Tag: Fiction

Sunday Summary – 17th September 2023

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Good evening friends – it’s great to catch up with you again in today’s Sunday Summary update post. First of all, I hope you’ve had a great week This week has been a little less manic, thankfully! I caught up with some obligations I signed up to for this month. Once my review of The Trail went live earlier this week, I could breathe a sigh of relief. If you’re in the mood to pick up a psychological thriller this spooky season, then I suggest you go and check that review out!

Later in the week, I shared the next in my rotation of Friday feature posts. This week, it was the turn of my First Lines Friday post. In last week‘s Sunday Summary, I set myself the challenge of featuring a book I’ve added to my reading list in the last six months. I had an interesting time picking this week’s feature, sampling a few books on my reading list before committing to this feature. I’m excited for them all, but if you’re interested to go and read that particular introduction and details of the book, you can find that link here.

 

Books Read

 

The Trail

As of last week’s Sunday Summary post, I had just 30% left of The Trail to finish before my review went live on Tuesday. Fortunately, I didn’t need to pick up this book again on Monday; I finished it on Sunday night as I hoped! It ended up being a slightly late one, but then I couldn’t sleep anyway… Needless to say, Monday wasn’t a very fun day to then have to draft my review on! I have to say in the circumstances, I’m pleased with how I managed.

If you want to check out my full thoughts on the book, then I’m obviously going to recommend you to that post. What I will say on the ending of this book is that it surprised me. I didn’t expect this ending at all, but I really enjoyed how this narrative came together.

 

Wizard and Glass

I almost forgot to include this in today’s post. When I was looking back at what I read over the course of the week earlier today, I was a little disappointed with myself that I hadn’t read all that much. However, I was completely forgetting that I also re-visited and finished Wizard and Glass.

I picked this book up again and finished the remaining 30% (about 260 pages) as my reading obligations were over for the month. Despite having put it down for just over a week, I managed to get back into the narrative really easily. I finished the book within a couple of days, and I’m intrigued to see where the next book in the series is going to take us.

Wizard and Glass wasn’t the book I expected it to be. Where the previous books have showcased events in the present day, the majority of Wizard and Glass is spent recapping Roland’s early life and how he became obsessed with the Dark Tower. Don’t get me wrong, I like a bit of backstory. However, I didn’t expect this to span the vast majority of the book.

I still enjoyed it overall, and I’m looking forward to getting back to the present day in Wolves of the Calla.

 

Twelve Years a Slave

The final book I picked up over the course of the week was Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup. I initially took a digital copy of the book out from the library in order to read it. However, as I took a little bit longer reading the earlier obligations, my library loan expired yesterday and somebody had a hold on it. I’ve ended up buying a copy on Kindle in order to finish it, because I didn’t want to wait another two weeks! It’s my own fault…

This week they’re a lot of 70/30 splits in the reading progress we’re talking about, because I am just under 70% through Twelve Years a Slave as of this Sunday Summary update! I am enjoying the book, although I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a challenge to read – in every sense of the word. Not only is the subject matter difficult, but in my opinion, the narrative doesn’t flow as easily as modern day language. It’s important to remember that this book was written and published in 1853. In my opinion, the narrative is very overly punctuated – so much so, I’m having to almost glaze over it when I’m reading. It took some getting used to, but now I’m into it, I’m just not looking at it too hard!

All the same, I’m glad I added this book to my TBR and that I have finally gotten around to it. In terms of reading time, I have about an hour and 40 minutes left to finish the book. I probably won’t get that done tonight, but I hope to have it finished by the end of tomorrow.

 

Books Discovered

I’m on another run of no new additions to the reading list; I think this is three weeks on the trot now?

 

Coming Up…

I’ve had Tuesday’s post pencilled into my diary for about three months now! I’ve enjoyed sharing Top Ten Tuesday posts featuring books on my seasonal TBR’s… and next week’s post will be no exception. On Tuesday, I am going to share my top ten reads on my autumn TBR!

On Friday, I return with the next instalment of Well, I Didn’t Know That! I’m going to be completely honest with you in that the subject matter of that post is as yet undecided. I’ve been having a think all this evening, but I’m yet to come up with anything that I am happy to commit myself to. Rest assured, I’ll have something decided ready for that post on Friday.

And, as always, I’ll be back with another Sunday Summary post this time next week!

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post. Have a great week, and I hope to see you in the next!

 

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Sunday Summary – 10th September 2023

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I’m back a little later than usual with my weekly Sunday Summary update. Today I’ve been taking part in a blog tour post, and that’s needed to take priority. So, I’ve deliberately scheduled this post for 11:59pm BST – the last possible moment for this to count as a Sunday Summary and give my review of Protector of Mercia as much headline time on the blog!

In addition to today’s blog tour post, I’ve shared a couple of posts with you throughout the week. I began the week with my Monthly TBR post. I’m picking up quite the range of books once again this month. The unusual thing is that this month’s books have a lower average page count than I’ve been picking up of late!

On Friday, I shared another Friday feature. This week, it was the turn of my Shelf Control feature. In this series, I take a look at upcoming books on my TBR and share why I’m excited to read them. This week’s featured book is a translated historical fiction mystery. I’m excited for this combination!

 

Books Read

 

Wizard and Glass

This week, I’ve had to temporarily set aside Wizard and Glass in order to prioritise a couple of reads for blog tour obligations. I was hoping to pick this up, even just a little over the week. However, that didn’t happen. I’ve read 570 pages over the course of the week to get as far as I have for my blog tours… that’s already a lot! So, this section is a quick update to say there’s no update.

 

Protector of Mercia

As you’ve probably guessed, my first priority of the week was reading Protector of Mercia ready for today’s blog tour post.

Having enjoyed the prior four books in the series so far, I was looking forward to this fifth instalment. Protector of Mercia varies from the series so far in that the internal politics that have so far been the backdrop of the series get to shine. In this book, we get to explore more in the way of character dynamics and relationships between Saxons. There’s also a wider story arc that we have finally got some detail on, and I can’t wait to see how this progresses.

If you want to check out my full review, you can find that post here.

 

The Trail

My next reading priority is The Trail by M.A. Hunter. I am reviewing this book, also for a blog tour, early next week.

As of this Sunday Summary post, I’ve made great headway with the book and I am on the home stretch. With just 30% left and a predicted hour’s reading time left to complete it, I’m hoping to finish the book before turning in tonight. Otherwise, I’ll be spending my lunch hour finishing it tomorrow so I have tomorrow evening to compose my review.

The Trail is a dark, atmospheric small town thriller about a woman who went missing 30 years ago. After remains are found, Nora’s daughter heads out to try and get answers; has her mum finally been found? What happened to her all that time ago? Only, Jess and her prying questions are unwelcome…

I hope you can check in and read my review very soon!

 

Books Discovered

Once again, there are no updates here for you this week. I managed to browse Waterstones this week and come out empty-handed. You must be proud of me!

 

 

Coming Up…

it shouldn’t surprise you that my first blog post of the week is my review of The Trail as part of the blog tour with Boldwood Books and Rachel’s Random Resources. My slot on the tour is Tuesday, so that post will be going live early doors.

I’ll be back again on Friday with my next Friday feature. This week, I’ll be sharing a First Lines Friday post. I’m in the mood for a challenge along with this post, so here are the rules. For next week’s feature, I need to choose a book I’ve added to the TBR in the last six months. I hope you can join me for that post.

Lastly, I’ll be rounding up the week with another Sunday Summary post. As usual, I’ll be updating you with the books I’ve read over the course of the week, any changes to my TBR, and what’s coming up soon on the blog.

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary. I’m off to continue The Trail. What are you reading?

 

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Shelf Control #69 – 08/09/2023

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In today’s Shelf Control post, I am thrilled to share the details of a historical thriller novel originally published in German. There’s no particular reason for translated books making up only a small proportion of my TBR… I just don’t discover them all that often! That means when I do, I get really excited about them! 

Before I share the details of that book, let’s recap what the Shelf Control regular feature is all about!

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

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

 

The Hangman’s Daughter – Oliver Pötzsch

Genre: Historical Fiction/Thriller

Pages: 450

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Amazon Crossing

Publication Date: 16 May 2011

 

 

Goodreads – The Hangman’s Daughter

Magdalena, the clever and headstrong daughter of Bavarian hangman Jakob Kuisl, lives with her father outside the village walls and is destined to be married off to another hangman’s son—except that the town physician’s son is hopelessly in love with her. And her father’s wisdom and empathy are as unusual as his despised profession. It is 1659, the Thirty Years’ War has finally ended, and there hasn’t been a witchcraft mania in decades. But now, a drowning and gruesomely injured boy, tattooed with the mark of a witch, is pulled from a river and the villagers suspect the local midwife, Martha Stechlin.

Jakob Kuisl is charged with extracting a confession from her and torturing her until he gets one. Convinced she is innocent, he, Magdalena, and her would-be suitor race against the clock to find the true killer. Approaching Walpurgisnacht, when witches are believed to dance in the forest and mate with the devil, another tattooed orphan is found dead and the town becomes frenzied. More than one person has spotted what looks like the devil—a man with a hand made only of bones. The hangman, his daughter, and the doctor’s son face a terrifying and very real enemy.

 

My Thoughts

The Hangman’s Daughter, or Die Henkerstochter, appealed to me initially as it’s a work of historical fiction. However, I’m also intrigued by the thriller and mystery element that takes place within the story.

If you like reading books that feature witchcraft, or speculation of witchcraft, then this should appeal to you as well. I haven’t read very many books from this angle, but I have several on my TBR (both fiction and non-fiction!). Off the top of my head, the only witchy book I’ve read is To Snare a Witch, now titled Bell, Book and Candle. 

The main protagonists in this book may be considered unsavoury, or at least unpleasant to deal with. Let’s face it, if you have business with a hangman it doesn’t look good for you! It’s a unique perspective to take in a book, and if done well, I think there is ample opportunity for character depth and exploration.

The Hangman’s Daughter is quite unlike anything I have read before. I’m looking forward to picking this up and exploring a new period of historical fiction and uncovering the mystery within.

That’s all for today’s Shelf Control post! Have you read The Hangman’s Daughter? Let me know what you make of this book either way in the comments!

 

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Sunday Summary – 3rd September 2023

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We’re back with another Sunday Summary post, so make yourself comfy! I’ve had a pretty good week all in all. I’ve kept up with my average reading speed for the month despite being back at work (and with one stint of overtime too). It’s fair to say I’m back into the normal swing of things!

As always, let’s take a look at what I’ve shared already in my blog this week before my reading updates. My first post of the week was a review of a book that pushed me out of my comfort zone, but didn’t bowl me over. I’m not a romance reader, but I read The Duke and I as a result of enjoying the Netflix series, Bridgerton.

My next and most recent post (before this one) was my Monthly Wrap-Up of all the books I picked up in August. As always, I set myself an ambitious TBR that I didn’t quite finish, but I got close enough to be happy with the end result. If you want a reminder of the books I read in August and a feel for my overall impressions ahead of review, check out that post!

 

Books Read

 

Wizard and Glass

My week has been dedicated to reading Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. As of my last Sunday Summary update post, I had made a healthy start to this book having read the first 160 pages. Since that post, I’ve got onto read a further 500, which I’m pleased with! You must be thinking, “Gosh, Rebecca, you’ve got to be at about the end by now?” Unfortunately not! Wizard and Glass comes in at just under 900 pages, so I have a little way to go yet. My current page count puts me at 70% progress through the book.

Events that have been building up are just starting to come to a head now. I’m really excited to see where the plot goes from here and how the conflict unravels. My goal for the evening is to get through as much of this book as possible, as I will have to put it down briefly in order to fulfil other reading obligations. More on those below and in my upcoming Monthly TBR post. Depending on how quickly I read these two other books, I may get to dip into Wizard and Glass throughout the week. If the plot gets good, I’m going to find it very hard to resist the temptation regardless!

 

Books Discovered

No news is good news this week! The TBR hasn’t changed at all in the last seven days.

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post of next week will be my monthly TBR for September. I have a number of exciting books coming up in that reading list. I have a couple of thrillers, some fantasy, a non-fiction, historical fiction… sci-fi too. It’s a diverse one! It’s also been fun to include my Instagram followers on one of these picks this week. I hope you can check out that post on Tuesday!

On Friday, I’ll be sharing the next instalment in my Shelf Control feature. This week’s featured book is unusual in that it’s one of a few translated books on my TBR; this particular historical fiction/thriller was originally written and published in German! If you’re intrigued, please do check out my post on Friday!

Sunday is going to be a busy day on the blog as I’ll technically be sharing two posts. The first book I need to read on my September TBR is for a blog tour post due on Sunday. If you’ve read any of my reviews for M.J. Porter’s Eagle of Mercia series, then you can look forward to my review of the fifth book in the series (released next week) in just a week’s time!

I’ll also share my usual Sunday Summary post on that date. As priority needs to go to the blog tour, I will share my Sunday Summary update at 11:59pm.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Sunday Summary! I’m off to devour as much of Wizard and Glass as I can!

In the comments, drop me the title of the last book you couldn’t put down at the end!

 

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Monthly Wrap-Up: August 2023

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Pinch, punch, first of the month! Hello everyone and welcome to my monthly wrap-up post! It’s the beginning of a new month, so I’m excited to recap what I’ve been reading with you.

At the beginning of next week I’ll be sharing my September reading list with you. I hope you can join me for that on Monday. In the meantime, let’s take a look at my reading progress compared to last month’s TBR! I had high hopes of completing this TBR even though I put more on it in anticipation of reading more in my time off work. I did read more, but I had a good number of books on the list… and a few chunky ones as that.

Let’s recap my reading progress throughout August!

 

Books Read

 

The City of a Thousand Faces

August’s TBR was a mix of genres, mediums and book lengths. I started the month with my ‘fixed read’ that fell in middle ground in terms of length.

The City of a Thousand Faces is not your typical fantasy in terms of setting. We explore a city in a fantasy setting that reminded me very much of real life cities like Istanbul. Think arid landscapes, powerful sultans etc.

At 560 pages, this fantasy made for good exploration of a new world. The book can only be titled The City of a Thousand Faces as each character seems to have at least two – metaphorically of course! The characters and the plot are political in nature, and there was an awful lot of backstabbing!

The City of a Thousand Faces made for an okay read. It wasn’t my favourite book of the month, but I was interested to see how events concluded. It’s the most neutral review in this monthly wrap-up; the experience got better from here on out. 

 

Spike

The first a non-fiction book I picked up throughout August was Spike. If you think it is a little early to pick up and read books about the pandemic, then maybe hold off this one for a little while. If you do decide to pick it up, then I hope, like me, you find this an interesting and insightful read.

The book offers insight into the handling of the pandemic. We start looking at events from a global scale before narrowing its focus to the UK’s handling of the pandemic from the point at which it landed on our shores. There were insights in this book that are both shocking and in equal measure unsurprising. That may sound contradictory… but hear me out. What is shocking is how lackadaisical some of the approaches were when the pandemic was in its early phases. In ways, it is unsurprising based on who those individuals are!

I quite enjoyed this read, even when you take into consideration the topic and the consequences of this event has had our lives as we know it. The pandemic has impacted us for a number of years already and will continue to do so. This book only touches on a relatively short period of time and there may well be more to add to this at a later date. Should such a book come out, I would definitely read this one as well.

 

Ship of Destiny

The longest book on my August TBR that we’ll talk about in this monthly wrap-up was Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb. I’ve been looking forward to this conclusion to The Liveship Trader trilogy – and for very good reason! These books are very quirky in their fantasy set up, and at last we see the events over the prior 1800 odd pages lead characters into their destinies.

With prior Hobb books, I have on occasion felt the length and depth of the storylines. That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed them. However, I am very conscious of the fact I’m reading them, and that I’m having to read quite a lot in order to get through the page count. That wasn’t the case with Ship of Destiny at all. I was so invested in the narrative that the pages flew by, despite the dense storyline and events to take in. I’d go so far to say that I think Ship of Destiny is my favourite Hobb book so far!

 

A Brief History of Time

My second non-fiction read of the month was A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. This book pushed me out of my comfort zone because it is quite technical (and I am not). I enjoyed the concept of science and space despite not being so versed in complex, physical and mathematical equations and concepts. This book has those in abundance, although Stephen Hawking does do his best to explain these in simplified and practical examples.

Even though I’m not technically minded, I was able to read A Brief History of Time on a relatively superficial level and still find it interesting. I’m sure there is plenty more that other readers could get out of the book. However, I will save that for them. Although it is a science book, you don’t have to be too scientifically minded to understand the theories, principles, and discussion points that Stephen Hawking brings up throughout.

 

Leadership and Culture

Non-fiction isn’t a genre I read a whole lot of, although you know by now that I am trying to read more it. My third and last non-fiction on my August TBR and for inclusion in this monthly wrap-up is Leadership and Culture. I read this book whilst I was off work and managed to read it quite quickly. As someone who is invested in improving office culture and would be interested in a management position in future, I wanted to read this book ahead of that time to effectively set myself up.

This book has a lot of practical examples of do’s and don’t’s when it comes to management versus leadership. These are all examples I have seen in the workplace and felt their effects as well. I’m sure everyone has! For anyone who currently is in a management position and wishes to make improvements, the book is full of practical tips in order to identify or work on sticking points. Although I’m not necessarily in a position to adopt any of these now, I am in a position to encourage the healthy habits that some of these tips try to adopt. I can help encourage others to speak out by speaking out for myself, for example.

 

Wizard and Glass

The last book to feature in today’s monthly wrap-up is my final read of August, Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. I was determined not to leave it another four years before I returned to The Dark Tower series. It’s not even been four months… I’m sure you’re proud of me! On a serious note, I really enjoyed going back to the series and exploring the narrative and history of the world in a little bit of a different way. Whereas previous books hint at prior events and leave a lot to the imagination, this book seems to have more of a focus on building up that backstory.

It’s no wonder I didn’t get to the end of this before the end of the month, all things considered. This book is nearly 900 pages in itself as well! 

 

Summary

Unfortunately, I didn’t quite get to Lost Solace. It was ambitious to try and tack this onto the end of what is already an extensive reading list. It’s not going away though. As I didn’t get to it in August, expect this to feature on September’s TBR coming out on Monday next week.

Over the course of August I read in excess of 2,500 pages. That’s an average of 80 pages a day, so not insignificant at all. I needed to read 107 pages a day in order to get through my reading list. That was quite an ambitious target! If I had no other plans for my time off work, this may have been a possibility. The fact is, I did use that time off for other things as well. I still made fantastic reading progress and I’m pleased with what I’ve achieved!

That concludes this monthly wrap-up post. What books have you been reading recently? Do you have any recommendations for me?

 

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Sunday Summary – 27th August 2023

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Welcome to my Sunday Summary update post this August bank holiday weekend. I hope you’re having a good weekend whatever you’re doing. My time off work is coming to an end, but I’ve made good use of the time!

Aside from reading, I’ve been keeping to my usual blogging schedule. My first post of this week went live on Tuesday; I shared several books I unhauled earlier in the week. It’s not a common post I share, but it felt apt as I’d just gone through my shelves to make some room anyway!

Next, I shared my regular Friday feature post – Well, I Didn’t Know That! For this week’s feature, I shared some of the tips and tricks I’ve learned taking an online course on social media marketing. If you want to improve visibility and engagement on your posts, why not give some of these a try?

 

Books Read

 

A Brief History of Time

I left off in last week’s Sunday Summary having read 25% of A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. If you haven’t read this book, it’s quite a technical science book about space, time, and the theories as to the history of the planet and universe as we know it.

I’m not a science geek, so I ended up reading and understanding the concepts in the book on a superficial level. It was easy enough to follow, especially as Stephen Hawking helped explain some of the principles of the theories in approachable, everyday terms. I was initially sceptical of the later chapters being a bit difficult. But, the way the book has been written means that what we’ve read and understood previously helps us understand these later concepts!

I enjoyed this non-fiction book, not only for the subject matter but also for the change of pace. It was a stretch out of my comfort zone, but I wouldn’t rule out reading similar books in future!

 

Leadership & Culture

I jumped out of one non-fiction book into another, and quite a different subject matter entirely! Leadership & Culture concerns management in the workplace, and how different management styles can affect the work dynamic, trust and ultimate success of companies. The book mainly targets current managers, however, can easily be read by aspiring managers too. I’d argue if you want to get into a position like that, you want to learn this before you start on the wrong foot!

The authors of the book both have extensive leadership experience. They draw upon techniques and real examples of how leadership vs. management impacts employees and companies, as well as suggesting exercises to identify where improvements can be made by the reader in their own environment.

Leadership & Culture was a very quick read to pick up. It had a nice tone and easy-to-follow narrative style that I enjoyed. Should I find myself in a management position in future, it is a book I will revisit to implement the strategies detailed within.

 

Wizard and Glass

The final book I started this week is Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. This is the fourth book in The Dark Tower series -one I have really enjoyed to date!

Getting into Wizard and Glass has been a breeze. Since I’ve not left it so long since I read the last instalment earlier this year (compared to the four-year gap starting The Waste Lands in May), I’ve been able to pick up where I left off without a recap. The events of the book pick up exactly where he Waste Lands finishes. That book had a really interesting cliffhanger of a conclusion, so it was great to get straight back into that and resolve what was happening early doors.

As of this Sunday Summary update post, I am 159 pages into Wizard and Glass. Overall, I’m still a little behind schedule to finish my reading by the end of the month. However, I’m not too far behind and what I’ve read of Wizard and Glass has gone really quickly. I found this with the prior book in the series as well. If I remember correctly, I read that in just a handful of days! I’m hoping for a similar experience here!

 

Books Discovered

Having read a great recommendation/review earlier this week, I have added a book called Among Thieves to my TBR. I even did myself a favour and made a note of the link to that post, so you can go and check it out for yourself!

After reading the review and the synopsis of the book, I have every faith that I’m going to enjoy it. I have read similar books and themes previously and got on with them really well! here’s hoping I have the same experience with this book!

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post next week is going to be another book review. As I’m sure you won’t find it difficult to believe, I have quite a list of books to catch up with and share my thoughts on. Next week’s featured book is one I read even though it is a genre I don’t read a lot of. I decided to pick it up purely because I enjoyed the Netflix series, (against all odds I hasten to add!) If you haven’t guessed already, it’s The Duke & I by Julia Quinn.

On Friday, we will be officially in the month of September! With the coming of the new month, I’ll inevitably be kicking off with a wrap-up of the books I read throughout the month of August!

As always, I will be sharing another Sunday Summary update with you next weekend and going over the latest books I’ve picked up, any I’ve added to the reading list, and a schedule of what you can expect content-wise the following week.

That’s a wrap for this Sunday Summary post! Let me know in the comments what book you are currently reading!

 

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Sunday Summary – 20th August 2023

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

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

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

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

 

Books Read

 

Ship of Destiny

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

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

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

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

 

A Brief History of Time

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

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

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

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

 

Books Discovered

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

 

Coming Up…

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

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

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

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

What was your last five star read?

 

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Book Review: The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman

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A little over a year ago I read my first ever book by Richard Osman – The Thursday Murder Club. In today’s review, I’m going to tell you all about it!

I read the book as it was both recommended and loaned to me by Chris. I’m not one for reading much into such a lighthearted genre, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be a hit. It definitely was! With the fourth book in the series less than a month away from release, now is a perfect time to share my experience for any readers considering it!

 

The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 382

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Penguin

Publication Date: 03 Sept 2020

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Goodreads – The Thursday Murder Club

Amazon – Purchase Link

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?

 

My Thoughts

 

Plot

If it wasn’t already apparent that a book about four septuagenarians living in a retirement complex and solving murders wasn’t going to be a bit on the silly side, let me clear that up for you now. It is! However, I think that’s totally fine. Die hard serious mystery fans, maybe this one isn’t for you. That’s not to say there isn’t a well written mystery in this narrative though!

The scope of the story ended up being far larger than I anticipated. I enjoyed the unpredictability of events as they unfolded and how far flung the ripples of events in Coopers Chase were felt!

 

Characters

If there’s one thing I enjoyed most from this book, it’s the characterisation. The protagonists of this story are very different from each other and endearing in their antics. Elizabeth is perhaps the most unlikely of the group. However, her nosiness and mischief making are hilarious to read… and her ability to rope other people in is one of the main plot drivers.

Joyce is the quiet one in the group, but not to be underestimated either! She could perhaps be considered the most normal of the four, but she’s easily sucked in by Elizabeth and then gets carried away.

Ron and Ibrahim are also polar opposites of each other. Ron isn’t afraid to mosey in, or brag about his son. Ibrahim, on the other hand, is a very quiet and unassuming, but intelligent man.

Together they make up the unlikely band that set out to resolve the murder on their doorstep. The way these characters relate and bounce off each other is full of comedy moments.

 

Narrative Style

Broadly, The Thursday Murder Club is full of light-hearted narrative and humorous character interactions. Underpinning that is the ongoing murder mystery, but honestly, that feels a bit secondary. The ease of the way in which this book is written, coupled with the characters of the book, make this the easy read it is.

I enjoyed it as a simple read to pick up in between larger and denser books. It’s one that you can pick up on a whim and not have to concentrate too hard on if you don’t want to. Equally, if you are the type of person to try and unpick the clues to the mystery, there is definitely scope for that too! You take out what you put in I suppose.

Having said that, whilst the majority of the book is nice and lighthearted, there were a couple of chapters that really threw me. The narrative switches from its light and easy-going style to a couple of quite dark chapters that made me cry when I read them. That said, the stark contrast between the two really emphasised the message and the events that are happening in those couple of chapters. I found that really powerful.

 

Summary

The Thursday Murder Club doesn’t take itself too seriously, and prospective readers shouldn’t either. It’s a fun murder mystery book with a ragtag group of pensioners sticking their noses in where they shouldn’t, but in the most ridiculous and hilarious of ways.

If you’re looking for a good laugh, great character dynamics and a nice easy read, then pick up The Thursday Murder Club!

Have you read The Thursday Murder Club? What did you think?

 

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***This post contains an affiliate link to Amazon if you wish to purchase the book. Note that if you follow this link, I will earn a small commission from that purchase at no cost to you. 

If you wish to obtain a copy of the book based on this review, I would really appreciate you following this link and showing my content some support by making your purchase***

Sunday Summary – 13th August 2023

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

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

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

 

Books Read

 

Spike: The Virus vs The People

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

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

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

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

 

Ship of Destiny

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

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

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

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

 

Books Discovered

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

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

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

 

Coming Up…

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

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

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

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

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

 

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Shelf Control #68 – 11/08/2023

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

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

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

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

 

Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen – Alison Weir

 

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 602

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Publication Date: 31 May 2016

 

Goodreads

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

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

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

 

My Thoughts

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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