Sunday Summary – 29th December 2024
Welcome to my last Sunday Summary of 2024. I can’t believe how quickly the year has flown!
This week has been a relatively quiet one on the blog. I took a few days off to celebrate Christmas with friends and family for the first half of the week. I don’t know about you, but I had a really great day. It’s the first time we’ve done it a little differently this year, but it worked out really well.
Back to business for the second half of this week, I shared a First Lines Friday post featuring a historical fiction novel I devoured recently and I expect to feature on my upcoming best reads of 2024 list.
Books Read
The Priory of the Orange Tree
I’m nothing if not consistent, as I’ve listened to another 5 and a half hours of The Priory of the Orange Tree this week. Admittedly, I’ve done most of that today whilst taking down Christmas decorations and generally pottering around the house. Call me Scrooge if you wish for taking them down so early, but I was planning on doing it no later than New Year’s Day anyway. I love Christmas, but when it’s done, I’m ready for it to be done with as well.
Overall, I’m now 55% of the way through The Priory of the Orange Tree. I feel like I’m getting a better grasp of characters, events, and how things are going to tie together a little bit. When I first started, there was quite a lot to take in and especially in audio format. Broadly, it’s a format that I really need to pay attention to in order to take up such detail. Naturally, in a fully invented fantasy world, there’s a lot to take in! However, I’m confident I’ve got the grasp of things now and I’m really enjoying this audio.
Story aside, I can recommend this audiobook for its production; I am really enjoying the narrator and how she is portraying characters through her voice. She’s making the job of following along with her a lot easier.
You can probably tell that I’m looking forward to continuing with this listen, and I expect to take this through into the beginning of the New Year. If my first impressions are anything to go by, this is going to be a highly rated book to kick off 2025 with!
The Woman Who Would Be King
As of my last Sunday Summary post, I had only just started The Woman Who Would Be King by Kara Cooney. To be more precise, I’d only made progress with the first 12% of the book.
I unexpectedly finished this last night. I say unexpectedly because the end of the book is actually 68% of the way through the e-book’s total page count. There are a lot of references and notes that go along with this book, and they take up the last 30%.
I confess, I’m not one to particularly go through these notes and verify the sources and assumptions that have come from them. I have better things to do… like read more books! That said, it is the kind of book that you could take from it what you will. If you want to engage in further reading, you absolutely can. I remember watching some television documentaries years ago that touch on some of the key individuals within this book, and reading this has inspired me to go and watch more.
I enjoyed the content of The Woman Who Would Be King. Whilst there are naturally some assumptions and opinions shared throughout this book based on scant detail available, I think those presented aren’t unreasonable, and counterarguments are provided. The author doesn’t assume authority on the subject but does offer the facts and a reasoned opinion.
It’s the first time I’ve picked up a non-fiction book on ancient Egypt, and I would definitely like to read more of the subject in the future.
Fool’s Errand
Finally, the last book I’ll feature in this Sunday Summary post is my current read, Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb.
After finishing The Woman Who Would Be King last night, I found myself in a bit of a strange position. I’ve not really finished a monthly TBR for quite some time. Having gotten to the end of my prescribed list, I had full freedom to pick up whatever I wanted to do next. My main priority was picking up a fantastic read to get started with the new year.
I had debated picking up Fool’s Errand instead of The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. In fact, I got somebody else to pick out of the two for me. Robin Hobb is fast becoming one of my favourite fantasy authors. I have every confidence that I’m going to enjoy this first book of her next trilogy in the Realm of the Elderlings series. Picking up this book is also going to fit in well with some of my upcoming reading goals that I’ll be sharing in the next week or so. Plus, it’s exciting to get back to visiting, or rather revisiting, some characters from the first trilogy in the wider series.
I confess that isn’t too much to tell you at this point given I’m only 25 or so pages into this narrative. However, I have enjoyed the introduction and I’m looking forward to catching up with all my favourite characters!
Books Discovered
I received a couple of books for Christmas in addition to vouchers to spend at a later date (amongst other lovely gifts – thanks to everyone for them).
The first of these books is one I have already read at least twice and will no doubt go back to again in the future. I received the Penguin clothbound classic edition of 1984 by George Orwell, which is a book I’d asked for.
However, in addition to this, I received a copy of a book set in the same place but offers a different perspective. I had no idea Julia even existed or that it offered a more feminist take on the classic world originally set out by George Orwell. Rather than telling an alternate version, this works alongside 1984 and offers a different perspective. I suspect I’ll end up reading the two side-by-side so I can appreciate the original again before taking a look at this companion narrative.
Coming Up…
New Year is fast approaching, so that means it’s going to be a busy time coming up on my blog. Not only do I have the impending monthly wrap-up and January TBR to share with you, but I also have a recap of the year to share and new reading goals to set. I’m not going to get all that done next week. It’s a lot to do anyway, but it’s also one of the busiest times I have at work. So, to avoid burnout or overcommitment, some of these posts will drag out into the following week.
So, what is actually on the agenda for next week? My first post of next week will go live on Wednesday, the 1st of January. That will be my monthly wrap-up for December.
On Saturday, I’ll be back on the blog sharing a wrap-up for the year and a review of where I got to with my 2024 resolutions and goals.
Finally, on Sunday, I’ll be back for the usual weekly round-up, also known as my Sunday Summary post, to update you on my current reads.
If you’re still with me, thanks for taking the time to read today’s Sunday Summary catch-up. I hope you have had a great week yourself and that I will see you around very soon! What is the last book you’ve picked up in 2024?
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