Tag: dystopia

Sunday Summary – 14th September 2025

Another week has come and gone! I can’t believe how fast this week has flown. So yes, I’m back here again with another Sunday Summary update, and it’s a good one! I hope you’ve had a good one too? 

It’s mostly been a return to normal this week. After our trip to Iceland last week, we had Monday off to relax and catch up with the usual house admin. Washing… it’s always there for you, no? 

Otherwise though, it’s been a case of getting and into routine. Work and home, books and blogging. So, what’s been on the agenda this week? 

My first post went live on Monday. No rest for the wicked here! With us being nearly a third of the way through the month, I figured it was time to share my September 2025 monthly TBR. And, I’m in a really good place with that reading list! Although it looked ambitious, I’m ahead of where I need to be to complete it by the end of the month. More on that below 😌 Who knows, I may even get some extra in. Let’s not get ahead though! 

On Friday, I shared the final book I’m reading towards my ChatGPT book recommendations challenge/post. I’m planning to pick these books up in October, so ahead of that timeline I’ve teased the final book in my First Lines Friday. If you’ve yet to take a look and fancy a dark, gritty fantasy where delusions shape reality, go take a look at that feature. 

On Patreon, I shared my review of The Anxious Generation. This is a non-fiction I recommend everyone read. It’s really informative and backed up by science, but in an interesting and engaging way. 

 

Books Read

 

Sensitive 

In last week’s Sunday Summary I confided my confidence that I’d finish the remaining 2 hours I had of Sensitive soon. 

And that’s true. I chipped away at this audiobook whilst commuting to and from work; I finished it about halfway through this week. 

It’s been a good listen and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. No doubt we all have someone sensitive in our lives, or are sensitive ourselves and maybe don’t yet recognise it. It was a really validating read. 

 

A Witch’s Guide to Love and Poison

This week I also finished A Witch’s Guide to Love and Poison. You may recall this is the book club read over at the Cottagecore Fantasy Book Club. 

It’s the first time I’ve finished a club book early,  and I’m not the only one. It puts me in a great place to prompt readers and discussion about the book. It’s a habit I want to continue; it’s much less stressful than making apologies for being behind 😂

I enjoyed this book. Although there is a romance element to two of the main characters development arcs (and this isn’t something I love in my books), it was okay. Obviously if you love this sort of thing, great! 

The mystery was interesting, although somewhat predictable. However, there was a comfort in seeing broadly where the storyline was going. The details and finer points of the storyline were the interesting and less predictable points. 

 

Gran Familia 

In the last 24hrs, I’ve read a manga I’m planning to feature on my blog later this month! I don’t read manga very often, but I enjoyed picking something up that’s very different. 

As I’ve read more in the way of traditional prose lately, I blitzed Gran Familia. The book is only around 200 anyway, but being image-based, it was really quick to read. In fact, I read most of the book today. I’m looking forward to sharing more about this book on my blog soon. 

 

Betrayal of Mercia 

The next audiobook I’ve made progress with this week is Betrayal of Mercia. 

It’s the first time I’ve picked up a book in this series as an audiobook. Admittedly, that’s because I’ve always kept up with these books and read advanced reader copies for the tours. I somehow missed this instalment, and for ease, I figured to try the audio. 

So far, it’s going well. Personally, I find the archaic names easier to read than listen to, but at the same time, I’m familiar with most by now to catch on. It’s a small thing though, and I’m enjoying the story so far. 

So far I’ve listened to two and a half hours of the audio and I’m looking forward to listening to the rest (hopefully) next week! 

 

The Pagan Lord 

Finally, the last historical fiction book I’ve picked up this week is The Pagan Lord. I’ve only just started this book, so I don’t have a lot to discuss with you other than my eagerness to return to the series. It’s also the only physical book on my TBR left other than the sequel to my current audiobook. Naturally, I need to finish that before I read Shield of Mercia. 

I’m not going to let that slow me down, though. If I need to pick up another read in the meantime, I have plenty to choose from! The other consideration is that I’ve borrowed this digitally from my library, so I don’t have forever anyway. 

 

Books Discovered

Overall, this week is amazing for progress! I’ve ticked several off the list and not added anything new either. 

I need more weeks like this… 

 

Coming Up… 

My first post next week will be a book review. There’s a real historical fiction theme here, because the next book due review is Wolf of Wessex by Matthew Harffy. I hope you’re looking forward to my review as much as I am sharing it! 

On Friday I’m breaking back into my old schedule of sharing a Shelf Control post. It’ll be nice to take another look at my TBR, or reading list, with you so I can share why I’m excited for my next book. 

Finally, you know what’s coming. Next week I’ll wrap-up with another Sunday Summary. Let’s hope I have as much reading progress to share in next week’s instalment. 

Thanks for reading today’s Sunday Summary instalment. If you’re still here, thank you so much! 

What have you read recently? 

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Monthly TBR – September 2025

My monthly TBR post is a little later than usual. If you read yesterday‘s Sunday Summary, you’ll know that I’ve just been away. However, now I’m back into full swing and I have a great list of books I’m planning to read in September. Make yourself comfy, and then we can go through the list of books I have been and I’m due to read this month. 

Have you read any of the books featured in this monthly TBR? 

 

Fixed Reads 

 

The Atlantis Covenant

The first book on this monthly TBR was the Atlantis Covenant by Rob Jones. If you are a regular reader here, you’ll know I read this book early as I had a blog tour obligation on the 4th of September. 

If you are a fan of Indiana Jones and like this kind of high-stakes action with history and archaeology combined, go check out my review of this book! 

 

The Giver

The next book on my list was The Giver. You may recall this book was on my August TBR as we were picking it up for our workbook club. Due to summer holidays, we ended up pushing this meet-up back to tomorrow. In the end, I ended up reading this quite last minute. However, I was able to read the book in just a couple of sessions whilst travelling.

I really enjoyed this children’s dystopia. Although this book is aimed at a younger audience, it didn’t oversimplify the dystopian setting or the message behind the book. It was a really easy and interesting read. And, as you can tell by the way, I’m discussing this book, it’s the second I’ve already ticked off this list.

 

Sensitive 

Switching to audiobooks, my next and current read is Sensitive. 

Admittedly, this book is near completion as well. I have just a couple of hours of audio left and I expect I’ll make light work of it. 

I’m interested in reading this book as I am pretty sure I fit into the classification of a ‘highly sensitive person’. As the book iterates, there are different ways people can be sensitive and some overlap with other traits. I’m pretty confident I’m an emotionally sensitive person, so it’s been validating to know my feelings and experiences aren’t unique. 

We’re getting to a useful section of the book shortly – the authors share strategies for sensitive people to put into practice. That’s one of the main takeaways I’m looking for from this book, so I’m keen to progress with this audiobook! 

 

A Witch’s Guide to Love and Poison

Another fixed read for the month is the Cottagecore Fantasy Book Club read, A Witch’s Guide to Love and Poison. As progress goes, I’m already halfway through this book as of sharing this monthly TBR. 

Whilst I’m already ahead, I’m going to prioritise this book so I can encourage conversations about the book in the Discord group. For the last couple of books, I’ve been behind and it’s made the job a little easier. As I picked this up as an ‘easier’ read whilst away, I’m going to keep going. 

 

HR Disrupted

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to HR Disrupted last month. As it’s a loan, I can’t put this book off. 

It’s also a short one, so it’s carried forward from August but will absolutely be read soon! 

 

Betrayal of Mercia 

Ahead of another upcoming blog tour review next month, I need to catch up on the prior book of the series. 

Somehow, I missed reading Betrayal of Mercia as part of the publication blog tour at the beginning of the year. In fairness, I’ve been doing a lot less in the way of tours, so it’s not a surprise I missed this email. 

Regardless, I didn’t miss the email for book eight, Shield of Mercia. So, first things first, I’m revisiting the series with Betrayal of Mercia and then heading into book eight. 

 

Mood Reads 

 

The Pagan Lord

Another carry forward, but this time originally featured in my July TBR, is The Pagan Lord. 

Historical fiction is more prominent towards the end of this monthly TBR. This isn’t the first historical fiction on this list. But, in practice, I think I’ll start with this well-loved and reasonably short seventh instalment in Bernard Cornwell’s The Saxon Stories series. 

 

Gran Familia

In a completely different change of pace, I’m hoping to read a manga and feature/review the book ahead of its official publication at the end of the month. 

As it’s a 200-page manga, I expect it will be a very quick read. It’s also a complete change of pace to the other books on this monthly TBR. I don’t read manga very often, but I think it’ll be nice to introduce some to my reading and my blog content. 

Stay tuned for more about this manga in due course. 

 

Shield of Mercia

If I get time at the end of the month, my aim is to start Shield of Mercia ahead of next month’s blog tour review date. It’s early next month that I’m due to review this book. So, it makes sense to start as early as I can! 

 

Summary 

I have a large number of books on September’s TBR, but thankfully they are shorter than a lot of the books I have on my wider reading list… 

Have you read any of the books featured in this monthly TBR? 

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Sunday Summary – 7th September 2025

Welcome to today’s Sunday Summary, fellow readers! I hope you’ve had a great week? 

It’s been a really busy one for me. I’ve been on holiday for the last few days— not that you’d really know it from the blog schedule. I don’t like to announce these things ahead of time, but I’ve had a fun few days in Iceland this week. 

Even still, I managed to keep the blog schedule pretty normal and fit in some reading on flights. Shall we take a look at what I’ve shared? 

My first post of the week was my monthly wrap-up for August 2025. Knowing I had a busier schedule later this week, I was keen to get this out the door early. If you want to catch up on how I got on with my August TBR and 20 Books of Summer Challenge, that’s where to look. 

Next, I published a blog tour review of The Atlantis Covenant on Thursday. Did I regret my life choices trying to draft and schedule this post whilst on terrible WiFi in a UK hotel during an overnight stay at the start of my holiday? Yes. I certainly did. Battling to get this post scheduled contributed to my only getting four hours’ sleep ahead of a 2:30 am start the following day… 

 

Books Read

 

The Atlantis Covenant 

This week, with my blog tour post due imminently, I prioritised reading the remaining 75% of The Atlantis Covenant. I finished the book on a flight to the UK on Wednesday. In the nick of time, it’s fair to say! 

I enjoyed this book, and fans of Indiana Jones and high-action books will get along with this read nicely. Obviously, if you’re intrigued, you can find my full review here. 

 

Sensitive

I started strong this week and made a further three hours’ progress with Sensitive. Whilst I didn’t listen to any of the audiobook whilst I was away, I’m happy with my progress. 

As of this Sunday Summary update, I have just two more hours of audio left. With how easily I made progress with this audiobook last week during ‘normal’ scheduling, I reckon I’ll polish this off soon. 

 

The Giver 

Whilst away, and after reading The Atlantis Covenant, I picked up The Giver. If you recall, I popped this book on my August TBR as our book club is meeting to discuss it next week. 

With plenty of downtime today on an hour coach ride and a two and a half-hour flight, I pretty much blitzed the whole thing! 

I’m a huge fan of dystopia and this book was a very easy read for me. You can tell this book is geared towards a younger audience, but it didn’t oversimplify the genre either. It was perfect light reading and I’m looking forward to discussing this book with my peers on Tuesday. 

 

A Witch’s Guide to Love and Poisons

Another read I’ve picked up this week is A Witch’s Guide to Love and Poisons. This book is the Cottagecore Fantasy Book Club pick for September. 

The last couple of months, I’ve been behind with these reads. Keen to get ahead of the game this month whilst I decide on the rest of my TBR, I’ve read half of this book. 

I’m intrigued by the underlying mystery of what is happening to the Unwanted Girls, although I have some theories. If you are a romance fan, you’d also enjoy the dynamics between Bisma and Xander about now. Although it’s not really my jam, it’s not dominating the narrative or deterring me from reading the rest of the book.  

 

Books Discovered

I didn’t last very long in my travels before I bought some books. Shock, right? 

In our local airport departure lounge, I picked up Katabasis and Never Flinch. 

More topically, I also picked up a small book in Iceland on its volcanic history. At least that one won’t take long to read… 

 

Coming Up… 

We’re nearly a third of the way through September, so I suppose I should get around to posting my September TBR, no? That’s my plan at least! Although it’s a little late, I’ll draft this post as if we were starting near the top of the month. Some of the books will already be ticked off the list, but there’s plenty more to follow! 

On Friday, I’ll tease the last of my ChatGPT book recommendations I’ll be reading shortly. I’ve already shared the first two, so I hope you’re keen to see what this third and final book is! 

Sunday sees the return of my Sunday Summary update post. In the next week, I hope to share even more reading updates with you. Stay tuned to find out more about the books I pick up. 

Thanks for reading today’s Sunday Summary! I’ll be back online very soon to share my September TBR, so stay tuned! What are you reading? 

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Shelf Control #94 – 15/08/2025

Dystopian fiction is the feature of today’s Shelf Control post. In today’s post, I’m sharing a book I added to my reading list just days after the book was published. However, over five years on I’ve yet to pick it up. That should change soon! 

Before I share more, let’s take a look at what Shelf Control is about and then I’ll share why I want to read The Choice. 

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

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

 

The Choice – Claire Wade

Genre: Dystopian

Pages: 368

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Orion

Publication Date: 26 Dec 2019

 

 

Goodreads – The Choice

Imagine a world where…

Everything you ate was monitored by the government.

Every step you took was counted.

Your children were weighed every day at school.

Neighbours reported on neighbours and no one was safe from judgement.

Sugar was illegal, and baking was a crime.

Imagine if that world was here… What would you do?

Toe the line or fight for your freedom…

 

My Thoughts

The premise of this book is an interesting one. In modern society we are regularly told what we ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t eat’ as part of our diet culture. The Choice takes this to the extreme, mandating what food can and cannot be eaten. Personally, I think I’ll like this book. It promises to explore an interesting topic. As someone who does not have the healthiest of relationships with food, I’ll likely feel more strongly about the narrative and the restrictions imposed. I am working on it, but I also don’t care to be perfect.

I would not do very well in this world 😂 I enjoy treats and I can’t lie! My love of cake would land me in the Perspex box on many an occasion! 

I’m looking forward to reading this one as it’s a debut novel. New authors (and featuring new authors) is always a pleasure. If I can, I like to share new and/or less mainstream authors. 

The reviews of this book on Goodreads are a little polarised. As to what I make of this book remains to be seen. In principal, I can always get behind an #eatcake campaign, so I’m optimistic. 

 

If you’re still here, thanks for reading today’s Shelf Control post! Have you read The Choice… or anything like it? 

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Monthly TBR – August 2025

It’s the beginning of August and I’m with you today to share my monthly TBR. It’s the final month of the 20 Books of Summer Challenge. Whilst I fully expected to be a little behind with this challenge as it was a stretch goal, I’m hoping to read as much as I can from that list before the end of the month.

When I shared my monthly wrap-up post just a few days ago, I was very close to completion with both of my current reads. It feels like great progress to share in this post that I have finished both of those books. They won’t feature in this TBR, but mentally it helped set me up for what I can only hope to be success with this monthly TBR. 

So, shall we actually get round to talking about the books on the list?

 

Fixed Reads 

 

The Giver

Starting off with my book club commitments, the first book I need to read is The Giver by Lois Lowry. Following on from The Measure, The Giver is also set in a dystopian world and was very clearly one of the inspiring stories behind this book. When talking about it in our book club discussion last week, Meg recommended picking up The Giver as it’s a great book itself. However, we also decided it would be interesting to see how this book influenced The Measure. 

The good news is The Giver is quite a short read. This book is actually aimed at a middle grade or young adult audience. As a result, its page count only sits at around 240. That should be plenty easy to get through! 

 

The House Witch

Next, I am picking up The House Witch with the Cottagecore Fantasy Book Club, over the course of this month. I came to the party late last month. Consequently, I ended up bingeing House of Frank in order to catch up. Instead, I’ll be picking up The House Witch incrementally so I can contribute to the discussion on a weekly basis. 

As a result, you’ll see me chipping away at this slowly over the course of the month. That is, unless I get carried away and binge the whole lot early on. We’ll see how my experience goes of the book 😌

 

If We Were Villains 

The next book I’m including in this early section is If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio. I’m including this as a fixed read on this monthly TBR because I have started already. As of this monthly TBR post, I have read around 100 pages so far. Although I can be very hit and miss with Shakespeare, its influence on the narrative isn’t putting me off. In fact, it’s been nice to read a book that dabbles with Shakespeare but isn’t so heavily that I’m put off.

If you are unfamiliar with the premise of the book, If We Were Villains is about a group of theatre students in their final year of education. The school of arts they attend specialises in Shakespeare. Now, I haven’t got to the juicy bit where someone gets murdered. Not yet. However, the parallels of tragedy between Shakespeare’s writing and what inevitably comes to pass are starting to weave their way into the narrative. I’m excited to see what happens and so I imagine this book will be read pretty quickly! 

 

HR Disrupted

I often talk books at work, and a conversation with our HR lady has resulted in my borrowing HR Disrupted from her. She started explaining to me what an HR Disruptor is and what it means in terms of breaking the traditional moulds and practices of HR. I was intrigued, and you know me 😉 I’ll read books on pretty much any subject! 

This is a fixed read this monthly TBR as naturally I want to return the book to its rightful owner ASAP ☺️

 

Mood Reads 

 

The Pagan Lord

Regretfully, I didn’t get to The Pagan Lord, which was on my monthly TBR for July. This is a carry forward, and I’m still looking forward to continuing with this series.

This TBR is a little on the long side, and I will admit that it is ambitious. However, with some shorter books on the list, The Pagan Lord among one of those, I’m hopeful I can catch up with my Goodreads reading challenge. I’m looking forward to reading this 300-page book to get myself back into the Last Kingdom, also known as the Saxon Stories series by Bernard Cornwell. 

 

The Dragon Republic

Another carryover from my July TBR is The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang. I’m looking forward to this second instalment in The Poppy War series. 

I’m planning to pick this one up later in the month. Whilst momentum is strong, I want to try and blitz my shorter reads. The Dragon Republic is about 650 pages – it’s not short by any means. If my experience of the first book is anything to go by, it’ll be a slower and more detailed read. 

 

Tyrant’s Throne 

A final book of a series I’m looking forward to listening to this month is Tyrant’s Throne by Sebastien de Castell. 

It’s also my main audiobook of the month! Naturally, I hope I can finish this in good time and squeeze in another 20 Books of Summer entry before the end of August. The audiobook is 16 and a half hours at x1.2 speed, so not unachievable… 

Having just listened to Saint’s Blood, I’m eager to finish the series whilst events are fresh in my mind. 

Summary 

With a total of seven books, 2200 pages, and 16 and a half hours of audio on this month’s TBR, I’m optimistic for a productive month of reading. 

I’ve already made a great start finishing two carryovers from July that aren’t featured in today’s monthly TBR; I’ve wrapped them up already! Let’s hope we can keep the momentum going! 

What are you reading this summer? 

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Monthly Wrap-Up – July 2025

In today’s monthly wrap-up, I have a number of books to update you on progress for. Over the course of July, I finished three books in full. I also have two carryovers into the beginning of August (but not long left for either) and one DNF to report.

Let’s dive into today’s monthly wrap-up so you can see which is which!


Books Read


Saint’s Blood

An audiobook carryover from June was my listen of Saint’s Blood by Sebastien de Castell. Admittedly, as of my monthly TBR post, I only had an hour and 15 minutes of the audiobook left.

I finished it off pretty quickly! It was fun to get back into this series as it’s been a little while. Now I’ve finished this book, I’ve only got one book left in the series before I can mark this as complete.


The Anxious Generation

The next and final carryover from June was my physical read of The Anxious Generation.

I had more of this book to read into July. In June, I read the first 60 pages of the book, but that was all. By the time we were four days into July, I’ve progressed to 50% and I finished the book a few days later.

The Anxious Generation was a really informative read. I’d go so far as to say that I think this book should be more widely read. Understanding the changes in childhood experiences (both ways – this book compares and contrasts play-based childhoods and phone-based childhoods throughout) has opened my mind to why we’re seeing generational challenges today.

I rated The Anxious Generation four stars. It was an easy read even though it cites data and statistics. It’s written in layman’s terms so is approachable for all.


Alan Turing: An Enigma

Unfortunately, I have a DNF to share this month. I started listening to Alan Turing: The Enigma this month and I put it down within a couple of weeks.

I couldn’t get on with the book. The early narrative covers Alan’s early life and it was just dry. I was bored. Ultimately, I decided it wasn’t worth pushing on with an audiobook I wasn’t enjoying. I didn’t want to listen to it, nor risk getting into a reading slump over it. So, onwards and upwards….


Stormdancer

… and straight into Stormdancer I went!

Stormdancer has been a much better experience and I’m glad I made the switch. It’s an unconventional genre mash-up – Japanese fantasy and steampunk!

Not that I really had any doubts. Jay Kristoff is a regular feature on my blog now and I haven’t read a book of his I didn’t like. It’s also got me excited as I’ve got another standalone of his, more similar to this series than anything else I’ve read, upcoming on my TBR.

I’ve listened to Stormdancer for the rest of the month of July and as of this monthly wrap-up post, I only have two hours of listening time left.


The Measure

I picked up The Measure on Kindle Unlimited as it was the book I chose for book club. The Measure was already on my TBR and I was sure the premise would make for some great talking points.

It didn’t disappoint! This book was everything I hoped it was and I enjoyed getting to talk through my thoughts on this book. As dystopian books go, the narrative was set in a world very like our own so it was totally relatable. I also enjoyed how the story zoomed in on individual characters and impacts but also looked at how the knowledge of your lifetime impacted society as a whole.


House of Frank

A last-minute addition to my reading list this month was House of Frank. I’ve started to moderate a book club online via Discord and that is the club’s chosen book.

As of this monthly wrap-up I do still technically have a third of the book left to read. In my defence I was late starting it as I joined partway through the month. It’s not stopped me participating in chats about the book so far as it’s broken down into sections for easy participation.

I will, however, try to read this last section of the book over the next couple of days. Then, we can wrap up the discussion before moving on to our next book!


Summary

That’s all from me in this monthly wrap-up update! Have a good weekend and happy reading!

Have you read any of the books I’ve featured in today’s post? What did you read in July?

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Sunday Summary – 20th July 2025

Happy Sunday reading friends and welcome to my Sunday Summary catch-up! I hope you’ve had a good one however you’ve spent it? This weekend has been quieter and I’ve enjoyed the slower pace.

But… that’s not what you’re here to read, is it? You’re here to find out what I’ve been reading. We’ll get there, right after I recap what I’ve shared online this week. 

First, I’m pleased to share that I finally got my review of Stolen Focus by Johann Hari into a place where I was happy to publish it. I thought I was happy with the word count I had, but I managed to add a good bit more before that post went live. If you haven’t yet taken a look, there’s a link to that post above. 

Next, I published my First lines Friday on schedule and fulfilled the challenge of featuring a book on my 20 Books of Summer challenge. I hope to pick up this book soon. Want to see what it is? It’s a historical fiction novel, but I’m not telling you any more… 

As well as the blog, I’ve started posting up-to-date book reviews on Patreon. Partly, that’s so I don’t end up in a position where two years down the line I’m struggling to write one (ahem, Stolen Focus I’m looking at you). However, it also gives anyone the opportunity to support me for early access to these reviews. They’ll make there way here in time, but new reviews are going on Patreon first. This week, I reviewed Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. However, I’ve also got reviews of Crashed, The Poppy War and Elektra so far if you want to read any of those. 

And now, onto the fun part of my Sunday Summary posts – the reading updates!

 

Books Read

 

The Measure 

Over the course of this week, and yesterday especially, I dedicated time to The Measure. I’ve really enjoyed this book – so much so I finished it yesterday. That means this week I read a little over 260 pages to complete this book. 

If you enjoy contemporary fiction with a bit of a dystopian element, The Measure could well be for you. I loved how this book exploded how the knowledge of one’s lifetime changed both the world and people’s individual stories. the measure of one’s life isn’t just in a span of years, and that is also a big theme of the book. Honestly, I’m glad we’ve picked this up for book club because there are plenty of talking points I can’t wait to get into with the group. 

I didn’t quite cry at this one, but there were a few close moments. It’s a very thought-provoking and emotional read. 

 

House of Frank

I’ve continued House of Frank which I’m reading as part of the Cottagecore Fantasy Book Club over at Chantelle Solace. I confess though that The Measure took priority earlier in the week. Now I’ve finished it, House of Frank is now my main read. 

It’s very different the book I just read, although it still deals with the topic of death and grief. It’s interesting that I’ve ended up reading these so close together. I’m not going morbid I promise! 

So far this week, I’ve read a few more chapters. So, as of this Sunday Summary I’m 16% through the book. 

House of Frank is a cozy fantasy, so very different vibes and hopefully a quick read. I’m hoping it will make for a nice change before moving on to my next read, which is a dark academia that also features death 😅 I promise I’m okay! 

 

Stormdancer

After sharing in last week’s Sunday Summary that I was putting down Alan Turing: The Enigma, I picked up Stormdancer. 

Stormdancer is a bit unusual as it combines asian fantasy and steampunk. Not something I’ve ever read before, but I’m liking it quite a bit! I didn’t really have any doubts over enjoying the book as it’s written by an author I’ve read a small variety from already – Jay Kristoff. 

This week I’ve listened to a couple of hours of the audio. With around 10 hours left an a deadline on Audible to get it finished, I’m hoping to share completion of this in next week’s Sunday Summary. 

 

Books Discovered

I picked up a couple of audiobooks this week after seeing them advertised in their weekly edit email. The first of those is Your Boss Era. As a lifelong learner, there’s always something I can be doing better. Whilst I may not be a manager, I have become a go-to contact between teams and. I am getting towards a more senior person in terms of experience. I think the contents of the book can help me step-up and demonstrate the skills necessary for a promotion in future. 

Next, I picked up another book that tickled my lexicon fancy. I loved English and words – so much so I wanted to be a speech therapist. The job wasn’t really viable here and there were aspects to it I wouldn’t have enjoyed, so I didn’t pursue it. However, I still have a love of language and words. That probably doesn’t surprise you when you consider I consume and write so many in a week of my own free will! That book is called Algospeak, and particularly focuses on how social media has shaped modern language. 

 

Coming Up… 

The final section of today’s Sunday Summary is about what’s coming up content-wise next week. 

On the blog, my first post well be a mid-year check-in my my progress towards my reading goals in 2025. It almost feels like that compulsory HR mid-year review, but don’t worry – I’ll make it more fun!

Next, on Friday I’ll release another Shelf Control instalment. This one will be prepared ahead of time as on Friday night, I’ll be out attending one of my best friend’s weddings. Don’t worry, I won’t let you down. It’ll be scheduled in advance 😉

Finally, the last post on the blog will be next week’s Sunday Summary instalment. I’m hoping to have at least two bookish completions with you this week! It’s rapidly coming up the end of the month and I still have a few books on the TBR to get to. Fingers crossed for some reading productivity! 

Off the blog, I have two reviews to catch up with on Patreon – Ultra-Processed People and All the Light We Cannot See. If you are interested in either of those two books, I hope you can subscribe over on Patreon so you don’t miss out! 

Until next time, may your tea be hot and your book better than real life ☺️

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Sunday Summary – 13th July 2025

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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Monthly TBR – July 2025

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

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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