February has been brutal on the health front. The husband and I took turns with the viral, and just as we recovered, I came down with an allergic cough from hell.

All the momentum I had gained in January came to a crashing halt. All the projects I had lined up for this month went on the backburner. Looking at my project tracking database on Notion makes me want to weep.

But, I remind myself, there’s always next month. Once I have my allergies under control, I can pick up where I left off. It’s no wonder then that it’s been a slightly slower reading month, too. I did read a few interesting books, though, including two for the Book Bingo challenge.

It’s a brand new year, so let’s talk goals!

I usually set a reading goal on Goodreads — my goal for this year is 40 books. It’s been set at 40 books since a couple of years, actually, even though I usually end up reading a lot more than that.

This year, I thought I’d bump that number up to 50, but I immediately felt anxious about it, so back down to 40 it went. After all, there’s no point in stressing yourself out over something that you enjoy doing!

December has been a stellar reading month. I look at my Notion books tracker in amazement, counting and re-counting the number of books I’ve read. 8 books, a 9th in progress, and a 10th almost finished. By the time the month, and the year, ends, I would have read 10 books during the month! Even I’m not quite sure how that happened!

November’s been a month filled with the love and warmth of family, the excitement and joy of traveling, and a few stolen moments of quiet squeezed in between all the comings and goings. Through it all, I’ve had my Kindle tucked into my bag, firing it up during train and car rides, sneaking in a few pages with my morning coffee or before I turned in at night.

Despite all the excitement, I did manage to finish four books this month!

Spooky season is here, and my reading preferences have taken on a decidedly cozy mien. I have a few thrillers that I have to review, but I just can’t bring myself to read them. All I want to read is something cozy — be it a cozy mystery or a cozy romance, or, better yet, a cozy fantasy.

There are seasons to our reading, I think. I know there are times when all I want is to sink my teeth into something “serious” or to immerse myself in some Jungian psychology or books on art and creativity. There are seasons when I want to read all the YA/fantasy, and others when all I want is to immerse myself in some good historical fiction.

I spent most of August back home visiting my parents. My sister was home too, with her two children aged 4 years and 4 months, so it was a time for family and baby cuddles, and painting with the niece. But through it all, I did manage to read quite a bit too — from published diaries, to dystopia, a short story collection and general fiction. Here’s my reading wrap up for August 2024.

High-intensity heists, a race against sinister enemies, the perils of fundamental religious views, and some thought-provoking psychology — it’s been quite an interesting month of books! It’s also been a slower reading month, but at a book a week, it isn’t all that bad! Here’s my reading wrap-up for June 2024.

The mercury in New Delhi is soaring. Temperatures are reaching unheard of highs of 47 degrees centigrade. Just yesterday, the thermometer in the husband’s car read 49 degrees. We’ve had more heatwave warnings than I can remember in any previous summer.

While it’s torturous to be outdoors, reading is, thankfully, an indoor activity. I’ve spent hours curled up in my cozy reading nook, the air conditioning on at full blast, reading. From the scorching summer fires in the coast of Brittany to riding atop La Bestia in Mexico to wandering a post-apocalyptic world with a traveling symphony, the five books I read in May took me on some merry and not-so-merry journeys.

Without further ado, let’s jump into this month’s reading wrap-up!