Tag: A Darkness at Sethanon

Monthly Wrap-Up – February 2025

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We’re now two full months into 2025. I want to get in nice and early with my monthly wrap-up for February to update you on the books I picked up, and in some cases put down, during the last month.

One of my main reading goals for February was to pick up books around the theme of Black History Month. Not all of my books fit into this category, as they were either carryovers from January or I had to read them for other commitments. How I did with February’s TBR surprised me; there were books I wasn’t sure about that but I’ve gone on to really enjoy, yet equally there are books I thought I’d get on with, but didn’t. 

Shall we get into this monthly wrap-up so you can see just how this month has gone?

Books Read


A Darkness at Sethanon

A Darkness at Sethanon was a carryover from January‘s TBR. I was just a couple of chapters in at the point of setting this book on my February monthly TBR.

Admittedly, I didn’t get much further than that before I put it down. Although I had recapped myself on events so far in the series, I was struggling to get into it. If I’m entirely honest, I didn’t love the books before this one. They were okay to read, but I didn’t have any burning desire to pick up this last instalment. If anything, I was motivated to try so I could mark the series as complete.

However, I decided it wasn’t worth slogging through this book in order to give myself that accolade. I have now finished this series, but it has a DNF as opposed to a completion.


Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia

A few weeks ago, I started listening to Fearing the Black Body. I ended up listening to this audiobook over the course of a weekend. I didn’t expect to love this book in the way that I did. It was really interesting, and I liked how the book was broken down and considered different ideas and arguments. I wouldn’t say this book is to be taken as gospel. However, it does consider some interesting ideas on why racism could play a role in our current culture’s fat phobia.

I wouldn’t describe this as a book that I would typically read. However, I’m glad I did. It’s a good way to get an alternate perspective on things, as well as consider things from a non-racial perspective as well. In addition to the race argument, the author also offers religion as a possible source of some of the negativity around larger bodies too.


A Promised Land

The second audiobook I picked up this month, and admittedly I’m still reading as of this monthly wrap-up post, is A Promised Land by Barack Obama. If there’s one book on this TBR I thought I was at risk of DNFing, it was this one. In truth, it’s one of the books I’m enjoying the most this month.

Politics is a subject that is out of my comfort zone. My overarching opinion generally of politicians is that they don’t achieve anything for the masses. instead, they use their office to promote their own self interest. I can be forgiven for this view when you consider the amount of cronyism that gets highlighted on the news.

So far, I don’t find Barack to be your typical politician. My overall perception of Barack Obama when he was in office was that he was a decent president.

Listening to his book, I still have this view. I’ve enjoyed listening to some of his insights on what his priorities were as a president. He also covers a number of different unplanned situations he had to deal with in office.

Naturally, this book is far more involved to the likes of Michelle Obama’s Becoming in describing the politics of his life. He’s not averse to making jabs here and there against other parties and individuals, but for the most part I’m getting on with the book well.

The only reason I’m still listening to this audiobook at the end of February is because it is so long! The audiobook is just over 29 hours long. As a drafting this post, I have just under 12 and a half hours left to listen to.


In Every Mirror She’s Black

Another read I intended to complete as part of this February TBR relating to Black History Month is In Every Mirror She’s Black. A few years ago I acquired my copy of the book in a Waterstones sale after Christmas. I liked the sound of the book and I thought it was going to have something quite prominent to say when it comes to race – how seemingly different black women end up experiencing the same treatment in life.

However, having gotten a third into this book, I still couldn’t tell where the storyline was intending to take us or what message it was trying to put out. So, I decided to DNF it. I was bored. The plot was meandering between the three female perspectives and not really giving any context as to what it was trying to say. Nothing significant was happening and I wasn’t enjoying reading it.

It’s a shame, because I think it could’ve been a good book if it started to get to its point a little quicker.


The Da Vinci Code

If you are a regular reader, you will know that I host a book club at work. We meet once a month, typically towards the end of a month, and discuss a book of a members choice.

A couple of months ago, we came up with the idea of reading The Da Vinci Code. Some members had already read the book a long time ago, whereas others like myself had not read it before. It sounded like a good book for discussion, so we decided to pick that up.

I’m sorry to say that I didn’t like this one either. I read 29% of the book before I DNF this one too. Whilst I enjoyed the ideas of symbolism and the murder mystery aspect of the storyline, I felt overall that it was a very pretentious book. There is a lot of detail on symbolism and at times, I felt the narrative was talking down to me to have to explain some of it. I also found the idea of these clues being left for Robert too far-fetched.

In principle, one of the characters had approximately 15 minutes to lay down all these clues before he passed away from a fatal injury in order to point Robert to his murderer. After discussions with another book club member, there are perhaps reasons why this was plausible for the character to do given his position and preplanning for such an eventuality. However, it just felt far-fetched to me and I wasn’t a fan of the tone of the book.


Children of Virtue and Vengeance

Lastly, we get to the final book of my February TBR, Children of Virtue and Vengeance. I am still reading this book as of publishing this monthly wrap-up post, but I confess I’m not loving this one either. At this point, I don’t think it’s the fault of the book, but more to do with the fact that I’m in a reading funk.

As of this monthly wrap up post, I’m 20% into the book and I’m going to keep going with it for now. I probably not help myself in that it’s been a good number of years since I read the first book of the series. I have recapped myself on events, But leaving it so long is probably acting as a blocker helping me immerse myself back into the storyline.


Summary

It’s fair to say that reading progress in February didn’t end up going so well. Whilst I have read some enjoyable books in the month, I DNF’d three books – basically half the list!

I may need to reconsider my reading plans for March to help get myself out of whatever reading funk I’m in right now.

Thanks for reading today’s monthly wrap-up! Have you read any great books recently that you can recommend to help?

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Sunday Summary – 9th February 2025

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It’s the end of the week, friends, so it can only mean that it’s time for my regular Sunday Summary update. As always, I hope you’ve had a great week and are looking forward to the next!

What have I been up to this week? I’ve only posted two out of the three blog posts I planned up until this Sunday Summary. The first of those posts was my monthly TBR for February. If you’re intrigued to see which books I’ve got lined up for the month, take a look. 

Next, I shared a review of a young adult science-fiction novel told in a mixed-media format. If you have yet to read Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman, I set out in this post why you should!

I was supposed to post a First Lines Friday later in the week. However, I confess I didn’t get time to draft this beforehand, and I was out with friends on Friday night until about 9:30 p.m. After that, I didn’t have much time at home before going to bed ready for an early start the next day. I didn’t want to spend that time blogging and not with Shane; having not seen him all day already, that would’ve been selfish. So, you’ll just have to hang on till next week for that post.


Books Read


A Darkness at Sethanon

I confess that I’ve barely picked up A Darkness at Sethanon by Raymond E. Feist this week.

If I’m entirely honest, the introduction hasn’t gripped me in the way I’d hoped. Combine that with a fairly neutral opinion of the series as a whole, and you’ll maybe see why I’ve not had the same drive to pick it up.

On the one hand, I am not prepared to abandon it entirely yet. I’ve not given it a good chance to get going, but also it would mean abandoning a series with just one book left. Instead, I think I will pick up something else in the meantime and try and come back to A Darkness at Sethanon.

 

A Promised Land

Better progress has been made with A Promised Land by Barack Obama. On the one hand, this is surprising. I’m not one for taking an interest in politics or going out of my way to read about it. However, I’m making an exception for Barack Obama. I like him on the whole, and I also like this as an audiobook because Barack narrates it himself.

It feels so much more like an intimate story of being told about his life as opposed to it being narrated to me impartially by someone else. I’m glad I picked this up in audio format as it’s the kind of content I can listen to quite easily.

Over the course of the week, I have listened to just under four hours of his book so far. It’s a 29-hour affair in total, so I still have a long way to go! However, I’m engaged, and that was always going to be the deciding factor in whether I stuck with A Promised Land or not.


In Every Mirror She’s Black

Instead of A Darkness at Sethanon, I picked up and read the first 30 pages of In Every Mirror She’s Black this evening. Broadly speaking, I’m getting on better with it. I’m still just getting introduced to the characters and what is going on; but I’m intrigued by the overlap in each of the three main character storylines and where they will progress.

Obviously, just scratching the surface of this book, there is very little I can say right now. What I will say is that this book is going to be my priority over the next week. Maybe then I’ll pick up A Darkness at Sethanon for a second go.


Books Discovered

Since I have acquired a number of books lately, I’ve behaved and not added to the TBR this week.


Coming Up…

The first post of next week will be a book tag which centres on my TBR! Just about everyone knows it’s long enough to warrant some attention. It’ll be nice to post something lighthearted and fun too!

This week’s planned First Lines Friday will be coming to you best week instead. It would be cheesy and difficult for me to try and find a Valentine’s-themed book. But hey, maybe that’s a challenge I can take on? I might struggle, but I’ll have a go.

Finally, I’ll be back with another Sunday Summary update post for you. Fingers crossed I’ll have more in the way of reading updates for you ☺️

Thanks for reading today’s Sunday Summary update! Have a great week, and I’ll see you in the next one.

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Sunday Summary – 2nd February 2025

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In today’s Sunday Summary, I have plenty of reading updates for you! I can’t wait to share that progress with you. Before that, though, let’s take a look at the blog posts I’ve shared so far this week.

My first post of the week was a post outlining a number of series I want to finish in 2025. With many series so close to completion, I’ve outlined those I plan to prioritise to help meet my goal this year.

Next, I shared my monthly wrap-up for January yesterday. Whilst I didn’t get to all the books on my January TBR, I read no less than 3 five-star reads in the first month of 2025. If you’re curious to see what those books were, that’s the post to check out!

 

Books Read

Firefight

I achieved the completion of Firefight that I hoped for last week! Listening to Firefight on audiobook has been a great experience – so much so, I’ve got the final book in the same format.

Firefight was every bit as good as I expected. I had no idea what was going to happen, but that was half the fun. I always had doubts on certain characters and perspectives, so it was interesting to see some of those twists play out.

Brandon Sanderson is always a great author to pick up. He’s one I can always rely on if I need a pick-me-up or if I’m looking to guarantee a great read. Part of the reason I picked it up so early in the year was to have a great start, but also set myself up for a series completion this year.

If you read yesterday’s monthly wrap-up, you’ll know I rated this book five stars.


A Darkness at Sethanon

Next, I picked up and read the first few chapters of A Darkness at Sethanon by Raymond E. Feist. As I mentioned in my monthly wrap-up as well, I have only just started this book this week.

At the present time, I’ve gotten to grips with where I’m at in the series so far. It’s been a while since I picked up the earlier books. I’ve had to remind myself of what’s happened to date. However, that’s now been settled and now I’m ready to dig into this last instalment of the series.


Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia

In what has to be a record, I have listened to the entirety of Fearing the Black Body this weekend! I’ve made the most of the time I’ve had and listened to several hours of the audio both yesterday and today.

I’ve picked up this book as February is Black History Month. However, I had my own incentives to listen to it. As a larger woman myself, I’m not a stranger to ridicule and judgement for my size. Thankfully, I’ve long left the negativity and judgement of teenage peers in my schooldays behind. Nowadays, it’s more the case that whenever I go to the doctor, my weight is mentioned. Still, it’s a topic of interest to me as it’s influenced my life growing up.

It hadn’t really occurred to me before that fat phobia could have origins in racial discrimination and religious segregation. What this book is one argument towards this, that’s not to say it is indefinitely. I can see the logic in it though, and the author puts forward solid historical facts and studies that support this argument.

Clearly, the speed at which I’ve listened to this audiobook will tell you that I found this engaging and a topic of interest.


Books Discovered

As I mentioned earlier in this Sunday Summary, I have acquired a copy of Calamity in audiobook form this week. Thankfully, I already had the Audible credits to do it with, so it didn’t cost me anything.

Aside from that, I’ve also gotten copies I need for February’s TBR. If you want to see what those are, read on to find out when that post goes live!


Coming Up…

The first post I’m sharing next week is my Monthly TBR. You don’t have long to wait for it either, because it’s coming out on Monday. In fact, as of drafting this post, I already have that one drafted and ready for editing. If you’re looking forward to seeing which books I plan to pick up in February, as well as the theme for this month’s reading, come back tomorrow and all will be revealed.

Next, I plan to share a book review with you on Thursday. In that post, my intention is to review the first book in a mixed-media series co-authored by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman. Do you know what it is? If not, you don’t have long to wait to find out!

I’m back again on Friday, so not long to wait once again. In Friday’s regular feature, it is the turn of my First Lines Friday post. With plenty of other content to think about already this week, I’m not going to restrict myself by setting any challenges. As of this Sunday Summary, I have absolutely no idea which book I’m going to pick either. We’re both in the dark as each other.

Lastly, I’ll be back with another weekly update in the form of my Sunday Summary post. Will I have as much reading progress to share with you next week? That remains to be seen. I could always be hopeful, but I do think this week has been a bit of an anomaly. Let’s not write myself off though, and we’ll wait and see.

That’s all from me in this weekly Sunday Summary, so consider yourself duly caught up with all my reading going on. What are you currently reading?

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Monthly Wrap-Up – January 2025

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The first month of 2025 has flown by! It’s been a fun start to the year. And, as I hoped, I’ve picked up some great books to get me started. Today’s monthly wrap-up post is dominated by books I rated five-stars. What more could I ask for?

I set myself an ambitious monthly TBR, but I’m not going to knock myself down for not being able to match my enthusiasm with results. I still picked up the vast majority of the reading list. What didn’t make it in January is going to come back very shortly.

So, shall we take a look at the books I did manage to pick up in January?


Books Read


The Priory of the Orange Tree

I started the year with an audiobook listen of The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. I did this deliberately as I wanted to start the year right. I’ve heard great things about this fantasy, and I wanted to make sure that one of my first reads of 2025 was going to be a four or five-star rating.

At the beginning of January, I had already listened to just over half of this audiobook (55% if you want to get specific). That still left me with around 11 or 12 hours of audio to progress with. Whilst technically this is only half the book, that is more than a whole book’s worth when you think about the average book length I typically read!

Needless to say, my tactic worked. I rated The Priory of the Orange Tree five stars. I loved this fantasy inside out. It was a fun read with compelling characters and an interesting plotline anyway. However, its emphasis on strong female lead characters really made this even better for me.

 

Fool’s Errand

The second and final book I carried over from my December monthly wrap-up was Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb. Admittedly, I was much less into this book when I started the year. Aside from the first 56 pages, I pretty much read the whole book in January.

Fool’s Errand broke my heart in every way I feared it would. I really enjoyed being back in the world of Fitzchivalry Farseer and seeing how events have moved on from the first trilogy in the Realm of the Elderlings series. The foreshadowing at the beginning of this book hammered home my fears about what may happen in this latest instalment.

Can a book be both great and terrible at the same time? It was the events of this book that were tragic. The storyline and writing itself it’s usual fantastic standard. Robin Hobb is not known for pulling her punches when it comes to her main characters. Do we really get invested in them if we know they’re going to turn out right in the end?

Fool’s Errand achieved another five star rating and really cemented a good reading start for me this year.


Shuggie Bain

Back in November, our book club at work decided that we would reconvene in January after reading Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stewart.

Admittedly, this isn’t the type of book I would’ve picked up of my own volition. That’s the benefit of a book club! It gives you the chance to pick up and read new things and really get out of your comfort zone. Remember, that’s one of my reading goals for this year.

Whilst I confess I didn’t love every aspect of Shuggie Bain, that’s not to say I didn’t get anything out of it. The book is very bleak in its outlook, but gives great perspective on quite pivotal problems in our society like alcoholism, addiction and the impact these things have on families.

From our discussion, we came to the conclusion that whilst these things feel like a very distant problem for other people, they’re not so far under the surface. Quite often those afflicted are very good at masking their problems. Also, it’s dangerous that substances such as alcohol are so widely available to trap those trying to free themselves of their addiction.


Firefight

The final book I picked up and read to completion before the end of the month was Firefight by Brandon Sanderson. I appreciate fantasy has featured quite heavily on this month’s TBR, but I’m not apologetic for it. It’s my favourite genre for a reason! Brandon Sanderson is also always a great read. I’ve loved every single one of his books, even when you’re taken into consideration how varied they are.

Firefight is the second book of his The Reckoners trilogy. Part of the reason I wanted to pick this up early in the year is so I have just one book left in the series. You may also recall a featured this series in my Series to Finish in 2025 post.

I didn’t anticipate the ending of this book, but I went into it pretty open-minded. I really enjoyed how events played out in the book and it’s gotten me all the more excited to pick up the final instalment of the series very soon!


A Darkness at Sethanon

The last book I picked up before the end of the month, though admittedly I only got a couple of chapters in, was A Darkness at Sethanon by Raymond E Feist.

This book is also a final instalment in a series and that is the main reason for picking this book up. I want to make an effort continuously to keep finishing up series I’ve started and get the list back under control.

There’s not much to say as of this monthly wrap-up post, other than to say that I’ve gotten myself caught up on events of the prior books in the series and I’m looking forward to diving into this one in earnest!


Summary

This monthly wrap-up post has illustrated to me that my aims of picking up high-quality reads in my favourite genre for January have set me up in good stead for the rest of the year. With no less than 3 five-star reads already under my belt, I’m looking forward to continuing the positive streak.

Did you pick up any five-star reads in January? Do you have any reading goals you are prioritising for 2025?

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Monthly TBR – January 2025

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Today’s first monthly TBR of 2025 comes to you with the whiff of a fresh start still in the air. My reading goals are still new and shiny…

Okay, enough of the pretentious rubbish!

Welcome to my first monthly TBR of the year. I’m excited to share my planned reads for January. I’m hoping to kick-start the year with some solid 5* reads and some ticks in the ol’ reading goal boxes. Start as we mean to go on, right?

The first two books on this list are carryovers from 2024. I picked these up in the hopes they’d see me right into 2025 and get me hyped for more great books. From there, I plan to pick up book club’s choice for January and some highly anticipated reads.

Shall we take a look?


Fixed Reads


The Priory of the Orange Tree


My first carryover from December is my audiobook listen of The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon.

It’s been a good while since I listened to fantasy in audiobook format. Despite my reservations about retaining detail given the format of the book, I’m doing pretty well. I suspect it helped that I picked up this audio at a time when I could really dedicate some time to getting introduced to the world and the narrative. Usually, I’m piecemeal with picking up audiobooks. However, I had some time off around Christmas last year and I made the most of it!

As of this monthly TBR post, I have just 7 hours of audio left. This book is nearly 26 hours long, so I’m really getting to the conclusion anyway. I think that’ll help motivate my towards this very close finish!


Fool’s Errand



My second carryover is Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb. This book was my only physical read at the end of the year. It was also a mood read I picked up in the final days of December. Knowing I wanted a pretty much guaranteed 5 star read to start 2025 with, Fool’s Errand made logical sense.

Fool’s Errand is living up to its predecessors in the wider series. I’m really enjoying being back in the world of Fitz. He’s one of my favourite characters so far. Although things have moved on a little since the first trilogy, I’m also loving the familiar surroundings.

As of this monthly TBR post, I’m 400 pages into the book. With less than 200 pages left to completion, I’m again hoping this spurs me into action and another finish.


Shuggie Bain


Next, my plan is to pick up our book club pick, Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. We meet on the 29th January, but I don’t want this to be a last minute read. 

To my mind, Shuggie Bain falls into my goal of reading out of my comfort zone. I don’t think it’s a book I’d have discovered and read of my own volition. However, that’s exactly why being part of a book club is valuable. It exposes me to new books and ideas.

To my knowledge, this book addresses a number of social issues. I’m looking forward to seeing what those are and being able to discuss those with our group. When I first put feelers out for members, I thought I might have to be a bit more involved in leading discussions. That’s proven not to be the case at all, which is a bonus. It also means we can dig into topics like this quite easily.


Mood Reads


A Darkness at Sethanon


Whilst finishing series is hot on my resolutions radar, my first intended mood read on this monthly TBR is the final instalment to The Riftwar Saga. I started with Magician back in 2017. It’s been a series I’ve picked up sporadically, so I’m going to have to remind myself on events of the prior books before I jump into this last one.

It’ll be good to give myself a check mark on the completion of series goal nice and early. This one can’t be taken off me later, as the series is published in full.


Firefight

Another series progression pick, although not yet a completion, is Brandon Sanderson’s The Reckoners series.

I first read Steelheart in 2020, but unlike The Riftwar Saga I have a decent recollection of what’s happened so far. No refreshers needed here!

Firefight is the second part of a trilogy. Reading Firefight will then enable me to pick up the last instalment in the near future, and that will be another completion.

I always look forward to picking up more Brandon Sanderson books. It made sense to add one to my first monthly TBR of the year to hype myself up. He’s such a diverse fantasy author; how he’s managed to write so many books in the genre (and overlapping others), all with their own magic systems and rules, amazes me. It’s what I look forward to when reading his books.

What else can he come up with?


Rose Under Fire

In my Top Ten Tuesday – Winter TBR post, I shared that I wanted to read Rose Under Fire. Again, this is another book that’s part of a series. However, I don’t believe these books tie together in the same way that a traditional series does. Each has their own main characters, but there are overlaps.

I loved Code Name Verity, another book in this series. It was the perfect introduction to Elizabeth Wein’s writing. Verity was a character I could get behind even before we got to see all aspects of her. Now, I’m intrigued to read other historical stories! Whilst I’m not so fussed on the sound of The Pearl Thief (book 3), I may be inclined to read book 4 (The Enigma) if I enjoy Rose Under Fire as much!

We’ll have to see… 


The Bone Collector

The last book to feature in this monthly TBR is technically part of a series. However, it’s not one I’ve already started and I intend to read the book as a standalone.

The Bone Collector has been on my TBR for a long time! Of the 211 books on my TBR right now, there are only 12 books that have been on it longer. Even then, some of those only stand as they haven’t been published yet…

I enjoyed watching a TV series featuring the events of this first book a few years ago. It’ll be exciting to see if the book is even better. I hope so!


Summary

This monthly TBR is AMBITIOUS. But, it’s a new year and I’m excited to get reading. Plus, it’s cold and miserable in January. What else have I got to be doing?

Thanks for reading today’s monthly TBR. Are you planning to pick up any particular reads in January?

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