Tag: Black History Month

Sunday Summary – 5th March 2023

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Good evening everyone and welcome to my Sunday Summary update for this week. It has been a busy one for me as I have been juggling a busy work week, as well as sharing my usual monthly update posts.

On Tuesday, I shared my monthly wrap-up for February 2023. I didn’t quite get through my ambitious TBR for the month. However, I read some fantastic books and pushed myself a little harder than I have done of late. If you want to check out the books I’ve been reading recently, there is a link to that post above.

As a result of my work commitments, I didn’t finish the Understanding Habits magazine ready for my Wednesday regular feature post. If this magazine had been a collation of multiple articles, but about different topics, then I still could’ve picked one and run with it. However, the magazine is very focused on a specific topic. It wouldn’t have been very easy to split down and talk about any specific element; to be honest, I don’t think I’d be doing it justice if I did that either. It is best read and featured as a whole. With that in mind, I decided to postpone this feature post until next week. Then, I should have had the chance to read it in its entirety.

The last post to go out earlier this week was my monthly TBR for March. This month, I have set a slightly shorter list, which results in a daily reading average of about 70 pages. Compared to last month, that’s a difference of about 40 pages a day. This smaller goal is a lot more achievable. I have also set myself a little bit of a stretch goal – to start one more book before the end of the month. If you’re interested in the books, I’m picking up throughout the month of March, you know what to do.

 

Books Read

Africa Risen

As of last week’s Sunday Summary, I was about 40% through Africa Risen.

I enjoyed the change of pace in reading an anthology of shorter stories as opposed to a longer novel. As in all things, there are elements of this book that I enjoyed more than others. There are stories in the book that I enjoyed more than others. Whilst I’m not overly precious or squeamish, there was one story in this book that I decided to skim through, because I wasn’t enjoying the graphic violence in it.

Overall, though, this was a solid read and an opportunity to branch out into fiction that I wouldn’t necessarily choose to pick up at any other time.

 

A Game of Thrones

After working my way through Africa Risen, I started my first book from my March TBR – A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. I have already read this book a number of times. The next instalment in the series due out later this year, so I have decided to start a re-read of the series so I’m ready to pick that up when it finally drops.

I confess that I am not that far through the book at the moment. I have made a start and got through the first 80 pages of the book. That’s about 10%. This week, my usual habits and schedules have been a little bit off with being busy at work and having friends visiting yesterday. I’ve been having a good time doing some other things, but I’m looking forward to really diving into this book. I think this book is the perfect introduction to the wider series, as there’s enough going on to keep you interested, but also not to overwhelm. It is a book I enjoy reading and love going back to. 

Fingers crossed I’ll have more of an update from you in next week Sunday Summary post!

 

Books Discovered

Still keeping it quiet here with no acquisitions or additions to the TBR of late!

 

Coming Up…

It’s been a few weeks since I last shared a book review with you, so that is the plan for next week. I’ve recently been reviewing my re-read of the Harry Potter series. I will be continuing with those by reviewing the penultimate book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

As I stated above, I will be back with my regular Wednesday feature, Well, I Didn’t Know That! and featuring the Understanding Habits magazine in full.

On Friday, I will share my next Shelf Control post. The book I will feature this week is the first of a series written as a collaboration between two authors – Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. I’m interested to give this a go, even though the last book I read that Terry Pratchett collaborated on wasn’t a hit. For that particular book, I didn’t particularly enjoy the other authors writing style and that was prevalent in the book. I don’t have those same feelings about Stephen Baxter, so I’m hopeful that I will enjoy this one.

Finally, I’ll be back with my next Sunday Summary update this time next week. For now, that is all from me. Have a fabulous week and I’ll catch you in the next post!

 

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Monthly Wrap-Up – February 2023

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Good evening and welcome to my wrap-up post for February 2023! I set myself a lofty goal for February, which equated to attempting to read around 107 pages a day.

This was ambitious and I’m not surprised that I haven’t achieved it. However, I am really happy with the reading progress I’ve made. I’ve picked up the majority of the books I set out to, and I have read books from a diverse range of authors in line with it being Black History Month!

Let’s take a look at the books I picked up throughout the month!

 

Books Read

 

The Chimp Paradox

When I drafted my monthly wrap-up post for January, I was 72% into The Chimp Paradox by Professor Steve Peters. If you want to know my feelings on the book, then it’s probably best to go and check out that post. In short, I decided to whip through to the end of this book relatively quickly. This last little push on progress didn’t take too long and I swiftly moved on to my February TBR!

 

The House of Fortune

Next, I picked up the last book I had hoped to read in January. I picked up a copy of The House of Fortune from my local library.

Having read mixed reviews on the book, I didn’t want to commit to buying a copy if I didn’t enjoy it all that much. As it happens, this was a fairly decent read. I didn’t enjoy all of the characters individually, but the overall story comes together really well. I managed to read and return my copy to the library in just over a week. Not bad going really!

 

Illuminae

For my next read, I decided to change pace and genre completely.

Illuminae is written in a mixed media format. The story is told through messaging exchanges between characters, as well as interviews, logs, and other mixed written accounts. If you are a fan of books written in this style, such as The Appeal by Janice Hallett, then this will definitely suit you. I enjoyed the sci-fi setting in combination with this writing style. The different ways in which events are recounted really fit in with the storyline and the events that take place.

Although Illuminae is one of the longer books on my February TBR, it didn’t take that long to read. It being written in the style it was made it really easy to digest, and, in some cases, the word count per page is a lot less than you’d expect if you were reading traditional prose.

 

Becoming

In my next read, I change genre and pace yet again. Going back to a more traditional written format, I picked up a memoir by Michelle Obama – her first book called Becoming.

Becoming was the perfect book to read in fitting with this month’s theme of black history month, and also ticking a box towards my goal of reading more non-fiction. It also turned out to be a brilliant read. Although I’m not overly invested or interested in politics, I felt that Becoming struck the right balance of incorporating the struggles Michelle and Barack experienced in the early chapters of their life, up until their days in the White House. This book is not really political and doesn’t push too much of an agenda.

I expected to enjoy it, but I thought it was going to be more political. I’m glad that it wasn’t as it suited me perfectly.

 

The Rise of the Dragon

I went back to a favourite world in picking up The Rise of the Dragon by George R.R. Martin. I was very lucky to receive a copy of this book as an early birthday present, and it was only fitting I read it this month. The Rise of the Dragon covers the early history of the Targaryens, but in a way that is approachable to all readers. I have read Fire and Blood, the first detailed book of the Targaryen history. This is written more like a chronicle, with a lot of information, analysis and opinion.

That’s absolutely fine if you enjoy that style and are a big fan of the series. However, if you want an overview of the history and the events that run up to the main series (or the history featured in the TV spin off – House of the Dragon), then The Rise of the Dragon is better suited. It is also full of beautiful and detailed illustrations. I really enjoyed going through these as I was reading the stories and enjoying the varied artistry styles.

 

Africa Risen

My last read of the month is my current read, Africa Risen. This is a short story anthology, featuring speculative fiction written by black authors. This book is my book club read with Ezeekat’s book club. Whilst I haven’t completed the book in time for the end of the month, I can still offer some feedback on what I’ve read so far.

I am enjoying this collection of short stories. There are similar themes throughout these tales which are from a completely different perspective I never thought of before. There are some more obvious themes, including identity, racism, slavery, and mistreatment. But there are plenty others. For example, water features repeatedly in the stories in a completely different way to western novels. Whereas in the latter, it is a very basic, mundane and uninteresting element, that is not the case in the stories. Water is revered as life-giving, revitalising, and something special.

To a society that has an abundance of it, there is definitely a completely different attitude to it. And that’s something I’ve never thought of before, even though it is obvious in hindsight.

As of this monthly wrap-up post, I am 68% through Africa Risen. I’m hoping to finish this book very soon; my intention is to finish it within the next day or two, so then I can move onto my March TBR!

 

DNF’s

None to report this month!

 

Unread

I had hoped to pick up another couple of books throughout the month.

The first of these two as a relatively short book at just under 300 pages – The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean. I’ve been looking to pick up this book for a couple of months, and I was hoping it was going to be a good and short palate cleanser to help keep momentum going. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite get to this one. However, I would like to try and pick it up soon.

The second book on my list is a fairly recent acquisition – In Every Mirror She’s Black by Lola Akinmade Aketstrom. I would have been extremely happy if I’d made it to the end of the month having started the book. It’s obviously not quite panned out the way I had hoped, but never mind! I have still read plenty throughout the month and pushed myself to do so, whilst still balancing my time. That was what I set out to do.

 

That’s *all* for today’s monthly wrap-up post for February.

Have you read any of the books featured in this post? What have you been reading?

 

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Sunday Summary – 26th February 2023

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Good evening and welcome to today’s weekly Sunday Summary update! As always, I hope you’ve had a good week? What have you been up to?

In addition to reading and blogging, I picked up an ongoing cross-stitch project and played Stardew Valley on my switch. I’ve also watched most, if not all, episodes of Wednesday on Netflix. It’s been a good week of doing some different things.

Onto the blogging front, my first blog post was a Top Ten Tuesday post. This week’s theme was sharing our favourite heroines. A lot of the heroines on my list have a lot in common. They are women who stand up in the face of adversity, and do not shy away from who they are. They are also brave, smart, and these are all things that I strive to be. If you want to find out who made the list, you can check out my top ten tuesday post.

My next post was my next instalment of Well, I Didn’t Know That! In this week’s post, I decided to take a look at functionality on Goodreads that I don’t currently use, but may well do so in future. I mainly use the site as a book database and to log what I’m reading. However, there are a lot of news articles, book recommendations, and community elements to the site that I don’t make the most of. If you want to check out what those are, again, there is a link above.

On Friday’s First Lines Friday post, I featured the final book of a trilogy that I read last year. My challenge for this post was to feature a book I read in last year. In the end, this was quite an easy choice. I featured one of the earlier books of the trilogy in this series before. They have engaging opening lines to suck the reader in, and the storylines themselves are fantastic. As I mentioned in that post, this is a series I have now read twice, and also purchased for two friends. Curious as to what Friday’s feature was? You know the drill – it’s linked up.

 

Books Read

The Rise of The Dragon

As of last week’s Sunday Summary post, I had two current reads on the go. The first of those books was The Rise of the Dragon by George R.R. Martin. I also had a second book on the go for practical reasons; The Rise of the Dragon is a large and heavy illustrated history of the Targaryen’s. It’s not a practical book to take to work and read in your lunch hour!

So, in order to keep up momentum with reading, I also started Africa Risen. This particular book is Ezeekat’s current book club read, but more importantly, it’s on my kindle. Infinitely more transportable!

I was just over 150 pages through The Rise of the Dragon as of my last Sunday Summary post. Even though I wasn’t taking it to work to make progress with, I still flew through it. As I knew I would. I am a huge fan of the Game of Thrones and the universe the series is set in. I have already read some of the history before in Fire and Blood. However, The Rise of the Dragon is far more approachable. Fire and Blood is written as if it is a detailed chronicle of events that have happened in history. The Rise of the Dragon is more like a reference book. It still tells the story, but with a lot less detail, analysis and opinion.

If you want to take a look at the Targaryen history and you’re intimidated by the size of Fire and Blood, then I would strongly recommend The Rise of the Dragon. The illustrations in this book are fantastic and complement the story nicely!

 

Africa Risen

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update, I had only made a token start on my second read, Africa Risen. After finishing The Rise of the Dragon, I moved on to reading this book in earnest, (rather than on the side). As of today’s Sunday Summary post, I am now nearly 40% through this anthology collection.

I am enjoying the narrative being broken up into lots of more stories. It makes it an approachable read as it is very easy to pick up and put down as and when required. As with all of these things, there are varied storylines and narrative voices; some are easier to read than others. What all stories have in common is that they spotlight minority voices in speculative fiction. That’s a combination I haven’t really read before and I am enjoying. Sometimes it is good to change pace and reach out to read something new. Africa Risen certainly takes that box.

 

Books Discovered

Having recently received a deluge of books for my birthday, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I have been laying off adding anything to my reading list right now. I have more than enough to be getting on with!

 

Coming Up…

As we are coming up to the end of the month, next week I will be updating you on my reading progress in February via my usual monthly wrap-up post.

You may recall that last month I squeezed my wrap-up post out in the late evening of the last day of the month. This is because I have a regular feature post that I share on a Wednesday. As there are 28 days in February, we are back in the same boat this month. As that post turned out okay in terms of timing, I am going to do the same thing this month. I will prepare the majority of my post tomorrow, and I’ll get the last updates together on my current reads on Tuesday, so the post can go live!

On Wednesday, I will be back with my regular feature, Well, I Didn’t Know That. This week, I will read through a magazine called Understanding Habits. As somebody who enjoyed studying psychology at school, I’m looking forward to going through this. I also still think I have plenty to learn; anything interesting I read will be shared in that post!

On Friday, I will share my reading list for March 2023. I have a provisional list in mind and I’m excited for the books that are on it. One slight deviation is that I’m not going to be taking part in the book club read this month. If I’m entirely honest, I’m just not fussed about the subject! Yes, I am trying to broaden my horizons with my reading a bit, but I’m not going to force myself to read something that I have no interest in whatsoever either.

So, the world is my oyster when it comes to my reading list this month. I hope you can check out my post on Friday to find out what I plan to read throughout March.

Lastly, I will be back with my next Sunday Summary update post at the same time as usual. Until then, I hope you have a fabulous week and I look forward to seeing you around soon!

 

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Sunday Summary – 19th February 2023

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Happy Sunday and welcome to today’s Sunday Summary update! Before we jump into my reading progress, let’s do a quick catch up on the blog posts I shared this week.

The first blog post I shared this week was my next instalment of Well, I Didn’t Know That! In this week’s post, I shared some interesting but devastating facts about historic discrimination experienced by women of colour when it comes to abortion rights. I personally had no idea this was a thing, and it shocked me so much that I had to share to make other people aware as well.

On Friday’s Shelf Control post, I shared a classic novel on my to be read list that doesn’t fit into a conventional genre I would pick up. However, as it is a well known classic, I want to give it a try anyway. There are elements to this book that deviate from what I consider stereotypical to the genre. With that in mind, I’m prepared to give it a try and assess it for its own merits.

 

Books Read

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update post, I left off having made about 80 pages of progress into Becoming by Michelle Obama.

Even if you are not particularly interested in politics, Becoming is a great book on what it is like to grow up as an African-American in the late 20th century. Michelle comes from a very humble background. It’s not necessarily something you think about when you think about the former First Lady of the United States. Other than what I had seen of her on TV and in the news, I knew very little about her.

I have rectified that. Becoming has shown that Michelle is a fantastic woman in her own right. She has developed from a young child growing up in an increasingly disadvantaged background to somebody who is willing and motivated enough to change her circumstances. I particularly enjoyed the book because Michelle isn’t very political at all. Obviously, being wife of the former President means you do get roped in somewhat. However, I enjoyed her refreshing stance in not being politically motivated and sharing a more objective view of politics.

Next, I moved on to one of my current reads – The Rise of the Dragon by George R.R. Martin. I was a very lucky girl and received a copy of this as an early birthday present from my parents. It was a natural choice to read it in my birthday month. I love A Game of Thrones and anything associated with it. If I’m entirely honest, I have been looking for an excuse to pick something up like this for some time. Now that I know The Winds of Winter is due out later this year, I may have already talked myself into a re-read of the series…

As of this post, I am just on the halfway through Rise of the Dragon at 153 pages.

I have also started a second book as a current read. Sometimes I will do this, but not very often. My main motivation on this occasion is that Rise of the Dragon is too big and heavy to take to work and read. For a 350-odd page book, it is remarkably heavy. Then again, it is an A4 size hardback, so is it really a surprise? Instead, I am reading Africa Risen at work, as it’s on my kindle and far more transportable! Admittedly, I have only just started this book, having read just the first of 32 short stories within.

It’s only a handful of pages in the grand scheme of things, but a start is a start!

 

Books Discovered

 

I hope you’re sitting comfortably, because I have a lot of books to update you on this week.

If you follow me on Instagram, you will see that I shared a post earlier in the week about the number of books I received for my birthday. I had asked for seven of the books, and I received 13 in total!

One of these books I have already mentioned – The Rise of the Dragon. Whilst I did technically receive it as an early birthday present, it’s still a birthday present. The seven books I asked for are the next two sets in Robin Hobb’s the Realm of the Elderlings series. I was fortunate enough to have received one from my sister and the other from my auntie.

In addition, I received a fantasy series that I have been eyeing up – R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War. I received this series from my sister’s boyfriend Chris. He has not long started this series and is enjoying it so far. We have quite similar reading taste, so I have every confidence that I’m going to enjoy these books! In addition, he also gifted me a copy of The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett. You may recall that I read and enjoyed The Appeal by the same author last year. I really enjoyed how the book is written in multimedia rather than prose (a format I have also recently enjoyed in Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff).

That nicely segways into the last book on my list. My sister was very kind to gift me a special edition of Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. I loved this book last year and I can definitely see a re-read of this nicer edition happening in future!

That’s more than enough books to feature in a Sunday Summary post, wouldn’t you agree?

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post of the week is going to be a Top Ten Tuesday post. This week’s theme is all about our favourite bookish heroines. I already have a few in mind that I want to feature. I can’t wait to share my full list with you, and the books they come from, in my Top Ten Tuesday post.

Next is Wednesday’s feature, Well, I Didn’t Know That! I’m going to be perfectly honest here and say that as a writing this post, the topic has not yet been christened. But, as always, I hope to share with you some interesting information in that post.

On Friday, I will be back with a First Lines Friday feature post. The topic of this post is also yet to be decided. In the past, I have set myself challenges that have an influence on the book I choose to feature. I am going to set myself such a challenge this week; it has been a little while since I last did this. It also makes my selection a little bit more interesting. This week’s challenge is to feature a book that I read last year. That way, I can potentially introduce you to something new and I can give you a quick summary of my thoughts on the book.

Lastly, I will be back at the same time next week with another Sunday Summary to update you on all my reading progress throughout the week.

For now though, that’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post. I hope to see you again soon.

 

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Well, I Didn’t Know That! #5

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In today’s Well I Didn’t Know That! post, I feature an article in BBC History magazine which is topical to my reading theme for this month. Over the course of February, I am picking up multiple books inspired by the fact that it is black history month.

I would like to stress that whilst the topic I’m going to discuss is a controversial one, my views are going to remain impartial in this post. I’m sure a lot of people have a lot of opinions, and I won’t encourage people to get political about it. That’s not what my blog is about. Instead, I am using this post to highlight historic racial injustice when it comes to abortion access and the rhetoric used.

 

BBC History – The Long Fight Over Abortion Rights in the US

I told you the topic was a controversial one. So much so, debated even publishing the post at all. As a compromise, I’m deliberately going to turn the comments off on this post and social media. This post isn’t an invitation to express your opinion. Whilst I would normally encourage any interaction on my blog, we are avoiding any confrontation by switching off this one.

Instead, this post is to emphasise something I learned as a result of this article. Throughout history, abortion and the rights of women versus the rights of children has been a sore subject. But did you know that access to abortions, even during a time when they weren’t strictly legal, has been very dependent on race? If you want to take a look at the article itself, it can be found in the February 2023 edition of the magazine, starting on page 14.

You would like to think that regardless of your heritage or your skin colour, that women are perceived as just that. Especially when it comes to medical aid and care, it shouldn’t make a difference. That’s not to say it comes to pass that way. As I have learnt recently in reading Becoming by Michelle Obama, Black Americans in Chicago would not reach out for help medically, largely due to lack of trust. Her own father suffered with multiple sclerosis and would not seek out help until much too late. He suffered on, never missing a day of work. 

 

Racial inequality over access to abortion

As the BBC History article points out, even when it comes to female care, access to abortion (and even coercion into both abortion and sterilisation) was made more readily available to black people, but denied of anyone classified as white. Some argued that such was “essential to stop the multiplication of the unfit for racial betterment”.

Frankly, I think this is disgusting. It comes from a distinct lack of representation of black people (largely a result of other inequalities, preventing access to education/opportunities etc), and a misguided belief of white supremacy in those who did pull the strings. I had no idea that such prejudice even existed in the abortion argument. It is hard for somebody so open minded to consider that other people are not, or have historically not been, so.

 

Summary

Regardless of which side of the fence you sit on, there are radical and controversial views that colour the argument. My firm belief is that treatment of individuals, access to healthcare and human rights should not depend on your heritage. It shouldn’t matter what colour your skin is, or where your parents came from. We should all have equal access.

With the recent re-emergence of this argument, it is important to highlight disparities that have come before. Mainly, to make sure they don’t happen again.

 

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Sunday Summary – 12th February 2023

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Happy Sunday and welcome to my weekly catch up post – aka my Sunday Summary! I hope you’ve had a fantastic week, wherever you are and whatever you have been up to.

The first blog post I shared this week was my book review post for Harry Potter and the Oder of the Phoenix. I completed a re-read of the Harry Potter series between 2021 and 2022. In this review series, I discussed my overall thoughts on the book, but also how the reading experience compares between reading them as a teenager, and again as an adult.

On Wednesday, I shared another post in my new series, Well, I Didn’t Know That! In this week’s post, I shared a short, 16 minute podcast I listened to recently, which introduced me to genre of books I wouldn’t necessarily have picked up myself. I may have even added a couple to my reading list…

On Friday, I shared a First Lines Friday post. For this week’s feature, I decided to share a book that I attempted to read in 2018, but ultimately DNF’d. It wasn’t through any fault of the book. I was trying to read a large epic fantasy at a time when it wasn’t suiting me. I initially put it down with a view to it being a temporary arrangement. However, to date, I haven’t gone back to the book. If you want to find out what that feature is, you can find a link to the post above.

 

Books Read

Picking up from where we left off in last week’s Sunday Summary post, I continued with my read of Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. As of that update post, I was 123 pages into this nearly 600-pager.

I went on to finish reading this book this week. Although it is quite a long one, it is written in a form of mixed media. Not only does that make it more interesting and break up the narrative, but it also means that there are pages within the book that are very easy to read as there isn’t so much content on them as a standard prosaic narrative.

I really enjoyed Illuminae. The story line is compelling, the way in which the story is told is unusual, if not unique, and I enjoyed the characters in the book. I can’t wait to continue reading the series.

Next, I moved on to my current read, Becoming by Michelle Obama. I have had this book on my shelf to pick up for some time. With it being black history month, I decided to read it this month with that theme in mind. It also contributes towards my reading goal for the year to pick up more non-fiction.

I am currently just over 80 pages in and also enjoying this one. I am not a big lover of politics. However, Becoming is not proving to be political – at least so far. In the 80 pages I’ve read, I’ve already learned a lot about Michelle’s younger years, and also the adversity she experienced growing up. It is one thing to know that the colour of your skin has historically made a big impact on what opportunities you get in life. It is another to live and breathe it through this kind of narrative. In lots of little ways, the lives of people like Michelle Obama could have been a lot worse. However, she has already proven to have grit and determination. That definitely comes through in her book, and I can’t wait to read more of her experiences.

 

Books Discovered

As a result of listening to the podcast I featured in my post, Well, I Didn’t Know That!, I added two books to my reading list this week.

These fall under the genre of business books. It’s not something I would have expected myself to pick up. However, the business book featured in that podcast are as a result of being shortlisted entries in the Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year award. If there are any business books that are going to be worth picking up, it will be these ones!

Both of these books sound interesting and I’m willing to give them a try.

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post of the week is going to be Wednesday’s feature, Well, I Didn’t Know That! I would normally share a post on Tuesday. However, with being a little bit behind in reading progress for the month, I’m going to give myself a night off to try and get back on track. I’m not hugely behind, but I don’t want to fall behind even further. Plus, I am going to be sharing three blog posts throughout the week next week. That’s more than enough to keep you going.

On Friday, I will be back with a Shelf Control feature post. This week, I feature a classic novel which I would like to try, even though it’s not my usual cup of tea.

My final post of the week will be a Sunday Summary update. As usual, I’ll share with you what reading progress I’ve made throughout the week, any books I’ve added to my reading list, and what I will be sharing on my blog in the next week.

For now though, that is all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post. Have a wonderful week and I will see you around soon!

 

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Sunday Summary – 5th February 2023

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In today’s Sunday Summary post, I have lots of blogging and bookish updates for you!

The first blog post I shared this week was my monthly wrap-up for January 2023. I would normally share this post on or around the first day of the following month. However, this month the first fell on a Wednesday. As I have recently started a series that I share every Wednesday, I didn’t want to conflict with that. As a result, I drafted most of my post ahead of time, adding a few last-minute updates, before the post went live on Tuesday. If you want to find out what I have been reading throughout the month of January, check out that post.

On Wednesday, I shared the aforementioned feature for my new series, Well, I Didn’t Know That! In this week’s post, I shared an article that introduced me to a book I wouldn’t have discovered elsewhere.

On Friday, I shared my planned TBR for February. Even though it is the shortest month of the year, I am not cutting myself any slack. I have set myself an ambitious list of seven books that I would like to get through this month. If you want to take a look at those, check out my February TBR post. Some of the books mentioned in that post are going to feature below in this week’s reading progress update.

 

Books Read

I don’t quite know how I managed it, but I’ve read in the region of 780 pages this week!

 

The Chimp Paradox

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update, I was just over a quarter of the way through The Chimp Paradox by Professor Steve Peters. I had decided to pick up this book as it interested me from a psychology point of view. Not only that, but I was hoping it will be able to teach me some ways in which I can help manage my metaphorical chimp.

In last week’s update, I did voice some gripes about the book. Those didn’t change throughout my reading experience, so it wasn’t the best read I’ve ever picked up. To summarise, the psychology is very simplified, I wasn’t a fan of the condescending tone, and whilst it did give me some useful information, I would say it was limited. This turned out to be a mediocre three-star rated read.

 

The House of Fortune

Next, I picked up the last book I intended to read in January, The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton. This book is the sequel to The Miniaturist, which I read around about this time in 2018. I confess that I had to remind myself of the characters in the first book in order for things to slot into place for the second one. Where the first book focuses on Nella as the main character, for the second book, we effectively move on a generation; Thea Brandt is the focus of the storyline.

I didn’t like Thea as a main character. For an 18-year-old who has lived a fairly sheltered life, she really does think she knows it all. Not only that, but her character is very different throughout the narrative – at times, she is headstrong and bold, and yet in other parts, she wallows away in her bedroom for a month because something happens that she doesn’t like. It didn’t seem consistent. I’m also a bit disappointed that a female author could do the disservice of creating a female character that could be this pathetic.

Small gripes aside, The House of Fortune was a decent read overall. This also ended up being a three star rating.

 

Illuminae

This morning I moved on to my current read, Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. So far, I am 123 pages into this book. I am already loving it! The target audience for this one is a little bit younger than I am, but the characters are still enjoyable from an adult perspective. The main selling point for this book is that it is written in mixed media. The story is told through messages between characters, interviews and such like. I really enjoyed this when I picked up The Appeal by Janice Hallett last year. Illuminae is different from The Appeal in that it is a kind of mystery in a sci-fi setting… but so far, it’s really working and proving really easy to read. I read the 123 pages towards my current progress just this morning!

 

Books Discovered

If you check out my Wednesday feature post, Well, I Didn’t Know That!, you will know that I have added a book to my reading list this week.

I have decided to add Deep Wheel Orcadia to my reading list as it is a completely new concept to me. If you are not familiar with this book, it is a sci-fi. That is not what makes it unique though. It is unusual in that it is the first complete book to have been written in Orcadian Scots for over 50 years. It does have English translation, in case you are interested in the story but are not bothered by the language element. Personally, I am intrigued by it, and I can’t wait to pick it up!

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post of next week is going to be a book review. This week, I am going to be sharing my thoughts on the next book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I re-read these books in 2021 and 2022 with a view to comparing my experience of reading them as a teenager versus an adult. I have reviewed a number of the books in the series so far, and this is the fifth instalment.

On Wednesday, I will be sharing my next post in my new feature, Well, I Didn’t Know That! If I am entirely honest, I am still deciding on the feature of this post. That’s why I’m not disclosing any more information at this time.

On Friday, I will be back with a First Lines Friday feature. Seeing as how my last post (and the novel way I planned to pick the featured book) didn’t go to plan, I’m not going to christen it this time. Instead, I will share how I went about it in that post.

As always, I will be back with another Sunday Summary update to catch you up on what I’ve been reading and what I have shared throughout the week!

For now though, that is all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post. Have a wonderful evening and week and I’ll catch you in the next one.

 

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Monthly TBR – February 2023

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We’ve made it through the first month of 2023, and I’m back today to share my monthly TBR for February! Even though it is a short month, I am setting myself an ambitious list. If I want to make it through this TBR by the end of the month, I have to read the equivalent of just over 100 pages a day!

I’m not going to be mad if I don’t get through this list in its entirety. I know I am pushing myself in this monthly TBR. Being honest, if I am reading the last book at the end of the month, I will take that as an achievement.

I have quite the list of exciting books to read in February’s monthly TBR. Whilst I’m not normally one for themed reading, I have decided to pick up certain books on the basis that it is Black History Month. One of my book club reads was chosen around this theme, and it gave me the idea to choose some other books on my bookshelves as they also fit the bill.

Let’s dive into the books on today’s monthly TBR I plan to read in February!

 

Fixed Reads

 

The House of Fortune

The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton was an intended read in the month of January. However, it escaped mention in my January wrap-up as I didn’t quite get around to this one before the end of the month. When out in town last week, I decided to try and loan this book from my local library – fortunately, they had a copy!

So, I have moved it to my February TBR, and as I’m writing this post, it is my current read. I am already a third of the way through this book. If I am to be on track, I need to make some significant progress tonight – and that is the plan!

I have read mixed reviews about this book. That’s why I wanted to try and borrow a copy of this book rather than get my own. Especially as the book is only out in hardback at the moment, and the e-book is still quite high in price, I didn’t want to take the risk of not enjoying it. So far, that is not the case. Whilst I’m not a huge fan of the main character, I am enjoying the overall narrative. It is definitely reminiscent of its predecessor, The Miniaturist. It also fits nicely into this month’s theme, although I didn’t know that at the time of adding this to my February TBR.

 

Africa Risen

 

Africa Risen is Ezeekat’s book club pick on Fable for February. It is a little different from my usual reading in that it is an anthology. The stories within are from the science-fiction and fantasy genres – ones I read a lot of and love already. It emphasises minority voices and perspectives, which is why it makes for perfect reading during Black History Month.

I feel like the book being made up of short stories will make this easy to read. Although the book in its entirety is over 500 pages, the fact that it is broken up into 32 distinct stories should make this one fly by – it averages out at just 16 pages per story!

 

Becoming

I have had a copy of Becoming by Michelle Obama sat on my bookshelf for several months. Considering I am trying to read more non-fiction, and based on the author’s heritage, I felt this would be a great read for February.

I am not into politics, however, I still feel like I will enjoy this book. I’m looking forward to seeing what both Michelle and Barack are like behind the curtain, so to speak. We have seen so much of their public life since Barack became the first African-American president. Becoming could offer a completely different insight into who they are. I certainly hope so!

 

Illuminae

The last fixed read on my February TBR is Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.

Last year, I set up a TBR jar and popped in a piece of paper for each of the books that were on my reading list. The idea behind having this jar is that by selecting a book at random from it, I get little bit of randomness to my reading. It’s also to help me get through some of the books that I might not necessarily pick for myself in a given moment. However, I’m really excited that Illuminae came out for this month!

Last year, I read The Appeal by Janice Hallett, and my understanding is that the book is written in multimedia in the same way that book is. It is not a small book at just over 600 pages. However, with the way in which the story is told, the book is clearly not 600 pages of solid prose. This is what I’m used to reading; the format difference should make Illuminae a much quicker read.

 

Mood Reads

 

The Book Eaters

This next book on my reading list is one and I’ve been hoping to pick up for a couple of months. I recently received a copy of this as part of the Illumicrate subscription. I really like the sound of this book, but I just haven’t squeezed it in yet.

At just under 300 pages, this is the shortest book in my February reading list. It is also quite different in tone and genre. If nothing else, I’m hoping I can read this as a good palate cleanser.

 

The Rise of the Dragon

I was very lucky to receive a copy of The Rise of the Dragon as an early birthday present from mum and dad last month. You know me – I am huge Game of Thrones fan! It is only fitting that this is on my February reading list, as I want to read it in my birthday month!

I have read a significantly more detailed Targaryen history from Fire and Blood previously. I’m excited to see how the illustrated version compares to that book. I’m imagining that it is going to be much more digestible! As much as I enjoyed fire and blood, it is dense!

 

In Every Mirror She’s Black

I’m hoping to squeeze one more minority voice book into my February reading list. I purchased a copy of In Every Mirror She’s Black, having seen a copy on sale in Waterstones after Christmas. It was completely on a whim, but I like the sound of the story and the message I believe it intends to put across.

In Every Mirror She’s Black is more of a contemporary fiction than I would typically pick up. However, I am intrigued by the lives of the three women portrayed, and I’m always trying to read new things!

 

So, those are the books on my monthly TBR that I’m hoping to pick up throughout the month of February. Wish me luck!

What are you going to be reading?

 

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