Books finished in 2025: late June edition

[vivdunstan]

Catching up with this, and another 6 titles finished since my last post:

1. An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
2. Don't Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri
3. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
4. Egyptian Myths: Meet the Gods, Goddesses, and Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt by Jean Menzies
5. Tutankhamun: The Treasures of the Tomb by Zahi Hawass
6. ABBA: The Treasures by Ingmarie Halling and Carl Magnus Palm
7. Captive Queen: The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots by Jade Scott
8. A Middle-earth Album: Paintings by Joan Wyatt Inspired by Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings by Joan Wyatt
9. Could You Survive Midsomer? – A Winter's Murder: An Official Midsomer Murders Interactive Novel by Simon Brew
10. Eerie East Anglia: Fearful Tales of Field and Fen by Edward Parnell
11. Introducing Shakespeare: A Graphic Guide by Nick Groom
12. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
13. The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
14. Colostle Complete Edition by Nich Angell
15. Wild Card: Let the Tarot Tell Your Story by Jen Cownie and Fiona Lensvelt
16. Insomniacs After School volume 5 (manga) by Makoto Ojiro
17. Doctor Who: The Ruby's Curse by Alex Kingston and Jacqueline Rayner
18. Notebook by Tom Cox
19. Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono
20. Winter's Heart (Wheel of Time book 9) by Robert Jordan
21. Insomniacs After School volume 6 (manga) by Makoto Ojiro
22. Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
23. Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
24. The Wee Free Men (Discworld book 30) by Terry Pratchett
25. Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan

Of the new ones, the Wheel of Time 9th book was not as bad as I feared. Still way too long, still over written. And I'm rather dreading book 10, which retells much of the same plot apparently as book 10. But not too bad, and overall enjoyable. I am determined to get to the end of the series!

Still loving the Insomniacs After School manga series, though trying to spread them out, because there are still some more due to be published in English translation.

Assassin's Apprentice is the first Robin Hobb book I have read. I enjoyed it a lot, though some bits made me so very angry as I was reading. Angry at the author for making me go through reading them! But it was well written. I expect to continue on to the sequel in the near future.

Belladonna is a Young Adult gothic/fantasy/historical/romance book. I'm honestly surprised how "spicy" it was, given the age it was targeted at. I also found it a slog to keep going through much of it, and it needed heftier editing. But I did enjoy it enough that I might read the sequel.

Continuing my reread of the Discworld "Witches" mini series of books saw me get to the first Tiffany Aching book. These Tiffany books late in Terry's writing life are so very good. I can understand why he was so fond of them and also so proud of them.

I enjoyed Lucy Mangan's book recalling her childhood reading, from her very earliest memories of being read to, through to her transition to adulthood. She's a couple of years younger than me, but we read many similar books in childhood. Though she didn't share my enthusiasm for fantasy, and was far more keen than me on contemporary fiction and also dystopian which I tend to avoid.

I am now reading the first in David Bishop's Renaissance Florence set series of mystery/thrillers. As well as continuing to read a non fiction book about a slow canal boat journey around England, another British Library Weird Tales short story collection, and more.

Finishing my 25th book means that I've reached my self-set Goodreads reading goal of the year. I was very modest in my 2025 reading goal, and wanted it to be something easily achievable, not least given how sedated and time limited I am now. And to be fair the last 6 months have included some whoppers, including another Wheel of Time book, and a reread of Charles Dickens's very lengthy Our Mutual Friend. I will keep reading, but it's nice to have 25 books under my belt.

Comments

[greenwoodside]

I started listening to the German audiobook version of Assassin's Apprentice in 2016. Since then, I've listened to every one of the Elderlings books, getting to the end of the last in around 2023. They've become a bit like a friend over the years.

A slightly strange friend that gets locked in dungeons a lot.

The Soldier Son trilogy (in a different 'verse) is very worth reading too, though Hobb does go somewhat axe crazy in it. I thought the Rain Wild books were comparatively gentle because she wrote them right afterwards, and was low on reserves of authorial ruthlessness.

Anyway, apparently I'm a big Robin Hobb fan. Ironic, since I remember at the start of Assassin's Apprentice going *smug superior sigh* This is going to be such derivative garbage. A few months later and I was writing to the audiobook company with twitchy fingers to ask if they had plans to adapt more of her series. Heh.

The Tiffany Aching books are wonderful. I wish I could read them for the first time again!

[vivdunstan]

Re Tiffany, my husband hasn't read any of them! I keep trying to get him to start. He's read many many Terry Pratchett books in the distant past, but hasn't read fiction for a couple of decades or so now. I know he'd love them. Just whether he finds the time.

[greenwoodside]

Perhaps leaving copies around the house in strategic locations (e.g. near the kettle, so can be glanced in while waiting for tea) would work!