2024 wrap up!

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WELL, I thought 2022 AND 2023 were going to be my saddest reading years, but 2024 took the cake - BUT for very different reasons.  In 2024, I had someone re enter my life and they became a main character in my story.  We spent 2024 building a relationship and a life, so there was little time to read.  NOW 2025 with our life a little calmer, there should be more time to enjoy a good book and maybe a few reads together!

Let's compare 2024 to 2023.  

Total number of books I read in 2024: 38

Total number of books I read in 2023: 49

Total number of pages I flipped, clicked, and so on in 2024: 11,279
Total number of pages I flipped, clicked, and so on in 2023: 29,355

I have been keeping track of WHERE my books were taking place all year. Below is the outcome.  Although my overall numbers were done, I visited 15 states this year and that is 3 more than last year!  I always love to diversify my reading in locations both in the US and abroad.  

States that made the list:

Maine            New York             Alaska

Louisiana      California            Missouri

Iowa               Kansas                Virginia

Maryland      Tennessee          Oregon

Washington, D.C.                      South Carolina

Dakota

My country number went down again this year and I would love to travel more in 2025, so I want to try to keep an eye on this number and be intentional with my reading.  

Countries accounted for:

Germany         Poland          Australia

England

2025 Reading Goals

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2024 was a year of big change and all of that change took a lot of time.  I am hoping that 2025 is a year that I can settle into the life changes and spend a lot more time curled up with a book.  I did not meet my goals last year, so I am going to keep them the same this year and hope for a different outcome.  

Ok now for the Reading Goals of 2025!

1. I want to read a minimum of 124 books.  I read 38 books in 2024 and I am hoping with a quieter year that more quiet time with a book will happen.   

2. As in last year, I want to focus on my Netgalley percentage.  Unfortunately it went down in 2024 to 19%, so I would like it to increase in 2025.  I would really like to make a big dent and get it up to 25%! 

3.   My third goal is exactly the same as last year - incorporate more audiobooks.  I am hoping for more opportunities to put a book in my ears and get things done, so I would like to see my audiobook numbers to increase this year, so I will count them this year and will hope for at least 24 audiobooks by the end of the year.

Review: A Quilt for Christmas by Melody Carlson

Publisher: Revell

Pages: 176

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Christmas should be celebrated with family. But for Vera Swanson, that's not an option this year. Widowed and recently relocated, she is lonely in her condo-for-one--until little Fiona Albright knocks on her door needing help. With her mother seriously ill and her father out of town, Fiona enlists Vera's help, and when she finds out her new neighbor is a quilter, she has a special request--a Christmas quilt for Mama.

Vera will have to get a ragtag group of women together in order to fulfill the request. Between free-spirited artist Tasha, chatty empty nester Beverly, retired therapist Eleanor, and herself, Vera has hopes that Christmas for the Albright family will be merry, after all--and she may find herself a new family of friends along the way.

Kritters Thoughts:  A sweet little story that is perfect for the busy season of Christmas with a great cast of characters and maybe a little too sweet of a plot!  Vera has recently located to this condo to be near family that ended up moving from that location, so she is very alone and not ready for a Christmas season.  A family who also recently relocated to this condo community ends up on her doorstep and in need of some help and maybe they can help her too!!  

I don't want to share too much because this book is just too sweet.  The cast of characters that come together to help this family are so fun and eclectic and I loved that they each were given a moment to have a journey or evolution.  Each of the cast contributed to the story and each received something from someone else in the group - it was so great to see each of them have a moment or two in the story.  

I loved that this book was just one of those easy reads that is perfect to get into during a time of the year that can be busy with a lot of other things going on.   

Rating:

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Netgalley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.