What will be your last book of the year?

[whatausername]

Mine will be Henry Mackenzie's The Man of Feeling. What do you hope to wrap up by Hogmanay?

@highlandcoo There's one line in it that always makes me cry (and I'm not a crier at books as a rule)

Does it relate to a death? I'm getting a really strong feeling that there is a tragic and sudden, unexpected death coming up soon. There has been some foreshadowing that points to it.

Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (not the actress). Beautiful, witty melancholy.

@Gotback Oh, that is such a wonderful novel! One of my favourites. I've read it three times, if not more.

Oh I enjoyed that one wholly! There's some sort of wisdom among the pragmatism of Mrs Palfrey.

I’ve just finished Tom Lake which I loved. Not sure I will finish another one before midnight tomorrow but I’m going to see if I have a short one that will do.

Me too! On my 3rd reading in the last few years after I found it again. It's just perfection.

I'm hoping to squeeze in 3 more by the end of the year.
About to start Childhood Behind Barbed Wire by Bogdan Bartnikowski.

Not sure what my last 2 will be. Probably something easy from my NetGalley list. I've got a few chick-lit type things on there.

@Gotback I think we might have similar taste in novels. Do you know Angus Wilson? If you don't, you would probably like him. Late Call is superb, as is The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot.

I'm coming to the end of Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst which will be my last book of 2024.

DH gave me a copy of Butter for Christmas, I think that will be my first read of 2025.

I lied 😫I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory instead 😃

Sometimes an urge just strikes.

Unless I finish it tonight - totally possible as it's a bit of a page turner - The Vanishing of Class 3B by Jackie Kabler.

Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb. Been putting off finishing the last 3 books in the 16 book world because I don't want to leave the MC. I'm assuming there will be a sad ending.

Not long finished Erotic stories for Punjabi widows by Balli Jaswal, funny, just starting Out of character by Alison Steadman (a gift for Christmas).

Will definitely finish Comet in Moominland today.

I'm also reading Susan Hill's Risk of Darkness, which I'm halfway through but don't think I will quite finish.

I just finished the Liveships trilogy by Hobb yesterday! She’s great.

After three 900-page books in a row I’m going lightweight with Curtis Sittenfield’s Romantic Comedy to end the year.

Liveships are my favourite books ever. I tend to have a break between each set. I think this first one in the final series is 688 pages long.

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell. If I finish it today, I will have read 2 books since Christmas!

I'm rereading Discovery of Witches because I was struggling to find something equally cosy. Just finished Slewfoot which didn't hit the spot.

I was absolutely bereft when I finished the Fitz/Fool series. Was reading them through pregnancy/night feeds with DC2 so they have a special place in my heart. Although some of it is a bit of an ordeal…

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters.
Keep hearing rumours that she is writing another and I hope they're true!

The Vessel by Adam Nevill but its really disappointing, I could have spent that tenner on something else

An abridged audiobook of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.

I’d prefer the full version but that isn’t going to be released until February and this was free with Borrowbox.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan.
I know it’s not very long but Ive started it three times now.
I really want to like it as it seems really popular on here.

The bird watcher by William Shaw. Set where I grew up. The first in a series.

I'm just reading Elizabeth Strout Tell me everything, which is the first of hers I've read. I didn't know what to expect but I'm loving it.

Then I have to start Butter (Asako Yuzuki) for bookclub in February. I like my bookclub, which has been running for a few years now, but it does suck up reading time!