2024 Book Blanket Update

I think it's safe to say that my attempt at a book blanket this year was a bit of a failure. I have a total of 30 squares made and joined together but I am just finishing up reading book number 80!

Why do I think I failed?

There are a number of reasons why I think I didn't keep up to date with the book blanket but the main reason is time management. I didn't block out any time to specifically focus of working on my blanket squares. With so many patterns I was working on, commissions, personal projects and family life I really should have set aside some dedicated time once a month or so.

I also think trying to have different squares for physical and kindle books made it harder than it needed to be. I could never remember which square design was which so I was always having to check and that just got annoying. I know it's a small thing but it would stop me from just making the square each time.

Lastly, is the fact that I read far more than I'd expected to! As this year is the first year that I've really gotten back into reading I initially set my reading goal to 35. When I passed that early on in the year I upped it to 75 thinking that that would be a real stretch but I reached that goal too!

Best Books of the Year

I have read some fantastic books this year and listened to some really good audiobooks too. Here are a few of my real stand out reads of the year:

• The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

• The Women by Kristin Hannah

• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

  (Yes, she has become one of my most favourite authors of all time!)

• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

• Slewfoot by Brom

• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

• Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

Have you read any of these? What did you think?

I have a lot of books on my TBR waiting to be read and I am sure that 2025 will be another great reading year. Especially as Onyx Storm releases in January! Are you as excited about that as I am?

What's Next?

I could try to get all of the squares complete by the end of this year, if I do I will let you know but I think it's more likely that I will admit defeat for this year.

I'm not going to let this failure to complete deter me from trying again next year though. I've learnt a lot from my attempt this year and I think I can definitely do it if I try again. I think I'll use a similar colour palette to this year as I really did like it but I think I'll stick to solid granny squares whatever the format of the book be it physical, kindle or audio. This will mean that I can just pick up my yarn and hook and make the square without much thinking other than: what colour relates to this star rating?.

I'll also be using the Fable app to track my reads throughout the year. I highly recommend this app. I came across it a couple months ago and I absolutely love it. It shows you different statistics on your reading habits, you can join book clubs and my favourite feature - you can give partial star ratings! Sometimes you just need a half star!

If you're considering a book blanket in 2025 then let me know! I'd love for us to work on them together. Don't forget to use #bookblanket2025 and I'll be able to see your progress. I actually can't believe that it's almost the new year, it's very exciting!

Happy reading and crocheting!

Shelley x