Tag: mystery

Blog Tour Review and GIVEAWAY: Twelve Nights – Penny Ingham

Hello everybody and welcome to today’s blog tour review of Twelve Nights by Penny Ingham. As a fan of historical fiction, I was keen to dive into this particular book! I was intrigued by the mystery alluded to in the synopsis, but I also was interested in its literary ties as it features William Shakespeare and the theatre in general. I loved performing arts in school, so the culmination of all these elements excited me!

not only am I sharing my review with you today, but for UK-based readers, there is a link below to a giveaway in which you could win a paperback copy of the book for yourself! Read on to find out more!

As always, before I jump into sharing my thoughts on the book, I like to say a massive thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources, and the author Penny for providing me with a review copy. All of the opinions stated in this post are honest and my own!

 

Twelve Nights

Genre: historical-fiction

Pages: 380

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Nerthus

Publication Date: 1 Jun 2022

Rating: ***

 

The Theatre – London, 1592

When a player is murdered, suspicion falls on the wardrobe mistress, Magdalen Bisset, because everyone knows poison is a woman’s weapon. The scandal-pamphlets vilify her. The coroner is convinced of her guilt.

Magdalen is innocent, although few are willing to help her prove it. Her much-loved grandmother is too old and sick. Will Shakespeare is benignly detached, and her friend Christopher Marlowe is wholly unreliable. Only one man offers his assistance, but dare she trust him when nothing about him rings true?

With just two weeks until the inquest, Magdalen ignores anonymous threats to ‘leave it be’, and delves into the dangerous underworld of a city seething with religious and racial tension. As time runs out, she must risk everything in her search for the true killer – for all other roads lead to the gallows.

Purchase Links: –   Amazon UK     Amazon US

 

My Thoughts…

Twelve Nights brings together a lot of elements I enjoy; a mystery, an influence of literature, and the theatre. Whilst I confess that I have never had much love or understanding of William Shakespeare’s literary works (sorry, the language is just gibberish to me), I am interested in his history. I have studied a few bits and pieces in school, but I have only had a very perfunctory education about him.

From the author’s note at the end of the book, this may be in part because very little is known of him. This book gave a nice introduction to who he was as a person, professionally and personally, in an interesting fictional story. The book also touches on other interesting elements of the history of the period. Religion plays a significant role in the society protagonist Magdalen lives in, and this shines through throughout the book. I don’t have much prior knowledge of religious history, and the religious views that were prominent in the period. However, this wasn’t necessary. It was incorporated into the narrative and explained within the story. It made an interesting backdrop to an already intriguing storyline.

The setting of this book is also interesting from the perspective of Magdalen and her position in society. Frankly, women in this period are treated horribly. You are the property of your father until you are married and you are expected to have children. That is it. Even attempting to have a life of your own or support yourself earns you disapproval from men and constant accusations of lewd behaviour.

I knew this was something that I would have strong feelings about… but it was something I wanted to have strong feelings about if you know what I mean? I wanted to rage at the treatment of this poor woman, and many other women in this story, and I did. Twelve Nights has been a great eye-opener into how much times have (thankfully) changed. This story is also a gateway to understanding what it is like to be a woman in the 16th century. It is one thing to know, but quite another to experience the vitriol and harassment unjustly through the eyes of our protagonist.

I enjoyed Magdalen as a character. She is brave and perhaps a little foolhardy, but she stands up to prejudice and discrimination where she sees it and takes a stand when it counts – for herself. She has grown up a very independent woman, and she is a rarity in this society. I constantly admired her for her ability to fight against society’s expectations of her.

I enjoyed the characterisation of more than just the protagonist in this book. In particular, I think the author did very well to portray the struggles of caring for somebody with Alzheimer’s and dementia. There are a couple of characters in this book that deals with these conditions, and the representation that they are given in the book is fantastic. Having had a family member suffer from the condition, I think the portrayal was very well done.

I enjoyed the mystery that plays out across the pages of Twelve Nights. We are taken through a variety of twists and turns as Magdalen tries to get to the bottom of a murder she is accused of, but did not commit, all before her ‘inquest’ and inevitable conviction for the crime. The mystery took a turn I was not expecting, and I enjoyed this element of surprise at the 11th hour!

One small thing to add, but I recommend reading the author’s note at the end. Within that note, we learned that a lot of the characters in this book are based on real people, which I found interesting. It proves that the author really knows her stuff on the subject and has researched it thoroughly before incorporating the story into a fun fictional narrative.

 

Author Bio

I was born and raised in Yorkshire where my father inspired my love of history from an early age. He is a born story teller and would take us to the top of Iron Age hillforts, often as dusk was falling, and regale us with stirring tales of battles lost and won. Not surprisingly, I went on to study Classics at university, and still love spending my summers on archaeological digs. For me, there is nothing more thrilling than finding an artefact that has not seen the light of day for thousands of years. I find so much inspiration for my novels from archaeology.

I have had a variety of jobs over the years, including working for the British Forces newspaper in Germany, and at the BBC. When our family was little, the only available space for me to write was a small walk-in wardrobe. The children used to say, ‘oh, mum’s in the cupboard again’.

I have written four historical novels: The King’s Daughter explores the story of Aethelflaed, the Lady of the Mercians. The Saxon Wolves and the Saxon Plague are both set in fifth century AD, a time of enormous upheaval and uncertainty in Britain as the Romans departed and the Saxon era began. My latest is something a bit different. Twelve Nights is a crime thriller set in sixteenth century London, and features William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe.

I now live with my husband in the Hampshire countryside. Like many others during the pandemic, we decided to try growing our own fruit and vegetables – with mixed results! We can only get better!

 

Social Media Links –

Facebook: Penny Ingham Author Page | Facebook

Instagram: Penny Ingham (@penny.ingham)

Twitter: Penny Ingham (@pennyingham) / Twitter

Website: Penny Ingham (wordpress.com)

 

Giveaway to Win a PB copy of Twelve Nights (Open to UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions -Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/ or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494511/?

Sunday Summary – 10th July 2022

Hello everyone and welcome to today’s Sunday Summary post. We are at the end of what has been a manic week for me!

There have been a number of lengthy blog posts out this week – one more than expected too! Not only that, but I’ve also been reading ahead of a blog tour that I’m taking part in tomorrow. Finally, I’ve been getting ready for a very important personal event – one of my best friends got married yesterday! Honestly, it has been a lot to juggle but somehow I have managed it without pulling my hair out!

I started the week very early with publishing my Monthly Wrap-Up for June. That post ended up being quite long as I read and listened to a number of books last month! Honestly, by every right, June should’ve been one of my worst reading months. But, it didn’t pan out that way at all. In contrast, I think it was my best! If you want to check out what I’ve been reading, then you can find out which books I picked up in June in that post.

I had originally planned to incorporate a Mid-Year Review into that post. Unfortunately, I didn’t get around to completing my review last week. My compromise was to chuck it on the end of my end-of-June wrap-up. However, as that post was long enough in its own right, I couldn’t make it any longer. So, I made the decision to split it out; it ended up being a lengthy post in its own right too! In that post, I reviewed my progress against my new year goals and resolutions set in January. I even set myself one more goal… 

Then, I finally got around to sharing my July TBR yesterday. I had scheduled this post just ahead of the wedding. It is probably the latest I have ever shared a monthly TBR, but at least it’s out there and you know what I’m reading in the next few weeks.

 

Books Read

In last week’s Sunday Summary post, I was between books. I had just finished reading Skyward by Brandon Sanderson, the last book on my June TBR. 

This week has been taken up with reading Twelve Nights by Penny Ingham ahead of tomorrow’s blog tour post. As I’ve alluded to above, there have been a lot of other things going on. As a result, this is the only book I managed to pick up this week. At 380 pages, I’ve still made good reading progress! Bearing in mind I’ve also drafted three blog posts, finished making my friend a present for her wedding, and all the other necessary tasks to get ready, this is a lot!

I enjoyed this book! It combines a number of elements I really enjoy; it has a mystery, is set in historic England and the narrative is heavily influenced by William Shakespeare and the theatre. These are all things I am interested in, and this all put together into one narrative was an entertaining read.

If you want to find out my full thoughts on the book, check out my blog tour post going live at 9am UK time tomorrow.

 

Books Discovered

I came very close to adding a couple of books to my reading list this week. However, I decided to be good and not keep adding to the ever-growing reading list. For a change.

I’ve added quite a lot recently and having deliberately gone back to look at those books again, I’m happy that I made the right decision. They would have been impulse additions, and probably something I would take off the list at a later date anyway.

 

Coming Up…

I am a very happy bunny because I already have my first blog post of next week drafted and scheduled ready to go. It’s made for a very busy evening tonight, but my blog tour post for Twelve Nights is ready to go. If you like the sound of the book based on my brief description above, you can find out a lot more detail in this review post. There will also be chance to win yourself your own paperback copy of the book if you’re based in the UK.

Since things are calming down a little bit, I am going to go back to my Friday features and sharig a Shelf Control post on Friday. It has been a few weeks since I have shared one of these and I’m looking forward to getting back into it. They give me the opportunity to make sure that the books on my reading list are still relevant!

This gives me a little bit of a break in the week, which I will partly enjoy. I may also end up using the time towards one of my New Year’s goals that I haven’t been doing so well in lately. If you’ve read that post, you know exactly which one I mean!

That’s a wrap for today’s Sunday Summary post. This is my second post of the evening and I’m ready to wind down with a cup of tea and a book before bed.

What are you reading?

 

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Monthly TBR – July 2022

Hello and welcome to my July Monthly TBR! Apologies that we have gotten to the 9th of the month and I’m only just posting my list now. I’ve been a bit delayed with getting posts out there, but this is something I’m looking to rectify very soon! My schedule has been hectic and just hasn’t quite gone to plan, as there have been a few bits on in my personal life lately. I’ve had my exam, and more recently I’ve been getting ready for a very special event; one of my best friends gets married today!

One of the reasons I have been listening to a lot of audiobooks lately, and the reason why a lot of my time has been taken up aside from exams, is because I have made my friend a present for her wedding. I’m not going to share a picture just yet; and I’m only willing to say this in today’s post because I think she’ll be too busy to read it (she does follow my blog, I think). It’s something that has taken up a good deal of my time, and I only finished it at about 10pm last night. I can only hope it’s been worth every moment!

So, apologies for the delay and excuses – now, let’s jump into what you’re really here for… my monthly TBR!

In line with last month, I am deliberately setting myself a shorter fixed reading list. I really benefited from the flexibility last month and my reading motivation was through the roof! I’m optimistic that I will be able to carry this forward into July!

 

Fixed Reads

Twelve Nights

Genre: Historical fiction, mystery

Pages: 380

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Nerthus

Publication Date: 1 Jun 2022

 

 

This month I have one blog tour that I am sharing a review for, and so naturally, this is the first book on my list! Twelve Nights is a historical mystery focused on a theatre group. When one of the players died as a result of poisoning, Magdalen, the wardrobe mistress, is automatically accused. Poison is a woman’s weapon, after all.

As I’m writing this post, I am over halfway through the book and on track to provide my review next week. I could tell from the synopsis that this book was going to trigger the feelings that I have. There is a lot of feminist rage going on over here right now because this poor woman is victimised purely for being a woman, by men who behave far worse. I’m looking forward to finishing the book to see how everything resolves itself.

 

The Man Who Died Twice

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 422

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Penguin

Publication Date: 16 Sep 2021

 

 

I’m adding this book to my fixed list as well, as I have been loaned a copy by my sister’s boyfriend Chris. They are coming to the island for a visit later this month, so for practical reasons, it’ll be great to get this one read and I can return the book to Chris whilst he is here.

I recently read and enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club. I’m looking forward to rejoining these characters and seeing them get involved in yet more shenanigans, despite their age and better judgment. I don’t know much about the synopsis of this book. I added it to my list purely because I enjoyed the first book so much!

 

Mood Reads

Invisible Women

Genre: Non-fiction, feminism

Pages: 411

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Abrams Press

Publication Date: 12 Mar 2019

 

 

In line with my new goal of picking up at least one non-fiction book a month, I have added Invisible Women to my mood-read list. I’ve been looking at this one on my bookshelf for the last couple of weeks, and I’ve been really tempted to pick it up.

I think this will sit well with my current read, Twelve Nights. Whilst the world has moved on significantly since 1592, there are a lot of things to be desired about the way women are treated, and the ways (subtle or otherwise) in which women are living in a world ruled by men.

 

Royal Assassin

Genre: Epic fantasy

Pages: 648

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Publication Date: 1 Mar 1996

 

 

I really enjoyed reading Assassin’s Apprentice in June. I have been re-reading a lot of much-loved books and series this year that I initially read a long time ago. It is refreshing to pick up something completely new, and I can honestly say that I believe that this author and series will become one that I come back to in future.

Having finally taken the plunge to read the first book, I can see why it came highly recommended by friends and the bookish community in general! I loved the events of the first book and I can’t wait to see how it continues to develop.

 

The First Binding

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Pages: 832

Audience: Adult

Publisher: Gollancz 

Publication Date: 18 Aug 2022

 

 

This last book is an absolute chunk, and I am taking part in a blog tour for this book next month! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have been selected for the tour being organised by the publisher, because I have had my eye on this book since January.

I’m still awaiting my review copy, but I can’t wait to pick up this huge epic fantasy. As you can tell by my enjoyment and continuation of Robin Hobb, epic fantasy is a genre that really works for me and I’m always really interested in picking up. I always enjoy picking up books by new authors too, so this ticks a lot of boxes for me. Hopefully, I’m not waiting too much longer on my copy, because I would like to make a good start on this as soon as I possibly can.

 

With the way things have been at the moment, I am only on the first book of my monthly TBR still. However, most of my commitments are now dealt with and so I will have a lot more free time to get into books from next week.

I am optimistic for another brilliant reading month. I’m really happy with the progress I made in June, and I hope to replicate it now that my time has freed up and I’m excited to pick up all the books!

Do you have any reading plans this month? What are you reading at the moment?

 

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Sunday Summary – 3rd July 2022

Good evening everyone – it is the end of yet another week and so it’s time for my Sunday Summary update! This week’s blogging schedule didn’t quite go to plan, for reasons I’ll explain below. However, all-in-all, it has been a very good week and I have some good personal news to share!

I sat an exam for a professional qualification on Wednesday this week, which I’m pleased to say I passed! Naturally, this meant that last-minute revision was my focus for the first couple of days of the week. Consequently, that means I haven’t gotten as much reading done as I normally do, but also, it threw off my blogging schedule a little.

I originally planned to share a book review at the beginning of the week, and a mid-year review later on in the week. In the end, my book review for Dune by Frank Herbert went out on Thursday, later than scheduled. This is purely because I ended up putting in some more revision time last minute, and then after I had sat the exam I wanted to give myself a bit of a well-earned break. As a result, my mid-year review has not been shared, but you can expect this very, very soon.

 

Books Read

For reasons explained above, I haven’t read as much as I would in a typical week. I am pleased to report though that I finished reading Skyward by Brandon Sanderson last night.

I really liked this book as it is very different from the other books I have read by this author. A lot of his other works have a lot of magic/fantastical elements interwoven into them. But where Skyward differs is that it leans very hard into the science-fiction genre rather than fantasy. That made it a completely different experience for me. You could also tell through the writing style that it is targeting a young adult audience, rather than an adult one. However, I really enjoyed this. I feel like a lot of young teenagers could really get on Spensa’s angsty teenager wavelength and relate to her as our protagonist.

Yet another five-star rating for a Brandon Sanderson novel!

I’ve also made some further progress with listening to Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. Most of my progress in this audiobook was made on Thursday and Friday this week. I have been doing some other bits and pieces after my exam and listening to this audiobook fit in nicely with that. I am now approximately halfway through this audiobook. It’s not a long one, so progress is going to be quite quick. I may not get it all listened to in the next week, but perhaps the following one.

The feelings I shared about this audiobook have not changed since last week. The casting of characters for this one just doesn’t see it with me, and Lyra’s voice actor is very frustrating to listen to. I’ve also seen a review of this audiobook in which somebody else says the exact same thing, so I’m not the only one!

 

Books Discovered

I’ve added one book to my reading list this week, having heard about it from Kaytee on the Currently Reading podcast. She has read this book recently, and her set-up of what the book was about really appealed to me! The book is set in Thailand and aimed at a middle-grade audience, but it has elements of magical realism (which appeals to my fantasy-loving self) and is loosely based on the story of Les Miserables. I thought that was a really unique combination, and the plot itself has drawn me in. I can’t wait to pick this one up for myself, as it’s very different from some of the other books I would usually read!

 

Coming Up…

Early this week I will be sharing my mid-year review post as originally planned last week. However, due to timing constraints, I’ve decided to combine this with my typical month-end wrap-up as well! The format will be much like my end-of-April review, in which I did my usual wrap-up and then inserted a commentary about my progress with my Goodreads challenge etc.

With it being the beginning of a new month I also have a Reading List to share with you. Now that my exam is over I am keen to dive into more books; I have quite a varied list to share with you this month, and I can’t wait for you to see it!

Next Sunday I will be back with my usual Sunday Summary wrap-up, talking about the books I’ve been reading/listening to and all my bookish updates.

For now, though, that’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary. Have you been reading anything interesting lately?

 

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Sunday Summary – 26th June 2022

Hello and welcome to this week’s Sunday Summary post. I’m looking forward to sharing all my bookish updates with you from this week! I hope you have had a good one as well?

My first blog post of the week was a Top Ten Tuesday post. In that post, I talked about my top ten bookish wishes, or books that I have my eye on acquiring next. I really enjoyed writing about the books I have in mind, and also to set down how I want to acquire a copy of each book as well. It stops me buying them willy-nilly and in the wrong format.

Later in the week I shared a First Lines Friday post. I didn’t set myself a challenge for this week’s feature, but I enjoyed that. I had free rein to choose whatever I liked, and this week’s feature is one that also happened to feature in my top ten bookish wishes post. I’m also very particular on getting a physical copy of this book, as it’s not written in prose. It’s a compilation of various different types of documents, so there’s a lot more visuality to it. Can you guess the book from the opening lines?

 

Books Read

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update I had just started Skyward by Brandon Sanderson. I was a humble 36 pages in and already hooked by protagonist Spensa‘s history and upcoming struggles.

My reading progress has slowed down a little bit this week, but I expected that. I have an exam coming up next week and I’ve been prioritising my revision for that. Even so, I’ve still managed to read a respectable 280 pages. That’s over half of the book, so I’m really happy with my progress. I’m hoping that I’ll still manage to get this finished before the end of the month, meaning that I will finish my first monthly TBR this year. We’ll see if that pans out though – I won’t be mad if I don’t quite get there. 

I have also made very good progress with audiobooks this week. I’ve talked about my hit and miss relationship with audiobooks, but I’m definitely in a phase of listening to them. This week I have been listening to a book that I wouldn’t have picked up if it had not been recommended to me. A colleague at work recommended Jeffrey Archer’s prison diaries to me. They were free to download from Audible at the time.

This week I’ve listened to the first book, Hell, in its entirety. Listening to this book really worked out for me. I am conscious of the fact I don’t read much non-fiction, and I’m trying to change that. Even then, I read or listen to any kind of biography even less often. I couldn’t tell you the last time I picked up a biography or autobiography. So, this gave me a great opportunity to break that habit. I’ll admit I didn’t have much prior knowledge of the events that happened in this book and so it was an eye-opener for me. It’s also a reasonably short listen (7 hours or so), which is why I managed to get through it in just one week.

I’ve also started a second audiobook this week, albeit a very different subject. Falling back into semi-familiar territory, I have started listening to Philip Pullman‘s Northern Lights, the first book of the ‘His Dark Materials’ series. I’m approximately 20% through this one as of this update post. I’m liking the story so far, although I have a couple of small gripes.

The book is predominantly narrated by Philip Pullman himself, but any character’s speech is narrated by somebody else (each character is separately cast). I would personally prefer for the audiobook not to have a full cast and to be narrated by just one person. Some people like audiobooks with a full cast as it helps distinguish between characters. However, it’s not working for me here. Not only that, but the person who is a voice actor for Lyra has a voice that really grates on me! I won’t let it deter me from the rest of the book though!

 

Books Discovered

I’m cursing myself once again for not making a note of where I’ve discovered this week’s addition to my TBR. I was convinced I had seen it on an email, but I’ve not been able to find my source again. Regardless, I added Against All Gods by Miles Cameron as I really like the sound of it! The synopsis of the book reminds me of Terry Pratchett, and I’ll explain why.

In the Discworld series, there is a bit of a parody with gods moving human beings like pieces on a chess board. If you read the synopsis of against all gods, then you’ll see why it reminded me of this: –

The gods play their games, looking down on the mortal realm and moving men as pawns. Sacrificing lives, towns, even civilisations as they make moves against each other, oblivious to and uncaring of the suffering it causes.

They are above it all: worshipped, emulated and admired.

Yet there is one among them who exists to sow chaos, to challenge the way of things, and to stir up trouble. One who sees the gods growing indolent and contented and selfish . . . and who is ready to meddle in the world of men. Not as part of the immortal game, but because they believe it’s possible for men to challenge . . . and even topple . . . the gods themselves.

An epic which draws on the Greek mythology of gods and heroes, this new trilogy is a must read for fans of Dan Simmons and Madeline Miller alike.

So, I am sure you can see why this appeals.

It’s an epic fantasy book that has just been released, and I also like that the gods draw on Greek mythology. I have read some other books based on Greek mythology before, so I do have a foundation of who the characters are. I’m looking forward to see how all these different elements mash together!

 

Coming Up…

I’d like to start off this week by sharing a book review with you; I have plenty of books that I am still yet to review. However, to make my life easier (because of the upcoming exam), I’m going to be reviewing something I’ve read this year. That way, my thoughts are fresh in my mind, but also I’ve been writing down my thoughts shortly after reading books. Therefore, I’ve got most of review already written and ready to go.

This week, I am going to be sharing my thoughts on Dune by Frank Herbert. My choice of reviewing this book is also because I have since gone on to read additional books in the series. I don’t want to get so far behind as I have with other series that I’m having to go back too far.

Friday is the 1st of July, and we will be over halfway through 2022! With that in mind, later this week I’d like to take a look at my reading progress throughout the year so far, review my reading goals and have a chat about my upcoming plans for the second half of the year.

And as always, I will be back this time next week with another Sunday Summary update post.

I hope you have enjoyed today’s update! What have you been reading?

 

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First Lines Friday – 24/06/2022

Welcome to today’s First Lines Friday post! First Lines Friday is a regular (typically fortnightly) series on my blog. It’s a fun way to share books I love, those I am interested in and/or are on my TBR… or even just to experiment with something new!

For this week‘s First Lines Friday post, I decided to keep my subject open. Whilst it is fun to set myself a challenge sometimes, I didn’t have any inspiration or idea as to what I wanted to do. So, I kept it open and I’ve had a good long think; I’m really happy with the book I’ve chose to feature today.

Can you guess what it is?

 

 


Memorandum for: Executive Director Frobisher

From: Ghost ID (#6755–4181–2584–1597–9 87–610–377-ERROR-ERROR…)

Incept: 01/29/76

Subject: Alexander dossier

___________________________________________________

So here’s the file that almost killed me, Director.

I won’t bore you with the tally of databases plundered, light-years jumped, or cute, sniffling orphans created in its compilation – our fee already reflects Level Of Difficulty. But this dirt is out there, if you know where to look. It seems your cleanup crews weren’t quite as thorough as you’d like, and your little corporate war isn’t quite a secret as you’d hoped.

 

 

 

Illuminae – Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Goodreads – Illuminae

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival mega-corporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than a speck at the edge of the universe. Now with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra — who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to evacuate with a hostile warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A plague has broken out and is mutating with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a web of data to find the truth, it’s clear the only person who can help her is the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents — including emails, maps, files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more — Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

 

My Thoughts…

I’ve had my eye on this book for some time. The story is told through a compilation of correspondence and documentation as opposed to traditional prose, which interests me. This is something I’ve read and enjoyed recently (The Appeal by Janice Hallett). Given that I liked this one as much as I did, I can’t wait to try another book in this format. I’ve already decided, given the format, that I want a physical copy of this book/series. I talked about this in my top ten bookish wishes post earlier this week

I’m also a fan of Jay Kristoff. I first listened to his Nevernight Chronicles trilogy, and from there fell in love. I’ve gone on to purchase physical copies of these books to read again, and more recently, purchased and read Empire of the Vampire. This is my favourite read of 2022 so far, so I’m really excited to pick up something new by him.

Collaborations with other authors can be a bit hit and miss, but as I haven’t read anything by Amie Kaufman yet, I don’t feel like I can judge. I will just have to see how this goes! If I go on to enjoy these books then I have another series I can pick up that is co-authored by this duo. It’s a young adult science-fiction novel, which I feel like will be up my street! Especially considering I am reading a young adult science-fiction book by Brandon Sanderson at the moment, and really enjoying it. 

 

I hope you have enjoyed today’s First Lines Friday post! Have you read Illuminae, the rest of the series or any of the other books also written by these authors? I’d love to know in the comments!

 

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Sunday Summary – 19th June 2022

Good evening and welcome to my Sunday Summary update post! I hope all you amazing Dads out there have had a lovely Father’s Day and been spoilt!

I started off this week with sharing a discussion post, the topic being about getting out of your comfort zone when reading. It has been a little while since I drafted a post of this type and I enjoyed doing so. It ended up being quite a long post, in which I discussed ways you could push your boundaries, shared why that’s benefited me and how I plan to continue getting out of my comfort zone.

Later in the week, I returned to my usual Friday feature posts. This week, I shared a Shelf Control post and featured a book that has been on my TBR since 2018. It is a ‘new to me’ author, even though they are prominent in the genre. If you want to find out more, you can do so with the link above.

 

Books Read

As of my last Sunday Summary update I had just started The Appeal by Janice Hallett. I was approximately 25 pages in and really looking forward to diving into this book.

I read the book in its entirety in four days! The format of the story was fantastic! I love how it was told through correspondence between characters. As a reader, it makes you read between the lines and try to decipher the subtext. After all, we only see the online interactions and not what happens in person.

I also really enjoyed the complexity of the characters and the storyline. As far as the murder mystery goes, this kind of book shows you that it can be very obscure. Every character had a motive or a reason to be involved or not trusted. The story was very complex, but at the same time easy to follow and very intriguing! The way it has been written was very cleverly done and I personally enjoyed the change of pace!

I had a little break from reading for a few days, however I started my next and last ‘official’ book on my TBR today. For half an hour or so before going to visit my parents, I read the 36 pages of Skyward by Brandon Sanderson. It’s a solid introduction to this book so far and I can’t wait to see how the story progresses.

In the prologue and first three chapters, the history of the main character Spensa has been established, and from there I expect a wonderful story of what is apparently a very stubborn girl determined to fight against the prejudice she experiences. I can’t wait to dive into this one more and I’ll have more to tell you in next week’s update.

Lastly, I finished Knight’s Shadow by Sebastien de Castell this week. I have gone from listening to practically nothing to a complete switch around and managed to finish an audiobook! I really enjoyed this second instalment to the series. I had no idea how some of the complications the characters were having were going to resolve themselves, But I really enjoyed how this was done!

 

Books Discovered

I have added a couple of books to my TBR this week. Both are very different from each other, which only goes to show how different my reading taste is.

The first book is written by Margaret Atwood, called Alias Grace. I’ll admit that I hadn’t heard of this book before until I discovered it in a video by @schulerbooks on TikTok. Yes, I have joined TikTok for the bookish community there! I really like the description of the book and the video I found prompted me to find out more. Consequently, I added this to my reading list as I think I’ll really enjoy this one. I like the unreliable narrator trope, which is a prominent feature in this book.

After some consideration I have added The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake to my reading list. I’ve seen quite a few people talking about this book, but most prominently from one booktuber I follow who really enjoys the dark academia theme/genre. This book falls into that category and as she loves it so much, I’m willing to give it a go!

 

Coming Up…

I like the idea of this week’s Top Ten Tuesday post, which is top ten bookish wishes. The idea is to share the top ten books you would like to own and if you set up a Wishlist on Amazon, provide a link to it so people can get a copy to you if they want to purchase it for you. I’m not going to do this; if I want a book I’ll buy it myself, or ask for a copy from family as a gift for an occasion. So, I won’t be adding the wish list, but I will be talking about the top ten books on my TBR that I want to own next!

On Friday I will be sharing a First Lines Friday post. The last few times I have done this type of post I have set myself a challenge. I don’t have anything in particular in mind and so this week I’m going to keep it open and decide which book to feature later in the week.

And last, but certainly not least, I’ll be back with a Sunday Summary post this time next week with all my fresh updates for you!

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary. What are you currently reading?

 

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Shelf Control #49 – 17/06/2022

Happy Friday and welcome to today’s Shelf Control post! Shelf Control is one of my regular features (typically fortnightly on a Friday)  It’s a meme run by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies and it’s all about featuring/celebrating unread books on our bookshelves! The idea is to pick a book from your TBR that haven’t read yet 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.

It has been a few weeks since I last shared a Friday feature, and I’m excited to share today’s with you. Having never read this author before, I’m really keen to jump in. I’ve heard great things and he is one of the big names in his genre.

 

The Litigators – John Grisham

Goodreads – The Litigators

The partners at Finley & Figg—all two of them—often refer to themselves as “a boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. Their specialties, so to speak, are quickie divorces and DUIs, with the occasional jackpot of an actual car wreck thrown in. After twenty plus years together, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg bicker like an old married couple but somehow continue to scratch out a half-decent living from their seedy bungalow offices in southwest Chicago.

And then change comes their way. More accurately, it stumbles in. David Zinc, a young but already burned-out attorney, walks away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm, goes on a serious bender, and finds himself literally at the doorstep of our boutique firm. Once David sobers up and comes to grips with the fact that he’s suddenly unemployed, any job—even one with Finley & Figg—looks okay to him.

With their new associate on board, F&F is ready to tackle a really big case, a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. An extremely popular drug, Krayoxx, the number one cholesterol reducer for the dangerously overweight, produced by Varrick Labs, a giant pharmaceutical company with annual sales of $25 billion, has recently come under fire after several patients taking it have suffered heart attacks. Wally smells money.

A little online research confirms Wally’s suspicions—a huge plaintiffs’ firm in Florida is putting together a class action suit against Varrick. All Finley & Figg has to do is find a handful of people who have had heart attacks while taking Krayoxx, convince them to become clients, join the class action, and ride along to fame and fortune. With any luck, they won’t even have to enter a courtroom!

It almost seems too good to be true.

And it is.

The Litigators is a tremendously entertaining romp, filled with the kind of courtroom strategies, theatrics, and suspense that have made John Grisham America’s favorite storyteller.

 

My Thoughts…

I’m always looking forward to trying the works of a new author. Whilst I own a copy of Rogue Lawyers, I haven’t yet read any books by John Grisham. That said, I am looking forward to giving his writing a try. I have experience of enjoying courtroom thrillers in the past… and I think the premise of this particular book is interesting.

I’m confident that this is a book I am going to enjoy. The author hasn’t become a household name for no reason, and someone from work has read and enjoyed his books. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s who I got my copy of Rogue Lawyers from. Someone from Finance had a clear out (due to a lack of space, not a dislike of the book) and brought in the books so anyone who wanted them could help themselves). You can be sure I did – although I only picked up this one!

I’m hopeful that I enjoy this book, as it means that a new world opens to me in terms of the number of books I can read. John Grisham has published over 40 books (according to his own website), so I have plenty of reading material provided I get on with his writing style.

Have you read The Litigators, or any other books by John Grisham? If so, what did you think? I’d love to hear from you!

 

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Sunday Summary – 12th June 2022

I am back with another Sunday Summary update post for you today. First of all, I hope you’ve had a fabulous week!

I started off this week by sharing a book tag post with you. I wanted something that was a lighter topic and so I pulled a book tag out of my bank that I’ve been saving for the occasion. That post was my ‘The Last Book I…’ post, and if you haven’t seen that already you can find a link to this here.

The reason I chose that post earlier in the week is because I was taking part in a blog tour on Friday and sharing a review as part of that. On Friday I shared my thoughts on the Wolf of Mercia by MJ Porter. I signed up to this blog tour having read and loved the first book of the series, Son of Mercia, earlier this year. If you are a fan of historical fiction then I highly recommend this series. If you want to find out more, again, there is a link here to that post.

 

Books Read

When I drafted last week’s Sunday Summary update post I was just about to start Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb. As planned, after my post went live I started reading this and I have read the whole book this week! I really, really loved it! For me, it’s one of those scenarios where you regret not starting it sooner! I have seen very good ratings for this book and I’ve also had recommendations from friends. It’s been on my radar for a very long time and I’m glad I finally taken the plunge into Robin Hobb’s writing.

I’m really excited to delve further into the series, because Assassin’s Apprentice was a fantastic read. It is everything I hoped it could be and more besides! You cannot help but feel sorry for Fitz. He has been down on his luck all his life, and just to rub things in a little bit further, Robin Hobb is not gentle with her characters in this book. That is all I will say, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

I started my next book yesterday, which is The Appeal by Janice Hallett. I’ve only just started this book and I’m just over 25 pages in. The story is told through communications between characters (i.e. email, text messages etc). It’s a completely different style to what I’m used to, but it makes you think about the subtext and what is going a bit more than you would have to in traditional prose. I’m enjoying the book so far and this is the read I’ll be taking forward into next week. This is going to be an interesting one!

In my book tag earlier this week, I made a comment about having not listened to much in the way of audiobooks recently. I said it was one of those things that waxes and wanes, and that currently I was in the latter of those stages. Well, I may have jinxed that when I said it! At the beginning of the week I think I was around 25% through the audiobook Knight’s Shadow by Sebastien de Castell. I have listened to most of the book this week and I’m now 80% through it.

More often than not it depends on circumstance and what I’m doing as to whether I listen to them. I found myself getting more involved in crafty projects this week, and listening to an audiobook at the same time is the perfect companion. Previously I found myself physically reading more, but this week there has been more of a balance. I definitely want to finish Knight’s Shadow now that I’m this close to the end, and who knows… maybe this is my break back into an audiobooks phase!

 

Books Discovered

I’ve added a book to my reading list this week that I’d heard about previously, but didn’t really know what it was about. It was through a top 25 standalone fantasy books video on YouTube that I came to understand the plot of The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J Klune. I’d seen people talking about it, but never in enough detail to make me want to pick it up. Until that video. The book has themes of identity, belonging and family – which aren’t particularly common things for a fantasy book to revolve around.

I think this could be an interesting read. I also like the idea of it being a standalone fantasy as well. They are a lot less common than series, and if I go on to enjoy this book I think there are others written by the same author that I can then look at as well, that revolve around different, but just as important, topics.

 

Coming Up…

I’m conscious of the fact it has been a while since I’ve drafted a discussion post. I’ve had an idea this week that could be a fun post to write and also helpful to anybody if they are considering branching out with reading. I’ve previously written a discussion post about reading diversity in relation to picking up different genres. Along the same lines, I want to share a discussion post about why I think it is important to read outside of your comfort zone now and then… and recommend different ways that this can be achieved.

This week I will be resuming my regular Friday features, and this week it is the turn of a Shelf Control post. In case you aren’t familiar, in those posts I take a look at a book on my TBR, share the synopsis and details and why I’m still interested to read this. In doing these reviews, I have actually found books that I’ve changed my mind about and taken it off the list. It’s a good way to make myself keep this list up-to-date, and I hope that by featuring books I may just pique your interest at the same time.

And as always, I’ll be back with a Sunday Summary update at the end of the week, sharing my reading progress and recapping my news.

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary update post. What are you reading?

 

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Sunday Summary – 29th May 2022

Hello everyone and welcome to my Sunday Summary update, which is now back to usual scheduling!

As I just came back from holiday at the beginning of this week (and already it feels like longer!), I shared a Belated Sunday Summary post on Tuesday this week. In that post, I caught you up with all my reading news from the past couple of weeks… including what reading I took on holiday with me. In that post I also shared a bit of personal news – that I had come back from holiday with Covid. I’m pleased to report I am now officially negative and doing well!

Later this week I decided to break my usual posting pattern and share a book review with you rather than one of my typical Friday features. It was well overdue, and I really wanted to champion something by a local author. There’s something about going on holiday that makes you appreciate home all the more, and this was the inspiration behind sharing this review. The book I featured was Keep You Safe by Rona Halsall, and if you haven’t checked out that review already you can do so with this link. If you love mysteries or thrillers, or are interested in books set on the Isle of Man, then this is definitely for you!

 

Books Read

I thought I would read quite a lot whilst I was on holiday, but the truth is, I’ve read more now that I’ve come back!

As of my last Sunday Summary update, I was 72% through The Duke and I by Julia Quinn. I knew I wanted to finish reading this one, and with only approximately an hour’s reading time left this was a goal that was fairly easy to achieve. Whilst it was fresh in my mind from talking about my progress in my Belated Sunday Summary post, I decided to pick this up on Tuesday evening and I finished it in one sitting! Overall, it turned out to be an okay read. My impression from my last update hasn’t changed – I neither love it or hate it. I’m firm in my decision not to continue the series.

Next, I moved on to continuing my read of Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. If you are familiar with the book then you know it’s a bit of a chonker at just over 700 pages. As of my Belated Sunday Summary update, I was just under 300 pages into this book. This has been my main read over the course of this week, and I finished reading this one last night. Despite its size, this book was very easy to sink your teeth into (pun intended)! It’s all too easy to be daunted by a book’s size, but I’m glad I didn’t let this stop me.

I didn’t expect this to 100% be my cup of tea because I don’t really read books about vampires. I gave it a chance because it was written by Jay Kristoff and I am so glad I did. It was a very easy five star rating from me and is my favourite read of 2022 so far!

But my reading progress doesn’t quite stop there. I’ve picked up one further book this week, being Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert. This is quite a different read compared to Empire of the Vampire. Whilst I wouldn’t go so far as to say it is a light read, it is in contrast, short. At under 300 pages, it gives you gratification in terms of feeling like you make quick progress. I just picked this up today and I am already on page 73 of the book.

 

Books Discovered

I haven’t added any books to the TBR this week, and as I’ve ticked a couple off reading wise, the list is going in the right direction!

Makes a change…

 

Coming Up…

Next week I will be sharing both my Monthly Wrap-Up for May, as well as a TBR for June. I don’t quite know where time is going if I’m honest! I’m really pleased with this month’s reading progress, so I’m looking forward to recapping the books I’ve picked up and telling you what I thought, in summary, about them.

If I’m honest, I have very little idea as to what I am planning to read during the month of June. I’m taking part in one blog tour, so that book will be on my reading list, but other than that I haven’t christened anything. However, I’ll sit down and have a think and I’ll be bringing that list to you towards the end of next week.

As always, I’ll be back next Sunday to share all my reading updates with you and recap my week in the usual format.

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary update post – I hope you’ve enjoyed catching up with me. What have you been reading this week? Do you have any good book recommendations?

I look forward to seeing you in my next post!

 

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