Author: fantasyst95

Monthly Wrap-Up – May 2021

Posted on by

I can’t believe I’m here writing my wrap-up post for May already, but here we are! This year seems to be absolutely flying by… even though I haven’t been up to much.

I’ve been enjoying the slower pace this year. I’ve definitely been enjoying the books I’m picking up more, but I’m also taking the time to enjoy other things as well – my crafting hobbies are going really well and I’m also making the most of being able to see friends and family. Nothing reminds you of how important this is than not being able to see them!

 

Books Read

In last month’s wrap-up post, I was nearly done with Fire and Blood by George R. R. Martin. That is an epic book and took a lot of my time. I’m pleased to say that I’ve been reading some slightly shorter books and so I’ve been making more progress (or at least it feels like it) with picking up new reads.

After finishing Fire and Blood, I started to read You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney. This is a psychology book and I really enjoyed the topics covered, looking into how I fall victim to some of these things and the humour included as well.

Next, I moved on to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I’m really enjoying re-reading this series this year. I’ve known I’ve wanted to do it for quite some time but I wanted to finish my re-read of A Game of Thrones before I picked this up. The books are starting to get a little chunkier now and I’m really looking forward to delving into the more detailed, darker side of the story.

Last, but not least, I had just started to read Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo at the end of the month. I’ve gotten to 10% in just one sitting and I’m looking forward to diving into this one over the course of the next month.

Audiobook progress has been a little slower. A Clash of Kings is a long audiobook and I’ve just been chipping away at the odd chapter here and there. As of last month’s update I was around 55% of the way through the audiobook – now I am at around 70%. That’s pretty good going, and with coming up to the end I may be able to make a push and finish this in time for next months wrap-up!

 

Blog Posts

As always, in these posts I like to summarise the blog posts I have shared over the last month. That way if you’ve missed any, you can easily catch up here. Here is a list of what I’ve shared below: –

I hope you have enjoyed this month’s wrap-up post! As always, I really enjoy getting your feedback and I would love to hear about what you have been reading recently!

Attachment.pngAttachment_1.png

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Sunday Summary – 30th May 2021

Posted on by

Good evening everyone – as usual, it’s time for my weekly Sunday summary update post. I hope you’ve had a fabulous week whatever you have been doing! I must admit, I’ve enjoyed a nice short working week and a lovely long weekend. We had some fantastic weather as well for a change!

I started my blogging week with a Top Ten Tuesday post. That particular post shared my favourite humorous book quotes. Thankfully, being able to access these on Goodreads made the job of putting together this post a lot easier. There are a lot of Terry Pratchett quotes on there, but for good reason!

Later in the week, I shared my next Shelf Control regular feature on Friday. This week I shared a contemporary classic currently on my TBR and why I’m really excited to pick this up. If you haven’t checked out either of these posts already, there are some handy links above so you can go and take a look.

 

Books Read

Over the course of this week, I have read around 200 pages of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It has been a nice and easy read to pick up and I have really enjoyed delving into this series again. As of last week‘s Sunday Summary update post, I was only around 50 pages in and I now have around 50 pages left! No prizes for guessing what I’m going to be doing tonight…

I’m a few more chapters in to listening to a clash of kings by George R. R. Martin. I haven’t been making lots of progress on this but listening to the odd chapter here and there will help me get through it eventually!

 

Books Discovered

Again, there is nothing to report here this week – I haven’t added any more books to my TBR (thankfully)

 

Coming Up…

The beginning of June is fast approaching and that means it’s time to share my monthly wrap-up post for May. It’s absolutely scary how fast this year is going. Am I the only one who thinks that? Nevertheless, I’ll be recapping my reads of the month as well as the posts I have shared in that time.

Friday is the turn of my regular First Lines Friday feature. As in most cases, I haven’t chosen a book yet for this week’s post, but I’ll make sure it’s a good’un!

That’s it for today’s Sunday Summary post. What are you reading this week?

Attachment.pngAttachment_1.png

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Shelf Control #31 – 28/05/2021

Posted on by

Hello everyone and welcome to today’s Shelf Control post! Shelf Control is a regular feature here on Reviewsfeed; it’s a meme run by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies. It’s a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, 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!

For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out Lisa’s introductory post.

I like to take this opportunity to have a look at the books on my TBR, in order, to share why I’m interested in them, but also to filter out any I no longer want to read. A lot of the older books on my list were added a good number of years ago, so I have filtered a few out since starting the series.

This week‘s featured book is a little bit different from the usual books on my TBR. It’s a contemporary and a classic with elements of crime and mystery. There is plenty there to draw me in even though it’s not typical book I would read. However, I do really like the sound of the synopsis… and this book comes recommended too.

Read on to find out about the book!

 

The Secret History – Donna Tartt

The Secret History

Goodreads – The Secret History

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last – inexorably – into evil.

 

My Thoughts….

It isn’t often I reach for a contemporary, however I really like the sound of this. It’s also a bit of a classic and that’s another reason I want to give this a try! It is a little bit different from my typical reading choice and I hope picking it up pays off.

I did actually have a chat about this book with my boss a little while ago. We quite often have little ‘what are you reading’ chats, as he is a reader himself. It just so happens that he has picked this up himself and as he was telling me about it, I recognised it. Knowing that this book comes with his recommendation makes stepping out of my comfort zone easier. It’s a chunky size book so it’s going to be a solid read, but I can’t wait to give it a try.

 

Attachment.pngAttachment_1.png

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Top Ten Tuesday – Humorous Book Quotes

Posted on by

Good evening everyone and welcome to today’s Top Ten Tuesday post!

In my Sunday Summary post last week I told you that I was planning on sharing this particular post, but that I hadn’t chosen a theme. I’ve looked at a plethora of quotes saved on my goodreads account and on my kindle and I’ve decided to share my top ten humorous quotes with you.

There is a definite weighting to a particular author I have read a lot of books by. He is very funny and the book series these come from is satirical, so it’s unsurprising so many have come from it. Yet a lot of them have a ring of truth, which to my mind makes me even funnier!

I hope you enjoyed today’s post and the quotes I share below – here are the quotes and the books they belong to: –

 

People ought to think for themselves, Captain Vimes says. The problem is, people only think for themselves if you tell them to.

Men At Arms – Terry Pratchett

 

 

 

 

“I told Lord Harms I’d return Steris to him. And I will. That is that.”

“Then I will remain and help,” Marasi said. “That is that.”

“And I could really use some food,” Wayne added. “Fat is fat.”

The Alloy of Law – Brandon Sanderson

 

 

Granny Weatherwax made a great play of her independence and self-reliance. But the point about that kind of stuff was that you needed someone around to be proudly independent and self-reliant at. People who didn’t need people needed people around to know that they were the kind of people who didn’t need people.

Maskerade – Terry Pratchett

 

 

Never throw the first punch. If you have to throw the second, try to make sure they don’t get up for a third.

Steelheart – Brandon Sanderson

 

 

 

 

You are not so smartThe research shows that groups of friends who allow members to disagree and still be friends are more likely to come to better decisions. So the next time you are in a group of people trying to reach consensus, be the asshole. Every group needs one, and it might as well be you.

You Are Not So Smart – David McRaney

 

 

It was clearly the room of a woman, but one who had cheerfully and without any silly moping been getting on with her life while all that soppy romance stuff had been happening to other people somewhere else, and been jolly grateful that she had her health.

Guards Guards – Terry Pratchett

 

 

The thing about the path less travelled is that it is often less travelled for a good reason.

King of Thorns

 

 

 

 

 

The conversation of human beings seldom interested him, but it crossed his mind that the males and females always got along best when neither actually listened fully to what the other one was saying. 

Pyramids – Terry Pratchett 

 

 

 

There were some things on which even they were united. No more policy statements, no more consultative documents, no more morale-boosting messages to all staff. This was Hell, but you had to draw the line somewhere.

Eric – Terry Pratchett

 

 

 

Listen,’ said Granny Weatherwax. ‘She’s well out of it, d’you hear? She’ll be a lot happier as a queen!’

‘I never said nothing,’ said Nanny Ogg mildly. ‘

I know you never! I could hear you not saying anything! You’ve got the loudest silences I ever did hear from anyone who wasn’t dead!’

Lords and Ladies – Terry Pratchett

 

That’s my Top Ten Tuesday post! Which of these quotes did you find the funniest? Let me know in the comments!

Attachment.pngAttachment_1.png

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Sunday Summary – 23rd May 2021

Posted on by

Hello everyone and welcome to today’s weekly Sunday Summary update post! I hope you’ve had a really good week wherever you are and whatever you have been doing.

Aside from the usual 9-to-5 grind and the usual reading/blogging, I’ve been doing some work on my knitting and crafting projects. This week’s focus has been working on a dotty cardigan I’m making. I also recently finished a lovely crochet blanket (that has been over a year in the making now) and I’m really pleased that I’m putting aside time to do these. Some people may laugh, but I find it very therapeutic. I’ve always been a crafty person – I don’t think that will change. 

On the blogging front, I have shared a couple of posts with you this week. My first post of the week was shared on Thursday. Last week I decided I wanted to share a Discussion Post on why I think reading books from multiple genres is of a benefit. I still really think this is the case and I would be interested to hear your thoughts as well!

On Friday, I took part in a blog tour for A Knot of Sparrows by Cheryl Rees-Price. The post is a promo of the book and I hope you can check that out. I’ve also included links to some of my favourite reviews from the tour so far too. If you want to find out more, you can do so using the link above. 

 

Books Read

My first priority of the week was finishing You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney. I did in fact finish this at the very beginning of the week as planned in last week’s Sunday Summary post. I had around 30% left to read and I really enjoyed picking up this book. It has elements of humour and the psychology featured really does make you think about yourself, and opens your eyes to the psychological tricks that you yourself are prone to. It was both entertaining and insightful and honestly, it was nice to pick up a non-fiction for a change!

Later in the week, I read the first 50 or so pages of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I’ve really enjoyed picking up this series again. I haven’t read the books since I was a teenager and it’s really nice revisit. Looking back, they are quite easy reads (at least so far!) but there’s also a lot of detail I have forgotten since reading the books and watching the films when I was younger. I’ve only read 50 pages or so in one sitting, but I will definitely be picking this up more next week. If my experience of the first couple of books is anything to go by, I won’t be reading this one for long either.

I have listened to a little more of A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin, however not too much. I must confess I’ve spent more time watching TV of an evening and so I haven’t really done too much in the way of listening to audiobooks.

 

Books Discovered

A nice and quiet report this week-quite simply, there is nothing to add!

 

Coming Up…

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday post is one where I have a little bit of choice. The topic is ‘quotes from books fitting a theme’ – a theme of my choice. I haven’t chosen one yet, but I’m going to have a look at the quotes that I’ve saved on the likes of my Kindle and Goodreads and I will draft a post depending on what I have! It will be interesting to see where this post takes me.

Later in the week, I will be returning with a regular Friday feature. This was temporarily put on hold this week as I was taking part in the blog tour for A Knot of Sparrows. This week it is the turn of my Shelf Control feature post. For those of you who don’t know, in this particular post I take a look at a book on my TBR and review/discuss why I like the sound of the book, why I want to read it and generally just get myself hyped for it! I hope you can join me for that post.

That’s it for today’s Sunday Summary post. What have you been reading this week?

Attachment.pngAttachment_1.png

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Blog Tour Promo: A Knot of Sparrows – Cheryl Rees-Price

Posted on by

Hello everyone and welcome to today’s promotional post for A Knot of Sparrows by Cheryl Rees-Price. As always, I like to start any blog tour post with a massive thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources and to the author for enabling me to take part.

I love the sound of A Knot of Sparrows, however with my goal this year to read more books from my TBR, unfortunately, I couldn’t take part and it will be the book. However, it does sound fantastic and I hope it floats your boat! More details of the book can be found below, including purchase links if you fancy getting yourself a copy!

If you want to read more, here are links to my favourite reviews shared as part of the blog tour. Details of all the blogs taking part in the tour can be found at the bottom of this post. Please be sure to check out as many as you can!

https://readingtonic.home.blog/2021/05/20/thriller-thursday-blog-tour-a-knot-of-sparrows-di-winter-meadows-4-by-cheryl-rees-price-rararesources/

https://chezmaximka.blogspot.com/2021/05/a-knot-of-sparrows-by-cheryl-rees-price.html

https://gingerbookgeek.wordpress.com/2021/05/18/a-knot-of-sparrows-by-cheryl-rees-price/

And now on to the details of the book:

 

A Knot Of Sparrows – Cheryl Rees-Price

Goodreads – A Knot of Sparrows

Welsh detective Winter Meadows takes on a new murder case

There were a lot of things you could call Stacey Evans. And many of them would be true. And unprintable. But did she deserve to be murdered?

DI Winter Meadows has no doubt of the answer when he takes on the case. The crime was violent.

The victim helpless. But the motives are many, and the only clue is a strange word left on Stacey’s body.

DI Meadows struggles to pierce the secrecy surrounding the teenager’s busy love life. Was the killer one of her pursuers acting out of jealousy? Maybe someone’s wife seeking revenge?

But as each suspect is excluded from the enquiry, and other markings turn up, Meadows is convinced that something more sinister is afoot.

When another body is found, a veil of silence descends like a fog upon Gaer Fawr. What more will it take for the village to give up its secrets?

A KNOT OF SPARROWS is the fourth standalone title in a series of murder mysteries by best-selling author Cheryl Rees-Price. It will appeal to fans of David Pearson, L J Ross, John Dean, Joy Ellis, and Pippa McCathie.

The full list of books is as follows:

1. THE SILENT QUARRY

2. FROZEN MINDS

3. SUFFER THE CHILDREN

4. A KNOT OF SPARROWS

Cheryl Rees-Price is also the author of the standalone thriller BLUE HOLLOW.

All of these books are FREE with Kindle Unlimited and available in paperback from Amazon.

 

Purchase Links – Amazon UK      Amazon US

 

Author Bio

Cheryl Rees-Price was born in Cardiff and moved as a young child to a small ex-mining village on the edge of the Black Mountain range, South Wales, where she still lives with her husband, daughters and cats. After leaving school she worked as a legal clerk for several years before leaving to raise her two daughters.

Cheryl returned to education, studying philosophy, sociology, and accountancy whilst working as a part time book keeper. She now works as a finance director for a company that delivers project management and accounting services.

In her spare time Cheryl indulges in her passion for writing, the success of writing plays for local performances gave her the confidence to write her first novel. Her other hobbies include walking and gardening which free her mind to develop plots and create colourful characters.

Social Media Links –
The Book Folks | Facebook
Cheryl Rees-Price | Facebook
https://twitter.com/CherylreesPrice

Discussion Post: Reading Diversity is a Benefit

Posted on by

I wanted to share today’s discussion post as a way of encouraging people to pick up books of different genres. All in all, I think it’s a benefit and you’ll see in today’s post why I think my opinion is justified in that based on my experience. This is of course a discussion post so if you don’t agree, or have a different experience, I would love to hear from you!

 

My Experience

I started reading at a young age and as I developed into my teenage years, I fell into a common trap. I always chose to re-read the same types of books. Fantasy was (and still is) by far my favourite genre and I will pick it up at any opportunity I could. The books I borrowed from the school library were the same. Even when I had the opportunity of every book in that room, with no risk and no gamble financially as to whether I liked it or not, I still reverted to reading the same things. At first this doesn’t sound like a bad thing, however it does have its disadvantages.

The fantasy genre is full of the same kinds of tropes. Orphaned children, an unexpected journey, fate, destiny and coming-of-age stories litter the fantasy market. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy some combinations of these tropes. But that’s not to say they’re always a good thing. In fact, when I would only exclusively read fantasy I got bored of how repetitive the books were. Sure, the characters weren’t quite the same, the journeys were slightly different and each character had their own development arc… But the story is essentially the same. I got to the point where I found myself stuck in a rut and ultimately my reading dropped off just because I felt I was lacking uniqueness in my reading preferences.

Fast forward to when I started my blog. Yes, I resumed my bad habit by reading a large number of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. But from there I diversified, and quite quickly. If there is one thing that being part of the blogging community is good for, is that there are book recommendations literally everywhere! I had already come to realise at this point that reading the same thing over and over again was the fatal flaw the first time, and this gave me the push to try new things.

Now I am a completely different reader. Fantasy is still my favourite genre and I still read a lot of it, however I regularly intersperse it with other books from multiple genres. I can now happily say that the only genre I don’t read is romance… but that’s a story for another day. The variety of books I now read has done a lot for me in terms of motivation to continue reading, but also to branch out further and try new things. There isn’t the same apprehension about trying new authors or genres… or combinations of! I only started reading horror books after starting my blog. If I went into each little detail as to how I’ve diversified we could be here all day, but you see where I’m going with this.

 

My Thoughts…

Do I think I am a better reader for having broader reading tastes? Absolutely, yes! By having a wider choice of books I have the opportunity to learn far more than I ever did before. That aside, the different genres and writers all expose me to different writing styles. There are so many fantastic authors out there that even with having an open mind and picking up nearly everything, I could never hope to get through them all in my lifetime.

Confining yourself to a niche genre does not do you any favours, in my experience. In the short term it doesn’t seem much of a problem, and indeed, there can be plenty of vastly different books in the same genre so you don’t get bored for a very long time.

But in my experience, you do hit that point eventually. I did, and I lost my reading motivation years ago because of it. I couldn’t find anything new despite my best efforts and that lead to a stagnation. For anyone who has been in a reading slump, you know how difficult it is to get yourself out of it. It took me years to get out of that one. Whilst I would be lying if I said I didn’t have the odd slump even now, they are few and far between and can often be resolved by picking up another genre.

Do you read from different genres? Do you find they help you when you are in a Reading slump from another? If you don’t agree with what I’ve said, or even if you do, I would love to hear from you! This is a discussion post after all, and it would be interesting to see what the community at large thinks!

Attachment.pngAttachment_1.png

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Sunday Summary – 16th May 2021

Posted on by

Good evening everyone and welcome to today’s usual weekly Sunday Summary update post. If you are new to my blog, this is my regular weekly update in which I talk about what I have been reading, any new books I have added to my TBR (or ‘to be read’ list) and I also discuss what posts I have planned for the following week.

This week I have gotten back to my usual, slightly calmer posting schedule. I didn’t have any tours this week, which takes the pressure off. In terms of blog posts I have published this week, I shared a book review of This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay on Thursday and a First Lines Friday feature (no prizes for guessing when…)

 

Books Read

You are not so smart

I have been continuing to make progress with You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney.

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update post, I was around 35% of the way through the book. At the time of writing this post I have made roughly the same amount of progress again this week, taking me to 70%. I don’t have long left in the book in terms of reading time (just over an hour) and so I expect to get this finished reasonably soon.

I haven’t made any audiobook progress this week. Usually I would listen to an audiobook in the evening or on a Saturday after cleaning (now that I’m back to my usual work routine) but instead I have been watching a television show this week. It’s probably only fair that I take a brief break from George R R Martin – I have been reading and listening to a lot of his stuff lately!

 

Books Discovered

Technically I have added a book to my TBR this week, although also in a way, I haven’t. I’ve always known since reading the Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo that I wanted to read her Shadow and Bone series. This is the TV series I have been watching this week and I have absolutely loved it! So, don’t be surprised if I start reading Shadow and Bone soon…

 

Coming Up…

I want to do something a little bit different this week and share my thoughts in a discussion post. I quite often talk about the range of books that I read, but it wasn’t always that way. As a teenager I used to pretty much exclusively read fantasy. It was fun, but my reading taste has certainly evolved… especially since I started my blog. So, my discussion post for this week is about why I think reading diverse range of books is a benefit to any reader. I’d also be really interested to hear your thoughts on the subject!

On Friday I am sharing a promo post as part of the blog tour for a knot of sparrows. As a result, I’ll be taking a brief break from my regular Friday features; this week would have been a shelf control post. Don’t worry, I’ll be back with this the following week!

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post. What are you reading?

Attachment.pngAttachment_1.png

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

First Lines Friday – 14/05/2021

Posted on by

Hi guys and welcome to today’s first First Lines Friday post!

Today’s featured book is a non-fiction memoir, quite unlike most of the books on my TBR at present. That said, I’m looking forward to trying something new and I think there is a lot I can take away from this particular book.

Can you guess what it is from the excerpt below? Here is today’s First Lines Friday feature: –

Having been born a freeman, and for more than 30 years enjoyed the blessings of liberty in a free state-and having at the end of that time been kidnapped and sold into slavery, where I remained, until happily rescued in the month of January, 1853, after a bondage of 12 years – it has been suggested that an account of my life and fortunes would not be uninteresting to the public.

Since my return to liberty, I have not failed to perceive the increasing interest throughout the northern states, in regards to the subject of slavery. Works of fiction, professing to portray its features in their more pleasing as well as more repugnant aspects, have been circulated to an extent unprecedented, and, as I understand, have created a fruitful topic of comment and discussion.

I can speak of Slavery only so far as it came under my own observation-only so far as I have known and experienced it in my own person. My object is, to give a candid and truthful statement of facts: to repeat the story of my life, without exaggeration, leaving it for others to determine, whether even the pages of fiction present a picture of more cruel wrong or a severer bondage.

 

 

Twelve Years a Slave – Solomon Northup

Twelve Years a Slave – Goodreads

Twelve Years a Slave, sub-title: Narrative of Solomon Northup, citizen of New-York, kidnapped in Washington city in 1841, and rescued in 1853, from a cotton plantation near the Red River in Louisiana, is a memoir by Solomon Northup as told to and edited by David Wilson. It is a slave narrative of a black man who was born free in New York state but kidnapped in Washington, D.C., sold into slavery, and kept in bondage for 12 years in Louisiana. He provided details of slave markets in Washington, D.C. and New Orleans, as well as describing at length cotton and sugar cultivation on major plantations in Louisiana.

 

My Thoughts…

Slavery is seen as an old practice. Barbaric, cruel and utterly unspeakable and yet to say that slavery does not exist today would be false. Whilst I would like to think that stories such as Solomon Northup‘s do not happen today, I’m not very optimistic. It is only by educating ourselves that we can prevent history repeating itself.

Twelve Years a Slave is a classic, non-fiction memoir – a combination I don’t read very often. However, it is for that reason that I am excited to pick up this book! Will it be an easy read? Doubtful. But still, I don’t intend to shy away from it either. I read for fun and I can read to be challenged and I think there is a lot I can learn about the truth of slavery and racism from this book.

Have you read Twleve Years a Slave? Did you enjoy it, and did you learn from it? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experience of the book so please let me know in the comments!

Attachment.pngAttachment_1.png

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Book Review: This is Going to Hurt – Adam Kay

Posted on by

Today’s book review is for one of my top reads of 2020. It wasn’t a book I expected to pick up; in fact, it was a an impromptu loan from a work colleague after they read it and enjoyed it in lockdown. 

And boy, am I glad I took them up on the loan! It’s not often that I read non-fiction, or anything even remotely like this book. But sometimes, branching out pays off and honestly I loved loved loved this book! There is a definite British pride in the NHS but I think it often under-appreciated how much has to go into it in order for us to be able to access it. This book rips away the veil and gives an honest insight into what it means to be a doctor… what it costs to be a doctor, and I don’t just mean financially. You would be wrong to think that this is a dry, one interesting diary of the slog that is the medical profession. Oh no. Adam Kay is absolutely hilarious and as I’m sure you can imagine, his experience as an Obs and Gyn doctor provides no end of humour along the way!

 

This is Going to Hurt – Adam Kay

Goodreads – This is Going to Hurt

The Sunday Times Number One Bestseller and Humour Book of the Year

Winner of the Books Are My Bag Book of the Year

Winner of iBooks’ Book of the Year

Welcome to the life of a junior doctor: 97-hour weeks, life and death decisions, a constant tsunami of bodily fluids, and the hospital parking meter earns more than you.

Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS front line. Hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking, this diary is everything you wanted to know – and more than a few things you didn’t – about life on and off the hospital ward.

As seen on ITV’s Zoe Ball Book Club

This edition includes extra diary entries and a new afterword by the author.

 

My Thoughts…

I would never have thought that a book could be tearjerking and completely hilarious all at the same time. Each daily chapter is different to the next, as can be expected really. Every day is different and brings along new patients and challenges. Probably one of the most common challenges of the job are the patients themselves, and the stupid things they have done to themselves to land them in the care of the NHS. Slightly red-faced, no doubt!

The book isn’t all humour though. It’s gritty, and it’s real and unfortunately in such a profession there are bad days as well as good days. Some patients get to walk out a little embarrassed but otherwise well, and yet others have far more to worry about. This book did make me cry. At one time the author was looking after a patient who found out they were terminally ill. He spent several hours of his day after he clocked off helping patient come to terms with their diagnosis and to help them make a plan for the inevitable. In his own time. If that doesn’t make you realise the kind of people the NHS is made up of then nothing will.

This is going to hurt is truly an emotional rollercoaster. Yet between the humour and the sad stories lies the bigger truth that the service we all rely on is understaffed and underfunded. Those in the profession often work ridiculous hours and overtime on top for the good of their patients. They have little to no social or personal lives themselves (over the course of the book and seven Christmases, the author got just one year off duty…)

What this book makes clear is that the staff who keep the NHS going sacrifice themselves for the benefit of others. In the wake of the events of the last year and the ongoing pandemic across the world, it’s all the more important to remember their sacrifices and to appreciate them! Adam Kay continues to campaign to raise awareness of the state of the NHS and his afterword tries to rally people to the cause. It is a topic that is being discussed now. Those of you who watched the BRIT awards recently will have heard the first of Dua Lipa’s acceptance speeches, in which she highlighted that it was one thing to clap for the NHS staff and another to pay them!

In a way, This is Going to Hurt is a call to arms, but it’s also an absolutely hilarious read. It’s a complex book, because on the face of it, it appears to be a light-hearted humorous account of Adam Kay’s time is a junior doctor. Yet under the surface, there is a poignant message that can also be taken from it. I love the book for both sides and I hope other readers out there do too.

This is Going to Hurt, rightfully so, was one of my top reads of last year and it is a book I know I will pick up again and again and again. And I’m sure I’ll have the same rollercoaster journey each and every time. I’m looking forward to it!

 

Attachment.pngAttachment_1.png

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads