faftris I browse Allrecipes alot and save recipes there that are categorized in my digital recipe book there. I believe I have around 1000 saved including a cake category!

Dorie Greenspan's Everyday Cakes. I was thinking that they would be nice, simple bundts or loaves. The ingredients were all over the place, and the pictures of the finished products didn't tempt me.

Mea culpa. It's Anytime Cakes.

Just finished our latest book club book and i really enjoyed it. Its How To Read A Book by Monica Wood. Its the story of a widow who runs an book club for women in prison, and her relationship with the women and others. Dont want to reveal any spoilers.

Its a good book and lots for a book club to discuss. I recommend it.

For fun I just did a count on goodreads and I've read about 80 books this year so far...more than I expected. I figured it'd be about 1 a week.

Annie, thats a lot of books! Im lucky to get in two a month.

ded -- That novel got us all started reading Monica Wood. You have more treats in store, though none better than that one.

Chisue, good to inow! I gotabout half way through Spoon Stealer when Libby took it back! However, it seemed very similar to How To Read A Book.

Waiting to get Spoon Stealer again as I was enjoying it very much.

The last few years, I've "set a goal" with goodreads for the number of books to read. I don't get too caught up with it, but it automatically tracks it for me. I typically read in the 45-55 range.

I enjoyed How to Read a Book, but I did not love it at all. I enjoyed her other books so much more.

Ded, do you read on a kindle or ipad ? I only ask because on Kindle there is a work around to not have your books returned before you're ready to do so that doesn't abuse the system.

I hope you get to finish Spoon Stealer.

I am reading The Cafe With No Name and finding it to be really engrossing. I am curious to see how it will play out, but it's just a nice interesting ( almost about nothing but not quite) read.

i read on my ipad. The Kindle app works for me. Maybe I should get a Kindle but I likebthat I can read my book on any of my Apple devices wherever I am. Also, I am going to have to add a room to my house just for charging things!

Finished Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, nonfiction written by the lawyer who started the Equal Justice Initiative and one of his first cases, getting an innocent man on death row exonerated. Alternating chapters are on other clients with different issues such as mental illness or juveniles tried as adults, and women with miscarriages charged with murder. Excellent. 4 stars. Difficult especially in some cases because of the difficult circumstances his clients have suffered, at the hands of "justice" and long before as children. And how the people who have brought evil on innocents for their own reasons get away with it. But he and his team are clearly fighting the good fight, but so much more remains to be done.

Next up: The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz for book group.

I also read on the kindle app on my ipad. I need the high resolution ... but others in my circle prefer reading on the kindle. I am hoping that after my surgeries in January that I can read physical books again but I cant imagine ever giving up the ipad. It is so convenient! I still want books too but it is so easy to throw the ipad in my bag when I am traveling or just going to appts.

I have a couple of books started/in progress .. which is unusual for me. I expect I will finish one of them before the end of the year .. maybe 2. To date I have read 53. My Good Reads goal was 45 but I was hoping to get to 60 this year. It is all good though. I have enjoyed most and loved a few. :)

Curious ... does anyone have a favorite book of the year?

Faftris, I have that book on hold at the library, but the waiting list has been long. I had mixed feelings about what I was able to see online and a group that was baking from it seemed to be giving mixed reviews so I wasn't ready to buy it. When I do get it checked out, I'll have to go back and look for the ones that got positive reviews.

I currently have Modern Asian Baking at Home - just out of curiosity, but I want to try making the mochi doughnuts over the holidays. There is a bakery here that has them and the Dubai chocolate gave way to a peppermint iced that seems like it would be perfect with a cup of hot chocolate. Maybe at New Year's? I heard something suggesting we might be in the 80s for Christmas?

I bought I See You've Called in Dead - mostly on the title, but also the comments above and a sample read. It may get wrapped as a gift - the title being read should be fun.

I've been reading books by Michael Dibdin, starting with his mystery series set in Italy starring Aurelio Zen. Dibdin lived for years in Italy, obviously speaks Italian, and seems to know the place inside out--from Venice to Sicily. A really fine writer too. I enjoyed the series so much and he writes so well that I'm now reading the one off books he wrote too. I can't stress enough what an extraordinarily good writer he is. Think of Ruth Rendell and you'll get some idea of his style.

Funkyart, Go as a River by Shelley Read was my only 5 star for this year. I have quite a lot of 4 stars though. And if you haven't read The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, I highly recommend.

I have read Frozen River ... last year, I believe? Go as a River is on my radar but I havent read it yet.

I had 6 5-star reads in 2025 ... last year I had only 1. For me, 5 stars indicates that it changed me in some way ... it changed the way I thought about reading, about the world, or about myself.

Of the 6, I would say The Stationery Shop by Kamali Marjan was the best book. We all Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman was my favorite.

I have recommended We all Want Impossible Things to a few people IRL and they also loved it ... but it isnt one I'd recommend to all. I have not read any of her other books but I know many have loved Sandwich and her most recent, Wreck.

From my Good Reads Review (which is mainly for me-- not many follow me lol)

"How can a book about sitting with your bff through her last days in hospice be sooo enjoyable and fun? I can’t really explain it other than to say the characters are so brilliantly written, so very real and so “my people” I loved this book so much — couldn’t wait to get back to it each night and didn’t want it to end. But it did end. I wish it could have ended differently but of course it couldn’t end any other way. What a great experience."

My 5 star reads on goodreads for 2025:

So far, 44 books read, and 7 of them were 5 stars. (I have a lot of 4 stars as well)

Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig

The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe

When the Stones Speak by Doron Spielman

The Postcard by Anne Berest

Mary Coin by Marisa Silver ( read this previously as well but re-read for book club)

James by Percival Everett

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

@laceyvail 6A, WV

I too was hooked on the Zen series, and especially enjoyed those books set in areas that I had visited. The one that mentions Lucca and environs interested me the most since I have spent time there visiting relatives. I also appreciated his wit, especially in Zen’s choice of wardrobe in fashion conscious Italy.

But Lucca and Camaiore without mentioning Santa Gemma (20th century saint) — what is the world coming to? (Her family lived at one time on the street in Lucca where my relatives’ have a home.)

Buckeye, by Patrick Ryan. It's a story about relationships, against the background of WWII and the decades afterwards. I was enjoying it until the current events aspect took over the relationship one. It's almost as if the author ran out of things to say. For me, it was good up until that point.

I've just started North Woods by Daniel Mason. I remember seeing it mentioned a lot a year or so ago. It's relatively new, published in 23.

The first 5 % or so had me wondering if I should stick with it as it's very different. After that part though, it seems quite good, but yes still very different. We'll see.....

salonva, yes that book is written in different times, and he uses the language of each era, so the chapters have a different feel to them.

Elizabeth Strout's Tell Me Everything. A lovely reunion with all your favorites from her previous books: Olive Kittredge, Lucy Barton, and the Burgess Boys. Sweet, with some very good insight into how people deal with each other in all sorts of relationships. A soothing read, and probably a good book club choice.

I liked North Woods very much , and I picked up Mason's The Winter Soldier, which was good as well.

The New York Public Library released the list of their most-borrowed books of 2025, and James, by Percival Everett, was the number one lend, followed by Liz Moore's The God of the Woods.

Here's a link to the others:https://www.nypl.org/spotlight/top-checkouts-2025

Last night was book club and How To Read A Book got pretty good reviews, although some felt the characters were not very well developed.

Next up is The Correspondent.

Finished The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz for book group. Not sure where that one is going to take us. It was an easy enough read, if you don't mind spending your time in the head of the narrator who is a sociopath. Some of it was simply too much of a stretch for me...coincidences convenient for the author to keep the story moving forward and the utter absence of law enforcement. I don't want to give too much away so I'm being purposely circumspect. 3 stars. We'll see how the discussion goes.

Next up: The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold. Nonfiction.

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston. Great! A mysterious boss, sketchy jobs that make protagonist change identities through each job. Kinda like Mission Impossible, without the crazy stunts. More use of sneaky technology. Fast paced.

I finished North Woods, and wow what a book. A Five Star read for me. I felt like it was more than one book; so many well developed stories and characters. I really enjoyed it, and think it would be super for a book club.

Glad you enjoyed it salonva...I did too!

I liked John Kenney's I Hear You Called In Dead, so I picked up his Truth In Advertising (2013). They're both amusing and thoughful, but...the 2025 novel feels like a stronger version of the same tale.

Another entry for the list of something I should have read, but haven't. The Good Soldier, by Ford Madox Ford. Wonderful.

I just finished When The Emperor Was Divine, and thought it was really a good, well written, interesting ( and short ) read. Another one where I don't know where I heard of it, but after I read it ( on kindle from the library), I saw i on a shelf at DD's home.

I gave it 4 stars. While it might make for good discusion for a book club, I enjoyed reading it solo and think I might prefer it solo.

I finished The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold. Nonfiction. I give it 4 stars. Only for book group if it's an era of interest, though there is much to discuss about the lives of women in victorian England and the impossible standards put on them. The book is broken down into one section for each of the women, providing their background, family history and how they got to be in White Chapel before they died. In addition to crushing poverty where spending the night asleep on the streets was not uncommon, the health issues, the smells from raw sewage running in the streets to soot from all the coal being burned to the pollution generated by plants and factories, to an entire family living in an 8x8 room, to the lack of food. No wonder alcoholism was rampant. Even if you could get sober, any medications you might need was full of alcohol. The author raises real questions about whether these women were "prostitutes" as is commonly told or simply women trying to survive in an impossible environment. By going with the popular line, it continues the false narrative that they somehow deserved it or at least contributed to their own murders due to the lifestyles they led. But in that era, they had little choice: women were to serve their husbands and their children. Any other function made them bad and/or expendable. Yet their fortunes depended entirely on what the men in their lives could provide. A poor business decision, alcoholism, job loss or illness/death could take a family from a reasonably survivable condition to abject poverty, work houses and children being sent to orphanages.

The book was well written and eye opening for me in a lot of ways. The history of these women is a story that's not been told, but needed telling.

Next up: A Treasury of Damon Runyon.

Picked up The Count of Monte Cristo for a re-read, because of an upcoming Off-Bdwy musical and a Masterpiece Theatre series. What a wonderful book!

OK, another 'downer' (terminal cancer): Nicolas Sparks' The Wish. Aside from not understanding how the title relates, and some unlikelky stamina displayed by a woman in her last days, I liked it. 3 Stars.

I'd forgotten how many of his novels became movies, The Notebook being one I remember.

I wonder how a prolific novelist decides to write about a particular theme -- like terminal cancer! Does he or she 'take the temperature' of reader interest? And, who sprinkles fairy dust on a certain title?

Just finished Buckeye, and I agree with faftris' assessment above. Interesting characters, well written, but it runs out of steam about 3/4 of the way through. I read it for my book club, so it'll be interesting to learn what my friends think of it.

And now I'm about to start Frankenstein. Over the holidays we watched, for the umpteenth time, Young Frankenstein, and it occurred to me that I didn't know the written version, just the movies. A definite lacuna in my education, as my mother liked to say.

I read Frankenstein for the first time a few years ago. I was very surprised as it went so into the psychology of the monster and the creation was almost an aside vs. the movies where it's the opposite.

I have never read ( or seen the movie) Frankenstein so I will add that to my want-to-read list.

I did want to also mention that while I did not love How To Read a Book, I really liked her other , lesser known and discussed book, When We Were the Kennedys.

Glitz, Glam and a Damn Good Time was mentioned in an earlier month posting. I liked the title lol. I had it on reserve and it came up a few days ago. It was an easy read, pretty enjoyable in all. It was history, good reporting on the Gilded Age and Mamie Fish , Vanderbilts, and that whole crew. It went on a bit too much in my opinion, but nice and light. I gave it 3 stars.

In case anyone is interested, here is the list of books for next year our group will be reading....unfortunately none of the ones I recommended made the list.

I read Jan, May,June, August. I thought May and August were excellent. The others were entertaining, for me, but nothing memorable. (Gentleman and James)

I remember trying to read City of Falling Angels because I so adored Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, but I just couldn't. Maybe I'll try again.

I used to be in 4 book clubs, and now I'm barely in one. I think I just want to read what I want to read and have been finding too much of what the club was reading was disappointing, and just got in my way. I'm giving it a shot tomorrow, as I haven't gone in many months. I'll see how I feel after that.

I'd forgotten how much I liked Matrix!

I don't think Towles has ever bettered Moscow.

Annie, Ive read May (loved), August ( liked well enough but not as much as others) and October ( this was a pleasure).

Salonva, I hear you about wanting to read what I want to read. I have slogged through quite a few book club picks , not worth it for an hour’s discussion. Im a slow reader so sometimes its a challenge. On the other hand, Ive really enjoyed some books I never would have chosen on my own. I cant imagine being in four book clubs.

Im currently in the middle of The Correspondent and thoroughly enjoying it. It brings to mind 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, as others have mentioned.

James, Buckeye, Gentleman and City of Fallen Angels for me. I read the latter ahead of a trip to Italy, when I knew I was going to Venice. We went into La Fenice's lobby and had a moment. It must have been beautiful before. of the fire, I think Gentleman was my favorite. I thought that James was kind of simplistic and my Buckeye feelings are down below.

Ha ha, just got to the part of The Correspondent where 84 Charing Cross Rd is mentioned.

Well my post went poof!

Funny enough, I just started The Correspondent, this morning. I kept hearing the name, and reserved it a while ago. About 2 days ago, I saw some talking heads raving about it. Then it became available for kindle from the library, so here I am. It's an effortless read. I'm at about 20% so far.

Doesn't it always happen that your library hold comes in before you finish what you are reading? I was 1/3 of the way into The Count of Monte Cristo, all 1200 pages of it on Libby, and The True True Story of Raja the Gullible came through. I had to switch, because I am sure that someone is waiting for it. So far, it reminds me a lot of Confederacy of Dunces. Whether it's worthy of its National Book Award remains to be seen. It seems like a very light read.

Raja the Gullible was kind of fun. Not life-altering, by any means. It concerns the relationship between a man and his mother--love and hate at the same time. It was quite funny and charming.

List from Ann Patchett's Parnassus Books: Best sellers in 2025

Ann has a new book coming out in the spring. It's called Whistler.

Link to January 2026 Edition