2025 Books

Posted on by Greig

This has been an unusual year and a very low number of books completed.
There have been so many books that I have part-read and not finished.
Most of those I actually do intend to get round to finishing but the will to do so has been lacking

  1. One Last Night by Lauren Ford, rated B
  2. Better Than Friends by Jill Shalvis, rated B
  3. The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles, rated B-
  4. A Case Of Possession by KJ Charles, rated B-
  5. In by Will McPhail, rated A-
  6. Wild Love by Elsie Silver, rated B+
  7. Wild Eyes by Elsie Silver, rated B
  8. Wild Side by Elsie Silver, rated B+
  9. Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis, rated B
  10. 3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years by John Scalzi, rated B+

2025 Audiobooks

Posted on by Greig
  1. Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir read by Moira Quirk
  2. Harrow The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir read by Moira Quirk
  3. Nona The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir read by Moira Quirk
  4. A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik read by Anisa Dadia
  5. The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik read by Anisa Dadia
  6. The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik read by Anisa Dadia
  7. Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk read by Richard Powers
  8. Microserfs by Douglas Coupland read by some dude
  9. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie read by Adjoa Andoh
  10. 6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did) by Tess Sharpe read by Tess Sharpe
  11. The Will Of The Many by James Islington read by Euan Morton
  12. Undone by Bryce Oakley read by Lori Prince
  13. Better Luck Next Time by Cara Bastone read by Mae Whitman and Woodell
  14. Trials Of The Sun Queen by Nisha J Tuli read by Corvin King & Soneela Nankani
  15. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas read by Elizabeth Evans
  16. Still Mad About You by Liz Maverick read by Luci Christian Bell, Andrew Eiden & Helen Laser

2024 Books

Posted on by Greig
  1. How To End A Love Story by Yulin Kuang rated A-
  2. Witchmark by CL Polk rated B+
  3. Keep This Off The Record by Arden Joy rated B
  4. Just Stab Me Now by Jill Bearup rated B+
  5. The Will of Many by James Islington rated A-
  6. Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross rated B
  7. The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty rated B+
  8. The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty rated B
  9. Happy Medium by Sarah Adler, rated B
  10. Beach Read by Emily Henry, rated B
  11. Funny Story by Emily Henry, rated B+
  12. Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood, rated B+
  13. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, rated A-
  14. Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree, rated B
  15. Do Me a Favor by Cathy Yardley, rated B+
  16. Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood, rated B+
  17. A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross, rated B+
  18. A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross, rated B
  19. Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood, rated B
  20. Level Up by Cathy Yardley, rated B
  21. Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross, rated B-
  22. Imperfect Strangers by Mary Frame, rated C+
  23. A Deal With The Devil by Elizabeth O’Roark, rated C+
  24. Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood, rated C+
  25. Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson, rated B-
  26. Cruel Winter With You by Ali Hazelwood
  27. The President’s Brain Is Missing by John Scalzi
  28. All By My Elf by Olivia Dade

2024 Audiobooks

Posted on by Greig
  1. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir read by Moira Quirk
  2. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir read by Moira Quirk
  3. Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir read by Moira Quirk
  4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins read by Tatiana Maslany
  5. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins read by Tatiana Maslany
  6. The Will of the Many by James Islington read by Euan Morton
  7. How To End A Love Story by Yulin Kuang read by Katharine Chin and Andrew Eiden
  8. The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams read by Stephen Fry
  9. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones read by Kristin Atherton
  10. The Road To You by Harper Bliss read by Emily Beresford and Gabra Zackman
  11. Dear Me by Robin Alexander read by Lori Prince
  12. A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik read by Anisha Dadia
  13. The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik read by Anisha Dadia
  14. The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik read by Anisha Dadia
  15. Book Lovers by Emily Henry read by Julia Whelan
  16. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan read by Rosamund Pike
  17. Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree read by Travis Baldree
  18. Role Playing by Cathy Yardley read by Chris Brinkley and Elyse Dinh
  19. The Truth by Terry Pratchett read by Stephen Briggs
  20. Third Eye by Felicia Day read by Felicia Day etc.
  21. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson read by Nicola Barber
  22. Indexing by Seanan McGuire read by Mary Robinette Kowal
  23. Constituent Service by John Scalzi read by Amber Benson
  24. The Day of The Doctor by Steven Moffat read by Nicholas Briggs
  25. Isaac Steele and the Best Idea in the Universe by Daniel Rigby read by Daniel Rigby
  26. Going Postal by Terry Pratchett read by Richard Coyle
  27. Who’d Have Thought by G. Benson read by Tanya Eby
  28. Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood read by

sapper?

Posted on by Greig

The Will of The Many

James Islington

Set in a quasi-Roman fantasy world this is a satisfying read.
Vis is an orphan trying to do something impossible – find a way to avoid being forced to cede his will to the Hierarchy.
The Catenan Hierarchy has conquered the world and their will magic powered by a strict societal power class system in now unchallenged.
Under unlikely circumstances Vis finds himself adopted by a powerful Catenan senator in order to solve a mystery at the elite Academy.
Vis – who has a dangerous secret past – is force to ride a fine line to serve the interests of different groups who want to use him for their own ends.
I really did enjoy this one. The book is split into three parts and the first part is particularly strong. I enjoyed the rest a little less but where it left off is very tantalizing and I’m looking forward to getting the sequel when it comes out.

Rating: A-

glue?

Posted on by Greig

Just Stab Me

Jill Bearup

This is an ok fantasy romance enlivened by a tremendously appealing meta plot where the ‘author’ talks with her characters about the story and events happening in her real life.
Originally a series of short videos on YouTube with the author playing all the parts. This is where I came across it.
Having enjoyed those little videos I decided to buy the novel.
At no point is it terribly original but it is frequently fun and different enough from the videos to be worth the outlay.

Rating: B+

alarm?

Posted on by Greig

Keep This Off The Record

Arden Joy

In this fun queer romance novel the story is told from the perspective of Abby and Freya.
Abby and Freya went to high school together and hated each other’s guts.
At a school reunion Abby’s best friend and Freya’s work colleague hit it off.
This puts this bickering pair back in each other’s lives.
The author takes some bits from Much Ado About Nothing to power a couple of the plots in the story and it’s not subtly done. I kind of wish that it was less obvious.
My favourite thing though was that the leads are people who make mistakes and act in actually human ways. I’ve read a few too many romance novels with unrealistic leads in the past few years.
Certainly worth a read and it won’t take you very long to get through.

Rating: B

second?

Posted on by Greig

Witchmark

CL Polk

Fantasy set in world where the equivalent of WW1 happened and our protagonist is a doctor treating the returning soldiers who are suffering from a type of PTSD.
Miles is in hiding from his very powerful family because he wanted to use his abilities to heal rather than be used as a battery for his sister who practices weather magic – which is the only legal form.
Investigating a potential murder leads Miles to a conspiracy, a family reunion and someone who may become a love interest.
This is an entertaining book with enjoyable characters but the pacing and the overuse of certain cliches has knocked it down a mark.
I’m going to check out the sequel.

Rating: B+

cakemix?

Posted on by Greig

How To End A Love Story

Yulin Kuang

This is the debut novel of writer/director Yulin Kuang whose work I have been following since “Kissing In The Rain” was released onto YouTube.
I was very lucky to gain access to an advance readers copy through NetGalley.
This is a very enjoyable romance with lead characters who are simultaneously both likeable and a little messed up.
The plot has Helen – a successful YA author – turning up in LA to take part in the writer’s room on the adaptation of her hit book series.
She discovers that one of the lead writers in the room is Grant. He was behind the wheel when Helen’s sister threw herself in front of car, leading to her death.
That tragic event informs every part of their interactions as they eventually move from being frosty colleagues to besotted lovers.
When the book ended I had that rare feeling of wanting to spend more time with the characters and I don’t think there’s a higher recommendation than that.

Rating: A-