Chelle's attempt at being social 2025

Happy 2025, friends! Welcome to my thread that is usually ignored, but I always have good intensions!
I am Chelle, 40something living in Ontario, Canada with my husband and two daughters. Our lives are filled with chaos, many days a week at the arena for ringette and lots of work and hopefully more travel!

I only made it to 41 books last year, which was my worst reading year since 2016 when I hit only 38 and 2014 when I gave birth to my first child and still managed 41 books! My goal for 2025 is to put down my phone, stop playing phones games, and hopefully hit 50 books. 75 would be better!

Hope you all have a wonderful 2025!
(My topper photo is Dreams Flora, in Punta Cana. My family is traveling there later this month and I can't wait to get away from the cold and snow!

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Currently Reading
You Like It Darker by Stephen King

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Books read in January
1) The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny
2) Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker
3) Dead Letter Days by Kelley Armstrong
4) I'll Be Waiting by Kelley armstrong
5) We Three Queens by Rhys Bowen
6) The Alchemist of Brushstrokes and Brimstones by Gigi Pandian
7) The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
8) Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
9) See No Evil by Victoria Laurie
10) A Trinket for the Taking by Victoria Laurie

Books read in February
11) Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree
12) Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
13) Eleven Numbers by Lee Child
14) Fire and Bones by Kathy Reichs
15) A Grim Reapers Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara

Books read in March
16) The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer
17) All Better Now by Neal Shusterman

Books read in April
None :(

Books read in May
18) Eruption by Michael Crichton

Books read in June
19) We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes
20) A Lullaby for Witches by Hester Fox
21) The Lightning Bottles by Marissa Stapley
🎧22) City of Darkness and Light by Rhys Bowen
23) Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs
24) The Monster Mash by Angie Fox
25) The Transylvania Twist by Angie Fox
26) Werewolves of London by Angie Fox

Books read in July
27) Ink and Sigil by Kevin Hearn
28) Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S Dawson
29) Paper and Blood by Kevin Hearn
30) Divinity 36 by Gail Carriger
31) Demigod 12 by Gail Carriger

Books read in August
32) Dome 6 by Gail Carriger
33) Granny’s Got a Gun by Harper Lin
34) Vampire’s Mail Order Bride by Kristen Painter
35) The Werewolf Meets his Match by Kristen Painter
36) The Vampire Book Club by Nancy Warren
37) Chapter and Curse by Nancy Warren
38) A Spelling Mistake by Nancy Warren
39) The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
40) A Poisonous Review by Nancy Warren
41) In Want of a Knife by Nancy Warren
42) The Great Deceiver by Elly Griffiths

Books read in September
43) Cackle by Rachel Harrison
44) Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison
45) Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
46) Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison
47) Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

Books read in October
48) Cycle of the Werewolf but Stephen King
49) No Plan B by Lee Child
50) The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths
51) What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher

Books read in December
52) The Black Wolf by Louise Penny
53) Beaches, Bungalows & Burglaries by Tonya Kappes
54) An Elderly Lady Must Not be Crossed by Helene Tursten

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Books to be published that I am excited about

January:
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
14 - The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis

February:
11 - We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes
25 - The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor

March:
4 - The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
18 - The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn
22 - When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

April:
1 - The Notorious Virtues by Alwyn Hamilton
8 - Boys with Sharp Teeth by Jenni Howell

May:
27 - Never Flinch by Stephen King

July:
15 - A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

September:
9 - The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown

October:
28 - The Black Wolf by Louise Penny

November:
11 - Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree

Happy New Year, Chelle!

Welcome back, Chelle! The vacation spot looks great!

Happy new year, Chelle! Enjoy your vacation!

Happy to see you around the threads, Chelle. Rooting for you on the reading front this year. :)

Happy 2025, Chelle.

>1 ChelleBearss: Your threads are certainly not ignored by your pals, Chelle.

Your topper is great and it looks like just the place to spin the wheels and relax a while.

Happy New Year, and Happy reads in 2025, Chelle! The topper looks very inviting about now. Enjoy your trip.

Happy New Year, Chelle. Happy New Thread. We sure miss seeing you around. I am sure you are busy working and being a mother. Have a great time in Punta Cana.

Thanks for visiting, friends!
Today I am working on finding some accessible ebooks to always have on hand on my phone to keep me from playing games. Problem is my library always has crazy holds, Kobo Plus subscription doesn't always have decent books to choose from and I refuse to pay for ebooks when I could buy the physical instead.

>3 jnwelch: Hi Joe! Happy New Year!

>4 drneutron: Thanks, Jim! I've heard great things about the resort and am really excited for the break!

>5 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! The kids have already started packing!

>6 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I really need to put my phone down! I am going to try and trick myself by reading more ebooks which can be read on my phone. That way if I don't have my book handy at least I'll have an ebook! Now I just need more access to ebooks as the library always has so many holds!

>7 PaulCranswick: >8 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul! I know you guys always come back when I appear, but I need to stop ignoring my own thread! My goal is to try and find a half hour one day at week to check in.

>9 vancouverdeb: Thanks, Deb! We picked up our tickets yesterday and we have started the gathering and packing process. Getting excited!

>10 msf59: Thanks, Mark! Miss you all too!

Happy New Year, Chelle! Hoping you do manage to find that half hour - you have been greatly missed.

Happy New Year! It's good to see you back!
My family and I vacationed in Punta Cana about 20 years ago. Jeeze could it be that long ago?!
Beautiful beach! We also went in January to escape the cold of Ohio.

Happy new thread and happy new year!

Hi Chelle! Happy New Year to you and your family.

>1 ChelleBearss: Looks wonderful, and I hope you have a wonderful time.

>11 ChelleBearss: Good idea to always have a book available on your cell phone. I use Audible and the Amazon manage your content e-books option to listen and read on my cell phone.

Hi Chelle and welcome back. We probably won't hear from you for a while as it looks like you are heading off for Paradise. Have fun. We will be here when you get back. Have fun and take pictures!

Good luck with redeveloping the reading habit instead of the gaming habit. Maybe you could use a game night as a reward for every book you read?

Nice to see you back! Here's to book reading instead of games -- good luck!!

Happy new year, Chelle!

>11 ChelleBearss: A handy Libby tip is to do a subject/genre search (e.g. romance, fantasy, etc), then filter it to available now. It won't be the hottest titles but there should still be plenty of books to choose from. 😊

1) The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny

First book of the year finished! (On the 5th)
Another solid instalment in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series and the artwork on the cover and inside cover is wonderful!
For once I actually read part of the acknowledgements page and discovered that the majority of Ruth's poems in the series are actually written by Margaret Atwood.

Hi Chelle my dear, i have starred you again dear friend. Happy New Year.

<13 I am going to try and find time on nights when we don't have sports, or weekend mornings. Tonight we don't have ringette or guides so I am relaxing under the covers trying to warm up and get caught up here. It's a brisk -6c here and I've felt cold at work all day!

>14 Carmenere: Welcome, Lynda! I love travelling to Dominican. I love the beauty of the beaches and the staff are usually so nice. And we find it relatively safe compared to Mexico.

>15 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita!

>16 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen! I found a bunch of ebooks that I am interested in and downloaded them to my phone and kobo. I just need to try and finish reading on a new chapter so it's easier to find my spot if I switch from phone to kobo.

>17 Donna828: Thanks for visiting! I think it will be easier to give up the phone games than I thought, as Nate has been mocking me for the amount that I've been playing it. So between my desire to read more and his mocking I should be ok :)

>18 Berly: Thanks, Kim! Keep your fingers crossed for me! They say it takes 21 days to break a habit. So maybe by February I'll be back on track?

>19 norabelle414: You too, Nora!

>20 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I never seem to find anything I want to read when I search available books on Libby. I get annoyed with waiting for holds too, especially when I am trying to make myself read more. I just want everything available all the time, even though I know that's unreasonable lol

>22 johnsimpson: Thanks, John! Thanks for visiting

Yay for your first read of the year!

2) Bruno, Chief of police by Martin Walker

Book two of the year down, and I tried a new series. It reminds me, slightly, of the feel of the Commissario Montalbano books. Older bachelor police officer, small town police, slight rule bending but overall good cop. I'll continue, but probably not right away.


3) Dead Letter Days by Kelley Armstrong

Rockton/Haven's Rock novella. Cute little mystery

>26 ChelleBearss: Oh, I really like this series, Chelle. Some entries are better than others, but I do love the cast of characters.

Happy Friday to you!

I really need to read more Kelley Armstrong. I have the first of her time travel mystery/romance series on The List and I greatly enjoyed Finding Mr. Write last year.

I subscribed to the fussy librarian for a lot of free ebook options. You might want to Google and see if it piques your interest.

Hi Chelle. I vow to visit threads more often this year. Your thread is starred. What a lovely vacation spot! I hope your experience is as lovely as the image looks.

Congrats on your 1st, 2nd and 3rd reads of 2025! You're on a roll.
I've got a bunch of Penny's to catch up on. Now, I'll also read the acknowledgements. Thanks for the tip

>26 ChelleBearss: That is a far jollier book cover for Bruno, Chief of Police than the one I have.

I love your first two books -- the series!! Keep it up. (I am behind on both of them, LOL.) : )

>21 ChelleBearss: I didn't know that about the poems. Quite neat.

Happy Thursday, friends!
We are back from a wonderful trip to Dominican. The weather was great, despite being quite windy, and the kids were very well behaved. We left 28c weather there yesterday and came home to -15c. Yuck!





Books read on vacation:


4) I'll Be Waiting by Kelley armstrong


5) We Three Queens by Rhys Bowen


6) The Alchemist of Brushstrokes and Brimstones by Gigi Pandian


7) The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna


8) Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Gorgeous photos, Chelle! Welcome Home!

>25 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I'm already doing better in January than I did the last quarter of 2024!

>27 Crazymamie: I think I will continue with this series this year. It was enjoyable, even if slightly predictable.

>28 MickyFine: I loved Kelley Armstrong's paranormal books. She is from a small town about 30 minute from me, although I think she is living in the Yukon these days.

>29 elorin: Thanks! I'll check that out!

>30 Whisper1: Thanks for visiting! It ended up being a great spot, and a great trip!

>31 Carmenere: She has the next book, The Black Wolf coming out in October too. I usually skip the acknowledgements and intros.

>32 PaulCranswick: Oh yes, yours is a much more serious cover! Mine was almost jolly compared!

>33 Berly: It's so funny how we can get so behind on series eh! I was trying to track my series last year and got behind on even tracking, let alone reading!

>34 figsfromthistle: I thought that was pretty cool! I love Atwood!

>36 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie!

Nothing like a beach vacation to get one's reading groove back!

Welcome home, Chelle.

9) See No Evil by Victoria Laurie

>39 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! I usually tend to read more in January to June and then struggle for the rest of the year. Each year I hope to change that routine and fail lol

I'm glad to hear you had a lovely warm weather vacation and got in plenty of good reading.

I'm glad to read that you had such a lovely , warm trip away, Chelle. Excellent this time of year, especially for those who live in colder areas, like you . My SIL is also sick of the cold weather in Edmonton. She and my brother went to Hawaii for 6 days and after she returned home, she decided to return for a few days again in February with their two daughters . They have another younger daughter and son, but they are busy with school.

Welcome back! I hope you absorbed enough warmth and sunshine to get you through a couple more months of gray skies and cold temps.

10) A Trinket for the Taking by Victoria Laurie

I am really enjoying Victoria Laurie's books and loved this first book in a new series. I will be keeping an eye out for the next release.

>41 MickyFine: Thanks! Wish it wasn't quite so cold here but we timed the trip perfectly and missed the majority of the polar vortex!

>42 vancouverdeb: I wish we could take a second winter trip this year, but we have too much ringette in February and March :(

>43 Carmenere: I think it might be enough, but barely. I for sure could use another trip!

Hi, Chelle. Glad to hear the family had such a good getaway in D.R. It looks like a beautiful place. Getting back to the usual routine?

Happy weekend, friends

We spent the weekend about an hour away from home at a ringette tournament. It wasn't great weather so we ended up staying in a hotel for the weekend with about half the team. The kids had a great weekend and walked away with a silver medal. We are all very tired now and having a lazy Sunday afternoon.

January was a good reading month for me. Hoping to keep that going for February.


>46 msf59: Hiya Mark. Back to routine and right back into school, work and sports. Busy days!

>21 ChelleBearss:
That is a very striking dust jacket. The cut paper art reminds me of the Follett Library Company's advertisements on the back of the School Library Journal. Follett was a big school library supplier and they always had the back cover of the monthly School Library Journal. For years and years the ad had a half page cut paper artwork with some kind of library or book related slogan. The Grey Wolf cover has that same look.

>26 ChelleBearss:
I think you will enjoy the Bruno Courreges series. I have read them all and enjoy them. Like all mystery series some of the titles are better than others, but all of them are pure reading enjoyment.

Hi Chelle! What a great January you had with the books!

11) Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree

I really enjoyed this book and wish I had read it at a time we had less going on at home so I could have had longer bouts of reading, instead of reading between activities. I am looking forward to the next book and debating starting it tonight if my library has it available!

You are doing really well with your reading , Chelle! I better get cracking with my own books.

>51 ChelleBearss: Yay I'm glad you liked it! I think you're the first person I've seen who has read the two books in chronological order instead of publication order. The third one is coming out later this year so you won't have to wait long after you finish the next

>48 benitastrnad: The inside art is just as beautiful!


The dust jacket says the paper sculpture wolf is digital art by Alan Ayers.
The next book in the series come out this fall, The Black Wolf and has similar art but in different colours


>49 benitastrnad: I really enjoyed the first in the series and have the next couple available to read. Just need to fit them in

>50 katiekrug: I usually have a good start to the year. It's that final quarter that gets me every year.

>52 vancouverdeb: January is cold and gross so I read more lol.

>53 norabelle414: One of the good things about coming to a series late is getting to read it in the order of character development. I'm a big fan of reading series in order

12) Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

The problem with coming to a series that isn't fully published is having to wait until the next book is released. Next book isn't out until November :(

>35 ChelleBearss: Your holiday destination looked dreamy, Chelle, but the change in temperature upon arrival would be nightmarish!

>55 ChelleBearss: Welcome to the club 😭

Glad to see we have another Travis Baldree fan among us. Crossing my fingers this weekend isn't too hectic for you.

Hi friends,

We're at the arena for another tournament weekend. Unfortunately Chloe's team go knocked out in the first two games. They play again tomorrow but no matter win or lose they won't get to play for a medal. Thankfully her team still has a blast together even when they are losing.
We are tired today though as her first game was at 7am, an hour away from home. So it was a 5am wakeup call today. Yuck. Thankfully we all get to sleep in tomorrow.


13) Eleven Numbers by Lee Child


14) Fire and Bones by Kathy Reichs

>59 ChelleBearss: Ringette looks an interesting sport, Chelle. One that I would be terrible at but I wish Chloe well with her game tomorrow.

15) A Grim Reapers Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara


16) The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer

Ooh, how was the Dara book? I stuck it on my list while looking for books to order for the library, but haven't read it yet.

I have never heard of Travis Baldree, but the series looks fun! Will keep my eye out for it. Happy Thursday!

I got a copy of Bookshops and Bonedust!

Just stopping by to wish you and Nate and those lovely two girls a wonderful weekend.

17) All Better Now by Neal Shusterman

>54 ChelleBearss: I started reading the Inspector Gamache series last September but it's going very slowly because all of the ebooks have ridiculously long wait times at the library. I just got the third book this week.

>55 ChelleBearss: I read Legends and Lattes and its prequel last year and enjoyed them. Was pleased about the consequent cozy fantasy subgenre.

Finished Bookshops and Bonedust and looking forward to Legends and Lattes. : )

Books read in May
18) Eruption by Michael Crichton

Books read so far in June
19) We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes
20) A Lullaby for Witches by Hester Fox
21) The Lightning Bottles by Marissa Stapley
22) City of Darkness and Light by Rhys Bowen 🎧

>68 ChelleBearss: Nice to see you drop by your place, Chelle, even for updating purposes.

Miss you around the threads and I hope you and your lovely family are doing great. xx