December was has been a brilliant bookish month! I was able to read and listen to 18 books, a mixtures of ARCs, audiobooks, 99p ebooks, and some old favourites. I read or listened to 136 books for the whole of 2025, which I’m very happy about! 😀
For those of you who enjoy graphs, StoryGraph have put together my reading stats for the month. 
Favourites
These were my absolute favourites. I’ve reviewed The Art of a Lie and Frenchman’s Creek, and will probably review Murder at Martingale Manor and Brian Bilston’s poems at some point.
Bookish Travel
In December I travelled to an amazing 65 countries, thanks to Winter by Claudia Martin and Truly by Lionel Richie!
Libya
Jamaica
Kenya
Jordan
Oman
Qatar
Bahrain
United Arab Emirates
Lebanon
Palestine
Israel
Egypt
Algeria
Morocco
French Polynesia
New Zealand
Antarctica
Argentina
Bolivia
Chile
Peru
Ecuador
Costa Rica
Belize
Canada
Iceland
Finland
Denmark
Ireland
Norway
Sweden
Andorra
The Netherlands
Germany
Switzerland
Italy
Croatia
Austria
Hungary
Romania
Slovenia
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia
Turkey
India
Kazakhstan
Russia
Mongolia
China
South Korea
Japan
Australia
South Africa
Brazil
Greece
Wales
France
Tanzania
Kyrgyzstan
Spain
Poland
USA
Scotland
England
Secret Library Book Blog 
😮 What a brilliant month you had in December, Nicki!
Happy New Year, and here’s to a great 2026 x
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Thanks, Jo, Happy New Year to you too! x
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Gosh, Lionel Richie must have got around a lot. My travels in December were
December was definitely a good ending to the year. Some very short freebies though but every little helps. A couple of rereads too with the Veronica Scott books.
1 The Wake by Yrsa Sigurdardottir. Iceland, Westman Islands, Reykjavik
2 Burn the World Down by Anna Hackett. Unsanctioned #1. USA, Nevada
3 Burn the World Down Bonus
4 The Bone Thief by Vanessa Lillie. Syd Walker #2. USA, Rhode Island
5 Second Chance Romance by Olivia Dade. Harlot’s Bay #2. USA, California, Maryland
6 Tamsyn by Veronica Scott. Planet of Last Resort #2. Space
7 Dead Line by Stella Rimington. Liz Carlyle #4 UK, London/Cyprus/Israel/USA, Washington/Scotland
8 Omnitronw by Pauline Baird Jones. Project Enterprise: Cyborg Chronicles #7. Space
9 Omnitronw bonus epilogue
10 Midnight Obsession by Rebecca York. Soulmated #5. USA, Maryland/Louisiana
11 After Hours at Dooryard Books by Cat Sebastian. USA, New York
12 A Cowboy Holiday by Lane Hayes. USA, California
13 Jules Cassidy PI by Suzanne Brockmann. Troubleshooters #20. USA, Massachusetts, California, Connecticut
14 Duke for Hire by Nicola Davidson. UK, Gloucestershire
15 Scars of Silence by Johana Gustawsson. Sweden, Lidingö
16 Confessions of a Trash Droid Fatal Error by Michael Cheney. Confessions of a Trash Droid #1. Dystopia
17 Tidings of Comfort and Joy by Lynn Raye Harris. Black’s Bandits Epilogue. Virginia
18 Confessions of a Trash Droid Illegal Operation by Michael Cheney. Confessions of a Trash Droid #2. Dystopia
19 Star Cruise Captain’s Prequel by Veronica Scott. Space
20 The Haunting of Payne’s Hollow by Kelley Armstrong. USA, New York
21 Star Cruise Captain’s Story by Veronica Scott. Space
22 Confessions of a Trash Droid Sector Zero by Michael Cheney. Confessions of a Trash Droid #3. Dystopia
23 Happy Anniversary by Kaylea Cross. Valkyrie free short story. UK
I read 215 books in 2025 which I think is a record
Gill
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Fantastic what a great bookish month and year!
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Congrats on a fantastic reading month, Nicki💜 Truly & Winter took you to some fascinating places!
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Thanks, Jo, they were perfect books to round off my year of bookish travel!
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Ohhh! Estonia got a pin in it, too… That is ace! 😀
Some serious reading stats, Nicki! Not just for December, but for the whole year. Nicely done!
How are you finding StoryGraph? The stats are really cool in it, right?!
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Thanks! I thought you when Estonia was mentioned. I love StoryGraph, it’s so much better than Goodreads!
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Congrats on a great reading month! Mine kinda flopped in comparison because I’d ‘finished’ my reading goal and so my brain switched off 😅 I’m back at it for 2026 though!
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Thanks and well done for reaching your challenge!
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What an amazing month of reading, Nicki ! And wow, I’ve never seen a book cover this many time in the same page before hahah ! 😀
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Thanks, Lashaan! 😂
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What an amazing month you had! Wishing you an equally brilliant bookish January xx
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Thanks! xx
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Wow! Ending the year with a bang! 🥳
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Yes! 😀
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