Some Books I Read in 2025

It strikes me that I seem to have written very few book reviews this year. I think it's primarily to do with the fact that most of my reading has been "by ear" (Audible) - and also that the majority of my reading this whole year has been re-reading/listening to books I've read before...

On average I've probably as usual listened to one book per week or so, but that includes a lot of re-reading - for example all six major novels by Jane Austen, the Harry Potter series (for the umpteenth time), Mary Stewart's Arthurian Saga, and Jaqueline Winspears whole series about private investigator Maise Dobbs (16 novels, most of which I've probably reviewed separately before). 

More recently (during the autumn) I have listened to two new releases in J.R. Ellis' Yorkshire Mysteries series (which I have been following since the beginning): The Otley Murders (No 11) and Murder in York (No 12). I enjoyed them both but didn't get round to writiting reviews. Here's the publisher's blurb for the York one, which also has a Christmas setting:

In the ancient city of York, winter brings Christmas markets, cold weather…and murder.

Snow dusts the cobbled streets of York as tourists flock to its famous Christmas markets. But for DCI Oldroyd, what starts as a peaceful evening on a ghost tour quickly turns deadly.

The tour guide’s grim discovery is no theatrical performance—he finds the body of Henry Marlow, a notorious local landlord, in the doorway of a derelict building. Oldroyd soon has no shortage of suspects: a resentful ex-wife, angry tenants, and even the guide who knows every secret passage of the old city.

As festive lights sparkle above the narrow passageways of York, darkness gathers below when a second body is found in the shadow of the ancient cathedral. Can Oldroyd untangle the web of secrets and lies before anyone else dies? As the holiday season approaches, it seems the killer is planning on making this a Christmas to remember—for all the wrong reasons…

 

 

This month, I was also pleasantly surprised to come across a new crime novel by Ann Cleeves:  The Killing Stones - subtitled "The Return of Jimmy Perez", the dectective from her "Shetland" series, which was also turned into a successful TV series which continued to live its own life even after Perez himself had left it.

In this new book, we find Perez having...

"... traded the stark beauty of Shetland for the wild isolation of Orkney, but the darkness of human nature follows him everywhere.

When a ferocious storm rages across the islands, it leaves behind more than just damage: it uncovers the body of Archie Stout, a popular, larger-than-life member of the community.

The murder weapon? A Neolithic stone, bearing cryptic, ancient inscriptions.

Now living in Orkney with his partner, Willow, and their young son, Perez is drawn into a case that is chillingly personal—Archie was a friend from his own childhood. And the island is full of familiar faces, all of whom are potential suspects in the killing.

Perez must immerse himself in the lives of the islanders, separating truth from local legend before a desperate killer can strike again. . . and threaten the new life he's desperately trying to build. "

By placing Perez in the Orkneys the author has managed to keep the atmosphere from the Shetland series, while at the same time giving Perez a "fresh start", so to say. I enjoyed listening to this book, narrated by Kenny Blyth (in Scottish dialect). There was one chapter that the first time round made no sense to me at all though (especially since I often tend to do some of my listening half asleep in the middle of the night!). I had to go back later in a more conscious state of mind and do some googling... It turned out to involve a strange island custom that I'd never heard of before - a kind of medeival football game known as The Ba' ... So no wonder I suddenly felt "lost" in unknown terminology... ;)

 

Weekend Reflections

 

Weather-wise, it's been a strange week. On Christmas Eve I woke up to a fairytale-like world covered in snow. On Christmas Day, the snow gradually melted away again. On 2nd Day Christmas (Friday), the lawns outside were all green again; but in the afternoon the fog gave way to a glimpse of sun and blue sky. I did get out for a little while then - but kept to the street where I live, as the footbridge over the railway (leading to among other things the old cemetery) still looked treacherously icy. The photo above was taken zooming in a house across the railway (which runs in a valley down below, invisible from this perspective). 

 

Yesterday afternoon I had the laundry room booked and did not go out. 

Today, Sunday, offered sunshine and blue skies again, and around noon I went for a walk down to the river and back. Good to see some water reflections again! :)

 

Linking to Weekend Reflections 

On the whole I've had a "quiet" Christmas - apart from the fact that some people (youngsters?) around here now seem to be treating the whole month of December as a time for playing with fireworks and/or bangers. It's literally been going on almost every afternoon/early evening since 1st Advent, and I hate it. As I never actually see anyone at it - just hear them!!! - I can't say if they're keeping within what's lawful or not. Whether legal or illegal, it makes me jump every time though, and is making me generally nervous! (And not in the least looking forward to New Year's Eve...) 

Christmas Skywatch

 

 

On the morning of Christmas Eve - quite a surprise! - I woke up to trees and ground covered by a layer of white snow, which lasted all day. (No sunshine, though.)

In the morning of Christmas Day, it looked almost like we could be getting a sunny day...  That too ended up mostly grey, though - and it started to thaw a little. I wasn't out any further than to take out a couple of garbage bags, though. Photos taken from my balcony.

 

This morning (Boxing Day in Britain - here in Sweden "annandag jul" = 2nd Day of Christmas), the snow was all gone; and the sun still hiding behind fog.

Linking to Skywatch Friday

White Christmas

 

Christmas Eve is the main day of Christmas celebrations in Sweden - as in the day when Christmas presents are exchanged and opened. And in families with children, Jultomten (Santa Claus/Father Christmas) often comes knocking on the door in the late afternoon or early evening, to deliver them in person.  

What I had not expected this year was a White Christmas - except maybe just a very thin layer of frost on the ground. But I was in for a surprise this morning, when I got out bed and looked out of the window to find that it had snowed during the night. And it has kept on snowing a little on and off since then (writing this around 11:30 am).

I'll neither be going anywhere, nor having visitors; but as usual in later years I'm hoping to have an online video session with my brother later on in the afternoon. (I'm saying "hoping", fingers crossed, because the app we used to use has closed, so we'll be trying a different alternative this year - without having tested it beforehand...)

Tomorrow I may be catching up on blog reading and commenting while most of my international friends are in turn probably in the midst of their most intense family celebrations... Anyway, however you'll be celebrating, I wish you all a Happy Christmas!

The Sun Is Back!

When I first woke up this morning, the sun wasn't up yet, so not much use even looking out of the windows. I was also tired, so went back to bed and my audio book... And fell asleep again... Next time I got up, and looked out of the window, I could hardly believe my eyes. Instead of the usual grey that has been hovering over us all December so far, there was blue sky, fluffy white clouds, sunshine - and frost on the ground! Quite an impressive winter solstice transformation since yesterday!

 

 Best to make use of the sunshine while it lasts! I thought; so around 11:30 I set out for a walk to get the most out of the daylight. 

Although the sun is "back", it still doesn't go very high over the horizon even at noon... 

The fact that the sun was showing its face inspired me to expand my walk beyond the old cemetery. One thing I cannot order with the home deliveries from my usual supermarket is flowers. (They sell flowers in the store, but not online.) And the nearest florist's is downtown in the city centre - still too far for me to walk to (considering that if I do, I also have to walk back home). So I've had no red poinsettias or amaryllis etc at home to brighten up the gloomy first three weeks of December. 

However, today it struck me that about half way between home and the city centre, there is nowadays (since some time back in early autumn, if memory serves me right) a Lidl grocery store. So far I've only been in there once, shortly after they opened. But now I checked their ads online, and it did indeed seem like they might have some seasonal flowers. So that's where I steered my steps today. 

And I found what I sought. I bought one large and one small poinsettia, and also an amaryllis - still just a bud, but showing signs of perhaps even producing a second one later on. (They had taller ones, but those would have been difficult for me to carry home - as I was using two walking poles, I had to choose flowers that I could fit into my backpack...)