Tag: horror

Sunday Summary – 5th November 2023

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Happy Sunday folks and welcome to today’s Sunday Summary! Before we get into my reads for the week, let’s take a look at the posts I’ve shared so far.

Firstly, I shared my book review for Cinderella’s Crimes on Tuesday. That was the deadline for this review, and I was excited to finally get my thoughts together for you to read. Cinderella’s Crimes is a re-publication of a book initially published in the name of Pretty Deadly. As a dark fairytale reimagining, I feel this new title is more apt.

Secondly, I published my review of October’s reading in my monthly wrap-up post. October was a good month overall. I had quite a few review obligations, but I managed to make my way through those and pick up all my mood reads before the end of the month. I carried over my last two ongoing books to finish in November.

The final post on the agenda for this week (aside from this Sunday Summary) was my November Monthly TBR. It’s quite the list when you look at it at face value. However, it’s made to look more onerous than it is by the number of titles. When you compare page count to other months, it’s not far off!

 

Books Read

 

Killing For Company: The Case of Dennis Nilsen

As of my last Sunday Summary update, I had just 15% of this ebook to finish. I was hoping to get it all read by the end of Sunday night, but I ended up finishing it on Monday.

If you want a more comprehensive summary of the book, check out last week’s post. I’m not going to go too much into detail here given that this update constitutes about 45 minutes of reading time this week. In short, it is an interesting and intimate biography of one of the most notorious serial killers of modern times. It’s brutally honest in its capture of events and the state of mind of Dennis.

 

Vikings of the Irish Sea

I didn’t mention Vikings of the Irish Sea as a current read last week, as I was keeping it up my sleeve for an upcoming post. As of drafting my Sunday Summary last week, I was approaching halfway through the book.

I finished the book this week as it is forming the foundation for a post I will be sharing for Norsevember. Additionally, I’m reading a second book that focuses on Vikings in the Isle of Man (see below). However, for a more rounded research approach, I wanted to pick up Vikings of the Irish Sea to compare findings on the island versus the likes of Dublin, England and Wales as a comparison.

Vikings of the Irish Sea isn’t a particularly long book, but it provided good insight for my post and taught me quite a few things about Vikings that I didn’t know from local knowledge.

 

The Vikings in the Isle of Man

Here is that second book I mentioned above! In addition to Vikings of the Irish Sea, I’ve read the first 20 pages of The Vikings in the Isle of Man.

I appreciate that doesn’t sound like much, but when you consider, the book is only 140 odd pages in total in its entirety, it’s enough of a dent to have made a solid start. As I will be sharing my November post in just a few days, I am going to look to make considerably more progress in this book in the next day or two.

 

The Shining

The main book I have been reading over the course of the week is The Shining by Stephen King. After years of owning my copy and not picking it up during spooky season, I decided 2023 was the year. And, it’s been a little while since I picked up a horror novel.

I confess, for such an iconic story, I didn’t know much about The Shining before going into this book. I think that has worked well for me though. I’ve not had any preconceptions or been spoiled for the story, and I am enjoying watching it unravel.

Unsurprisingly, I am really enjoying the book. As of this Sunday Summary, I am 250 pages in, which is approximately 50%. I will be reading this in tandem with The Vikings in the Isle of Man, and I hope to finish the book very soon.

 

Books Discovered

Since adding Unmasked last week, there have been no new additions to the reading list!

 

Coming Up…

My first post of next week will be my contribution to Norsevember… a reading event hosted by Alex at Blogs and Spells for several years now. It’s the first time I’ve taken part in contributing a themed post. I contacted Alex as I wanted to write a post about Viking influence and history in the Isle of Man. This will be going live on Wednesday, and I’m really excited to be writing a different style of post.

This week would normally be the turn of my Well, I Didn’t Know That! feature post. However, as these are a little bit more involved and I don’t want preparation for this to clash with my Norsevember feature, I’m going to skip this one and instead share a Shelf Control. In my Shelf Control posts, I feature an upcoming read on my TBR and why I’m looking forward to picking it up. They’re a lot easier to prepare and post and given my commitment for earlier in the week, I think this is the better option! I’ll do a Well, I Didn’t Know That! feature next time.

Last, but not least, I will be back with another Sunday Summary post to round off the week. Fingers crossed I’ll have plenty of reading updates to share.

What have you read recently?

 

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Monthly TBR – November 2023

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Good evening readers – I hope you are having a lovely weekend? I’m looking forward to sharing all my upcoming reads for the month, and today is the day I share my monthly TBR!

The list looks larger than usual, as it is inflated by a couple of carryover reads from October, together with the fact that the average book length for this month is slightly lower.

I have around 2400 pages to read over the course of the month, which is about average. This doesn’t include my audiobooks for this month, of which I have about 16.5 hours listening time. That averages to just over half an hour a day, which is more than achievable!

Shall we get into my monthly TBR and discuss specifics of the books I’m reading in November?

 

Fixed Reads

 

October Carryover – The Shining

I picked up The Shining, the last book on my October TBR, on Halloween. I was hoping to be a little bit further into the book by that point, but still reading it for the spooky season. As it happens, I only read about 40 pages… But it is a start and I’ll take it.

As of this monthly TBR I am a more modest 180 pages, or roughly 40%, through the book. There was never really any doubt, but I am enjoying this story and the setting so far. Although I’ve been making my way through The Dark Tower series, it’s been a little while since I picked up a pure horror by Stephen King.

I’m looking forward to making further progress in the book and seeing how events unfold. There has been a lot of set up for what may happen later in the book; I’m keen to see if they play out as I hope they do!

 

October TBR Jar Carryover – The Flood

Throughout the latter half of October I started listening to The Flood by Rachel Bennett. Rachel is, I believe, resident on the island, and so I picked up this book to support a local author.

As I mentioned in my monthly wrap-up post for October, I am getting on well with this audiobook. I’m curious as to the history of some of the characters and how future events will unravel. There is definitely far more going on from the ‘historic’ timeline than we readers are aware of yet. I’m interested to see what bearing this has on the modern day aspect of the narrative.

 

Norsevember – Vikings in the Isle of Man

Norsevember is a reading event hosted by Blogs and Spells. Over the course of November, he and other creators feature all things Norse, from books to mythology. I have the pleasure of taking part this year and sharing a feature post on how the Norse touched the little island I live on.

I have already read one book that will contribute to my feature post next week, but I am going to be reading Vikings in the Isle of Man to supplement my knowledge ahead of this post. It’s also another great way to be able to support the event.

It’s only a short non-fiction at 140 pages, but I’m looking forward to picking it up!

 

Ashes of Guilt

I found Ashes of Guilt on Discovery as available to read and to provide a review for. I really like the sound of the premise for this book, so I’ve decided to give it a go! It’s a small-town mystery/thriller novel in which the main character has a shady childhood past; only, it may be that not all is as it seemed back then…

Ashes of Guilt is my only review obligation for November, which makes a nice change from the three I had to do last month! I shouldn’t complain, I sign myself up for these things. So, if there’s anyone to blame, I should just go look in the mirror…

 

November TBR Jar – The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz

Every month, I randomly pick a book out of my TBR Jar. November is no exception. Yesterday, I shared my pick on Instagram. If you’ve seen that already, then you know I drew out The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz.

I’m actually glad this book made it to November’s monthly TBR. I really love books around World War II and in particular Auschwitz. You can call me morbid if you want. I just find it a really interesting subject. What makes the pick even better is that it is a non-fiction novel. With the end of the year fast approaching, I am trying my best to meet my target of picking up more than 15 non-fiction books by the end of the year.

As of this post, I have read 12. Incidentally, I have three non-fiction books on this reading list (last one below), meaning that I have every chance of hitting that goal! Considering I was behind in my mid-year review post, that’s quite a turnaround. 

The fact that this book came out makes it even easier for me. I should, in theory, only have to read one in December to exceed my >15 goal. 

 

November Instagram Poll Pick – The Minders

In addition to the TBR Jar, I’ve taken to posting a poll on Instagram and getting my followers to vote between two books, the winner being the one I read next.

For the poll just gone, the books my followers had to choose from were My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult, or The Minders by John Marrs. The Minders won by quite the majority, and I’m glad it did! I have a few books by John Marrs on the reading list at this point, so I’m excited to be getting around to one of his at least! It’s also more fitting for the season. The Minders is a mystery/thriller novel with hints at government conspiracy in the synopsis. I hope you are as intrigued as I am, because I’m looking forward to telling you about it.

I have obtained a copy of The Minders via audiobook. I quite enjoyed the sample and honestly, I already had quite a lot of books on this reading list in either physical or e-book format. I needed another audio!

 

Mood Reads

The Witches – Salem, 1692: A History

The first of my mood reads in today’s monthly TBR is also the third non-fiction I mentioned above. I have had my copy of The Witches for about a year now. I have gone to pick it up before, but I was a little bit intimidated by the page count and the text size – it’s tiny!

This normally doesn’t bother me, but I looked at it before experimentally when I was looking for a change in read, and ideally something quite quick. That wouldn’t have been the case, so I didn’t pick up.

I am interested in the subject matter though, so I’m looking forward to getting around to it at last!

 

Lost Solace

A relatively quick read, and a change up in genre, is Lost Solace by Karl Drinkwater. I have had a copy of this book for the longest time to read. It’s also supposed to have been on the last three or four months TBR’s, but I just couldn’t fit it in.

Karl’s Lost Solace series in itself will be new to me, but I have read several short stories set in the same universe. I have really enjoyed those stories, so I’m looking forward to giving this mean series for dry.

It’s also been a little while since I read a science fiction novel. What do you believe, the last time I picked up the genre was when I read Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson back at the end of July! I certainly never intended to leave it that long. Then again, picking up Lost Solace has moved to or three times.

 

Incendium

The last book I would like to pick up in November is Incendium. It feels like the perfect month to pick this book up, as the plot sounds like it is very reminiscent of the gunpowder plot… which was foiled in November 1605.

I would’ve liked to pick up the book a little earlier in the month to coincide with bonfire night. However, it’s more important that I focus on my obligations, and so I will have to settle for reading it in the same month!

 

Summary

That’s a lot of books that I’m hoping to pick up in November, but honestly, I think it’s doable. Given that I am prone to reading 600-900 page books, and all of these on my list fall under that, there is absolutely no reason this is unachievable!

Thanks for reading today’s Monthly TBR post!

Have you read any of the books on my November reading list? Do you like the sound of them?

 

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Monthly Wrap-Up – October 2023

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Good evening readers and welcome to this monthly wrap-up post for October! I had a pretty good month with reading progress, and I have plenty to share with you in today’s post.

In October, I had a few reading commitments towards the end of the month. That gave me plenty of time to read those books first and then make it to my chosen mood reads later on.

Shall we dive into my recap for October in earnest?

 

Books Read

 

Priest of Bones

My first read I feature in today’s monthly wrap-up post is actually a carryover from September. I started Priest of Bones at the very end of September, and ended up reading all but the first three chapters in October!

I had high hopes for Priest of Bones. I feel like it is one of those books that got a lot of hype. Do I feel it lived up to expectation though? Not particularly. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the book. It was a decent read and I ultimately rated it three stars. I may continue on with the series, but I’m undecided as of right now.

 

The Puppet Maker

After reading Priest of Bones, I started making headway into my ‘fixed reads’ on October’s TBR. The Puppet Maker is the first of the blog tours I was taking part in during October, with my review due on the 20th.

The Puppet Maker was an opportunity to read a genre I haven’t picked up in a while. I have read mysteries, but not so much with a police procedural element. I enjoyed this change of scenery, so to speak. The book is also uniquely enjoyable for its representation of life as a new wheelchair user. Alana is the protagonist to this story, and she has to navigate multiple complex cases whilst personally coming to terms with her own personal tragedies.

If you want to check out my full review of the book you can find that here.

 

Warrior Prince

My next read, also for a blog tour, had me reading something new again. I’ve enjoyed multiple historical fiction novels featuring Vikings, but not outside modern-day England.

In Warrior Prince, we adventure along with exiled Harald Sigurdsson and his men throughout modern Eastern Europe. This new setting and political landscape made for a complete change to what I’m used to, and I loved that. There is a lot of conflict (not to be unexpected really) and complex character arcs/relations that drive the plot well.

Again, if you like the sound of this book and want to read my full thoughts, I’ll pop a link to my review here.

 

Cinderella’s Crimes

The last of my obligations for the month was to provide a review for Cinderella’s Crimes by the 31st October. Cinderella’s Crimes is a fairytale retelling with a lot darker nature than the traditional and well known version of the story.

Instead of sitting at home and hoping to attend the ball, Cinna takes matters into her own hands. In competition with her best friend Johann, she conducts a heist and aims to come out the better off of the two. She’s ruthless and cunning in pursuit of her revenge.

Cinderella’s Crimes is a fast paced tale and I liked how the events unfolded. As I’ve reviewed the book, you can check out my thoughts using this link.

 

TBR Jar – The Flood

My final ‘fixed read’ of October was my TBR Jar pick for the month. I have picked up The Flood by listening to the audiobook version. The narrator’s style is really lending itself to the book and genre. The story is compelling and the characters are clearly hiding things from us at the moment. I’m enjoying the dual timeline and I’m curious to see how this will come together at the end.

I’m carrying The Flood over into November to complete it. As of this monthly wrap-up post, I am coming up halfway through the book.

 

Surrounded by Idiots

Whilst reading the physical/ebook fixed reading list above, I also listened to Surrounded by Idiots.

I wanted to pick up the book as the content closely correlated to a work course I took recently. The two ended up complementing each other well, and now I feel I have some practical tips to take away. Taking the time to progress with the audiobook has also meant that it’s a subject I’ve gotten used to paying attention to and actively thinking about… which you have to if you want to make the most of the content!

Surrounded by Idiots was really informative and I’m glad I took the initiative to follow up on the content of the course through that audiobook when I did.

 

September’s Instagram poll runner up – Killing for Company

The last book I completed pretty much in full in October is Killing for Company: The Case of Dennis Nilsen by Brian Masters.

I added the book to my reading list three years ago, and it came up as the contender against Priest of Bones in my Instagram poll pick in September. It was always my plan to read the winner in September and the runner up in October; it’s ironic that I ended up reading both in October, but there we go!

Killing for Company is a grisly non-fiction about the life of Dennis Nilsen, who in adult life went on to murder 15 men and attempt taking the lives of several others. It’s not a book for those sensitive to grisly detail. It’s an intimate account of what happened for each of the men, as well as exploring the life and psychology of the man who fully admitted to and provided full accounts to the police about perpetrating the crimes upon capture.

 

The Shining

It was my intention to pick up and read The Shining late on in the month for Halloween (or Hop Tu Naa here). As it happens, I picked up the book to read the first 30 pages or so after visiting family that night.

Naturally, I’m currently continuing with my read of the book and I’ll be in a position to tell you more in my next monthly wrap-up!

 

Summary

Whilst I have carried a couple of reads over to November, I have managed to pick up everything on my October TBR, and a little more besides. I haven’t included that in this post, but you’ll see the fruit of that labour on my blog soon!

I’m looking forward to an equally productive November! Stay tuned for November’s Monthly TBR going live on Saturday.

Thanks for checking out today’s monthly wrap-up and until then, happy reading!

 

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Top Ten Tuesday – Atmospheric Reads

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In today’s Top Ten Tuesday post, I’ll feature a variety of atmospheric books that I’ve read and would recommend to readers. The books vary in genre and the type of atmosphere they foster; a good number are spooky reads that would be ideal to pick up this month. However, I wanted to broaden the scope from that so there is something here for all readerships… so fantasy, historical and cozy readers… there are books here for you too!

Let’s check out the books that made it to today’s Top Ten Tuesday list!

 

Spooky Reads

 

The Trail

The Trail is a book I read recently and it has been released at the perfect time to catch on to readers who like to pick up something spooky in October!

If you would like to read my review of this book, then I’ll provide a link to it here. In summary, it’s a small-town and sinister read involving an old disappearance case. When Jess goes back to where her mother disappeared she finds resistance at every turn. Long buried secrets try to stay buried…

 

Pet Sematary

When a family move to an idyllic house on the edge of a wood, they get far more than they bargained for.

Pet Sematary is a great read for fans of horror. I read this book when I was relatively new to the genre and fell in love with it very quickly! It fits the ‘spooky read’ aesthetic perfectly with its dabblings in topics like life and death… or… something else.

 

Imaginary Friend

Most parents dismiss the ramblings of children and their imaginary friends… but sometimes you shouldn’t. Imaginary Friend is a chunky read, yet over its page count it slowly weaves a darker tale into what begins a seemly innocuous child’s life.

I’d especially recommend this to fans of Stephen King as well. I found the method and pace of storytelling quite similar.

 

The Taking of Annie Thorne

The Taking of Annie Thorne gave me chills at the end, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. The Taking of Annie Thorne is my second C.J. Tudor read. I thought The Chalk Man would be a tough act to follow, but apparently not! Both were candidates for this Top Ten Tuesday post and I would honestly recommend either.

This horror/thriller also involves children, and features the titular Annie Thorne, who goes missing for 48 hours. However, when she returns, her brother swears she isn’t the same girl who disappeared that short time ago…

This book is very cleverly written to keep readers guessing at every revelation. It’s a dark, sinister narrative… and I loved it!

 

Fantasy/Dystopian Reads

 

The Hunger Games

All my fantasy reads in this section of my Top Ten Tuesday post have dystopian themes. I confess that The Hunger Games came to mind quite quickly as I’ve watched the first two films on Sky in the last week or so. They happened to be on and I enjoy them. I now want to revisit the books though!

The oppression and stark discrimination, paired with brief glimmers of hope are integral to the setting, characters and plot of this series. That’s why I’m featuring them in this post. They are so well done that the reader cannot help but route for those oppressed to thrive!

 

Red Rising

Red Rising is actually quite similar to The Hunger Games… so if you’d like to read the premise of that book in a sci-fi setting, then Red Rising is perfect for you.

Darrow and his kin risk their lives every day to mine a precious resource that will one day help colonise the planet. However, he learns that he and his people are being lied to and kept in effective slavery to those of higher caste.

In order to exact revenge, he infiltrates his oppressors and plots to take them apart from the inside.

 

Crowfall

This final book in The Raven’s Mark series is fraught with desperation, and the setting, plot and characters all come together in a last ditch attempt to save humanity. Even the Gods are losing power to a mightier force than they. What hope does Ryhalt have of stopping the incoming tide of minions of the Deep Kings?

That’s the premise of this dystopian and war torn setting… and the atmosphere of danger and desperation is palpable throughout.

 

Historical fiction

 

As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow

In As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow, there is stark contrast between the love a woman has for her home country as it was growing up versus the war ravaged landscape she struggles to live in every day.

It’s easy to fall into a trap of indifference with foreign news, but it is books like As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow that make us open our eyes to the devastation. Salama works in a hospital, stitching up the countless innocent victims caught up in the war. She is far from safe. Hospitals are targets.

In this harrowing tale of a fight for survival, the stress of the war and the choices Salama has had to make in her duties literally haunt her.

 

Historical – Non-Fiction

 

The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in World War II to escape the anti-Semitic treatment her people are exposed to. They are ultimately discovered in their annex and their fate is sealed. However, until such time, we relive the frustrations of living in a restricted lifestyle and confined space with multiple people. The underlying fear punctuates each entry, highlighting how it became a part of Anne’s (and her family’s) everyday life.

What makes the atmosphere most stark is that the words in Anne Frank’s diary spell out this young woman’s experience of real life events.

 

Cozy Reads

 

The House in the Cerulean Sea

Finally, I’ve chosen a completely different tone to round off this Top Ten Tuesday post.

The House in the Cerulean Sea, in summary, is about a man who doesn’t really belong in his world. As a special social worker, it is his duty to ensure the safekeeping of magical children. In his line of duty, he is sent to assess the most top secret orphanage. He expects to find chaos and danger – not the meaning of family and belonging.

Those are my atmospheric reads in today’s Top Ten Tuesday post. Have you read any of the books I featured today?

 

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Monthly TBR – October 2023

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Happy Friday friends and welcome to my Monthly TBR for October! For us nine-to-fivers, it’s the end of another working week. I’m looking forward to a relatively chill weekend. Yes, I’ll have my usual housework to do, and some gardening to try and squeeze into an upcoming short dry weather spell. Otherwise, you know I’ll be curled up with a book… or playing a new seasonally apt game on my Switch called Graveyard Keeper. No… I’m not morbid at all…

But, you’re not here for that! I’m sure what you’re really interested in is to find out what I will be reading throughout the month of October, so don’t let me keep you anymore – let’s get onto that subject. 

In my monthly wrap-up for September, I discussed my intention to be a little less ambitious with my reading lists. For several months, I’ve not gotten to the end of my monthly TBR’s. There’s nothing wrong with this, but I have been setting myself a reading pace of about 100 pages a day, which is quite a lot. This month’s list has a more conservative 1,900 pages to be read in the ‘traditional’ way, compared to my previous goals of 2,500 odd a month! 

As a means of a compromise, I am going to try and utilise audiobooks a bit more to help me get through the page count. I’ve not listened to them for a little while, and they give me the opportunity to cover content during times when I can’t cosy up on the sofa and read conventionally. October’s Monthly TBR has five books and two audiobooks on it: – 

 

Fixed Reads

 

Priest of Bones

The first book of this monthly TBR is my carryover from September – Priest of Bones by Peter McLean. Having heard great things about the book, I was excited for this to come up as the poll pick on Instagram.

I am enjoying the narrative so far, although as of right now, it’s not quite living up to the hype for me. It’s decent, don’t get me wrong. Would I say I loved it though? Not yet at the least. I can see some elements coming into play, that might make the narrative more interesting… but we’ll see how this goes!

 

The Puppet Maker

The next book on my fixed reading list for October is one that I am reading to provide a review for later this month. Cue thriller season, as it’s one of several books in the genre I’ll be picking up throughout the course of the month. I’m also excited for this police procedural thriller because it representation in the form of a disabled protagonist. It’s not an narrative you see very often, and certainly not in a professional setting.

I’m excited by the mystery that the synopsis of this book presents, and I can’t wait to share my thoughts with you on the 20th of October.

 

Warrior Prince

Another book I am reviewing as part of a blog tour is Warrior Prince by J.C. Duncan.

This is one for my historical fiction fans! As a regular reader of the genre, I’m looking forward to a slightly different take on the setting of the Vikings. Instead, we are based in what is now European land rather than on English soil.

Many of the books I have read in the genre are from the perspective of Saxons. I’m looking forward to exploring this time period from a new perspective. It promises all the conflict and action that I know and love, but from a fresh viewpoint!

Stick around for my review of this book on the 26th of October.

 

Cinderella’s Crimes

A little, while ago, I decided to check out some upcoming releases on BookSirens and found Cinderella’s Crimes. My review for this book is due by the very end of the month. I don’t download from this site very much, often because I commit to blog tours instead.

I’m looking forward to making time for this book though. The main event of the book is a heist. Having enjoyed other fantasy books with a heist as the main objective of the story, I’m excited to see if the book pulls it off so well. As well, there are hints at the book including thriller elements. What better time than to read the book in the most sinister month of the year?

 

TBR Jar – The Flood

I’m looking forward to the book I picked out of my TBR jar this month as the author is a fellow Manxie!

This month’s pick is The Flood – a story of a woman who returns to her hometown to find the place flooded, and her sister’s body. The synopsis has me intrigued enough, though I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to potentially feature and support a local author. The book is also conveniently a mystery/thriller as well, making it a perfect selection for this month!

In order to help me get through this reading list, I have decided to pick up a copy of The Flood via Audible. Having sampled the narration, I like the style and I’m interested to ‘dive’ in…

Alright, I’ll see myself out…

 

Mood Reads

 

Killing for Company

Killing For Company was my runner-up in the Instagram poll I ran at the end of August. It may have come 2nd to Priest of Bones, but it brought the book into the forefront of my mind and I’ve decided to pick it up and include it in this monthly TBR.

Killing For Company is also an ideal read as I am aware that I’m behind schedule to read 15 non-fiction books by the end of the year. So far, I have completed eight books this year from the genre. Killing for Company is the first of two non-fiction books on October’s monthly TBR.

I remember awhile ago I watched a documentary about Dennis Nilsen and I was intrigued. What is it about morbid fascination with serial killers? Regardless, I am one of those people who find them interesting. With this in mind, I’m looking forward to picking up Killing For Company.

 

The Shining

it wouldn’t be October without a King novel making it to the list. I’ve been threatening to read The Shining during spooky season for a number of years now, and as of yet, I have not done it. This is the month that changes!

I’m looking forward to picking up this iconic horror novel. I intend to try and read this closer to the end of the month (hopefully for obvious reasons)…

 

Surrounded by Idiots

The second non-fiction book and second audiobook I will be listening to in October is one I’ve ironically already started – the irony being that it is the last on my list, but one of the first I’ve picked up! I recently attended a training course at work that covered different communication styles. Surrounded by Idiots is largely based around the same communication model that course was based on. I want to learn more, and so I’m picking up Surrounded by Idiots to explore how these different styles can affect people behaviour.

I’ve already listened to about 10% of the book just today, a little around lunch at work and about 40 minutes worth whilst cooking tea this evening. These are exactly the types of times I’m looking to utilise in order to make more reading progress. Depending on what I’m doing, I may or may not have capacity to multitask. However, where I can, I’m going to try and make it habit to listen to at least a little bit of an audiobook at the same time. If all goes well, this can definitely help me with some of the page count ‘burden’ I’ve experienced in the last few months.

 

Summary

So, have I stuck to my word of having a more conservative reading list in this monthly TBR? Perhaps not. I can only try to see if changing up the format I use in order to read them of my books can help me towards my reading goals. If it doesn’t work out for me, then maybe I’ll just have to admit defeat and not oversubscribe myself in future.

Have you read any of the books I feature in today’s Monthly TBR?

 

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Monthly Wrap-Up – September 2023

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Hello readers and welcome to today’s monthly wrap-up post for my September reading list. In all, I read less than I anticipated. I have an inkling as to why this is, and I will discuss that later on. I didn’t want to be too hasty in changing tack, and so there was a bit of a delay in acknowledging that something wasn’t working for me.

Regardless, I had a decent reading month when it comes to the books I picked up! I enjoyed a couple of books for blog tours that I signed up for, as well as picked up some favourite authors.

Let’s dive into my monthly wrap-up!

 

Books Read

 

The Trail

In my August monthly wrap-up post, I left off with my current read being Wizard and Glass. However, with upcoming obligations to review two books as part of blog tours, I temporarily set Wizard and Glass aside on the 3rd of September.

The first of those obligations was to read a psychological thriller called The Trail. I really enjoyed this sinister feel to this book. The setting was quite unusual and unlike anything I’ve read before. If you enjoy the small town vibe in a book, then this is definitely one for you. This works in the setting of The Trail. Each of the main characters across both timelines find themselves the outsider, and this is acutely felt throughout!

I really enjoyed the sinister feel to this book and would strongly recommend it as a spooky read if that’s a vibe you’re going for in your October reading list! Naturally, if you want my full thoughts on the book, you can check out my review here.

 

Protector of Mercia

My second blog tour obligation was to read and provide a review for Protector of Mercia by M.J. Porter. That name may be familiar to you if you are a regular reader; I have featured a review of every book in the Eagle of Mercia chronicles to date.

In case it wasn’t already apparent, I am a big fan of the series. I really enjoy the unique perspective that these books are told from. Protector of Mercia differs from the earlier books in the series in that the focus of the plotline and tension is caused by internal politics rather than an external force. The change of perspective was an interesting one to read, and added to the series as a whole. Again, if you want to check out my full thoughts on the book, here is a link to that review.

 

Wizard and Glass

With my obligations over for the month, I returned to the final few hundred pages of Wizard and Glass. This book also differs from its predecessors in that the main focus of the book is Roland’s backstory. In previous books, there have been small hints to his past. However, in this book, we discover it in vast detail. The book is about 900 pages, and I would suggest that the backstory takes up about 750-800 of those.

Although I enjoyed Wizard and glGss, it wasn’t the book I expected it to be. For that reason, I rated it four stars as opposed to five. Personally, I like backstory such of this to be included in a narrative that has the present day action going on as well. This felt a little bit like an info dump.

All I can hope for is that we’ve done the legwork now and the next book in the series, Wolves of the Calla, throws us right back into the action!

 

Twelve Years A Slave

The next book I picked up had its own challenges. I never expected Twelve Years a Slave to be an easy read, and I proved right there.

Initially, I struggled with the writing style of this book. It shouldn’t really be surprising that the grammatical style of the writing is somewhat archaic and at times, difficult to read. The book was published in 1853, so why would language be the same or similar to now?

Despite the initial setback, I persevered as I was interested enough in the story of Solomon Northop to try and push on. I’m glad I did, because I went on to adapt to this new writing style and finish the book.

Although a difficult subject matter, I was really interested in this narrative. Solomon’s experience is but one of thousands, yet it is very telling of the average experience of slaves in the period. If you are a bit sensitive to reading about mistreatment of people, death, disease and depravity, then this book is clearly not for you!

I benefited from picking up the book as my history knowledge of the time period is very minimal. It’s not something that is really covered in modern day history curriculums… or at least, it wasn’t in mine. Now I can proudly say that I am at least a little bit educated on the subject!

 

A Storm of Swords – pt 1

As much as I love this series and author, I have struggled with A Storm of Swords this month. I’ve put it down to a couple of factors. Firstly, I have already read this book. As a result, I think something has switched in my brain to say that I have absolutely no urgency to read because I’ve read this book already.

Secondly, I picked this book up towards the end of September. If you’ve been reading my Sunday Summary posts, you’ll know that I’ve been busy with some other things around this time. For example, I spent a couple of evenings last week baking for a MacMillan Coffee Morning. As well, I’ve had plans that had me out of the house during my normal ‘reading’ hours.

As a result, as of this monthly wrap-up post, I’ve read approximately 250 pages of the book. that has to be about 40 odd percent of the book, which isn’t insignificant. However, it’s not as much progress as I would like given the amount of time I took to get there!

 

Priest of Bones

Partly in the knowledge of the above, as well as a matter of convenience, I started Priest of Bones on the very last day of the month.

I wanted to pick up something new and different in an attempt to get my reading mojo back. Not only that, Priest of Bones made a great choice as I was able to download it on the Kindle app on my phone and read it whilst at my hairdressers. I only made the most cursory of starts, but it was a promising one. I like the setup of the book so far, as well as the characters. I’m optimistic it’s a switch up I need and will benefit from!

 

Summary

As usual, I set myself an optimistic reading list at the beginning of the month, and I wasn’t able to get through it! There are some good reasons here as to why, but I think I need to cut myself more slack in future and allow for taking part other things, or not being in the mood!

I say that now, but we’ll see if I can stick to that in Friday’s monthly TBR!

That’s all for me in my monthly wrap-up post for September. What have you been reading recently, and do you have any recommendations?

 

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Book Review: Empire of the Vampire – Jay Kristoff

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In today’s post, I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts on one of my favourite reads of 2022! The book easily made it into my top 2022 reads list, and I will be reading the sequel as soon as it’s out next year!

Not too long to wait now!

 

Empire of the Vampire – Jay Kristoff

Genre: Epic fantasy / Gothic fantasy

Pages: 718

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication Date: 07 Sept 2021

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Goodreads – Empire of the Vampire

From holy cup comes holy light;
The faithful hand sets world aright.
And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight,
Mere man shall end this endless night.

It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness.

Gabriel de León is a silversaint: a member of a holy brotherhood dedicated to defending realm and church from the creatures of the night. But even the Silver Order could not stem the tide once daylight failed us, and now, only Gabriel remains.

Imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy, the last silversaint is forced to tell his story. A story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the Wars of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity’s last remaining hope:

The Holy Grail.

 

My Thoughts

For the most part, I’m not really one for vampire stories. There are some exceptions to that rule, and this book and future series is now one of them. I suppose I’m a little guilty of tarring books with vampires with a negative brush – whilst I haven’t read or watched Twilight, I’ve heard enough to have made my mind up…

I decided to give this book a go against my instinct because it was written by Jay Kristoff. Since I really enjoyed his Nevernight Chronicles series in audio format, I took the plunge in getting a hardback of this book. I didn’t regret it – not even taking this chunk in my hand luggage on holiday!

 

Plot

Empire of the Vampire, structurally, it’s quite typical of popular epic fantasy novels. There is good and evil, a smattering of religion, and magic that stretches the bounds of reality as we know it. There is some small element of coming of age growth by some characters in this book too, which I enjoyed. At the same time, it doesn’t overly overtake the plot in terms of emphasis either, which makes a refreshing change.

There is plenty of action in Empire of the Vampire, given there’s an ongoing war between humanity and the undead to keep the pacing of the book… alive. See what I did there? Fantasy books are stereotypically earmarked as being full of world building and info dumping. Don’t get me wrong, some of them do. It’s rare that I’ll complain about a book being too descriptive, because I personally enjoy delving into the background and setting of a book. If anything, I’m more likely to criticise a book for being too action orientated, and there not being enough depth for me. I’m still bitter at how much I loved Red Rising by Pierce Brown, but disliked its sequel, Golden Son. It’s a prime example of this at play. However, Empire of the Vampire balanced the two nicely!

 

Characters

If you’re looking to read fantasy on the lighthearted side, then you’re looking at the wrong type of book. Empire of the Vampire is very dark and visceral. What do you expect with vampires on the scene? However, we’re not just talking about the characters. We’re talking about descriptions, events and language. If you ever read the Nevernight trilogy by Jay Kristoff then you’ve already had a flavour of what you can expect in Empire of the Vampire.

One of the tropes I enjoy in fantasy, and is something I discussed recently in my favourite fantasy tropes post, is a non-altruistic protagonist. The protagonist Gabriel is a Silversaint, born and raised to fight against the paranormal and defeat the vampires oppressing humanity. However, he is not the devout and altruistic man he was raised to be. He is a man who experiences doubts and loses his way.

He is the last Silversaint, and whilst he does try to do the right thing broadly, it’s more for his own motives rather than for humankind’s benefit. In my opinion, having a protagonist any other way wouldn’t fit with this book. As I’ve already mentioned, it is a dark and gritty novel. If we had a sweetness and light go-getter to save the world character, he would stick out like a sore thumb. He has been kicked and beaten, physically and emotionally. He’s lost friends. To an extent, he loses his own identity because of the world he lives in. Whilst he may be fighting on the side of humankind in the long run, there are plenty who consider him a monster as well.

 

Narrative Style

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book. I wanted to give it a try because I have really come to enjoy Jay Kristoff’s writing style in previous books.

The narrative style (likened to Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind) and setting of the world appealed to me. It appealed to me for all the right reasons! I love the way in which this story is told. As in the aforementioned book, the story is told almost in the style of a confessional, through the eyes of the main character retrospectively. There are lots of people out there that love the style of narrative. Others don’t so much. Personally, I want to see more of it! I’ve read some fantastic books using this narrative style. Whilst some argue that it takes some of the joy and suspense out of knowing what happens to characters, I would argue that if it’s written well, that’s not the case at all!

The atmosphere and tension in the book kept me hooked! It definitely maintained Gothic vibes throughout, and I really enjoyed this. It’s not the typical book you would take for summer holiday reading, but I’m not a typical person! It really worked for me!

 

Summary

This book has everything you would expect from an epic fantasy – complex and detailed world-building, a vast array of characters with detailed backstories and relationships, and a storyline that will inevitably span a large number of chunky books!

I can’t wait for the sequel!

 

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Sunday Summary – 7th May 2023

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Hello and it’s another happy long weekend! Even if the coronation and royalty aren’t your thing… I think we can all agree that it’s great to have another cheeky day off work. We’re back once again for my weekly Sunday Summary post, in which I take you through the books I’ve been reading and talking about!

This week’s blog schedule was a bit hectic, although a mishap last week actually helped me out in the end! With this week being the beginning of May, I naturally had to share my Monthly Wrap Up post for the month of April. I read four and a half books in the month. It may not sound like much, but the first book I read in the month was 906 pages long!

This week, I also had a blog tour obligation. I had the pleasure of kicking off the tour for Eagle of Mercia by MJ Porter. That post went live on Wednesday, 3rd May. If you’re interested in historical fiction or books about British history and the Viking’s coming to Britain, this is a book in the series. You may be interested in.

On Thursday, I shared my Monthly TBR post covering the books I plan to read in May. It looks like a very ambitious list. However, when you think about it this way, the first book was a carryover from April, which I’ve now finished. Some of the books are relatively short, and another, I am taking on in audio.

On Friday, I shared a First Lines Friday post… The one I accidentally drafted last week when I got my regular features muddled up. Thankfully, I realised before I posted it, and so I scheduled it for this week instead. As I mentioned above, that ended up working out in my favour. Including this post, I’ve posted a total of five blogs this week! Having one prepared a little earlier, did me no harm whatsoever!

 

Books Read

 

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi

My first priority of the week was to continue with The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. As of my last Sunday Summary, I was halfway through the book. 

I enjoyed the premise and the setting of this book. It is one that doesn’t get explored all that much in fantasy. Having read a couple of fantasy novels with Eastern settings, and really enjoying them, I’m definitely going to be seeking out more in future.

I do have some mixed feelings about this one. I had a vague inkling, but the storyline ended up being quite whimsical. At least, that’s how it came across to me. It was okay, but that did detract a little bit of enjoyment for me.

I wanted to read the book as a standalone before I started another series, written by the author. Having read this one, I’m not sure about the series I had in mind. I’ll probably give the first book a try. However, if it’s much like this one, I’ll probably end up there.

 

Wolf of Wessex

The next book I picked up was Wolf of Wessex by Matthew Harffy. This was the book I was supposed to pick up last month as well, but didn’t quite get around to it.

Wolf of Wessex is much like my recent read, Eagle of Mercia, in setting. I suppose the only difference is that it is set on the other side of the border! I quite liked that the book didn’t dive too heavily into historical element of the Norse coming to Britain. You could easily go into this book not really knowing much, but equally, also having an idea doesn’t really make a difference. As someone who’s read a fair bit of the genre by now, I didn’t feel overly advantaged by this pre-knowledge.

Wolf of Wessex is a fast-paced action novel. I read this book in just a handful of sittings. It ended up being a three-star rating from me because the plot and character development is quite superficial. That’s not to say it wasn’t enjoyable, but these are elements. I really enjoy in a book. They were a little bit lacking here.

 

The Waste Lands

The last physical read I started this week is Stephen King’s The Waste Lands. I made full disclosure in my May TBR post that I was going to have to go back and read up on what has happened so far in the series as a refresher. Rather spookily, I finished the prior book in the series, The Drawing of the Three, on this day in 2019! I haven’t picked up this series on for years, so it’s no wonder I couldn’t remember what was going on.

As soon as I read those summaries, I was fully back up to speed. I’ve only just started this book today, so I’m only 53 pages in as I’m writing this post. It’s a healthy start though, and it’s great to be back. It’s also been a little minute since I’ve picked up any Stephen King novel. I do like his writing style, so I’m enjoying that too.

 

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

The last book I have progress on which to report is As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh. As I mentioned in my TBR, this is the chosen book of the month for Ezeekat’s book club. It’s very different from anything I have read for a very long time. It’s also not a book I would have necessarily thought to pick up of my own volition. In that way, I’m glad it’s come up as part of the book club.

Just this week, I have started and made my way through a third of this book on audio. Through the narrative we explore Syria and its people, ravaged by those who would fight to suppress their revolution. I’ll confess that before starting this book, I didn’t really know what the conflict in Syria was about. It is something that has been happening for many years now, and in truth, we hear little of it.

If you are content with the knowledge that the war and conflict is happening, but over there, then this book is not for you. The narrative pulls no punches in highlighting the devastation inflicted on the general population. Pregnant women and children are targeted by snipers. Men who would stand up and protest anre arrested, and death would be preferable to the treatment they receive. It’s probably not a book for everyone, but I don’t shy away from difficult subjects. I for one am enjoying it so far, and I will be making further progress with this soon.

 

Books Discovered

Much as was the case in my last Sunday Summary post, no news is good news! Given that I’ve managed to take a couple of books off the list, we are now back under 200 on my reading list.

Is it bad that I’m excited about that?!

 

Coming Up…

I’ll be slowing down the pace next week when it comes to blogging by returning to my usual three post schedule.

The first of those posts is a book review for The Feedback Loop by Harmon Cooper. I read this short science-fiction/cyberpunk novel last year and enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you.

Later in the week, I will be sharing the next addition in my Well, I Didn’t Know That! series. As yet, the topic remains unchristened. I have the week off work, so I’ll take some time to read some different material and find something fun to share with you all!

And as always, I’ll be here at the same time next week for another Sunday Summary.

But now, that is all for today’s Sunday Summary. I’m going to watch an episode of The Last Kingdom on Netflix, and pick up The Waste Lands before going to bed.

 

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Monthly Wrap-Up – March 2023

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Hello my friends and welcome to my monthly wrap-up for March 2023! I hope you have had a good reading month as I have!

This month was a little bit of a bizarre experience, because it seemed to start off quite slowly. Then again, I did start with quite a large book. By the time I worked my way through that one, the pages seemed to fly! In my monthly TBR for March, I set myself my typical TBR, but also included a stretch goal. That goal was to start one further book before the end of the month. And, I achieved that goal!

Normally, I tend to read books on my fixed reading list first in the month, and then revert to my mood reads. However, it didn’t really happen this month. Instead, I’m going to share the books I read in March in chronological order.

 

Books Read

 

Africa Risen

As of my last monthly wrap-up post, I was at 68% through Africa Risen and hoping to finish this early in March. I definitely pushed my way through this one.

It was an interesting book as it is written in a format I don’t read very often – an anthology. It made a change to read a collection of shorter stories and feature new perspectives, as opposed to those traditionally seen in westernised fantasy.

However, I didn’t love this book. I definitely prefer longer and more established narratives rather than collections of short stories. I like to get stuck in with a plot and engage with it in detail rather than check in with it superficially. These types of books do have good sides though. The main advantage of this shorter format was that I got to explore multiple different characters and perspectives.

As with all books, there were some elements/stories I wasn’t fussed on at all. There was some I did like. I’ve taken away what I wanted from them, but I will probably stick to predominantly non-anthologies in future.

 

A Game of Thrones

As I’ve heard on the grapevine that we can expect the sixth book in the series out in the not too distant future, I decided to start a re-read of the series. It’s going to take me some time to get through. Even this first book is approaching 800 pages long. Some of the books are so long that they are split into two. With that in mind, I wanted to make an early start, so I wasn’t having to rush through the books in order to be able to read the sixth one when it comes out.

As expected, I really enjoyed this re-read. This is the fourth time I have picked up A Game of Thrones. It is one of those books that I can pick up again and again and I will love just as much with every re-read.

As I mentioned in my introduction above, it did seem a little bit slow going at the beginning of the month. A 780 odd page book isn’t something to be devoured in a matter of days. I spent approximately half the month getting through this book alone! That said, it was great to go back to the beginning of the series, and I’m looking forward to picking up more books throughout the year.

 

The Book Eaters

Disappointingly, The Book Eaters didn’t live up to the expectation that the title led me to anticipate. Obviously, there is an element of book eating in the storyline. However, it wasn’t unique or pivotal enough for me to think it mattered. Ultimately, the main characters could have been substituted for any other minority group, and it would be the same.

The Book Eaters was a strange read in that I didn’t really enjoy it overall, there was enough intrigue in the plot to make me want to finish it. This book is also relatively short read at under 300 pages. By the time I made my mind up, I was a third of the way in. I decided to just crack on with it and give it a chance to redeem itself.

Sadly, I did end up disappointed with this book, and it achieved a rare rating from me – just two stars.

 

Feet of Clay

Looking for a bit of a pick me up, I then decided to read a firm favourite author – Terry Pratchett.

I’m a little bit embarrassed to admit how long it has been since I last picked up a Discworld novel. I like these books because they have a wide, overarching setting but with different sets of characters.

If I’m entirely honest, Feet of Clay wasn’t quite the pick me up I was hoping. It was still a decent read. However, the humour didn’t quite work for me in this particular book. I enjoy the city watch series in general, so I’ll still read the future books. But, it wasn’t my favourite either. Feet of Clay has some interesting messages and themes in the story, which I did appreciate. 

 

Soul Identity

Next, I picked up Soul Identity by Dennis Batchelder. This is a completely different genre and setting to the books I picked up so far in my March TBR. The best way I can describe Soul Identity is a scientific take on concepts like reincarnation.

Naturally, there is an element of religion and belief that comes into this narrative. I quite enjoyed how these concepts were explored both separately and together.

I didn’t overly love the main character, Scott, and I wasn’t a fan of the budding relationship between him and computer geek, Val. The author also has a terrible habit of describing female characters physically before going onto any other redeeming attributes. Although well noted for her intelligence, even Val falls victim to becoming most significant in the narrative because she’s pretty.

The relationship that forms between them didn’t really add much to the story, which I was hoping it would. It’s almost like it was added in there to give the narrative a bit more mainstream appeal and to make the subject matter a little bit more readable. I didn’t really do that for me, but that’s certainly the impression I get.

It was still a decent read, and I wouldn’t let it put me off picking up other books in the series.

 

Death of Kings

Death of Kings is where I really started to see some improvement in my reading experience! Death of Kings is the sixth book in the Saxon stories series, better known as The Last Kingdom.

I really enjoy the perspective we get in the use of books. Our protagonist Uhtred was born as a Saxon, but his settlement was raided and he was raised by Danes from a very young age. As a result, he has this ongoing conflict between these two factions and ways of life. He is a fierce warrior and ally to the king of Wessex, King Alfred. However, he also has ties to the Danes and in particular, their values in life and take on religion.

In this book, Uhtred stirs up a fair bit of trouble. I enjoy reading this mischievous side of him, and how he interject himself between these two rival sides. It undoubtedly gives him an edge, but also we experience the ups and downs of the conflict and his internal conflict throughout.

It is also been a little while since I last picked up a book from the series. I’m glad to say that I’m now back into it, and in line with my goal of reading more sequels this year, I’m hoping to continue with this one.

 

The Mad Ship

My stretch goal for March, after reading the books above, was to make a start on The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb.

I knew that I wasn’t going to get through this book in the slightest. On its own, this book is just over 900 pages long! My aim was to just get myself introduced to the characters and pick up from where we left off in the previous book. If I would put a figure on it, I was hoping to maybe get through the first 50-100 pages.

By the end of the month, I just exceed that goal in reading 120 pages. Even though I’ve already read that much, there are still characters we are getting reacquainted with. There are a lot of contributors in this narrative, and as each chapter is a reasonable length, I daresay I’ll be spending the first 200 odd pages picking back up where we left off!

Given that I read the first book fairly recently, there’s been less of an adjustment period compared to picking up the first book. That narrative was quite different from the first trilogy I read, so took some getting into. However, I’ve already read that book and invested in the storyline and characters. Starting this book was a breeze!

 

In all, I read close to 3000 pages in March… which is the most this year so far! If you’re till with me, thanks for taking the time to read this monthly wrap-up post. 

Have you read any of the books I’ve featured today? Are they on your reading list?

 

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Sunday Summary – 26th March 2023

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Evening all and welcome to another weekly catch up in today’s Sunday Summary post! I hope you’ve had a good week?

This week, I decided to stick with posting just three blog posts instead of four. I have to say, it’s really agreeing with me! Keeping up with a four post per week schedule is quite tricky. I have been doing it for a little while now, but I have appreciated cutting that back down to three in the last couple of weeks. If I’m honest, I think that change is here to stay.

So, what have I been sharing this week? My first blog post of the week was a discussion post on how I decide what books to unhaul when clearing down my shelves. In that post, I also talk about the types of books that I tend to buy in physical copy, as well as the decision-making process behind making space for more. As always, you can find a link to that post above.

My second blog post of the week was shared on Friday. I recently took the decision to move my Well, I Didn’t Know That! series to a Friday and rotate it with my other regular Friday features. This was the way I figured would be easiest to go back down into a three posts a week schedule. It also makes it a little bit easier for me to read up on content for each of these posts. The point of the series is to feature media other than books. I’m obviously reading a lot already, so this is extra work!

For this week’s post, I found an interesting article in the BBC History magazine about the role of debtor’s prisons in 18th and 19th century Britain. If you think we have money worries now, check out that post and things may seem a little easier!

 

Books Read

I didn’t get off to the best of starts this week. However, that wasn’t really unexpected.

 

The Book Eaters

I left off from last week’s Sunday Summary update with just 70 pages left of The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean. If I’m being frank, I wasn’t overly enjoying the book, but there was enough intrigue in the plot to keep me going to the conclusion. It was also a relatively short book, which made it easier for me to just suck it up and get on with it.

I finished it. As expected, I didn’t really enjoy it. Don’t get me wrong, the book has interesting elements in it, like the oppression of women and the lengths they will go to to protect their children. However, the way the book is sold doesn’t necessarily reflect the story you get. If I’m honest, I don’t think the character development has much bearing on the story. It is sold as a book about Book Eaters, devourers of stories. But, that didn’t really have any major significance to the story line. It could have been substituted with ‘any other minority group isolated from society’ and a ‘different child’ within that community, and it would’ve been the same book.

It is a little disappointing, but these things happen. In the end, the book did achieve a rare, two star rating from me. Looking back at my history, there are very few books that I actually gave a two star rating to. The only reason it got higher than a one star rating is because there was enough in the plotline to compel me to continue with it and figure out what the heck was going on. In any other circumstance, I’d have DNF’d it. 

 

Feet of Clay

After my experience of The Book Eaters, I wanted to try and go for a book that would completely turn around my experience. With that in mind, I decided to fall back on an old favourite of mine – Terry Pratchett and his next instalment of the Discworld series, Feet of Clay.

Whilst perfectly readable, I don’t think this is one of the better works of the series I’ve read. I quite like the city watch series in general, but this book was pretty average. It was interesting enough to read, and I did quite quickly. But, this book only got a marginally better rating of three stars.

It was nice to go back to an already familiar world and setting. It has been a bit too long since I last picked up the series. I enjoyed going back to it and getting myself back into the humour and writing style that I’ve come to enjoy over the series so far. Now that I’m back into it, I definitely need to make sure I continue with it!

 

Soul Identity

Next, I started another relatively short read – Soul Identity by Dennis Batchelder. My experience of this book is proving better than the last two.

I like the concept and premise behind the book. In essence, Soul Identity combines science and, to a degree, spirituality, to explore the concept of the soul and reincarnation. It’s not quite the way I expected the story was going to go, but in my opinion, it’s better. I like the scientific angle of the book, and that it has a little less emphasis on religion than I was expecting.

The way the narrative is written, we get to explore this wider concept in the midst of a mystery that our protagonist, as a skeptic, is trying to solve.

As with the previously discussed books, there are little things that I don’t necessarily feel are required in the storyline. Unless it becomes relevant later, I am not really a fan of the Scott/Val relationship dynamic. I’m also not really keen on the authors introduction of female characters to be based on their description, with other attributes and personality coming later. But, it’s not enough to put me off reading further.

As of this Sunday Summary update, I am 71% through the book. My kindle suggests that I have just over an hour of reading time left. My plan is to try and squeeze a much is that in tonight before I go to bed.

 

Books Discovered

I’ve finally broken the record run I’ve had of reporting no new books to the reading list in my Sunday Summary posts, all thanks to my decision to finally spend birthday book vouchers. And of course, you know I’m going to do it in style. I treated myself to four new books on Friday. They are written in mixed media just like Illuminae, so definitely best experienced in print. 

The first two are additional books in a series I started fairly recently (Gemina and Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff – the second and third book in The Illuminae Files).

I also treated myself to two stand-alone books that I wanted to pick up (The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and Elektra by Jennifer Saint). The former was on my radar and the latter already on my TBR. They also happened to be buy one get one half price. Shame, right?

 

Coming Up…

Once again, I’m continuing with a three post schedule. It’s definitely a lot easier for me to fit my reading in and enjoy free time for other hobbies. As much as I enjoy my reading and blog, if I overcommit myself, it can become like a second job!

It has been a few weeks since I last shared a book review with you guys. Given that I have reviewed almost all of the Harry Potter series now, I think it makes sense to conclude that set of reviews. So, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows next week. If you want to find out what my thoughts are on re-reading this book as an adult, check out that post.

On Friday, I’m back with a Shelf Control post. In this Friday feature, I review books on my TBR and talk about why I’m excited to pick them up. This week’s feature is another classic novel written by a Russian novelist, of which I have a copy ready to pick up!

As always, my last post of the week will be my Sunday Summary update.

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary. I made a lot of reading progress this week, and I’m off to make more before turning in!

What are you reading?

 

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