Nose in a book

Well, it has been quite a month. Art is good. Emergency hospital trips are not. The relentless rain here in Bristol ruled out any chance of aurora spotting and the world news continues to be largely terrible.

Thank goodness for books and films and photography and music. And awesome friends. And delicious food. And did I mention our friends are awesome?

Tim and I had an excellent long weekend in London, where we saw both the RSC production of My Neighbour Totoro – which is as sweet and beautiful and funny and sad as the film – and the Theatre Royal production of Othello, starring David Harewood and Toby Jones. Which is as heartbreaking and brutal and mesmerising as it should be with such amazing actors.

Continue reading “January 2026 reading round-up”

It’s that time again when I click on the stats tab in Storygraph and share some facts and figures about my reading over the last year. In 2025 I read 82 books, or 21,773 pages. Way back last January, when I was recovering from my shoulder operation, I was reading very short books that I could manage one-handed. So I’m relieved to see that by the end of the year, my average book length was a respectable 265 pages.

One stat that surprises me is that 30 of the books I read this year are in a series. Then again, if you sneak a look ahead to my top five, two of them are in series. 

From my own records, I see that I read 21 works in translation. The 82 books were set in 25 different countries (not counting space/fantasy locations), and were written by authors from 20 different countries. That’s a decent spread.

I don’t want to set myself any goals this year, aside from continuing to read widely. I want to give myself freedom to jump into any topics or challenges that arise without feeling that it leaves me too busy to read my own dang books. I’m just happy that in my mid-40s I am continuing to read a lot and continuing to enjoy it.

Continue reading “2025 reading stats and top reads”

Well, happy New Year’s Eve folks. I hope those of you who get a few days off at this time of year have enjoyed them. We had a very lovely small Christmas, and an even quieter few days of Twixtmas.

I was lucky enough to get my usual stack of books from friends and family. And more than a week of quiet time to largely devote to reading. My TBR may be roughly the same size as this time last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, but its composition does change. I’ve stopped feeling guilty about owning so many unread books. If nothing else I’m supporting writers financially by continuing to buy their work/ask for books to constitute the majority of my presents.

I’ve also watched an inordinate number of films this month. Top ranking among them are The Holdovers, Feast of Seven Fishes, Wake Up Dead Man and Night Moves. Oh, and yesterday we finally watched Double Indemnity, which is just as good as you might expect of a screenplay co-written by Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder.

I’ve spent this afternoon curled up reading Arsène Lupin short stories but now it’s time to make dinner, drink wine, watch Jools Holland and see in 2026. Happiest of new years to all of you.

Continue reading “December 2025 reading round-up”

In some ways it has been an ideal November – mostly very cold and sunny with blue skies, with just the occasional intense storm. I’ve taken the dog for some lovely walks and read some great books.

I also saw Wet Leg live, who were awesome of course. And I went to the Bristol Drama School production of Kae Tempest’s Brand New Ancients, which I found powerful (though the friend I went with was less convinced). Tim also took me to the cinema to see the new Running Man film, which I really enjoyed.

Continue reading “November 2025 reading round-up”