Tag: contemporary fiction

Sunday Summary – 14th January 2024

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In today’s Sunday Summary post I have plenty of updates to share with you. It has been a fantastic week of reading, and I can’t lie when I say I’ve enjoyed going back to a more relaxed blogging schedule. Yes, this week I was back to my regular three post schedule, and it’s been far more manageable.

The first of those posts was a book review of Leadership and Culture by John and Katie McCann. I read this book last year as a way of picking up another non-fiction, but also to work on some of my soft skills. This book would be great for either first-time managers, aspiring leaders, or even as a refresher for those more experienced. As always, I’ll provide a link in case you want to go back and check out that post.

On Friday, I returned with a Shelf Control post. If you are unfamiliar with this series, I use it to look at upcoming books on my reading list and share why I’m excited to read them. This week’s particular feature was another non-fiction book that is on my reading list, but about a completely different topic. It’s one that I am really interested in reading about even though it is not the most pleasant! If you want to find out what that was, there is a link above.

 

Books Read

My Sister’s Keeper

As of last week’s Sunday Summary post, I was 75% into this audio and hopeful that I was going to finish it soon.

I did indeed finish this audio on Thursday night, and oh my goodness, what an ending! I fully appreciate that some people don’t like the ending of this book. However, I really enjoyed it and I didn’t see it coming! It also made me cry my eyes out. It ended up being quiet in the office than usual on Friday, so no one noticed the puffy face. Then again, I do work with mostly men…

 

Betrothal and Betrayal

The second read I carried over from last week’s Sunday Summary was Betrothal and Betrayal. In that post, I shared that I’d read the first 20%, and it’s from there I picked up from.

I read Betrothal and Betrayal on my phone, which is something I don’t do very often. However, this is a review copy of the book and the deadline for reviewing it is coming up. Had I not been able to view the book on my phone I would have gone back to the organiser to see if I could get the matter fixed. As things stood, I could, and the book is only 250 pages long. I decided to work with what I had, and to be fair, it worked reasonably well.

As I’ve already mentioned, the review for this is coming up – as imminently as next week. I’m not going to go too much in detail as to my thoughts at this time. Overall it was a fun, short historical fantasy book in which we get to explore the life of a fiery female protagonist set an interesting setting – Constantinople and the Byzantine empire.

 

Crime and Punishment

I picked up Crime and Punishment for the first time after finishing Betrothal and Betrayal. I suspected this would be the book my reading pace slowed down with, and that is the case.

In order to read all of the 10 books I have on my January TBR, I need to read about 100 pages a day over the course of the month. Since Thursday, I’ve only read the first 132 pages of this classic. In fairness, I haven’t picked up read at all today, and I will be making some progress with the book tonight once this post goes live.

I already expected that the writing style of Crime and Punishment would make 100 pages a day a stretch. When you take into account the book was published in the late 1800s, by a Russian author and then translated, it doesn’t quite flow the same as modern language. This isn’t to say I’m not getting on with it, because I am. However, to get my hundred pages a day, I’m definitely going to have to read a couple of books in tandem. More on that later. As of this post,Crime and Punishment is my main read and my focus going into next week. If I can read 50 pages of this book a day, in tandem with 50 pages of another, I’ll be on track.

 

Sword of Vengeance

To help with keep up my reading pace and give me a change, I’m going to read Sword of Vengeance in tandem with Crime and Punishment. It so happens that I started the book yesterday whilst at my hairdressers anyway. I am reading Crime and Punishment in paperback form, but it wasn’t worth taking with me to the appointment. I was able to read the first chapter of Sword of Vengeance on my phone.

Sword of Vengeance is the fourth book of the Saxon Warrior series. I’ve kept up to date with it and so there isn’t too much in the way of investment to pick up and follow the action. I’ve already done the legwork and know what’s going on. It’s a completely different writing style, but it’s one that I find very easy to read. I’ll be using this book to switch to when I need a break and/or to try and make up page count in my daily reading.

I confess that, as of this Sunday Summary, I have only read the first chapter, or 5%. I’m looking forward to picking up more of the book next week. 

 

Unmasked

The last book I need to update you on this week is Unmasked.

I started this audiobook after finishing My Sister’s Keeper. It’s not an overly long one, so I’ve already made good progress. As of this Sunday Summary, I’ve listened to about 30%.

The book is about the author, Ellie Middleton, and her late diagnoses of ADHD and autism. Whilst the book’s aim is to go some way to educate readers about the conditions generally, it is particularly about her experience and how women and ethnic minorities are less likely to be diagnosed at an early age.

I’m enjoying the audio even more as it is narrated by the author herself. I don’t think it would’ve felt right being narrated by a third-party given that this is about her individual experience. I’m looking forward to listening to more in the coming days!

 

Books Discovered

It had been a little while since I’ve had a look on my library’s digital offerings. I confess I was originally looking to see if I can borrow one of my upcoming reads later in the month. No such luck. However, I did find an e-book written by author I enjoyed in 2020 with an interesting premise.

The Sentence sounds like an intriguing legal thriller. I’ve tried multiple drafts to sum up the story without really doing it justice (no pun intended). So, here is the synopsis instead:

A law intended to end capital punishment.

Prosecutors who seek the death penalty put their lives on the line if the guilty are later found innocent.

A lawyer convinced beyond reasonable doubt.

Justine Boucher is presented with overwhelming evidence in a brutal murder case. Her request for execution is granted.

But what if she’s wrong?

Coming Up…

I have two reviews due next week. With this in mind, these will be my priority posts in the week.

In order to space out these reviews, I will be reviewing the second book first. I appreciate that sounds contrary, but allow me to explain. This second book is due to publish on the 19th of January, but I haven’t necessarily committed to provide my review on that date. Instead, I look to have it prepared a few days in advance, so it is out in the world (and on Netgalley) by publication day. With this in mind, I look to share that review on Tuesday.

The other book I will be reviewing this week is one where I have agreed to do it on a set date, and that is Thursday. I’m taking part in a blog tour for Betrothal and Betrayal, organised by TheWriteReads. I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts on this book as I really enjoyed the action and setting. Stay tuned and you will find my thoughts, both on my blog and across my social media accounts on Thursday 18th.

Lastly, I’ll be back with another Sunday Summary update next week. Given the nature of the posts I am sharing this week, I’m not doing a Friday feature as well. Reviews take a lot of time to get right and I want to make sure I do both justice. As well, I’ve not long ago had a busy week of blogging during a busy period at work. I’m sticking to the three day schedule and I’m unapologetic about it!

For now, that’s all from me in today’s post. Have you read any of the books I talk about in this post? What are you reading right now?

 

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Sunday Summary – 7th January 2024

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Good evening friends and welcome to this Sunday Summary update. This post is the fifth I have drafted and published this week. It’s not very often I have such a busy schedule. However, with the end of the year, I’ve had a lot of content to push out in a short window. I’ve shared about 7,100 words with you in the last week, when you include this post as well! 

The first blog post I shared was my monthly wrap-up for December 2023. In summary, reading progress slowed down a little bit in December, given I’d already met my reading goal and because of the festive period. If you’re interested to see what I read in the final month of the year, you can check out that post here.

The next post was my wrap-up for the whole of 2023. In this post, I took a look at the goals I set myself at the beginning of the year to see if I managed to complete them.

After a day’s break, I shared my 2024 Reading Resolutions on Thursday. Some of the resolutions I have set myself this year are very similar to ones I set last year. But, there is one brand-new goal for 2024. If you want to find out what I’m setting out to do this year, you know what to do.

Lastly, I shared my January TBR on Friday. I may have set myself a reading goal that equates to 5 books a month, but I am very excited for the New Year and new reading opportunities. As a result, I maybe have been ambitious with my reading goal for the first month. I feature no less than 10 books on this reading list… yeah, that’s where we’re at!

No pressure…

 

Books Read

 

My Sister’s Keeper

Leaving off from last week’s Sunday Summary update, I picked up My Sister’s Keeper having already made progress with about a third of the audiobook.

I’ve raced ahead this week and I am now just over 3/4 of the way through. This book is everything I hoped it would be in terms of dealing with the morality and ethical aspects of the underlying story. Even better for me, I am just getting to the point where Anna gets her hearing in court. We get to dive into the detail of the family dynamics as well as the ethics of the story. How is it likely to end? I have no idea at this point. That makes me all the more keen to keep listening!

I’m looking forward to making further progress in this audiobook next week. If I’m any judge, I think I could get it done next week. We’re at the interesting bit and there’s only a few hours left to listen!

 

Gemina

Gemina is the second book I carried over from last week’s Sunday Summary post. In my last update, I had read just over 200 pages with a further 450-odd to go.

I raced through those 450 pages within the first few days of January! I’m not surprised, as I knew what to expect from my enjoyment of the first book in the series, Illuminae. The character perspectives are fun to read and the format of the book (mixed media) makes it very easy to pick up. Now and then it’s nice to break away from books written in traditional prose.

Gemina was a great book to pick up both to end 2023 on, but also to start 2024 with. It was my first read of the year, and also my first five star read at that!

 

The Girl in Seat 2A

The next day, I started the book I picked up and read in full this week, The Girl in Seat 2A.

The book is a thriller written by Diana Wilkinson and is due to be published on the 19th January. As a reviewer and follower of Boldwood books, I was very lucky to be accepted for an advanced reader copy to share my thoughts with you ahead of publication.

You can expect those thoughts in full coming up on the blog very soon. However, to give you a flavour of the book now, it is a thriller about a young woman living the lifestyle of a millionairess. But, not all is as it seems. When she meets and starts to date a wealthy man whilst on holiday in Marbella, things take a turn for the worse.

Overall, the book was a four-star read. I wasn’t a huge fan of the main character, just because we are opposing personality types. But, that didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. It is also told from another perspective which I liked far more. I’m looking forward to more detail in the near future!

 

Betrothal and Betrayal

I picked up one final book this week, and as of this Sunday Summary post, Betrothal and Betrayal is my current read.

Betrothal and Betrayal is another book that I am reviewing for a tour coming up very soon. I’m having to read this particular book on the Kindle app on my phone, which isn’t my favourite, but I’m making do. It’s a relatively short read at about 250 pages, so I’m not anticipating it will take too long to read anyway.

As of this post, I’m already 20% through the book, having picked it up just yesterday. The storyline is still in the introductory stages, so I can’t tell you too much about it right now. Set in the Byzantine empire, we follow a young woman called Thekla in this historical fantasy. She has fled from her family who are trying to marry her off to someone she is unwilling to commit to after her betrothed has stood her up for a third time. Shes young and fiesty, making her much more my cup of tea compared to Jade in The Girl in Seat 2A!

I can’t really tell you much more than that at this stage, as I’m just getting introduced into the story myself. I trust I’ll be able to share more with you in next week’s update.

 

Books Discovered

I went to town with family today, and of course I made us stop in Waterstones on our travels.

I’ve added a couple of books to my bookshelves as a result of that trip. One of the books I purchased was already on my TBR, but now I officially own my copy. So far, I’ve read and loved two books by C.J. Tudor, The Chalk Man and The Taking of Annie Thorne. With this in mind, I added The Burning Girls to my reading list just over a year ago. I didn’t yet own a copy of that book… until today!

The second book I discovered from Waterstones IOM Instagram page. It is their non-fiction book of the month, The Wager. I like the sound of the premise, and as I’ve just set myself another goal of picking up non-fiction again this year, it was a no brainer!

In addition, I added one further book to the reading list after Bibliobeth featured it on her Instagram. Again, another non-fiction, the Icepick Surgeon appealed to me because the title hints at some of the topics I explored and loved in when doing my psychology A-Level.

If you’re a bit squeamish, then perhaps this content is not for you. I suppose there is a theme in my reading, because this book explores the ethics and morality of science and where boundaries have been blurred in the past. Sound familiar to another book I’m currently reading?

 

Coming Up…

I’m not lying when I say I’m looking forward to going back to my regular blog schedule next week!

Still, there is no rest for the wicked, as my first post of the week is going to be a book review. I have a pending review on NetGalley for a book I read last year, Leadership and Culture. As leaving this outstanding can affect my feedback ratio and potential to be accepted for further downloads in future, I’m going to prioritise reviewing this. It’s also been outstanding since August last year; whilst not the longest a book has had to wait from me for a review, I don’t want to leave it too long either!

I’m keeping up with my Shelf Control and First Lines Friday features this year. So, this Friday, I will be back with a Shelf Control. If you are unfamiliar with this series, I take the opportunity to feature upcoming books on my reading list. I’ll tell you all about them in detail, and most importantly, share why I’m excited to pick it up!

The last post I will be sharing next week will be another Sunday Summary. With all the luck in the world, I will have as good reading week as I’ve had this week and I’ll have plenty of updates to share with you. Maybe my 10 book TBR isn’t so ambitious after all…

Who am I kidding?! 😂

 

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary though! It’s 11pm and I’m off to prep lunches for the week ahead, and then get stuck in with a few pages of Betrothal and Betrayal before bed.

What are your Sunday plans?

 

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Sunday Summary – 31st December 2023

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Happy New Year’s Eve, and welcome to the last post I will be sharing in 2023! It’s been a fantastic year, and whilst I’m not going to go into too much detail in this post, know that I’m very happy with what I’ve achieved this year.

I’ve taken the smallest of steps back this week to celebrate Christmas and wind down a little bit before going full throttle next week. With this in mind, I’ve only shared one post so far, and that was my review of the book I started reading last week and finished this week – Order and Chaos.

Shall we dive into my last bookish update of the year?

 

Books Read

 

Order and Chaos

I started off the week having made an initial 20% progress into Order and Chaos, which I shared in last week’s Sunday Summary. I knew I wanted to review this book this week, so it was my priority to finish.

As a short story anthology, the book in itself isn’t very long. It lends itself very well to flexibility in picking up and putting down at will, which I definitely made use of around this otherwise busy period!

Of course, if you want to get into the detail of my thoughts on this book, that review is now live. You can find it here if you want to read more.

 

My Sister’s Keeper

I’ve made another couple of hours of progress with My Sister’s Keeper this week, bringing me to about 33% so far.

For a multitude of reasons, including the festive period, it’s been quiet at work at times this week. Whilst it’s not something I make a habit of, I have taken advantage of some of those quiet times. Thanks to the need to complete a necessary but monotonous job, I’ve been able to listen to this whilst working. In any other circumstance, I couldn’t really do it anyway.

Now the story is starting to develop and I cannot help but wonder how far this will go. It seems like battlelines are being drawn up by different characters and it’s anybody’s guess how nasty things will get!

 

Gemina

After completing Order and Chaos earlier this week, I picked up my next (and last) physical read of 2023 – Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman.

As of this Sunday Summary post, I have made my way through the first couple of hundred pages, and have 450 to go. It’s fair to say that hoping to get through this before the end of the year is a tad optimistic! Nevertheless, I can’t think of a better book to be taking through into 2024. If you believe that kind of thing sets a precedent for what is to come, then I have everything good to look forward to!

I am curious to see how much of the book I can read before the end of the year though… stay tuned on the blog to find out in the coming week!

 

Books Discovered

Christmas definitely delivered on the promise for books added to my reading list, so strap yourselves in!

I received a total of six books from multiple family members on the big day. Some of these were specifically requested, and there were some surprises too, which I was very happy about!

The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt and Yellowface were books I put on my Christmas list. In addition, I received a physical copy of Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, which I had already earmarked as a book I wanted to read, as well as A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett, and even a biography about owls. If you know me, then you know that I love owls and have them throughout my house. I’m even wearing owl earrings I got for Christmas right now!

 

Coming Up…

I have no less than five blog posts lined up for you next week. So, I hope you are looking forward to a little more activity from me next week. Can you see now why I took a wee break this week?

The first of the posts I will be sharing with you next week will be going live tomorrow. I might as well make the use of the bank holiday to prepare and share my monthly wrap-up for December 2023!

Following that, I’ll be back on Tuesday with a wrap-up for 2023. In this post, I’ll be looking back at the resolutions I set myself back in January and seeing how many I completed and what I have progressed with.

I’ll then kickoff my 2024 posts by sharing my goals and resolutions for the new year on Thursday. There aren’t necessarily going to be any wild changes in comparison to what I set myself this year. However, there are going to be a couple of new ones that don’t necessarily revolve around my reading. I plan to prioritise and set some social media goals. I hope you can check out that post later next week to find out more!

My January reading list will be going live on Friday. I have a number of great books lined up to kick off the year and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you all!

Last, but by no means least, I will be back with another Sunday Summary regular update at the same time next week. Let’s hope for lots to update you with that post!

But, for now, that is all from me. I am spending my New Year’s Eve tucked under a heated blanket with a cuppa and my copy of Gemina. How are you spending your New Year’s Eve?

 

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Sunday Summary – 24th December 2023

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Good evening readers and welcome back to my weekly Sunday Summary update. It’s a special one as it’s Christmas Eve, and I’m excited for the big day tomorrow! I may be an adult, but I love the big day as much as any child would. For different reasons, perhaps, but all the same! I’m looking forward to spending the day with my family, giving gifts and making memories!

However, it’s still Sunday evening and I owe you an update, so shall we dive in?

My first and only blog post I shared so far this week was an End of Year Book Tag. I was tagged by my follower Misty in her version of the post and invited to take part that way. I’ve taken part quite late in the day, so there’s only so much I could do towards some of the bullet points. If you’re interested in checking out what that post is all about, you can find a link to mine here!

I was supposed to share a Well, I Didn’t Know That! post on Friday, but I didn’t come to pass for a couple of reasons. The first of those is that I had a last-minute and late-night meet up with friends before Christmas. We had tried to meet up earlier in the month, but this had to be postponed due to illness. Secondly, I didn’t take up the post and share it on Saturday instead as my research into the topic of Christmas reading traditions was rather dry. Other than the Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod, I hadn’t uncovered anything else.

 

Books Read

 

The Success Code

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update, I was 20% into The Success Code by John Lees. I had not long started the book before I shared that update, and it was the physical read I carried over into this week.

I found myself picking up The Success Code at chapter or two at a time, chipping away at it over the course of the week and finishing it on Thursday. If I’m honest, I expected the book to be easier to read than it was. Don’t get me wrong, the language and messages within what easy enough to understand and take in. However, I found I couldn’t read more than a handful of chapters at a time. Out of the two non-fiction books I was reading at the same time, I expected this one to be easier than the other. In practice, it was the other way round.

I’ve still given The Success Code for stars as it has plenty of helpful advice that I have been thinking about, and will look to implement myself at work in the near future.

 

How to Win Friends and Influence People

The second non-fiction I carried through from last week’s Sunday Summary is How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

I enjoyed this audiobook every bit as much as I expected, and more besides! Although the book was written and first published in 1936, I found the advice within the book still relevant today. You can perhaps understand why I expected this to be the drier of the two non-fiction books this month; this was partly because of the publication date of this book, but also because it is narrated by Andrew Macmillan. He was a 70-something year-old at the time of recording in 2004.

How to Win Friends and Influence People is easier to listen to than you would expect, taking into consideration the above facts. Again, I’ll be looking to take some of these points on board and see if they can help me in my working life.

 

Order and Chaos

Moving on from the reads I carried over into this week, I picked up my e-book copy of Order and Chaos on completion of The Success Code. Order and Chaos is a short story anthology. Although I’ve only picked it up for one sitting so far, I already made it to 20% with very little effort. I’m looking to make considerably more progress tonight once this blog post goes live!

I don’t have too much to say on the book so far given that I’m still reasonably early into it. However, like Taking Liberties, which I reviewed earlier this year, it includes a range of stories that centre around the titular themes. Each story so far has taken a unique twist on the topics. I’m looking forward to seeing what other stories feature in the book and what they take on the theme is.

 

My Sister’s Keeper

Finally, I started another audiobook today, and it’s the last one on my list for December. Thank you to my friend Rachael for giving me a kick up the bum and getting me to start my cross-stitch project again. Around cleaning, I have been working on that project and listening to audio at the same time!

Just today, I have made approximately 15% progress with the audio. I’m not a big contemporary reader or listener. However, the narrative explores morality and human rights in the battle of Anna for her body autonomy.

Even from birth, Anna was designed with her sister in mind. Kate has leukaemia that keeps re-emerging, and Anna has grown up in her shadow, continually donating blood cells, then bone marrow, to help her fight the disease. The donations and surgeries become increasingly invasive until at 13, Anna puts her foot down when her sister needs a kidney.

So far, I’m really enjoying the story and the set up. I don’t know much more about the book beyond what I’ve described here, so I’m looking forward to exploring that further in the coming week.

 

Books Discovered

I’m still saving myself for Christmas, so once again, there’s nothing to see here!

Not long to wait now though…

 

Coming Up…

I’ll be taking a few days off to celebrate Christmas, and breaking the routine a bit. I’ve also decided to do this because the first couple of weeks of January are going to be busier than normal. I’ll rest up and get ready for some of that content ready now whilst I can!

I’ll share my first post of the week on Thursday and publish my review of my current read, Order and Chaos. A little while since I published a review and I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts on this short story anthology before the end of the year.

My next post, and my last post of 2023, will be next week’s Sunday Summary update!

That’s all for me in today’s Sunday Summary though! I hope you have a wonderful day, a fabulous Christmas, and I will see you later next week. And if you are from a Nordic family and taking part in Jolabokaflod tonight, just know that I’m very jealous!

Have a great one!

 

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Monthly Wrap-Up – July 2023

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Happy August friends and welcome to my monthly wrap-up post for the month of July! As always, I set myself a colossal TBR and didn’t get around to all the books on it, but that’s okay. I still read a decent amount. I’ve also taken time out to enjoy doing other things as and when I wanted.

Let’s take a look at what I read in the last month!

 

Books Read

 

The House in the Cerulean Sea

I started off the month of July by finishing one of the last reads I picked up at the end of June. The House in the Cerulean Sea was a heartwarming read that I didn’t know I needed, but I was a big fan of. I talk about that book a little bit more in my June wrap-up, if you’re interested.

I was pleasantly surprised by the narrative, characters, and how invested I got in the book. It’s an experience that I’ll be looking to repeat when picking up more books by T.J. Klune.

 

Death at the Caravan Park

My next priority in terms of reading for July was to pick up Death at the Caravan Park by Susan Willis. I agreed to provide a review for the recent blog tour organised by Rachel’s Random Resources.

In part, I decided to pick it up because it has been a little minute since I picked up a cosy crime. It’s not a genre I read a lot of, but it was a change that was well received. The setting of the book was quite relatable to me in that it was set in a seaside town. Living on a small island, I’ve never really far away from the sea myself! I’ve also stayed at a caravan park before, and I have known characters very similar to that in the book.

If you want to check out my full thoughts on that book, here is a link to my blog tour review post.

 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Having read and enjoyed another work of fiction that largely features mental health recently, I was excited for this book to come out of my TBR Jar. If you’re not familiar, I have a jar on my bookshelf, full of scraps of paper with book titles from my reading list to pick from randomly.

July’s pick ended up being Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I was also quite pleased that this book finally made it onto the reading list as it has been on my radar for the last five years. It was probably one of the oldest books on my reading list at that point, so it was about due to come up!

Whilst I had an idea that the book revolved around mental health, I didn’t really know much more about it. Aside from that, it has a gripping plot with intriguing characters and takes you on a journey you don’t expect. I enjoyed this book so much that I read pretty much the second half of it in one day! I’d ended up arriving early for a hospital appointment (just a routine check, nothing sinister) so I started my reading that day while sat in my car waiting. I continued to read all that evening until I was finished. Just don’t ask me how late to bed I was that night…

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is it very easy, five-star rating for me, and arguably, it was one of the best books I read in July!

 

Storm of War

Although not strictly for a blog tour itself, I picked up Storm of War by Peter Gibbons as I am reviewing the next book in the series later this week. With this in mind, I had to catch up on that first.

The events of Storm of War follow on quite nicely from Warrior and Protector. I was able to pick up the story and characters very easily, and the action packed narrative we saw in that first book definitely carried through!

If you enjoy historical fiction set in 10th century Britain, then the series is definitely one I’d recommend picking up. The narrative style is nice and easy to get on with. I also enjoy the amount of action and political machinations in the book. I feel there is a perfect balance to feel authentic for the period, and keep us guessing what happens next.

Storm of War set the foundation nicely to be able to pick up my current read, Brothers of the Sword.

 

Cytonic

Drawing with Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson was also one of my favourite reads of the month. This third instalment in the Skyward series is, in my opinion, the best so far! That’s not to detract from the previous books, because they have laid down a lot of the groundwork that enable us to get stuck in with Cytonic.

Each of the books so far have been quite different in terms of the setting and plot arc. I’ve enjoyed each of them for different reasons, but I really invested into this latest narrative. Spensa is finally discovering who and what she is, and more about the universe around her. Having spent her life previously as an isolated young woman, there is only so far Sanderson was able to take the world building. There has been a lot of teasing and unveiling in order to keep us interested, but in Cytonic, everything blooms!

Also, I’m happy to have read the book and be caught up with the series, although I’m even more excited about the fact that this won’t be true for long. The next book in the series, Defiant, comes out in November!

 

Brothers of the Sword

As of the end of July, I just finished up my read of Brothers of the Sword by Peter Gibbons. As I’ve already mentioned above, I am due to be reviewing the book very shortly for the upcoming blog tour.

Even though I enjoyed Storm of War, I can very happily say that I enjoyed Brothers of the Sword even more. Without giving anything away, the author definitely isn’t pulling his punches on the events of this third book in the series. Set in a brutal time period where Vikings and Saxons clash amongst each other, there is always lots of action and plenty of risk to have us questioning the safety of characters we have come to love. In my opinion, the action scenes are written very well in order to balance action with detail to make for a vivid experience.

I finished Brothers of the Sword just in the nick of time for this monthly wrap-up! Well, I finished it at about 12:10am this morning, but that was before I slept for the night. In my eyes, that counts!

 

Summary

Once again, I didn’t get to the end of my ambitious reading list. I’m okay with that though! I set the list as a way of trying to push myself, but I don’t beat myself up if I don’t finish either. The truth is, I’ve enjoyed the reading experience I’ve had this month. Yet, I’ve still allowed for other hobbies and things I need to do.

It’s not going to stop me from setting another ambitious reading list in the next couple of days… let’s be honest! At least I have some time off during August to make a considerable attempt at it.

So, here concludes my monthly wrap-up for July 2023! Have you read any of the books I have featured in today’s list? Have any of them caught your eye to pick up for yourself? As always, I’d love to have a natter in the comments or on social media, so let’s chat!

 

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Monthly Wrap-Up – June 2023

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Hello friends and welcome to today’s monthly wrap-up post for June! Overall, it has been a very good month of reading. All the books I completed were five star reads. One blip I had in the month resulted in a book going on hold. It’s not so much that there is anything wrong with the book. However, I just found that trying to read it when I did wasn’t the right time. I’ll explain more about that later.

In my June TBR, I set myself an ambitious goal. I didn’t get around to one of the books at all, but that’s okay. It will still be waiting for me whenever I am ready to pick it up!

Shall we dive into this monthly wrap-up and take a look at what I read in the month of June?

 

Books Read

 

A Clash of Kings

I started off with a re-read of a favourite book. As I mentioned in a few other posts on my blog this year, there are rumblings about the next book in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, (a.k.a. Game of Thrones), coming out in the near future. With that in mind, I wanted to start a re-read of the series this year, so I can pick this next instalment up whenever it comes out.

I really enjoyed going back to this second book in the series. Whilst I’ve read the first book more times than I have continued with the series, that’s not to say that they are any less good. I ended up making progress through this book in a variety of different ways. I predominantly read this book using my paperback copy, however, there were occasions where I dipped into my kindle version, and also the audiobook copy I have.

It’s rare that I will read a book like this. However, given the size of the book, and the effective time constraint I had set myself to read it (so I could get to the rest of my books in June), this ended up being a good way of helping me progress at times when I couldn’t physically pick the book up.

 

The Lost Metal

The next book I picked up in the month was the final instalment in the Mistborn second era, The Lost Metal. This book came out in November last year. Being a reasonably recent publication, getting copies of this book isn’t exactly the cheapest right now. Fortunately for me, my library had a copy. So, I decided to borrow this one.

Reading and finishing this book was a bittersweet experience. I absolutely love the book, the storyline, and all the characters we’ve come to know and love over this four-part series. The ending was great, even though it made me very mad. No spoilers, but the ending was incredibly clever, high-stakes and heartbreaking! Me being me, I ended up finishing this book quite late on one night as I couldn’t possibly put it down with just 50 pages left. It took me a long time to get to sleep that night as I couldn’t stop thinking about it!

I really hope Brandon Sanderson comes back to this series and writes a third era. Personally, I loved how he built upon his already established world. He created the brilliant first era trilogy, and then advanced upon it for the second era. If he can do the same thing again, then I’m excited to see what he comes up with.

 

The Midnight Library

Next, I decided to pick up a relatively short read. At just under 300 pages, this has to be one of the shortest books I’ve picked up in the year so far. It was no less impactful despite its size. The Midnight Library is a book that puts a strong lens on mental health and gives us readers a chance to explore what it might be like to feel as if you have nothing left to live for.

I would definitely recommend it to anybody to read at some point in their lifetime. Through this short narrative, we explore ideas of what it would be like to live different lives. How would our lives be different if we made a different decision at a given time? I went into this book knowing this was the concept and with some ideas of themes the book would explore. In reality, it ends up doing a lot more than that. When I purchased my copy of this book, the bookseller told me that it had changed his outlook on life. I would also agree.

Although the narrative follows of one character and her vast exploration of alternative lives she could have lived, and what she learns about herself in the process, I found myself thinking about myself in that same way. In a way, this book taught me about my fundamental beliefs. It taught me what was important to me, the things I would never change about myself, even if I had the chance. It taught me that I should, and can, appreciate even the smallest things… because they can make all the difference.

This was the first time I had ever read a book written by Matt Haig, and it definitely won’t be the last!

 

The House in the Cerulean Sea

The last book I picked up in the month was The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. Much like The Midnight Library, the author of this book was a new one to me. It is an author I had also heard great things about, so I went into the book wondering if I could live up to the hype. It definitely did!

I had initially started this book after recognising that Children of Dune wasn’t really working for me. I ended up starting the first couple of chapters, and then putting it down to try and push through Children of Dune, before ultimately coming back to it.  Whereas that book wasn’t working for me because it is a very serious, political science-fiction narrative, The House in the Cerulean Sea is quite the opposite. It is lighthearted and fantastical.

In this narrative, we experience the life of Linus Baker, a caseworker who was sent on a special assignment to a classified orphanage way outside of his normal life. The orphanage is classified because it is home to potentially dangerous magical children… and one of the residents in particular makes the governing body nervous.

The House in the Cerulean Sea is really a heartwarming read. It also ended up being an apt book to pick up in June (albeit I finished the book in July), as it contains a number of queer characters. I really enjoyed the relationships that built up throughout the narrative. Although that’s not something I actively seek out in a book, it ended up working really well in this narrative. It wasn’t forced or shoehorned in for the sake of inclusion. Rather, it felt very natural.

Based on my experience of this book, I will definitely be reading more of T.J. Klune.

 

DNF / Hold

Children of Dune

As I briefly mentioned above, I attempted to pick up and read Children of Dune this month. In the end, I only made it to around 150 pages before I decided that this particular read isn’t working for me right now.

The Dune series is a very serious and dense political science-fiction. It’s not the type of book that I can or will pick up every day. Whilst I have enjoyed the series so far, and to an extent, I did still enjoy what I read this month, I just didn’t have the mental stamina for it. The 150 pages I did read was done over the course of a week. As far as my reading speed goes, that’s terrible! I was also finding that I wanted to read, but I wasn’t reading very much of this book at a time (and that’s if I did my persuade myself to pick it up – there are plenty of times I distracted myself with other things deliberately).

In the end, I decided to own up to the fact that it wasn’t working, and I have put this book on hold for now.

 

Summary

I may not have gotten to all the books I intended to pick up in June, and although I have one book that I put on hold, I’ve had a good reading month otherwise. It’s rare to have read so many books that have been so highly rated and made such a profound effect on me. I’ve also discovered two new authors this month that I want to read more from in the future!

So, here concludes my monthly wrap-up post for June 2023! Have you read any of the books I picked up in the month of June? Are any of them on your reading list?

Check in on my blog later this week, as I will be sharing the books I intend to pick up throughout July. I hope you can join me for that!

 

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Monthly Wrap-Up – May 2023

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I’m excited to share today’s monthly wrap-up post for May 2023! I’ve had a fantastic reading month with lots of books, so make yourself comfortable!

In my May TBR post, I shared that I will be picking up no less than eight books throughout the month. The first of those was a carryover from April. But, the rest were from scratch. In the end, I read all but one of the books on my reading list; I do have a DNF to tell you about this month.

Shall we take a look at what I’ve been reading?

 

Books Read

 

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi

Picking up where I left off last month, my first aim was to finish The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi. As of the beginning of the month, I was approximately half way through the book.

It ended up being an okay read, but nothing spectacular either. I wanted to pick up this book to read as a standalone before committing to trying another series by this author. Based on my experience of this book, I’m not sure if I’ll go ahead with that series. As I say, it was okay to read. It was fun, and I enjoyed that the setting is Eastern inspired as opposed to Western. Overall, I found the book a little bit too whimsical to my taste.

 

Wolf of Wessex

Looking for a complete change, I then decided to pick up Wolf of Wessex as my next read.

This also ended up being a middle of the road book. Wolf of Wessex was a really quick read, in part because it is full of action. However, in my opinion, it is a little lacking in plot in character development. I still enjoyed the book as a light read.  Maybe I’ll pick up more books by the author if I was looking for a light read from a genre I’m familiar with.

I generally prefer a bit more depth to the books I pick up, but this kind of read definitely has its place as well!

 

The Waste Lands

My luck turned around when I picked up The Waste Lands by Stephen King. Rather spookily, I started this book exactly 4 years after I finished the previous book in the series. It was quite a long time since I finished that book, so I had to refresh myself on the events that have taken place so far before diving in.

Thankfully, the edition I have recaps events in a dedicated section in the first few pages. That was a great help. What also made this really easy to get back into is that the events in the third book naturally reminisce on what has happened before. Although it had been a number of years since I started this series, that ultimately didn’t matter. I got back into this book very quickly… and I read it just as quickly!

Thanks to some scheduled time off work, I was able to pick up and read good chunks of this book in one sitting. I read this near 600 pager in just four days. Needless to say, I loved it!

 

Death Magnanimous

My next read was Death Magnanimous by Michael Martin.

I got my hands on a copy of this book via Netgalley, a site I don’t use much outside of blog tours nowadays. I ended up browsing the site on a whim, and it was the cover and synopsis of this book that caught my attention.

The rest of the book lived up to the expectation. This is not a light read by any stretch of the imagination. It is a book that deals with difficult themes, including, but not limited to, chronic pain, trauma, and euthanasia. Despite these difficult topics, I really enjoyed how they came together in this narrative.

There is a good level of humour, as well as an element of mystery, that also add to this this narrative. Death Magnanimous sits outside of the conventional genres I read, but it is a good example of why it’s important to push the boundaries now and then.

 

Taking Liberties

After quite a few longer reads, I then decided to pick up a short story anthology. I had already committed to reading the book this month in order to provide a review (which you can find here if you are interested).

Taking Liberties proved to be a great palette cleanser. Especially after reading such a ‘dark’ book just before, it was a great experience to flit between little characters and shorter stories. All of these stories are loosely based around the theme of freedom. However, that is where the comparisons end. Each contributing author in the anthology has taken a completely different perspective on that theme. I read this book in approximately 24 hours. It was just what I needed.

 

Starsight

Another book I picked up this month, with my 2023 goal of continuing series in mind, is Starsight by Brandon Sanderson.

I just started his Skyward series fairly late on last year and I really took to the first book. Spensa is an interesting and captivating protagonist. Although Starsight differs from the set up of Skyward significantly, I think the second book excelled for jumping out of the boundaries already built up.

An experience I’ve had with many Sanderson books is that he’s not afraid to take a world, book or setting he’s already established, and then push the boundaries to make it better. I’ve readily enjoyed his second era Mistborn books for the exact same reason. It’s great to see him doing it again!

A huge indicator of just how much I enjoyed Starsight is the fact that I read the second half in one sitting alone! I was really invested in Spensa’s mission and I had to know how it all went down. Based on this latest book, I expect I will pick up the next in the series, Cytonic, before long!

 

As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow

I listened to the audiobook version of As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow, as this was the book chosen for Ezeekat’s book club this month. I will hold my hands up and admit that I probably wouldn’t have picked up the book where it not effectively chosen for me. I’m glad that it was! As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow is probably one of my favourite, or at least standout, books of the year.

The book is set in Syria, and puts the human face back onto the conflict we are aware of at a distance. The protagonist Salama is thrown into the thick of chaos, when she is effectively promoted from a pharmacist to a doctor due to a shortage of medically trained people. Whilst she continues to treat the victims that come through the hospital doors, she is also battling against her conscience in wanting to leave her country for safety.

I really enjoyed this change of setting, and the author certainly did her job in making me as a reader aware of what exactly is going on in Syria! The book is beautiful in its descriptions of Syria and the people that make her.

 

DNF

 

Against All Gods

The last book I picked up this month was a little disappointing. I really liked the sound of this book based on the synopsis. Greek mythology mixed with fantasy could have been a great combination. However, in the 20% of the book I read before ultimately putting it down, it didn’t work for me. Other than one character’s personal mission for vengeance against the gods, as well as a general simmering of discontent among mortals, very little happens. As far as the gods go, there is the usual murder and debauchery that Greek myth has taught us to expect… but again, little else.

The seeming lack of plot was disappointing. I had far higher hopes for the book. I was struggling to read it for days, and I had no inclination to find out what was going on. So, I ultimately made the decision to stop. I think I’ve made the right choice for me.

Summary

I’m really pleased with the reading progress I made this month, even if it was tarnished slightly by ending with a DNF. It’s not the end of the world though, because I’ve moved on to my first read of June… and it is a re-read of a favourite!

If you want to find out what else I’m going to be reading throughout the month of June, I will be sharing my monthly TBR on Friday!

 

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Sunday Summary – 12th July 2020

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Hi everyone and welcome to today’s slightly belated weekly update. Yesterday I took part in a blog tour for Grace & Serenity by Annalisa Crawford. As it’s etiquette to not publish another post on the same day, my update is coming to you a couple of hours later than usual.

In addition to that, I’ve also shared a couple more with you this week. On Tuesday I shared a Top Ten Tuesday post; this week’s topic was Authors I’ve Read the Most Books By. The top names on the list weren’t really a surprise, but towards the end, there were a few unexpected ones! Later in the week I shared another Shelf Control post and featured a classic novel that others in my year at school studied, but I did not. It’s a well-known classic, so I imagine a lot of readers have picked it up – hence why I want to.

 

Books Read

This week has been a bit unusual, to say the least. Typically my updates largely feature physical books or e-books that I have read, and MAYBE I’ll have a wee bit of progress on my current audiobook on a good week. This week totally flips this convention on its head.

I have spent this week off work to catch up on redecorating my house. I’ve managed to give three rooms a fresh lick of paint and I’m really pleased with how they have turned out. As a result, I haven’t been reading much, but instead, I’ve been listening to audiobooks whilst I work.

As of my last update, I was around 40% of the way through Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch. This week, I managed to finish this, as well as listen to Broken Homes and Foxglove Summer (the next two books in the series) in their entirety. I don’t think I have ever listened to so many hours in one week!

In the evenings whilst I was enjoying much-needed breaks, I did manage to read Grace & Serenity by Annalisa Crawford. It was quite a short read, so it worked out nicely to read the book just prior to reviewing but still be able to fit it into a busy schedule.

 

Books Discovered

Since I finished both Broken Homes and Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch, I bought the next two audiobooks in the series with credits I had. Other than that though, it’s fair to say I’ve been too distracted for book shopping…

 

Coming Up…

It’s a little late given that we are nearly midway through July already, but I want to take the opportunity to review my progress towards my reading goals set at the beginning of the year. With that in mind, this is going to be one of the first posts I publish next week.

I’m going to skip my regular First Lines Friday feature next week as I have a blog tour to take part in on Saturday. I’m going to be picking up The Dead Tell Lies by J R Kirwan and I need to read and have my review ready for Saturday morning.

Lastly, next week’s Sunday Summary post will be going live on Sunday evening, as usual.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s Sunday Summary update! What have you been reading this week?

 

 

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