End of year walk at Samphire Hoe in Kent. Glorious light but a bit chilly!

No full reading round up from me until the weekend as I'm away and didn't schedule any posts - just as well as my current read may well make it in to the top books list! Somehow I seem to have read 301 books this year, from 90 different countries. #ReadTheWorld 📚💙 #BookSky

After a Christmas spent with just Mr Norfolkbookworm & the cat we'll be with family for the New Year which will be lovely but severely cut down on reading time. I need to finish the more complex books I have on the go & swap to easier reads or even accept I won't read much at all for a few days! 💙📚

Both of us realised this Christmas that neither of us have ever seen the film Elf so we rectified that this evening. For a film made in 2003 it felt very much like a film made in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Is it really a modern classic? 🎬

After reading Voting Day (thanks to the recommendation of @alifeinbooks.bsky.social) I looked at the other books published by Fairlight Moderns and discovered Minute from the Miracle City which is a fascinating look into Dubai and ticks another country off for my #readtheworld project 💙📚 #BookSky

To keep on top of NetGalley books & reviews I try to read the books just before publication. I thought Tangerinn by E. Anechoum (tr. L. Rand) @europaeditions.bsky.social was a Jan book so read it today. It resonated as a companion read to Latronico’s Perfection. Out in March and highly recommended

Another chilly walk today but as it is 30 years since I moved to Norfolk to start at uni here it felt apt to stroll around the Broad there. Now home and watching a Christmas film from 1952 set in Norfolk (The Holly and the Ivy) 📷🎬

A gloriously sunny Christmas day - not a cloud in the sky and skeins of pink foot geese flying over. The rest of the day spent cooking, eating, dozing and reading. No books as gifts but a generous book token will be fun to spend! I hope that you have all had the day you wanted

I think I got too cold out walking today as I feel really shivery now. It is just that and I don’t have a bug…it is, it is, it is!

Out of office is on, I think we have all the food we need and I have a pile of books...I'm Christmas ready. The forecast showing sunshine over the next few days is also heartening as it means wrapping up warm & getting some nice walks in. Family time for New Year this time.

It is not homework, nor it is a chore. You're still a reader if you pick up Romance, audiobooks or graphic novels and I'm so proud of you for doing something for yourself today ❤️ 💙📚 #booksky

A huge thank you to @jacquiwine.bsky.social who recommended Lady L a while ago (and on her best of 2025 list) after the review I knew I’d have to read it and it is wonderful. It’s going places I never dreamed of from the opening and I resent having to put it down while I cook! 📚💙 #BookSky

Sunday afternoons have become a time that Mr Norfolkbookworm & I sit and watch black & white movies. We particularly like films that were made before the end of WW2 when the film makers didn't know how it would play out. Today's pick was the festive & surprisingly moving I'll Be Seeing You 🎬

It was a huge struggle to force ourselves out today - the shortest day, low cloud, dark at 11am - all signs that staying home would be a good idea. Instead we went for a walk out in the Broads and were rewarded by being entertained by a pair of otters right in front of us. 🦦

Today’s movie has a nod towards Christmas in that we’re watching The Holdovers. Enjoying it a lot so far. 🎬

A cold walk this morning but it was mostly sunny and the fog had burned back to just an atmospheric mist. Then I think we finished all the food shopping for Christmas and anything we get extra now are just treats. It feels a productive day. Can I now curl up with my books until it's all over?

Raising a glass in memory my boss who was also a friend. Of course it has to be a Greek wine at sunset on a Greek Island.

Incredibly we managed a dry walk before the rain and wind swept in and a reminder that the year will turn and the light return as the first snowdrops are almost in bloom. #winter 🌸

December this year really is a treat. Off to the dentist now and since it was probably dental treatment that caused my brain haemorrhage I’m now justifiably nervous (phobic) of going now. Had a cold and grounding walk in the local park but still …arghhhhb!

Trying to feel festive... Really should have moved the plant pot tray but can't be bothered to retake the photo. December apathy rules.

A while back I was talking about the new reading group I was planning on starting in 2026. The details are all finalised & we’ll having the first meeting in the American Library at the Millennium Library from 12.45 on Tuesday 13th Jan (feel free to bring your lunch!) #ReadTheWorld 📚💙 #BookSky

More books to add to my lists of books to look out for and perhaps I should go back to the Laing as at the moment I've put it down and am seriously considering it as a (rare for me) DNF

With everything going on in the world, and at a more local/personal level, getting out into the quiet of the countryside and just breathing are increasingly vital to me. We were the only ones on the reserve and got to watch a dozen or more golden eyes for ages which was so soothing. 📷

Absolutely loving the documentary about The Rocky Horror Picture Show - it’s so detailed and moving without being completely mawkish or overly reverential. 🎬

One of my favourite types of winter day - chilly, sunny & not much wind. A lovely walk at Cley this morning followed by a pub lunch. A reset for the week ahead. 📷

Out on a Friday evening, not for anything fun tho - just an MRI on my broken brain. I have to say that the Community Diagnostic Centre was pleasanter experience than previous scans in the main hospital. Arrived early and got seen early which was a bonus Now to wait for the results #I❤️TheNHS

Just squeezed a walk in before sunset (3.40pm here 😱) but that did mean the light was gorgeous. I wasn’t quite expecting for the river to have burst its banks, we walked just a mile upstream on Sunday and it was no where near that high! 📷 #norfolk

So today I’ve spent lots of time looking at the #ReadTheWorld tag and people’s blogs/reviews to find more books for my own project. Today’s read was Gaelle Belem’s The Rarest Fruit which is of course set in a French Department rather than a separate country but was still very good! 📚💙 #BookSky

More books to research and probably add to my tbr!

It's so true!

New on my blog- Books of the Year 2025: Part One alifeinbooks.co.uk/2025/12/book... #BookSky

Didn’t quite manage a completely dry walk - mainly because our original path was under water - but as ever clearing my head in the fresh air was good, and stopped me getting stuck in a health anxiety spiral.

So eight years ago today I had the first thunderclap headache that turned out to be a brain haemorrhage. I'm not feeling great at the moment (lots of niggling neurological symptoms) but I have an MRI at the end of the week so today was all about celebrating surviving with a (muddy) walk

This friendly chap runs up to us quite regularly for a fuss when we’re walking in the cemetery. He had a run in with a car (probably) a few weeks ago so it’s so nice to see him back on patrol again. #cats

Hmmm that seems a jolly good wheeze Post Office…why haven’t you posted a list of last posting dates this year? I guess even more than usual we’re trusting that everything will arrive on time and in one place.

Hi Simon @biggreenbooks.bsky.social After a shock bereavement last week please can I buy someone a copy of either Louis de Bernieres' Captain Corelli's Mandolin or A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes in memory of someone who loved Greece as much as me? #BuyAStrangerABook

Such a good teaser for one of my top books of the year. And one of the most realistic climate change books I've read (after hanging around climate scientists for the last 30 years I've learned and read a lot!) 📚💙 #BookSky

A peaceful walk in the sunshine earlier. Shame that the famed 'golden hour' is currently before 3pm! 📷

We’re watching episodes of Call My Bluff on IPlayer. Mr Norfolkbookworm isn’t happy that I’m better at guessing the definitions than him but we’re both horrified to see them all smoking and waving cigarettes around while talking 😱

Note to self don't try to rush the household chores because you have a bus to catch - it only means you end up putting your car key into the washing machine. Fingers all crossed that it dries out or that getting a replacement is that hard...

Ladybird Artists Advent Calendar, window 1 ‘The village’ Artist: SR Badmin

The sunshine was back today so we decided to take our annual trip to the seal colony to see the pups. We went to Winterton rather than Horsey this time and had a great time nature watching & chatting with the wonderful volunteers who keep the seals safe. #nature #norfolk #seals 🦭

After reading Terry Jones’ biography this week we’re watching his version of Wind in the Willows. I’m finding it frustrating as in places it is so faithful to the book (which I’ve read so many times I can almost quote it verbatim) but it also takes so many liberties. 📚💙 #BookSky #Films

The weather matched my mood this morning but we did at least get a mostly dry walk in - which is a relief as it has been horrid this afternoon. A real sofa, tea, blanket, and book day.

A really shitty day today, and if I'm honest even a sunny walk in a beautiful location and cuddles with the cat haven't helped. Fuck cancer.

In the book world November appears to be both #NonFictionNovember & #NovellaNovember - both of these are fitting my mood hugely. Lots of bulky non fiction library books & world literature novellas for reading in bed. Just started Pedersen’s The Impossible Journey - not one I’d emulate! 📚💙 #BookSky

My favourite type of winter's day today - clear blue skies, lots of sunshine, and just a hint of mist. Now to get cosy indoors with a casserole in the slow cooker, a big mug of tea, and a book.

Being given baleful looks by the cat today because I worked different hours today and disrupted his routine. In connected note - how come watching presentations on Zoom is so exhausting? Possibly just my broken brain but 4 hours watching even presentations has broken me somewhat. #braininjury

After a very wet morning we did manage a dry walk this afternoon but I’m shattered from yesterday and my cold so it was only a short one. Here’s hoping for a few dry days as the water levels around Ranworth were very high today

Glad that my cold was short lived enough that I could go out today with family, however I think that I'm just now too rural to enjoy a London Xmas! The Snoopy trail around Fleet Street before the rain really started was lovely tho - and lots more memory making. My fave was the book themed one! 📚💙