Category: sunday summary

Sunday Summary – 3rd November 2025

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It’s been a little odd taking a step back this week. However, it’s made a nice change and to be honest, a refreshing break. Today’s Sunday Summary is very light on content sharing, because I deliberately put a halt on content production so I could prioritise some reading. 

Speaking of which, shall we take a look at the books I’ve read this week? 

 

Books Read

 

The Shadow of What Was Lost

Progress with The Shadow of What Was Lost is a little slower than last week. Compared to last Sunday’s four and a half hour progress, I have only half that to share in this Sunday Summary. 

That said, I am still enjoying this audiobook. I’m intrigued as to where this narrative is going to take (and I hope, reconnect) characters. If I have one criticism, it’s that events in the book seem a little convenient. It’s a hard one to explain without giving away what’s happening in the story so far. Given the feats the characters are having to go through to fulfil a vague quest, people and events crossing their paths are timed just a little bit too… right… to feel realistic. 

Nevertheless, it’s common in the fantasy genre. I’m determined to not let that hamper my enjoyment of the book. Maybe it won’t last, or maybe it will. Only time will tell.

Hopefully next week’s update will be able to delve into this idea a little more. 

 

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping

With my more immediate review obligations out the way, I had hoped to finish A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping pretty early on this week. However, it wasn’t meant to be. I had an original return due date back to the library on Tuesday this week. Despite furiously reading to meet this deadline, I still had 230 pages left to go and one night to do it. I made a noble effort and got through half that in one evening. However, with time running out, I admitted defeat and extended my loan. 

Despite the renewed and increasingly lengthened timeline to now finish this book, I was still determined to finish it this week! Whilst it’s fresh in my mind, I wanted to read Sera’s story and discover if she was ever reunited with her magic. No spoilers here friends – if you want to know that, you’re going to have to get your own copy (or borrow it from your local library). What I can say is that for a book I wouldn’t have picked up of my own volition, I really enjoyed it. Naturally, that made finishing the final 100 pages or so in the second half of this week a very easy thing to do. 

 

Wizard of Ends: United Army

With a review coming up on the blog tomorrow, my final read of the week has been Wizard of Ends: United Army. 

It’s not common for me to read and review a book in a series without reading the earlier books to date. However, circumstances meant I didn’t have time to read those first. So, I picked up Wizard of Ends: United Army as a standalone book. And you know what, the world didn’t collapse. I was able to understand events and invest in the characters and action as it was taking place. Sure, I have questions about who is who and how they got there, but that just makes me want to read books 1 and 2 after the event. As things go, Wizard of Ends: United Army was a fun, short fantasy novella. Given my reading progress has been a little slow of late, it was refreshing to read a book in a day. 

Do I have my reading mojo back? Well, as of this Sunday Summary maybe not quite. However, a quick win is always a great motivator! Lord knows I need it! 

 

Books Discovered

After finding a Waterstones book voucher earlier today, I may have taken a wander into our local and made an… exchange. The books I picked up are books I’ve read already. They’re books on my re-read list that I don’t have physical copies of. I got myself the deluxe sprayed-edge box set of Hunger Games; I’ve had my eye on those for a while. The best part is, I want to re-read these very soon. Perfect timing!

I also got myself a hardback anniversary edition of The Handmaid’s Tale, an absolute classic! 

So, technically as of this Sunday Summary I don’t have anything NEW on the TBR… but I do have another box set and a hardback on my physical shelves. 

 

Coming Up… 

I’m not exactly phasing myself back into making content next week. On the contrary, it’s a mental week and I’m starting early. My review of Wizard of Ends: United Army goes live tomorrow morning UK time. Thankfully, that’s already prepared ready to go! I hope you’re as intrigued by this fantasy novella as I was! 

Next, I’m sharing my monthly wrap-up for October’s reading progress. I expect this post to drop mid-week, likely Wednesday. It’s not been quite the productive month that September was, but that was perhaps a little ambitious and hopeful on my part! 

Thursday also sees another review on the blog. This time, I’m reviewing The Angel Prophecy by Rob Jones. You may recall I reviewed an earlier book in the series, The Atlantis Covenant, at the beginning of September. I have yet to start this book, so again, need to get my skates on! 

Finally, I’m back next week with another Sunday Summary update post. Fingers crossed for some reading miracles this week and I can meet all my reading obligations! I also have work book club coming up (after a one week delay already). 

Wish me luck! 

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Sunday Summary – 26th October 2025

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Somehow it’s the end of another weekend, so today’s Sunday Summary is all about catching you up on everything I’ve read this week. 

Firstly, let’s recap the blog posts I’ve shared. 

On Patreon, I shared a Shelf Control regular feature on Friday. This week’s feature is a horror/thriller novel I’ve got on my bookshelf and owned for about five years! 

On the blog, I started early with a guest post on Monday. Ahead of reviewing Vanessa Finaughty’s third Wizard of Ends book shortly, I featured her AI Image Writing Prompts post. 

On Thursday, I reviewed Woden’s Storm by Donovan Cook. I enjoyed this historical fiction book and second instalment to his The First Kingdom series. If you want to take a look at that post, here’s a link to my review. 

 

Books Read

 

The Shadow of What Was Lost

I’ve progressed with four and a half hours of audio of The Shadow of What Was Lost this week. 

I’ve had fun with this audio and I’m looking forward to recording a video of my thoughts on this book soon. I’ll be recording that as part of my ChatGPT reading challenge. It’s been a great start and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.

 

Woden’s Storm

My priority this week was to finish Woden’s Storm ahead of reviewing the book on Thursday. Thankfully, I finished the book just on time on Wednesday night so I could share my post first thing Thursday morning. 

If you enjoy historical fiction based in Britain with lots of action and in-fighting. If you’re a fan of the lines of Bernard Cornwell, Matthew Harffy or M.J. Porter, Woden’s Storm would be a great fit! 

I’ve already outlined my thoughts in full detail, so I won’t re-hash them here. Instead, I’ll point you to my review. 

 

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping

The last book I’ve got progress to share in this Sunday Summary is A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping. So far, I’ve read the first 100 pages of the book and I’m enjoying it so far. 

I’m hoping Sera figures out what’s happened to her magic and maybe gets it back. Already, I’m invested in her personal story and I’m enjoying the whimsical cast alongside her… especially Roo-Roo and Clemmie! 

It’s a complete change of pace from Woden’s Storm in a narrative sense. In a more literal sense, it’s similar in that I have a deadline to read the book. It’s a library loan due back in just a couple of days. So, skates are on and I’ll have more to tell you next week. 

 

Books Discovered

I’m back to a quiet week of no news! The focus is more on getting books read and off the TBR than building it up. So, as of this Sunday Summary, we’re aiming in the right direction. 

 

Coming Up… 

I’ve got some catching-up on books to do this week. I’ve got a few bookish obligations coming up. I need to finish my library loan and return it very soon. Our work book club is fast coming up and I may need to push it out a week as I’ve yet to start the book. Then, I’ve got two reviews scheduled for early November. 

With this in mind, I’m parking content online this week but for another Sunday Summary next week. I’m hoping that gives me the space I need to catch up on my reading. This month hasn’t quite been the productive reading month I wanted. However, there’s time to rectify that! 

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary. What have you read this week? 

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Sunday Summary – 19th October 2025

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It’s been an eventful seven days, so I’m glad I planned a low-content week. After a somewhat more relaxed day, I’m looking forward to sharing my latest Sunday Summary and catching you up on the news!

As always, let’s recap what I’ve shared so far before getting into the bookish updates! 

On Patreon, I shared a First Lines Friday post featuring an author I’ve not long read. I’ve enjoyed one series of hers, and she has another well-known and loved I’ve yet to try! That’s the topic of that feature! Haven’t seen it yet? Here’s a link to go check it out! 

I was also intending to share a review on Patreon this week, but it didn’t quite make it to publication. Don’t worry though, it’s on its way very soon! 

On the blog, I shared a Top Ten Tuesday post, albeit a day later than planned. I’ll explain more as to why in just a bit, but it was a fun post to share. The topic – books I wish I could read again for the first time! What’s one book you wish you could read again for the first time?

The reason things have been a little slow on content, but more hectic behind the scenes is we rescued a kitten last Sunday! This week has been busy juggling two young kittens, trying to introduce them to one another and generally figuring out how best to get our new ex-feral girl comfortable in her new home. It’s been a lot, but worth it already to see the progress she’s made! 

 

Books Read

Among the Burning Flowers 

I swore this week I’d complete Among the Burning Flowers, and I did. Thank goodness! 

This audiobook was a fun listen and I’m glad I decided to keep up with the series pretty much as it came out. It meant events were fresh in my mind so I could appreciate the timeline better. 

Among the Burning Flowers takes place just a couple of years before The Priory of the Orange Tree, but also references events in A Day of Fallen Night. It was a nice in-between, but also works well if you read the books in any order. 

Among the Burning Flowers is considerably shorter than the other books, so it’s an approachable start! Not that you’d know it for how long it took me to finish it… 

 

HR Disrupted 

Another longer read I finished this week is HR Disrupted. There isn’t any real reason why this took so long to finish either. However, I did finish this and return the book to its rightful owner on Thursday. 

I would love to see some of the suggested changes in HR practice come in. I agree that current systems don’t work and infantilise/demoralise staff. It’s a tall order though. Our HR lady is all for some of these, so hopefully we can work towards some radical change in the future… 

 

The Shadow of What Was Lost

After finishing Among the Burning Flowers, I picked up The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington. This is the first read of my ChatGPT recommendations feature. I’m looking forward to recording some of my thoughts on this book soon. 

It’s a little early yet, as I’m just a few chapters in. In terms of audiobook time, that’s 2 hours out of a total 25.5 hours. That said, it’s a really interesting start and I’m intrigued as to where the story is going to go! More on this in the next week or so! 

 

Woden’s Storm

Finally, the last book I feature on this Sunday Summary is a book I’m reading for an upcoming blog tour next week. 

Woden’s Storm is the second book in Donovan Cook’s The First Kingdom series. My review is due Thursday next week, so priority goes to this book for the next few days! 

I’ve made a great start, even pushing onwards today to get to 25% of the way through. It’s been nice and easy to get back into. With plenty of reminders of the story to date integrated in the narrative, plus action to keep us in the present timeline, it’s an engaging historical fiction read! 

Again, you’ll hear more on this one VERY soon! 

 

Books Discovered

I’ve finally broken my ‘no new books’ streak, but thankfully my bank balance remains unmolested… for now. 

I came across an upcoming future release of The Midnight Train by Matt Haig. It seems reminiscent of The Midnight Library, albeit from a different context. I loved that book so much I’ve read it twice in quick succession. My hope is The Midnight Train delivers on my hopes that it will live up to that book. 

That book comes out in May next year. There isn’t even a cover published for it yet, so plenty of time! 

Coming Up… 

Patreon 

I didn’t get to my review of House of Frank this week. However, I promise to get to it this week. You may recall I picked this up alongside the Cotteagecore Fantasy Book Club. It was a stretch out of my comfort zone, but I’m glad I tried it. 

Next Friday brings another instalment of my Shelf Control regular feature. Next on the list is  a horror/thriller about a placid character with a devastating alter-ego. Dark, with a flawed cast and described as pacey, I can’t wait to share more! 

Finally, next Sunday brings my usual Sunday Summary personal round-up of the week. How many books can I finish in the next seven days? 

 

Blog 

My first post of the week goes live tomorrow. In anticipation for an upcoming review, I share a guest feature post prepared by Vanessa Finaughty. If you’re an aspiring fantasy writer and want some fun writing prompts to play with, look no further! 

Thursday is tour day and my deadline to review Woden’s Storm by Donovan Cook. If you love historical fiction set in early British history (450AD), this will be perfect for you! Stay tuned to read up more on this story in the coming days. I promise to do my best to upsell this book to you! 

Then, last but by no means least, I’ll update you on my reading progress and other updates in my Sunday Summary going live in a week’s time. I’m hoping for a more settled week and lots of reading progress. I can only keep my fingers crossed… 

 

Thanks for reading today’s Sunday Summary! I hope you have a great week ahead? What books are you taking into next week? 

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Sunday Summary – 12th October 2025

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Happy Sunday and welcome to today’s Sunday Summary roundup of the week! 

It’s been a busy week of content. Here on the blog, I shared my monthly wrap-up for September, my October TBR, and a Shelf Control post earlier this week. 

Over on Patreon, I shared my October TBR (early access before readers of my blog), a post about my Patreon purpose, plus details of an upcoming reading challenge and a new content format I’m trialling that will be available to subscribers. 

 

Books Read

Among the Burning Flowers 

I was hoping to share completion of my audiobook listen of Among the Burning Flowers this week. Alas, not quite. 

I’ve listened most days pretty consistently, so it’s not a lack of picking up the audiobook that’s the problem. I just didn’t quite listen enough. Had I been able to hear properly, I’d have been able to finish the book whilst mowing the lawns yesterday. However, I do struggle with that, so I generally listen to familiar music instead. I listen to Alex Warren’s album, You’ll Be Alright, Kid, a lot at the moment. 

Never mind – I am DEFINITELY sharing completion next week instead. No excuses. 

 

HR Disrupted 

In last week’s Sunday Summary, I also featured HR Disrupted. I was hoping again to finish this book this week so I can return it to the owner. However, as of drafting this post, I’m not quite there either. 

Never say never, I could finish it tonight with a bit of a push. Unfortunately, that’s not in time for this post, so it’s a little disappointing. Again, next week it will be a definite! I’m worried I’m losing the reading momentum of last month. It would be great for me to get that back. Finish these two reads, and I have a fresh start, right? 

 

Books Discovered

Once again, no news is good news this week! Surely I’m getting towards a record of the longest stint without any new books or additions to my TBR by now… 

 

Coming Up… 

Patreon 

I’m not going to get to a personal Sunday Summary type post tonight on Patreon – it’s already late evening as I’m drafting this! Instead, I’ll post a catch-up tomorrow with some more personal commentary than I do here on the blog. 

Surely I’m due to post a new review this week. It’s been a few weeks, so I’ll share my thoughts on the book club read alongside the Cotteagecore Fantasy Book Club, House of Frank. 

On Friday I’ll return with my next regular Friday feature, a First Lines Friday post. I haven’t got a particular theme or challenge in mind for this post. I’ll just see what I fancy nearer the time. 

Finally, I’ll be back next Sunday for a more timely weekly update post. I won’t leave it so late to post this time… 

 

Blog 

The first post to go live on the blog next week will be a Top Ten Tuesday post. The topic – Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time!

I’ve got some reads I need to march on with, so I’m actually going to leave it here and next share my Sunday Summary update at the end of the week. I need to get my reading mojo back! 

 

Have you made better reading progress than me this week? I hope so! 

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Sunday Summary – 5th October 2025

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Happy Sunday friends! I hope you’ve had a lovely week, however you’ve spent it?! It’s been a busy week here. Quarter end is a busy period for me at work, but I’ve also had a good deal of content to share this week. Take a look at my Sunday Summary to see what the latest is!

On Patreon and here on the blog, I shared two free posts this week, both being reviews. The first of these was my review of the graphic novel Gran Familia. I’ll link to that post as usual so if you haven’t taken a look at that post yet, he is and easy place to go and find it. The second post I shared across Patreon and the blog earlier this week what’s my review of Shield of Mercia by M.J. Porter. I shared my review as part of the ongoing blog tour organised by Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources. This is the eighth book in her Eagle of Mercia Chronicles, and I had a great time reading this latest instalment. Again, if you get to take a look at that post, above is a handy link for you to do so. 

One exclusive post I published on patriarch this week was my monthly wrap-up post for September. In this post, I share the books I read throughout the previous month and give you a sneak preview of my thoughts on those. Typically, this gets posted on my blog.

This will be posted on my blog next week, but I made it available to potential future subscribers first. If you want to be the 1st to see this post in future, you can subscribe to me there to hear my latest updates before anyone else!

 

Books Read

 

Among the Burning Flowers 

Listening progress with Among the Burning Flowers has been on the light side this week. There isn’t a particular reason for this in terms of the book. On a practical level, I needed to listen to the radio on Friday whilst commuting home for weather updates. We had our first storm of the season with trees down, localised flooding and road closures. Thankfully, nothing significant and got home at the usual time. 

I’ve listened to about 45minutes of the book this week. As I say, not a lot. However, there isn’t much left of the book either so I imagine I’ll share completion in next week’s Sunday Summary. 

 

Shield of Mercia

My reading priority this week was Shield of Mercia by M. J. Porter. As you know by now, I shared my review of this book yesterday as part of the ongoing blog tour. It was fun to take part and I hope M. J. Porter has great success with this latest publication. I really enjoyed seeing where events of the series took Icel next. He’s one of my favourite historical fiction characters from this time period because he is unique, likeable, and always gets stuck into the action! 

I could have done with starting this book sooner than I did as I did have to make a last minute push to finish it. However, that was hardly a drag as I really enjoyed the action, wider scope of travel compared to its predecessor and the political scheming amongst Saxons. 

Obviously, I’m not going to go too much into depth with my thoughts here as I have a dedicated post for that. 

 

HR Disrupted 

In last week’s Sunday Summary, I shared that I’d just started HR Disrupted. With Shield of Mercia suitably prioritised and now read, I went back to this non-fiction loan I have on the go. 

In the last few days, I’ve read the first 40% of the book. It’s an interesting read so far and I definitely agree with a lot of Lucy’s views. Classic HR practices don’t work and it would be interesting to see some practices change. Let’s just see if I can convince some changes to happen in my place! I’ll have to read the rest of the book first, so stay tuned and I can tell you more next week! 

 

Books Discovered

Anyone would be thinking I’m on a book buying ban the way things are going right now. Again, there’s nothing new on the reading list this week and I have zero complaints about this 😅

 

Coming Up… 

Patreon 

The first post I’m drafting and publishing for my exclusive subscribers next week is my monthly TBR for October. I have great books and reading plans lined up for this month. My only hope is that my reading success and momentum from September carries forward. It would be amazing to have another super-productive reading month! This is due to go live tomorrow. If you want to be the first to know what I’m reading, as well as find out how to take part in my book club read, subscribe and check out that post! 

Mid-week, I’m in the mood to share a more personal post. Rather than a focus on books, I want to share a bit more about why I’ve set up my Patreon, what I hope to offer on it and help a new set of potential subscribers get to know me a little better. I’ve published a couple of reviews last week, so this feels like a good balance. 

In the spirit of offering subscribers some exclusive content, I’m going to launch details of a reading challenge I’ll be taking part in very soon! I hope you can check this out. Maybe you want to take part as well? 

I write my own, more informal version of a Sunday Summary on Patreon as well. Again, it’s more personal and covers more than just the books I’ve read and featured etc.

 

Blog 

My first post of this week is the monthly wrap-up I initially published on Patreon. If you’re keen to see how reading progress came along last month, you’re in for a treat. I picked up no less than ten books over the course of the month. For the first time in a while, I ended the month on par with my reading goal for the year, if not a little ahead of schedule! Let’s hope October is just as successful! 

My Patreon subscribers are only going to see my monthly TBR a few days ahead of you all. However, with time ticking on with the month I feel bad leaving it too late to let you know my reading plans. So, this will go live on Thursday next week. 

On Friday this week, I intended to share a Shelf Control post but that didn’t make it due to finishing touches on my Shield of Mercia post. That’ll come this week instead; apologies for the delay! 

Finally, I’ll be back this time next week with another Sunday Summary recap of what reading progress has looked like! Hopefully I can share both my current reads are done, and let you know what else is coming up! 

Thank you all for sticking with me! I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Sunday Summary post. 

What are you currently reading? 

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Sunday Summary – 28th September 2025

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Welcome to today’s Sunday Summary! We’re at the end of another week already. Honestly, where are they going? It feels like a blink and we’re at the end of another week and near the end of September. Scary!

As always, in today’s Sunday Summary post, I’ll take you through my content updates, as well as the books I’ve been reading and what to expect coming up soon.

 

Blog

First on the list for my blog this week was a spooky book recommendation post for you and your book club. I was recently looking for some inspiration on what book to read for our next book club read. It inspired me to write a similar post based on the books I’ve read and recommend. I’m hopeful one of the recommendations I gave in my post is a book you haven’t read. Have you?

Next on the list, I featured a First Lines Friday post. As it happens, I actually featured our book club read in that post. It’s been a typical week of spooky book recs 👻

 

Patreon

Over on Patreon, I shared my review of The Measure by Nikki Erlick. You may recall I picked up this book as an earlier book club read earlier this year. I’m featuring much more recent book reviews on Patreon. If you want to catch up on my thoughts on books as and when I’m reading them, that’s the place to go and find them. Otherwise, backlist reviews will feature on my blog. These will ultimately make their way around to my blog as well. However, if the blacklist is anything to go by, it will take about two years for that to happen.

Also on Patreon, I shared a Shelf Control post on Friday. This post will be going live on the blog next Friday, so if you haven’t seen it already, you haven’t got quite as long to wait as for a review. I have changed my content structure so even non-book review posts will be going on Patreon first before making it to my blog.


Books Read


The Pagan Lord

Progress with The Pagan Lord wasn’t quite as quick as I’d have hoped this week. I’m not a fan of reading books on my phone, and that’s the easiest way I can borrow digitally from my library. However, I did work out that I can access these books via my laptop this week. That worked out to be preferable and so a good chunk of my progress was made by reading the book through the Libby web app.

I did finish The Pagan Lord, although I ended up binge-reading it last night because my loan was due back today.

Still, I enjoyed the book and it was great to get back into this series. I wouldn’t say I loved it as much as other books in the series. However, it was fast-paced and great to get back to well-known and loved characters!


Algospeak

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update, I had just 2 1/2 hours left of Algospeak by Adam Aleksic. One of my comments in last week’s Sunday Summary was that the tone of the book made me feel like a bit of a dinosaur. Unfortunately, that didn’t really change. Although the author acknowledges his use of generational language throughout the book and an intention not to cause friction by marking out generational differences and language, that didn’t really come across in practice.

Algospeak was an interesting listen, even if the author’s tone and engagement were a little lacking. Still, I’m glad I listened to this book and it gave me some interesting thoughts on linguistics and etymology changes around social media and technology.


Among the Burning Flowers

My latest audiobook listen, as of today’s Sunday Summary, is Among the Burning Flowers by Samantha Shannon. This prequel was just released earlier this month. Having enjoyed The Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night earlier this year, I wanted to keep on top of the series.

That’s made easier by the fact that this book is considerably shorter than its predecessors. At under 300 pages (or eight hours for listeners), it’s far more approachable and would probably be a good place to start. This book opens with the fact that the series can be started here as the books are interlinked, but not interdependent.

I listen a little bit faster than Audible standard speed. Even still, I have four hours and 20 minutes left of this book. In terms of progress, that puts me about 33% in. I’m enjoying what I’ve listened to so far and can’t wait to tell you more next week!


HR Disrupted

A while ago, a conversation with our HR representative at work ended with me taking away a book recommendation for HR Disrupted. She was telling me that if given the choice, there are standard practices of HR she would like to change. There is a community within HR called Disrupters. As far as I know, this book is about what these kinds of changes and people advocate for. It’s an interesting idea and I’m looking forward to reading this book. She’s loaned me her copy, so naturally I want to make sure I return it to her in good time!

So far, I’ve only made an initial start but I’m looking forward to getting stuck in over the coming days.


Books Discovered

Three weeks in a row, I have no new bookish additions to share with you. I’m fairly sure this isn’t quite a record, but it is certainly out of the norm!

I’m not complaining though! It might be I can get my TBR under 200 books again for the first time in a little while…


Coming Up…


Blog

With the end of September fast approaching, I’ve got a review for the manga graphic novel I read earlier this month, Gran Familia. That book is about to release with Titan Comics, so I’m looking forward to featuring it as part of their launch.

The Shelf Control post that went live on Patreon this Friday will make it to the blog next week. I always look forward to looking at upcoming reads on my TBR and sharing with you why? I can’t wait to read them!

A little out of character, I’m posting on Saturday with my review of Shield of Mercia by M.J. Porter. You may recall I listened to Betrayal of Mercia, so I am up-to-date with the series and ready to share my thoughts on this latest book. Naturally, I’ll be prioritising reading this in the coming days, so my official review can come to you on Saturday.

Finally, I’m back next week with another Sunday Summary and, hopefully, news that I finished my September TBR!


Patreon

On Patreon, I’m also sharing my review of Gran Familia. As a launch publicity post, that will be available to everybody.

Likewise, my review of Shield of Mercia will also be going on Patreon and made available to everybody to read. It’s a great way to get an idea of the content I share there and, for anyone who has yet to discover my content, will give them a feel for my types of reviews.

The more exclusive content I’m sharing on Patreon next week includes my monthly wrap-up post for reading progress in September, as well as a recap of my week on Sunday much like I do here.

It’s going to be a busy one, and I hope you can join me ☺️

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday summary update! What book have you read and enjoyed this September?

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Sunday Summary – 21st September 2025

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For the second week in a row, my recent break has paid its dividends! In today’s Sunday Summary, you’ll see I have a number of updates and books to catch you up with progress on! 

Before I get into the books I’ve read over the course of this week, let’s catch up on the blog posts I’ve shared over the internet.

My first post was a book review for Wolf of Wessex by Matthew Harffy. If you enjoy historical fiction, you’re having a field day with content right now. Not only am I talking about historical fiction in terms of these backlist reviews, but I’ve also been reading a lot of historical fiction this week. More on that in a bit! 

On Friday, I returned to more modern fiction and featured a legal thriller by a big-name author I am yet to try. This author has three books currently on my TBR and I’ve still not read a single one of them yet. A few of these are featured in my Shelf Control posts now, so I imagine it won’t be long before one of them finally comes around. If you’re intrigued to know who that is, take a look at my latest post.

 

Books Read

 

Betrayal of Mercia 

I finished my audiobook listen of Betrayal of Mercia earlier today! 

As I mentioned in my last Sunday Summary, it’s the first time I’ve picked up a book in this series as an audiobook. It was really interesting to experience this book in this new format. Historically, I’ve kept up with the series by reading the advanced review copies before the books come out. It gives me a unique opportunity to provide a review of the books in this format. 

I really enjoyed Betrayal of Mercia. The book takes on a slightly different form in that there is significantly less travel in the book than I remember from earlier instalments. However, that makes sense in the widest storyline and it was interesting to delve deeper into the allegiances of powerful characters and how that impacts other people’s actions. 

I’m also glad I finished it because it means I can start reading Shield of Mercia as soon as I finish my current read. That’s also another historical fiction book, this time by the well-known Bernard Cornwell. By the time I finish all these books, I’ll definitely have read my share of historical fiction for a little while… 

 

The Pagan Lord 

I’ve enjoyed going back to Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon stories series in picking up The Pagan Lord this week. Admittedly, I didn’t read this book for the first few days of this week. The vast majority of my progress has come later in the week. However, when it started, it happened quickly! 

As books go, The Pagan Lord isn’t actually that long. I read decent-sized chunks of the book per sitting as opposed to chipping away at it. The only reason I would say progress is a little slower than usual is that I borrowed this book via Libby from my library. That means I’m reading the book on my phone, which is probably my least favourite way to do so. However, my eagerness to return to the series and getting into the book has enabled me to get past that.

 

Algospeak

After finishing Betrayal of Mercia earlier today, I started listening to the British short Algospeak by Adam Aleksic. 

I downloaded an Audible copy of this book a few months ago now as I was interested in the subject. I had a place to study linguistics at university but ultimately made the decision not to go. That said, I still have an interest in the subject and particularly how social media has had its influence on language in more recent years.

My only gripe with this book so far is that although I’m not uninvolved with social media and technology, it made me feel a little bit like a dinosaur. If you are from Gen Z, you’ll probably find some of the topics and commentary a bit more relatable. However, from an educational standpoint, I’m enjoying the book so far.

As of this Sunday Summary, I’ve already listened to a couple of hours’ worth of the audiobook and I have around 2 1/2 hours left. Needless to say, I’m optimistic. I’ll be able to polish this off early next week and start another audiobook before the end of the month! Will I get to finish it though? That’s the million-dollar question!

 

Books Discovered

For the second week in a row, I haven’t added any new books to my reading list and I’ve managed to tick some off via completions! 

Is this the start of a run on getting my TBR below 200 books? Place your bets now 😂

 

Coming Up… 

Blog 

I was looking around online for some inspiration for a spooky book club read for our work book club. I’ve now chosen the book we’re gathering to discuss in October. However, that sparked a content idea though. I want to share my book recommendations for spooky book club reads. That’s going live on Wednesday. 

On Friday I’m back with a First Lines Friday feature. My most recent First Lines Friday features have all had a theme. As of drifting this Sunday Summary, I have no particular theme in mind for this post. Perhaps I’ll share a book coming up on my October TBR? I won’t commit myself, but we’ll see. 

Finally, you know what’s coming last. This time next week I’m back with another Sunday Summary update and fingers crossed, I’ll be much closer to the end of my monthly TBR. I’ve already surpassed my reading list in some ways. However, we’re just a couple of books left, I can’t get lazy. Check out next week’s Sunday Summary to see if I keep up the pace. 

 

Patreon

On Patreon, I’m planning to step up the content and post as regularly there as I do here. Next week will be a bit crazy as I’m posting two sets of content. Going forward though, my blog content will broadly be historic Patreon content. So, if you want to see my posts exclusively before everyone else, please subscribe to me there. I’m also launching my book club Discord chat for subscribers, so there are plenty of perks to enjoy! 

As a sneak preview, I’m posting my review of Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff, a Shelf Control post, and a more in-depth and personal Sunday Summary there. 

That’s all for me and today’s Sunday Summary update, though! 

What have you been reading?

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Sunday Summary – 14th September 2025

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Another week has come and gone! I can’t believe how fast this week has flown. So yes, I’m back here again with another Sunday Summary update, and it’s a good one! I hope you’ve had a good one too? 

It’s mostly been a return to normal this week. After our trip to Iceland last week, we had Monday off to relax and catch up with the usual house admin. Washing… it’s always there for you, no? 

Otherwise though, it’s been a case of getting and into routine. Work and home, books and blogging. So, what’s been on the agenda this week? 

My first post went live on Monday. No rest for the wicked here! With us being nearly a third of the way through the month, I figured it was time to share my September 2025 monthly TBR. And, I’m in a really good place with that reading list! Although it looked ambitious, I’m ahead of where I need to be to complete it by the end of the month. More on that below 😌 Who knows, I may even get some extra in. Let’s not get ahead though! 

On Friday, I shared the final book I’m reading towards my ChatGPT book recommendations challenge/post. I’m planning to pick these books up in October, so ahead of that timeline I’ve teased the final book in my First Lines Friday. If you’ve yet to take a look and fancy a dark, gritty fantasy where delusions shape reality, go take a look at that feature. 

On Patreon, I shared my review of The Anxious Generation. This is a non-fiction I recommend everyone read. It’s really informative and backed up by science, but in an interesting and engaging way. 

 

Books Read

 

Sensitive 

In last week’s Sunday Summary I confided my confidence that I’d finish the remaining 2 hours I had of Sensitive soon. 

And that’s true. I chipped away at this audiobook whilst commuting to and from work; I finished it about halfway through this week. 

It’s been a good listen and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. No doubt we all have someone sensitive in our lives, or are sensitive ourselves and maybe don’t yet recognise it. It was a really validating read. 

 

A Witch’s Guide to Love and Poison

This week I also finished A Witch’s Guide to Love and Poison. You may recall this is the book club read over at the Cottagecore Fantasy Book Club. 

It’s the first time I’ve finished a club book early,  and I’m not the only one. It puts me in a great place to prompt readers and discussion about the book. It’s a habit I want to continue; it’s much less stressful than making apologies for being behind 😂

I enjoyed this book. Although there is a romance element to two of the main characters development arcs (and this isn’t something I love in my books), it was okay. Obviously if you love this sort of thing, great! 

The mystery was interesting, although somewhat predictable. However, there was a comfort in seeing broadly where the storyline was going. The details and finer points of the storyline were the interesting and less predictable points. 

 

Gran Familia 

In the last 24hrs, I’ve read a manga I’m planning to feature on my blog later this month! I don’t read manga very often, but I enjoyed picking something up that’s very different. 

As I’ve read more in the way of traditional prose lately, I blitzed Gran Familia. The book is only around 200 anyway, but being image-based, it was really quick to read. In fact, I read most of the book today. I’m looking forward to sharing more about this book on my blog soon. 

 

Betrayal of Mercia 

The next audiobook I’ve made progress with this week is Betrayal of Mercia. 

It’s the first time I’ve picked up a book in this series as an audiobook. Admittedly, that’s because I’ve always kept up with these books and read advanced reader copies for the tours. I somehow missed this instalment, and for ease, I figured to try the audio. 

So far, it’s going well. Personally, I find the archaic names easier to read than listen to, but at the same time, I’m familiar with most by now to catch on. It’s a small thing though, and I’m enjoying the story so far. 

So far I’ve listened to two and a half hours of the audio and I’m looking forward to listening to the rest (hopefully) next week! 

 

The Pagan Lord 

Finally, the last historical fiction book I’ve picked up this week is The Pagan Lord. I’ve only just started this book, so I don’t have a lot to discuss with you other than my eagerness to return to the series. It’s also the only physical book on my TBR left other than the sequel to my current audiobook. Naturally, I need to finish that before I read Shield of Mercia. 

I’m not going to let that slow me down, though. If I need to pick up another read in the meantime, I have plenty to choose from! The other consideration is that I’ve borrowed this digitally from my library, so I don’t have forever anyway. 

 

Books Discovered

Overall, this week is amazing for progress! I’ve ticked several off the list and not added anything new either. 

I need more weeks like this… 

 

Coming Up… 

My first post next week will be a book review. There’s a real historical fiction theme here, because the next book due review is Wolf of Wessex by Matthew Harffy. I hope you’re looking forward to my review as much as I am sharing it! 

On Friday I’m breaking back into my old schedule of sharing a Shelf Control post. It’ll be nice to take another look at my TBR, or reading list, with you so I can share why I’m excited for my next book. 

Finally, you know what’s coming. Next week I’ll wrap-up with another Sunday Summary. Let’s hope I have as much reading progress to share in next week’s instalment. 

Thanks for reading today’s Sunday Summary instalment. If you’re still here, thank you so much! 

What have you read recently? 

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Sunday Summary – 7th September 2025

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Welcome to today’s Sunday Summary, fellow readers! I hope you’ve had a great week? 

It’s been a really busy one for me. I’ve been on holiday for the last few days— not that you’d really know it from the blog schedule. I don’t like to announce these things ahead of time, but I’ve had a fun few days in Iceland this week. 

Even still, I managed to keep the blog schedule pretty normal and fit in some reading on flights. Shall we take a look at what I’ve shared? 

My first post of the week was my monthly wrap-up for August 2025. Knowing I had a busier schedule later this week, I was keen to get this out the door early. If you want to catch up on how I got on with my August TBR and 20 Books of Summer Challenge, that’s where to look. 

Next, I published a blog tour review of The Atlantis Covenant on Thursday. Did I regret my life choices trying to draft and schedule this post whilst on terrible WiFi in a UK hotel during an overnight stay at the start of my holiday? Yes. I certainly did. Battling to get this post scheduled contributed to my only getting four hours’ sleep ahead of a 2:30 am start the following day… 

 

Books Read

 

The Atlantis Covenant 

This week, with my blog tour post due imminently, I prioritised reading the remaining 75% of The Atlantis Covenant. I finished the book on a flight to the UK on Wednesday. In the nick of time, it’s fair to say! 

I enjoyed this book, and fans of Indiana Jones and high-action books will get along with this read nicely. Obviously, if you’re intrigued, you can find my full review here. 

 

Sensitive

I started strong this week and made a further three hours’ progress with Sensitive. Whilst I didn’t listen to any of the audiobook whilst I was away, I’m happy with my progress. 

As of this Sunday Summary update, I have just two more hours of audio left. With how easily I made progress with this audiobook last week during ‘normal’ scheduling, I reckon I’ll polish this off soon. 

 

The Giver 

Whilst away, and after reading The Atlantis Covenant, I picked up The Giver. If you recall, I popped this book on my August TBR as our book club is meeting to discuss it next week. 

With plenty of downtime today on an hour coach ride and a two and a half-hour flight, I pretty much blitzed the whole thing! 

I’m a huge fan of dystopia and this book was a very easy read for me. You can tell this book is geared towards a younger audience, but it didn’t oversimplify the genre either. It was perfect light reading and I’m looking forward to discussing this book with my peers on Tuesday. 

 

A Witch’s Guide to Love and Poisons

Another read I’ve picked up this week is A Witch’s Guide to Love and Poisons. This book is the Cottagecore Fantasy Book Club pick for September. 

The last couple of months, I’ve been behind with these reads. Keen to get ahead of the game this month whilst I decide on the rest of my TBR, I’ve read half of this book. 

I’m intrigued by the underlying mystery of what is happening to the Unwanted Girls, although I have some theories. If you are a romance fan, you’d also enjoy the dynamics between Bisma and Xander about now. Although it’s not really my jam, it’s not dominating the narrative or deterring me from reading the rest of the book.  

 

Books Discovered

I didn’t last very long in my travels before I bought some books. Shock, right? 

In our local airport departure lounge, I picked up Katabasis and Never Flinch. 

More topically, I also picked up a small book in Iceland on its volcanic history. At least that one won’t take long to read… 

 

Coming Up… 

We’re nearly a third of the way through September, so I suppose I should get around to posting my September TBR, no? That’s my plan at least! Although it’s a little late, I’ll draft this post as if we were starting near the top of the month. Some of the books will already be ticked off the list, but there’s plenty more to follow! 

On Friday, I’ll tease the last of my ChatGPT book recommendations I’ll be reading shortly. I’ve already shared the first two, so I hope you’re keen to see what this third and final book is! 

Sunday sees the return of my Sunday Summary update post. In the next week, I hope to share even more reading updates with you. Stay tuned to find out more about the books I pick up. 

Thanks for reading today’s Sunday Summary! I’ll be back online very soon to share my September TBR, so stay tuned! What are you reading? 

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Sunday Summary – 31st August 2025

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Happy Sunday friends! I hope you are as excited for today’s Sunday summary as I am. I have some great book updates to share with you, and as always, to catch you up on the content I’ve shared earlier in the week.

First, let’s catch you up on the blog content I’ve shared so far this week. My first post of the week was a book review for The Adventures of Amina-al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. If you are looking for a swashbuckling feminist eastern fantasy, look no further! Take a look at my thoughts and what I make of this book in my review.

On Friday I break from my usual scheduling to bring you another First Lines Friday. In that post, I featured another upcoming fantasy novel I’ll read as part of a ChatGPT recommendations challenge. 

On Patreon, I shared my audiobook review of Saint’s Blood by Sebastien de Castell. As you’ll see, this isn’t the last you’ll hear of Sebastien de Castell in this post. If you want to read my thoughts of the series up until the third book of the series, subscribe to my Patreon account to read my detailed review! 

 

Books Read

 

Tyrant’s Throne

As of my last Sunday Summary, I only had around two hours of audio left of Tyrant’s Throne. 

I’ve been listening to this audio whilst commuting to and from work this week. I loved this book so much and I was excited to see how the story ended. Sometimes with a great series, I get to a point where I don’t want to finish it and I start slowing down with reading progress out of fear of getting to the end. 

That wasn’t the case here, but for the best of reasons! I was so captivated by the storyline as it went down a completely different avenue than I expected. I’m also glad to hear that the author Sebastien de Castell has plans to revisit the characters Falcio, Kest and Brasti again. 

 

The Atlantis Covenant 

I’ve got an upcoming blog tour commitment for The Atlantis Covenant by Rob Jones. With that in mind, I’ve been blitzing this book this week. 

It’s full of action and a very quick, easy read. Over the course of today along I’ve read over 25% of the book. I’m enjoying this busy novel. It’s very reminiscent of Indiana Jones so if that’s your bag. There’s action, danger and intrigue in every chapter. I’m looking forward to finishing the book and sharing my review with you next week! 

 

Sensitive

Late this week, I started listening to Sensitive. With no more audiobooks on my August TBR, I turned to my 20 Books of Summer Challenge list for another book. 

So far I’ve listened to an hour of this audiobook. It’s not a long audiobook, so I’ve only got 5 hours left to listen to at 1.2x speed. 

It’s been an informative read so far. I’m also glad I picked this up on audio format. As books go, it’s an easy listen and my go-to kind of book for audio format. Whilst I’m not going to complete this book on time for the 20 Books of Summer challenge, I’m glad I’ve made a solid start and I’m looking forward to listening on in the coming days! 

 

Books Discovered

It’s been another quiet week in terms of book acquisitions. There’s nothing to let you know about in terms of books added to the reading list. 

 

Coming Up… 

Early next week, I’m sharing my monthly Wrap-Up for August 2025. Find out just how much progress I’ve made in my 20 Books of Summer challenge and my August monthly TBR. 

On Thursday, I’ll be back with my review of The Atlantis Covenant as part of the upcoming blog tour. I hope you can join me to see what I make of this high-action book. 

Finally, I’m back with another Sunday Summary this time next week. I’ve got some time off work later next week, so I’m hoping I’ll have some time to enjoy my current reads after finishing The Atlantis Covenant. 

What are you reading this week? 

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