Here it is. My one read for April. What a trooper I am.

With all my January worries and preparation for change, I expected February to be a dry month on the reading front, but I appear to have phenomenally overachieved against my own expectations…

As children, memories of stories read to us in the evening by our parents, for many of us, comprise our earliest form of full-story reading, and as parents, we pass many stories, fiction and non-fiction, written and overheard, to our children in this form.

Here I am, ready for another year of reading and reviewing!

Following on from my 2025 final total of 156 books/audiobooks/short stories read, I have decided to continue with my newly re-established reading habit.

Maybe it was the Christmas spirit, but I gave no less than 7 books a five star rating over the course of this month. I allowed myself to access some of the sequels of earlier amazing reads, and this inevitably led to some great reads for me, sometimes in worlds I am very familiar with, and beyond happy to revisit.

In a 360 degree reversal from last month, I DID want to read this month, which was great. I kind of instantly countered my good intentions though by immediately signing up to several heavy going doorstoppers that have recently been making headlines.

I found it incredibly difficult to get going, so I bit into some Audibles, and made myself get to it over the last couple of weeks of the month. I made it to 14 stories, but only 4 are full length books this month, with the rest being short stories, novellas, and theatrical Audible adaptations.

I saw the passing of Baek Se-hee on BBC News today, and right there in my eyeline next to the television was the sequel I recently bought of this South Korean author’s international bestseller; I Want To Die, But I Want To Eat Tteokbokki.

The wind has picked up, leaves have changed to the loveliest of colours and started falling, and although it is still warm in the day, the nights are shorter and cooling down. We are at the start of Autumn, a favourite time of year for me.

We are shifting now into late Summer, warm, dreamy days and peaceful nights, and the last chunk of the school summer break.

Now moving gently into the second half of 2025, and it is the July reading round up! As I am both maintaining and recording my reading habit for the whole of 2025, I decided to have a quick look at numbers at this half way point.

Summer already, time for the June reading round up! Summer is supposed to mean more in the way of beach-style reads, but as many disabled people will know, days of strong sunlight and heat can be a no-go depending on the condition in question.

End of May and we’re already almost halfway through the year, good grief, and at the May reading round up. The weather is ramping up and sitting with a book is a real joy, as anything else causes menopausal overheating at my age!

Every time I click on Google right now I see another announcement about books that have won significant prizes in literature. This must mean it’s that time of the year - the moment prominent book awards start to announce their annual winners.

Spring is here and it’s time for the April reading round up!

March had me at a concerted effort to improve my reading, and a reminder to myself that I have Audible and audiobooks because of disabilities and days where it is very difficult to read.

February was a combination of finishing off books I had already started or had my eye on from last year, alongside starting reading with a book club, as reading can be a lonely exercise.

I had to see the doctor recently, who’s told me I can’t drive anymore.