Dean Sas

I read 37 books from 21 different authors, 15 of the books were rereads of books I’ve read in previous years

1. Cavalier by Lucy Worsley. It’s about the life of William Cavendish, first Duke of Newcastle, it’s of particular interest because Cavendish and his father were responsible for the building of Bolsover Castle, which is about 10km away from home and somewhere we visit often. It was interesting and well-paced, helped me relate better to Bo’ser Castle.
2. Julia by Sandra Newman. It’s a retelling of 1984 from Julia’s perspective. It’s been many years since I last read 1984 (a mistake!) but it felt like a much wider perspective than Winston’s. It’s still dark, but a good read.
3. Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings by Neil Price.
4. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. Reread, my feelings on the First Law trilogy are unchanged ~5 years later – it’s really great and highly recommended.
5. Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie. Reread.
6. Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie. Reread
7. Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie. Exploring the rest of the First Law world was the reason for re-reading. It’s not quite as good as the earlier trilogy, but it’s not far behind. Runs at a much faster pace.
8. The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie. The pace slows down again with this one. The story uses a battle as a framing device for the whole book, which worked well. I do feel a bit like we’ve been to The North before and it’s not changed much.
9. Red Country by Joe Abercrombie. The pace is back up, it’s a new part of the world with different point-of-view characters but it’s nice that some of the old characters are still present. Relieved I’m still enjoying the grim, dark writing.
10. A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie. Back in Midderland, but now amidst an industrial revolution. Enjoying the new setting and the new characters.
11. The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie. The direction has changed a little and my interest is starting to wane a tiny bit.
12. The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie. The focus is back upon the unrest resulting from the economic changes, and my interest has picked up along with it.

I’ve now read the nine full books of the First Law series and enjoyed every one of them. The first trilogy is still the stand-out though. I love the character arcs, the subverted expectations and the ending.

13. The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer. Silly and farcical but a fast and fun read.
14. Circe by Madeline Miller. Reread as I wanted to read Medea and knew there was some overlap.
15. Medea by Rosie Hewlett. Wow, has there ever been a more ruthless character?
16. Lock In by John Scalzi. Accidental re-read, I’d forgotten I’d read it before. It’s ok but far from my favourite Scalzi.
17. Stories of the Law and How It’s Broken by The Secret Barrister. An eye-opening look at the criminal justice system. I think all of the issues raised still exist. It’s kind of scary.
18. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson. Reread. Still funny.
19. City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Struggled to really get into it at first, definitely enjoyed it more as I got into the second half, not going to continue the series.
20. Truss at 10: How Not to Be Prime Minister by Anthony Seldon. A surprising amount of content, given Truss’s tenure.
21. Odyssey by Stephen Fry. A lovely retelling. It adds some wider myths to wrap up the aftermath of Troy. Mildly disturbed that Aeneas’s chapter swapped to the Roman names of the gods.
22. Wars of the Roses: Stormbird by Conn Iggulden. Reread while on holiday in France 👀
23. Wars of the Roses: Trinity by Conn Iggulden. Reread
24. Wars of the Roses: Bloodline by Conn Iggulden. Reread
25. Wars of the Roses: Rise of the Tudors by Conn Iggulden. Reread
26. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. Reread
27. Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. Reread.
28. Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. Reread.
29. Nothing But the Truth by The Secret Barrister. An interesting look at the career of a barrister – what it takes to get started and to pay your dues.
30. Lobby Life: Inside Westminster’s Secret Society by Carole Walker. Rather dry in places, some of the time periods fall outside of my usual areas of interest.
31. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. A really good dystopia, very haunting. I was left wanting to know more about the world – why are they there, where is everyone else?
32. His Dark Materials: Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman. I really enjoyed this, interesting lead character, interesting world.
33. His Dark Materials: The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman. A good chunk less good.
34. His Dark Materials: The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman. I felt by this point the trilogy had pulled too far away from its origin. I’d have have preferred it remained standalone. The ending is nice though.
35. Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Reread because I’m excited about the movie next year.
36. Timeline by Michael Crichton. You can very quickly tell it’s Crichton. Fast and fun.
37. Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I started reading it on a whim, and didn’t feel confident at the very start. Then I read the rest of it in one sitting. Wow.

Plans for 2026

I’m going to start by finishing reading A Christmas Carol that I started reading over Christmas. I’ve a vague idea the last time I tried to read some Dickens I decided not to finish and it’s not enthralling me now either.

I usually do a significant amount of my annual reading while on annual leave, and I have a lot of annual leave this year. Right now I think I want a big meaty series for that, but I’m not sure what. Outside of that I want to get back to reading more personal development books again.