What I Read Last Quarter // July - September

I can't believe we're in the last quarter of my 6th year of sharing quarterly reading round-ups! As a reminder, I have a goal of 80 books for this year, 100 as a stretch goal and have been in a huge Non-Fiction phase. Here is how July, August and September went...

Check out Quarter 1 here! > What I Read Last Quarter // January - March
and quarter 2 here > What I Read Last Quarter // April - June

July

A Little Gay Natural History by Josh L. Davis 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Midnight Hour by Benjamin Read [audio] 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Midnight Howl by Benjamin Read [audio] 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Midnight Hunt byBenjamin Read [audio] 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Nightsilver Promise by Annaliese Avery 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Queer as Folklore: The Hidden Queer History of Myths and Monsters by Sacha Coward 🌟🌟🌟

The Little Book of Pride Heroes: Icons of the LGBTQIA+ Community by Jared Richards 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People by Joan Roughgarden [audio] 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin by Beatrix Potter 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Tale of Two Bad Mice by Beatrix Potter 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Tale of Pigling Bland by Beatrix Potter 🌟🌟🌟

Can you guess this month's theme? Granted, there are a few curveballs. So I intended to read a chunk of my LGBTQIA+ / Pride themed books, with a random book thrown in to tick off my Buzzword Book Cover Challenge, but ended with three Beatrix Potter books tagged on when I realised it was her birthday on the 28th.
One book I urge everyone to read from those above is A Little Gay Natural History by Josh L. Davis. If you are transphobic, homophobic or don't think that gender and sexuality are naturally varied. The whole animal kingdom shows evidence of homosexuality, hermaphrodites, changing gender and way more.

August

The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman 🌟🌟

The Wishkeeper's Apprentice by Rachel Chivers Khoo [audio] 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Voyage of the Sparrowhawk by Natasha Farrant [audio] 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I have to admit that I am still not completely finished The Secret Commonwealth as of the start of November... so I don't really have much to say about this month's reads! I will say that I have struggled to get through this book purely because (after loving the first Book of Dust more than the Dark Materials series), the adult turn this part has taken was disappointing and unnecessary.
Also - read more kids' books!

September

Neurodivergent, By Nature: Why Biodiversity Needs Neurodiversity by Joe Harkness 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Rescue of Ravenwood by Natasha Farrant [audio] 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Extraordinary Adventures of Alice Tonks by Emily Kenny [audio] 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Children of Castle Rock by Natasha Farrant [audio] 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson [audio] 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Wood Where Magic Grows by Andy Shepherd 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Green Kingdom by Cornelia Funke 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Book of the Frog by Sally Coulthard 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Not to judge a book by its cover, but how beautiful are all of these books? I really wanted to read Neurodivergent, By Nature by Joe Harkness in September, so I made everything else fit the (loose) theme. My anticipation for this book was hindered somewhat when reading reviews; however, I must say that I just ended up annoyed after I finished the book. As you can see, I rated it 5 stars, and so I obviously disagree with the reviews. In particular, those who said it 'wasn't what they were expecting' or that it 'wasn't easy to read'. The book was exactly what it advertised itself as, and it was actually a very easy and enjoyable read. It flowed well and was laid out in a way that was interesting and kept you reading. I guess some people may only look at a cover and title rather than a blurb or research something more before picking it up, or maybe it reads well for those of us who are actually neurodivergent...
The rest of the September stack was awesome too, as you can see from all the stars!

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This post is a month late, however, as of the end of September, I'd read 87 books of my 100-goal. I have slowed down a lot with reading, which always seems to happen at a certain time during the year, but overall, I'm happy with my reading year. 

Just some quick stats...

Total books read in the third quarter of 2025 - 23

Physical books - 13

Audiobooks - 10

Longest book - The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman, 736 pages.

Shortest book - The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber, 40 pages.

DNF - 0

Average days to read - 5.8

Five Star Reads - 8

'All Year Reads' page total - 368

Favourite book from each month...

July - The Midnight Hour by Benjamin Read
August - Voyage of the Sparrowhawk by Natasha Farrant
September - Neurodivergent, By Nature: Why Biodiversity Needs Neurodiversity by Joe Harkness

What I Read Last Quarter // April - June

 

It's the halfway point of my 6th year of sharing quarterly reading round-ups! As a reminder, I have a goal of 80 books for this year, 100 as a stretch goal and have been in a huge Non-Fiction phase. Here is how April, May and June went...

Check out Quarter 1 here! > What I Read Last Quarter // January - March

April

The Lost Rainforests of Britain by Guy Shrubsole (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Extinct Animals by Sami Bayly 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Sentient: What Animals Reveal About Our Senses by Jackie Higgins (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟

Lost Animals: The Story of Extinct, Endangered and Rediscovered Species by John Whitfield 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Lynx and Us by David Hetherington [eBook] 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Extinct by Anton Gill & Alex West 🌟🌟

Lost Animals by Errol Fuller 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Nature’s Ghosts: The World We Lost and How to Bring It Back by Sophie Yeo (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The month of extinction reads. I had a much bigger TBR pile set aside to read for this month, but it turns out some of the larger (in actual size, not length) books took longer to read than expected. As with the majority of non-fiction that I read, I always feel that more people need to be reading this stuff. Such a large amount of the general public are so set in their beliefs and ideas that they think they know everything, but reading more into extinction and evolution provides such insight into a range of topics, from racism to dietary choices. 
As an animal lover, I obviously highly enjoyed the majority of this month's books. Nature's Ghosts and Lost Animals were true highlights.

May

Spring: The Story of a Season by Michael Morpurgo 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Hounds of Penhallow Hall: The Moonlight Statue by Holly Webb 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Baker Street Four by Penny Chrimes (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Hotel for Cats by Marie Pavlenko 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Wolf Trials by Kiran Millwood Hargrave 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

What Sadie Saw by Dick King-Smith 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Puloma and the Bear by Jasbinder Bilan 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Nine Lives of Montezuma by Michael Morpurgo 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Spider Sparrow by Dick King-Smith 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Finnish Guide to Happiness by Melanie Dower (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Sarah Sparrow and the Scullery Maid by Jani Tully Chaplin 🌟🌟🌟


May saw us driving to France for our holiday, and so I expected to have less time to read. Therefore, I decided I'd theme my reads on all the smallest books I could find on my shelves. As seen from the ratings, shorter reads do not mean less quality, and there were lots of lovely books throughout May. You can never go wrong with Michael Morpurgo, Holly Webb, or Dick King-Smith, can you?! 

June

Life: The Wild Wonders of Biodiversity by Jennifer N R Smith 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Rewilding: Bringing Wildlife Back Where It Belongs by David A. Steen 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Wild Chorus: Finding Harmony with Whales, Wolves, and Other Animals by Brenda Peterson (Audio) [DNF]

Black Ops and Beaver Bombing: Adventures with Britain's Wild Mammals by Fiona Mathews (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Wild Handbook: Seasonal Activities to Help You Reconnect with Nature by Emily Thomas 🌟

Land of the Last Wildcat by Lui Sit 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Wild World: The Adventures of Bali & Bhola by Deepak Arora (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Twitch by M.G. Leonard (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Last Year of the Wild - Volume 1: Winter by Lizzie Pepper 🌟🌟🌟

Wild Service by Nick Hayes 🌟🌟🌟

Spark by M.G. Leonard (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Clutch by M.G. Leonard (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Feather by M.G. Leonard (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Cull of the Wild: Killing in the Name of Conservation by Hugh Warwick (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Summer's Hum by Angela Harding 🌟🌟🌟🌟

In honour of 30 Days Wild, June was the month of books with the word 'Wild' in the title! The only thing that disrupted that streak was listening to Twitch by M.G. Leonard, and after I did so, I had to finish the series! It's been a series I've put off for a long time, but one I adored! Birdwatching and mysterious crimes to solve? So good.
Sadly, June also brought my very first DNF of the year - an audiobook I actually returned! This is the only time I have done this, but I was so angry at the opening chapter of 'Wild Chorus: Finding Harmony with Whales, Wolves, and Other Animals' that I could not continue. With triggers of animal hunting and continuous descriptions of adoration for this barbaric 'way of life', I couldn't listen to any more. I fully understand that there are some people who live like this because it is their only way of survival. Ingrained in their culture, and they are thankful for and use every part of the animal, but it doesn't mean I want to hear about it. Not every book is for every person, and that is perfectly okay. I just wish the blurb hadn't been so misleading. 
Conversely, a book that also discussed the killing of our precious wildlife - Cull of the Wild by Hugh Warwick - was an important and interesting listen. So much so, I ended up buying a hard copy to have in my collection. 

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I've definitely peaked for the year! At 6 months into the year, I am 62% towards my goal of 100 books, though as I write this, my reading has tapered off quite a bit this month. The quality of what I have read so far in 2025 is incredible, and that is the main thing!

Just some quick stats...

Total books read in the second quarter of 2025 - 37

Physical books - 23

Audiobooks - 13

Longest book - Land of the Last Wildcat, 273 pages

Shortest book - Life: The Wild Wonders of Biodiversity, 40 pages

DNF - 1

Average days to read - 3.3

Five Star Reads - 15

'All Year Reads' page total - 376

Favourite book from each month...

April - Lost Animals by Errol Fuller 

May - Spider Sparrow by Dick King-Smith

June - Twitch by M.G. Leonard

What I Read Last Quarter // January - March

 

Scraping in by the skin of my teeth to share the first quarterly reading round-up of the year (that should have been posted a couple of weeks ago), before April is over! 

We're going into my 6th year of sharing quarterly reading round-ups now and it's been interesting to look back and see how my reading has evolved over that time. As you'll see from this post, Non-Fiction writing has become a huge part of my reading. Not only that, but I have been actively trying to replace other time-wasting activities (such as being on my phone or watching YouTube) with reading with a basic goal of 80 books for this year, 100 as a stretch goal. Feeding my mind with information, learning more about subjects that interest me and escaping to other worlds through the pages of my books is important to me, especially as the world continues to become such a hostile, scary place. 

January 
Ebb and Flow: A Guide to Seasonal Living by Tiffany Francis-Baker 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟🌟
What an Owl Knows by Jennifer Ackerman 🌟🌟🌟
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟
The Little Book of Snow by Sally Coulthard 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Wisdom of Birds: Essential Life Lessons for Positivity and Grace by Alison Davies 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (Audio) 🌟🌟🌟
Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Ornithography by Jessica Roux 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟


A heck of a start to the year! 7 physical books and 3 audiobooks, 8 of which were Non-fiction - that seems to be my January tradition now! I tend not to read books that are currently popular, not because I'm trying, but purely because I mood read and pick up my books from my own tastes, not what is on bestseller lists or being talked about a lot. I say that because a standout book of this month was Raising Hare, which, of course, has had high praise and many awards and nominations since its release, including recently being long-listed for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction 2025, and it was Waterstones Book of the Year 2024. It's a beautiful book, both in story and writing, documenting a rare and incredible experience with wildlife. The author also recently started a petition to 'Protect hares and their young from shooting during the breeding season' which I encourage you to please sign. 

February
The Silver Child by Cliff McNish 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Midnighters by Hana Tooke 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Explorer by Katherine Rundell 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Borrowers by Mary Norton 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Deep: The Secret Life of Our Oceans by Alex Rogers [Audio] 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Afterwards by A.F. Harrold 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟


After a Non-fiction start to the year, I had to return to my original genre, children's fiction and what a return it was! Of course, there are still a couple of NF books in there, and something I think all 'adults' should read is 'Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise' by Katherine Rundell. I read it through curiosity and nothing more because I am obviously a huge advocate for the genre and do not need convincing on why reading kids' books is rewarding, important and brings so much joy to life!
The Midnighters by Hana Tooke (author or The Unadoptables of which I absolutely adored) was a true highlight and a fantastic example of a book highly enjoyable for all ages. 

March
Twice Upon a Time by Michelle Harrison 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
How to Speak Whale: A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communication by Tom Mustill [Audio] 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Lion Above the Door by Onjali Q Rauf 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mystery of the Night Watchers by A.M Howell [Audio] 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Dragon Riders of Roar by Jenny McLachlan 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Secret of the Treasure Keepers by A.M Howell [Audio] 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Spring Unfurled by Angela Harding 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Girl Who Dreamed in Magic by Maria Kuzniar 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Another heck of a reading month, some TBR veterans and some recently released, all books I've been looking forward to reading and glad I got around to. If you have checked out any of my previous quarterly wrap-ups, you'll know that I tend to have a 'theme' for the month and this month it was all signed books within a certain colour palette - specific, I know!
The Lion Above the Door has been sitting on my bookshelves for perhaps 3 or so years now (isn't that atrocious?!), so I'm very happy to have made a point of reading it this month. It was actually not at all what I'd expected but it was a pivotal and thought-provoking story about the forgotten heroes of the World Wars and the racism that surrounds it. An important read I'd recommend to anyone, especially those with children who may be currently learning about the world wars at school.

All Year Reads
Nature's Calendar by Kiera Chapman, Rowan Jaines, Lulah Ellender, Rebecca Warren
A Year of Birdsong: 52 Stories of Songbirds by Dominic Couzens 
A Year of Living Curiously: 365 Things Really Worth Knowing by Elizabeth Foley & Beth Coates
A Year in Story and Song: A Celebration of the Seasons by Lia Leendertz
A Year of Garden Bees & Bugs by Dominic Couzens
Everyday Folklore by Liza Frank

On top of all of my other monthly reads, I also have a handful of books of which I am working my way through throughout the year. Some have daily pages to read, others weekly and I'm finding it a fun way to follow the seasons in bite-sized chunks. Of course, that means I can't rate them right now. I'll have to wait until the end of the year to compose my thoughts on each of them, then.

As you can see, it's been an overall fantastic start to the reading year and my only complaint is that there are far too many incredible books and nowhere near enough time to read them all! 

Just some quick stats...
Total books read in the first quarter of 2025 - 25
Physical books - 18 
Audiobooks - 7
Longest book - The Midnighters by Hana Tooke, 401 pages.
Shortest book - Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Kathrine Rundell, 63 pages.
DNF - 0
Average days to read - 6.8 
Five Star Reads - 12
'All Year Reads' page total - 439


Favourite book from each month...
January - Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton 
February - The Midnighters by Hana Tooke
March - The Lion Above the Door by Onjali Q Rauf