Nonfiction November is an annual reading event hosted jointly by Liz at Adventures in Reading, Frances at Volatile Rune, Heather at Based on a True Story and Deb at Readerbuzz. Its aim is to celebrate all things nonfiction. The prompt for week one is provided by Heather who poses the following questions: What nonfiction have you read in the past year?

Reading Scotland Month is a new event devised and hosted by Joanne at Portobello Book Blog. The idea is to read, promote and celebrate books set in Scotland, books written by Scottish authors or books by authors living in Scotland. Joanne has chosen November for the event because St. Andrew’s Day falls at the end of the month. There are numerous ways to take part not just reading Scottish books but talking about books you've read previously or sharing recommendations.

Summer's officially over and therefore so is the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge for another year. Thanks to Annabel at AnnaBookBel for being our host for the event. I usually try to stick to my original list and not take advantage of the option to swap books in and out. Invariably it ends in failure. This year I allowed myself the option, swapping in eight books most of which were August and September publishing ARCs or book club picks I needed to read.

2026 Q1 updates about reading - top 5 books and challenge progress report, writing, board gaming, and a mini playlist as a bonus.

A quick recap of the reading I did in 2025 Q1, pick 5 of my favorite reads, and also report on how I progressed with my different reading challenges.