The Shut Eye. Belinda Bauer. Another great book by Belinda Bauer! It’s about a family whose son has gone missing and a police detective who was in charge of the case of another missing child. This was a difficult read in places, especially as I have a little one myself. But it is well written and I have found myself thinking about it a fair bit since I finished it.

The Grinny Granny Donkey. Craig Smith and Katz Cowley. Well, I’m sure this one will be a favourite for a long time! Sophia and I love the Grinny Granny Donkey who is in some (but not all!) ways like her Granny.

Where’s Spot? Eric Hill. An absolute classic! Sophia loves it, especially the flaps!

I See You. Clare Mackintosh. I really enjoyed all the different characters and it kept me guessing throughout. It’s scary to think how trackable we all are these days, so I tried not to dwell on that too much and just enjoyed the story. Definitely worth a read.

The Terrible Tigers. Joan Stimson. A good fun book about an energetic tiger family and their boring neighbours.

The Ugly Five. Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler. This is about how the world sees us versus how our children see us and it’s lovely.

I Let You Go. Clare Mackintosh. I have mixed feelings about this book but I am very glad I finished it. I felt that the first half went very slowly, but then half way through I wondered if I’d been reading it all wrong! It turns out not, it’s just that there’s a major plot twist! Hard to read in places, but gripping, especially in the second half.

Hostage. Clare Mackintosh. Definitely my favourite Mackintosh book so far! Gripping, fast faced and thought provoking.

I Like It When. Mary Murphy. Sophia enjoyed this book and thinking about all the things she does with her Mummy and Daddy that she likes too!

Milly Moo. Camilla Moody. Sophia loves this book! The colours, textures and rhymes are a big hit.

Kipper’s Beach Ball. Mick Inkpen. We weren’t a fan of this one. We felt sorry for the ball and hoped for a better ending!

Black Lands. Belinda Bauer. I can see why people rave about this book because it is well written. But personally I really struggled with it and I didn’t enjoy it at all. A book with chapters from the perspective of a child killer was just too much for me.

The Wonky Donkey. Craig Smith & Katz Cowley. I think we’ve read these books in the wrong order but this did not disappoint! Very pleased to have the set now; funny books with gorgeous illustrations.

Because of Miss Bridgerton. Julia Quinn. This was the perfect tonic after reading a really unsettling crime book last week. I enjoyed it immensely. I love the strong, warm relationships between the generations in these books. Onto the next one!

The Detective Dog. Julia Donaldson & Sarah Ogilvie. Good old Detective Dog Nell! What a star!

The Girl With The Make Believe Husband. Julia Quinn. To be honest, this book really dragged. There was this big secret that was referred to so much that it got boring and when all was revealed it was somewhat anticlimactic. Not my favourite Julia Quinn book.

Paddington. Michael Bond. Oh what a lovely book! We can’t wait to read more about Paddington and his London adventures.

The No Show. Beth O’Leary. I’m glad this book had an unexpected twist because just as I was wondering where it was going to go, it shifted! A good read, I really enjoyed it.

Each Peach Pear Plum. Janet & Alan Ahlberg. A much loved book from Nathan’s childhood! Sophia enjoyed it and I think she will like it more and more as she starts to recognise the different characters.

Let’s Talk About Body Boundaries, Consent and Respect. Jaynee Sanders, Sarah Jennings. I read this book to my daughter and goddaughter and I think it’s fab. You don’t need to hug if you don’t want to! We will definitely be adding it to our collection.

Little People, Big Dreams: Queen Elizabeth. Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara. What a gorgeous book about such a role model!

Turn it up, Doris! Sam Lloyd. A fun book about finding your voice.

Make Time. Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky. I’ve started and intended to read several time management books but this was one that was easy to get through. It was interesting, practical, thought provoking and useful. I’d definitely recommend.

Little Miss Shy. Roger Hargreaves. Sophia and I liked this book and we are happy that Little Miss Shy made friends. But we don’t think that Mr Funny should have forcibly taken her to the party especially when she didn’t say that she wanted to go. C is for Consent.

Hitting The Ground Kneeling. Stephen Cottrell. I have read this book several times before and always leading up to big change. This time I finished it the night before my installation in my new church. As you might have guessed, I love it! A great book on leadership and how to begin in a manner of contemplation rather than running!

Little Miss Fun. Roger Hargreaves. We liked this one because it is all about a party where there is laughter! Sophia laughed at the story.

Dark Side. Belinda Bauer. I took my time reading this book after the last Bauer book I read was far from my cup of tea. But this book was a better read, although it isn’t my favourite. It felt like the metaphors were overlaboured at times such as, oh look, another horse, oh look, more snow. But there was a huge plot twist at the end that I didn’t quite see coming. Am I reading the third in the trilogy? Yes!

How to Babysit A Grandma. Lee Wildish. A lovely book, lots of advice for Sophia in there!

Finders Keepers. Belinda Bauer. It was hard to read this book. Some loose ends from the last one are tied up, but some parts of the story still didn’t add up. There was thankfully less death than I imagined, but parts of it were really disturbing to read.

The Christmas Bookshop. Jenny Colgan. A really cute book based in one of my favourite cities, Edinburgh. Lovely to read on the run up to Christmas.

Stick Man. Julia Donaldson & Alex Scheffler. What a gorgeous Christmas story! Just the thing to read on Boxing Day!

Murder Before Evensong. Reverend Richard Coles. A whodunit based in parish life with lots of churchy and vicar-y references which I very much enjoyed! Lots of characters were introduced quite quickly, so I’ll concentrate more at the beginning when I read the next installment.

Do You Want A Hug? Olivia Cosneau & Bernard Duisit. A very lovely book about hugs, animals who give them and sometimes saying no!

Postcards From a Stranger. Imogen Clark. I didn’t half chomp my way through this book! I think I finished it in less than 48 hours. I really enjoyed it, a very good read all about how the behaviour of one generation impacts another. Looking forward to the next one.

Mandy Stanley. How do you feel? A very cute book which made Sophia smile lots!

There we go! I managed to read 89 books in 2022, and about 40 of them were grown-up books! Looking forward to lots more in 2023.