I few years ago I started the custom of stacking up each physical book I read during the course of the year and then, come New Years’ Day, taking a photo. This is purely for personal reasons, mostly so that I have a record that will be interesting to look back on in years to come. It’s never a big number of books in any given year – which is fine, I’m not competing with anyone. I do also read quite a few ebooks as well – possibly more than physical books although I’ve never counted – and consume a dozen or so audiobooks.

This year I took my New Year’s Day photo and then somehow it became February and I still hadn’t posted the picture. (How did it get to be February already?) Anyway, better late than never, here is last year’s reading:

Which ones did I enjoy? Pretty much all of them, although some a little more than others. I particularly liked ‘Eversion’ by Alastair Reynolds which was a glorious mix of SF, history and mystery. ‘Babel’ was also a standout of course, although I was coming late to it. ‘City of Last Chances’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky was particularly excellent and carries with it the memories of reading while also on holiday in Devon.

But now I have a confession to make. I did the same thing last year. I took my book photo on the first day of the new year, left posting it for a week or two, and then a month or two… and ended up not posting it at all! (What am I like?)

So to remedy that, here was last year’s (2023’s) book stack, to avoid a break in the photographic records!

Next year I promise to do better!