Category: sunday summary

Sunday Summary – 29th March 2020

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Today’s Sunday Summary comes at the end of a very weird week. In less than seven days I have gone from going to work as normal to working from home; as an island, we have gone from quarantining all arrivals as a precaution to closing our borders and all residents under lockdown. It’s the right thing to do, but it is unsettling, to say the least!

I had scaled back my blogging this week in anticipation of moving house, but that has now been put off until everything settles down. I have no idea when that is, but I’m hoping it isn’t too long. So, aside from today’s Sunday Summary post, I have only shared one other post this week. On Wednesday I shared my review of Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. I had no idea what I was going to make of this book since it’s out of my comfort zone completely! I really enjoyed it though, even if it did make me cry!

 

Books Read

Picking up from last week, I am still reading The God Game by Danny Tobey. I’ve progressed nicely from the 70 odd pages I had already read and I am now just shy of 360 pages in. My aim is to finish this book tonight after this post goes live.

I’ve also been thinking about Good Omens, which I haven’t really revisited. After putting this down to prioritise blog tours, I really struggled to pick this up again. I’ve been mulling it over and I have decided to DNF it. I wasn’t enjoying it so much that I looked forward to reading it, and I can’t get back into it. My Beat the Backlist Challenge isn’t going so well at the moment – I’ve DNF’d 2/5 books I’ve picked up!

I’m a little disappointed I haven’t read more this week, but I understand why I haven’t as well. My routine has all been up in the air and it’s thrown me off. As moving date was initially pulled right forward to this Friday I spent Monday furiously packing the essentials I had been leaving until last. However, on Tuesday it was postponed and I spent Tuesday night unpacking again.

There is better news about listening to my Crooked Kingdom audiobook though – I finished this today! I normally listen to audiobooks in the car when I’m driving, but since I haven’t been commuting I was worried that progress on Crooked Kingdom would stall. I have found a way to make this work though! Something else I have taken up (again) this week to keep myself occupied is crochet. I’m making a baby blanket for my friend’s little one, who is due to make her appearance anytime soon! I’ve found listening to audiobooks whilst doing this really easy! If you want a sneak peek of the blanket, check out my Instagram page!

 

Books Discovered

I stumbled across an advert on Facebook for a locally based author on Saturday night, and so I started looking at a few of his books. I wasn’t sure if the advertised book was quite for me, however, I found The Seaside Detective Agency. The sound of this light-hearted mystery is perfect right now, especially with everything so sombre going on. Characters who are ‘bumbling idiots with the best intentions’ are what I need right now. I believe it’s set in my home town too, so I am interested to see how it’s portrayed!

If the novel were less satirical and more realistic, the PI’s in this would be brilliant. They’d know what was going on with you before you did yourself. Everyone knows the skeet* in Peel.

*Skeet is a Manx term, meaning gossip.

 

Coming Up…

My blogging schedule will be back to its usual self next week.

My first planned post of the week is a review of These Are Not the Trinity Papers by Vale Zalecki. I was kindly given a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review at the end of last year. I finished reading this at the beginning of February, so it’s time to put my thoughts together and share them with you.

Next up will be my reading list for April. With only my last couple of blog tours left to do, I have a lot of flexibility with what I can read. I have more time too, so I am hoping to squeeze a good few books in.

On Friday I’ll be sharing the next book in my Shelf Control series. This week’s book features a historical fiction novel set in a new time period for me to explore. It also has an unusual main character! I’m not telling you any more than that – such a tease I know…

On Sunday I am taking part in a blog tour so you can expect a review from me on that day. You can check out the details of the book in my reading list post. Don’t fret though, my Sunday Summary post will be published first thing on Monday morning, so you’ll be able to catch my weekly update post then.

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post! How has your week been? What have you been reading?

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 22nd March 2020

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Hey guys and welcome back to another Sunday Summary post! I hope you are all well in this crazy world we are living in right now. Since you hear about it absolutely everywhere else though, let’s not talk about it and instead distract ourselves with talk about all the fabulous books we can!

So, what have I been up to this week? My first post of the week was published on Tuesday. It had been about three months since I last shared a Top Ten Tuesday post, so I was long overdue one. In this week’s post, I shared my top ten reasons I love being a book blogger.

On Wednesday caught up with a book review for one of my favourite books in 2019. Regular readers will know just how much of a fan I am for Margaret Atwood and The Handmaid’s Tale. I really enjoyed revisiting and reviewing the sequel, The Testaments.

This week’s First Lines Friday post featured another of my favourite books. Sticking with my previous theme of sharing books I read pre-blog, I shared the introduction to a book I read for the first time as a teenager.

 

Books Read

In last week’s Sunday Summary update I was reading Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson and about a quarter of the way through the book. I really enjoy reading Brandon Sanderson’s books, so it’s hardly surprising that I managed to finish this one on Friday this week. It picks up from The Alloy of Law nicely, and since that was also a recent read I got into it straight away!

After Shadows of Self, I picked up my ARC copy of The God Game by Danny Tobey. I’m just about 70 pages into the book at the moment and the story is coming into its own. I’m intrigued to see what this ‘game’ is and how the book progresses. So far it has been a nice and easy read.

And now onto the audiobook section. So, I still haven’t finished Crooked Kingdom yet, but I will VERY SOON! I have three hours and thirty minutes left, so I only have an hour more to listen to than I would get through normally in the week! I will finish it next week – I promise!

 

Books Discovered

I’ve been really good this week and there are no additions to share. The sad news is, my local regular bookstore haunt is closing tomorrow until further notice. I’ll just have to make do with the hundred or so physical books I own already…
I wish I was joking. I counted them recently – it’s a ridiculous number. Am I ashamed? Absolutely not!

 

Coming Up…

Things are probably going to seem a little quiet here for the next few weeks or so. I am going to keep posting as much as time allows, but I do have some other commitments that are going to take up some of my time.
With that in mind, I am cutting down my blogging schedule to a couple of posts a week. I’ll post my Sunday Summary updates as usual.

Midweek, I want to share another book review. I have plenty to get through! This week I am going to be sharing a review of a book that I borrowed from the library last year. I borrowed it rather than getting my own copy as I didn’t know what I was going to make of it at all. It was a little out of my comfort zone, but I am glad I read it. I wanted to read Me Before You by Jojo Moyes as it touches on the sensitive subject of euthanasia. I didn’t expect to fall in love with it as I did!

That’s everything to look forward to next week and all from me in today’s Sunday Summary! What have you been reading?

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 15th March 2020

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Today’s Sunday Summary post is coming to you a little late since I was taking part in a blog tour yesterday. I hope you had a good weekend!

This week has brought to you a couple of blog tours. The first of those, a review of Helene by Karl Drinkwater, was shared on Monday. Helene is a short story that ties into this Lost Solace series. I really enjoyed the book, and writing that post. I also got some great feedback from the author, who has also asked me to review two further books of his off the back of it!

After my post on Monday I took a few days “off” so to speak (I had some personal stuff to catch up with!), and shared my next post on Friday. This week’s Shelf Control post featured a contemporary novel that I wouldn’t typically describe as my cup of tea. That said, I do really love the sound of the book based on the synopsis and I am always open to trying something new.

Lastly, I shared my blog tour review of Tooth and Blade by Julian Barr on Sunday. This book is really unique in that it combines Norse mythology and fantasy together with a strong female protagonist trying to find her way in a world where she doesn’t fit in.

 

Books Read

My priority of the week was reading Tooth and Blade by Julian Barr since yesterday was my blog tour date. I actually read this book in a couple of days. These three novellas combined total around 288 pages, but honestly, it was so easy to read that they flew by! The story is unlike anything I have read before as well, so I was keen to see how events played out. If you want to read more about it, my link to my review is above.

After a great start to the week, I hit a slump midweek. After reading Tooth and Blade I picked up Good Omens again. All my blog tour reading is done at this point, so I was free to go back to it. I’ve struggled to get back into it though. I’ve picked it up three or four times this week, but I’ve not been able to stick with it. I distract myself with other things or my attention would wander. I don’t know why I’m not getting back into it, but there we are. I’ve read about 10% this week. That’s 50 pages, but it doesn’t feel like much of an achievement, to be honest. I’ll keep trying, but I’m going to take a short break from it.

After an unsuccessful attempt at returning to Good Omens, I decided to move on to the next book on my TBR. After reading The Alloy of Law recently I wanted to continue catching up with this series. Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson is proving more successful in terms of reading. I only started this on Saturday night and as of writing this post, I’m already 25% through it. I reckon I can squeeze in another hour of reading before bed tonight. By the time this post goes live, I should be about 40% through, or close to.

I’ve chipped another couple of hours or so off my audiobook Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. The plot is really coming together now, so I’m looking forward to seeing how the gang get themselves out of the trouble they’ve landed in!

 

Books Discovered

 

I’ve been pretty good this week, as I’ve been busy reading, trying to read or catching up with some other stuff I’ve had to do!

 

Coming Up…

Now that all my blog tours are done for the month, I plan to share some reviews I need to catch up with. Before that though, it’s been a long time since I wrote a Top Ten Tuesday post. This week, taking into account my blog’s 3 year anniversary is coming up next month, I want to share my top ten reasons I love being a book blogger!

On Thursday I’m sharing a review for a book I was dying to get my hands on last year. Little did I know that my copy of the book was going to be special! Yes, I am talking about The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. If I was intolerably excited before collecting my pre-ordered copy that day, I would have been worse that afternoon! It’s been five months or so since I read the book, so I can’t wait to finally set my thoughts down about it.

On Friday it’s the turn of a First Lines Friday post. I enjoyed featuring a book I read prior to starting my blog in my last First Lines Friday post, so I am going to try and do the same thing again.

Last, but certainly not least, next week’s Sunday Summary post will be coming to you on schedule.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s belated Sunday Summary post. Have you read any of these books?

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 8th March 2020

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Drafting my Sunday Summary post can only mean it’s Sunday evening again friends! Where does the weekend go? It seems only five minutes ago that I was here typing up last week’s post. I hope you had a good week (and weekend) since then.

The week began with me putting together my reading list for March. I have one carryover from February since I only just started it at the end of last month. Given this week’s progress already though, I’m optimistic for a good month. I had to defer one book I wanted to read this month to make up for being behind, but I might just get around to it if I can keep it up!

On Wednesday I took part in a blog tour for Lady Edith’s Lonely Heart by Audrey Harrison, a romantic historical fiction novel. Although slightly different from my typical read, I really enjoyed promoting the book as part of the tour. I am sure I have readers that this would appeal to.

My First Lines Friday post was really fun to write. It’s not very often that I feature books that I read in my teenage or pre-blog years. It was something I was thinking about when writing last week’s Sunday Summary. So, I decided I would make a conscious effort to feature one such book in this post. The one I have featured is one of my favourites by far and I am still awaiting the next book in the series. Maybe one day it’ll be published!

I also shared another blog tour post yesterday for Songbird by Karen Heehan. This particular tour post was a review and I hope I did my feelings for the book justice. It wasn’t quite what I expected, but in fact, was so much better for it! I really enjoyed it! Songbird strikes the perfect balance of historical fiction and character-led narrative.

 

Books Read

I briefly started this week where I left off with Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I did manage a little night-time reading before bed on Sunday as planned.

Come Monday evening though, I decided I needed to put it aside and start reading Songbird ahead of the blog tour. That’s how I spent most of the week as well. I finished Songbird on Friday night and started drafting my post right away. It was good in a way, as it was all fresh in my mind!

I’ve had quite a busy weekend as I was doing the usual housework Saturday afternoon and I was out last night. That said, I still managed to read around 60% of a short story, Helene yesterday and I finished it this morning. I have a very imminent blog tour for that as well, so this had also been read in good time! I say this every time I read one, but I forget how great short stories are! They’re great for little breaks between other reads or to enjoy another genre for a change. I really like science-fiction too, so I got into this straight away!

I’ve continued listening to Crooked Kingdom this week. I only tend to get through about two and a half hours of audiobook a week. Occasionally I can listen to more, depending on what else I am doing. I still have a few hours of this left to go, but since I’m getting closer to the conclusion I might pick up the pace.

 

Books Discovered

Technically there shouldn’t be anything to report here this week! However, I’ve just realised I forgot to mention an addition to my TBR a couple of weeks ago.

Having read a great review for The Black Coats by Colleen Oates, I decided to add it to my list to read.

 

Coming Up…

Next week’s line-up gets started early, as I am taking part in a blog tour tomorrow. I’m going to be reviewing my read of Helene by Karl Drinkwater, so if you like short stories, science fiction novels (or both!) I think you’ll enjoy my thoughts on this book!

I want to use this week to catch up with a few personal things, so my next blog post won’t be going live until Friday. It’s the turn of my Shelf Control feature post. This week’s featured novel is a contemporary fiction novel, not something I would say I read regularly. All I’ll say is that I think I’ll really enjoy this book as it has a very sentimental nature to it, and I’m very much like that personally. I hope that’s a sufficient tease to get you to check out that post!

My usual Sunday Summary post is being delayed a day in light of the fact that I have a second blog tour post this week. On Sunday I will be reviewing Tooth & Blade by Julian Barr. As of yet, I haven’t started reading this book, but that’s tonight’s plan if I get my second post of the night drafted up in good time!

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s Sunday Summary post! Have you read any of the books featured?

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 1st March 2020

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Good evening everyone! I hope you have all had a lovely weekend. It’s Sunday night again, so it’s time for me to write this week’s Sunday Summary post!

So, what have I been up to this week? Well, my first post of the week was published early on Monday. I took part in the blog tour for Unborn by Rachel McLean and enjoyed both reading and sharing my thoughts on the book.

On Wednesday I shared my second review of the week. In an effort to catch up with reviewing some of the books I read last year, I finally shared my review of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. If you like murder mysteries with a twist then I definitely recommend you check this one out!

Friday’s Shelf Control post featured the first book of a series I want to get into soon. It’s on my Beat the Backlist challenge for this year, so I don’t think I’ll be too long in getting stuck into this book. I’ve read another series by this author, but I read and loved that a long time ago – probably when I was a teenager.

 

Books Read

I’ve spent most of this week reading City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. It actually took me a little longer to read than I anticipated in last week’s Sunday Summary post – it’s a reasonably long book. I did spend my evenings on other things than just reading too, but that’s fine. I still managed to finish it last night.

It’s almost barely worth mentioning, but I did pick up Good Omens very briefly after City of Stairs. I’ve not even finished the first chapter yet, so I’m hardly far with it at all. I’ll be picking it up again before bed tonight though, so fingers crossed there’s more progress made with that tonight.

I’m still really enjoying Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo as well. I didn’t listen to as much of this as I normally do. As you may know, I tend to listen to it in the car on the way home from work. A couple of days this week I just really fancied listening to music instead, so I did. I have just less than 9 and a half hours to go to reach the conclusion, so I still have plenty to enjoy!

 

Books Discovered

Nothing too wild to note here, compared to my recent book splurges thankfully. I have added the sequel to City of Stairs to my TBR. The synopsis of City of Blades sounds really intriguing. I had no idea how the series was going to continue given how City of Stairs ended, so I can’t wait to find out what comes next in this instalment…

I’ve also added a non-fiction book to the list as well this week. It is currently Non-Fiction Book of the Month at Waterstones, which is how I came across it. I don’t read much non-fiction but this does pique my interest.

 

Coming Up…

It’s March already, so I’ll be starting the week by sharing this month’s reading list. I have a couple of books for blog tours, a couple of Beat the Backlist entries, as well as a re-read and an ARC from a publisher to read. I hope you can check out that post and find out exactly what I am reading.

Midweek I am taking part in a blog tour and sharing a promo post. For personal reasons, I am winding down on blog tours in the short-term, but I do still have a few more scheduled.

On Friday I plan to share another First Lines Friday post. I really enjoy writing these, even if finding a really good introduction tempts me to stray from my planned reading list! It’s also a great way to feature books that I read in my pre-blog days too, which I might try to do this week.

That’s today’s Sunday Summary post wrapped up! What have you been reading this week? Have you read any of the books featured? If so, let me know what you think!

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 23rd February 2020

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Good evening everyone and welcome to this week’s Sunday Summary post! I hope you have had a good week, just as I have? I had a pretty good week and a great weekend with family, as my sister came to visit. We’ve enjoyed a nice long weekend together, but it’s back to reality tomorrow!

Before we get into the goings-on of next week, let’s recap this one! I shared a couple of book reviews this week: The War Within by Stephen Donaldson was shared on Tuesday and The Girl from the Workhouse by Lynn Johnson on Friday.

The War Within was an ARC I received from Gollancz last year in exchange for a review. It was good to catch up with this so I am up-to-date with the series! My second review of the week was shared in conjunction with the tour Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources. If you haven’t read either of my reviews yet, I hope you find the links to them useful.

 

Books Read

I picked up where I left off in last week’s Sunday Summary post in reading Unborn by Rachel McLean. By the end of least week I had already read over half of this, so it didn’t take too long to finish the book. I really enjoy dystopian fiction and the subject matter is one that I feel pretty passionate about. If you want to know my thoughts on this book, my tour post is being published tomorrow (24th February).

My next (and current) read is one I am picking up for my Beat the Backlist challenge! City of Stairs has been on my reading list since January 2015, so just over 5 years. Mad, right? It’s definitely overdue reading and I am really enjoying it so far! I’m hoping to have time to pick this up again tonight before bed, but it really depends how quickly I get all my blogging done this evening. I can’t see this taking me long to read.

In addition to the above, I have also been listening to more of Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. My usual car share buddy has been skiing this week, so I’ve effectively been able to listen to twice as much of the audiobook as I normally do. I’m about a third of the way through now and I’m excited about the schemes being cooked up by Kaz and the crew.

 

Books Discovered

I decided to spend some of my birthday vouchers this week and I had fun doing it too! I had a good look around my local Waterstones. Finally, I decided to use them to buy the rest of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series. I already had the first three books, so I treated myself to the other four to complete the set. I was always going to read them, so why not?

The remainder of the vouchers will go towards a paperback set of Jay Kristoff’s Nevernight Chronicles once the third book of the trilogy, Darkdawn, is out in June.

 

Coming Up…

Next week’s blogging schedule starts early. Tomorrow, in fact. MY first post of the week is my review of Rachel McLean’s Unborn for the current blog tour with Rachel’s Random Resources. I have lots to say about both the book and the topic it covers, so I hope you can tune in for that!

On Wednesday I’ll be sharing another book review. I have quite a few to get through! I’ve decided the next book on the list is The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. I read this book in August last year and it’s unlike anything I have read before. I enjoyed the format of the book, as well as the mystery.

On Friday I’ll be back to my regular feature posts. I took last week off to take part in a blog tour, but this week I’m back with a Shelf Control post. This week’s post is about a book written by an author whose books I have read before. I gather from reviews that it has a slightly different vibe to those I have picked up previously. That said, I really enjoy the genre and his writing style, so I don’t think it’ll matter one little bit!

As always, I’ll be rounding off the week with a Sunday Summary post and we can talk about my bookish adventures all over again!

Have you read any of the books discussed in my post? What have you been reading this week? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time,

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 16th February 2020

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It’s Sunday evening, so it can only be time for this week’s Sunday Summary post!

I feel really good about this week’s progress. Not only have I shared two book reviews with you, but I have also done well on reading during the week too! My first post of the week was a review of Fires of the Dead by Jed Herne. I really enjoyed this short story courtesy of the author and BookSirens. If you want to check out my full review, here’s a handy link.

My second review of the week was shared on Wednesday. I shared my review of this sinister thriller novel as part of the blog tour that has been running with Blackthorn Book Tours. It was my first time working with them and I really enjoyed reading The Mentor!

On Friday, I published a First Lines Friday post loosely themed on Valentine’s Day. It features a very funny opening about a relationship (of sorts). It’s the funniest take I could find on the subject of romance; I don’t read romance so in my defence, I didn’t have much to work with. I’ve had some great comments on it though, so I think it’s been well received!

Something else happened this week, which I haven’t really shouted about – I celebrated my birthday! I got some really lovely presents that I wanted, as well as gift cards that I can put to good use! I also got some book vouchers, so I’m sure you can imagine how happy this gal is right now!

 

Books Read

As promised in last week’s Sunday Summary post, I did finish The Mentor after my post went live. I didn’t have too long left and I was desperate to find out how this ended!

My main read of the week has been The Girl from the Workhouse by Lynn Johnson. I did actually start this last Saturday (I needed a wee break from the intensity of The Mentor) but hadn’t gotten too far into it. I finished this yesterday and it’s a lovely, albeit slightly sad story. The reason I picked this up is becuase of its historical fiction element, but I ended up enjoying it for many more reasons than that!

I also started reading another book yesterday – Unborn by Rachel McLean. I’ve managed to read a lot of this considering I’ve only just picked it up too! I’m currently at 58% and hoping to finish this in the next day or so.

And now, onto the audiobooks! I finished listening to Darkdawn on Monday night and can I say, wow! This series is absolutely fantastic. I’ve already decided I am going to be spending some of my book vouchers on buying these in paperback. I have to wait until June for Darkdawn to come out in paperback. I think I am going to wait and see if I can get them as a set. That way I can be sure they all match!

I couldn’t listen to another audiobook straight away, so I didn’t start listening to Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo until the next day. I haven’t long finished listening to Six of Crows so I’ve managed to get into it really quickly!

 

Books Discovered

Since the TBR has topped 200 books, I’m trying not to add anything really. It’ll get out of control otherwise.

That said, my colleague Brita did make a recommendation for me this week. She was more recommending the TV series that has been made based on the book, but you know me. I am going to watch the series on catch-up if I can, but I have also added this epic book to the TBR.

 

Coming Up…

Next week is also going to be one where I share a couple of reviews. I have a few waiting in the wings to be written, so I’ll be starting the week by taking on one of these. My first review of the week is for a book that I was kindly sent by Gollancz last year. The War Within is the second book of a series and is set on a grander scale to its predecessor, Seventh Decimate. I hope you can check out my review!

On Friday I’ll be taking a break from my usual posts to take part in the blog tour for The Girl from the Workhouse by Lynn Johnson. I finished reading this family saga yesterday and can’t wait to share my thoughts with you all about it!

Last, but by no means least, I’ll be sharing next week’s Sunday Summary at the usual time.

That’s all from me today folks! What have you been reading this week? Have you read any of the books on my list?

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 9th February 2020

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It’s that time again folks! Yep, it’s time to write my Sunday Summary post and wrap-up everything that has been going on during the week. I hope you have all had a good one?

I kicked off the week by sharing my reading list for February. Just like last month, I have a number of blog tours that I am taking part in. So, this month’s list consists of four ARCs and two books for my Beat the Backlist challenge.

Next, I published a Shelf Control post on Friday. This week’s featured book has been on the TBR for nearly three years. Not as old as some of the books on my list, but still old enough! It reminds me a lot of a book I read and enjoyed not that long ago – Ctrl+S by Andy Briggs. If you enjoy science-fiction that focuses on virtual reality, you might be interested in checking it out!

Yesterday’s blog post was my second blog tour of the month. Regular readers of my blog may recognise the name of the author, as I have read and reviewed a number of her books now. One: Rage Vengeance Murder by K. J. McGillick is the epic conclusion to her Path of Deception and Betrayal series. If you haven’t read my review yet, well, why not – haha!

 

Books Read

My top priority this week was finishing reading One, for what I hope are obvious reasons! I had only just started this last week, so I needed a reasonably quick turnaround. Thankfully, K. J. McGillick’s books are really easy to get into, so I finished on Thursday – well in time to draft my review.

The next book I picked up was The Mentor by Lee Matthew Goldberg. I have read most of this book as of writing this post. I’m now 75% of the way through and eager to get to the sinister conclusion of the novel. I really have no idea where it’s going to go so I’m crossing my fingers I’ll have the time to finish this tonight!

I did also start another book yesterday. Having read quite a bit yesterday after all the housework and boring jobs, I needed to change things up. So, I started the next book on my TBR. The Girl from the Workhouse is a historical saga novel as opposed to a dark psychological thriller. It was exactly what I needed. I only read the first few chapters, but I’ve made a decent start. As soon as I have finished reading The Mentor, I’ll be picking this up full-time.

Darkdawn – oh my goodness guys!! I must only have about two hours left and I can’t wait to finish it. I actually listened to a couple of hours or so today because I knew I was near the end. I’ll definitely have finished it by this time next week guys. Heads up, I’ll probably be gushing over it and equally really sad it’s over!

 

Books Discovered

I’ve been naughty nice and added a few books over the last few weeks. However, I have been good this week and not added anything new. I should hope so too since my TBR has just topped 200 books again!

Less time adding and more time reading, eh?

 

Coming Up…

I’m looking forward to next week for a number of reasons. I’m going to be sharing four posts over the course of the week, which I hope you can join me for.

One of my reviews is the first ARC I downloaded from a provider called Book Sirens – Fires of the Dead. I’ll be posting this on Tuesday. The other is for my third blog tour of the month – The Mentor, which will be published on Wednesday.

On Friday I’ll be sharing a First Lines Friday post. As always, the subject matter has yet to be decided, but I enjoy going through my books to find interesting intros to catch your eye!

Last but not least, I’ll be rounding up the week as I am now with a Sunday Summary.

I hope you have enjoyed today’s Sunday Summary post. What have you been reading this week? As always, I love to hear from you!

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 2nd February 2020

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Today’s Sunday Summary post is coming to you a little bit late, but that’s totally intentional! When taking part in a blog tour, it is general etiquette not to post anything that might take the spotlight off of the tour post. So, this is being published a whole minute after midnight. I hope you haven’t been waiting up for this post. I doubt it!

So, what have I been up to this week? Well, the main focus was to catch up with some reading, but I did manage to squeeze a few blog posts in too! My first post of the week was published on Monday. I have read and loved a number of books by K. J. McGillick now, and Monday’s post featured my latest read of hers, Two: Mind Games and Murder.

I then took a break for a few days before posting a First Lines Friday post. This week’s featured book is one I have had on the TBR for around six months, but bought a copy of at the beginning of the week. I know I said I was going to be buying fewer books this year, but cut me some slack – I had credit with Waterstones. If I don’t have to spend my own money then it doesn’t count, right?

Finally, I’m rounding this week off not with a Sunday Summary, as mentioned above, but with a blog tour post for A Crown in Time by Jennifer Macaire. Jennifer Macaire is also the author of several books I have read and really enjoyed. If you enjoy time travel/historical fiction novels, I recommend you give this a look!

 

Books Read

In last week’s Sunday Summary post I said I wanted to make more progress on Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. True to my word I did; I got to around 30% of the way through the book before I had to DNF it. It’s rare that I can’t finish a book, but I could not keep track of what was going on in this at all. Don’t get me wrong, each chapter was great, all written well. The problem I found is that it jumps around an awful lot and it’s disjointed. I get that it’s all world-building, which is usually a huge positive. I just couldn’t follow it and consequently, I wasn’t enjoying it. It’s a huge disappointment since it’s taken me so long to get around to but never mind…

I had much better success with the next book on January’s TBR, which goes towards my Beat the Backlist challenge. Not that I had any doubts about this book at all. I read the first trilogy of the Mistborn series several years ago. Even though the next set of books take place a long time after the original trilogy, reading this felt nostalgic. The Alloy of Law was really easy to pick up compared to Gardens of the Moon as well, so I flew through this book in a few days.

Another book I read really quickly and finished last night is These Are Not the Trinity Papers by Vale Zalecki. This book surprised me for a number of reasons: it was more horror than I expected, and yet, it has touching moments too. I would argue it brings together a lot of ideas and genres but does so really well. I really enjoyed reading something different.

My current read is One: Rage Vengeance Murder by K. J. McGillick. It is the last book in the Path of Deception and Betrayal series and I can’t wait to see how it concludes. I’ve only just picked this up really – I’m around 10% of the way through. I’m looking forward to sharing my review very shortly for this book!

The last book to feature in this section is my audiobook adventures with Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff. I have just less than six hours left and boy it’s getting good! I have no idea how the book is going to end and I can’t wait to see what happens!

 

Books Discovered

So, I went to Waterstones on Monday. I remembered that I had some credit on my membership card and a gift card from Christmas. Naturally, I did what any booklover would and decided to spend it! I also took advantage of their sale and got four books. It didn’t cost me a single penny!

The first book I picked up was The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz by Jeremy Dronfield. I really love historical fiction books, but particularly those about WW2 and the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Call me morbid, perhaps you’re right!

The second book I picked up was The Taking of Annie Thorne by C. J. Tudor. I really loved reading The Chalk Man last year – it even made my Top Reads of 2019 post. I knew the moment I finished The Chalk Man that I wanted to read more by this author!

The third book I picked up is one I have had on my TBR anyway – Vox by Christina Dalcher. I read a review of this book ages ago and decided then that I wanted to reading. I saw it in the sale and figured, why not?

Lastly, I picked up a psychological thriller novel that caught my attention called Someone Like Me by M. R. Carey. I hadn’t seen or heard of this before, but I’m really intrigued by the synopsis, so I want to give it a try.

 

Coming Up…

 

It’s a brand new month, so it’s only fitting that I start the week by publishing February’s TBR. You already know the first book on this month’s TBR, as I am currently read it! I have plenty more on the list though, so I hope you can check out my post and find out what other books I am picking up this month!

On Friday I want to publish another Shelf Control post. This week’s featured book is a science-fiction/fantasy novel that is heavily based on the concept of virtual reality. I really like the sound of it, but I’ll tell you more about why I want to read it on Friday.

On Saturday I am taking part in the blog tour for my current read, One by K. J.McGillick. As I said above, I have only just started this particular book, but I have loved the wider series to date and I have no doubt I’ll enjoy One as well.

Finally, I will be rounding off this week with my Sunday Summary post, scheduled as the name implies!

 

Top Blog Posts of the Week

 

http://ishouldreadthat.com/2020/01/31/weekly-wrap-up-31-january-2020/

https://bibliophagistreviews.wordpress.com/2020/01/31/tag-bookish-would-you-rather/

https://realmsofmymind.wordpress.com/2020/01/31/monthly-wrap-up-january-2020/

That’s all (like this post isn’t long enough!) from me in today’s Sunday Summary – what have you been reading this week? As always, I would love to hear from you!

 

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Sunday Summary – 26th January 2020

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Hello, bookworms – I’m back with another Sunday Summary post! I hope you have had a lovely week? For personal reasons, mine has been very busy and consequently, the blogging and reading ended up on the back burner this week. From unexpectedly visiting neighbours and blogging in the evenings to appointments and such during the day, it’s been mad.

Even today has been totally different; I normally visit my parents on a Sunday but instead, I was helping my friend Vicky Quayle with her travel consultancy stall at a wedding fair. This is a plug, guys. Totally check her out – she can organise anything, whether you are local or not!

Amongst all this, I still managed to share a few posts this week! Firstly, I shared a guest post for 133 Hours by Zach Abram on Monday. In that post, the author talks about the event that inspired the book and how he had to alter the perspective to fit his main character, a twenty-five-year-old woman. Secondly, I shared another promo post on Tuesday. This post was for The Profit Motive by David Beckler. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to read and review this book for the tour, however, I have downloaded a sample to try it!

On Thursday I shared a review of Agricola’s Bane by Nancy Jardine. This is the fourth book in The Celtic Fervour series and I have really enjoyed reading them. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Agricola’s Bane isn’t the last book of the series, which I expected it was. I can’t wait to see how Nancy wraps the story up. On Friday I shared another Shelf Control post, one of my regular Friday features. This week’s featured book is a sinister mystery novel set in a historical plague-ridden London. If that intrigues you, you can find out which book I am talking about by following the link above!

 

Books Read

This week hasn’t been the best for reading progress, but never mind! As I said above, I have had some other things on my plate that unfortunately take priority. So, this week I’ve only read around 15% of Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. That takes me to just over a quarter of the way through. It’s not that much progress compared to my normal reading speed, but I’m definitely hoping to get back on track next week.

As much as progress has been lacking for Gardens of the Moon, I have actually done well with listening to Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff. I have definitely listened to more than usual this week! I’m over halfway to the end now – both a good thing and a bad one! Once it’s over… it’s over!

 

Books Discovered

I found a book I really liked the sound of on an email from Bookbub with daily deals. Wolf of Wessex sounds very similar to something else I read and enjoyed previously, so I have added it to my list to read. I won’t be getting around to it anytime soon, mind, but you can never have too many books lined up…

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post of next week is due to be published tomorrow. I am taking part in the blog tour for Two by K. J. McGillick, which you may remember I read last week. I am really looking forward to sharing my thoughts on this book, so I hope you can check that post out!

In a bid to catch up with my reading, I am going to take a few days off the blog and share my next post on Friday. As always, when I don’t have any obligations I share a regular feature post. This week, it’s the turn of a First Lines Friday post. Which book will I be featuring? Your guess is as good as mine right now!

Normally I post Sunday Summary’s at the end of the week, but I actually have a blog tour on Sunday. I have read a number of books by Jennifer Macaire already (The Road to Alexander series). Sunday’s review is for a related series, but instead of focussing on the life of Alexander the Great, this one is set in a completely different time period. If you want the details, you can find them in my review next week.

As a result, my Sunday Summary post will be shared first thing on Monday.

That’s all from me for this week’s Sunday Summary post – hopefully next week I’ll have a little more to talk about! What have you been reading? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

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