or two, most certainly the most recent ones with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. I was sure I had a version of the book in my library in Finnish. I couldn’t find it when I looked for it. Anyway, all this reading of the retelling and looking for the book that doesn’t seem to exist and thinking about the story and trying to remember it and how the retelling fits into things, I ended up getting the original book and reading it in August.
This book was also in in the top 5 of the Twisted for me, and it concluded my Twisted reading for the time being. One still awaits on the shelf.

The DNF: Borderline Personality Disorder Workbook (Daniel J. Fox)
Self-help. I usually don’t go for self-help anyway. This one I got 2/3 through, I think, reading one chapter per weekend or so, doing the excercises too. I wanted to help myself. Then I realized I really do have all the tools; the book wasn’t giving me anything new. Also, getting my ADHD diagnosis, starting the medication, going through the process of discovery of my neurodivergency – autistic traits on top of ADHD – removed most of specifically BPD related issues, leaving only what is explained by said neurodivergency. Can’t say going through the book as far as I did was futile. It just became redundant at this point in time and life.

June

The most expected: Atlas – The Story of Pa Salt (Harry Whittaker & Lucinda Riley)
Lucinda Riley died of cancer before completing her story of Pa Salt and the seven sisters. It undestandably took her son Harry some time to put together the tome of a book, that concludes the story and finally reveals what we readers had only been guessing at by way of the few clues given in the sisters’ books. Well worth the wait! Grand book, grand finale for the saga!

The FanFic: The Late Mrs. Willoughby (Claudia Gray)
The second book in Grays Austen based stories starring the autistic eldest son of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, and the eldest daughter of Catherine and Henry Tilney (of Northanger Abbey) – combining my two favorite Austens! – and featuring a set of characters from different Austen novels; this one mainly restricted to those of Sense and Sensibility, though, while the first one, The Murder of Mr. Wickham brought together basically all of the main protagonists. Yes, I loved this like I loved the first one, and next summer should see a third one published.

The gateway book: Daughter of the Moon Goddess (Sue Lynn Tan)
Or maybe Reflection was the gateway? Be as it may, when looking for more books by Lim, I also found this book, book one of a duology, and for whatever reason started my stint into to Chinese mythology based books with this, not one of the Lims (which follow in July and August). Excellent fantasy, this duology, and those of Lim, if you ask me.

The pick: The City of Dreaming Books (Walter Moers)
Found this (as so many others) in the Bookaholics FB group, was fascinated, got it in paper, read it, loved it. Which set me on the path to get all of the Moers books, which are only six altogether; 5 of them stories from Zamonia (this is book 3 of them, all of them standalone stories), one a bit different, but we’ll get to that in December.

July

The magical realism: Book Charmer (Karen Hawkins)
Just a touch of magic, some warmth and caring, a town to save, and a bit of romance. The first book in the Dove Pond series of magical realism and romance combined. Sweet and easy reading.

The disappointment: Last Unicorn (Peter S. Beagle)
Somehow I expected a lot from this book, it came so highly praised, but I was disappointed. Kinda like I was disappointed by The Neverending Story. There’s some similarities in the style and the story building, and I simply could not love either, as much as I would’ve wanted.

The longest book of the year: The Priory of the Orange Tree (Samantha Shannon)
I’d like to say it was a fabulous saga. And in many ways it was. However, it was a bit unnecessarily long, in my opinion, and I would’ve enjoyed it more had it been just a tad more concentrated. Same goes for the second book prequel. Still, I did enjoy reading them.

August

The pick: Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe (Heather Webber)
Another find from the Bookaholics. Another author who spins a bit of magic into real life real world stories of love and friendship and finding one’s home. I loved this book, and I loved the other Webber I read this year, well, in August as well, At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities.

The sweetest: The Reading List (Sara Nisha Adams)
A warm and sweet story revolving around books that bring people together and resonate and console their readers separately. A list of books, left in secret by an avid reader, to be found by those they chose as receivers. I love books about books, and this wasn’t an exception, even though the books on the list were not exactly up my street.

The domestic (Finnish): Katariinanpyörä (Johanna Valkama)
Going back in history, to the time when Jaakko Ilkka, the hero of the Nuijasota (The Cudgel War, or rather the uprising of peasants in North-West Finland in 1596-97) had been beheaded, leaving his wife a widow. The book is otherwise fully fictive – nobody really knows much about his family – and takes the reader through Middle Age Finland, to Turku. Quite an enjoyable book, this one. I didn’t like the second book, Kuningatarlaiva (which started my September), quite as well.

September

The pick: The House at the Edge of Magic (Amy Sparkes)
As one can guess from the cool covers, it’s YA. But it’s FUN! A whole lot like The Moving Castle, but definitely no copycat. These are books of pure magical fun and mayhem. There may be a fourth book coming out at some point.

The political memoir: Maailmanparantajan muistelmat (Risto Isomäki)
The memoir of an environmental activist, a do-gooder, a journalist. Extremely interesting book, and while I don’t subcribe to his ideology as is, I can’t very well not acknowledge the good he and his posses have done. The book reminded me of the importance of balance, and that people like Risto are important drivers of balance in the world. The book also sparked a curiosity or interest in colonialism and how it pushed the third world into the poverty ridden state it was and mostly still is. It prompted the purchase of the book Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World by Mike Davis. Still on my TBR, waiting for the right moment.

October

The memoir: Muistista piirretty kaupunki (Elena Chizhova)
The story of Elena and her foremothers, the saga of a St. Petersburgian family before and after it was Stalingrad and Leningrad. The glamour and the beauty of the city as much as the ugly and the poverty. The exodus and the come-back. A city you can leave but that never leaves you.

The shortest of the year: Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (T.S. Eliot)
I.e. the book that became Cats, the musical. A book of cat poems. Bought because it was referred to in The Distant Hours (Kate Morton). I got another copy of this one for my son for Christmas.

The most miserable: Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë)
No worries, I won’t go into all of my dislike here, you can read all of that in my previous post (the last part of). Suffice to say, that despite the gloom, despair, and misery on me, this one actually is solely responsible for several new books on my TBR and in my library, all of which are still waiting, though. Perhaps next year?

The three in one: The Fair Isle Trilogy (Tessonja Odette)
Um yes, another book of three in one, so what’s the actual count now? 106 books? Fairies, humans, war, romance. All the makings of a thoroughly enjoyable fantasy book. You know, I believe there’s a word used for romance between the fae and humans, and while trying to google it, I came across some peculiar q&a’s like: “are fairies monogamous?”. I mean, like, what?

November

The pick: Hex and the City (Kate Johnson)
Some more romantic witchy fun mystery found in the Bookaholics group. Why is it that the witchy just makes it just so much more fun to read?

The doggo: A Dog Day (Walter Emanuel)
Another shorty. Just a terrier going through a day in a very different time and age than ours. Not exactly to my liking, but I’m mentioning it since, well, dog.

The most expected: Dirty Thirty (Janet Evanovich)
Evanovich is getting old, and book releases are less and further apart than before. Still a enjoyable reads, though, still as much fun! I just wish Steph would find a way to go poly for good with Morelli and Ranger. I mean, she really already is, so why not make it official?

The autobio: The Woman in Me (Britney Spears)
While I liked all three autobios I read in November, Britney’s gets the mention if only because it was such a mind-blowing experience to read about the circumstances of her father’s take-over of her life and career. Absolutely baked my noodle. More about this book, too, in the aforementioned previous post.

The finale: A Curse For True Love (Stephanie Garber)
This was the third and final book of the Once Upon a Broken Heart trilogy, which matured and grew better together with the protagonist. The best book of this trilogy.

December

The pick: The Lost Bookshop (Evie Woods)
Humm… another book you can read more about in the previous post 😏 A lovely magical realism duo-storyline book. Maybe my favorite of the year. Or was that the City of Dreaming Books?

The non-fiction: Remainders of the Day (Shaun Bythell)
In a way not much to shout about – a day-to-day diary of running The Bookshop in Wigtown, the booktown of Scotland. Then again, it painted a patchy but alluring image of the town, its goings-on, and the day-to-day life surrounded by books. It made me want to go and stay in the Open Book AirBnB for a week or few to run the bookhop just for fun. It made me start planning my dream world tour, jotting down places I’d like to go, routes I’d like to travel. All because of Wigtown.

The curiosity invoker: Mansikkatyttö (Lisa Strømme)
Ah, one more reference to the previous post 😂 Actually the book that originally sparked the writing of said post. This book mixes history and real historical characters with fiction in a way that had me googling for more info on the subject and the paintings and finding a love of sorts for the works of Edvard Munch.

The non-Zamonian Moers: A Wild Ride Through the Night (Walter Moers)
The only Moers book that is not of the world of Zamonia. Fantasy as it is, an action packed journey that could be just a dream, but maybe it wasn’t…?! The story is based on a set engravings by illustrator Gustave Doré, who also is the 12yo protagonist of the book. Apparently this was written before the Zamonia-books, but wasn’t published until after them. Still, it was the hardest to get.

Wrap-up and a what now

Sometimes I can easily pick a best read of the year. Most years not. This year, not so easy. The nominees would be:

• The Lost Bookshop (Evie Woods)
• The City of Dreaming Books (Walter Moers)
• Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe (Heather Webber)
• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches (Sangu Mandanna)

While this year was heavily fantasy – I do seem to drift more and more to the fantastical worlds as the years go by – and quite a bit of light romance, there were plenty of excellent historical drama / family saga kind of books and autobios in the mix, not all of them mentioned. Doesn’t mean I didn’t value or enjoy the reads – I really did! They just go into the comfortably good middle. Kate Mortons, always a pleasure. Bios and autobios, truly intriguing. The rest of the Moers Zamonias I read, and the Chinese mythology books I didn’t go into specifically, I loved. The bulk of the fantasy and romance I read, superb in my world.

I believe next year will be a similar mix of a lot of fantasy, a bunch of romance, some historical/family saga or other drama reads, some (auto)bios and other non-fiction, including at least the Brontë sisters book, the making of the third world book, and the book I got for Christmas: Putinin alttaripoika (Putin’s altar boy) by Juha Meriläinen – a contemporary political book about the nationalistic and religious games and motives behind the war in Ukraine.

Currently, I’m readung A Fate of Flame (Tessonja Odette), which is the last book in the Prophesy of the Forgotten Fae trilogy, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (V.E. Schwab), which has been in my library for a couple years now, I think. The Fate I will definitely finish before the year is out, Addie Larue, probably not. I’ve got all these blog posts to write and work to do and dad to visit and floor to floor and whatnot taking up a lot of my daily time 😂 While I kinda would love to just read and read and read, it’s good to live and do things sometimes, right? And some things don’t really even ask 😏

My TBR is currently 129 books (and that is only books I already OWN). Last year at this point it was 104 books. Or was it 116? Less than now, anyway. So did I read my way through those 100+ books already? Are the 129 all new ones? Nope, nah-ah. The way it works is, I read two books at the same time, always: one in Kindle, the other in paper, and I pick my books by mood – when I finish one, I select the next one in that format.

I constantly find new interesting books in the Bookaholics group, in bookstores, and through books I read. The new and shiny usually cut in line and get read before the ones that have been on the list for longer. I do get to them, I get to all books eventually (unless I die first), but if they sort of pass their window of opportunity, it may take me quite some time to get in the right mood for them again.

So, only time will tell what I end up reading next year 🤷‍♀️

[Edit 1.1.2024: I actually DID finish both A Fate of Flame and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, the latter one yesterday evening. Addie LaRue actually goes right there to the top reads of the year, wonderful tale of life and love and the love of life!

This put my book count to 105 (plus 4 as two were three in one books 😉) and the page count actually did exceed 40 000, even disregarding the maybe 50 pages I didn’t read of the one DNF. A Fate of Flame was longer than I thought – with Kindle, the page count is a bit hazy. I’m starting my reading year 2024 with The Brontê Sisters by Catherine Rayner (the paper book) and Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer (the Kindle book).]