Category: sunday summary

Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary – 24th March 2019

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Hello my bookish friends! I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend. What have you been reading? I’ll get onto my bookish adventures in just a moment, but first, let’s talk about the blog posts I’ve published this week.

I began the week by looking at the next five books in my TBR to decide whether they should stay, or go. I like writing Down the TBR Hole posts because more often than not, I forget what is on my list. Even now I am re-considering books that I added to the list a WHOLE YEAR ago. Reading tastes change, so a spring clean is never a bad thing!

On Thursday I published the first of two blog tour posts this month. Life and Other Dreams by Richard Dee is a really compelling read and I recommend it to anyone who likes science-fiction novels. I was also astounded at the number of page views I have gotten out of it – it’s a new record for Reviewsfeed! If you haven’t checked out my review yet, it would gladden my heart.

On a slightly non-bookish topic, before we get down to the usual business, I received something really exciting this week! After doing some copyediting/proofreading bits and pieces here and there, I have signed up to a correspondence course! My materials turned up this week and I am really keen to get stuck in. If I pass (fingers crossed), I will be looking to do a little bit of work freelance. It will be slightly embarrassing if I fail this now, won’t it? Well, there’s my motivation not to fail, haha!

 

Books Read

I’ll be the first person to admit that I’ve had procrastination-head on this week. I don’t like to make excuses, but it’s better than not saying anything. That sounds like I am just fobbing you off. Truth is, I’m a little worried that something might be happening in the near future at work. I might be COMPLETELY wrong (and I hope I am), but I can’t shake the gut feeling I have. It’s been distracting me a lot, and instead of focussing on books I have turned to another hobby of mine; gaming.

It’s nothing fancy, but home is home

I do still have bookish mentions though, because whilst I haven’t read as much as I usually do, I still have. The book I have made the most progress on is Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff. I have gotten into the habit of listening to this in the car on the way to work in the morning. I’m so glad to have gotten back into audiobooks again. Every time I come back to them I curse myself for the break of habit. I actually posted about this last week and I have noticed I used the image of Nevernight instead of Gosdgrave. Apologies!

I wish I had made more progress with A Storm of Swords, but I don’t think reading 80 or so pages is a terrible effort. Okay, I know I can do a lot better than that. It’s better than nothing though, yes?

Lastly, a brief mention of the next book I have picked up, as I have only really read the first chapter. I am reviewing Arbitrage for a blog tour next month. As I already have a lot on my plate next month, I am trying to get ahead. Is it possible to be “getting ahead” when you have so much to catch up on? Aghh…

 

Books Discovered

In slightly better news, I have some exciting Audible purchases and some book mail to share with you all! On Thursday, in addition to my correspondence course material, I also received some awesome book mail! Kindly provided by Gollancz, I have received a copy of The War Within by Stephen Donaldson.

Earlier today I got to spend some of my Audible credits in the sale! Doesn’t everyone love a good deal? I spent one of my credits on Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. I had a chat with a blogger I follow who has recently read this. I’m interested to see what I think of these books to compare with her thoughts. I also spent my second (and last) credit on a pre-order of Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff. I’m a little bit gutted that I am going to have to wait a couple of months to listen to this, truth told. Variety is the spice of life though, so they say. I’ll just have to listen to something else in the meantime.

 

Coming Up…

 

I’m having a little bit of a blogging marathon tonight. As soon as I publish on this post I’ll be drafting the next one! My blog tour post for Psychotopia goes live tomorrow, so I need to get typing fast!

As I desperately need to catch up with some reading, I think my next post will come quite a bit later in the week, Thursday realistically. It’s been a while since I have written a Throwback Thursday mini-review, so perhaps I could publish one of those. It’s an ideal way to discuss books I read before I started my blog nearly two years ago.

 

Top Blog Posts of the Week

 

alittlebutalot – NYA Lit Fest

Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary – 17th March 2019

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What a week it has been! I have been so busy that I feel like a lot has happened. Things have been manic at work as I have been involved with testing a system upgrade. That’s boring news though, so no more work talk! I’ve also had quite a few lunch plans and such this week, and lastly, I went to the closing night of Les Misérables last night. I don’t often make those kinds of trips out, but I really enjoy it when I do!

It’s a good job I only committed to one blog post this week. I think I would have struggled to keep up with my unusually active social life/event calendar. The expression “when it rains, it pours” springs to mind. Taking a break from review posts to talk about how I got into the blogging scene was refreshing. I also enjoyed the opportunity to take a look back at how far I’ve come. I know there are many veteran bloggers out there that will probably laugh at my next statement, but I think it’s true. Two years is a long time to be blogging – and apparently, a lot can happen in that time. I started out a total amateur, but it’s fair to say that I have found my voice now.

 

Books Read

I picked up where I left off last week reading Life and Other Dreams by Richard Dee. I have a blog tour approaching for the book REALLY soon, so this was my priority. Despite the busy schedule, it didn’t take all that long to read this book. The pace of the book is just right and I found it easy to sit and read undisturbed for longer periods of time than I get with other books. It was as much a pleasure to read as it will be to feature it on my blog.

I have devoted the rest of the week to reading as much of A Storm of Swords as I can physically stomach (in between sessions of Minecraft that is – I’ve become a little bit obsessed!) I absolutely adore this series and I cannot get enough of it. It’s a good job they are so long really. I’m always sad to get to the end.

I have been so intermittent with listening to audiobooks lately, but this week I have resumed them once again. I used to get ready in the morning listening to them, but I’m not really awake enough to do that anymore. I don’t know what’s happened to me, but I can’t get up in the mornings like I used to. It’s been going on for months now. Instead, I have taken to listening to them in the car on my drive to work and home again. That alone makes up about an hour a day.

 

Books Discovered

Earlier this week I was in my local Waterstones. My mission: to get some super cute little baby books for an expectant work friend. One sings “The Wheels on The Bus” if you scan a QR code. I’m sure she’ll thank me later.

Or, maybe not! Haha!

You can probably work out where this is going. I came out with a little something for me too. I’m working on building my paperback collection of these, so why not get the next one? That’s what I reasoned at the time – so I did it!

 

Coming Up…

I am back to my usual blogging schedule this week. I have had a wee bit of a breather to let my hair down (and get some reading done too, obviously…) so time to jump back in! I’ll be sharing another Down the TBR Hole post early in the week, as I have my blog tour stop for Life and Other Dreams on Thursday. I hope you have the time to check these posts out!

In terms of reading, I have now received an ARC I have been waiting for. This week’s focus is to read Arbitrage by Colette Kebell and continue on with A Storm of Swords and Nevernight.

 

Top Blog Posts of the Week

 

ityreadsbooks –Book vs. Ebook – Which is better?

Facing the Story –Studious Saturday: exploring bookshops in Glasgow

Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary – 10th March 2019

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Sunday evenings present a certain level of dread when thinking about the week ahead. That’s why I always do my best to try and look back at the better parts of the week past. It’s a fun distraction at the very least. I also love to talk about all things bookish with you guys, so it’s a win-win situation!

So, I am going to ignore the impending doom of a busy week ahead and instead reflect on what I have already achieved. On Tuesday I published a Top Ten Tuesday post, listing a number of books across genres that I would personally recommend to readers. I’ll admit there is a bit of a bias towards fantasy books (they are my favourite after all) but I have tried to include genres like historical fiction and horror as well. Then, yesterday I published my review of the second book in Edward Cox’s The Relic Guild series, The Cathedral of Known Things.

On a non-bookish note, I have also re-discovered my love of Minecraft! After a long time, I have started playing again. I’d forgotten how much I love to hate those damn creepers… especially when they blow up a spawner conveniently located under the surface in spitting distance from your base…

 

Books Read

This week didn’t really get off to the best of starts – I basically sleep-walked through Monday. At 12:25am on Monday morning I had to get medical help for a neighbour of mine. I’m not going to go into any detail because that isn’t really the crux of my point. What I am getting at is that I went through the day at work on about three and a half hours sleep.

Fun. Not.

In whiling away the night (I didn’t get to sleep for a good few hours after the aforementioned incident), I picked up A Storm of Swords again. This is a long book and it’s one I am doing my best to chip away at whilst I read the other books on my list. It’s time will come, but I need to get my blog tour reads out of the way first.

My main goal of the week was to finish The End of Magic by Mark Stay, which I managed to do quite early on. Once you get so far in a book it’s actually quite easy to finish it. I’ve been reading this one in conjunction with another ARC, meaning it’s taken a little longer than it would if I was putting 100% into it. It was really enjoyable though, and a unique take on a fantasy book that I haven’t seen.

Speaking of which, I managed to pick up and read Psychotopia by R. N. Morris in a few days. It feels like I haven’t achieved that in a while, so that’s given me a bit of a boost. It was only after I read it that I realised that is actually my second blog tour of the month. I should have read Life, and Other Dreams by Richard Dee first. Never mind, I’ve also made progress on that too (21%). If I keep up my current pace I should have that read pretty quickly too.

 

Books Discovered

I have added a book to the TBR this week, but I don’t feel all that bad about it because it follows on from one of my Top Ten Recommendations. Code Name Verity is a historical fiction novel that I really enjoyed. Until writing my post, I had completely forgotten that there was a second book – Rose Under Fire.

It’s on the list now!!

I’m trying to keep my additions to the TBR to a minimum, in the hope that I can tackle it a bit better. That being said, a work friend is due to have a baby soon. Me being me, I am going to gift her some books for the little one. It’s rare that I can walk out of a bookshop empty handed…

 

Coming Up…

In an attempt to catch up with some reading I am only going to publish two posts next week. Not only do I have an ARC to finish proofreading, but I am also reading one of the longest books in the Song of Ice and Fire series. I need all the help I can get.

In addition to the usual Sunday Summary, I have decided to talk a little about how I came to start this blog. It’s something I have mentioned in snippets of blog posts here and there, but I want to dedicate a post to it and how I think it has progressed from there. Next month I reach my two-year blogiversary. It’s as good a time as any to look back at the journey.

 

Top Blog Posts of the Week

Book Bosomed Blonde – Book Review: Six of Crows

Books and Nuggets – Weekly Reads

Live and Deadly – The Taking of Annie Thorne by C.J. Tudor @cjtudor @JennyPlatt90 @MichaelJBooks #TakingofAnnieThorne #bookreview

BbookInspector – #BlogTour #BookReview The Taking of Annie Thorne By C.J. Tudor @MichaelJBooks

 

Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary – 3rd March 2019

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It’s time for the Sunday Summary (aka weekly wrap-up) again guys! Have you had a good reading week?

My week had quite a good start really. Last week I failed in writing my review of A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. I really thought I was going to struggle. How do you even manage to start such an epic task? I did just fine though – in fact, I had to stop myself else I’d have been waffling nonsense! If you already love the book I would love to hear what you think about it as well!

Yesterday, again later than scheduled, I published my reading list for March. It was a little bit rushed to publish that post since I left it so late. I ended up spending a lot longer at a work social on Friday than I expected.

 

Books Read

My primary focus this week ended up being a little different than planned. I had hoped to finish Ewan Pendle and the Castle of Nightmares, but as I am proofreading as well as reading for review, this is quite an intensive task. I haven’t gotten very much sleep this week on account of a neighbour’s loud television at all hours of the night. Literally, 24/7. Put it this way, yesterday was my first opportunity to catch up on the much-needed sleep. I woke up at 11:45 am – much later than my 8:30 am alarm! Eek!

So, my head hasn’t been in the right place for proofreading. Instead, I decided to focus my attention on the last book on my February list, The End of Magic by Mark Stay. I started this book from scratch this week and I’m currently at 67%. I haven’t been reading at my best speed (for reasons mentioned above, as well as being out for lunch twice, staying late at work for an hour on Wednesday AND a work social on Friday), but I’m hoping to really make a push to have these two books read soon!

You may recall that I mentioned a book called Copyediting and Proofreading for Dummies in last week’s Sunday Summary post. Well, I was able to pick that up on Thursday. Naturally, my curious self couldn’t help but have a little nosy at a few chapters. There is no such thing as just looking at a few pages now…

 

Books Discovered

Out of the blue, I received a book recommendation by a friend yesterday, which was nice! She is one of my more bookish friends from school and I think we have similar tastes. She describes Gormenghast as “a brilliantly written, funny and macabre fantasy with lush descriptions and distinct characters”. The funniest part is that apparently, one character acts just like someone we both went to school with and the book “voices exactly why he was so irritating”.

I couldn’t possibly say no to that recommendation. I always try to credit them when I receive them, so thank you to my friend Alice @amjlawrence

 

Coming Up…

Before I even begin to tackle March’s reading list, priority number one is to finish February’s reads. Now that the pressure at work is off and I can hopefully get some sleep, I am really going to push finishing reading Ewan Pendle and the Castle of Nightmares and The End of Magic by midweek.

In terms of blog posts, I have decided to post another Top Ten Tuesday this week. It’s been a month since the last one, to the day. This month, my post will be all about my top ten book recommendations.

Later in the week, I’ll be dropping another review your way. This one is for The Cathedral of Known Things by Edward Cox, book two in the Relic Guild series. I am really looking forward to concluding the series by reading The Watcher of Dead Time later this month. This will be a great opportunity to conclude my thoughts about that book before I delve into the next!

 

 

Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary – 24th February 2019

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Happy Sunday folks! How has your reading week been?

Mine has been reasonable, although I have had a few bits and pieces to take care of here at home as well. Last weekend I re-painted my bedroom in anticipation for some new furniture arriving on Friday. I am glad I did – there is no way on this Earth I can move the new wardrobe, but I am very impressed with how it looks!

As a consequence of the upheaval from re-decorating and changing furniture, I spent a fair bit of time just getting the place back in order this week. I was off work on Friday and managed to get a fair bit of reading done, but not as much as I would have liked. After the new wardrobe arrived I had to tidy up, “move in” and inevitably had a bit more of a clear out.

In addition to the promised Down the TBR Hole post, I also told you that I was going to be publishing a review of A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. Unfortunately, due to the above and currently completing a proofread, I didn’t get around to that review. Apologies!

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Books Read

The majority of this week has been dedicated to reading (and proofreading) Ewan Pendle and the Castle of Nightmares by Shaun Hume. I have enjoyed putting the time into this book this week and have jumped from 10% to 73%. I am hoping to finish this within the next few days and offer my feedback to the author shortly!

In addition to Ewan Pendle’s adventures, I have been interspersing my reading of that book with a few more chapters of A Storm of Swords. 13% doesn’t sound like much, but it is well over a hundred pages of this epic tome. I’m happy to just keep chipping away at this one in between current reads at the moment. It’s going to take a while to read…

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Books Discovered

Technically I don’t have ownership of this book yet, but yesterday I ordered myself a practical book. Following my recent proofreading experience, I have taken a bit of an interest in the job and would like to learn a little more about it. If it’s feasible, I might consider proofreading or copyediting freelance in addition to my day job. So, I’ve ordered Copyediting and Proofreading for DUMMIES by Suzanne Gilad.

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Coming Up…

To make good on my promise last week, I’ll be posting my review of A Game of Thrones in the next few days. It is only fair after all. How I am even going to begin such a mammoth task is, for the moment, beyond me. I’ll find a way. I always do.

Before we know it, February has been and gone and it’s time for a new reading list. I am taking part in three Blog Tours in March and I cannot wait to share the details with you! My post will be going live on Friday.

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Top Blog Posts of the Week

I’m a terrible person and I’ll be the first to admit it here, but I haven’t read any other blogs this week AT ALL!! Such a slacker, I know! I’m sorry folks… I’ll be back on it next week!

If you have some really awesome links you would like me to read in the meantime, you are more than welcome to share them below! Pretty please 🙂

Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary – 17th February 2019

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Writing my Sunday Summary post this week is a job I have been looking forward to. Why? Because it’s been a very busy weekend here and I am grateful for something I can do SITTING DOWN!!! Haha!

On account of being a little bored of the decor in my bedroom and knowing that I am having some new furniture delivered very soon, I decided it deserved a new lick of paint. I only decided to follow through with my whimsical fancy just over a week ago and now it’s a reality! I’m glad I’ve done it, although I can’t say I enjoyed the doing of it too much. I’ve found muscles I never knew I had…

Consequently, I have only managed to do a little bit of book reading this weekend. I had a pretty good week though, so I can’t grumble. In terms of blog posts published this week, I shared my review of Karma Never Loses an Address by K. J. McGillick as part of the organised tour by Rachel’s Random Resources. Later in the week, I published a very long outstanding review of Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett.

 

Books Read

 

I started the week by going back to a book that I carried over from January. Technically it was a last minute addition for the remaining days of the month, but still, I am glad I managed to finish it in good time. It was my first library loan and non-fiction book of the year, Mythos by Stephen Fry.

In October last year, I had the pleasure of reading Breachers by Anthony Thomas. Following that review, I was invited to read a short, two chapter sample of the second book to offer feedback on. It was such a tease for the rest of the book – I just can’t wait!

Next on my list is an ARC that I have had for a little while, Ewan Pendle and the Castle of Nightmares. In much the same vein as Breachers Book 2, the author has asked me for feedback on this book. His first book of the series was one of the very first I reviewed on my blog nearly two years ago (where the devil did that time go?!). I’m about 10% through at the moment. It will be interesting to see what adventures await Ewan in this second instalment.

My fandom for A Game of Thrones has already got me started on the first few chapters of A Storm of Swords. I can’t help picking these books up in between other readings. Since I’m counting down the days to Season 8 on the TV now, which is probably driving my obsession!

I may not have gotten much reading done (in the conventional sense) this weekend, but I did re-discover my love of audiobooks! First, I listened to an audible original drama based on The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Fun fact: The War of the Worlds was the first ever e-book I read when I got my first Kindle many, many moons ago. After that, I picked up with Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff. Thankfully, despite it being months since I last listened to the book, I have actually remembered what is going on so I haven’t had to start again. Result! I need to get back into listening to this regularly.

 

Books Discovered

I’ve really put my blinkers on at the moment because I already have a huge pile of books to get through. Not only that, I am really trying to save money this year, so less haphazard spending. Yes, that includes books too…

 

Coming Up…

 

down the tbr holeSpeaking of my existing large pile of books, I think it’s time I go through that again. With all my blog tour obligations, it’s been a while since I sifted through the TBR. With that in mind, I’ll make that Tuesday’s endeavour!

 

 

In line with my current obsession, the next book on my list to review is none other than A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. I have absolutely no idea where to even start with such a task, but I have to try. I’ll probably just end up ranting about how amazing it is, but I’ll try to give it some honest, constructive and coherent critique.

 

 

 

 

Top Blog Posts of the Week

 

Kaylsallbooked – Unboxing | Alchemy & Ink’s Wicked & Scarred Mini Box!

Zooloo’s Book Diary – #BookReview of Karma Never Loses an Address by K.J. McGillick @KJMcGillickAuth @rararseources #LiesandMisdirections – Zooloo’s Book Diary

A Reading Brit –Lord of the Rings Films Vs. Audiobooks

Reading Sumpton – Bookstagram Behaviours That Are Making You Look Like An Idiot

 

Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary – 10th February 2019

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This week’s Sunday Summary is going to be written with a little haste, so apologies if you feel short-changed. I’m hoping not to compromise on the usual standards, but I have two posts to draft tonight instead of just one. I have coffee and determination – what else do I need?

Before I look ahead even into the next few hours though, let’s look back at what I have managed to achieve!

On Tuesday I published a fun post discussing my Bookish Pet Peeves. Cracked book spines and noise disturbances are just two of the things that make that list. What are your bookish pet peeves?

On Thursday I sort of cheated, but for a very good reason! Last year I won the opportunity to read an ARC copy of The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. I fell in love with the book immediately and I don’t think I have managed to read anything so fast since! After months of waiting, Thursday 7th was publication day for the book. With that in mind, I re-published my review of the book.

Saturday saw an epic blog post by usual standards, as I reviewed three books in Tom Trott’s Brighton’s No.1 Private Detective series. I was kindly invited to the blog tour by Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources and I am glad I took part. Although, reading and reviewing those books in one post is no mean feat!

 

Books Read

 

This week has been all about the last minute reading for two blog tours I signed up for – Brighton’s No.1 Private Detective series and Karma Never Loses an Address (more on this later!). Taking on both of these tours within a matter of days was always going to be a challenge, but one I relished.

I started the week with about 25% progress already clocked on It Never Goes Away. I managed to finish this on the 6th February, a few days ahead of the tour. Thankfully I had some time to get my thoughts together for that post.

I haven’t been quite so lucky with Karma Never Loses an Address. I’ve finished the book in time for the tour, but admittedly I only finished it this morning. I had hoped to make significantly more progress (if not finish the book) yesterday, but I just wasn’t in the right headspace. Never mind – it’s not the end of the world!

 

Books Discovered

I have succumbed to a temptation that I have been trying to moderate for a while. My love of A Game of Thrones is hardly a secret here at Reviewsfeed. On Thursday I decided that enough was enough – I have had my heart set on buying paperback versions of the books for a while.

I’ve started the collection at least! I’m only one book in so far. A Clash of Kings was regrettably out of stock… otherwise I might have bought that too. They had the later books of the series in stock, but I suppose you could say I am slightly OCD in admitting that I want to buy them in the right order. I’m in no rush either – I’m trying to save money so buying A Game of Thrones was a small indulgence that won’t break the bank.

 

Coming Up…

 

So I guess I have been hinting at it during my post, but I have a very imminent blog tour coming up. Yes, I am reviewing Karma Never Loses an Address as part of the Blog Tour tomorrow. I’m furiously typing this post here and now so I have time to put together my post in time for the morning. It’s funny what you can do when you know you need to get a wriggle on! I think this has to be the fastest I have ever drafted a Sunday Summary post!

 

 

 

 

All rushing aside, later in the week I have more time to play with. I’ve been looking back at the books I have read and realised I am WAY overdue reviewing Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett. I’m going to have to cast my mind back to mid-October for this review. Oops! I hate leaving it so long because quite often you forget details. I’m going to do my best though!

 

 

 

 

Top Blog Posts of the Week

Jenacide by Bibliophile – Cover Reveal: Soul Seeker: Hell at Halfingdon Asylum (Book 9) by Alice J. Black

Audio Killed the Bookmark – I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella @KinsellaSophie @randomhouse #bookreview #ioweyouone

India Reads – Obsidio Review

Not Another Book Blogger – My Week In Books (10th Feb)

Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary – 3rd February 2019

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It’s Sunday night again! Just where does the time go? I hope you have all had a good week!

I jumped into this one eagerly with a Blog Blitz tour, organised by Rachel’s Random Resources, for Black Matter by G. D. Parker. I had the pleasure of publishing my review of the book on publication day; it was great to hear from the author how overwhelmed he was at the positive reception the book received. If that isn’t the reason to take part in these tours, then I don’t know what is!

Before we knew it February rolled around, breaking the miserable January spell. You know what that means – a new Reading List! If you haven’t checked out which blog tours I’m taking part in and what I am reading aside from that, you can do so by following the link.

 

Books Read

 

I didn’t quite hit my target of 50% for Choose Your Parents Wisely last Sunday. I was tired, so I went to bed just a little short of my goal. It was a school night after all… PLEASE DON’T JUDGE ME!!  I made up for the lack of progress earlier this week though; I finished it in time for month end!

I’ve also made more progress on Mythos by Stephen Fry, but this has had to go on the backburner for a bit! I have a number of blog tours coming up in the next week or so and my reading for those takes priority. I’m at about 25% already though, which I don’t think is bad-going considering this was an eleventh hour pick up.

One such blog tour that takes priority over Mythos is that for the Detective series by Tom Trott. Those of you that follow my blog will know that I have been reading the first two books over the past couple of weeks or so. I’ve scheduled It Never Goes Away, the third book in the series, for my first read of February. I’m at 25% at the moment and I’ll be making a huge push to get this read in the next couple of days. That blog tour is fast approaching and I’m all too aware of that fact!

 

Books Discovered

I’ve been stashing up Audible credits for months now because I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with them. Then an idea came to me – I had just enough to get all the audiobooks for The Song of Ice and Fire series! Naturally, once the idea struck me there was no talking myself out of it. They are not a discovery, per se, but additions to the collection nonetheless.

 

Coming Up…

toptentuesdayI’m going to have a lot of reviews popping up on my blog this week, so to start things off lightly, I’ve decided to kick off the week with a Top Ten Tuesday post. I’m hoping I manage to pull this one off quite humorously rather than just negative, because I am going to be discussing my bookish pet peeves. We all have them, don’t we? If you want to know what gets my goat then stick around for this fun post!

 

I am really excited for the publication day of The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides later this week! I had the opportunity to read and review this ahead of publication. If there is one thing to take away from my review, it is my insistence that you read it yourself. Do it. If you love crime fiction, then do it. Now. I read this book in less than 24hrs, if that tells you anything about how I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN!! Ahem. So, to celebrate publication day, I am going to be re-sharing my review of the book.

 

 

 

 

Finally, on Saturday, I am taking part in what will probably the longest book tour post to date. My reading of Tom Trott’s crime detective series will finally bear fruit. I hope you can check out my post when it goes live! I have already recommended the series to a few work colleagues and local folks in book-related groups.

 

Top Blog Posts of the Week

 

Spasciuti –Two Truths and a Lie in Books, An Update

Misty’s Book Space –Pet Sematary by Stephen King

Nikki’s Novel Niche – Most Anticipated February Releases – #NewRelease #bookrelease #bookblitz

Jacks Bedtime Reading – Five book series that should be TV shows

Recipeandaread – Book Tag: My Perfect Library!

cover2covermom – February 2019 TBR

Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary – 27th January 2019

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Happy weekend everyone! I hope you’ve had a good one! It’s time to take a look back at my week in books:-

My first blog post of the week was the Coffee Book Tag. I loved the idea so much, I had to do it for myself. If you haven’t read it yet or would like to have a go, then count this as a TAG for you to do it! If you do, I would love to see your answers to the questions!

On Saturday I shared my review of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It’s such a classic that most people know it even if they haven’t read it themselves. This was actually my first time reading it – I never got the opportunity to at school. I was reading books like 1984 or Of Mice and Men instead (also very good reads). I have come to appreciate them a lot more in adulthood I have to say.

 

Books Read

It’s been a busy, busy week guys! I feel like I have made so much progress, I cannot begin to express how happy I am about it! I’ve gotten myself into a right reading blitz… so much so that I am likely to have read an extra book by month end!

My reading goal from last week was to set aside A Clash of Kings in favour of You Can’t Make Old Friends and Choose Your Parents Wisely by Tom Trott. I picked up You Can’t Make Old Friends on Tuesday and I finished it on Thursday, which is a result. I’m currently 35% through Choose Your Parents Wisely, with more progress to be made tonight to get myself to the target of 50%.

I must confess I was kidding myself in saying that I could put aside A Clash of Kings. I was at the battle of the Blackwater; it’s one of the most exciting bits. Of course, I carried on reading it, but at least not to the detriment of the other books to read. I actually managed to finish A Clash of Kings on Friday, which is even better!

As hinted above, I have also started another book to round up the month. Do you remember my 2019 resolution to try and read more non-fiction? Well, having mooched around my library for some time for inspiration, I picked up Mythos by Stephen Fry. This is the second book of his I have picked up; I love his narrative voice and his ability to recount the Greek myths, so far, is phenomenal. It’s comical as well, making it all the more palatable.

 

Books Discovered

Technically I only have the one addition to the TBR, which is Mythos. I’ve already told you about that though, so let’s move swiftly onwards…

 

Coming Up…

So, what can you expect on the blog next week?

 

Well actually, I’m such a good egg that I already have tomorrow’s post lined up and scheduled! That doesn’t happen very often… I’ll tell you that for free! As part of the publication day blog blitz, I have read and reviewed Black Matter by G.D. Parker. It’s a fast-paced crime novel that centres on technology and the ability to use it against those that use it. I really enjoyed reading it; I hope you enjoy my review just as much tomorrow

 

 

 

Later in the week, I’ll be putting together my Reading List for February. I say putting it together – to be honest, it’s almost set in stone as it is. I have a couple of blog tours coming up in February and one of those is for three books. Two days later I am set to review a fourth. I’ve been very busy on the tour front lately, but I actually quite enjoy it. In addition to those tours, I have two books to read that I have been approached with independently and an extract from another book to beta read. I may add one more book to the list, but aside from that, I’m booked out!

 

As for reading progress, I would love to finish Choose Your Parents Wisely by Tuesday, but Wednesday at the latest. That still grants me a couple of days to work on Mythos for the end of the month. I want to have that one finished by the end of the week as well. As it’s a library loan, I don’t want to hold on to it for too long. Before the week is out, regardless of progress with Mythos, I have to start It Never Goes Away by Tom Trott. This is the third book of the crime series I have been reading lately, making up my triad of books for review next month. It’s a short deadline to get this read in time, so I can’t delay starting this one!

 

Top Blog Posts of the Week

Do you recall last week I announced that I was adding a section to my Sunday Summary posts? Well, this is it! In a bid to get me to read other people’s blogs more and to recognise some lovely faces (old and new) in the blogging community, I’ll be providing links to blog posts I really enjoyed reading this week: –

India Reads – The Fellowship of the Ring Review

The Book Instruments – Bookish Tattoos

Bookish Worlds – Godsgrave

Reads, Reacts, Reviews – The Tattooist of Auschwitz – Heather Morris

Paper Royalty Blog – Three Bookish Things Tag

 

What have you been reading this week? Have you read any of the books I discuss? What did you think of them? I would love to hear from you!

Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary – 20th January 2019

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Doesn’t the weekend roll around so fast? One minute it’s Friday and I’m celebrating freedom for a couple of days. The next minute, I’m sat here with a cup of coffee, writing my Sunday Summary! Can three-day weekends PLEASE be a thing? I’d get more reading done that way.

Have you had a busy week? I sure did! My first post of the week was also my first Blog Tour for the year. I began reading The Road to Alexander by Jennifer Macaire in December, quite early on. However, after an unanticipated event my blogging schedule went out of the window. I picked up my reading again in the New Year and made sure this was well read in time for the tour. If you haven’t seen my post yet, you can read my review of The Road to Alexander using the link provided.

Later on in the week I tackled the onerous task of choosing which books made the Top Ten in 2018. I was doing some background work for that post when I discovered Goodreads hadn’t included 4 books towards my reading challenge. So, it turns out I actually read 50 books in 2018! That’s a lot better than I anticipated! Choosing my Top Ten Reads of 2018 was just as hard as I thought it was going to be… but I did it!

 

Books Read

I’ve done as well as I expected on the reading front this week. In last week’s Sunday Summary post I set myself a reading target of 75% progress with A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin. I’m currently at 71% as we speak, but as I’ll be reading before I go to bed I fully expect to surpass that.

I wanted to make good progress with A Clash of Kings this week as I have a few blog tours coming up. I’m going to have to almost set it aside for now, as I have two books to read for a blog tour next month. If I manage to read those quickly then I’ll be in good stead to try to finish this book for the end of the month. That’s the aim, but we’ll see how that works out in practice.

 

Books Discovered

I have added two books to the TBR this week – The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg and Age of Assassins by R. J. Barker.

I’ve made myself a pledge to try and borrow more books from the library this year. I am in the habit of just buying what I want, which kind of defeats the object of being a member of a library! So, I was good. I haven’t bought these two. It may also have something to do with it being the last week of January before pay day and I am skint… but my point stands. I need to borrow books instead of just buying them outright!

 

Coming Up…

As I mentioned above, I am temporarily setting aside A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin; I have two books for an upcoming blog tour to read. This week, I’ll be reading You Can’t Make Old Friends and Choose Your Parents Wisely by Tom Trott. My aim is to have finished the first book of the series and be at least half way through the second by this time next week.

 

Whilst reading other people’s blogs this week I came across The Book Prescription’s Coffee Book Tag and I thought would be fun to do. I love books and I love coffee, so I am all up for this tag haha!

 

 

Later on in the week, I’ll be reviewing a classic I read towards the end of the year – Fahrenheit 451. I cannot imagine a world without books and that is exactly the premise of this tale. The book had been on my reading list for a while; after getting a little reward from work, I decided to use it to get myself a copy. Fahrenheit 451 is a book I’ll keep and re-read again and again, so I am glad I own this one. I can’t wait to share my views with you all.

 

I am going to start a new feature from next week in my Sunday Summary posts. I’m incredibly hit and miss with reading other blogs (sorry!). So, in order to recognise other bloggers great posts and to make sure I read them, I’ll be linking some favourite posts of the week from other bloggers that I think you might enjoy. I hope you do!

That’s all from me for now folks – wishing you a good week filled with great books! Happy reading!