Sunday Summary – 19th October 2025

Posted on October 19, 2025 by fantasyst95

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?

Sunday Summary – 19th October 2025