I started challenging myself to reading a book a week in 2023 and continued into 2024.
Our daughter died suddenly in October 2024 and my love for reading among so many other things just stopped.
And like so many other things, it's taken a long time to get going ago, to do the things I loved to do when I had 5 minutes to them.
I wasted so much time after Stephanie's death, so much time with 'We could be with Stephanie now, but we can't' and I spent hours in the first few months, doing nothing, staring into space, lying in bed, doing absolutely nothing.
I returned to work, part time initially, then slowly a routine, with elements of our old life starting filling our time again, days out, going places where we took Stephanie became visiting places that we couldn't take Stephanie due to her disability. We didn't find things to do to replace her, we found that we just started living again without her.
I was tutoring English in a secondary school from year 7 up to GCSE, I supported a student with English Literature at A Level from 2022-2023.
I read a few books from October 2024 till March 2025, but in April I started again with a book a week and here we are, the middle of July on book no 30 and raring to go for the rest of the year.
Updated again in October and I had just started reading book no 41 in week 41 of the year, so finally back on track.
I didn't hit my challenge of 53 books for the year, but I wasn't far off with 47 and I'm happy with what I did read. I'll carry on in 2026. I've joined a book club now in work, that should help.
January
February
There has been lots of reading with the grandchildren.
And new books bought
I've taken to buying my books from National Trust properties and after I've circulated them around family and friends they'll be donated back there.
One of the things I enjoy doing is looking for unusual titles in the National Trust properties.
Books read for work - re reads:
Treasure Island - Tutor Read in School
Macbeth
The Tempest
Romeo and Juliet
Lord of the Flies
A Christmas Carol
New Reads:
Julius Caesar - William Shakespeare
April
May
June
I tweeted the author after finishing this book in the DI Claire Mackay series, I was pleased when she responded.
I started this book the beginning of June. I however left the book on a plane and had to order a replacement which I finished later in the month.
July
Richard Osman - We Solve Murders.
My current read, turns out, I'd only read half of it last year.
August and September
We travelled to Australia for 3 weeks then spent 4 nights in Dubai. I had space in my case for 7 books and Peter took 3. I met a woman in a local cafe who I gave my books to when I'd finished reading them, she gave me one of hers, I did a book swop in a hotel in Tasmania and I read 1 of Peter's also. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of all the books I read, so I can only claim these as holiday reads.
I loved these little libraries in Tasmania at the end of people's driveways.
Left behind in Tasmania.
My favourite place in the world to drink coffee and read.
I started this on the plane on the way home.
October
If I've really enjoyed a book, which is most of them, I hand them over to my friend. Other books that I know she won't enjoy or I've found hard going I've been dropping into National Trust properties where I've been picking books up from when we've visited. I also pick books up from charity shops and swop books regularly with my mum and have a system in place to ensure we don't keep swopping the same books back and forth.
November
December
I lined these books up for reading in December and it put me off for the first two weeks then I thought, NO, I've already read 43 books this year. I'm not going to read 53, but who cares? It's a self imposed challenge and once I took the pressure off myself I got through another 4 and finished the year on 47 books.
What did you read in 2025?
