Tag: bookworm

First Lines Friday – 18/07/2025

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In today’s First Lines Friday, I set myself a challenge to feature an upcoming 20 Books of Summer read. After taking a look at a few books coming up, I’m excited for this particular book. 

It’s a historical fiction novel from an author I’ve read on numerous occasions before. I can’t wait to pick up their next book – do you want to see what it is? Well first, let’s take a look at the intro and then I’ll share the details. 

 

A dark sky. 

The gods make the sky; it reflects their moods and they were dark that day. It was high summer and a bitter rain was spitting from the east. It felt like winter. 

I was mounted on Lightning, my best horse. He was a stallion, black as night, but with a slash of grey pelt running down his hindquarters. He was named for a great hound I had once sacrificed to Thor. I hated killing that dog, but the gods are hard on us; they demand sacrifice and then ignore us. This Lightning was a huge beast, powerful and sullen, a warhorse, and I was in my war-glory on that dark day. I was dressed in mail and clad in steel and leather. Serpent-Breath, best of swords, hung at my left side, though for the enemy I faced that day I needed no sword, no shield, no axe.

 

 

The Pagan Lord – Bernard Cornwell

Genre: Historical Fiction 

Pages: 303

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication Date: 26 Sept 2013

Goodreads – The Pagan Lord

 

At the onset of the tenth century, England is in turmoil. Alfred the Great is dead and Edward his son reigns as king. Wessex survives but peace cannot hold: the Danes in the north, led by Viking Cnut Longsword, stand ready to invade and will never rest until the emerald crown is theirs.

Uhtred, once Alfred’s great warrior but now out of favor with the new king, must lead a band of outcasts north to recapture his old family home, that great Northumbrian fortress, Bebbanburg.

Loyalties will be divided and men will fall, as every Saxon kingdom is drawn into the bloodiest battle yet with the Danes; a war which will decide the fate of every king, and the entire English nation.

 

My Thoughts…

It’s been some time since I read this series. Too long really! When I reviewed Death of Kings earlier this year, I swore I wouldn’t leave it too much longer before returning. That’s why The Pagan Lord is on my 20 Books of Summer Challenge list. 

I particularly enjoyed watching this particular section of the story on Netflix. Watching Uhtred go back home will be a fun part of the story to read and I hope I’ll enjoy it just as much! 

At just over 300 pages, this should be a quick read to get me back into this series. This’ll be me half way through and hopefully back on track to make series progress towards completing this series in the near future. 

Thanks for reading today’s First Lines Friday instalment! Have you read or watched any of Bernard Cornwell’s the Saxon stories?

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Book Review: Stolen Focus – Johann Hari

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If you enjoy the odd self-help book here and there, today’s post may just feature your next read. In April 2023 I read the eye-opening Stolen Focus by Johann Hari, and I was shocked. With staggering statistics like attention spans lasting only seconds, it’s no wonder we struggle to get anything done! That’s a little ironic given how long it’s taken me to publish my review. 

In my defence, it wasn’t a lack of attention but rather a streak of perfectionism that held it back until now. 

I confess, Stolen Focus has made me more aware of how often I get distracted, or try to multitask (tip – it’s not helpful in the long run!). If you’re intrigued, then I hope you’ll let my review distract you from whatever it is you are MEANT to be doing for just a few minutes… 

 

Stolen Focus – Johann Hari  

Genre: Non-fiction 

Pages: 357

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Crown

Publication Date: 06Jan 2022

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Goodreads – Stolen Focus

Our ability to pay attention is collapsing. From the New York Times bestselling author of Chasing the Scream and Lost Connections comes a groundbreaking examination of why this is happening–and how to get our attention back. 

In the United States, teenagers can focus on one task for only sixty-five seconds at a time, and office workers average only three minutes. Like so many of us, Johann Hari was finding that constantly switching from device to device and tab to tab was a diminishing and depressing way to live. He tried all sorts of self-help solutions–even abandoning his phone for three months–but nothing seemed to work. So Hari went on an epic journey across the world to interview the leading experts on human attention–and he discovered that everything we think we know about this crisis is wrong.

We think our inability to focus is a personal failure to exert enough willpower over our devices. The truth is even more disturbing: our focus has been stolen by powerful external forces that have left us uniquely vulnerable to corporations determined to raid our attention for profit. Hari found that there are twelve deep causes of this crisis, from the decline of mind-wandering to rising pollution, all of which have robbed some of our attention. In Stolen Focus, he introduces readers to Silicon Valley dissidents who learned to hack human attention, and veterinarians who diagnose dogs with ADHD. He explores a favela in Rio de Janeiro where everyone lost their attention in a particularly surreal way, and an office in New Zealand that discovered a remarkable technique to restore workers’ productivity.

Crucially, Hari learned how we can reclaim our focus–as individuals, and as a society–if we are determined to fight for it. Stolen Focus will transform the debate about attention and finally show us how to get it back.

 

My Thoughts

Content

I love that Stolen Focus doesn’t seek to blame, but to convince readers that a loss of focus is a societal issue. Whilst there are things we can all individually do to help, ultimately, the world we live in and the pace of living is the most limiting factor. 

Technology is one of the biggest leeches of our attention. You’ve probably seen families out for gatherings at restaurants and every member at the table is on a personal device. I have on many occasions, and it will only get worse. Johann shares a personal story in which a young relative is addicted to these devices. It’s an alarming trend, but not surprising since the apps and services are designed to hook our attention and hold it. This was also discussed in another book I recently finished, The Anxious Generation. I definitely recommend this as further reading. 

Hustle culture and stress is in part responsible too. Sleep deprivation is no joke. With more and more people forfeiting shuteye in favour of time on personal devices, or paid work, it’s no wonder focus is shattered. Work smarter not harder friends! It’ll pay the same dividends and you’ll feel a whole lot better for it! 

 

Narrative Style

I don’t often break reviews down into sections for non-fiction reviews. It’s not always appropriate. However, I did want to make a special mention to the structure of Stolen Focus. 

The book is broken down into several smaller chapters, each one an explanation of why we struggle to focus in our modern day life. As a result, the book is really approachable to read. If you don’t have a lot of time to read, you could even cherry-pick your chapters of interest to take from the book what you want. 

 

Summary 

Stolen Focus is the kind of book I’d recommend everybody read in their lifetimes. It would especially help those who pressurise themselves to do better, go bigger or otherwise set themselves high bars. As someone who does this to a certain extent, it should help you appreciate and accept life’s  limitations. It’s not about you, and Stolen Focus does not seek to blame. 

The book also offers some practical advice, so we’re not powerless. Stolen Focus strikes the perfect balance of providing information and tips on what to do with that information. Really, it’s a book from which you can take as much as you want. 

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Sunday Summary – 13th July 2025

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If you’ve had glorious weather this weekend as I have, then I hope you’ve been able to make the most of it! Welcome to today’s Sunday Summary update! After a busy week and weekend, I’m here to catch you up on reading progress this week.

Overall, progress has taken a slower pace this week. That’s because real life priorities had to come first. We’ve had a busy week at work. I knew this was coming and so I only planned to share a Top Ten Tuesday post before today’s Sunday Summary. However, even that ended up being late. This belated post went out on Wednesday, so if you’re interested on books I’m planning to re-read, go and take a look at that post.

 

Books Read

The Anxious Generation 

In last week’s Sunday Summary update, I confided that I only had 30 pages left of this book to finish. Whilst my intention was to pick up the book and finish it last Sunday, it was Monday in the end.

The Anxious Generation was a very informative and interesting read. I already had a good measure of the book from what I’d read so far, so the ending and my feelings about the book weren’t really a surprise.

 

The Measure 

Next, I moved on to a kindle read – The Measure by Nikki Erlick. You may recall this is the book we’re reading together in the book club I host at work.

This week, I haven’t made a load of progress with the book, although I have really enjoyed starting it. The blocker on reading progress this week hasn’t been any fault of the book, but rather my time. Quarter end is a really busy time and it was especially rough this time as we had several people out of the office. I did quite a bit of overtime. To top it off, I didn’t make any reading progress on Saturday because I was out at a hen do all day. At least I got to enjoy the beautiful weather! 

As of this Sunday Summary update post, I’m 25% into The Measure. It’s a really interesting book and premise so far. I really like where the book is going in terms of exploring individual stories, but also highlighting changes in society. If you are unfamiliar, the book is about what happens when people have the knowledge of how long they are going to live. There are some really interesting character discussions and events that take place as a consequence. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this progresses and fingers crossed I can make a good deal more progress now things are settling down.

 

House of Frank

A book I have started this week, that isn’t on my official July TBR, is House of Frank. This will probably come across as an unusual choice, but it makes sense when I explain where it’s come from.

I have just become a moderator of an online book club called the Cottagecore Fantasy Book Club over at Chantelle Solace. With my experience of hosting our work book club, I volunteered and was offered the position of moderator to help with the book club. Naturally, I need to read the books that this club are reading, hence why I have started House of Frank.

Reading progress on this book has also been slow. I’ve literally only read the first chapter so far, but I think this is going to be an interesting and cosy read. Given that one of the main topics it’s dealing with is grief, this sounds like an unusual combination but one I’m happy to explore. 

I’ll be sharing more on that next week. If you’re interested, you can find out more here.

 

Alan Turing: The Enigma 

I haven’t made any more progress with Alan Turing this week. After a very slow start last week, I’ve not been able to psyche myself up to pick up this book again.

So much so, I’m only including this book in today’s post to let you know that I’m DNFing it. I’m not enjoying it, so there’s no point in forcing myself to continue when I could be reading or listening to something else more interesting… 

 

Books Discovered

I’ve picked up one book this week. As and when I pop into one of our bigger Tesco stores, I usually take a look at the little bookshelf they have near their customer services area. Most of the time, they don’t have anything that catches my eye. 

However, this week I found a copy of Janice Hallett’s The Examiner in a really good condition. I really enjoyed reading The Appeal so I’m excited to be able to try another of her books written in mixed media format. And, I dId a good deed in getting my copy as charity benefits! 

 

Coming Up… 

So, what’s the plan next week? Well, given most of my time sensitive deadlines are now over at work, scheduling should return to normal. 

This week I’m returning to my draft review of Stolen Focus in an attempt to finish it off to a standard I’m happy with. In terms of word count for the review, I’m not far off where I want to be. It’s hopefully just a case of refining it, but we’ll see.

On Friday I return with my regular First Lines Friday feature. In the spirit of making things more interesting, I’ll set myself a challenge here and now to feature an upcoming read from my 20 Books of Summer reading list. I hope you can tune in to see what that is! 

Lastly, I’m back again for another Sunday Summary instalment at the end of the week. With work deadlines less imminent and more staff in the office next week, I should get my time back. 

What are you reading this week? 

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Sunday Summary – 6th July 2025

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Happy Sunday reading friends! Welcome to this Sunday Summary update post. Thankfully, where I live, we have a local bank holiday tomorrow, so my weekend isn’t quite over yet. With any luck, I’ll be spending at least some of tomorrow with a book in hand! 

Before I get ahead of myself thinking about next week, let’s look at what’s happened in the last seven days. 

The first post I shared this week went live on Tuesday. It was my monthly wrap-up post for June 2025. Before I got really busy at work, I wanted to draft and publish this post. Whilst I run my blog out of work hours, if I’ve had a long day, I don’t always feel like doing the blog stuff afterwards. Mindful of my time and energy, I’m glad I got this one done in good time. 

Next, I shared my TBR for July on Friday. With the same in mind, I started this a couple of days before it went live. This gave me loads of time to plan the books I’m picking up this month and prepare that blog post. If you haven’t yet read that, here’s a link so you can find out what I’m reading in the near future.

 

Books Read

 

Saint’s Blood

Picking up from last week’s Sunday Summary update, I listened to the final four hours of Saint’s Blood over the course of this working week. Not that that was difficult to do. I was at a point in the story where I was really engaged with what was going on and I wanted to see how the book would end.

I do a lot of my audiobook listening in the week whilst I’m commuting to and from work. Because it’s been quarter-end at work, I haven’t been going out at lunchtime as usual. So, I’ve managed to fit in a little bit more listening there too! 

I really enjoyed Saint’s Blood and getting back into this series. I’m not entirely sure what the fourth and final book of this series will entail. What I can tell you is that I plan to pick this up before too long so I can finish the series before the end of the year. 

 

The Anxious Generation 

On the physical book front, I have made a real effort to read The Anxious Generation this week. As of my monthly wrap-up post, I had made a healthy thought to the book, but I was only 60 pages in. As of this Sunday Summary update, I have just 30 pages left. 

I’ve made a good push to get the book finished today, but I’ve not quite got there. I am hoping to make the final push with this book before I go to bed tonight so I can start afresh tomorrow! 

The Anxious Generation is an interesting read. Whilst quite factual and somewhat statistical, the book and its narrative are engaging to read. At the moment, I’m reading the author’s practical advice for what government, schools and parents can do to minimise the impact of handheld access to social media and the wider internet. I’m looking forward to seeing how it ends.

 

Alan Turing: The Enigma 

In the last couple of days, I’ve started listening to a biography on Alan Turing.

I wanted to pick up this book since watching The Imitation Game. For a man who had such a massive influence on British history and breaking German cipher codes in WWII through developing a computer, he was very poorly treated.

So far, the audiobook is going through his early life. If I’m honest, I’m finding this a little dry at the moment. Fortunately, I’m listening to this audiobook whilst also doing craft projects so I’m somewhat engaged by those. I’m going to stick with the audiobook a little bit longer and see if things get more interesting. 

 

Books Discovered

This week is another week with no new additions to the TBR. Given I have completed books this week and added nothing to the reading list, we’re heading in the right direction for once.

 

Coming Up… 

With an anticipated busy week next week, I’m going to reduce the pressure on myself to blog. It’s a busy time at work, we’re several staff down and it’ll be myself and my manager largely holding down the fort for our team. 

I’d already earmarked next week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme as one I wanted to feature. That post is about the books I want to re-read. So, I’ll probably draft this post tomorrow ready to go live on Tuesday. Then, I’ll have a short break until the end of the week. 

The final post landing this time next week is another Sunday Summary update. Stay tuned to find out if I stick with Alan Turing‘s biography, as well as which book I pick up next after The Anxious Generation. 

I hope you all have a fabulous week, whatever you have planned! Until next time, happy reading! 

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Monthly TBR – July 2025

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The books in today’s monthly TBR are all part of my 20 Books of Summer Challenge. It shouldn’t be a surprise, in a broad sense, what I’ll be reading over the next few months. In my recent Top Ten Tuesday post, I shared which books on that list I’m prioritising soon. 

The culmination of both these lists is my July Monthly TBR. Take a look at the books coming up on this month’s list – I’m very excited to pick each and every one of these up! 

 

Fixed Reads 

 

The Anxious Generation  

The first of my carryovers from June is The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. As of my monthly wrap-up post, I’d read the first 60 pages. As of drafting this monthly TBR, I’m another 100 pages along. Progress therefore stands at about 50%. 

The Anxious Generation has proven to be an interesting and relatively easy read. For a non-fiction, informative book, it’s not dry. The facts and figures are easily spelled out and backed up. Perhaps I’m biased by the subject matter meaning so much to me. Either way, I’m really enjoying The Anxious Generation so far and hopefully I’ll blast through the last half before the end of the week! 

 

Saint’s Blood

The second and final carryover onto this monthly TBR is my audiobook listen, Saint’s Blood. I’m even closer to the finish line with this book, with just 45 minutes listening time left as of drafting this post. I will absolutely finish this book tomorrow at the latest! 

Saint’s Blood has been a great listen and I’ve loved getting back into this series. With just one book left after this one is finished, it makes sense to pick the sequel up soon and finish the series. That way it’s fresh in my mind, and it’s a tick in the ol’ box for my series completion resolution 😅

 

The Measure 

I’ve convinced book club to pick up The Measure this month. I was a little worried about squeezing in book club reads on top of my Summer Challenge TBR. However, it was my turn to pick a book and so I made it work to my advantage! 

I think this will be a good fit for the group as well. The story type appeals to the reading tastes of several in the group. That’s a great start. Also, I think this will have some really interesting talking points for our meet-up. 

Win-win! 

 

Mood Reads 

 

The Pagan Lord

I’ve convinced my boyfriend Shane to start watching The Last Kingdom. We’ve recently finished watching Vikings (which he introduced me to), and he’s liking it so far. 

I reviewed Death of Kings recently and shamed myself a little over how long it’s been since I picked up the series. It’s quite a long one, so not a likely candidate for a finish this year. Pagan Lord is book seven of the series. I think there are 13 in total off the top of my head. That’s no reason not to make progress with it though! 

At around the 300-page mark, The Pagan Lord will make for a good recap to the series. I have watched the series, so I should be able to pick up the storyline quickly enough despite the reading gap. It should also be a relatively quick read – helpful to getting caught up with my reading goal! 

 

If We Were Villains

The oldest book on this monthly TBR, in terms of how long it’s been on my TBR, is If We Were Villains.

I’ve had a copy of this on my bookshelf for years. It’s finally time to get to it! Although I’m not a big Shakespeare fan, I do love literature and drama. This combination means I’m looking forward to this book. In the past, I’ve enjoyed dark academia books. If We Were Villains falls into this category. It all bodes well – let’s just hope the book lives up to my expectations. 

 

The Dragon Republic

Whilst events of The Poppy War are fresh in my mind, I want to pick up the sequel. As the second book of a trilogy, progress with The Dragon Republic means I’ll have just one book left in the series once it’s done. Naturally, I’ll then look to finish the trilogy this year! That’ll be another series ticked off my list ☺️ 

The Poppy War was a great read. It wasn’t the fastest because the story was quite dense. Not in a bad way. I enjoyed taking my time over it. I don’t know if The Dragon Republic will be the same. Having laid the groundwork, events could go either way. Things could speed up now the world-building is established. Equally though, if there is more to lay down it could be a repeat of the same. I’ll just have to see how it goes. If I expect the latter then I won’t be disappointed if reading progress is a little slower.  

 

Alan Turing: The Enigma

Another chunky read on this monthly TBR is in the form of an audiobook. I’ve deliberately chosen to listen to the book for this reason. As I’m so close to finishing Saint’s Blood, I should have plenty of time to listen to Alan Turing. 

I added this book to my reading list after watching The Imitation Game. I’m intrigued to learn more about the person who had such an important influence on history. What shocked me most was how Alan Turing was treated after all he did to end WW2. I’m hoping this is covered in the book, because it’s a significant part of Mr Turing’s story. I’ll let you know in due course whether it does and what my thoughts are on the book. 

 

Summary 

I have a good number of books on this monthly TBR. However, given I’m close to finishing the carried over books from June, I think this is achievable. Even if I have a repeat of this month and get very close, I’ll be happy. 

What books are coming up on your reading list? 

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Monthly Wrap-Up – June 2025

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In today’s monthly wrap-up for June 2025, I recap great reading progress over the last month. With my 20 Books of Summer Challenge well underway, I’ve made a respectable start to getting through the books featuring in that challenge. 

Want a reminder of what books those are? Let’s dive into this monthly wrap-up post and I can catch you up on what I’ve picked up so far 😌

 

Books Read 

Sunrise on the Reaping

At the very beginning of this month, I devoured the final 2/3 of Sunrise on the Reaping. This book isn’t on my 20 Books of Summer Challenge – it was just a carryover from my May TBR. 

This was such a highly anticipated read for me, and it’s fair to say the book didn’t disappoint! I love The Hunger Games books so much and this one was fantastic for giving backstory to Haymitch’s character.

Just when you think the hunger games couldn’t be any more dark or dystopian, Suzanne Collins surprises us once again. No character is safe in this world. That’s something I love! Weirdly, I love to be fearful for the characters I’m reading about and routing for. I don’t want to think they’re safe, especially in the world where that’s not realistic. 

It was fantastic to get back and up-to-date with the series. I definitely anticipate a full re-read later this year!

 

All the Light We Cannot See

All The Light We Cannot See

The book that took me the longest to read this month was All the Light We Cannot See. I was really looking forward to reading All the Light We Cannot See and I did enjoy picking up this book. If I’m entirely honest, I didn’t love it as much as I expected I would. 

Given the premise of the books is sold on two very different characters coming together, I thought this would happen earlier in the storyline. Not only that, but the way the book is structured into super-short chapters didn’t suit me. I like to get into a character perspective and take time in a scene to figure out what’s going on. The stories of Marie-Laure and Werner kept chopping around so much that you didn’t really get this chance. I understand why this works in the context of the story, but it did detract from my personal reading experience of the book a little.

What I did enjoy reading was a perspective from a character who is blind. So often when we read books, we are introduced to a setting by the way it looks more than any other sensory input. To instead be introduced to a setting by touch and sound was a change of perspective I enjoyed.

 

Little Fires Everywhere

One of the fastest books I read this month, maybe except for Sunrise on the Reaping, was Little Fires Everywhere.

Admittedly, I did have a deadline for this book, but that was today’s work book club meet. Even beyond the deadline, I found myself devouring this book, partly because it was on my Kindle and very convenient to pick up and put down, but also because the storyline hooked me.

Book begins with a present day fire, and then spirals to the events leading up to it happening. There is a good deal of mystery around several of the characters. Finding out what was going on motivated me to finish this book more than anything. Little Fires Everywhere was also a very easy read. The book was very easy to pick up and put down at will. I picked it up for good long stints at a time, and progress was fast! 

 

A Day of Fallen Night

The biggest book on this reading list was a carryover from my May TBR. As of last month’s monthly wrap-up, I had listened to around 11 hours of A Day of Fallen Night.

I listened to the remaining 28 or so hours over the course of this month. I finished this book last week whilst on annual leave. One of my favourite hobbies aside from books is crafting. Knitting, crochet, cross-stitch – that kind of thing. A hobby I can do with my hands works well with listening to audiobooks. Last week, I made the most of it with both A Day of Fallen Night and the next books on this list, 

As I shared in my Sunday Summary instalment just before the end of the month, I really enjoyed getting back into this series not too long after starting it. Picking the second book up within reasonable time to the first meant I could appreciate overlapping details; if I’d left it too long I was far less likely to pick up on and appreciate this detail. 

 

Saint’s Blood

In the last week of June alone, I listened to 80% of Saint’s Blood. That’s a lot of audiobook progress and I wouldn’t have been able to do it so easily if I wasn’t off work. 

Getting back into Saint’s Blood hasn’t been too bad. I thought it would be more difficult, given I haven’t picked up the series in three years. Even so, the book has recapped the broad points of the narrative so I’ve been able to follow along well. 

As of this monthly wrap-up post, Saint’s Blood is still a current read and I anticipate finishing the book in the next few days. The narrative is starting to come together, but I feel there is more to explore as well. Will there be another revelation? At the point of the book I’m at, I’m getting the enjoyment of the main characters being in a lot of danger. Going back to what I said about Sunrise on the Reaping, I like to be scared into thinking the main characters aren’t safe. 

 

The Anxious Generation 

The final carryover I have in this monthly wrap-up post that I’ll pick up in July is The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. As at the end of June, I’d read the first 60 pages of the book and I’m enjoying it so far. 

The Anxious Generation is an informative read for all. However, as someone who is and has family of age with the population featured in the subject of the book, it has a personal connection. 

The research of the book so far is well backed up by facts and figures. At the moment, that’s as far as I’ve gotten. Later in the book we get to actions we can take. I’m intrigued on the author’s take on this and I’ll update you in the near future. 

 

Summary 

This monthly wrap-up post includes all the books I set out to pick up in my June TBR. Whilst I had hoped it finish all the books on this list and maybe start another, I came very close to completing June’s reading list. Admittedly, All the Light We Cannot See took a little longer to read than I expected and A Day of Fallen Night is a very long audiobook. Equally though, I’ve listened to Saint’s Blood very quickly too. 

On balance, I think I can achieve reading 5-6 books a month at the moment. So, I’ll set my July TBR accordingly. If you want to see what I’m picking up this month, I’m publishing my July TBR in the next couple of days! I hope you can take a look and maybe find inspiration for your next read. 

Until then, have a good week and happy reading! 

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Sunday Summary – 29th June 2025

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I don’t quite know how, but we’re at the end of another week already! I hope you’ve had a good week and you’re ready for today’s Sunday Summary check-in. As always, I’m here to catch you up on the blog posts I’ve shared. Not only that, but I have four books I’ve read to update you on. finally, I share any I’ve added to my reading list this week. Make yourself comfortable, and then let’s get stuck in.

I had originally intended to share a review of Stolen Focus by Johann Hari midweek. Whilst I’ve made progress with drafting that review, I’m not yet happy with it. With this in mind, I decided to postpone publishing this post. When I get my review in a position where I’m happy to share it, it’ll go live then. 

Instead, my first post of the week went live on Friday. In my regular Shelf Control features, I look at upcoming books on my reading list and share them with you. I talk about why I’m excited to pick up those books, and often they get me hoped up to read them soon. This week’s feature is a mystery novel in which the book has an interesting psychological thriller storyline. If you have yet to read that post, here’s a handy link for you to take a look. 

 

Books Read

A Day of Fallen Night

Starting off this week with only four hours left of A Day of Fallen Night meant that I didn’t have long left in this audiobook. With the conclusion rapidly coming up, and some well-timed annual leave from work, I blitzed this final stretch.

I really enjoyed getting back into this series. It wasn’t that long ago that I read the first book of the series, The Priory of the Orange Tree. Picking up this next book within a few months of finishing the first book has been a godsend. With so much going on in the subtle hints and clues between storylines, it’s been really helpful to read these closer together to be able to pick up on and appreciate this detail. 

I enjoyed this prequel so much that I am now eagerly anticipating the next instalment of the series, due out later this year. As soon as that book is published, I’ll listen to the audiobook and get stuck back in.

 

Little Fires Everywhere

In last week’s Sunday Summary, I shared how I’d made light work of the first half of Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. That continued to be the case this week. Little Fires Everywhere is the first book I’ve read on my Kindle for a little while, and weirdly I enjoyed the experience. As much as I love physical books, the convenience of a Kindle can’t be downplayed.

I read and finished the second half of Little Fires Everywhere in rapid time. This was an interesting book to read and I enjoyed unravelling the characters’ backstories. Of course I was keen to figure out what was happening in the present day too. I’m looking forward to discussing this in our work book club next week.

 

Saint’s Blood

Given that I’ve been off work for a few days this week, I’ve leaned into audiobooks whilst crafting quite heavily. So much so, I have listened to the vast majority (est. 80%) of the next audiobook on my TBR. 

As of this Sunday Summary, I have just under four hours of Saint’s Blood. As I said to you and last week’s Sunday summary, with only four hours left and the end of the book rapidly approaching, I don’t think this will be long in finishing! 

Unlike A Day of Fallen Night, I’ve left it a considerable amount of time between listening to this audiobook compared to its prequel. To be more specific, I last picked up this series in June 2022 – three years ago!

That said, I haven’t found it too tricky getting into the story. I started the audio without a recap to see if events would naturally come back to me or be recapped within the story. Whilst there wasn’t too much of an info dump, I managed to pick up enough information that I’ve been able to carry on with the book without a recap. Would I have been better picking this up sooner? Absolutely yes. It’s not been a dealbreaker though.

 

The Anxious Generation 

The last book I’ve started this week is the final book on my June TBR, The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. 

Progress in this book hasn’t been so fast as the other books in this Sunday Summary update, but it’s been no less enjoyable.

It’s surprising really how many non-fiction books I now read, when you consider I barely picked up the genre even just a few years ago. In fact, it’s becoming one of my most read genres and that’s happened quite naturally. 

What helps in the case of The Anxious Generation specifically is that the book very much talks about people around or very close to my own age. I am someone who is not quite the subject of the book, but I have very close ties to it. I have no doubt that The Anxious Generation will continue to be an interesting read. It will also likely be a book I would recommend to all parents.

 

Books Discovered

This week has been a relatively quiet one. The good news is that I’ve managed to tick a couple of reads off the list and I’ve not added anything new. Yet… 😅 there’s still time!

 

Coming Up… 

The end of the month is back around again! So, next week I’ll be busy initially with sharing my monthly wrap-up post for June. In this monthly post, I recap the progress I’ve made against my TBR and give you a brief review of my thoughts on each of the books. I hope you can check-in with me for that post early next week.

Next, with a new month over the horizon, I’ll share which books I plan to read in July. We’re now officially into the second half of the year. It’s also the second month of the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge. The books on this TBR shouldn’t be a surprise, but I’ll be sharing what my reading priorities will be in the near future.

Finally, I’ll be back this time next week with another Sunday Summary instalment. If you want to catch up on the books I’m reading next week, that’s the post to check out. I don’t know how much reading I’m going to get done next week. We are stepping into a really busy period at work, but I’m determined to keep up pace with reading as much as I can! If nothing else, I’m setting myself the challenge of finishing Saint’s Blood.

What is your next upcoming read? 

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Sunday Summary – 22nd June 2025

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It honestly feels like I’ve barely finished one Sunday Summary post before I’m starting the next. Where are the weeks going? 

Happy Sunday friends and welcome to my weekly catch up post! As always, in this Sunday Summary, I’ll recap the blog posts I’ve shared so far this week, then jump into my reading updates. 

My first blog post of the week was a Top Ten Tuesday post. I’ve shared a few books around this week’s theme in the past as it’s a quarterly re-occurring post. This week, it was time to share my top ten books on my summer TBR. As I’m taking part in the 20 Books of Summer Challenge, I decided to use this post to share which books I’ll be prioritising from that challenge after my June TBR.

On Friday, it was the return of my First Lines Friday feature. This week’s feature was a completely novel choice that I added to my reading list; normally I’m featuring one already on there. If you’re also looking for a quirky way to discover your next read, take a look at that post, as I share an interesting resource I stumbled upon via my local libraries website.

 

Books Read

 

All the Light We Cannot See

All The Light We Cannot See

This week, I read the final third of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I was pleasantly surprised actually. Overall, I found myself reading this book in lots of short stints. The pacing of the book meant that I was picking it up and putting it down often, not reading very many pages in one go.

However, I got to a point in the book where I was determined to finish it, and so I did. I spent a couple of hours one evening this week and I read between 120-140 pages in one sitting. 

I enjoyed All the Light We Cannot See, but it didn’t wow me either. Based on the write up, I’d hoped that Marie-Laure and Werner spent more time together once they finally met. In the context of this 500 page story, they meet quite a long way down the line, and for what feels like a very brief period of time. I had high hopes for this book, and if I’m entirely honest, it didn’t quite live up to expectation. It is still a decent read – I rated the book 3 stars.

 

A Day of Fallen Night

In last week’s Sunday Summary post, I shared that I’d made only a little progress with A Day of Fallen Night. 

Compared to last week’s one and a half hours progress, I’ve made an additional five hours progress on top of that benchmark this week. If I had listened to this book just a little bit more throughout the course of the week, I could’ve been sharing a completion with you here. As it stands, I only have four hours of this audiobook left as of this Sunday Summary update. I may not be able to share a completion of this with you this week, but the six and a half hours I’ve listened to this week sets me up so I can share it with you next week! 

Events are now bringing characters together for the conclusion. I’m really interested to see how this book wraps up. If nothing else, that’s my motivator to pick up this book. 

 

Little Fires Everywhere

The final book to update you on in today’s Sunday Summary post is my current read, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. 

This is our work book club book. We’re next meeting at the beginning of July. I haven’t got the most time in the world to finish this book. Equally, I’ve read 45% in just the couple of days. Compared to All the Light We Cannot See, Little Fires Everywhere is progressing much quicker; the pacing of the book suits my reading preferences better. It’s a lot easier to sit and read in longer settings. I’m not worried about finishing it on time.

I’m starting to see where character conflicts are building. Do these explain the events at the very start of the book? Is it going to be as transparent as we think? I’m not so sure at the moment. I hope there is a bit of a mystery for me to unravel here. Hopefully, I’ll be talking more about that in next week’s Sunday Summary. Given how quickly I’m progressing with this book, I am optimistic for a completion very soon.

 

Books Discovered

If you read my First Lines Friday post (either on Friday or if you followed the link above) you’ll know that I added a book called The Great Passage to my TBR on Friday.

Books about books make for interesting reads. What also intrigues me is that the author and setting is based on Japanese language and culture. I read a lot more Westernised narratives but that’s something I’m looking to address. I’m intrigued as to whether that will be prevalent in the book and educate me on differences between my more familiar Western culture compared to Eastern. 

 

Coming Up… 

Given I have a number of book reviews to catch up with, I’ll tackle one of these early next week. The next book on my review list is Stolen Focus by Johann Hari. This was an interesting read; I’d recommend it to anyone who feels they struggle with their focus or attention span. It’s scary to realise what impact technology has had on our brains!

As I’ve just shared a First Lines Friday, that means this week’s Friday feature will be a Shelf Control post. I enjoy using this series as an opportunity to look forward to upcoming reads on my TBR. This week I’m featuring a psychological thriller with an element of mystery. I hope you can tune in to that upcoming post to see what it is. 

Finally, I’ll be back at the same time next week with another Sunday Summary catch up. Fingers crossed, I’ll have at least two completions in that post. We’re rapidly approaching the end of the month! I hope to get through my reading list before the start of July, so I’m making a push between now and then.

What book have you read recently that you would recommend to me? 

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First Lines Friday – 20/06/2025

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When looking up whether my local library had a copy of a book I wanted to read, I spotted an interesting resource that I used to choose today’s First Lines Friday feature. It came in good time too. Rather than featuring yet another book on my list or already read by me, I wanted to feature something different. Thankfully I didn’t restrict myself in last week’s Sunday Summary post so I was able to make the most of today’s discovery.

My local libraries’ website links to a site called WhichBook as a novel way of helping choose your next read. You can search by emotion, geographical locations, characters and plot types. When playing with the customisation of the searches I cam across today’s feature. If you are a fan of words and language as I am, you might appreciate today’s book! 

 

Kohei Araki had devoted his entire life—his entire working life—to dictionaries. Words fascinated him, always had. 

He had learned early on that dog contained other meanings besides the four-legged animal. Once when his father had taken him to the movies, a blood-spattered gangster, betrayed and dying on screen, spat out the words “Damn that dog!” So an enemy spy was a dog. The gang boss, upon receiving word of the gangster’s demise, jumped up and shouted, “What are you all standing around here for? Polish your daggers! Don’t let him die a dog’s death!” So the word could also mean “pointless.” 

Dogs were faithful partners—trustworthy, intelligent, endearing—yet dog could also refer to a traitor or a condition of meaninglessness. How strange! In his child’s mind he tried to work out how this could be. Faithfulness to the point of servility, devotion going pathetically unrewarded—all the more pathetic as it increased in intensity. Perhaps such canine traits were responsible for the negative associations attached to the word.

 

 

The Great Passage – Shion Miura

Genre: Historical Fiction 

Pages: 224

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Amazon Crossing

Publication Date: 01 Jun 2017

Goodreads – The Great Passage

 

An award-winning story of love, friendship, and the power of human connection.

Kohei Araki believes that a dictionary is a boat to carry us across the sea of words. But after thirty-seven years of creating dictionaries, it’s time for him to retire and find his replacement.

He discovers a kindred spirit in Mitsuya Majime—a young, disheveled square peg with a penchant for collecting antiquarian books and a background in linguistics—whom he swipes from his company’s sales department.

Along with an energetic, if reluctant, new recruit and an elder linguistics scholar, Majime is tasked with a career-defining accomplishment: completing The Great Passage, a comprehensive 2,900-page tome of the Japanese language. On his journey, Majime discovers friendship, romance, and an incredible dedication to his work, inspired by the words that connect us all.

 

My Thoughts…

The Great Passage appeals to me for several reasons. Firstly, I love language. Words and meanings and the play off of expressions to make different meanings interests me. Call me sad, or frankly whatever you like. I enjoy what I enjoy. 

However, as well as that, I’m intrigued by the books Japanese origins. The Great Passage is translated from Japanese originally and is written by an author who is just as passionate about language. Does this book indicate if there is a cultural difference in language, or are some things universal? That’s what I’m also curious to read about. 

I’ve regularly shared that I tend to read western books. I’ve more said this in the context of fantasy, but this is probably true across the board. Picking up The Great Passage would be a great way to lean into different histories and cultures and read a brand new narrative. 

I need to be careful – I almost sound like I’ve used this First Lines Friday post to talk myself into reading this book. Who am I kidding – of course it’s now on my TBR! Maybe WhichBook is just as dangerous for my reading list as it is good at being a useful tool for picking something in a different way.

Care – use with caution. My mum joked once that I’d make my out of this world suffocating under a pile of books. She probably isn’t wrong… 

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s slightly different First Lines Friday feature!

What are you reading this weekend? 

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Sunday Summary – 15th June 2025

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Happy Father’s Day to the most amazing dad out there! I obviously couldn’t start this Sunday Summary post any other way. I’ve had a great time spending time today with my family… even if my day didn’t get off to the best of starts.

In today’s weekly update post, I’ll catch you up on the blog posts I’ve shared so far this week, as well as where I’m up to with reading progress. Make yourself comfortable and get a cuppa. When you’re ready, let’s dive in!

My first post of the week was a book review of The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb. In this post, I talk about why The Mad Ship was a great second instalment to this trilogy and why you should read it too.

On Friday, I featured my regular Shelf Control post and a mystery/thriller novel I’m keen to read. I’ve featured and read this author once before, and I added his debut book to my reading list to pick up next… 

 

Books Read

 

All the Light We Cannot See

All The Light We Cannot See

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update, I had read a little over 160 pages of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

This week, I was secretly hoping to be sharing a completion of this book. That hasn’t quite happened, although I have managed to practically double my progress.

I’m now around two thirds of the way through this book, so I will be very surprised if I’m not sharing a completion with you next week. I’m still loving this book for all the reasons I stated in last week’s Sunday Summary. If there is an element of the story I’m not keen on, it’s that the chapters are not very long at all. It barely feels like we get into a character perspective before we jump to the next one. It’s not a dealbreaker though, so I am continuing with All the Light We Cannot See into next week. Fingers crossed for a completion in next week’s Sunday Summary update!

 

A Day of Fallen Night

Compared to recent progress with A Day of Fallen Night, I’ve made pretty poor progress with this audiobook this week.

Over the course of this week, I’ve only listened to a little over one and a half hours. Although I do listen to audio in the week, I would say the vast majority of audiobook progress usually happens at the weekend. This weekend has been a little bit special. Not only was I out of the house meeting family today for Father’s Day, but I was also out yesterday wedding dress shopping with my sister during th day and out at a show last night. It’s been a busy weekend, and I’ve been out of normal routine. Fingers crossed, I’ll get back on track next week.

 

Books Discovered

 

This week, I read a review for A Language of Dragons online. The idea of the books appeals to be on both counts – firstly, dragons. Enough said. But also, I have a bit of a nerdy interest in language and the origins of language. The synopsis of this book reminds me a little of Babel, so I reckon I’ll really enjoy this one! 

I also purchased a copy of a book written my the author and creator VirtualAstro, Adrian West. The show I went to last night was his The Night Sky Show. It was quite different to anything I’ve watched before. When I saw his book being sold in the foyer, it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’. Getting in there early meant I got a pre-signed copy instead of having to wait afterwards like most people…

 

Coming Up… 

This week I have a Top Ten Tuesday post lined up. I’ve recently shared my June TBR and my 20 Books of Summer Challenge. In this week’s post, I’ll be using the topic of books on my Summer TBR to share which books I’ll be prioritising after my June TBR. 

On Friday, I’m back with a First Lines Friday post. As usual, I’ll find an interesting introduction to share with you and then give you details on the book. I hope you can check in and take a look! 

Finally, this time next week I’m back with another Sunday Summary catch up. Will I finish All the Light We Cannot See and recover progress on A Day of Fallen Night? Find out in next week’s post! 

Until then, happy reading!

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