Tag: books

Sunday Summary – 20th August 2023

Don’t Sunday evenings roll around so quickly? You know the day, and you know the time, so you know that we are back with another Sunday Summary update!

I’ve enjoyed this week off work! It’s been great to spend some time catching up on jobs around the house, as well as taking time for reading and other hobbies. I’ll get into what I’ve been reading very shortly. First, let’s recap what’s been going on with the blog this week.

My first post of the week was a review of the first book of a series I started last year. I read this book as it was recommended to me. Although it isn’t something I read a lot of, I enjoyed it very much. If you want to check out my thoughts on Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club, you can find a link to that post here.

On Friday, I shared the next instalment in my regular First Lines Friday feature. In last week’s Sunday Summary post, I challenged myself to pick this week’s feature from my physical TBR. If you want to check out which book I ultimately featured, there is a link to that post above as well.

 

Books Read

 

Ship of Destiny

I left off in last week’s Sunday Summary update having read just over a third of Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb. As I shared in that post, I was a little bit behind as of that point. However, I was optimistic I’d catch that back up in my week off.

I mostly did; I made steady progress with the book throughout this week, although I did end up speeding up at the end of the book. I expected this would happen! I’m the kind of person who can’t leave the ending. If I’m watching a series, I can’t leave the last episode for another sitting. It’s become a bit of a joke in my family. The same can be said for Ship of Destiny.

At the point of just 100 pages left in the book, all the events of the trilogy come together to the final conclusion. There was absolutely no way I wasn’t binge reading it! I’d already read almost all my daily allocation by the time I got to that point. I carried on regardless! It was a fantastic ending to a long and well built-up trilogy – I’m not surprised that it became an easy, five star rating!

I finished Ship of Destiny just one day behind schedule, and even then, I was only about 70 pages behind target.

 

A Brief History of Time

The next book I picked up this week is a complete change of pace. In an effort to read more non-fiction this year, I have finally picked up this interesting yet very science-based book. Just a little bit of a change from a large fantastical work of fiction…

As of this update, I am a quarter of the way through A Brief History of Time. If I’m honest, I’ve dropped the ball in the last day or so. I didn’t read any of the book yesterday and so far, I haven’t read any today either. I will be looking to pick this up again before I go to bed for the night to recover some of that gap though.

My experience of this book so far is that generally speaking, I am able to follow it. There are some very scientific elements to the book already. I’m trying to understand it only on a basic level and then move on as opposed to digging into the science. I don’t have a science brain, and I’m not going to try! There are some basic principles which I’m able to follow (such as the Doppler effect etc). But, when you start to get into quantum mechanics, you might as well be talking a different language!

I’m undecided as to where this book is going to go in terms of complexity in the later chapters. I have a feeling that we might end up being a little bit more technical later, but I’ll deal with that then.

 

Books Discovered

Given that I’ve spent the week mostly at home and enjoying the books I have, I haven’t discovered anything new this week!

 

Coming Up…

I’ll be starting off the week with an uncommon but opportunistic post on my blog. However, as one of my jobs whilst I’m off work is to go through my bookshelves and clear out any books I no longer want, I’ve decided to share which books I’m unhauling with you and why!

On Friday, I’ll be back with another Well, I Didn’t Know That! feature post. One of the things I want to look at from a personal perspective is social media marketing. I want to do that for myself as I am trying to get more involved with Instagram and posting on social media more generally. It’s not something that’s natural to me, and it’s something I have to make a very deliberate effort to do. As I want to try and make the most of those efforts, I’m going to try and bolster my skills. With this in mind, I may group this into this regular feature post and teach you some of the techniques I learn over the course of the week!

The final post I will share at the end of next week is the one and only Sunday Summary! I’ll be back with even more reading progress to share with you, as well as details of any books, I’ve discovered over the course of the week, and of course, what are you can expect on the blog the week after!

That draws to a close for this week’s Sunday Summary update!   

What was your last five star read?

 

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Sunday Summary – 13th August 2023

We’re back at the end of another week, and that can only mean it’s time for another Sunday Summary update!

This week has been busy; outside of the blog, I’ve been wrapping up at work for a two week period of leave. As well, I had friends round one evening this week. All this as well as the reading and blogging makes for a busy schedule.

That said, I managed it all pretty well! In terms of the blogging schedule, I got both my Top Ten Tuesday post and Shelf Control posts out when I said I would (Tuesday and Friday respectively). This week’s Top Ten Tuesday featured books I want to read as a result of their featuring in prior TTT posts. Friday’s Shelf Control featured the start of a historical fiction series about one of my favourite periods – the Tudors. If you’re interested in either of those posts, I’ve linked them above as usual.

 

Books Read

 

Spike: The Virus vs The People

I left off in my last Sunday Summary post with 29% progress into Spike: The Virus vs The People.

I wanted to read Spike as a means of insight into the early days of the pandemic and how it was handled. This is largely written from the perspective of the UK as opposed to the whole world, although this is touched on in places in the book. It’s strange to think that I have lived through a significant part of history that will be talked about for years to come. Although it is still relatively early days in terms of the pandemic and the consequences, Spike has already given me some ideas as to how we have suffered beyond the virus.

On the one hand, I’m shocked to have read how unprepared both the UK government and the world were for such a mass event. Equally, am I surprised that the UK Prime Minister wasn’t attending key meetings just weeks before lockdown was announced? No, not really.

Spike gave me the insight I was looking for and made for an interesting non-fiction read. I’ve enjoyed the analysis on actions taken and what we know now – most importantly, what we should have done sooner.

 

Ship of Destiny

Next, I moved on to my current read, Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb. This is the final book in the Liveship Traders trilogy, and the sixth book in the wider Realm of the Elderlings series.

I’m already a huge fan of Robin Hobb based on the books I’ve read so far. As of this Sunday Summary update, I’m 307 pages into Ship of Destiny and loving it! With previous books, I found it takes me a little bit of time to get into them. I’ve eased into Ship of Destiny quite quickly in comparison. Events of the prior book in the series left us in such a place where I want to find out what happens next. So far, the book hasn’t disappointed!

Admittedly, I should be on around page 550 (I need fo read 107 pages a day to get through my reading list by the end of the month). However, as I had friends round on Thursday, I didn’t really get any significant reading done that day, and I’ve been playing catch up ever since. Having said that, I read a little bit more than needed yesterday to start catching up and it was hardly any effort at all. With previous books, I have felt I’ve had to power on a little bit as the narrative can be quite dense and therefore is a bit slower reading. I’ve not really found that yet.

Clearly, Ship of Destiny is really working for me right now. Fortunately, I now have two weeks off work and so I will be making use of some of that time to catch up and then continue with my reading!

 

Books Discovered

One of the ladies I work with (from another branch, but who I talk to quite a lot) is responsible for all three additions to my reading list this week. She is also a big reader and recommended me some fantasy books she enjoyed, as well as a non-fiction/work related book I could pick up for a bit of self development.

The fantasy additions to my TBR are The Prison Healer and The Stardust Thief.

The non-fiction add is Tranquility by Tuesday. If I enjoy this or find it useful then the author has plenty more books I can pick up. Claire has already found a couple of them useful and has added two more to her reading list by this author. You can’t really get a recommendation better than that!

 

Coming Up…

Although I’m off work, I’m sticking to my usual schedule next week. I will be enjoying some downtime, but I do also have a list of self imposed jobs to do too.

My first post of the week will be a book review. As you all know by now, I have quite the list of books outstanding review and so I’ll be checking one off the list. Next week, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.

On Friday, I’ll be sharing a First Lines Friday post. For this week’s post, I challenge myself to feature a book from my physical TBR. That still leaves me with a good deal of choice, so I have plenty to choose from!

As always, I’ll be back at the same time next week to share all my reading updates with you!

However, that’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary! What are you reading currently?

 

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Shelf Control #68 – 11/08/2023

Welcome to a happy Friday! It’s the end of another working week, and today marks the beginning of some annual leave for me! I’m planning to pick up several reads whilst I’m off from the 9-5, but I doubt I’ll make it to today’s Shelf Control feature just yet…

In today’s Shelf Control post, I share the details of a historical fiction novel from one of my favourite periods – the Tudors! Before we get into the detail of today’s post, let’s take a moment to recap what Shelf Control is all about if you’re unfamiliar!

Shelf Control is a regular feature on my blog – a meme run by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies. It’s a celebration of the unread books on our shelves! The idea is to pick a book you own but haven’t read and write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up!

If you want to read more about the Shelf Control feature, check out Lisa’s introductory post.

 

Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen – Alison Weir

 

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 602

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Publication Date: 31 May 2016

 

Goodreads

The lives of Henry VIII’s queens make for dramatic stories and Alison Weir will write a series of novels that offer insights into the real lives of the six wives based on extensive research and new theories.

In all the romancing, has anyone regarded the evidence that Anne Boleyn did not love Henry VIII? Or that Prince Arthur, Katherine of Aragon’s first husband, who is said to have loved her in fact cared so little for her that he willed his personal effects to his sister? Or that Henry VIII, an over-protected child and teenager, was prudish when it came to sex? That Jane Seymour, usually portrayed as Henry’s one true love, had the makings of a matriarch? There is much to reveal …

Alison will write about the wives in the context of their own age and of the court intrigues that surrounded these women and – without exception – wrecked their lives. She will transport readers into a lost and vivid world of splendour and brutality: a world in which love, or the game of it, dominates all.

 

My Thoughts

I am yet to read any books by Alison Weir. She’s a prominent writer in the genre focusing on royalty, and as a result has written several books about the Tudors. On the one hand I’d say it’s a wonder I haven’t picked any up yet. However, considering the constant number of books I want to read, I suppose it’s not really.

I’m looking forward to diving into her Tudor books. Katherine of Aragon is the first book in her Six Tudor Queens series. If I enjoy these as much as I expect to, I’m sure I’ll branch out to other books and periods she explores.

Katherine of Aragon has been on my TBR for a little over five years now. I distinctly remember reading an article in Writing Magazine and discovering her books as a result like it was yesterday. Isn’t it funny what you remember?! If only my memory were that good all the time… I’d forgotten when I started writing my regular Sunday Summary posts on my blog. I was surprised to find a Sunday Summary post mentioning the discovery when I searched for other posts on the book on my blog!

The combination of a new-to-me author and a favourite subject is one that I can’t wait to get to. This book, and potentially the series, are a promising jaunt into a turbulent and interesting period of history!

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Shelf Control instalment!

Have you read any books from the Six Tudor Queens series, or by Alison Weir? What’s your favourite period of history to read about?

 

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Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Want to Read Because of Top Ten Tuesday

I’m looking forward to today’s Top Ten Tuesday post as I get to share a culmination of books that have made it onto previous Top Ten Tuesday posts!

The theme of today’s post is my top ten books I want to read because of Top Ten Tuesday. I could also have chosen the past tense and featured books I’ve since read. As fun as that would be, I need an additional motivator to pick some books up – I just have so many that it’s better to reflect on those still to read. As some of these earlier posts originally intended, I want to use today’s theme as a means of chivvying myself along to get to these books!

The books I feature today have been included on at least one, but more likely several, Top Ten Tuesday posts previously. I’ll share which posts they made it onto, and why I want to share them again today.

Let’s dive in!

 

Ship of Destiny

Ship of Destiny has made it onto at least two Top Ten Tuesday posts (Spring and Summer 2023 TBR). Robin Hobb, as well as other books in her series, have also featured on lists such as my Top Ten New Authors Discovered in 2022.

After coming up multiple times, I’ll be picking up Ship of Destiny next. I could start reading it as early as later tonight!

 

Yellowface

Yellowface is an anticipated release in 2023 that I’m looking forward to picking up. It makes it to this list as I featured the author with their bestseller Babel in my New Authors Discovered in 2022 post.

I really enjoyed the cultural elements of Babel, and I have no doubt those will come to the fore in Yellowface as well!

 

Wizard and Glass

Aptly, this featured book is on my list as the series featured on my Top Ten Series I Need to Finish post. That’s still the case, although I did pick up an earlier book in the series for the first time in four years back in May.

Wizard and Glass is also on my August TBR, so I’ll be picking up this next book very soon!

 

A Storm of Swords

Another book that also made it onto the Series I Need to Finish post, although by virtue of the series not being finished this time, is A Game of Thrones.

The next in my re-read of the series is A Storm of Swords – the third book and first within the series that is divided into two parts. I’ve initially pencilled in part 1 for next month!

 

A Thousand Ships

I first read Natalie Haynes’ Pandora’s Jar in July 2022. After thoroughly enjoying that book, I added A Thousand Ships to my Top Ten Tuesday Autumn 2022 TBR.

Clearly, I didn’t get around to this book then and as of this post, I still haven’t now. Whilst I haven’t got any concrete plans in terms of timeline for picking up this book, I can’t imagine it will be too long! Then again… who knows; I have so many to read! 

 

If We Were Villains

Another book that featured on my Autumn 2022 TBR, but still have yet to read, is If We Were Villains. This book also featured in my Authors Not Read Yet But Want To list.

With a focus on literature and theatrics, it’s still a book I’m looking forward to picking up in future!

 

The Shining

I’ve read a lot of Stephen King books, and yet, I still haven’t read this classic! I own a copy of the Shining ready on my bookshelf, so I imagine I’ll try and pick this up in October.

Spooky season seems like the best time for it!

 

The Lord of the Rings

A book I recently bought which made it to a Top Ten Tuesday post historically is Lord of the Rings. Bilbo Baggins featured as a top ten bookish character, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have an itch to revisit this iconic story.

I last read it in 2017, around the birth of my blog. I bought myself a physical copy of this book recently (it was always intended to be one book rather than a trilogy) as I knew it will be one I’d want to revisit again and again.

I’m sure I’ll give into temptation before too long!

 

The Bone Collector

I couldn’t tell you how long I’ve been intending to read The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver. The book made it to my Authors I Haven’t Read Yet But Want To list in April 2022. Guess what? Still haven’t read it!

Probably doesn’t shock you by now…

 

The Librarian of Auschwitz

The last book in this Top Ten Tuesday also originated from my Authors I Haven’t Read Yet But Want To post.

To date, Antonio Iturbe is still an author I am yet to pick up any books by, but that’s okay. If you can be sure of anything, it’s that a bookworm has a reading list as long as their arm. And I do! I’ll get to it at some point – hopefully not too long to wait!

 

Summary

So, these are my top ten books that I want to read because I’ve featured them in a Top Ten Tuesday previously!

I hope you have enjoyed today’s Top Ten Tuesday post! Have you read any of the books on this reading list? Are any of those shared today on your list?

 

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Sunday Summary – 6th August 2023

Happy Sunday everybody and welcome back to my weekly Sunday Summary update post. As always, I hope you’ve had a great week, wherever you are and whatever you are doing!

This week has been a very productive one when it comes to reading progress and on my blog. The end of the month/beginning of a new month are always busy for me. Both my Monthly Wrap-Up post for July and my Monthly TBR for August were shared this week. They are both chunky blog posts in themselves – to prepare and publish.

Not only that, but I also shared a blog tour review on Friday for Brothers of the Sword by Peter Gibbons. If you haven’t already checked out that post, and are a fan of historical fiction novels such as Bernard Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom, then Brothers of the Sword should be right up your alley!

 

Books Read

Brothers of the Sword

As I mentioned in last week’s Sunday Summary post, my priority this week was to finish Brothers of the Sword by Peter Gibbons. As I’ve already mentioned above, I took part in the blog tour for this book on Friday. With just a handful of days left until that post, finishing Brothers of the Sword was a must.

I went on to enjoy this book as much as I thought I would! This historical fiction novel, along with the rest of the series, is full of action. There is plenty going on at any given time in order to keep our interest. Not only that, but this isn’t done to the detriment of character development or world-building. Both of these elements are also very much present and make for a well rounded tale. I’ve already shared my thoughts in full in that blog tour post. Rather than giving you a full write up here, I’ll leave the link to that post.

 

The City of a Thousand Faces

Next, I picked up the first book of my August TBR, The City of a Thousand Faces by Walker Dryden. This particular book was drawn out of my TBR Jar on my bookshelf. It has been on my reading list for some time. I’m pleased to say that not only did I start the book this week, but I made my way through all 530 pages of it!

The City of a Thousand Faces ended up being a mixed read. Whilst I enjoyed the setting and political machinations between several characters throughout, there were elements that weren’t so well executed. My main gripe is around characterisation.

The book is told across 100 chapters from a variety of perspectives. Most of these are fine; I actually enjoyed the different perspectives and the insight they gave into a lot of the character relationships. However, there were a few incidences of getting characters mixed up with each other. Daniel and Wolf, for example, had very similar narrative voices and circumstances. I’ve also finished the book being not entirely sure about who the antagonist in the story even was, which is a bit disappointing.

Overall, I the book received a three star rating.

 

Spike: The Virus vs The People

The last book I picked up and made progress with this week was Spike: The Virus vs The People. In my aim to pick up more non-fiction books this year, I have no less than three on my August TBR. The first of those I decided to pick up is, as the title would indicate, about the recent pandemic. It is strange to think that the pandemic kicked off over three years ago now. In some senses, it seems like ages ago, and in others, like yesterday.

As of this Sunday Summary update post, I have made 29% progress through the book. I made the majority of that reading progress just this morning. It’s compulsive reading! Whilst I’m sure there are plenty who wouldn’t feel comfortable reading about the pandemic just now, I am really interested in digging into the detail. It’s weird to think that I have lived through an event that will go down in history and will be talked about for years to come. Not only that, but I’m curious to find out some of the insights the author can give that wasn’t public knowledge at the time events were unfolding.

Given how quickly I’ve been able to make the reading progress I have, I expect I will fly through the rest of this book.

 

Books Discovered

When reading around the book blogosphere earlier today, I found a First Lines Friday post with a featured book that caught my eye. I hadn’t noted down where I saw that post, but fortunately I was able to find it again. The post was originally shared over on Read to Ramble.

I enjoyed the introduction, and the synopsis appealed to me as well. I take part in the First Lines Friday feature on a regular basis myself, so it’s good to see that these posts do inspire books to be added to the reading list. At least, it works for me!

 

Coming Up…

Next week, I will be returning to my usual three post schedule. Whilst I can manage a full post week now and then, it’s quite a lot to juggle!

The first post I will be sharing with you next week goes live on Tuesday. It’s been a while since I shared a Top Ten Tuesday post, and I’m excited for this week’s topic. This week’s theme is to share my top 10 books that I want to pick up as a result of the Top Ten Tuesday Series. The ‘why’ is that my discretion, I just have to share my top ten. I’ll obviously detail each ‘why’ in that post! 

This week’s Friday feature will see the return of a Shelf Control post. If you are unfamiliar with this series, I take a look at my reading list and feature one that’s coming up. I’ll share the details of that book and why I’m looking forward to picking it up. For this week’s post, I will be featuring a book that revolves around one of my favourite periods of history, the Tudors. This will also be a new author for me to explore, but one who is well known and esteemed in the genre.

Last, but certainly not least, I will be back with another Sunday Summary update at the same time next week. I expect to have a lot more reading progress to share with you, as I seem to be on a good run at the moment.

That’s all from me for today’s Sunday Summary update. What have you been reading this week? Are there any books that have caught your eye?

 

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Sunday Summary – 30th July 2023

It’s the end of another week (and sadly, weekend) so you know what time it is! It’s time for this week’s Sunday Summary post! Let’s dive into my review of the week just gone.

My first published post of the week was a review of one of my favourite reads in 2022 (and ever, to be honest). Although I’m not a vampire girly, I really enjoyed Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. If you check out my review, you’ll see why you might just love it too!

On Friday, I shared my next Well, I Didn’t Know That! post. The topic of this week’s post was a little bit different; I discussed my feelings regarding Twitter and the upcoming changes to the social network site, and how I may be re-considering my use of the site in future.

 

Books Read

 

Cytonic

As of last week’s Sunday Summary post, I had just finished my previous read, Storm of War. So, I started this week with a brand-new book! I decided to pick up Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson as I was keen to continue with the Skyward series. I picked up the second book of the series, Starsight, earlier this year and really enjoyed it. As I’m looking to try and read up on more sequels this year, Cytonic fit the bill.

I enjoyed the plot of this latest instalment, more so than the earlier books. This is in part because we’ve already laid out the foundation of the world and events in prior books. They have all worked together really well, and I’ve enjoyed how they’ve taken a different slant each time. This latest book had plenty of action and a story arc and characters that I was invested in.

I finished this book on Friday this week, so I am officially up-to-date with the series… at least until November. In November, the sequel Defiant is due to be published. I can imagine I’ll be picking it up before too long!

 

Brothers of the Sword

The next book I picked up this week is Brothers of the Sword by Peter Gibbons. You may recall that I read another book by Peter Gibbons earlier this month, Storm of War. That’s because I am due to be reviewing Brothers of the Sword next week. In order to do so, I had to catch up with events in the second book of the series before I could read and review the third.

As of this Sunday Summary update, I am 54% into the book. I’ve made quite a lot of progress with this just over Friday night and through the weekend. I really enjoyed the events that have taken place so far in the book, and I’m invested to see what happens next. Obviously, I need to shake a leg and finish this book in time for my review on Friday. As things stand, I have every confidence that I will finish this book in the next day or two. My Kindle gives an estimated reading time of just two and a half hours to finish the book. I’m hoping to get half of that done tonight before turning in. 

 

Books Discovered

I’ve added no less than three books to my reading list this week. I don’t feel so bad about one of them, as it is a sequel to series I am already reading (and may have just alluded to above). The other two books I’ve added are both non-fiction books, but are very different in topic and were found by very different means.

 

Defiant

The first book I’ve mentioned is of course Defiant by Brandon Sanderson. On the one hand, it is good to be able to tick Cytonic off my TBR. However, it wouldn’t be an accurate reflection to leave Defiant off the list. I definitely want to read this book, so I this addition will net off Cytonic’s completion.

 

The Success Code

The next book added to my reading list is as a result of a cheeky browse through WHSmith’s book sale in my local store on Monday. There wasn’t over much that caught my eye, and my wallet is grateful for that.

However, I was intrigued by The Success Code. As well as trying to finish and/or read more sequels this year, I’m also trying to read more in the way of non-fiction. I’m not averse to a bit of personal development, and I’m hopeful I can find some advice in this book, that will prove useful to me.

 

Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia

The origin of this book recommendation is a little unusual. I follow a brand called Snag Tights on Instagram. Something I value about them is how body inclusive they are. It’s rare to see products modelled by larger women… and I mean genuinely larger women. Media is full of stick thin models, or at an absolute push, a size 16 or 18 women who in my not so humble opinion, shouldn’t even count as ‘plus size’. You never see bigger than that.

Snag are different. They aim to advertise their products using models in the same proportions as represented in society. For example, if 40% of women in society are obese, that percentage is used in their marketing. I think it’s a great idea. As a larger woman myself, it gives me the opportunity to look at different products on models that are actually my size. Not only that, but I like how their products are designed with size 24 as the baseline. Normally clothes are designed on skinny people and then scaled up, and that doesn’t always work.

This is kind of besides the point, because I’m here to talk about the book that they recommended earlier this week. In their Instagram feed, they shared a great write-up on Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia. I can’t say that this idea has ever crossed my mind before, although I have no trouble believing it either. Given that I am clearly uneducated on the subject, I decided to add this book to my list to change that! It also happens to be another non-fiction – again, a focus for this year.

 

Coming Up…

Next week I’m in for a marathon run. The end of the month, and the beginning of a new month, is always busy for me. Not only do I have the usual wrap-up and new reading list to share, but this month I also have a blog tour book review to share!

I’ll be kicking off the week on Tuesday with my reading wrap-up for July. As always in these posts, I’ll be talking about the books I read throughout the month and telling you some of my thoughts on those!

On Thursday, a day earlier than I would usually, I am going to share my reading list for August. I can’t believe we’re nearly in August already … but there we are! As always, I’m going to share an ambitious reading list in the hopes that I can make a dent in it. I have some great books coming up, and also some time off the 9-5 in which to enjoy them. I hope you can join me for that post!

On Friday, it is my scheduled slot for the blog tour of Brothers of the Sword by Peter Gibbons. As I’ve already mentioned in this post, I will be reviewing that book for the tour. If you’re interested in historical fiction novels around 10th century Britain, full of clashes between Saxons and Vikings, then you’ll definitely want to read my review on Friday.

Last, but certainly not least, I will be back at the same time next week with another Sunday Summary update.

For now though, that’s all for me in today’s Sunday Summary post. What have you been reading this weekend?  Do you have any reading recommendations for me?

 

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Sunday Summary – 23rd July 2023

Good evening – I hope you’re looking forward to this week’s Sunday Summary post!

As always, I’ll quickly re-cap the blog posts I have shared this week so far before going into the books I’ve picked up this week. The first post I shared this week was a discussion post. In that post, I featured my favourite tropes in the fantasy genre.

On Friday, I shared a First Lines Friday post. The book I chose to feature in this post is the beginning of a series that I have been itching to try, but I’ve been holding off. As I want to try and continue with and/or finish more series this year, I’ve deliberately not started this one yet. I can’t say I’ll hold out for too much longer, but I’ve tried!

 

Books Read

 

Storm of War

The only book I have made progress with this week is Storm of War by Peter Gibbons. As of last week’s post, I had made just 10% of progress into the book. I was already intrigued having enjoyed the first book of the series last year. I’m reading the second book as I need to read and review the third book of the series, Brothers of the Sword, on the 4th of August.

I finished reading Storm of War tonight, just before I started drafting this post. I enjoyed this follow up to the series and I’m looking forward to starting the third book very soon. I am going to give myself a quick break in between by picking up a completely different genre. Then, I’ll be back into the series once again!

 

Books Discovered

On Monday this week, I finally added a fantasy book that I have been reading a lot about on Twitter – Illborn. The book has about 1,500 ratings several hundred reviews on Goodreads. With an average star rating of 4.2 stars, it’s full of promise! I’m really intrigued by the synopsis and I would love to give it a go! At just over 700 pages, it is every aspect an epic fantasy book… which I love!

 

Coming Up…

For the first blog post of next week, I plan to review one of my favourite reads of 2022 – Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. The next book in the series is due to come out in February 2024. I will definitely be getting myself a copy of that as soon as I can to read it!

On Friday, it is the turn of my Friday feature, Well, I Didn’t Know That! In this feature post, I try to share some alternative media other than books, and to share things I’ve learned between each post. As of yet, I haven’t christened the topic of this week’s post. I’ll be crunching ideas over the course of the week, and all will be revealed on Friday!

As always, I’ll return for another Sunday Summary post at the end of the week. I’m hoping for more in the way of reading progress next week, as July is fast ticking away and I still have a few books I want to pick up before the end the month.

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary update post.

Do you have any suggested content you’d like to see from me? Are there any books you would like me to read and review, or any feature posts you’d like to see?

 

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Sunday Summary – 16th July 2023

Good evening friends and welcome to this week’s Sunday Summary post!

If you are a regular reader of my blog, or even just this series, you’ll know what’s coming up first. I like to recap of the blog posts I’ve shared this week! The first post I published this week was my midyear review of my 2023 resolutions. Broadly, I think I’m doing well against those resolutions. I have some actions to take in order to make sure I complete one resolution by the end of the year. If you want to find out what that is, you can check out that post using the link above.

On Friday, I shared a Shelf Control post. In that post, I featured a standalone historical fiction novel by an author I have already come to love through a well-known series of his. I’ve also featured this book before in the First Lines Friday post, where the introduction caught my eye. Personally, I can’t wait to get around to this one. As always, there is a link here if you want to check out what this week’s book was.

I shared an extra post this week as I had signed up to take part in the blog tour for Death at the Caravan Park by Susan Willis. You’ll read a little bit more about this book below as I finished it earlier in the week. However, if you’re interested in reading my full thoughts on the book, you can find a link to yesterday’s review above.

 

Books Read

 

Death at the Caravan Park

In last week’s Sunday Summary, I left off having made reading progress amounting to about a third of the book. As I had to read the book ready to review as part of the blog tour post due yesterday, Death at the Caravan Park was my priority read at the beginning of the week.

This particular book ended up being quite an easy read. It’s approachable for a lot of reasons, and I enjoyed branching out into the cozy crime genre for the first time in a long time! It was great to pick up something a little bit different, and I really liked some of the characterisation in the book. The setting reminded me of a family holiday taken many years ago now, which was nice to think back on around this book.

I finished the book on Wednesday, leaving me plenty of time to collate my thoughts ready for Saturday’s review.

 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

In my last Sunday Summary, I also confided that I had started reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine in tandem with Death at the Caravan Park. As of that update, I was 145 pages in (just over a third of the way through as well).

I didn’t really pick up this book again until I had finished Death at the Caravan Park. I didn’t want to put myself at risk of finishing that book quite late, or not at all, before my review was due. Once I had read it however, I dived back into Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine enthusiastically!

This is the type of book that succeeds at dealing with trauma in a way that is laced with a lot of humour, character depth, and readability. I really enjoyed Eleanor’s unique perspective and personal narrative. The pacing of the book really works as well. It is made clear early on that there is more to Eleanor than meets the eye. It gradually come to the fore throughout the book, but it’s teased out in a way that keeps you reading on for that extra tidbit.

Given the subject matter of the book, I think it does a brilliant job of handling very different emotions and trauma. Although (thankfully) I have never had to live in Eleanor’s shoes, I lived through her story through the book. If it gives you any context as to how much I enjoyed this book, I read approximately half of it over the course of a single day – and that was after I’d been at work! I physically couldn’t put it down near the end.

 

Storm of War

The final book I started this week, and as of this Sunday Summary post is my current read, is Storm of War by Peter Gibbons.

You may or may not recall that I reviewed the first book in his Saxon Warrior series as part of a blog tour last year. Somehow, I managed to miss the blog tour for this second book. However, I am signed up to be reviewing the third book early next month. With this in mind, I am catching up with Storm of War now so that I can pick up Brothers of the Sword, fully informed as to what is going on, and review it in the next few weeks.

I confess with the additional blog post I drafted this week, and some time spent on catching up with TV series I’m watching right now, I’ve only really progressed with Storm of War to the tune of 10%. I’ve pretty much done that in one sitting though, so I feel like this book is going to be very readable.

 

Books Discovered

Earlier this week, I discovered that Patrick Rothfuss is going to be releasing an expanded standalone story from his Kingkiller Chronicle universe. I started the series a very long time ago now, and like everybody else, I’m waiting for it to be wrapped up. In the meantime, I definitely want to check out this short side story!

 

Coming Up…

For my first post of next week, I want to share a discussion post. I’ve thought long and hard about the topic of this post, and I’ve come up with one that I’m looking forward to drafting for you. For this particular post, I am going to be sharing what my favourite tropes are within the fantasy genre and why!

On Friday, I will be sharing this week’s Friday feature post, otherwise known as a First Lines Friday post. The last couple of times I have done this type of post, I have set myself a specific challenge. For this post, I am going in with no guidance or preconceptions about the type of book I would like to feature. It’s an open book, shall we say?

As always, I will be back at the end of the week with another Sunday summary post to catch you up on all the latest updates.

That concludes today’s Sunday Summary update post! Do you have any book recommendations for me?

 

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Sunday Summary – 9th July 2023

Good evening all and welcome to my Sunday Summary update for this week! Get yourself a cuppa and make yourself comfortable.

Before jumping into the books I’ve been reading throughout the week, let’s recap the blog posts I’ve shared. The first post shared this week was my monthly wrap-up post, covering reading progress in June. Whilst I didn’t read as much as I was hoping to, I enjoyed the books I did finish. If you want to read my full recap, you can find that in my wrap-up post linked above.

On Friday, it was time to talk about the books I plan to pick up and read in July. This month’s reading list is no less ambitious. I have a higher number of books on the reading list, but they are also shorter than the books. Amongst those are a number of books I need to read for upcoming blog tours. In addition, I’ve set myself a stretch goal to start a book I didn’t get to in June. If you’re curious to see what’s on the reading list for the month, here is the link to my post.

 

Books Read

 

The House in the Cerulean Sea

I left off last week’s Sunday Summary post having read a third of The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. I spent around the first half of this week continuing with that book, until it’s happy and heartwarming conclusion.

This is the first book I have read by the author, but I can assure you it won’t be the last! I loved the premise, the relationships and the diverse range of characters in the book. Whilst the ending of this book isn’t one I actively seek out in my reading, it worked in this book and I was routing for it!

Where I put down Children of Dune by Frank Herbert last week because it is a serious, political science-fiction, The House in the Cerulean Sea’s lighthearted charm what’s the perfect counter. It’s what I needed to read to get me out of that slump!

 

Death at the Caravan Park

The next book I picked up is the first book on my July TBR – Death at the Caravan Park by Susan Willis. So far, the book is reading okay. At about a third of the way in, we have the storyline and the titled death set up. Given that we’ve been introduced to a number of characters at this point, it will be interesting to see how the narrative unfolds so we can discover what has occurred.

It’s not something I can judge the book on in my review given that I am reading a draft, but I’m not sure the narrative style is completely polished. It initially took some getting used to, but I’ve gotten used to it enough now.

As I will be sharing my review for the book next week, this will be my priority read for the next few days!

 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

On Friday, I took a stroll down to my local library and borrowed Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. And, as I’d forgotten to take my Kindle to work in order to continue with Death at the Caravan Park, I made a sneaky start on this book.

The unique character and writing style has me hooked so much that I am reading these two books in tandem. There is definitely a lot going on already, and plenty more has been alluded to, but not yet unpacked! I’m intrigued about the main character, her undisclosed past and her unusual relationship with her mother.

Since that lunchtime, I have continued reading the book over the weekend. At the point of publishing this post, I am on page 145.

I know I have to prioritise Death at the Caravan Park for my review. I suspect that my desire to return to this book will only help me through that one even faster! If that’s the case, then I should have plenty of reading updates in next week’s Sunday Summary!

 

Books Discovered

I finally broken my streak of no new books being added to the reading list.

I blame this as a result of joining Threads earlier this week. If you’re unfamiliar, Threads is a new social media network run by Meta and is an alternative to Twitter. Whilst I’ve been using Twitter for the entirety of my blogging “career” (for want of a better word), I confess I’ve never really liked it. I’ve decided to give Threads a try to see if it’s any more approachable. It’s proving to be so far, but time will tell.

It is through that social network that I have discovered new people and my new addition. It is a relatively new publication – The Housekeepers by Alex Hay. I really like the sound of this book as it touches on power, gender and class. It involves a heist, which I think will make for an exciting read. I enjoyed a similar topic when reading Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

 

Coming Up…

As we are now over halfway through the year, I want to take the opportunity to review my progress towards my reading goals for the year in a mid-year review post. I tend to do this post every year as it helps me understand where I’m at in relation to my goals, what I need to do to continue to make progress with them, and/or add or change them accordingly. With this in mind, I’m planning to make this my first post which will go live on Tuesday or Wednesday next week.

Later in the week, I’ll resume my Friday feature schedule with a Shelf Control post. This week’s featured book is a standalone novel by an author I have read several books by. The books I’ve been reading so far are all part of the same series. I purchased a paperback copy of this book years ago after reading the first few of the series and really enjoying it. I’m sure I’ve also featured this book in the First Lines Friday post, and I enjoyed the introduction immensely! I hope I’ll be getting to it before too long…

On Saturday, I will be sharing my review of Death at the Caravan Park as part of the upcoming blog tour. Naturally, I’ll be prioritising finishing this book in the week so I’m ready to share my thoughts with you this weekend. I hope you can join me for that post!

Then, to conclude the week, I’ll be back with another Sunday Summary update. You know me and what to expect by now! If I have as much reading progress to share with you next week, I will be very happy (and confidence that I’ve got an over the small slump I had at the end of last month).

 

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary update post.

What are you reading currently? Have you purchased or borrowed any books from your local library lately?

 

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Sunday Summary – 2nd July 2023

Good evening folks and welcome to this week’s update post – aka my Sunday Summary!

I kicked off this week’s blogging schedule with a review of Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. If you are unfamiliar with the book, it is a non-fiction self help about women in the workplace, and why we need more women to have senior roles. The book is full of good personal advice for women to take on board for themselves. However, it also doesn’t shy away from the fact that there are external factors that can hinder a woman’s career… and goes someway to addressing how we can get around that.

Later in the week, I published the next instalment of my Well, I Didn’t Know That! series. In at post, I took the opportunity to explore some of the content available under the Kindle Unlimited subscription.

 

Books Read

 

Children of Dune

I’ve not had a very good week in terms of reading, if I’m completely honest. As I mentioned below, I have struggled with one of the reads I have been picking up (and putting down). But, it’s also fair to say that I have been doing more extracurricular things than usual this week. On Tuesday night, for example, I baked no less than three cakes for a coffee morning we were having a work the following day. I was also out for tea on Thursday with friends.

I didn’t get off to the best of starts with this book last week, as I struggled to get into it. There was one good evening in which I found my way and made some progress into this book last week – as of my last Sunday Summary, I was about 100 pages in.

As of this week’s post, I have only managed to read a further 50 pages, despite picking up this book several times throughout the week. I’ve just not been in the mood for it. There’s nothing wrong with the book. It’s quite a dense and hard science fiction plot, with a lot of politics thrown in for good measure. I have enjoyed the previous two books of the series, but I think it’s one you have to be in the mood for to get on with it.

I can’t really say I’ve been that this week.

 

The House in the Cerulean Sea

After picking up and putting down Children of Dune several times, and coming to the realisation that it wasn’t working for me, I then resumed my read of The House in the Cerulean Sea.

I only really decided to make the switch towards the end of the week, so I’ve only picked this up a couple of times. Even so, I have read about a third of the book in those two sittings. It’s not the most progress in the world, but it’s more than I’ve made with Children of Dune all week. I’ll take it!

Given that I’ve been struggling with Children of Dune, I have made the decision to put this down for now and come back to it later. Therefore, The House in the Cerulean Sea is my main current read and it’s the book I will be taking to bed with me tonight.

 

Books Discovered

It has to be a record, but once again, no news is good news!

 

Coming Up…

Next week, I will be putting my usual blogging schedule on pause as I will be taking the time to publish my monthly wrap-up for the month of June, and also to set out my planned TBR for July!

At the end of the week, I’ll be back with another Sunday Summary post to give you the details of my reading progress in the week. I sincerely hope I have more to report that I have in this post!

What have you been reading?

 

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