Alternate mid-year reading checkup

In a comment on last year's (2025) reading challenge mid-year checkup post, I noted that Modern Mrs. Darcy had posted a podcast episode on the same subject! albeit with a slightly different focus. (I wonder if I got the inspiration for this post, at least in part, from a previous MMD post?) I did not listen but I did read the transcript. And in the comments, MMD team member Shannan listed 13 questions that guided their conversation.  

I've only JUST read 13 books (plus one more, for 14 total) this year to date (cough! and sob...), and not all of the questions were easy to respond to -- but here are the questions, and a few answers from me. (Links for books I've read go to my reviews on this blog -- the most recent review, in the case of re-reads. Links for books I've yet to read go to their Goodreads page.) If you decide to answer any of these yourself, I'd love to read your responses!

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MMD Questions: 

1. Fav fiction book you’ve read so far this year.
2. Fav nonfiction book you’ve read so far this year.
3. Fav sequel you’ve read so far this year.
4. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to.
5. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.
6. Biggest disappointment.
7. Biggest surprise.
8. Favorite new author (debut or new to you).
9. Newest fictional crush.
10. Newest favorite character.
12. Book that made you cry.
13. Book that made you happy.

*** *** *** 

My responses:  

1. Fav fiction book you’ve read so far this year.

In terms of new fiction I've read (i.e., not a re-read), that would be "The Queen Who Came in From the Cold" by S.J. Bennett. As I said in my review, "Queen Elizabeth is gone now, but long may she reign in these delightful books. :) "  I also wound up enjoying "The Mitford Affair" by Marie Benedict a lot. 

2. Fav nonfiction book you’ve read so far this year.

I haven't read much non-fiction so far this year, or in recent years generally (I used to read more non-fiction than fiction!), but I very much enjoyed the one non-fiction book I have read so far: "Gimme a Crisis" by Howard Green, about the Canadian bank and CEO I used to work for. 

3. Fav sequel you’ve read so far this year.

That would also be "The Queen Who Came in From the Cold." 

4. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to.

"London Falling" by Patrick Radden Keefe (which I've actually just started!). "Say Nothing" was mind-blowingly good, and has stuck with me in the 7 (!!) years since I first read it. I still recommend it all the time. (I have a couple of his other books in my TBR pile too.) 

(ETA:  I drafted this post in advance, and actually just finished this one this morning! -- review to come!) 

5. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

Looking forward to "We Chase Shadows," the next "We Solve Murders" mystery by Richard Osman, coming out this fall, and "Death on the Royal Yacht," the sixth book in the "Her Majesty the Queen Investigates" series by S.J. Bennett, also publishing this fall. 

6. Biggest disappointment.

Not exactly a disappointment, because I didn't have any great expectations going in, but "The Hacienda" by Isabel Canas is not something I would have picked up on my own if it wasn't a book club read.  Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised by a book club pick -- but reading this one confirmed that -- although it wasn't necessarily badly written (and it did keep me turning the pages!) -- it just wasn't really my kind of book. 

7. Biggest surprise.

Probably "Regeneration" by Pat Barker. It sounded interesting, but I didn't expect to find such well-drawn female characters in it too. Also the presence of several of the best-known WWI poets (Sassoon, Owen, Graves) was a pleasant surprise. The group I was reading the book with checked out some of their poetry as a "tangent," and it still packs a wallop, 100+ years later. 

8. Favorite new author (debut or new to you).

Pat Barker was new to me, and I would definitely like to read the other two books in the "Regeneration" trilogy, as well as some of her other work. 

9. Newest fictional crush.

It's from a re-read, but that would definitely be Commander Graham Gore, the hero/love interest of "The Ministry of Time" by Kaliane Bradley.  :)  

10. Newest favorite character.

Not new, because it was a re-read, but William Single in "The Four Graces" is many D.E. Stevenson fans' favourite male character, and he would definitely be a runner-up to Graham Gore as a fictional crush for me.  

12. Book that made you cry.

"In Memoriam" by Alice Winn, especially at the end (even though I'd read it before). 

13. Book that made you happy.

Couldn't pick just one (all re-reads): "You Are Here" by David Nicholls, "The Ministry of Time," and "The Four Graces." 

Reading challenge mid-year checkup

For the last five years around this time, I've done a mid-year check-in on the status of my Goodreads Reading Challenge and other reading goals -- and since the year is now halfway over (ummm.... WTF?!)  I thought it was timely to do it again.  :)  

In my 2025 Reading Year in Review post in January, under "Goals for 2026," I wrote: 

• ...I ended the year with 38 books read. I did not reach my Goodreads Reading Challenge Goal of 45 books (nor did I come anywhere near equalling my 2021/best-recorded total of 59 books, when my goal was 36).  I initially thought I'd keep my goal of 45 books in 2026 -- but, given the recent events in my life, reading has taken a back seat for the time being (sadly, I have yet to start a book in January).  So I've decided to downsize my 2026 goal slightly to 40 books (and hope to do better than that...!). It's still a "stretch" goal, based on the past few years, and still works out to 3-4 books per month on average). 
• While I'm grateful for my book groups and the boost they give to my reading totals, and while I intend to keep up with them in 2026, I'm hoping to be able to read more of my own choices this coming year too.  :)   

So.  Here we are at the midpoint of 2026 -- which suggests I should be about halfway toward my goal -- i.e., I should have read 20 books by now to keep up the pace of 3-4 books per month in order to reach my goal of 40 by the end of the year. 

I'm not there. (Not even close.)  :(   As I said in my Reading Year in Review post, recent events in my life (in particular, the death of my mom, the sale and cleanout of my parents' house, and spending extra time with my dad) have meant reading has not been as much of a priority, or as easy to fit into my day. 

I am currently at 14 books finished  = 35% of my 2026 goal (5 books behind schedule to meet my goal). I read 1 book in January, 4 in February, 1 in March, 2 in April, 2 in May and 4 in June.  Percentage-wise, I'm well behind where I've been at this time in previous years (when my goal was larger, 45 books):  44% of my goal in 2024 and 2025,  56% in 2023, 64% in 2022, and I was already at 94% in 2021 (! -- albeit my goal then was just 36 books -- and, I should note, it was peak pandemic then too! = not much else to do but sit around and read!). 

The online book clubs and readalongs I've been involved in over the years have not been as active recently, and/or I've not had as much time or interest to take part, which may also have contributed to my declining numbers.  In the past, these groups have provided some gentle deadline pressure that's kept me reading (albeit not always books of my choice). 

Some of these groups have sadly gone by the wayside in recent years, but I'm still involved in the D.E. Stevenson group on Groups.io (which has been taking a bit of a hiatus recently  -- although we do have a book for the summer now). I'm also continuing in my role as co-host of the book club within the Childless Collective (formerly Gateway Women/Lighthouse Women) private online community (which involves a lot of re-reads of books I've already read and recommended to the group). 

I'm also still taking part in some of the slow readalongs hosted by Simon Haisell at "Footnotes and Tangents." I haven't had time (or, frankly, interest) to get involved in all of the new offerings this year, but I did read "Regeneration" by Pat Barker with the group this spring  (and am glad I did!), and am planning to join in when we read "The Children's Book" by A.S. Byatt later this year.  

Realistically (given the way the year has been going...!), it's unlikely I'll reach my goal this year (never mind improve on previous years' totals).  :(  But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying, or revise my goal at this point.  I realize that, realistically, I am never going to be able to read all the books I would like. (There are still a lot of books on my "priority TBR list" -- which has expanded considerably since I posted about it in 2021..! -- that I haven't read yet!). 

But it's still fun trying, right? 

Did you set any reading goals for 2026?  Are you making progress toward them? 

Reading challenge mid-year checkup

For the last four years around this time (see the links at the bottom of this post), I've done a mid-year check-in on the status of my Goodreads Reading Challenge and other reading goals -- and since the year is now halfway over (ummm.... WTF?!)  I thought it was timely to do it again.  :)  

In my 2024 Reading Year in Review post in January, under "Goals for 2025," I wrote: 

• ...I ended the year with 37 books read. I did not reach my Goodreads Reading Challenge Goal of 45 books (nor did I come anywhere near equalling my 2021/best-recorded total of 59 books, when my goal was 36).  Nevertheless, I've decided to maintain my goal of 45 books in 2025 ( = 3.75 books per month on average)(and hope to do better...!). I may be repeating one or both of my slow readalongs of "War & Peace" and the Cromwell Trilogy, which took up a lot of my reading time this year -- but I think this is still a realistic & reachable goal for me right now (albeit a bit of a stretch one!). 
• I've read more than 45 books in four of the past six years (2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023), and almost 45 (i.e., 43) in 2020 -- so 45 books still seems very do-able.  But I'd be thrilled to be able to improve on that goal, too!  
• While I'm grateful for my book groups and the boost they give to my reading totals, and while I intend to keep up with them in 2025, I'm hoping to be able to read more of my own choices this coming year too.  :)   

So.  Here we are at the midpoint of 2025 -- which suggests I should have read 22-24 books by now to keep up the pace of 3-4 books per month towards my goal of 45 by the end of the year. 

I'm not quite there yet.  :(   I am currently at 20 books finished  = 44% of my 2025 goal (2 books behind schedule to meet my goal). I read 3 books in January, 4 in February, 3 in March, 3 in April, 3 in May and 4 in June. I'm basically in the same place I was at this time last year (end of June 2024).  In 2023, I had reached 56% of my goal;  64% in 2022, and I was already at 94% in 2021 (! -- albeit my goal then was just 36 books -- and, I should note, it was peak pandemic then too! = not much else to do but sit around and read!). 

Whether I'll reach my goal by year end (let alone improve on previous years' totals) remains to be seen...! (although I'll never say never..!)  I'm still involved in several online book clubs and readalongs that keep me reading (albeit not always books of my choice) --  including one for D.E. Stevenson's books on Groups.io and the monthly book club on the Childless Collective (formerly Gateway Women & Lighthouse Women) private online community, which I co-host. 

Sadly, the L.M. Montgomery Readathon on Facebook, which began as a welcome distraction during the early days of the pandemic in spring 2020, wrapped up at the end of our last book together at the end of May:  the main organizer has decided to move on to other projects.  :(   

Despite my stated intention in January (above), I decided not to repeat last year's slow readalongs of Leo Tolstoy's epic "War and Peace" and Hilary Mantel's "Cromwell Trilogy" -- "Wolf Hall," "Bring Up the Bodies," and  "The Mirror and the Light" -- hosted again this year by Simon at "Footnotes and Tangents" -- albeit I am very glad I read them with F&T last year!  I am, however, taking part in some of the other readalongs he's hosting this year, which started with "The Siege at Krishnapur" by J.G. Farrell, and is currently covering Mantel's novel about the French Revolution, "A Place of Greater Safety." 

Needless to say, there are still a lot of books on my "priority TBR list" (which has expanded considerably since I posted about it in 2021..!) that I haven't read yet! (And I realize that, realistically, I am never going to be able to read all the books I would like.)(But it's still fun trying, right?)  

2024 Reading challenge mid-year checkup

2023 Reading challenge mid-year checkup

2022 Reading challenge mid-year checkup

2021 Reading challenge mid-year checkup

Did you set any reading goals for 2025?  Are you making progress toward them? 

Reading challenge mid-year checkup

For the last three years around this time (see the links at the bottom of this post), I've done a mid-year check-in on the status of my Goodreads Reading Challenge and other reading goals -- and since the year is now halfway over (ummm.... WTF?!)  I thought it was timely to do it again.  :)  

In my 2023 Reading Year in Review post last December, I wrote: 

• ...I reached my Goodreads Reading Challenge Goal of 45 books by Dec. 7th, and ended the year with 48 books read -- but I didn't equal my 2021/best-recorded total of 59 books (when my goal was 36).  For 2024, I've decided to maintain my goal of 45 books ( = 3.75 books per month on average)(and hope to do better...!) -- which seems realistic for me right now. 
• I've read more than 45 books in four of the past five years (2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023), and almost 45 -- 43 -- in 2020 -- so that seems very do-able.  But I'm hoping I'll be able to improve on 2023's total, too!  
• While I'm grateful for my book groups and the boost they give to my reading totals, and while I intend to keep up with them in 2024, I'm hoping to be able to read more of my own choices this coming year too.  :)   

So.  Here we are at the midpoint of 2024 -- which suggests I should have read 22-24 books by now to keep up the pace of 3-4 books per month towards 45 by the end of the year. 

I'm not there yet...  :(   I am currently at 20 books finished = 44% of my 2024 goal (2 books behind schedule to meet my goal). I read 4 books in January, 2 in February, 3 in March, 5 in April, 3 in May and 3 in June.

At this time last year (end of June 2023), I had reached 25 books (56% of my goal). In 2022, I'd reached 64% of my goal, and I was at 94% in 2021 (! -- albeit my goal then was just 36 books).  

So I'm 5 books behind versus where I was last year, in terms of number of books read  :(  -- and I'm a little behind pace to reach or exceed my goal of 45 books before the end of the year.  

Whether I'll reach my goal by year end (let alone improve on previous years' totals) remains to be seen...! (although I'm still hopeful at this point...!)  Last year, my BIL's health issues kept us fairly busy;  the year before that, I had eye surgery which slowed my reading pace down a bit, for a while. Theoretically, I don't have any such major distractions this year.  

However -- I'm still doing a lot of book club reads & re-reads. I enjoy them because, overall, they (mostly) keep me reading and move me toward my reading goals. Some of the books we read have long been on my to-read list (thus moving them up in the pile...!). Others are books I might not have picked up on my own -- including some really good ones. 

My online book clubs/groups include one for D.E. Stevenson's books on Groups.io and the L.M. Montgomery Readathon on Facebook. Last year, I took on the role of co-hosting the monthly book club on the Childless Collective (formerly Gateway Women & Lighthouse Women) private online community. I would have been reading the books there anyway -- but now I'm trying to make time to hunt down & read/screen books that might be a good fit for the group too.  The Notes From Three Pines Substack newsletter readalong, covering the Three Pines/Inspector Gamache novels by Louise Penny, petered out last year after just a few months (and while I really would like to get back to these books on my own, the last one I read was #5, "The Brutal Telling," in August 2023 -- review here).  

I also joined not just one but TWO other "slow readalongs" hosted by Simon at the Substack newsletter "Footnotes and Tangents" -- one that's tackling Leo Tolstoy's epic "War and Peace" (!), one chapter per day for an entire year (!), the other reading Hilary Mantel's "Cromwell Trilogy" -- "Wolf Hall" (finished;  reviewed here), "Bring Up the Bodies" (our current book, almost done) and  "The Mirror and the Light."  These are some pretty thick books -- so while I may not make or exceed my goal in terms of books read this year, I expect that my total page count, at least, should be pretty robust....!  

While I HAVE managed to fit in some books of my own choosing, they've continued to take a back seat to all these book clubs and readalongs -- perhaps (I'll admit) a little more often than I'd like. And I haven't been able to explore as many potential reads for the CC book club as I'd like either.  But I missed the CC book club when the hosts stepped down and it subsequently went on hiatus, and sometimes if you want something done, you have to be willing to do it yourself...!  

In 2023, I ventured into the world of ARCs (advance reader copies) on NetGalley by reading and reviewing Ashley Audrain's "The Whispers" (reviewed here). It was a good read and an interesting experience -- but I have enough book-related deadlines/obligations in my reading life at the moment as it is -- and many NetGalley books come with an expiry/"archive by" date -- so I haven't requested any others this year (so far, anyway).  Maybe I'll try it again in the future...!  

Needless to say, there are still a lot of books on my "priority TBR list" (which has expanded considerably since I posted about it..!) that I haven't read yet! (And I realize that, realistically, I am never going to be able to read all the books I would like.)(But it's still fun trying, right?)  

2023 Reading challenge mid-year checkup

2022 Reading challenge mid-year checkup

2021 Reading challenge mid-year checkup

Did you set any reading goals for 2024?  How are you doing with them? 

Reading challenge mid-year checkup

Last year at this time (and the year before that too), I did a mid-year check-in on the status of my Goodreads Reading Challenge and other reading goals -- and since the year is once again halfway over (ummm.... WTF?!)  I thought it was timely to do it again.  :)  

In my 2022 Reading Year in Review post last December, I wrote: 

• ...I reached my Goodreads Reading Challenge Goal of 45 books by mid-November, and ended the year with 50 books read -- but I didn't equal my 2021/best-recorded total of 59 books (when my goal was 36).  For 2023, I've decided to maintain my goal of 45 books ( = 3.75 books per month on average), which seems realistic for me right now. 
• I've read more than 45 books in three of the past four years (2019, 2021 and 2022, and almost 45 -- 43 -- in 2020 -- so that seems very do-able.  But I'm hoping I'll be able to improve on my 2022 total, too!  
• While I'm grateful for my book groups and the boost they give to my reading totals, and while I intend to keep up with them in 2023, I'm hoping to be able to read more of my own choices this coming year too.  :)   

Here we are at the midpoint of 2023 -- which would suggest I should have read 22-24 books by now to keep up the pace of 3-4 books per month towards 45 by the end of the year. I crossed the 24-book threshold (50%) in mid-June, when I finished Louise Penny's "A Rule Against Murder" (reviewed here). I am currently at 25 books finished = 56% of my 2023 goal (3 ahead of schedule to meet my goal). I read 6 books in January, 4 in February, 3 in March, 4 in April, 5 in May and 3 in June.

At this time last year (end of June), I had reached 29 books (64% of my goal). (I'd read 5 books in January 2022, 6 in February, 5 in March, 6 in April, 3 in May and 4 in June.) So I'm 4 books behind versus where I was last year, in terms of number of books read (and 9 books behind 2021, when I had completed 34 books by the end of June) -- but I'm still on pace to reach or exceed my goal of 45 books before the end of the year.  

Whether I'll be able to improve on 2022's total by year end remains to be seen...! Last year, I had eye surgery in late July, which slowed my reading pace down a bit, for a while. I don't have anything like that planned this year ("PLANNED" being the operative word...!);  however, my BIL is undergoing some major surgery shortly -- so hospital visits and doing things to support the family may (will likely? already has??) limit my reading time. 

I'm still doing a lot of book club reads & re-reads -- and I recently took on the role of co-hosting the monthly book club on the Lighthouse Women (formerly Gateway Women) online community. I would have been reading the books there anyway -- but now I'm actively hunting out & reading/screening books that might be a good fit for the group too.  And I've also taken on *another* unofficial goal of reading one Louise Penny Three Pines/Inspector Gamache novel a month (loosely following the Notes From Three Pines Substack newsletter Readalong).  

So while I HAVE managed to fit in some books of my own choosing, they've continued to take a back seat -- perhaps a little more than I'd like. But I missed the book club when the hosts stepped down and it subsequently went on hiatus, and sometimes if you want something done, you have to be willing to do it yourself...!  (And reading the Penny books was certainly my choice;  they've been on my TBR list for quite a while now...)  

AND (as I wrote on my latest "Right now" post)... not that I need yet ANOTHER book club/readalong to follow... but I recently learned about one on Substack for "Middlemarch" by George Eliot. This is a book that I read (and enjoyed) in university (it was my favourite English prof's all-time favourite book) -- but that was.... ummm... a LONG time ago, lol.  I've often though of giving it a re-read. As I said, I need another reading obligation like a hole in the head, but this does seem like a perfect opportunity... they're covering chapters 6 & 7 tomorrow (July 2nd) -- so it would be (relatively) easy to catch up at this point. (Well, easier than if, say, they were already on chapter 42, right?)  Hmmm....  

I also recently ventured into the world of ARCs (advance reader copies) on NetGalley by reading and reviewing Ashley Audrain's new book, "The Whispers" (reviewed here). It was a good read and an interesting experience -- but I didn't realize that most of these books come with an "archive date."  I have enough book-related deadlines/obligations in my reading life at the moment as it is -- reading should be fun, not work! -- so I probably won't be requesting more ARCs regularly, unless something pops up that I find really interesting and want to read immediately.  

Needless to say, there's still lots on my "priority TBR list" (which has expanded considerably since it began...!) that I haven't read yet! (But it's still fun trying, right?)  

Did you set any reading goals for 2023?  How are you doing with them? 

Reading challenge mid-year checkup

Last year at this time, I did a mid-year check-in on the status of my Goodreads Reading Challenge and other reading goals -- and since the year is once again halfway over (WTF?!)  I thought it was timely to do it again.  :)  

In my 2021 Reading Year in Review post last December, I wrote: 

• Since I reached [my 2021 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of] 36 books fairly easily this year (by July), I've decided to stretch a bit and increase my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal to 45 books ( = 3.75 books per month on average) for 2022. I've read more than 45 books in two of the past three years (2019 & 2021, and almost 45 in the third year -- 43 in 2020), so I think that's a reasonable/realistic goal to set. 

Here we are at the midpoint of 2022 -- which would suggest I should have read 22-24 books by now to keep up the pace of 3-4 books per month towards 45 by the end of the year. Well, I got to 22 books in late April (with a group re-read of L.M. Montgomery's "The Story Girl," reviewed here), and crossed the 50% threshold in May.  I am currently at 29 books finished = 64% of my goal. I read 5 books in January, 6 in February, 5 in March, 6 in April, 3 in May and 4 in June.  At this time last year (end of June), I had reached 34 books. So I'm a little behind versus where I was last year, in terms of number of books read, but still on pace to reach or exceed my goal of 45 books before the end of the year.

I do expect to fall a bit further off pace later this summer/early fall. My eye surgery is set for July 25th, and my sister (who had a similar surgery last year) has warned me I will have to lay off the screens (and presumably that includes e-readers and paper books) for at least a week while I recover. Three weeks after that, I'm having gallbladder removal surgery on Aug. 15th... presumably that won't have any impact on my vision, but it might affect my powers of concentration/focus, at least initially. So I'm trying to cram in the books my various book groups will be covering over the next while before then...!  

I didn't set any other "official" reading goals or challenges for 2022.  Back in January 2020, I wrote a post (responding to a post of Mel's) about tackling my TBR (to be read) pile by making a "TBR priority list."  I wrote: 

Some of the books I've been meaning to get to for quite a while now include "Us Against You" and "Anxious People" by Fredrik Backman (after reading & loving "Beartown" for my library book club), "The Huntress" by Kate Quinn (after reading & enjoying "The Alice Network" for my library book club -- and she has a new book coming out soon too... gahhhhh...), "My Dark Vanessa" by Kate Elizabeth Russell (which I keep putting off, even though several people I know have read it & rated it highly, because it sounds... dark... and I need to be in the right frame of mind to tackle something like that), and "Maisie Dobbs" by Jacqueline Winspear, which By the Brooke recommended to me a long time ago.  ;)

I read "Anxious People" in 2021 for my "Clever Name" book club (review here) -- but so far, that's the only one I can cross off that particular list (which has, in the meantime, grown longer, lol). 

Did you set any reading goals for 2022?  How are you doing with them? 

Reading challenge mid-year checkup

Since 2021 is already halfway over (eeekkkk.... seriously??!), I thought it might be timely to check in on the status of my Goodreads Reading Challenge and other reading goals. :)  In my 2020 Reading Year in Review post last December, I wrote: 

• Since I reached 30 books fairly easily this year (by mid-August), I've decided to increase my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal modestly to 36 books ( = 3 books per month on average) for 2021. 
• This year, I reached 36 books by late October. I also reached the 36-book mark in October 2019, my best reading year since I started keeping track (50 books total).  So we'll see how I do in 2021...! 

I thought it might be cool if I could reach my goal of 36 books for the year by the end of June. For a while there, I thought I might do it -- but after blazing through 9 (!) books in May, I only managed to finish 2 in June, for a total of 34 books, year to date. Close, but no cigar, lol.  Still, 34 books so far (94% of my goal) is pretty amazing.  While I didn't quite make 3 books in June, I'd still like to keep to that 3 books per month goal for the rest of the year, if possible. I read 50 books in 2019 -- the most I've read in one year since I started tracking/taking the challenge on Goodreads in 2016 -- and while I'm not going to change my Goodreads goal midyear, I think that will be my unofficial target for the rest of the year, and 2-3 books per month for the rest of the year will help me get there. :)  

I didn't set any other "official" reading goals for 2021.  But back in January, I wrote a post (responding to a post of Mel's) about tackling my TBR (to be read) pile by making a "TBR priority list."  I wrote: 

Some of the books I've been meaning to get to for quite a while now include "Us Against You" and "Anxious People" by Fredrik Backman (after reading & loving "Beartown" for my library book club), "The Huntress" by Kate Quinn (after reading & enjoying "The Alice Network" for my library book club -- and she has a new book coming out soon too... gahhhhh...), "My Dark Vanessa" by Kate Elizabeth Russell (which I keep putting off, even though several people I know have read it & rated it highly, because it sounds... dark... and I need to be in the right frame of mind to tackle something like that), and "Maisie Dobbs" by Jacqueline Winspear, which By the Brooke recommended to me a long time ago.  ;)

"Anxious People" was the pick for my "Clever Name" book club this month (review here), so I did get that one read. But that's the only one I can cross off that particular list (which has, in the meantime, grown longer, lol). 

Dh is off Goodreads again (eyeroll). His goal was 24 books, which he blew past long ago. His last recorded total was 62 books so far this year, but the true number would be much higher than that. 

Did you set any reading goals for 2021?  How are you doing with them?