I’ll be updating this page throughout the year, hoping to meet my reading challenge of 48 books (eligible books are numbered below) as well as a few other reading goals. You can follow me on Goodreads or Storygraph or read about what I read in 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 & 2017.
My favourite reads are marked below with a single star. I’m also adding a note with where I got the book – if it doesn’t have one, it was an ebook offer on Amazon (I’m poor, leave me alone).
March
14. On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle ⭐️
Very surprised this got a price drop as there’s so much buzz around it. Pretty much exactly as I expected from the recommendations that made me add it to my list, in a good way. It really draws you into this world where one person has to relive the same day over and over, while everyone else resets. The way she figures out the rules and what is and isn’t possible, or bearable, is fascinating and the slow pace gives you lots of space to imagine what you would do in the same scenario. Definitely interested to read more, though 7 volumes does seem a little excessive.
13. Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid ⭐️
Amazon coming through with the price drops so I have about 5 of these now. As expected, this is so much better and the character tropes and dialogue are perfection. Obviously still very formulaic and silly but great fun. Impatiently waiting for whatever is happening with TNT/HBO/NowTV later this month so I can watch the TV series.
12. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell ⭐️
I’ve read this multiple times but not for decades since I no longer own a copy so I’m counting it (especially because it’s very long). 100+ years on, it’s still so powerful and explains capitalism, socialism and the causes of poverty so clearly, though often with the subtlety of a rock. I’d forgotten quite how outrageous his character names are, on a scale that Dickens would balk at (Sir Graball D’Enclosedland you will always be famous to me, but there’s also a Mrs Starvem and a Lady Slumrent. I wonder if they are bad people 🤔) The author’s life was as similarly depressing as his band of downtrodden house painters and it’s even worse to know that really nothing much has improved, give or a take some social services.
February
11. Carry On, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
This was Tumblr’s fault I think but I was eventually compelled to download a few of the Jeeves books from Project Gutenberg. I have read some of these before but no idea which ones as all the stories are variations on a theme. That’s not a criticism though – it’s one of the reasons they’re so funny. The writing and characterisation really is impeccable, though it’s probably best to dip into a story when you need something light, rather than reading the whole book straight through. Will keep the other books for that.
10. The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton ⭐️
I really admire how all his books are a classic murder mystery but wrapped in a weird SFF story. That makes it pointless to even bother to try and figure out whodunnit as the story can go pretty much anywhere it likes and you can just enjoy the ride instead. This might be my favourite of his books so far, with the last of humanity (or is it?!) trapped on an island that can hold off a fog full of insects that destroyed the rest of the world. Probably would have been better as a day book as my sleepy brain struggled a bit to keep everything straight – there are just so many twists and turns in the last part.
9. Opinions by Roxane Gay
Essay collection that covers a wide range of topics. For many reasons, I wish she didn’t have to write so many about racism and the murder of black people. In a better world, she’d get to write way more about pop culture and art and her random interests. Most of the celebrity profiles were worth reading, even if I had no idea who they were, always a sign of a great writer.
January
8. All Fours by Miranda July ⭐️
I am bad at visualising things but this is such a vivid intense book that I felt like I was watching a movie, especially the first part. It’s also a very weird book and I never had the slightest idea where it might go next. Also oddly comforting as an aging woman. We are all going through the madness. Should probably be required reading for anyone over 30.
7. Hack Attack: The Inside Story of How the Truth Caught Up with Rupert Murdoch by Nick Davies ⭐️
I watched the recent TV series based on this and it was weirdly patronising, using all these cartoonish stylistic choices to try and help our tiny brains keep up. The book is actually much easier to follow and Davies is an incredible writer, managing to keep all the vast numbers of people, events and threads clear over years of research and coverups and lawsuits. I obviously lived through all this but was still shocked at how horrific the details are. Highly recommend, though it’s depressing to realise that, not only did no one really pay for their crimes or learn any lessons, but the media is actually objectively worse in every way now.
6. Game Changer by Rachel Reid
I am not immune to the gay hockey romance hype. This not great literature but it is fun. The preview of the next book was way better so hopefully that eventually gets a price drop.
5. Round Ireland in Low Gear by Eric Newby
This suffers a bit from the same ‘too much history’ issue as The Big Red Train Ride but those bits are shorter and more interesting. Mostly it is about Eric & Wanda deciding to cycle around Ireland in the winter, a truly deranged thing to do, especially in your 60s. The weather is predictably horrendous, most businesses are closed and they spend much more time visiting religious sites than would ever be interesting. Despite that, it’s an entertaining read, and especially when they return for a third leg in the summer. My favourite parts were where Newby’s past in retail has him fascinatedly describing the window displays and contents of rural village stores. That would have been an incredible book.
4. This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay
Another Prime pick and very well-written with extreme gallows humour. You can’t help but feel sympathy for how hard a life it is, with almost no rewards. Managed to balance my Kindle on my handlebars to read this while Zwifting so may have unlocked some new reading gains.
3. Not Cool: Europe by Train in a Heatwave by Jules Brown
Browsing Prime books and nearly didn’t download this due to my ‘no books described as hilarious’ rule (a sure sign of a terrible book) but was swayed by a reviewer with a similar rule who said it was actually funny. Sadly it was ‘hilarious’ but whenever he stopped trying to be funny and actually has a real travel moment, it was well-written and engaging, so I kept going. It’s an attempt to relive his young Interrailing days by traveling to 8 cities for one day each, all by train – and accidentally during a major heatwave. Some of the train journeys sounded so cool and I would love to do something similar, but slower.
2. Wheelmen by Reed Albergotti & Vanessa O’Connell
Picked this up in the sale and read most of it on the long journey home after Christmas. In depth account of the whole Lance Armstrong saga from journalists who worked on the story. Bit dated but fine.
1. Turtle Bread by Kim-Joy & Alti Firmansyah
Took me a couple of weeks to remember that a free month of Prime includes books and I needed to get on and read some. I was very happy to see this, a very cute and relatable manga by Kim-Joy of Bake Off fame. It’s all about coming out of your shell (hence the title) and based around a baking club.
