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Monthly Wrap-Up – February 2023

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

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

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

 

Books Read

 

The Chimp Paradox

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

 

The House of Fortune

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

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

 

Illuminae

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

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

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

 

Becoming

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

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

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

 

The Rise of the Dragon

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

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

 

Africa Risen

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

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

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

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

 

DNF’s

None to report this month!

 

Unread

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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Sunday Summary – 26th February 2023

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

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

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

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

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

 

Books Read

The Rise of The Dragon

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

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

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

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

 

Africa Risen

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

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

 

Books Discovered

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

 

Coming Up…

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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Well, I Didn’t Know That! #6

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In today’s Well, I Didn’t Know That! post, I take a deeper dive into a website I use several times a week. I do so even without fully using or understanding the functionality available to readers. I’ve decided to discover what more it has to offer!

As you will probably know from my blog by now, I use Goodreads to track my reading. Goodreads is a massive database with a large community of like-minded readers. Yet, this is the kind of functionality that I don’t use all that often. So, if like me, you use Goodreads as a database and not much more, let’s dive into some of the functionality you can make the most of to improve your experience.

News, articles & recommendations

Overview

One of the functionalities I forget about the most is access to bookish news and articles about a variety of topics.

Some recent examples of these articles include recommendations for reading around certain topics (such as Valentine’s Day and Black History Month). There are also articles around topics like best books of the year, anticipated new releases; well, anything you can imagine. If you want to keep an eye on bookish news, then don’t be so quick to overlook Goodreads as a source of scoop. I won’t be any more!

 

Finding These Features – Website

However, you have to know where to look in order to find them. If you are using the web then it is a lot easier.

You can access recent news and articles via links embedded into the homepage. Equally, you can navigate to the browse menu and locate the ‘News and interviews’ page from there.

 

Finding These Features – Mobile App

If you want to locate the same page via the mobile app, click on the Discover tab. At the top of the page, there is a link to the latest post shared. If you click that link, a web browser will open. From there, follow the link to the news and interviews page at the top.

There are also a limited number of small boxes at the top of your homepage (picture above) with links to news articles. However, these are visually unappealing and don’t necessarily indicate where they’re taking you on the website. I would recommend paying attention to them now you know what they are!

 

Community – Groups, Lists & More!

 

Groups – Overview

There are so many community aspects to Goodreads that I just don’t use day today. From making friends and joining like-minded readers in a group, to sharing lists of books with a common theme (and this is very open, you can decide what you like). There are lots of things you can do to share with other readers. You can also interact with other readers and the content they create as well.

Groups are a great way to interact with other readers in a safe environment. Groups are often very well-moderated and vary in topics or themes. If you’re looking for readers of a certain genre, there is absolutely a group for that. If you want to join a catch-up bookclub, there’s a group (or two) for that too!

 

Lists – Overview

The community curated lists are a great way of finding books based on the topic that may not necessarily make it into a mainstream curation article. Particularly if you are a fan of indie, authors, or less mainstream novels, these lists can be a great way of finding new or different reads based on this kind of criteria. For example, I took a look at a few lists that have been created based on favourite and or strong, independent, or smart women. Partly, I wanted to see if this was a thing (and I can assure you it is). But, I also wanted to compare the books in those lists with my future books in the Top Ten Tuesday post I shared yesterday. There are some commonalities, which is great to see. But, more importantly, there are plenty more books that I haven’t yet read.

If you’re looking for recommendations, this can be a great way of finding something new! Having gone out of my way to explore what other functionality Goodreads has to offer, I will be making more of an effort to engage with this content in future.

 

Finding These Features

Finding these features on both the Web and mobile are considerably easier than the previous section. If you are looking for groups, this can be found on the website by Clicking on the community menu, item, and selecting groups. In the app, click on the more tab in the bottom, right screen, and then select groups.

To find lists on the web, click on the browse menu item, and then select lists. If you want to find the same content in the mobile app, they can be located in the bottom of the Discover tab.

 

I hope you have learned something in today’s Well, I Didn’t Know That! post. Did you know about these functions on Goodreads? Do you actively use them?

 

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Top Ten Tuesday – Favourite Heroines

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In today’s Top Ten Tuesday post, I feature my favourite heroines from fiction. The selection of books the characters come from are quite diverse. As always, there is a slight leaning towards fantasy as that’s what I read the most. However, that doesn’t make up the list in its entirety.

Having taken a look at the characters I have compiled for this list, they all have similar things in common. They are women who will stand up for themselves. They are women who stand in the face of adversity or strife and weather the storm. Other common traits are that they are smart and fiercely loyal to those they love, doing anything they can to protect them.

A quality that many of these characters embody is not allowing other people’s opinions to shape who they are. They do what they think is best, regardless of whether they do so in a way that society expects. They embrace who they are, and all their quirks, and do so with their head held high.

In my opinion, the list of these characters and the traits give really good insight into what I value in women, and also what I would like to embody myself. Naturally, I don’t want to become an assassin in order to protect my family. Understandably, aspects of personalities are exaggerated in the plot narratives of these books! But, these are the principles and standards I admire.

I could go on to add a brief description of each character below, but as I’ve said above, they are remarkably similar. For fear of repeating myself, I’ve decided to keep it to the explanation above as to why I like each of these characters, and just list them below.

So, here is the list of the characters and the books or series they come from!

 

Arya Stark & Brienne of Tarth – A Game of Thrones

 

Hermione Granger & Luna Lovegood – Harry Potter

 

Kettricken – The Farseer trilogy

 

Karou – Daughter of Smoke & Bone

 

Mia Corvere – The Nevernight Chronicles

Nevernight

 

Verity – Code Name Verity

 

Cilka – Cilka’s Journey

Offred – The Handmaid’s Tale

 

Those are my favourite heroines for today’s Top Ten Tuesday post. What do you admire in your bookish heroines? What personality traits do you root for?

 

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Sunday Summary – 19th February 2023

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

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

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

 

Books Read

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Books Discovered

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Coming Up…

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

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

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

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

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

 

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Well, I Didn’t Know That! #5

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

Racial inequality over access to abortion

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

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

 

Summary

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

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

 

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Sunday Summary – 12th February 2023

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

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

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

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

 

Books Read

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

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

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

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

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

 

Books Discovered

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

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

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

 

Coming Up…

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

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

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

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

 

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Well, I Didn’t Know That! #4

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In today’s Well, I Didn’t Know That! post, I feature a podcast from the Financial Times (FT). It focuses on a genre of books I wouldn’t naturally have picked up all that readily – business books.

I read a vast array of genres. However, the concept of a business book fills the mind with connotations of stuffiness and, well, that they’re going to be dull. In just 16 minutes of my day, I discovered a number of titles proving this is can be a misconception.

If you are new to the Well, I Didn’t Know That! series, you can check out my introductory post here.

The podcast featured today discusses the shortlisted and prize-winning books of FT’s 2022 Business Book is the Year award. To be considered for this award, FT specifically look for “compelling and enjoyable” books. So, if there are any business books to pick up, then these are going to be the best of the best!

If you want to check out the podcast for yourself, I will provide a link to Apple podcasts here.

So, which books featured in this podcast caught my attention?

 

Winner – Chip War

The winner of the 2022 Business Book of the Year award went to Chip War. This particular book details the reliance we have on a small number of companies to produce one of the most significant technologies in the world – microchips.

One of the facts I learned in this podcast is that this technology, which is a used widely in electronics to date, stemmed from development for military missiles. Perhaps we have the Cold War to thank or something?

This book appeals to me because we have seen the consequences in the last year of the shortage of the technology. But, the most interesting thing about this book is that it is described as a non-fiction thriller by readers and has been very highly rated!

 

Shortlist – Dead in the Water

One of the shortlisted books for this award also caught my attention. Dead in the Water is a true crime novel which arose as a result of investigative journalism into the hijacking and subsequent destruction of an oil tanker. I have never heard of this incident, but given that there is clearly more than meets the eye here, I want to read and find out what happened!

Dead in the Water is also quite a short read. Even if it isn’t normally your cup of tea, I feel like this is the kind of book, you could try regardless. If the book is any good, I would also be inclined to recommend it to a friend of mine who works in the shipping industry!

 

FT’s podcast has introduced me to some titles that I wouldn’t necessarily have looked at before. It’s also challenged my thinking that books of this type are dull and boring. I’ll definitely pay more attention to books shortlisted for this award in future!

Have you read any business books? Do you have any to recommend to me?

 

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Book Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling

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Today’s book review is about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling.

I originally read these books growing up as a teenager. However, I decided to pick them up again in 2021 and read them through into the beginning of 2022. I loved this series as a teenager, but I wanted to see how my experience of the series, compared from a more mature perspective.

The reviews I have shared to date based on my experience of reading the books more recently. If you want to catch up with my reviews of the earlier books in the series, you can find links to those posts, here.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Now that you’re all caught up, let’s dive into my thoughts of the next book!

 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J. K. Rowling

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 766

Audience: Young Adult

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication Date: 21 Jun 2003

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

 

Goodreads – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter is about to start his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Unlike most schoolboys, Harry never enjoys his summer holidays, but this summer is even worse than usual. The Dursleys, of course, are making his life a misery, but even his best friends, Ron and Hermione, seem to be neglecting him.

Harry has had enough. He is beginning to think he must do something, anything, to change his situation, when the summer holidays come to an end in a very dramatic fashion. What Harry is about to discover in his new year at Hogwarts will turn his world upside down…

 

My Thoughts

Plot

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the chunkiest book in the series. There is a lot going on in this particular book. Despite its size, I still found it easy and entertaining to read as a teenager. However, if I’m honest, I don’t think I fully appreciated the political elements of the storyline until my re-read.

In previous books, we have had tasters of the more intricate and sinister elements of the plot line. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, we see these machinations take centre stage.

I love the little books in the series. Although the earlier books are nice and lighthearted, I prefer the depth and grittiness of the narrative that comes with the threat of “he who must not be named”. With this, we get to see more morally ambiguous characters and events, but most importantly, it adds excitement and fear to what would otherwise be a fairly basic storyline.

 

Narrative Style

Even though Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a long book to read, it isn’t difficult. As in previous books, the narrative style is consistent and easy to follow. Even as a young reader, I didn’t struggle to keep up with what was going on. in my opinion, the writing style is just at that balance of being readable by a younger audience, but also appeal to the older.

If you enjoy fantasy with a little bit more depth, then stick around for these later books. Not only do we see a lot more in the way of developing the history of the world and magic as a whole, but there are a lot more parts at play that contribute to a wider narrative. As a fan of epic fantasy as an adult, I have a distinct preference for the later books in the series. Don’t get me wrong, the earlier books set down a good foundation. However, in my opinion, they are definitely for the younger reader.

 

Characters

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix introduces one of the characters I hate most in literature – Professor Umbridge. If I were to describe this character to you frankly and honestly, then this post wouldn’t be suitable for reading by a younger audience. And to put it mildly, she is an awful woman. Equally, the fact that J. K. Rowling can write a character who invokes such emotions says a lot!

I feel likeHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix introduces far more characters than any of the books to date. Through this book, we start to expand our knowledge of the wizarding world, and the bigger parts at play, rather than just sticking to Hogwarts and a small exclusive setting.

If there is a book in which you could get lost with the amount of characters bouncing round, it’s going to be this one. As a teenager, I probably didn’t follow all of this as best I could. As an adult, that definitely got easier. But, I’m a lot more experienced now in reading epic fantasy with complex worlds and lots of characters! This isn’t to say I don’t think anyone shouldn’t tackle the book at that age, but it’s just something to bear in mind.

 

Summary

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is one of my favourite books in the series. As a fan of complex worlds, the darker plot line and opportunities for strong character development, this book appeals in so many ways.

If there is any book in the series that I think I benefited most from reading again as an adult, I would say it is this one. There is a lot going on and I probably didn’t Pick up on all of it as a younger reader!

 

Have you read any books from the Harry Potter series? Have you re-read it? Let me know in the comments.

 

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Sunday Summary – 5th February 2023

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

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

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

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

 

Books Read

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

 

The Chimp Paradox

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

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

 

The House of Fortune

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

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

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

 

Illuminae

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

 

Books Discovered

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

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

 

Coming Up…

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

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

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

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

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

 

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