Category: sunday summary

Sunday Summary – 15th December 2019

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Good evening everyone and welcome back to this week’s Sunday Summary instalment! Have you had a good week? Between going back to work, getting ready for Christmas and reading/blogging, I definitely haven’t been bored!

My first post of the week was a book review of Moroda for L. L. McNeil. I received a copy of Moroda in exchange for review. After being really conscious that I had promised to read the book in October/November, but finished it earlier this month, I managed to get a quick turnaround on reviewing it. If you are a fan of classic fantasy novels and haven’t taken a look at my review yet, I really recommend it! The book, (and the review) that is.

The next day, Wednesday, I shared yet another book review. This time, my post was for the blog tour of After Whorl: Donning Double Cloaks by Nancy Jardine. This is the third instalment of the Celtic Fervour series, which is predominantly historical fiction with the odd element of romance. Thankfully the later books of the series have less romantic emphasis than the first book. If you know me or read my blog regularly you’ll know that just isn’t my cup of tea! I love the history behind the novels as I am a newbie to the history of the Roman invasion of Britain. It’s never too late to learn something new!

Friday’s featured novel in this week’s First Lines Friday post has a little of a festive theme to it. I almost featured the book a couple of weeks ago; however, I decided to save it for December as it does have Christmas ties. This is also a fabulous historical fiction novel. I’d go so far as to say that it’s my favourite Netgalley download ever!

 

Books Read

I have some fantastic news to share with you all – this week… last night in fact, I completed my Goodreads Reading Challenge for 2019! I’ve read 70 books. Somehow, I’ve managed to beat my all-time record and with two-and-a-half weeks to spare! I’m amazed, but I’m also not done yet! If I finish this month’s TBR then my new record to beat will be 74 books. Do you think I can do it?

I also really like that the book that completed the challenge was the conclusion to Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, Dreams of Gods and Monsters. I don’t normally devour books like this, but it was worth it! Her writing is so funny, engaging, entertaining. I just love it! I’ve been reading this all week, pretty much, between everything else going on. Sometimes I put myself down a little if I have spent all week on a book (bear in mind my average is 1 book every 5 days). I shouldn’t though. I think I had read about 100 pages when I wrote last week’s Sunday Summary, so that means I’ve still read 500 pages this week alone!

This week I started a new audiobook – Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris. I listened to The Tattooist of Auschwitz last year. It was fantastically written, yet hauntingly devastating to hear what horrors people had to live through. The reminder at the end that it was a work of fiction but based on a real experience had me in tears. Cilka’s Journey is the same, but focuses on the treatment of women in Auschwitz/Birkenau and also in Soviet Russia after being convicted of assisting the Nazi’s later on. I have listened to nearly three hours of the audiobook already… which is a little more than average.

 

Books Discovered

I have been too busy to be looking for books, however, I have managed to acquire a couple this week. Lauren, the author of Moroda really liked my review published this week and has asked if I will read and review the next two books in the series, Palom and Amarah. I enjoyed the book, the fantasy world and the characters. Naturally, I said yes!

 

Coming Up…

It has been a little while since I drafted a Top Ten Tuesday post, so that’s my first post for next week coming up! For this post, I actually want to pick a topic that The Artsy Reader girl posted a few weeks ago – Top Ten Changes in my Bookish Life!

I have a few book reviews to catch up on and since I am finished with blog tours for the year, it makes sense to get some of those outstanding reviews done! On Thursday I am reviewing Scythe by Neal Shusterman, as I finished listening to the audiobook in April this year. Yep, it’s a late review guys. Sorry! Having just listened to its sequel though, I’m in the right headspace to review this.

On Friday I’ll be taking another look at the TBR pile and telling you about the next book on the list; what it is, what interests me about it and why, overall, I want to read it. I hope you can check-in for this post!

So, that’s all from me in this week’s Sunday Summary update! What have you been reading? Have you set a reading challenge or have you completed it? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 8th December 2019

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Sunday evenings come around too fast! It always feels like I barely finish one Sunday Summary and then here I am sat starting another. I hope you have had a good week? Mine has been great as I have been enjoying the last of my time off for the year and getting Christmas shopping finished. I have even gotten most of it wrapped. Look at me being organised! I think this time last year I had barely started…

In between drafting Sunday Summary posts, I have managed to squeeze a few others in. Last week, immediately after drafting last week’s update I had to jump into writing a review for Awa and the Dreamrealm by Isa Pearl Ritchie. I published that post first thing on Monday.

December’s reading list was published on Wednesday 4th, although it had been decided well in advance of that date. I have a lot of tours coming up in January, so I have to start my reading now to get myself prepared. I do have a couple of books of my own choice in there too. In that post, I also talk about why there aren’t many festive books on the list, so if you haven’t checked out that post yet here is the link to it.

Lastly, on Friday I shared the next Shelf Control post in my regular feature. Not only did I talk about a book that I was gifted nearly three years ago now, but I also learned it was part of a series. I had no idea before writing that post! It’s a classic science-fiction novel and I seem to be getting on with those really well at the moment. I should probably pick it up soon!

 

Books Read

Whilst I say in one breath that I am doing well with science-fiction novels of late, I have had to set one aside for now. I have been enjoying reading Howling Dark but I just don’t think I have time to pick it up again this month. That said… if I do manage to finish this list early then I’ll pick this up again. I have a couple of short(er) books on the TBR, so maybe?

Instead, I began the week by finishing off another carryover from last month, Moroda by L. L. McNeil. I basically started reading this on the last day of November as I had promised the author to read it in October/November time. I am really pleased with myself as I read this quite quickly. Fingers crossed I’ll be reviewing it very shortly for her too.

After Moroda, I picked up my first read of December. I was keen to leave behind a bad month of reading (or lack of progress) and start this month’s TBR in earnest. Again, After Whorl: Donning Double Cloaks was only in my hands for a few of days before I finished it. I was excited to start the month reading this as I have already read and enjoyed the first couple of books in the series. It’s almost a reassurance that I’m starting in a good place.

The latter end of the week has been spent with my head buried in the concluding novel to the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor. This is my current read and I am LOVING IT! It’s a shame I have to go back to work tomorrow instead of sitting at home and reading this…

Tell you what else I did get done this week – I finished listening to Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman. I typically listen to audiobooks in the car and I expected to finish it in the couple of journeys I made. I think I listened to the last three minutes or so at home, so I really wasn’t wrong! It also surprises me how long it took me to listen to – about seven weeks! I’m so slow with audiobooks.

 

Books Discovered

It amazes me that I have spent a week off work, shopping and generally mooching around and yet I have not added a single book to the TBR this week. I have been good (spending my money on everyone else!)

 

Coming Up…

As I am pretty late to getting to read Moroda, I’m keen to get my review live as soon as possible! So, with that in mind, my intention is to have my thoughts on this fantasy novel published on my blog first thing on Tuesday.

I have been reading After Whorl: Donning Double Cloaks this week as I have a blog tour post scheduled for Wednesday 11th. In that post I’ll be linking to my reviews of the earlier books in the series The Beltane Choice and After Whorl: Bran Reborn, as well as share my views of the latest instalment. I hope you can tune in for that!

As always, I’ll be preparing a First Lines Friday post for you to round up the working week. I don’t like to choose my featured book of the week too early in advance. I’ll be picking it on Thursday when I sit down to write this post. No spoilers for you to ruin the surprise, I’m afraid!

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 1st December 2019

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Good evening everyone and welcome to today’s Sunday Summary post! I can’t believe it’s December already! I have spent the day helping my parents put their Christmas decorations up; I’ll be doing mine in the next few days. Where has this year gone?

So, what have I been up to this week? Well, aside from using some days off work to have a good tidy up and a clear out, I have been doing a little bit of reading in between. On Tuesday I shared my review of Ctrl+S by Andy Briggs as part of the blog tour with Gollancz. I am really glad I asked to take part in the tour, even though I ended up reading this rather hastily in order to get my post live on time. This one at least wasn’t my fault!

Thursday’s post was a promo post for book four of the Battle Ground series by Rachel Churcher. I featured the third book on my blog a little while ago and it was a pleasure to feature the series once again, on publication day of book four, no less.

On Friday I shared another First Lines Friday post. This week I featured a book on my To Be Read list (TBR). I’m looking forward to reading this book; I also happened to feature another book of similar genre by the same author in my recent Top Ten Tuesday – New Releases I am Excited About post.

 

Books Read

I’m disappointed with this month’s reading progress, but it can’t really be helped. I got off to a slow start with finishing Imaginary Friend, my last read in October, on the 9th November. I’ve had things going on which have hampered my progress too. I’m trying to finish one book tonight, but even with that in mind I have had to drop one book on this month’s list and I am going into December having only part-read another.

As of last week’s Sunday Summary post, I have made as much progress as I can on a few books. I finished Ctrl+S on Sunday night as I only had a few pages left. From there, I picked up Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio again as this is the book I set aside to read Ctrl+S. I got to page 231 towards the end of the week, which from 55 is pretty good going.

Yesterday I set the books aside once again in favour of a review request I promised for October/November time. Obviously, it was the last day of November and I hadn’t touched this book at all yet. I am impressed with how I have done with this one; since last night I have read 69% of the book, which roughly equates to just over 280 pages. This book is my priority over the next couple of days in order to get a quick turnaround on a review for the author.

Progress on Thunderhead has been a little slower this week with only a couple of commutes from work as part of my normal routine. I visited my friend Vicky on Friday, so I listened to this travelling to and from her house. That equates to two work commutes when I think about it. I have less than two hours left on the audiobook so I am confident I will be finishing it this week!

 

Books Discovered

I have a few additions to this section, even though I haven’t been particularly looking for anything new as such.

I had a bit of an unpleasant beginning to this week and so I decided to buy myself a book to cheer myself up. I’m collecting classics in paperback, and I was going to buy it very soon anyway. I’ll give you a hint: it will be appearing on this month’s reading list in a couple of days.

When featuring Fighting Back by Rachel Churcher on Thursday, I said that I planned to pick up and read the series although I couldn’t for the tour. Rachel kindly let me know that books one to three were available to download for free as it was publication day for book four. Naturally, I downloaded them!

 

Coming Up…

Next week is going to be busy for me. I have a few planned blog posts already – one I will be drafting immediately after this one! Tomorrow I am publishing my review of Awa and the Dreamrealm by Isa Pearl Ritchie. My post is part of the blog tour organised by Rachel’s Random Resources.

On Wednesday I’ll be sharing December’s reading list. Considering I made such an effort to read seasonally in October, I only have one Christmassy book on this list. I’m not a festive cheese person, so it’s not just because I have lots of reading to do ahead of next month’s blog tour mayhem! No prizes for guessing what it is now, I might have already mentioned it in this post…

It’s the turn of a Shelf Control post on Friday. So, I’ll be looking at the next book on my TBR list and sharing just why I want to read it. I was gifted a copy of the book I’ll be featuring nearly three years ago now for my birthday. It fits in well with the recent sci-fi theme I’ve had with my reading and blogging. It’s also a bit of a classic. Any idea what it might be?

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary! I hope you have enjoyed this week’s post. Let me know in the comments – what have you been reading this week?

 

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Sunday Summary – 24th November 2019

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It’s Sunday evening again friends, so it can only mean it’s time for this week’s Sunday Summary post! Have you had a good week? Mine has been pretty good. I took a slightly more chilled stance on the blog posting this week in an effort to catch up with some reading. Turns out, I needed that time!

My first blog post of the week was published on Tuesday. For a bit of fun, I decided to take part in the Autumn Book Tag! It’s been a little while since I have written one of these posts and I really enjoyed doing so!

Then, on Friday I published my next Shelf Control post – this week I featured Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan. If you want to check out why Age of Myth is on my TBR then you can check out that post to find out more!

 

Books Read

Through no fault of my own, I have had a shift in priorities this week. I began where I left off in last week’s Sunday Summary post with reading Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio. This is no small book, so I was hoping to make good progress this week. As it is, I feel I am already behind on my reading.

I then received an email about a blog tour that I signed up for, giving me a week’s notice for my tour date. It was a genuine mistake that I hadn’t had it confirmed earlier. Truthfully, I had forgotten about it too. I received my copy of the book to review a couple of weeks ago. So, I have been reading Ctrl+S by Andy Briggs most of the week! As things stand, I only have 40 or so pages left to read so that is tonight’s job after I publish this post.

As always I have been enjoying listening to my audiobooks and Thunderhead is getting really good right now! I have just less than four hours to go to the end and I cannot wait to see how things unravel. As it happens, I have some time off work imminently so I have more time to listen to this. I basically have my headphones glued in when I am home nowadays, so it gives me an excuse to listen to something!

 

Books Discovered

I signed up to a website called BookSirens about a month ago. As is well-documented on my blog, my thoughts on Netgalley aren’t all that positive. I have no objection to using the site for tours and books from specific publishers, but I don’t really rate it otherwise. In terms of looking for other ARCS, I don’t actively use it.

I signed up to BookSirens as it seemed a lot more user-friendly, looked more appealing and I liked the look of a number of books on there. At the time I signed up I couldn’t commit to reading any books due to blog tour commitments. After a couple of weeks of registering and not signing up to any reviews, they kindly sent me an email to get some feedback from me on whether I had any problems. I explained that I had some other review obligations elsewhere, which was totally fine with them. I actually really like this personal touch – there is no way you would get the same from Netgalley!

Well, this week I signed up to my first review after an email notified me that some books now had a longer window to review them in! I started small with a novella called Fires of the Dead by Jed Herne. I have until February to read and review it, but I would like to get it done sooner if I can!

 

Coming Up…

I have a couple of blog tours to take part in next week, which is really exciting!

I mentioned Ctrl+S earlier in the post, as I have had to hastily read the book in advance of the tour. My tour slot is on Tuesday next week (26th November) and I am really looking forward to sharing my review. If you like the sound of a near-future science-fiction novel about the use (and abuse) of virtual reality, then stay tuned!

A little later in the week, I am taking part in another blog tour post! On Thursday I am promoting the latest book in the Battleground series, Fighting Back by Rachel Churcher.

A First Lines Friday post will be taking its place on the blog on… well, that’s obvious. Friday. I really enjoy writing these posts and I hope you enjoy reading them too!

 

Top Blog Posts Read This Week

Jack’s Bedtime Reading – Book Review: The True-Bastards

That Book Gal Blogs – Book Review: The Girl and the Stars

Emma’s Chapter – Six for Sunday – Books You’d Throw in the Fire

The Orangutan Librarian – How to Deal with Doubt

 

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary! Im off to finish CTRL+S before bed!

What are you reading?

 

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Sunday Summary – 17th November 2019

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Hi guys and welcome to a very busy Sunday Summary post here at the home of Reviewsfeed. I had a busy day yesterday with housework and then going out for the evening! In a shake-up of usual Saturday evening activities, (aka reading) I attended The House of Hell event hosted by Nightmare Nights. I went with my mum and dad and we all enjoyed going, despite being underwhelmed by the ‘scariness’. Today, I have spent the day with them again and now come home for a not-very-relaxing evening. Around drafting tonight’s Sunday Summary post, I am baking for a charity cake sale at work tomorrow! Everything is cooling at the moment, so I get some brief respite before I have to decorate.

Aside from the above shenanigans, what have I spent my week doing? Quite simply, work, blogging and reading. The usual! The only thing out of the ordinary has been investing time into restoring the older posts I lost in the recent migration… accident.

The first post of the week was an overdue review of The Chalk Man by C J Tudor. I read this book back in July, so it was definitely time to commit my thoughts to a review. I had to pull the book out and refresh my memory on a couple of things. This is why making notes after I read something would come in handy, but can I do it? No.

I published a second review of Wednesday; Making Magic is a short story written by Allan Walsh. At 32 pages it was a really quick but enjoyable read about the magic of writing and storytelling.

Friday saw the return of my First Lines Friday regular feature and this week I featured Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Let’s just say the book choice was inspired by a current read at the time…

 

Books Read

In last week’s Sunday Summary post I mentioned that I was indecisively flitting between a couple of books as my next read – Howling Dark and Days of Blood and Starlight. In the end, Days of Blood and Starlight did win and it didn’t take me all that long to read. I couldn’t wait to pick up the next book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series and I got back into it very quickly!

Conscious that it was the middle of the month and I had only read two books on the TBR, I picked up the shortest book on my list, Awa and the Dreamrealm by Isa Pearl Ritchie. At around 200 pages, my aim was to blitz this within a couple of days and I did! It makes me feel better going into the second half of the month knowing I am on track. I have read this book as I am reviewing it for the upcoming blog tour starting at the end of the month. It’s a children’s book so I am not its target audience, but I really enjoyed it and I’m not ashamed either! I love the main theme and the topics that this book addresses.

It might sound daft, but in addition to my newfound love of the series, the reason I picked DOB&S over Howling Dark is that the proof copy I have is really heavy! It’s quite a bit larger and getting started has been a little cumbersome. I have started this book in earnest in the last day or two and this will be my current read for the next few days!

I have also been listening to Thunderhead again. There is still six hours to go to reach the conclusion, so I’m going to be listening for a little while yet. The storyline of this one is interesting though and it has really picked up the pace in the last couple of hours!

 

Books Discovered

I have added one book to the list this week after stumbling across a book set where I live… entirely by chance! I was just browsing a few blog posts the other day and read an unsuspecting First Lines Friday post. When I realised that the featured book is set on the Isle of Man I added it to the list! I’ve linked the post below if you want to have a read.

 

Coming Up…

I want to make sure that I keep up with my reading next week. I may be on track but I still have three books to finish; all are over 400 pages long. Combine that with my ongoing project to restore my blog to its former glory, I have decided that this week I am keeping it to three posts.

On Tuesday I am going to take part in the Autumn Book Tag. I saw this over on one of my favourite blogs (again, this is linked below) and I want to take part. It’s a little bit different from the usual material I post here!

On Friday I’ll be tackling the TBR again (one book at a time) by sharing the next Shelf Control post. I’ll be taking a look at the next book on the list and telling you all why I want to read it. These posts have actually given me a kick to start reading some of these golden oldies. I enjoy writing them too. Do you like reading them?

 

Top Blog Posts Read This Week

The Tattooed Book Geek – A Little Hatred book review

Booksnest – How to Increase Productivity by Waking Up Earlier

Eclectic Review – First Lines Friday

Bibliophagist Reviews – Autumn Book Tag

That’s all from me for now guys! I have to get on with my cake decorating so I can get to bed at a decent hour! I might not get much in the way of reading done tonight, but it’s all for a good cause!

What are you reading?

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 10th November 2019

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Hey all and Happy Sunday! It’s Sunday evening here again and the prospect of going back to work tomorrow looms. After a busy eventful stressful week, going to work will seem like a rest!

The beginning of the week didn’t get off to a great start. After switching my domain renewal onto a new contract I realised all-too-late that the latest backup of my blog was only available on my blog’s back-end dashboard – access to which naturally went up in a puff of smoke the minute I confirmed the new contract.

Then, I made a mountain out of a molehill in trying to get my blog back online. It took days for me to get it right. In my defence, I was trying my best to use what I had to rescue the recent posts on my blog, but no. It wasn’t enough. Eventually, I admitted defeat and installed everything with an old backup – from June. One of my bigger jobs this weekend has been to re-instate what’s missing. The indexing of my blog pages so I can view cached versions and my drafts of posts not available that way stored locally has been my lifesaver!

The lesson here is to make doubly, triply and quadruple-y sure you have a backup before you do ANYTHING to your blog. You don’t realise how much it means to you until it’s gone. Next time I want to renew my domain, someone do my a favour and kick me.

Consequently, last week’s Sunday Summary post was shared on Wednesday and my reading list for November on Thursday. They were later than I wanted, but at least I am getting everything back in order! Friday’s Shelf Control post went live as and when expected.

 

Books Read

When I wasn’t having a crisis (meltdown) over my blog situation, I was trying to catch up with my reading! Reading Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky has taken me far longer than I anticipated. I only finished it yesterday; nine days behind schedule! I was a fantastic book, but an epic. As I was reading an imperfect proof copy too, a good few sections were a little difficult to read because wordsweremushedtogetherlikethis. Which is fine, it’s a proof. But I think that contributed to how long it took me to read.

As well as reading Imaginary Friend, I have been sampling a couple of other books to read in between. I’ve been very indecisive about it too, so consequently I am 55 pages through Howling Dark and about 80 pages through Days of Blood and Starlight. I think the latter wins as my next read; I am conscious I need to get a shift on and a quick reading win will spur me on. It sounds like I have read more of Days of Blood and Starlight, but in terms of word count I haven’t. There is a lot more to Howling Dark per page.

I have managed a quick read today, in between restoring almost all of my Blogtober posts. I was approached by Allan Walsh to read and review his short story, Making Magic. Unfortunately, I was supposed to be reviewing this on the 4th November but with my domain being out of action and the clean-up process, I didn’t get the chance! I have read this today and a review will be going live for it next week, come hell or high water!

I have managed to listen to another couple of hour’s worth of Thunderhead this week as well. As ever, it’s my companion on the drive home from work. I like where it is going after Scythe. It’s not a repetition of the first book and it feels fresh. I’m interested to say where events are going to go.

 

Books Discovered

It’s been a week of spending my Audible credits! … Okay, I only had two, but I managed to get a couple of audiobooks in the 2 for 1 sale yesterday and then I spent my last credit today. A bargain is a bargain! So, in yesterday’s sale, I bought Head On by John Scalzi. Whilst not a direct follow-up to Lock In, it includes the same characters and centres around the lives of those with Haden’s Syndrome. I really enjoyed listening to Lock In earlier this year, so it makes sense to listen to Head On too. At the same time I also got a copy of Jack the Ripper: Case Closed by Gyles Brandreth. I have quite a few books based on the murders of Jack the Ripper (that I really need to start reading!). I don’t doubt I’ll enjoy this too. Does that make me weird?!

Today, inspired by my current listen of Thunderhead, I used my last credit to buy the last book in the Arc of a Scythe trilogy, The Toll.

 

Coming Up…

Thankfully this section is going to be a lot easier to write than last week. I know where I am at. I’m conscious that with Blogtober, I posted a lot of discussions posts. To that end, I am going to be sharing a couple of reviews with you in order to catch up!

Tomorrow, I am going to be sharing my thoughts on The Chalk Man with you. I read this back in July in a matter of three days. That’s how much I loved it! That probably gives you an idea of the kind of review it is going to be, but I hope you can check it out!

On Wednesday I am reviewing Allan Walsh’s short story, Making Magic. Thankfully he is very understanding about the postponement and has agreed to a review this week instead.

Friday’s post is the turn of my regular feature, First Lines Friday. I haven’t decided which book I am going to be featuring yet. This is about as spontaneous as I get! It’s as much a surprise to me at the moment, but I hope you like the book I choose to feature!

As I am working on the current posts on my blog, I am also going to keep working to restore my missing posts. You shouldn’t really notice this unless you scroll for it. I’m working backwards and restoring the more recent posts first. I’ll let you know when everything is back as it should be.

 

Top Blog Posts of the Week

Holly Loves Books – Triwizardathon TBR

Misty’s Book Space – My Week In Books

Bibliophagist Reviews – Book Review Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl

 

So, that’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post! What have you been reading this week?

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 3rd November 2019

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Hi everyone and welcome to this week’s Sunday Summary post, albeit a little late! My contract renewal was up for my blog hosting and I did not want to renew the existing contract. Consequently, I’ve had to transfer to a different one, still with the same provider, but it has resulted in some downtime (and losses – but that’s my fault). Apologies! On the plus side, I am saving about £12 a month (they tried to bump my fees up a lot), so it’s worth it!

I hope you have all had a good week? Mine has been a busy, but rewarding one. In addition to being back to work, I have also taken part in no less than four blog tours. Not only that, but I completed Blogtober! It was… an experience. I’m glad I can say that I did it! It was a challenge, compounded by having to prepare a lot of posts in advance of my holiday. I still did it though! It just goes to show how productive I can be when I put my mind to it.

So, what posts have I been sharing this week? I started the week by sharing my Halloween book recommendations in Halloween Horrors post. From H. P. Lovecraft to Stephen King, I am sure the list has something for everyone. Then, blog tour season started on Tuesday with a review of Hallowed Ground by Paul Twivy. I really enjoyed reading this book and the author’s passion for Namibia shines through the narrative.

On Wednesday, I shared my second review of the week, this one for To Snare a Witch by Jay Raven. This is an easy to read novella, seasonably appropriate and only 85 pages long. It’s great if you are looking for a quick read! Thursday’s post was my third review of the week and shared my thoughts on The Haunting of Paradise House by Killian Wolf. Reviewing this on Halloween itself felt really appropriate.

Blogtober was officially over at that point, but there is no rest for the wicked as I had one final blog tour on Friday 1st for After Whorl: Bran Reborn by Nancy Jardine. This second book of the series suited me far better as it has far less of a romantic element.

 

Books Read

This week was understandably less active on the reading front than last. I have had a lot of blog tours to draft posts for, so I’ve only made a little progress on Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky. I’m now 44% through this 720-page epic, so I’ve still managed to read around 160 pages this week. Not my best, but in the circumstances, I’m happy with it. I could have read more if I was in the mood on Saturday night, but I wasn’t. I ended up watching three episodes of Chernobyl instead…

Whilst I was trying to decide what I wanted to do with myself on Saturday, I picked up one of the books due to go onto November’s TBR. I managed to read just over a chapter of Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio before I decided I wasn’t in the mood to read at all. I’ll hopefully be making more progress on this next week.

I’ve listened to Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman on my commute home from work a few times this week. Having listened to Scythe not that long ago, this is really easy to get into and I am really enjoying it so far!

 

Books Discovered

I have got my hands on a few books this week, which is always exciting! I read Daughter of Smoke and Bone on holiday and absolutely loved it, so I treated myself to the next two books in the series from Waterstones.

I also received a copy of The God Game from Gollancz on Friday. Having seen it advertised on Twitter, I was selected to receive a copy to review which is really exciting!

I also bought an e-book copy of The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware, since it was reduced in the Amazon store. I added this book to the TBR a little earlier this year, intending to get my copy nearer the time I planned on reading it. I figured it made sense to pick it up whilst it was only 99p though… so I did!

 

Coming Up…

It’s going to be a little tough trying to organise blog posts for this week with my site being down for the domain transfer, but it is what it is! As soon as my blog goes live again I’ll be posting my reading list for November, whenever that turns out to be.

On Friday I’ll be sharing my next Shelf Control post. I’ll be looking in detail at the next book on my TBR and telling you what interests me about it and why I want to read it. As ever, I’ll then share my next wrap up on Sunday. I’m keeping this quite a light week on blog posts so I can relax a little from Blogtober, as well as catch up with my reading.

So that’s all from me! What have you been reading this week?

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Sunday Summary – 27th October 2019

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Hi everyone and welcome to today’s Sunday Summary post! I have been away from my keyboard for over a week, which has been both nice and very strange. Hopefully, you didn’t notice my absence though, as I scheduled plenty of blog posts to tide you over until my return! Today’s post is going to be a fairly quick one, as I have two week’s worth of content to cover and all the mundane jobs of returning from holiday to deal with too.

Since my last Sunday Summary post, I have published a number of posts as part of Blogtober. I can’t possibly discuss them all individually, but if you want to catch up on any of these posts if you missed them they are listed below: –

 

Books Read

Since my last Sunday Summary post, I spent the week leading up to my holiday making progress with After Whorl: Bran Reborn by Nancy Jardine and Visions of Zarua by Suzanne Rogerson. Most of the week was spent on the latter book in preparation for the blog tour I took part in last Sunday. The majority of my reading has been done this week whilst on holiday. Before going away, I also made the briefest starts on listening to Thunderhead by Neil Shusterman.

My first completed book of the holiday was After Whorl: Bran Reborn, as I read the last third of the book in the first couple of days of the trip. From there, I moved on to Circe by Madeline Miller, which took me around three days to read, on and off, whilst enduring some bad weather. Later in the week, the sun came out and I managed to read Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor in less than two days. Finally, in the last couple of days of the trip, I started reading Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky. As of writing this post, I am 22% through the book and hoping to make further headway with it next week.

 

Books Discovered

I have added a few books to the TBR in the two weeks since my last post. The first of these books is Violet, which I added having read a review of the book. I have also added another book to the TBR following a review by the same blogger, which is Defender by G X Todd. The review I read was for the recent third book in the series, whereas I have added the first book to the TBR.

I have also added The Flood to my TBR, I think from reading a review or seeing it on Goodreads. However, I have done my usual and not made a note of where I have seen it so I’m not 100% sure.

 

Coming Up…

I had all my posts scheduled up until my return from holiday, so I am going to be playing catch up this week to finish off Blogtober and complete the challenge! The vast majority of the posts to the end of the month are book reviews for blog tours I have signed up to… so no pressure!

Tomorrow’s post is called Halloween Horrors – I’ll be sharing some spooky reads I have enjoyed if you are looking for inspiration ahead of Halloween this week. On Tuesday I start my four-day blitz of blog tour reviews, the first being for Hallowed Ground by Paul Twivy. Wednesday’s review will be for To Snare a Witch by Jay Raven and Thursday’s post for The Haunting of Paradise House by Killian Wolf.

By then I am done with Blogtober, however, I have an additional blog tour spot on Friday 1st for After Whorl: Bran Reborn. Then, I’m taking a much-deserved break until my usual round-up of the week next Sunday!

 

What have you been reading recently? Please feel free to drop a comment below!

 

 

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Sunday Summary – 13th October 2019

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Good evening readers! It’s Sunday night again, so you know what time it is… time for my Sunday Summary post!

Even though I have published posts every day this week, I don’t feel that it has been all that stressful. Now that I’m a little ahead of myself and have gotten into the routine of writing more than one post in a sitting, it’s become easier. I’ve also ended up going to two work social events this week, which has probably contributed as well.

What have I been gracing your screens with this week? I began the week with a discussion post about how to write book reviews, and what I think is important to include. In that post, I talk about why I don’t really use a star rating system on my blog and why it is important to express yourself as honestly as you can, even if you don’t love a book. I published another Top Ten Tuesday post (you guessed it, on Tuesday), in which I list what I think are my top ten achievements since starting my blog. When I started the post I imagined it to be a nice, light-hearted one, but it actually ended up quite personal.

Wednesday was the day for me to publish an audiobook review. This week’s subject was a little okay a lot overdue, having finished listening to it over four months ago. The Painted Man by Peter Brett is an enjoyable read (or listen) for fantasy-lovers and you can find all my views in that post. On Thursday I discussed the results of an experiment I conducted at the end of September. If you are a book blogger and want to find out whether paid advertising is really worth it, I strongly recommend you check out my results before you spend your money. Seriously. Know what you are getting yourself into.

On Friday I shared the introduction to last month’s work book club read (that I didn’t get around to… oops!) in my First Lines Friday post. I definitely want to try and read it on holiday though, so fingers crossed I can catch up with it. Then, yesterday, I shared my list of books I wish I had never read. Thankfully, these are very few and far between; there is nothing worse than investing time in books to end up disappointed.

 

Books Read

Between drafting blog posts, meeting friends for lunch, taking part in a Quiz Night and going bowling with my work friends, it’s amazing I have had time to fit in any reading this week! Following on from last week, I started by making progress with The Haunting at Paradise House by Killian Wolf. You can tell I had a busy week as I only really finished this on Friday after bowling. I had only just about started this last week, so I suppose I almost read it all in a few days.

Yesterday I picked up After Whorl: Bran Reborn by Nancy Jardine. This is my last read of the month for which I have an upcoming blog tour. I have already read 36% of the book and found it quite easy to do so. I can’t see that this will take me too long to finish at all. It’s a lot easier to read than The Beltane Choice, in my opinion. It’s definitely more historical fiction than romantic fiction, which I like.

Visions of Zarua is taking me a lot longer to listen to than I would have liked. My blog tour post is coming up pretty imminently, and I still have seven hours left to listen to. I’m going to put some serious time into listening to it next week to have this completed in time to write my review. I have to. It’s not that I’m not enjoying it, because I am, I just don’t listen to audiobooks very quickly.

 

Books Discovered

So, a few books have been added to the TBR this week. My first addition of the week came from a charity stall in my local Tesco, for the benefit of Cancer Research. I managed to pick up a second-hand, but a good-as-new copy of The Forbidden Queen by Anne O’Brien. You can tell it has never been read by the condition of the spine – not only has it not been cracked, it’s not even stretched.

Thanks to Bookbub, I have also added a couple more books by John Marrs to the TBR. I have already added The Good Samaritan to the list. This week, I added When You Disappeared and Her Last Move, because both sound fantastic!

 

Coming Up…

Blogtober continues and I have a mixed line up of posts to keep things fresh for you guys. Here is what to expect popping up in the near future: –

  • Monday 14th October – Quintessential Quotes: Margaret Atwood edition
  • Tuesday 15th October – Top Ten Tuesday: New releases I am excited for
  • Wednesday 16th October – Book Review: Crowfall by Ed McDonald
  • Thursday 17th October – Book Promo: Darkest Hour by Rachel Churcher
  • Friday 18th October – Shelf Control
  • Saturday 19th October – My Holiday Reads
  • Sunday 20th October – Blog Tour: Visions of Zarua by Suzanne Rogerson
  • Monday 21st October – Netgalley: Yay or Nay?
  • Tuesday 22nd October – Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Worlds I Love
  • Wednesday 23rd October – Tips to get out of a reading slump
  • Thursday 24th October – Autumn: The Season of Reading (for me!)
  • Friday 25th October – First Lines Friday
  • Saturday 26th October – Blogging and Social Media
  • Sunday 27th October – Sunday Summary

 

I have lots of blog posts in this week’s list as I am going on holiday very soon! I already have four of these scheduled, with a draft for a fifth post well underway. I’m going to be prepping these posts before I go, with the exception of my Sunday Summary on the 27th. Even if it’s a brief list, I am going to do my best to update you on everything I have been reading in the two weeks since my last summary.

Wish me luck…

 

Top Blog Posts of the Week

It has been a few weeks, but here are a few blog posts I have stumbled across and enjoyed reading this week: –

Nope Book Tag

Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Demon by James Lovegrove Book Review. #BookReview #BookBlogger #BookBloggers #SherlockHolmes @JamesLovegrove7 @TitanBooks @Sarah_Mather_15

Book Review: The Winter Sea

A big bookish discovery

Bookish tattoos and my favourite tv show | The Liebster Award 🌰🍂

What have you been reading this week?

 

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Sunday Summary – 6th October 2019

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My Sunday Summary posts are going to be quite busy for the next few weeks on account of Blogtober. I’m actually feeling quite good about it. At the beginning of the month it felt like a huge challenge, but I have made good progress with it already. That’s not to say it has been easy, but it’s proven how much more productive I can be when I push myself.

Blogtober officially kicked off on Tuesday, and how better than to start the month by sharing my October TBR? It’s one of my longest lists to date, but I am going on holiday shortly and I should be able to get plenty of reading done!

On Wednesday, I shared my thoughts on Thran Book I: The Birth by Brian McLaughlin. I discovered this book through Voracious Readers Only. Then, on Thursday, I published an interview with the author Brian, which accompanies the book well and gives some detail on Brian’s writing process and his advice when it comes to publishing.

Friday’s post is hardly surprising – it was a Shelf Control post featuring a book co-authored by one of my favourite authors. I have already read eighteen of this particular author’s books, compared to only two of his co-author. I am hoping the writing styles of the two complement each other. There’s only one way to find out, right?

Yesterday I published a bit of a fun post, Behind the Scenes: A Day in the Life of a Book Blogger. It gives a little insight into how I work such a time-consuming hobby around a full-time job and what fractional social life I have. Obviously, today, here we are!

 

Books Read

 

In last week’s Sunday Summary post I vowed that I was going to really try to finish Elantris before month-end and that I was going to start listening to Visions of Zarua in the mornings. Well, I achieved one of those things. I finished Elantris on the 1st October, and it did not disappoint! I have loved every Brandon Sanderson novel I have read to date. This was his fifth book, so he’s basically an auto-buy author at this point.

After reading such a lengthy epic, I really fancied picking up something short. To that end, I picked up the shortest book on October’s TBR – To Snare a Witch by Jay Raven. At just over 80 pages, I read this in pretty much one sitting on the 1st October as well.

I picked up Hallowed Ground on Wednesday, the first book on my TBR. I’m still quite a way off my tour date, but I wanted to have it read in good time. All my review tours fall at the end of the month so I had to bear this in mind. I finished Hallowed Ground last night, well in time for the tour date (which makes a change)! Since I am so early, I am tempted to make some notes whilst it is fresh in my head. I also need to add this read to Goodreads, as a record for the book isn’t actually on the site yet.

I have also made a cursory start on The Haunting of Paradise House by Killian Wolf. We’re only talking about 12% off the top of my head. It’s a good start, especially since I am not normally on my third book of the TBR in the first week.

I really need to give myself a kick up the backside when it comes to audiobook progress. Last week I said I was going to start listening to it more, particularly in the morning. That hasn’t consistently happened though. I think I did one day, and that’s it. My review date is getting quite close now, so I am going to have to start listening for an hour a day to have it finished in time to draft my review. Rather than mornings, I’ll see if I can listen to it whilst I am cooking tea, or in the evening before bed. I have to find a way to make it work.

 

Books Discovered

Thankfully I have been too busy to see or hear of anything new. My TBR can breathe a sigh of relief, safe in the knowledge that it isn’t going to collapse under its own weight for another week.

 

Coming Up…

I feel really good about next week since I have blog posts prepared and scheduled up to and including Friday already! Here is the line up for next week’s posts: –

  • Monday 7th October – How to Write Reviews… and how I write mine!
  • Tuesday 8th October  – Top Ten Tuesday: Achievements
  • Wednesday 9th October  – Book Review: The Painted Man – Peter Brett
  • Thursday 10th October – Advertising: Is it worth it?
  • Friday 11th October – First Lines Friday
  • Saturday 12th October – Books I wish I had never read
  • Sunday 13th October – Sunday Summary

So, that’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post. What have you been up to this week? Are you participating in Blogtober? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

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