Sunday Summary – 15th June 2025

Posted on by

Happy Father’s Day to the most amazing dad out there! I obviously couldn’t start this Sunday Summary post any other way. I’ve had a great time spending time today with my family… even if my day didn’t get off to the best of starts.

In today’s weekly update post, I’ll catch you up on the blog posts I’ve shared so far this week, as well as where I’m up to with reading progress. Make yourself comfortable and get a cuppa. When you’re ready, let’s dive in!

My first post of the week was a book review of The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb. In this post, I talk about why The Mad Ship was a great second instalment to this trilogy and why you should read it too.

On Friday, I featured my regular Shelf Control post and a mystery/thriller novel I’m keen to read. I’ve featured and read this author once before, and I added his debut book to my reading list to pick up next… 

 

Books Read

 

All the Light We Cannot See

All The Light We Cannot See

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update, I had read a little over 160 pages of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

This week, I was secretly hoping to be sharing a completion of this book. That hasn’t quite happened, although I have managed to practically double my progress.

I’m now around two thirds of the way through this book, so I will be very surprised if I’m not sharing a completion with you next week. I’m still loving this book for all the reasons I stated in last week’s Sunday Summary. If there is an element of the story I’m not keen on, it’s that the chapters are not very long at all. It barely feels like we get into a character perspective before we jump to the next one. It’s not a dealbreaker though, so I am continuing with All the Light We Cannot See into next week. Fingers crossed for a completion in next week’s Sunday Summary update!

 

A Day of Fallen Night

Compared to recent progress with A Day of Fallen Night, I’ve made pretty poor progress with this audiobook this week.

Over the course of this week, I’ve only listened to a little over one and a half hours. Although I do listen to audio in the week, I would say the vast majority of audiobook progress usually happens at the weekend. This weekend has been a little bit special. Not only was I out of the house meeting family today for Father’s Day, but I was also out yesterday wedding dress shopping with my sister during th day and out at a show last night. It’s been a busy weekend, and I’ve been out of normal routine. Fingers crossed, I’ll get back on track next week.

 

Books Discovered

 

This week, I read a review for A Language of Dragons online. The idea of the books appeals to be on both counts – firstly, dragons. Enough said. But also, I have a bit of a nerdy interest in language and the origins of language. The synopsis of this book reminds me a little of Babel, so I reckon I’ll really enjoy this one! 

I also purchased a copy of a book written my the author and creator VirtualAstro, Adrian West. The show I went to last night was his The Night Sky Show. It was quite different to anything I’ve watched before. When I saw his book being sold in the foyer, it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’. Getting in there early meant I got a pre-signed copy instead of having to wait afterwards like most people…

 

Coming Up… 

This week I have a Top Ten Tuesday post lined up. I’ve recently shared my June TBR and my 20 Books of Summer Challenge. In this week’s post, I’ll be using the topic of books on my Summer TBR to share which books I’ll be prioritising after my June TBR. 

On Friday, I’m back with a First Lines Friday post. As usual, I’ll find an interesting introduction to share with you and then give you details on the book. I hope you can check in and take a look! 

Finally, this time next week I’m back with another Sunday Summary catch up. Will I finish All the Light We Cannot See and recover progress on A Day of Fallen Night? Find out in next week’s post! 

Until then, happy reading!

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads | Patreon

Shelf Control #91 – 13/06/2025

Posted on by

Happy Friday 13th friends! It’s the end of another working week for us 9-5 people. And, can I say, I’m ready for the weekend 🥳 It’s going to be a busy one, but I’m looking forward to it. But, for now though, we’re here to share my next Shelf Control feature. 

As always, before I get into featuring today’s chosen book, here’s a recap of what the Shelf Control is about.

Shelf Control is a meme run by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies. It’s a celebration of the unread books on our shelves! The idea is to pick a book you own but haven’t read and write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up.

If you want to read more about the Shelf Control feature, check out Lisa’s introductory post.

 

When You Disappeared – John Marrs 

 

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 349

Audience: Adult

Publisher:

Publication Date: 01 Jan 2013

 

Goodreads – When You Disappeared

When Catherine wakes up alone one morning, she thinks her husband has gone for a run before work. But Simon never makes it to the office. His running shoes are by the front door. Nothing is missing – except him.

Catherine knows Simon must be in trouble. He wouldn’t just leave her. He wouldn’t leave the children.

But Simon knows the truth – about why he left and what he’s done. He knows things about his marriage that it would kill Catherine to find out. The memories she holds onto are lies.

While Catherine faces a dark new reality at home, Simon’s halfway around the world, alive and thriving. He’s doing whatever it takes to stay one step ahead of the truth.

But he can’t hide forever, and when he reappears twenty-five years later, Catherine will finally learn who he is.

And wish she’d stayed in the dark.

 

My Thoughts

Not too long ago I enjoyed reading The Minders by John Marrs. It’s encouraged me to pick up more of his books. The synopsis of this book caught my attention even before reading The Minders. However, that has reinforced my want to pick up this book. I also want to pick it up because I’ve enjoyed a few mystery/thriller books so far this year. For a genre I enjoy, I feel like I went through a bit of a lull with reading these in favour of other genres. Naturally, I want to set this back aright. 

The synopsis has a good deal of mystery to draw us in before we even start reading. If The Minders is anything to go by, readers will be asking a lot more questions before we get answers. 

My only reservation about this book its that the first page of reviews on Goodreads are pretty polarised. Some love it, whilst others are not a fan. A couple of reading friends have picked this up and rated it 5 stars. May be I shouldn’t put too much stock in what others have rated it and just go for it myself. We’re all different. Of course I’ll give it a chance, and perhaps take it with a pinch of salt as it is John Marrs debut novel. It was originally titled “The Wronged Sons” when it was published in 2013. 

Thanks for checking out today’s Shelf Control post. Have you read When You Disappeared? 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads | Patreon

Book Review: The Mad Ship – Robin Hobb

Posted on by

In today’s post, I review the second book of Robin Hobb’s The Liveship Trader series, The Mad Ship. If you haven’t caught yourself up with this series yet, I reviewed the first book of this trilogy, Ship of Magic, back in January. If you need to start back at the very beginning, my review of Assassin’s Apprentice is here. 

I really enjoyed this second instalment. Whilst it took me a little while to get into the story of Ship of Magic, I had no such trouble with The Mad Ship.

 

The Mad Ship – Robin Hobb  

Genre: Epic fantasy 

Pages: 906

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Publication Date: 04 Feb 2008

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Goodreads – The Mad Ship

The Farseer trilogy continues the dramatic tale of piracy, serpents, love, and magic. The Vestrit family’s liveship, Vivacia, has been taken by the pirate king, Kennit. Held captive on board, Wintrow Vestrit finds himself competing with Kennit for Vivacia’s love as the ship slowly acquires her own bloodlust. Leagues away, Althea Vestrit has found a new home aboard the liveship Ophelia, but she lives only to reclaim Vivacia and with her friend, Brashen, she plans a dangerous rescue. Meanwhile, in Bingtown, the fading fortunes of the Vestrit family lead Malta deeper into the magical secrets of the Rain Wild Traders. And just outside Bingtown, Amber dreams of relaunching Paragon, the mad liveship …

 

My Thoughts

Plot

If there is one thing Robin Hobb can’t be accused of, it’s that her books lack in action. There is always so much going on in these books, but it’s cleverly written so we can follow events spread across multiple locations and characters. The narrative we experience in The Mad Ship spans a vast part of the world.

From political turmoil to a daring rescue attempt, The Mad Ship does not lack for events keeping us on our toes! Combined with the world-building and developing character arcs throughout the book, there isn’t a dull moment. Seemingly separate characters and events start to make connections in this book, but the full truth doesn’t truly get unveiled until Ship of Destiny. For the eager-minded trying to work out what’s happening before the revelation, you won’t be disappointed. 

For a book that is a dense 900 odd pages, I read it pretty quickly! I finished it in around two weeks, and made over 550 pages’ progress in one week alone. If that doesn’t sell how captivating I found the book, I don’t know what will… 

 

Setting

If you are a regular reader, you’ll know that I love world-building. The Mad Ship (and the rest of the Realm of the Elderlings series to date) allows for lots of this! Set across a huge fictional world spanning multiple continents and cultures, there is a lot to take in. From the current state of events to the history of the world, no detail is left untouched. Throughout the narrative, there is a wide variety of locations in play at any one time. It allows us to explore world lore and history in detail, and never get bored! 

Not only do we get the benefit of events being spread across multiple locations, but we get to enjoy these places from different perspectives too. Characters are very active in this book in moving around. Not only does that help keep the action flowing, but it gives us the chance to revisit places through fresh eyes. 

Plus, it wouldn’t feel right to have a book about sentient ships that don’t go anywhere… right? 

 

Characters

The titular ship, Paragon, is one of my favourites in the trilogy. He’s a complex and far from noble character. That’s what makes his story interesting. Most of the Liveships are loyal to their masters and are largely unremarkable. Vivacia is interesting for her recent sentience and the power struggle over bonding with her. Otherwise, though, the liveships are almost one and the same. Until we get to Paragon. The Mad Ship. The disowned ship, left abandoned on the shore and threatened with being broken up by its owner, the Ludlucks. 

Amber saves Paragon from this fate, and her attempts to bring him back to himself are admirable. Paragon is also childish, and in some ways reminded me of Malta’s petulance. However, Paragon is a far more complex character. The root cause of this doesn’t come out straight away, but it makes perfect sense and the mystery about him has us reading on. Until that revelation, Paragon is demonised as mad, having murdered his crew several times. 

There are characters I love in this series, and there is one I love to hate. It feels a little unfair to say because in book three, Malta’s character arc redeems her a lot. She grows, but not yet. In The Mad Ship, she is her usual petulant, selfish, and childish self. Although I loved the book in general, I found Malta’s chapters the hardest to read. They give a lot of information on current events, so they are worth it. But man, I’m sure I ground my teeth a lot enduring her chapters… 

The cast goes on! I could sit here and talk about each of the characters, but this would be a very long post. These two are the main standouts for me, but every character has a strong position in this world. Not with any character have I felt that their place was superfluous or not contributing to the narrative. 

 

Narrative Style 

Given there is so much going on with these books, it’s important to get the pacing right. Take events too quickly and you can lose readers. Take them too slowly and readers get bored. Although I would describe Robin Hobb’s pacing as slightly slower than average, I think this is needed to give readers the chance to absorb what is going on. Plus, this isn’t done at the expense of our interest. Like my recent read of The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang, there’s a benefit to slowing things down a little so we can appreciate the intricacies of the world created and what is going on. 

 

Summary 

The Mad Ship is a great second instalment to this three-part series. It’s also a very long book at over 900 pages. If you’re looking to cosy in with an epic fantasy trilogy this summer, I can guarantee this will not disappoint! 

Have you read The Mad Ship or any other books by Robin Hobb? My next read from the series is Golden Fool – what’s yours? 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads | Patreon

Sunday Summary – 8th June 2025

Posted on by

I’ve enjoyed another long bank holiday weekend this weekend. I’m trying not to lament that I’m already at the end of it; instead, let’s make this Sunday Summary a positive celebration of what I’ve achieved this week! 

Over the course of this week, I’ve shared three posts with you so far. The first of these posts went live on Monday this week. Having just started the month of June, I shared my monthly wrap-up and a summary of the books I read last month.  

Next on the agenda, I shared a post mid-week talking about a reading challenge I’m taking part in this year. The 20 Books of Summer Challenge is hopefully going to help me catch up with my Goodreads reading challenge. I’m a couple of books behind but eager to get myself back on track. If you want to find out which books I’ll be reading over the next three months to help me get there, that’s the post to look at.

Finally, I shared my official June monthly TBR on Friday. There is a bit of repetition in that the books on my June TBR are included in the 20 Books of Summer Challenge. I’ve only officially set myself five books this month, but I am secretly hoping to complete this list and be able to read more books from that challenge before we get into July. 

 

Books Read

 

All the Light We Cannot See

All The Light We Cannot See

After I published last week’s Sunday Summary update, I started the historical fiction novel All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. 

It feels like it’s been a little while since I picked up a historical fiction. What I’m loving about this book so far is that it’s set around one of my favourite periods of history, World War II. Don’t ask me why, because it’s not the nicest period of history going. 

What’s refreshing is that a main perspective in this book is a child who has been blind since the age of six. In what must already be a disorienting setting, Marie-Laure (with assistance from her father) has to navigate rebuilding a life after fleeing Paris and the Germans. As you can probably expect, Marie-Laure‘s perspective is unique. It focuses on completely different senses. When we’re introduced in new settings, books normally relate what things look like. Instead, Marie-Laure is only able to share with us the sounds around her, or what something smells or feels like.

Over the course of this last week, I have read a little over 160 pages of All the Light We Cannot See. I’m looking forward to continuing with this book over the next week and I’ll let you know where I’m up to in next week’s Sunday Summary.

 

A Day of Fallen Night

In this Sunday Summary update, I have yet another good week of progress to share with you. In last week’s update I had listened to a little over 12 hours A Day of Fallen Night. Whilst progress this week isn’t quite so high, I’ve still listened to over 7 hours of audio this week. Overall, this puts me at 60% progress through the audiobook as of this Sunday Summary update. 

I feel like I’m really getting into A Day of Fallen Night now. Whilst I was enjoying the narrative before, it felt like there was quite a lot of set up happening. Now, I genuinely feel like I’m in the middle of the book and events are actually happening. Things are starting to go wrong for the main characters and there’s a bit of a scramble to try and resolve the situation. I have no problem with a lot of buildup, because you’re well know I enjoy my world-building. I’ve enjoyed seeing events start clicking into place.

If I can manage another week similar to last week’s progress, be telling you in next week’s Sunday Summary update that I’ve finished it. Is that achievable? Yes, at a push. Am I going to commit to that? Probably not. It’s hard to say. Once you get so far in an audiobook and get towards the end, it does inspire a little bit of a push to see how it ends. If I’m enjoying the narrative, I may yet surprise myself.

 

Books Discovered

I considered adding a book to my reading list this week, but I’ve behaved! The reading list remains at a steady 205 books as of this Sunday Summary update.

I won’t be bored anytime soon anyway… 

 

Coming Up… 

My first post of next week will be a book review. In that post, I feature the second book in Robin Hobb’s The Liveship Trader series. I reviewed the first book of this trilogy back in January this year, and it’s always a pleasure to feature this series on my blog. I hope you’re looking forward to hearing my thoughts on this book. It was a fabulous five-star read!

On Friday, I return with my Shelf Control regular feature post. I’ll feature the next book on my TBR and share why I am excited to pick it up.

Finally, this time next week, another Sunday Summary post will land on your digital doorstop. I hope you can join me for that and fingers crossed I’ll have some book completions to share with you! 

That’s all from me and today’s Sunday Summary update! I hope you’ve had a fabulous week and weekend and I look forward to catching up with you soon. 

Happy reading! 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads | Patreon

Monthly TBR – June 2025

Posted on by

In today’s post, I share the books I plan to pick up throughout the month of June. This monthly TBR isn’t too heavy on the book count front, but that’s not to say I won’t be reading more if I manage to get through each of these. 

If you read the post I shared on Wednesday, you’ll know that I’m taking part in the 20 books of summer challenge. In that post, I set out 20 books I hope to read before the end of August. Should I get to the end of these five before the end of June, I’ll be picking up one of those to keep up momentum with the challenge.

Let’s take a look at what’s on my official June monthly TBR! 

 

Fixed Reads 

A Day of Fallen Night 

This book is the only carryover that I started in the month of May. That’s hardly surprising, given that this audiobook is a little under 40 hours long in total. 

I started A Day of Fallen Night as part of my May TBR but only started it around a week before the end of the month. In that first week, I listened to a good portion of this audiobook – over 12 hours – so I can’t grumble on progress. If I’m able to keep up the pace, then I should have plenty of time to read the second audiobook I’ve planned for later this month. 

 

All the Light We Cannot See

All The Light We Cannot See

I had originally planned to read All the Light We Cannot See last month. However, as it took me longer to read The Poppy War than I expected, I didn’t get to the mood reads on my May TBR. 

Instead, I incidentally picked up this book for the first time last Sunday, being the first of this month. Already I’m enjoying the book and keen to see where the set-up is taking us. I’m also intrigued by how the lives of the characters are going to intersect. That can only remain to be seen and I’ll be updating you on progress in my usual Sunday Summary posts.

 

Little Fires Everywhere 

Our work book club is meeting later this month, and for that meeting we have agreed to read and discuss Little Fires Everywhere. 

I was aware of the book before it was suggested, but as yet hadn’t made a decision on whether I was going to read it or not. That’s the great thing about a book club! It’s through picking up books that you wouldn’t necessarily read for yourself that you get to push yourself out of your comfort zone. 

I don’t know if Little Fires Everywhere is going to do that for me, but I’m intrigued to find out. And no, I won’t be cheating and watching the Netflix series instead 😂 

 

The Anxious Generation

Another book I didn’t quite get to on May’s TBR was The Anxious Generation. I’m still keen to pick up this book, so I’ve carried it forward onto this monthly TBR. 

I’m still looking forward to picking up this book. The Anxious Generation is the only non-fiction on my official reading list this month. When I get to it, it will be a refreshing change from this fiction-heavy list. There’s absolutely no reason why I wouldn’t get to this book, but on the off chance I don’t, I’ve made it a part of my 20 books of summer challenge so I have to read it to complete that! 

 

Saint’s Blood

It’s been a long time since I picked up Sebastien de Castell’s The Greatcoats series. It’s been three years, to the month, in fact. 

Given I’ve enjoyed the series to date, it makes sense to get myself back into it. I also want to read it because it will help me towards my reading goal of completing series this year. After Saint’s Blood, I only have one book left in this series until I’ve finished it. 

Given it’s been so long, I will definitely have to refresh myself on what’s happened to date. I do have some vague recollection, so I don’t think I’m going to have to spend too long doing that. However, that refresher is much needed. Once I’ve read Saint’s Blood, I won’t leave it too long before finishing the last book. If nothing else, I want to finish it before the end of the year towards my reading goal completion! That also means I won’t need to refresh myself again on what’s happened.

 

Summary 

I’m hoping setting myself a slightly less ambitious list will help me towards completing my June monthly TBR. As I’ve already shared, I know which books I want to read this summer, so I have a selection to choose from should I exceed expectations and get through this list. 

Thanks for checking out today’s monthly TBR post! What upcoming reads are on your list? Is there any particular book or series you’re looking to pick up this summer?  

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads | Patreon

20 Books of Summer Challenge 2025

Posted on by

When blog hopping a couple of weeks ago, I found mention of a summer challenge that I thought could be fun! Right now, I’m a couple of books behind schedule. So, I thought the 20 Books of Summer challenge could be a fun way to incentivise getting back on track. 

If you’re interested to see it for yourself, the original challenge was created by 746 Books. This year, it is being hosted by AnnaBookBel (AnnaBookBel) and Words and Peace (Words and Peace). 

What is the 20 Books of Summer Challenge? Here are the guidelines for taking part: –

Rules

  • The #20BooksofSummer2025 challenge runs from Sunday June 1st to Sunday August 31st.
  • The first rule of 20 Books is that there are no real rules, other than signing up for 10, 15 or 20 books and trying to read from your TBR.
  • Pick your list in advance, or nominate a bookcase to read from, or pick at whim from your TBR.
  • If you do pick a list, you can change it at any time – swap books in/out.
  • Don’t get panicked at not reaching your target.
  • Just enjoy a summer of great reading and make a bit of space on your shelves!

My plan is to set myself 20 books to complete. I’ve got three months to attempt the challenge. I need to read a little over six books a month in order to meet the target. It’s fair to say I won’t be setting myself War and Peace. Equally, I’m not going to let page count dictate whether the book makes it on the list or not. If I want to read it, it’s fair game!

With this in mind, I’m carrying one book into the challenge that I’ve already started. If you read my monthly wrap-up for May, you’ll know I’ve started A Day of Fallen Night already. Given its the longest on the list, I’m allowing this to count. I’ll still be reading a significant amount during the challenge and certainly more than the average page count for the books listed.

 

My 20 Books of Summer Challenge

 

 

20 Books of Summer Progress Tracker

Title Author Pages Started on Finished on Rating
Little Fires Everywhere Celeste Ng 338
All the Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr 544 01/06/2025
The Anxious Generation Jonathan Haidt 400
A Day of Fallen Night Samantha Shannon 868 25/05/2025
Saint’s Blood Sebastien de Castell 576
If We Were Villains M. L. Rio 354
The Bone Collector Jeffrey Deaver 528
The Long War Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter 419
The Pagan Lord Bernard Cornwell 303
The Dragon Republic R. F. Kuang 654
Eve Cat Bohannon 624
Murdertrending Gretchen McNeil 352
Alan Turing: The Enigma Andrew Hodges 608
Ariadne Jennifer Saint 308
The Burning Girls C. J. Tudor 333
Yellowface R. F. Kuang 319
Sensitive Jenn Granneman 261
The Measure Nikki Erlick 353
Sisters Under the Rising Sun Heather Morris 400
A Man Called Ove Fredrik Backman 337

I’ll update the above table weekly with progress on start and finish dates of each book, as well as my star rating.

Are you taking part in the 20 Books of Summer Challenge? 

If 20 books sounds ambitious, there are 10 and 15 book variants of the challenge too! 

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads | Patreon

Monthly Wrap-Up – May 2025

Posted on by

In today’s monthly wrap-up post, I recap the books from my May TBR that I picked up over the course of last month.

Whilst I didn’t get to all the books on my reading list, I still had a great time with interesting non-fictions and epic fantasies. They’re very different genres, but I’ve read a variety this month.

Shall we take a look at what I read?


Books Read


The Poppy War

When I shared my May TBR I had just started The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang.

I really enjoyed The Poppy War and I’m delighted I’ve now started this series. Given I have completing series as a resolution for this year, it gives me every freedom to binge-read the remaining two books in the series!

As much as I loved it, it did take me longer to read than I anticipated. The plot is quite dense, and the history the narrative is based on is not something I’m familiar with. As a result, I think I ended up taking my time mostly to enjoy the world-building and take time to understand what was going on.

Now that I’ve got this far though, I think I’ve set myself up in good stead for the remainder of the series!


Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World

Picking up where I left off in my April monthly wrap-up post, I’ve continued listening to Crashed throughout most of May.

I initially wasn’t sure what I made of the book because it had a lot of political discourse throughout the first part. Although this did ease a little, I came to see why this was an important part of the narrative. I got used to this style throughout the course of the book.

Whilst I picked up Crashed in order to learn more about the 2007 to 2008 financial crisis, in truth it is covered far more than that. It argues why the subsequent eurozone recessions and bailouts are inherently linked to the American markets that caused the initial crises in 2007-2008.

I confess this isn’t going to be a book for everybody. It’s only because of my working background that I have an interest in the subject. However, if this sort of thing is your cup of tea, Crashed was an enjoyable listen and I’ll recommend it.


Ultra-Processed People

Another non-fiction I read in May is a book called Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken.

Honestly, Ultra-Processed People was an eye-opener. I had a suspicion it would make me re-think my perception of food, and I wasn’t wrong. One of the greatest traps with ultra-processed food (UPF) is that we don’t look or understand what’s in it. Things that seem harmless are cast in a different light once you know why they’re there.

Not only does Ultra-Processed People discuss what’s in food, but also the impact it’s having on people. UPF is no stranger in UK markets, but how its introduction into new Latin American markets has impacted society should be ringing alarms to everyone.

Again, Ultra-Processed People was a really informative read and I really wish more people could get their hands on a copy.


A Day of Fallen Night

Before the end of the month, I managed to listen to about 11 hours of A Day of Fallen Night. When you consider the audiobook is around 39 hours long, it doesn’t seem like massive progress. However, it works out about 34% or just shy of 300 pages. That’s a shorter book!

This book is one of two books I’m carrying forward from this monthly wrap-up post. So far, I’ve enjoyed the story unravel and learn about the history of the world in which The Priory of the Orange Tree is set. Taking place five centuries before that book, there are plenty of ties to that main book that add familiarity to the book whilst also standing alone.

A Day of Fallen Night is one of the first books I’ll be finishing in June and it will carry forward onto my June TBR.


Sunrise on the Reaping

At the end of the month, I had started and read about a third of Sunrise on the Reaping. It’s fair to say I enjoyed this book; I binge-read the remainder of the book on the first day of the month.

As such, it won’t feature on my June TBR because it’s already finished. However, what I can say is that this book lived up to my expectations of the series. Also, it means I’m now fully caught up on the series until or if another book comes out 🥳

Haymitch is quite a complex character even from the first series. What I love about Sunrise on the Reaping is that it unveils what happened to Haymitch. It explains what happened to make him into the rough character he starts out as in The Hunger Games. From a historical point of view, the world-building opportunity it filled in was perfect. If you love the main series, it’s a great way to enjoy the world again without re-reading.


Summary

May was a good month of reading overall. Although some books took longer for me to finish, a last-minute binge-read saved the day!

Thanks for reading today’s monthly wrap-up post. What have you read recently? Do you have any recommendations for me?

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads | Patreon

Sunday Summary – 1st June 2025

Posted on by

Happy Sunday friends – I hope today marks the conclusion of a good week for you? In today’s Sunday Summary, I have solid reading progress to share with you!

It’s because I wanted to catch up on some reading that I took a break from blogging for the first half of this week. Rather than my first post going live on Wednesday or Thursday as is typical, this week my first and only other post is my First Lines Friday feature.

In that post, I ended up featuring a book I read a few years ago that I recommend to all my fantasy fans. In featuring the book, I discovered the sequel is now out for me to read. Win-win, right?!


Books Read


Ultra-Processed People

As of last week’s Sunday post, I was just under halfway through Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken.

In the first half of the week, I prioritised reading this book and ultimately finished it! I found this book really informative and it has changed the way I think about food. The information in this book should be broadcast more widely to the public; however, for the most part, it’s not.

In recent years, there is more in the way of TV programmes sharing this knowledge, and it needs to be more widely available. I think a lot of people would change the way they eat if they understood what was going into their food and actually how much of it isn’t really food.


Sunrise on the Reaping

The second part of this week, although technically it was mostly today, I’ve been reading Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins.

This year, I’ve been looking forward to this newly released instalment in The Hunger Games series. If you are unfamiliar, this book features the Hunger Games in their 50th year, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. More meaningfully for readers though, it is the games in which Haymitch Abernathy features and seals his fate.

Prior to today, I’d read about a third of the book. I have no qualms about confessing that I blitzed the remainder of the book over the course of several hours today. It’s been a long time since I’ve hyper-focused and finished a book this quickly. It’s fair to say it didn’t disappoint in terms of living up to the wider series. It was also intriguing to see Haymitch as a boy before we meet him in the main Hunger Games series, and understand what happens to him to make him the man we see all those years later.


A Day of Fallen Night

Finally, the last book to update you on in this post is my current audiobook, A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon. This is also a prequel, so I can’t be accused of not living up to my goal of trying to read more series.

I’m also reading this one comparatively quickly after finishing the first book in January. I am often battle with the self-inflicted problem of leaving too long a gap between book in a series. As a result, I need to recap myself on events of the prior books before starting the next. The Priory of the Orange Tree was still relatively fresh in my mind; picking up A Day of Fallen Night has been very easy.

It’s been so easy, in fact, that I’ve listened to about 12 and a half hours of A Day of Fallen Night as of this Sunday Summary update. Although set several centuries before the main series, there are overlaps and connections to characters from that first book that I’ve appreciated connecting the dots on.

I’m looking forward to listening more over the next few weeks. Like The Priory of the Orange Tree, A Day of Fallen Night is a long audiobook. Currently, I have just less than 20 hours left at x1.2 speed.


Books Discovered

If you read my First Lines Friday feature post, you’ll know that I added the sequel to The First Binding to my TBR this week. That book is called The Doors of Midnight.


Coming Up…

Somehow, we’re already at the beginning of June. That means I’ve got a busy week ahead in terms of my blogging schedule!

Tomorrow I’m planning to bring you my monthly wrap-up for May 2025. Although it wasn’t the fastest reading month, and I certainly didn’t get to all the books on my list, it was a good one!

In order to spur on my reading pace and catch up with my Goodreads reading challenge (I’m 2 books behind schedule as of this Sunday Summary), I’ve decided to take part in a summer reading challenge. Stay tuned to find out about the 20 Books of Summer challenge, which I’ll share mid-week.

Next, it only seems natural to share my reading list for June. Usually, I have to leave myself an undisclosed placeholder for our work book club pick. However, this time I know what we’re reading ahead of our meeting towards the end of June. Stay tuned to find out what that is, as well as the other books I intend to read.

Last, but by no means least, I’m back next Sunday with another Sunday Summary catch-up post. Even if you can’t check out any of my other posts mid-week, be sure to read this weekly recap so you don’t miss anything!

Until next time, happy reading!

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads | Patreon

First Lines Friday – 30/05/2025

Posted on by

I’ve had a good few days off blogging to catch up on some reading. It’s been fun. However, today I’m back with my next First Lines Friday instalment.

When I shared my Sunday Summary last week, I advised there was no challenge element to this post in the spirit of keeping things easy. That’s still somewhat true. When I was deciding what to look for when drafting this post, I figured that I tend to look forward to upcoming books as opposed to featuring what I’ve already read and enjoyed. So, with this in mind, I set out for one of these books.

Can you guess the book from the introduction?


I walked into the tavern in search of the most important thing in the world. A story. And I ended up swept into the most dangerous one of all.

The worst sort of prison held the Three Tales Tavern.

An emptiness.

A stillness.

And that is always meant to be broken.

It hung like a cord gone taut, quivering and waiting to snap. It was the quiet of held breaths, wanting for a voice, but ready to bite at any that dare make noise. It was the soundlessness of men too tired to speak and with an ear to hear even less. And all the stillness of an audience waiting for the play to begin.

The perfect stage for me. And I had just the thing to rouse them—ensnare them. But all good performances need one thing, and mine required a drink.


The First Binding – R. R. Virdi

Genre: Eastern Fantasy

Pages: 821

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Gollancz

Publication Date: 18 Aug 2022


Goodreads – The First Binding

 

All legends are born of truths. And just as much lies. These are mine. Judge me for what you will. But you will hear my story first.

I buried the village of Ampur under a mountain of ice and snow. Then I killed their god. I’ve stolen old magics and been cursed for it. I started a war with those that walked before mankind and lost the princess I loved, and wanted to save. I’ve called lightning and bound fire. I am legend. And I am a monster.

My name is Ari.

And this is the story of how I let loose the first evil.

Thus begins the tale of a storyteller and a singer on the run and hoping to find obscurity in a tavern bar. But the sins of their past aren’t forgotten, and neither are their enemies. Their old lives are catching up swiftly and it could cost them the entire world. No one can escape their pasts and all stories must have an ending.


My Thoughts…

The First Binding is the first book of an Eastern Silk Road fantasy series. It was a book I received a copy of to review as part of the publication blog tour. Admittedly, I don’t do many of these anymore, but I did enjoy reading this one even with the page count and deadline!

Of course, if you want to read my full review, you can find that here.

If you’d like a summary version, the way in which the story is told really appealed to me. The style is much like Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind or Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire. From the perspective of older and wiser characters, they narrate the events of the books, warts and all. It does raise the question of bias and whether we can unquestioningly believe all we are told at face value. I enjoy digging into that side of things though.

Featuring this book today has also been a great prompt for me. Last year, the author R. R. Virdi published the sequel to this book, called The Doors of Midnight. No prizes for guessing that it’s just gone onto my TBR, right?

Thanks for reading today’s First Lines Friday. Have you read The First Binding?

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads | Patreon

Sunday Summary – 25th May 2025

Posted on by

Happy late May bank holiday weekend, folks! Normally, when I’m drafting my Sunday Summary, I’m lamenting another weekend being over. This week, though, that’s not the case! I’ve still got another day off, and I’m looking forward to it 😁

So, what have I been up to this week? Firstly, I shared a post this week about the importance of libraries and what we can all do to help them. It doesn’t have to cost money either!

On Friday, I returned with a Shelf Control post. This week’s feature was an upcoming young adult thriller I’m curious to try. The premise is unlike anything I’ve seen before…


Books Read


Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World


Prior to today, over the course of this week, I listened to two and a half hours of Crashed. This was mainly when driving into work. However, I had some time at home on my own today and a number of self-imposed jobs to do. To keep me company, I picked up this audiobook again.

… and finished it. I had about five hours of audio left when I started listening today, and I did it! It wasn’t specifically my intention to, but once I realised I only had a small amount left to go, I was on a mission then.

Crashed is an interesting book to listen to. We often think about the multiple financial crises from the early 2000s through to 2016 as separate events. Adam Tooze makes arguments that they’re not. It’s not funny, haha funny, but when you then consider the coronavirus pandemic and yet more turmoil after all that, it’s been a rollercoaster. Turns out Adam has also subsequently written another book about the pandemic.


Ultra-Processed People


In last week’s Sunday Summary, I was only just in a position to share that I’d started Ultra-Processed People. As of this Sunday Summary, I’ve gone on to read 175 pages, bringing me to 45% progress in the book.

I’m on a non-fiction roll and enjoying the variety of the genre. When I set out to read this book, I expected it would change how I think about food. In the last few months, I’ve already been consciously trying to cook more from scratch and eat less ultra-processed food (UPF). I’m not looking to put it out entirely – as this book argues – in the UK’s food environment, that’s going to be difficult. However, eating less UPF is an improvement!

Chris is really good at putting into perspective what the ‘ingredients’ commonly found in UPF are, how they got there, and who is most affected by it. It’s a really informative read, and I’m looking forward to reading on.


Books Discovered


Do you recall I mentioned Adam Tooze has published a book about the COVID-19 pandemic? It’s called Shutdown, and I got the audiobook after I finished Crashed this afternoon.


Coming Up…

It’s the last week of May, so I need to get my skates on with my TBR!

With this in mind, I’m taking a few days off to enjoy some reading time and to try and make more of a dent in the list by the end of next week. So, my first post will go live on Friday, and that will be a First Lines Friday feature. In the spirit of keeping things easy, I’m not setting a particular challenge this time.

This time next week, I’ll share another Sunday Summary update, in which I have all the bookish updates for you!

Have you read anything lately that you’d like to recommend?

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads | Patreon