Tag: M.J. Porter

Monthly TBR – April 2023

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It’s the Easter weekend and I’m excited to share my monthly TBR post for April 2023!

March was a bit of an unusual one in that I read lots, and had a very successful month that way. The reads I picked up weren’t as highly rated as those I picked up earlier in the year. However, I’m really happy with the overall experience.

This month, I’m aiming for a repeat of that… albeit if I rate these books higher than those I did in March, that’s a bonus. I have a very different selection of books to pick up, but I’m looking forward to them all!

Enough waffle – let’s dive into this monthly TBR!

 

Fixed Reads

 

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi

I am back to taking part in the online book club run by Ezeekat. This month’s featured book is a relatively new publication – The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi. I really like the sound of this new fantasy novel. It sounds like a little bit of an epic fantasy in setting, but with strong piracy themes. It’s a little bit different to the sort of fantasy book. I will pick up under normal circumstances, and that’s why I would like to give it a try!

 

Thanks for Sharing

As of writing this post, I’ve already read and reviewed Thanks for Sharing for a blog tour.

I wanted to pick up the book as a means of getting some inspiration for ways we can live a more sustainable lifestyle. It was an interesting read all about the various ways we can adopt a sharing economy for goods that are infrequently used, or by goods with expiry dates coming up.

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

 

Eagle of Mercia

Another book I’m reading for an upcoming blog tour is Eagle of Mercia by M.J. Porter.

So far, I’ve already read the first three books in this series, Son of Merica, Wolf of Mercia and Warrior of Mercia. I’ve really enjoyed reading and reviewing the series so far, and I’m looking forward to continuing the series.

I’ll be sharing my review for the upcoming blog tour on 3rd May, so I’ll be reading this in April ahead of that date.

 

Wolf of Wessex

Once a month I pull a book out of my TBR Jar (aka an owl mug sat on my bookshelves). This month, I pulled Wolf of Wessex by Matthew Harffy.

It’s pure coincidence that I’ve ended up with two historical fiction novels in a similar time period on my TBR this month. Based on the synopsis, the setting of Wolf of Wessex is slightly different. The narrative doesn’t deliberately allude to conflict between Saxons, but that may well presented self in the narrative. The book is very highly rated, and as this is a period of history that I clearly enjoy as I read it a lot, I’m looking forward to seeing how the narrative unfolds and whether I wish to pick up more books by this author.

 

Mood Reads

 

The Mad Ship

A bit like last month, I’m not really reading my books in the typical order. In previous months, I have prioritised my fixed reading list, and then move onto my mood reads later.

This month, I started the month with 120 pages of progress into The Mad Ship. Starting this book was my stretch goal outlined in March’s monthly TBR post. I then had to put this down temporarily in order to prioritise Thanks For Sharing for the blog tour. Now that obligation is complete, I am back with continuing with The Mad Ship.

Hardly unexpected, but I’m really enjoying this book so far. The first book does a lot of the ground work in the setting of this new trilogy. Now that is all set out, we can dive into the narrative and further the storylines quite quickly. I am already a third of the way through the book and enjoying it completely.

 

Stolen Focus

I wanted to read another non-fiction book this month. Looking through my TBR, I decided to get my hands on a copy of Stolen Focus by Johann Hari.

Some days, I am really good at setting myself goals and achieving what I set out to do. Other days, I can be really distracted. I am the type of person who will do multiple things at once in the name of multitasking, but really, am I achieving much? No, most often.

One of the things I’m working on is trying to pinpoint where the distractions come from so then I can limit them. I’m hoping this book can help with some insight as to why this happens, what circumstances may cause this in order to work on it.

 

Stretch Goal

 

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

As I did last month, I am setting myself a stretch goal of starting The Hunchback of Notre Dame before the end of the month.The average page count per day required this month is slightly higher. As of writing this post, I’m also slightly behind on my daily target. With that in mind, I might not get there. But, it is a goal to aim towards.

Another reason for doing this is that splitting down larger books intentionally over a couple of months makes them a little bit more manageable. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is quite a hefty book. Don’t get me wrong, I can read chunky books over the course of a month. I did it last month, and I’ll be doing it this month as well. However, with this being a classic as opposed to a book from my favourite genre, I will find this more approachable to read if I’m splitting over the two months.

Even if I can just start the book, I’ll be happy bunny!

 

Those are the books on my monthly TBR for April. 

Are you reading anything over the Easter weekend?

 

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Sunday Summary – 13th November 2022

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Good evening and welcome to another Sunday Summary update! This week I’ve been busy reading and preparing for yet another blog tour, at the same time as having a busy working week. I’ve also been fitting in more TV time than usual as I’m currently watching I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! I don’t normally tend to watch much television during the week, so I’ve had to make a conscious effort to fit this in. I didn’t watch the last two series set in the UK; I’m glad to see it finally back in Australia.

Aside from all that, I have shared my typical two blog posts with you this week.

On Tuesday, I decided to take part in the Top Ten Tuesday post of the week. For that post, we had the decision to feature our top ten books as part of a series we would like to begin, continue with, or finish. Given that I need absolutely no help in starting new series, I put the emphasis on those I would like to finish. The thought process here was that it will inspire me to pick up those that I am close to the end of. Therefore it would result in a reduction of my ‘ongoing list’. I feature some fantastic series in this post and already have some I’d like to read soon!

Later in the week, I shared my Shelf Control regular feature post. This month I seem to be featuring a lot of historical fiction novels, and this post is no exception. I will admit I made a bit of a gaff when I bought this book. I didn’t realise it was part of a series! That said, I’m still going to read the book anyway and I will base my decision of going backward based on whether I enjoy the last book or not! If you want to find out which book I’m talking about, you can find a link to that post above.

 

Books Read

In last week’s Sunday Summary post, I was up to page 154 of Babel by R.F. Kuang. I had to set the book aside the week prior in order to read another book ahead of a blog tour post. This week, I had a small window in which to make a little more progress, before I had to put this down once again for another commitment. On Sunday night I read another chapter of Babel, taking me up to chapter 10, 172 pages in.

My next commitment was reading Warrior of Mercia by M.J. Porter. If that name rings any bells with you, it may be because I read the first two books in her Eagle of Mercia series earlier this year. When I saw the advertisement for this tour, I knew I wanted to continue with the series and the unique perspective we get in these books.

And this book didn’t disappoint. The main character is unique in that he does not relish his role as a warrior. If given the choice, he is a man who chooses to heal rather than hurt. However, the progression we have seen in his books relates to his acknowledging that he has a part to play in both roles.

I’ve been reading Warrior of Mercia for most of this week, finishing the book last night. I enjoyed this every bit as much as I expected, and I can’t wait to share my imminent review with you!

I was hoping to have gone back to Babel again before the end of the week, however that hasn’t panned out. Now I have no more interruptions, so this will be my main read for next week. I’m keen to move on as I’m looking forward to picking up another book on my November TBR. I saw a TikTok video/review of this particular book yesterday. It suggests that Malice by John Gwynne is very like A Game of Thrones. It is also been on my reading list for a very long time, so I want to jump in and make a start. Rather than allowing myself to “pick up the two at once”, (I will not read both at the same time) I’m going to make myself finish Babel first.

What also hasn’t worked out this week is listening to more of Queen of Our Times by Robert Hardman. I’ve had the opportunity, I just haven’t taken it up. I need to make more of an effort to make this a habit, and that is my aim for next week.

 

Books Discovered

Would you believe I walked into a bookshop today and didn’t purchase anything for myself? I wish to be showered in praise for the mighty accomplishment of discipline. It’s not something I normally have.

Mostly when it comes to food, but also books!

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post next week is my blog tour review of Warrior of Mercia by M.J. Porter. Typically I will try and prepare my blog posts a week in advance. But for obvious reasons, I haven’t been able to do so completely. As my tour post goes live on Tuesday, I’ll be finishing this off on Monday night and getting this ready to go live!

Later in the week, I will be sharing another regular feature. This time, it is the turn of my First Lines Friday post. I have tried something different in terms of book selection this week, and I hope it pays off!

Lastly, I’ll be back again this time next week with another Sunday Summary update for you. As usual, I’ll be talking about the books I’ve read and any added to my reading list (although hopefully none). Lastly, I’ll share details of what posts you can expect on the blog next week.

Until next time, have a fabulous week ahead!

 

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