Tag: One

Sunday Summary – 16th February 2020

It’s Sunday evening, so it can only be time for this week’s Sunday Summary post!

I feel really good about this week’s progress. Not only have I shared two book reviews with you, but I have also done well on reading during the week too! My first post of the week was a review of Fires of the Dead by Jed Herne. I really enjoyed this short story courtesy of the author and BookSirens. If you want to check out my full review, here’s a handy link.

My second review of the week was shared on Wednesday. I shared my review of this sinister thriller novel as part of the blog tour that has been running with Blackthorn Book Tours. It was my first time working with them and I really enjoyed reading The Mentor!

On Friday, I published a First Lines Friday post loosely themed on Valentine’s Day. It features a very funny opening about a relationship (of sorts). It’s the funniest take I could find on the subject of romance; I don’t read romance so in my defence, I didn’t have much to work with. I’ve had some great comments on it though, so I think it’s been well received!

Something else happened this week, which I haven’t really shouted about – I celebrated my birthday! I got some really lovely presents that I wanted, as well as gift cards that I can put to good use! I also got some book vouchers, so I’m sure you can imagine how happy this gal is right now!

 

Books Read

As promised in last week’s Sunday Summary post, I did finish The Mentor after my post went live. I didn’t have too long left and I was desperate to find out how this ended!

My main read of the week has been The Girl from the Workhouse by Lynn Johnson. I did actually start this last Saturday (I needed a wee break from the intensity of The Mentor) but hadn’t gotten too far into it. I finished this yesterday and it’s a lovely, albeit slightly sad story. The reason I picked this up is becuase of its historical fiction element, but I ended up enjoying it for many more reasons than that!

I also started reading another book yesterday – Unborn by Rachel McLean. I’ve managed to read a lot of this considering I’ve only just picked it up too! I’m currently at 58% and hoping to finish this in the next day or so.

And now, onto the audiobooks! I finished listening to Darkdawn on Monday night and can I say, wow! This series is absolutely fantastic. I’ve already decided I am going to be spending some of my book vouchers on buying these in paperback. I have to wait until June for Darkdawn to come out in paperback. I think I am going to wait and see if I can get them as a set. That way I can be sure they all match!

I couldn’t listen to another audiobook straight away, so I didn’t start listening to Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo until the next day. I haven’t long finished listening to Six of Crows so I’ve managed to get into it really quickly!

 

Books Discovered

Since the TBR has topped 200 books, I’m trying not to add anything really. It’ll get out of control otherwise.

That said, my colleague Brita did make a recommendation for me this week. She was more recommending the TV series that has been made based on the book, but you know me. I am going to watch the series on catch-up if I can, but I have also added this epic book to the TBR.

 

Coming Up…

Next week is also going to be one where I share a couple of reviews. I have a few waiting in the wings to be written, so I’ll be starting the week by taking on one of these. My first review of the week is for a book that I was kindly sent by Gollancz last year. The War Within is the second book of a series and is set on a grander scale to its predecessor, Seventh Decimate. I hope you can check out my review!

On Friday I’ll be taking a break from my usual posts to take part in the blog tour for The Girl from the Workhouse by Lynn Johnson. I finished reading this family saga yesterday and can’t wait to share my thoughts with you all about it!

Last, but by no means least, I’ll be sharing next week’s Sunday Summary at the usual time.

That’s all from me today folks! What have you been reading this week? Have you read any of the books on my list?

 

 

signature

Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Sunday Summary – 9th February 2020

It’s that time again folks! Yep, it’s time to write my Sunday Summary post and wrap-up everything that has been going on during the week. I hope you have all had a good one?

I kicked off the week by sharing my reading list for February. Just like last month, I have a number of blog tours that I am taking part in. So, this month’s list consists of four ARCs and two books for my Beat the Backlist challenge.

Next, I published a Shelf Control post on Friday. This week’s featured book has been on the TBR for nearly three years. Not as old as some of the books on my list, but still old enough! It reminds me a lot of a book I read and enjoyed not that long ago – Ctrl+S by Andy Briggs. If you enjoy science-fiction that focuses on virtual reality, you might be interested in checking it out!

Yesterday’s blog post was my second blog tour of the month. Regular readers of my blog may recognise the name of the author, as I have read and reviewed a number of her books now. One: Rage Vengeance Murder by K. J. McGillick is the epic conclusion to her Path of Deception and Betrayal series. If you haven’t read my review yet, well, why not – haha!

 

Books Read

My top priority this week was finishing reading One, for what I hope are obvious reasons! I had only just started this last week, so I needed a reasonably quick turnaround. Thankfully, K. J. McGillick’s books are really easy to get into, so I finished on Thursday – well in time to draft my review.

The next book I picked up was The Mentor by Lee Matthew Goldberg. I have read most of this book as of writing this post. I’m now 75% of the way through and eager to get to the sinister conclusion of the novel. I really have no idea where it’s going to go so I’m crossing my fingers I’ll have the time to finish this tonight!

I did also start another book yesterday. Having read quite a bit yesterday after all the housework and boring jobs, I needed to change things up. So, I started the next book on my TBR. The Girl from the Workhouse is a historical saga novel as opposed to a dark psychological thriller. It was exactly what I needed. I only read the first few chapters, but I’ve made a decent start. As soon as I have finished reading The Mentor, I’ll be picking this up full-time.

Darkdawn – oh my goodness guys!! I must only have about two hours left and I can’t wait to finish it. I actually listened to a couple of hours or so today because I knew I was near the end. I’ll definitely have finished it by this time next week guys. Heads up, I’ll probably be gushing over it and equally really sad it’s over!

 

Books Discovered

I’ve been naughty nice and added a few books over the last few weeks. However, I have been good this week and not added anything new. I should hope so too since my TBR has just topped 200 books again!

Less time adding and more time reading, eh?

 

Coming Up…

I’m looking forward to next week for a number of reasons. I’m going to be sharing four posts over the course of the week, which I hope you can join me for.

One of my reviews is the first ARC I downloaded from a provider called Book Sirens – Fires of the Dead. I’ll be posting this on Tuesday. The other is for my third blog tour of the month – The Mentor, which will be published on Wednesday.

On Friday I’ll be sharing a First Lines Friday post. As always, the subject matter has yet to be decided, but I enjoy going through my books to find interesting intros to catch your eye!

Last but not least, I’ll be rounding up the week as I am now with a Sunday Summary.

I hope you have enjoyed today’s Sunday Summary post. What have you been reading this week? As always, I love to hear from you!

 

 

signature

Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Blog Tour Review: One: Rage Vengeance Murder – K. J. McGillick

Today’s blog tour post features my review of One: Rage Vengeance Murder by K. J. McGillick, the last book in the Path of Deception and Betrayal series. You may have gathered at this point that I am a huge fan of this author and her books. She writes crime thrillers so well that they keep you hooked chapter after chapter! If you haven’t seen any of my reviews or heard anything about the Path of Deception and Betrayal series, here’s a link to my last review of the second book in the series, Two.

Once again, let me say thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for organising the tour, as well as the author for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!

 

One: Rage Vengeance Murder – K. J. McGillick

Goodreads – One: Rage Vengeance Murder

A stolen life. A Faustian bargain. Prey becomes predator.

Azar Abed is out for revenge for the life Dr. Adrian Armond stole from her. No matter what the cost. Adrien Armond will stop at nothing to recover the massive fortune Azar Abed embezzled from him. Neither will walk away until the other is dead. Someone’s going to die, that is for certain.

Personal revenge gets caught up in a bio-terror plot to crash the world’s economy as darkness spirals into darkness and terror is the order of the day. Azar Abed and Adrien Armond are on a collision course that could have catastrophic consequences on a global scale.

Who will kill who first? Will it be enough? Can anyone stop the bio-terror plot to destroy the world’s economy that is already in motion? Does anyone have enough humanity left even to try?

Set against a backdrop of Washington, DC, ONE is a heart pounding-psychological thriller pitting greed against greed in a cat-and-mouse game where vengeance is the only prize. It can be read as a standalone, or as the conclusion to events begun in its predecessor, TWO. It concludes the Path of Deception and Betrayal series.

 

Purchase Links – Amazon UK     Amazon US

 

My Thoughts…

Events from previous books come together in a near-catastrophic crescendo in this last instalment of the series. One is a twisty tale with a sharp focus on the destructive nature of two corrupt individuals, each out for revenge against the other. One has harvested organs from those desperate enough to seek favour and a better life, all for financial gain. The other is plotting to unleash dangerous bio-weapons on the population of Earth, culling the planet of useless mouths that drain on society and gain from a stock market crash.

I was sucked into the story quickly. K J McGillick’s writing is very easy and enjoyable to read. I have pointed something out with every book I have reviewed, but for a good reason. Her medical, legal and art history knowledge shines through throughout her novels. I have the advantage of working in an investments industry, so I particularly enjoyed the economical aspects of the plot. In my opinion, you don’t need any advanced knowledge of the topics brought up; I think it is all explained simply.

One: Rage Vengeance Murder maintains the use of multiple character perspectives to bring together the thriller narrative. Overall, I think we actually get a greater insight into the minds of the corrupt individuals in this final book of the series. I personally feel their characters get a little more exposure to the reader than the previous books. Since the narrative is driven by them, I actually really enjoyed this! We have been introduced to all of the characters previously; I already felt I had somewhat of a rapport with them going into the book.

I had no idea how K. J. McGillick was going to pull together all the threads of this tale, but I was impressed by the ending. I didn’t anticipate it at all, which for me is a sure sign of a great thriller mystery novel!

 

Author Bio

K. J. McGillick was born in New York and once she started to walk she never stopped running. But that’s what New Yorker’s do. Right? A Registered Nurse, a lawyer now author.

As she evolved so did her career choices. After completing her graduate degree in nursing, she spent many years in the university setting sharing the dreams of the enthusiastic nursing students she taught. After twenty rewarding years in the medical field she attended law school and has spent the last twenty-four years as an attorney helping people navigate the turbulent waters of the legal system. Not an easy feat. And now? Now she is sharing the characters she loves with readers hoping they are intrigued by her twisting and turning plots and entertained by her writing

 

Social Media Links –

https://www.facebook.com/KJMcGillickauthor/

Kathleen McGillick

@KJMcGillickAuth

http://www.kjmcgillick.com/

https://twitter.com/KJMcGillickAuth

https://www.goodreads.com/Kmcgillick

Reading List – February 2020

January passed by in a whirlwind – I can’t believe I am here sharing my next monthly TBR already! Aside from one DNF, January was a good month for me! I managed to read 7 books in their entirety, as well as finish an audiobook from last year! I’m hoping for an equally productive February. I have already started this month’s TBR, so fingers crossed!

What am I reading this month? I have a number of blog tours lined up, as well as a couple more books on the list that will contribute to my Beat the Backlist challenge.

 

One – K. J. McGillick

Goodreads – One

A stolen life. A Faustian bargain. Prey becomes predator.

Azar Abed’s veiled memories of her childhood were too dark and traumatic to revive. Raised by the man who murdered her mother she moves through life numb and emotionally bankrupt. That is until her father goes one step too far. With the help of his business partner, Dr. Adrien Armond, her father implements a plan to steal her life to save his own. Their downfall? Her survival.

Her obsession to extract retribution leads her into a dark abyss of rage. Azar and her lover devise a plan to upend global economies but her need for vengeance compels her to take it one step further. Biological weapons of mass destruction are on her agenda and innocent bystanders become collateral damage. Would the few that see it coming have the resources to stop the plan already in motion.

 

One is the first book I have picked up this month… and with good reason! I’m taking part in theblog tour for this third instalment in the Path of Deception and Betrayal. On Saturday. Yep, it’s coming around quickly, although in fairness I’m making reasonable progress with it. I just read the previous book Two in a matter of days, so I’m sure I’ll have this read in no time!

I can’t wait to see how this particular series ends and how all the novels tie together!

 

The Mentor – Lee Matthew Goldberg

Goodreads – The Mentor

Kyle Broder has achieved his lifelong dream and is an editor at a major publishing house.

When Kyle is contacted by his favorite college professor, William Lansing, Kyle couldn’t be happier.

Kyle has his mentor over for dinner to catch up and introduce him to his girlfriend, Jamie, and the three have a great time. When William mentions that he’s been writing a novel, Kyle is overjoyed. He would love to read the opus his mentor has toiled over.

Until the novel turns out to be not only horribly written, but the most depraved story Kyle has read.

After Kyle politely rejects the novel, William becomes obsessed, causing trouble between Kyle and Jamie, threatening Kyle’s career, and even his life. As Kyle delves into more of this psychopath’s work, it begins to resemble a cold case from his college town, when a girl went missing. William’s work is looking increasingly like a true crime confession.

Lee Matthew Goldberg’s The Mentor is a twisty, nail-biting thriller that explores how the love of words can lead to a deadly obsession with the fate of all those connected and hanging in the balance.

 

Doesn’t this thriller sound fantastic? Well, I think so and that’s what matters! I am also reading The Mentor as part of a blog tour this month. This particular tour is a first for me, as I haven’t toured with Blackthorn Book Tours before.

I’m looking forward to delving into this sinister-sounding novel and finding out just how well the novel lives up the synopsis! I’ll be sure to let you know.

 

The Girl from the Workhouse – Lynn Johnson

Goodreads – The Girl from the Workhouse

Even in the darkest of times, she never gave up hope.

Staffordshire, 1911. Ginnie Jones’s childhood is spent in the shadow of the famous Potteries, living with her mother, father and older sister Mabel. But with Father’s eyesight failing, money is in short supply, and too often the family find their bellies aching with hunger. With no hope in sight, Ginnie is sent to Haddon Workhouse.

Separated from everything she has known, Ginnie has to grow up fast, earning her keep by looking after the other children with no families of their own. When she meets Clara and Sam, she hopes that she has made friends for life… until tragedy strikes, snatching away her newfound happiness.

Leaving Haddon three years later, Ginnie finds work as a mouldrunner at the Potteries, but never stops thinking about her friends in the workhouse – especially Sam, now a caring, handsome young man. When Sam and Ginnie are reunited, their bond is as strong as ever – until Sam is sent to fight in WW1. Faced with uncertainty, can Ginnie find the joy that she’s never had? Or will her heart be broken once again?

An emotional, uplifting and nostalgic family saga that will make you smile, while tugging on your heart-strings. Fans of Sheila Newbury, Kitty Neale and Sheila Riley will love this beautiful read.

 

I was drawn to signing up for the blog tour for this book as it is a completely new topic of historical fiction that I haven’t explored before. I am definitely diversifying more in what time periods I pick up (although I still have my favourites and I make no apology for it either). Books around the second World War tend to be my preference rather than the first, so it will make for an interesting change I hope!

 

Unborn – Rachel McLean

Goodreads – Unborn

America, 2026.
Feminism has been defeated.
Equality is a memory.
And abortion has been criminalized.

Three women find themselves on the wrong side of the law. Kate, carrying the child of a sexual predator. Grace, whose baby will be born with a fatal deformity. And Cindee: abused, abandoned and pregnant.

Their punishment will fit their crime.

Can these three very different women come together to fight an oppressive system and win their freedom?

Find out by reading Unborn, a chilling dystopia combined with a gripping legal thriller.

 

I hope my reasons for signing up to this blog tour are unusual. I imagine they will be. When I read the synopsis, I knew I had to read the book and share my thoughts on it as 1) I enjoy dystopian novels and legal thrillers and 2) I think I’ll have a unique perspective on the book.

Unborn is a dystopian novel that tackles the idea of a society that denies women the right to terminate a pregnancy. Abortion has been legal in the UK for over 50 years and around 45 in the US. What if I told you that where I live, abortion was made legal last year. The Isle of Man Abortion Reform Law only came into effect in May 2019 – prior to that, it was illegal. Yeah.

I’m sure you’ve already gathered I am going to have some things to say about that. You’ll have to wait for my review post for more.

 

City of Stairs – Robert Jackson Bennett

Goodreads – City of Stairs

The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions — until its divine protectors were killed. Now, Bulikov’s history has been censored and erased, its citizens subjugated. But the surreal landscape of the city itself, forever altered by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it, stands as a haunting reminder of its former supremacy.

Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov’s oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country’s most accomplished spies, dispatched — along with her terrifying “secretary”, Sigrud — to solve a murder.

But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem, and that Bulikov’s cruel reign may not yet be over.

A tale of vast conspiracies, dead gods, and buried histories, City of Stairs is at once a gripping spy novel and a stunningly original work of fantasy.

 

City of Stairs will (I hope) be the second book I read that will contribute to my Beat The Backlist challenge. I am trying to fit in at least two books a month that will go towards this challenge. Since I am trying to read 25 this year and I DNF’d one last month, I am going to have to squeeze a couple more in at some point though.

I really like the sound of City of Stairs – elements of it remind me a little of Brandon Sanderson’s Elantris. I like to go back to fantasy novels after reading some different things. It’s by far my favourite genre. I couldn’t read it all the time like I used to; it gets boring. I do like to go back to it regularly though. I added City of Stairs to the TBR in January 2015. Five years is too long to take to get around to a book…

 

Good Omens – Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

Goodreads – Good Omens

‘Armageddon only happens once, you know. They don’t let you go around again until you get it right.’

People have been predicting the end of the world almost from its very beginning, so it’s only natural to be sceptical when a new date is set for Judgement Day. But what if, for once, the predictions are right, and the apocalypse really is due to arrive next Saturday, just after tea?

You could spend the time left drowning your sorrows, giving away all your possessions in preparation for the rapture, or laughing it off as (hopefully) just another hoax. Or you could just try to do something about it.

It’s a predicament that Aziraphale, a somewhat fussy angel, and Crowley, a fast-living demon now finds themselves in. They’ve been living amongst Earth’s mortals since The Beginning and, truth be told, have grown rather fond of the lifestyle and, in all honesty, are not actually looking forward to the coming Apocalypse.

And then there’s the small matter that someone appears to have misplaced the Antichrist…

 

I haven’t read a book by Terry Pratchett for months now! I love his humour and I have heard a lot of good things about this book! I’m going to be totally honest; I’m reading it because Terry Pratchett had a hand in it. I haven’t had the best experience with Neil Gaiman’s books in the past, but we’ll see how this combination works. I’m sure I’ll have plenty to say about it once I have read it! Do you think I should tag the authors in my review when it goes live?

A bit of a salty joke I know, but no author should be too big to think that getting tagged in reviews is beneath them. All publicity (especially free publicity) is good, right? For those that haven’t heard about it, there have been arguments on Twitter lately about the appropriateness of tagging authors in book reviews. One of these authors doesn’t want to be tagged in reviews. They obviously think they’re too good for it. The other is dead, so no prizes for guessing who I’m talking about!

That’s the list set for the month! I would love to get the chance to squeeze in another book if I can since I have set myself such a lofty reading challenge target. The beauty of it is that if I do get this far, I can pick up anything I want based on my mood! I do tend to be quite regimented in my book choice, but I do enjoy picking up something on a whim from time to time.

What books are you reading during February?

 

signature

Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Sunday Summary – 2nd February 2020

Today’s Sunday Summary post is coming to you a little bit late, but that’s totally intentional! When taking part in a blog tour, it is general etiquette not to post anything that might take the spotlight off of the tour post. So, this is being published a whole minute after midnight. I hope you haven’t been waiting up for this post. I doubt it!

So, what have I been up to this week? Well, the main focus was to catch up with some reading, but I did manage to squeeze a few blog posts in too! My first post of the week was published on Monday. I have read and loved a number of books by K. J. McGillick now, and Monday’s post featured my latest read of hers, Two: Mind Games and Murder.

I then took a break for a few days before posting a First Lines Friday post. This week’s featured book is one I have had on the TBR for around six months, but bought a copy of at the beginning of the week. I know I said I was going to be buying fewer books this year, but cut me some slack – I had credit with Waterstones. If I don’t have to spend my own money then it doesn’t count, right?

Finally, I’m rounding this week off not with a Sunday Summary, as mentioned above, but with a blog tour post for A Crown in Time by Jennifer Macaire. Jennifer Macaire is also the author of several books I have read and really enjoyed. If you enjoy time travel/historical fiction novels, I recommend you give this a look!

 

Books Read

In last week’s Sunday Summary post I said I wanted to make more progress on Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. True to my word I did; I got to around 30% of the way through the book before I had to DNF it. It’s rare that I can’t finish a book, but I could not keep track of what was going on in this at all. Don’t get me wrong, each chapter was great, all written well. The problem I found is that it jumps around an awful lot and it’s disjointed. I get that it’s all world-building, which is usually a huge positive. I just couldn’t follow it and consequently, I wasn’t enjoying it. It’s a huge disappointment since it’s taken me so long to get around to but never mind…

I had much better success with the next book on January’s TBR, which goes towards my Beat the Backlist challenge. Not that I had any doubts about this book at all. I read the first trilogy of the Mistborn series several years ago. Even though the next set of books take place a long time after the original trilogy, reading this felt nostalgic. The Alloy of Law was really easy to pick up compared to Gardens of the Moon as well, so I flew through this book in a few days.

Another book I read really quickly and finished last night is These Are Not the Trinity Papers by Vale Zalecki. This book surprised me for a number of reasons: it was more horror than I expected, and yet, it has touching moments too. I would argue it brings together a lot of ideas and genres but does so really well. I really enjoyed reading something different.

My current read is One: Rage Vengeance Murder by K. J. McGillick. It is the last book in the Path of Deception and Betrayal series and I can’t wait to see how it concludes. I’ve only just picked this up really – I’m around 10% of the way through. I’m looking forward to sharing my review very shortly for this book!

The last book to feature in this section is my audiobook adventures with Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff. I have just less than six hours left and boy it’s getting good! I have no idea how the book is going to end and I can’t wait to see what happens!

 

Books Discovered

So, I went to Waterstones on Monday. I remembered that I had some credit on my membership card and a gift card from Christmas. Naturally, I did what any booklover would and decided to spend it! I also took advantage of their sale and got four books. It didn’t cost me a single penny!

The first book I picked up was The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz by Jeremy Dronfield. I really love historical fiction books, but particularly those about WW2 and the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Call me morbid, perhaps you’re right!

The second book I picked up was The Taking of Annie Thorne by C. J. Tudor. I really loved reading The Chalk Man last year – it even made my Top Reads of 2019 post. I knew the moment I finished The Chalk Man that I wanted to read more by this author!

The third book I picked up is one I have had on my TBR anyway – Vox by Christina Dalcher. I read a review of this book ages ago and decided then that I wanted to reading. I saw it in the sale and figured, why not?

Lastly, I picked up a psychological thriller novel that caught my attention called Someone Like Me by M. R. Carey. I hadn’t seen or heard of this before, but I’m really intrigued by the synopsis, so I want to give it a try.

 

Coming Up…

 

It’s a brand new month, so it’s only fitting that I start the week by publishing February’s TBR. You already know the first book on this month’s TBR, as I am currently read it! I have plenty more on the list though, so I hope you can check out my post and find out what other books I am picking up this month!

On Friday I want to publish another Shelf Control post. This week’s featured book is a science-fiction/fantasy novel that is heavily based on the concept of virtual reality. I really like the sound of it, but I’ll tell you more about why I want to read it on Friday.

On Saturday I am taking part in the blog tour for my current read, One by K. J.McGillick. As I said above, I have only just started this particular book, but I have loved the wider series to date and I have no doubt I’ll enjoy One as well.

Finally, I will be rounding off this week with my Sunday Summary post, scheduled as the name implies!

 

Top Blog Posts of the Week

 

http://ishouldreadthat.com/2020/01/31/weekly-wrap-up-31-january-2020/

https://bibliophagistreviews.wordpress.com/2020/01/31/tag-bookish-would-you-rather/

https://realmsofmymind.wordpress.com/2020/01/31/monthly-wrap-up-january-2020/

That’s all (like this post isn’t long enough!) from me in today’s Sunday Summary – what have you been reading this week? As always, I would love to hear from you!

 

signature

Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads