Tag: sunday summary

Sunday Summary – 15th June 2025

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Happy Father’s Day to the most amazing dad out there! I obviously couldn’t start this Sunday Summary post any other way. I’ve had a great time spending time today with my family… even if my day didn’t get off to the best of starts.

In today’s weekly update post, I’ll catch you up on the blog posts I’ve shared so far this week, as well as where I’m up to with reading progress. Make yourself comfortable and get a cuppa. When you’re ready, let’s dive in!

My first post of the week was a book review of The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb. In this post, I talk about why The Mad Ship was a great second instalment to this trilogy and why you should read it too.

On Friday, I featured my regular Shelf Control post and a mystery/thriller novel I’m keen to read. I’ve featured and read this author once before, and I added his debut book to my reading list to pick up next… 

 

Books Read

 

All the Light We Cannot See

All The Light We Cannot See

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update, I had read a little over 160 pages of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

This week, I was secretly hoping to be sharing a completion of this book. That hasn’t quite happened, although I have managed to practically double my progress.

I’m now around two thirds of the way through this book, so I will be very surprised if I’m not sharing a completion with you next week. I’m still loving this book for all the reasons I stated in last week’s Sunday Summary. If there is an element of the story I’m not keen on, it’s that the chapters are not very long at all. It barely feels like we get into a character perspective before we jump to the next one. It’s not a dealbreaker though, so I am continuing with All the Light We Cannot See into next week. Fingers crossed for a completion in next week’s Sunday Summary update!

 

A Day of Fallen Night

Compared to recent progress with A Day of Fallen Night, I’ve made pretty poor progress with this audiobook this week.

Over the course of this week, I’ve only listened to a little over one and a half hours. Although I do listen to audio in the week, I would say the vast majority of audiobook progress usually happens at the weekend. This weekend has been a little bit special. Not only was I out of the house meeting family today for Father’s Day, but I was also out yesterday wedding dress shopping with my sister during th day and out at a show last night. It’s been a busy weekend, and I’ve been out of normal routine. Fingers crossed, I’ll get back on track next week.

 

Books Discovered

 

This week, I read a review for A Language of Dragons online. The idea of the books appeals to be on both counts – firstly, dragons. Enough said. But also, I have a bit of a nerdy interest in language and the origins of language. The synopsis of this book reminds me a little of Babel, so I reckon I’ll really enjoy this one! 

I also purchased a copy of a book written my the author and creator VirtualAstro, Adrian West. The show I went to last night was his The Night Sky Show. It was quite different to anything I’ve watched before. When I saw his book being sold in the foyer, it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’. Getting in there early meant I got a pre-signed copy instead of having to wait afterwards like most people…

 

Coming Up… 

This week I have a Top Ten Tuesday post lined up. I’ve recently shared my June TBR and my 20 Books of Summer Challenge. In this week’s post, I’ll be using the topic of books on my Summer TBR to share which books I’ll be prioritising after my June TBR. 

On Friday, I’m back with a First Lines Friday post. As usual, I’ll find an interesting introduction to share with you and then give you details on the book. I hope you can check in and take a look! 

Finally, this time next week I’m back with another Sunday Summary catch up. Will I finish All the Light We Cannot See and recover progress on A Day of Fallen Night? Find out in next week’s post! 

Until then, happy reading!

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Sunday Summary – 8th June 2025

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I’ve enjoyed another long bank holiday weekend this weekend. I’m trying not to lament that I’m already at the end of it; instead, let’s make this Sunday Summary a positive celebration of what I’ve achieved this week! 

Over the course of this week, I’ve shared three posts with you so far. The first of these posts went live on Monday this week. Having just started the month of June, I shared my monthly wrap-up and a summary of the books I read last month.  

Next on the agenda, I shared a post mid-week talking about a reading challenge I’m taking part in this year. The 20 Books of Summer Challenge is hopefully going to help me catch up with my Goodreads reading challenge. I’m a couple of books behind but eager to get myself back on track. If you want to find out which books I’ll be reading over the next three months to help me get there, that’s the post to look at.

Finally, I shared my official June monthly TBR on Friday. There is a bit of repetition in that the books on my June TBR are included in the 20 Books of Summer Challenge. I’ve only officially set myself five books this month, but I am secretly hoping to complete this list and be able to read more books from that challenge before we get into July. 

 

Books Read

 

All the Light We Cannot See

All The Light We Cannot See

After I published last week’s Sunday Summary update, I started the historical fiction novel All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. 

It feels like it’s been a little while since I picked up a historical fiction. What I’m loving about this book so far is that it’s set around one of my favourite periods of history, World War II. Don’t ask me why, because it’s not the nicest period of history going. 

What’s refreshing is that a main perspective in this book is a child who has been blind since the age of six. In what must already be a disorienting setting, Marie-Laure (with assistance from her father) has to navigate rebuilding a life after fleeing Paris and the Germans. As you can probably expect, Marie-Laure‘s perspective is unique. It focuses on completely different senses. When we’re introduced in new settings, books normally relate what things look like. Instead, Marie-Laure is only able to share with us the sounds around her, or what something smells or feels like.

Over the course of this last week, I have read a little over 160 pages of All the Light We Cannot See. I’m looking forward to continuing with this book over the next week and I’ll let you know where I’m up to in next week’s Sunday Summary.

 

A Day of Fallen Night

In this Sunday Summary update, I have yet another good week of progress to share with you. In last week’s update I had listened to a little over 12 hours A Day of Fallen Night. Whilst progress this week isn’t quite so high, I’ve still listened to over 7 hours of audio this week. Overall, this puts me at 60% progress through the audiobook as of this Sunday Summary update. 

I feel like I’m really getting into A Day of Fallen Night now. Whilst I was enjoying the narrative before, it felt like there was quite a lot of set up happening. Now, I genuinely feel like I’m in the middle of the book and events are actually happening. Things are starting to go wrong for the main characters and there’s a bit of a scramble to try and resolve the situation. I have no problem with a lot of buildup, because you’re well know I enjoy my world-building. I’ve enjoyed seeing events start clicking into place.

If I can manage another week similar to last week’s progress, be telling you in next week’s Sunday Summary update that I’ve finished it. Is that achievable? Yes, at a push. Am I going to commit to that? Probably not. It’s hard to say. Once you get so far in an audiobook and get towards the end, it does inspire a little bit of a push to see how it ends. If I’m enjoying the narrative, I may yet surprise myself.

 

Books Discovered

I considered adding a book to my reading list this week, but I’ve behaved! The reading list remains at a steady 205 books as of this Sunday Summary update.

I won’t be bored anytime soon anyway… 

 

Coming Up… 

My first post of next week will be a book review. In that post, I feature the second book in Robin Hobb’s The Liveship Trader series. I reviewed the first book of this trilogy back in January this year, and it’s always a pleasure to feature this series on my blog. I hope you’re looking forward to hearing my thoughts on this book. It was a fabulous five-star read!

On Friday, I return with my Shelf Control regular feature post. I’ll feature the next book on my TBR and share why I am excited to pick it up.

Finally, this time next week, another Sunday Summary post will land on your digital doorstop. I hope you can join me for that and fingers crossed I’ll have some book completions to share with you! 

That’s all from me and today’s Sunday Summary update! I hope you’ve had a fabulous week and weekend and I look forward to catching up with you soon. 

Happy reading! 

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Sunday Summary – 1st June 2025

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Happy Sunday friends – I hope today marks the conclusion of a good week for you? In today’s Sunday Summary, I have solid reading progress to share with you!

It’s because I wanted to catch up on some reading that I took a break from blogging for the first half of this week. Rather than my first post going live on Wednesday or Thursday as is typical, this week my first and only other post is my First Lines Friday feature.

In that post, I ended up featuring a book I read a few years ago that I recommend to all my fantasy fans. In featuring the book, I discovered the sequel is now out for me to read. Win-win, right?!


Books Read


Ultra-Processed People

As of last week’s Sunday post, I was just under halfway through Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken.

In the first half of the week, I prioritised reading this book and ultimately finished it! I found this book really informative and it has changed the way I think about food. The information in this book should be broadcast more widely to the public; however, for the most part, it’s not.

In recent years, there is more in the way of TV programmes sharing this knowledge, and it needs to be more widely available. I think a lot of people would change the way they eat if they understood what was going into their food and actually how much of it isn’t really food.


Sunrise on the Reaping

The second part of this week, although technically it was mostly today, I’ve been reading Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins.

This year, I’ve been looking forward to this newly released instalment in The Hunger Games series. If you are unfamiliar, this book features the Hunger Games in their 50th year, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. More meaningfully for readers though, it is the games in which Haymitch Abernathy features and seals his fate.

Prior to today, I’d read about a third of the book. I have no qualms about confessing that I blitzed the remainder of the book over the course of several hours today. It’s been a long time since I’ve hyper-focused and finished a book this quickly. It’s fair to say it didn’t disappoint in terms of living up to the wider series. It was also intriguing to see Haymitch as a boy before we meet him in the main Hunger Games series, and understand what happens to him to make him the man we see all those years later.


A Day of Fallen Night

Finally, the last book to update you on in this post is my current audiobook, A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon. This is also a prequel, so I can’t be accused of not living up to my goal of trying to read more series.

I’m also reading this one comparatively quickly after finishing the first book in January. I am often battle with the self-inflicted problem of leaving too long a gap between book in a series. As a result, I need to recap myself on events of the prior books before starting the next. The Priory of the Orange Tree was still relatively fresh in my mind; picking up A Day of Fallen Night has been very easy.

It’s been so easy, in fact, that I’ve listened to about 12 and a half hours of A Day of Fallen Night as of this Sunday Summary update. Although set several centuries before the main series, there are overlaps and connections to characters from that first book that I’ve appreciated connecting the dots on.

I’m looking forward to listening more over the next few weeks. Like The Priory of the Orange Tree, A Day of Fallen Night is a long audiobook. Currently, I have just less than 20 hours left at x1.2 speed.


Books Discovered

If you read my First Lines Friday feature post, you’ll know that I added the sequel to The First Binding to my TBR this week. That book is called The Doors of Midnight.


Coming Up…

Somehow, we’re already at the beginning of June. That means I’ve got a busy week ahead in terms of my blogging schedule!

Tomorrow I’m planning to bring you my monthly wrap-up for May 2025. Although it wasn’t the fastest reading month, and I certainly didn’t get to all the books on my list, it was a good one!

In order to spur on my reading pace and catch up with my Goodreads reading challenge (I’m 2 books behind schedule as of this Sunday Summary), I’ve decided to take part in a summer reading challenge. Stay tuned to find out about the 20 Books of Summer challenge, which I’ll share mid-week.

Next, it only seems natural to share my reading list for June. Usually, I have to leave myself an undisclosed placeholder for our work book club pick. However, this time I know what we’re reading ahead of our meeting towards the end of June. Stay tuned to find out what that is, as well as the other books I intend to read.

Last, but by no means least, I’m back next Sunday with another Sunday Summary catch-up post. Even if you can’t check out any of my other posts mid-week, be sure to read this weekly recap so you don’t miss anything!

Until next time, happy reading!

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Sunday Summary – 25th May 2025

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Happy late May bank holiday weekend, folks! Normally, when I’m drafting my Sunday Summary, I’m lamenting another weekend being over. This week, though, that’s not the case! I’ve still got another day off, and I’m looking forward to it 😁

So, what have I been up to this week? Firstly, I shared a post this week about the importance of libraries and what we can all do to help them. It doesn’t have to cost money either!

On Friday, I returned with a Shelf Control post. This week’s feature was an upcoming young adult thriller I’m curious to try. The premise is unlike anything I’ve seen before…


Books Read


Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World


Prior to today, over the course of this week, I listened to two and a half hours of Crashed. This was mainly when driving into work. However, I had some time at home on my own today and a number of self-imposed jobs to do. To keep me company, I picked up this audiobook again.

… and finished it. I had about five hours of audio left when I started listening today, and I did it! It wasn’t specifically my intention to, but once I realised I only had a small amount left to go, I was on a mission then.

Crashed is an interesting book to listen to. We often think about the multiple financial crises from the early 2000s through to 2016 as separate events. Adam Tooze makes arguments that they’re not. It’s not funny, haha funny, but when you then consider the coronavirus pandemic and yet more turmoil after all that, it’s been a rollercoaster. Turns out Adam has also subsequently written another book about the pandemic.


Ultra-Processed People


In last week’s Sunday Summary, I was only just in a position to share that I’d started Ultra-Processed People. As of this Sunday Summary, I’ve gone on to read 175 pages, bringing me to 45% progress in the book.

I’m on a non-fiction roll and enjoying the variety of the genre. When I set out to read this book, I expected it would change how I think about food. In the last few months, I’ve already been consciously trying to cook more from scratch and eat less ultra-processed food (UPF). I’m not looking to put it out entirely – as this book argues – in the UK’s food environment, that’s going to be difficult. However, eating less UPF is an improvement!

Chris is really good at putting into perspective what the ‘ingredients’ commonly found in UPF are, how they got there, and who is most affected by it. It’s a really informative read, and I’m looking forward to reading on.


Books Discovered


Do you recall I mentioned Adam Tooze has published a book about the COVID-19 pandemic? It’s called Shutdown, and I got the audiobook after I finished Crashed this afternoon.


Coming Up…

It’s the last week of May, so I need to get my skates on with my TBR!

With this in mind, I’m taking a few days off to enjoy some reading time and to try and make more of a dent in the list by the end of next week. So, my first post will go live on Friday, and that will be a First Lines Friday feature. In the spirit of keeping things easy, I’m not setting a particular challenge this time.

This time next week, I’ll share another Sunday Summary update, in which I have all the bookish updates for you!

Have you read anything lately that you’d like to recommend?

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Sunday Summary – 18th May 2025

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Another weekend has come and gone in the blink of an eye. Why do they pass so quickly? Nevertheless, I’m here this Sunday Summary to give you another weekly wrap-up of what I’ve been reading and sharing this week.

The first post of this week was delayed by a day and went live on Thursday. In that post, I shared my review of a book I read over two years ago now – Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell. If you enjoy historical fiction with a setting dominated by Saxon and Viking clashes, this is a series I highly recommend!

On Friday, I featured the introduction to a recent addition to my TBR in my First Lines Friday. This book is a little out of my comfort zone; if you were intrigued to find out more, as always, I provide a link to that post.


Books Read


The Poppy War

Progress with The Poppy War this week has come on leaps and bounds. Initially when I started this book, I wasn’t reading it very quickly. Even as recently as last week’s Sunday Summary, I was only 180 pages into the book.

As of this Sunday Summary, I’m pleased to update you that I finished this book today. I read a big chunk of it today, and I couldn’t put it down! I’m so glad I’ve concluded this first book to the trilogy. The world-building and events of the plot are both horrifying and compelling to read.

I definitely won’t be waiting years to read the sequel! Then, no doubt I’ll be reading about the real-life events that inspire the storyline – the Second Sino-Japanese War.


Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World

Again, compared to last week’s Sunday Summary update, I have far more progress to share with you.

I’ve enjoyed listening to more of Crashed this week. I’ve made the most of time commuting to and from work, especially to listen to this audio. All in all, I’ve listened to over three hours of the audiobook during this time this week.

Whilst the book has retained somewhat of an emphasis on politics, I appreciate more now why it is inextricably linked with financial markets and past events. I’ve gotten used to this in the audio and whilst I’m sure I’m missing out on many nuances, etc., I’m still following the book reasonably well.

I like that this book hasn’t just focused on the financial crisis of 2007-2008. That was what I expected from this book, but it’s also giving me an opportunity to learn more about the subsequent Greek financial crisis starting in 2010. I do vaguely recall hearing about this on the news. What had passed me by was the troubles that Ireland also had in the same period. It’s definitely an informative lesson and I’m glad I picked this up in audio format.


Ultra-Processed People

After finishing The Poppy War, I made a brief start on Ultra-Processed People before sharing this post.

So far, I’ve only read the introduction and started the first chapter. However, I can already tell this book is going to change how I think about food. Learning what some of the seemingly innocuous ingredients are and why they are present in modern-day food will definitely change my perspective. I’ve already learned that a lot of ice cream contains xanthan gum. Doesn’t sound too disgusting until you learn it’s a bacterial slime. Needless to say, I didn’t have any for dessert today…


Books Discovered

In the introduction to this Sunday Summary, I alluded to an addition to my TBR this week that I featured in my First Lines Friday. That book is Powerless by Lauren Roberts.

This book is a fantasy romance. Whilst on the surface you may think that’s right up my alley, there is a question for me over the romance element of the book. However, as someone who actively tries to read different things all the time and push myself out of my comfort zone, I’m going to give it a go. I have read other fantasy series with romance elements and enjoyed them. Will Powerless and the whole trilogy join these? I hope so!


Coming Up…

My first post of the week will be a discussion about why libraries are so important to individuals and communities. I’ll be the first to hold my hands up and say I don’t use my library as much as I should, and the ways I’d like to change that.

On Friday, I return with my Shelf Control regular feature post. I’m looking forward to sharing what’s coming up on my TBR and why I’m excited to read it. If you’re interested in a forward glance to what’s coming up on my reading list, this is the post to look out for.

Finally, I’m back with another weekly wrap-up in next week’s Sunday Summary update. Fingers crossed I’ll have more bookish finishes to share with you; if I want to get through my monthly TBR, I really need to pull my finger out!

Until next time, stay safe and well, and happy reading!

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Sunday Summary – 11/05/2025

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Good evening, reading friends! I hope you’ve had a fantastic week? I’m looking forward to updating you on my week in today’s Sunday Summary post.

Before we get into my recap of the books I’ve read so far this week, let’s take a look at the blog posts I’ve shared so far. The first of those blog posts was a board game book tag. I’d seen this post online and I thought it was a fun idea to share something different. It also worked really well because I got to share a broad spectrum of books all together on one post. If you haven’t seen that post yet, as always, I’ll link to that here.

On Fridays, I typically share one of two feature posts. This week it was the turn of my Shelf Control post. This isn’t just a great way of looking at and getting excited for books coming up on my TBR. In looking at my reading list to decide what was coming up in this feature, I identified and removed four books from my reading list that I’m no longer interested in reading. If you want to take a look at which book did make the cut, there is a link to that here too.


Books Read

The Poppy War

I’ve only really made progress with one physical book this week, and that is The Poppy War.

In the last few days, I have read over 100 pages of this book. That doesn’t include the progress I plan to make after this post goes live either. I really enjoyed getting into the story of The Poppy War and based on what I read so far, I’m looking forward to exploring more of the shamanism Rin had discovered.

Honestly, I have no idea where the plot of this book is going to take us and I’m excited by this fact. I’m grateful it’s not predictable and I love Rin’s character. She’s a bit of a loose cannon and that means anything can happen.


Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World

I’ve not listened to much audio this week. However, I’ve been home on my own today and pottering around. I often listen to audiobooks or music when I’m doing jobs like this. It’s been nice to get back to my audio as I’ve not listened to it for a week. I don’t know why – I’ve had the opportunity.

Nevertheless, today’s one and a half-hour progress is better than none!


Books Discovered

I haven’t added any new books to my reading list this week. Pair that with taking four off the reading list when preparing my Shelf Control post, I’m net down on the TBR as of this Sunday Summary.

I still have 205 on the list, mind…


Coming Up…

For my first post next week, I’ll be sharing my review of Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell. If you are unfamiliar, this is the sixth book in his Saxon stories series, also known as The Last Kingdom. I read this book in March 2023, so I’ve got some head-scratching to do to put my thoughts down. What I’m also hoping this review will do, though, is inspire me to pick up the next book in the series, The Pagan Lord. It’s been a couple of years and I’ve not touched this series…

Next up in my regular Friday feature list is a First Lines Friday post. Given I set myself a challenge for this post the last time I did it a couple of weeks ago, I’m going to keep this one nice and open. Hopefully, I can find another book with a captivating intro to share with you!

Finally, my next Sunday Summary post will round off the week next week. Hopefully, I’ll have more bookish news to share with you, including a finish of The Poppy War as well as some other progress.

What have you been reading?

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Sunday Summary – 4th May 2025

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I confess I’ve written a good deal of today’s Sunday Summary in advance. Today, I’ve taken part in a charity walk, which is an 8.8-mile route down the south of the island. In case I’m pooped afterwards, I’ve prepared this post so I don’t have too much to do!

So, what have I been up to this week? On Wednesday, I published my monthly wrap-up post for April. If you’ve yet to see that post and you want to catch up on all the books I read last month, here’s a link to that post.

On Friday, I shared my monthly TBR for May. I’ve got some great books coming up. This TBR is non-fiction and fantasy-heavy… and I’m excited!


Books Read

Normal Women

This week I decided to put down Normal Women and have a little break from the book. It’s not a DNF and I will be coming back to it soon.

 

The Poppy War

As of today’s Sunday Summary, I’ve read a little more of The Poppy War in the last week. Admittedly, I haven’t made the most progress with this book. However, I have enjoyed seeing Rin settle herself into Sinegard. The book is already setting up a narrative where Rin is the outsider. Given there are obvious class and perhaps racial divides in the characters, I’m looking forward to exploring this in a non-British or European setting.

I’m not very familiar with non-Western cultural elements. A lot of the fantasy I have read growing up has been Western as opposed to Eastern, and so I’m not as fast as I could be on where these divides may lie in other cultures. That’s what I’m looking forward to exploring in The Poppy War.


Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Shaped the World

I’ve been doing a fair bit of walking during my lunch hours this week. As a result, I’ve listened to about three and a half hours of Crashed.

I’m definitely enjoying this second part of the book more than the first. Don’t get me wrong, there is still a political element to the narrative. However, the emphasis is on the crisis, and that’s what I’m more interested in reading about.

The book is still a little more technical, so some of the detail goes over my head. However, that’s not impacting my understanding or enjoyment of the book.


Books Discovered

I’ve added The Obesity Code to my TBR this week. I read about this book online, and it promises to change readers’ ideas of how weight loss is achieved.

Even if you aren’t invested in the subject, I’m sure you’re aware of how much conflicting information there is out there. I’m trying to wade through it and bust the myths. This book is very highly rated, so I’m hoping it’s one of the more reliable books 🤞🏻


Coming Up…

I plan to keep content on the light side of things early next week. I’ve seen a book tag online that’s based around board games over at Bewitching Books Ravenous Reads. I think this could be good fun to write, so I’ll be sharing this in the next few days.

On Friday, it will be time for my Shelf Control regular feature. In this series, I take a look at upcoming books on my reading list. It’s a great way to get myself looking forward to a particular book. I hope you can stay tuned to find out what’s coming up on my reading list soon.

Last, but by no means least, I’ll return with a Sunday Summary at the same time next week. I’m looking forward to having more reading updates to share with you and how I’m getting on with progress in my May TBR.

Until next time, happy reading!

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Sunday Summary – 27th April 2025

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It’s been another relaxed Sunday here— and rightly earned! Welcome to today’s Sunday Summary catch-up post. As always, I’ll take you through my updates of the week so far. And, I’ll catch you up on the books I’ve been reading, books added to the TBR, as well as what’s coming up on the blog.

The first port of call is to recap the blog posts I have shared with you to date. The first post I put out this week was a Top Ten Tuesday. In that post, I discussed ten books that surprised me. Most were in a good way, but there were a couple of exceptions to this rule too.

Next, on Friday, I featured a non-fiction book in my First Lines Friday regular feature. I completed the challenge I set myself in last week’s Sunday Summary by featuring a non-fiction; if you’re interested to see which book I chose, you can go and take a look at that post here.


Books Read


Normal Women

Progress with Normal Women remains pretty slow but steady. I confess that I’ve only made progress with this book today, and that progress amounts to another 30 pages (so far tonight!)

I have a hardback edition of the book, which isn’t particularly practical to carry around. As a result, I have been taking my copy of Elektra and then The Poppy War to work. Ultimately, their paperback format has made those the books more accessible to carry around and make progress with.

That said, I am enjoying Normal Women and I confess I’m also enjoying taking it slowly. It’s not particularly light on subject matter, so I would argue this pacing suits the book better anyway.


Elektra

Over the course of this week, I finished my read of Elektra by Jennifer Saint. I really enjoyed going back to Greek mythology. It’s reminded me how much I enjoy the genre. If you are a little partial to feminist fiction now and then, Elektra is a great choice. The book centres around the experiences of three women in particular, Cassandra, Clytemnestra (say that three times quickly…), and Elektra.

I read and finished Elektra pretty quickly. As is generally my experience with retellings, they’re a great way to pick up something quite quickly. They serve as a great refresher in between larger or heavier books.

Elektra turned out to be just the change of scene I needed. I will definitely be picking up more books by Jennifer Saint soon, because Elektra was so easy to read and really enjoyable.


The Poppy War

Finally, the last physical book I have made a start with this week is The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. This is the last book on my April TBR, so I’m really happy to have made it this far through my reading list.

I know I won’t have finished this book by the end of the month, but that’s okay with me! I’m looking forward to the experience of picking up something new and a book that’s come highly recommended to me by others. So far, I have really enjoyed the introduction to Rin’s story and really from now on, it’s about seeing where things go from there.


Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Shaped the World

Given that I’ve completed all of my audiobook listens on this month’s TBR, I decided to start something a little different. A while ago I added Crashed to my reading list as a bit of a stretch listen based on my role at work.

Whilst I had so hoped for something a little higher level, Crashed is going into quite a lot of detail about the financial crises experienced – especially around the early 2000s and the consequences they’ve had for everybody. The book is even going so far as to look at the political and geopolitical landscape to explain why these crises aren’t necessarily so independent as originally believed.

As I said, this is a little over my head. Whilst I do recognise some of the concepts discussed in the book from study I undertook last year, I had hoped for something a little bit lighter. Nevertheless, I’m going to persevere with the book in the hopes that I get used to the style and I’m able to take away what I wanted from the book.


Books Discovered

Given I was naughty last week, I’ve been far more considerate of the bank account this week and not made any purchases. In fact, I’ve not even added anything to my reading list without purchasing either.

Go me 🥳

 

Coming Up…

We’re coming up to the end of another month, so next week you have my monthly wrap-up post coming to you on Wednesday or Thursday at the latest. Overall, I’ve had a really good reading month and I’ve managed to pick up every single book on my list. Check out that post to find out where I get up to in each of my current reads by the end of the month!

Next, it’s only natural that I let you know what’s coming up on my May reading list, right? So, with this in mind, my next post will be my May TBR which will go live on Friday.

As always, you know you can look forward to my next instalment of my Sunday Summary at the end of the week. In that post, I’ll catch you up on all my reading updates.

Until then though guys, thanks for reading today’s Sunday Summary. Happy reading and have a good week!

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Sunday Summary – 20th April 2025

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Happy Easter friends! It may be a bank holiday weekend, but I’m not taking any breaks in content! Today’s Sunday Summary has plenty to update you on. Make yourself a cuppa and get settled in, because I have a few books to share with you!

Firstly, though, let’s catch up on the content I’ve shared with you so far this week.

The first post I published earlier this week was my book review of Soul Identity by Dennis Batchelder. If you enjoy science fiction, thrillers, or ideally both, Soul Identity is a great book to try. I really enjoyed this first instalment to the three-part Soul Identity series, and I’m excited to read the next. If you haven’t already read my review, check it out using the link above.

Next, I shared my latest instalment to my Shelf Control series on Friday. In Friday’s post, I featured a courtroom thriller I’m keen to try. The book may not be for everyone given the subject matter, but I am intrigued by the synopsis.

 

Books Read


Normal Women

Progress with Normal Women by Philippa Gregory remains slow but steady.

Over the course of this week, I’ve read another fifty pages or so. I’m now moving into the life of women in the 18th century, and it’s not great. Women’s rights are pretty atrocious at this point in history, so it makes for infuriating reading. It’s no fault of the book at all – it’s thoroughly researched, and there’s a lot of information and aspects of women’s lives covered. It’s how badly women are treated and controlled that angers me.

Hopefully, in the next week, I’ll get to a more positive period of history for women?!


The Perfect Wife

As of last week’s Sunday Summary post, I was around halfway through my audiobook copy of The Perfect Wife.

Over the last six days, I’ve listened on and subsequently finished this book. It’s a relief to have it read well in advance of our book club meet in the beginning of May. It wasn’t difficult to achieve though – the story was compelling, and as the revelations and mysteries started to come together, I was drawn to read on.

Having recently read another thriller, I wasn’t sure if I’d find The Perfect Wife more of the same. However, the books were vastly different, and I enjoyed reading from the thriller genre again!


Elektra

A book I forgot to talk about last week was Elektra by Jennifer Saint. I was looking for a smaller physical read to take around and about with me. Normal Women wasn’t practical to carry around, so I grabbed my copy of Elektra and read about 30 pages.

Picking up from there this week, I’ve read a further 100 pages. As of this Sunday Summary update, that puts me  just shy of 50% through the book.

Elektra is certainly a Greek Mythology story that focuses on the women’s perspective. Throughout, we see chapters from Elektra, Clytemnestra, and Cassandra. All three female characters’ lives are impacted by the war with Troy, and I’m enjoying the often overlooked view. Too often, we can read of the glory of men, but not the suffering of the women. If you like books around this topic, The Silence of the Girls is another great book.

I’m looking forward to reading more of Elektra in the next few days. I hope you can join me for next week’s Sunday Summary post to see how far I get.


Books Discovered


The delight my wallet had at not purchasing a copy of Vulture Capitalism last week ended up short-lived. In my defence, I was allowed in a local bookstore unsupervised and spotted it. So, I got it!

I also picked up 24 Hours in the Viking World and The Twentysomething Treatment because they sounded interesting…


Coming Up…

I have some great posts lined up for you in the next week.

First and foremost, I’m looking forward to sharing a Top Ten Tuesday post. It’s been a while since I shared one of these posts. This week’s theme is books that surprised me – and that can be good or bad. I’ll likely end up going down the positive route as I won’t have many negatives.

On Friday, I’ll be back with a First Lines Friday feature. This week, I plan to set myself a challenge for this post. In this week’s feature, I’ll share a non-fiction book on my TBR. I commit to that here and now but without a set book in mind. Wish me luck finding a suitable book to feature!

Finally, I’ll be back the same time next week with another Sunday Summary update. In that post, I’ll get you up to speed on the books I’ve been reading over the week and let you know where I get up to.

Until next time, have a great week and happy reading!

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Sunday Summary – 13th April 2025

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The end of another week is upon us, so that can only mean one thing! I hope you’re ready to dive into this Sunday Summary update and catch up on the books I’ve been reading this week.

Before that though, as I always do, let’s take a recap of the blog posts I shared earlier this week. Technically, last week’s Sunday Summary post went live on Monday morning to accommodate a blog tour post on Sunday.

Next, I shared my list of five authors I will always buy books by. If you are a regular reader, the authors featured on this list shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. If you are new here though, you can get a feel for some of my favourite authors by checking out this post!

In Friday’s First Lines Friday, I featured a recent release that’s part of a series I adored as a teenager and I want to re-read. If you’re curious to see what that book is and sample the opening lines, take a look at that post here.


Books Read


Normal Women

With no carryovers from last week, I returned this week to Normal Women by Philippa Gregory.

I put down this book a few weeks ago in order to prioritise blog tours and other books of a more time-sensitive nature. Now that I’ve got those commitments out of the way, I’ve picked up this non-fiction again. The focus of this book is on women in society as a whole, as opposed to specific individuals.

I haven’t read a whole lot of this book this week given I only picked it up again for the first time on Saturday. However, I have made 40 pages progress and I’m looking forward to reading more over the next week.


The Perfect Wife

Today, I started listening to the audiobook of our book club pick that will be discussing in early May. In last week’s Sunday Summary, I shared that the contenders for this month’s read were All the Light We Cannot See, The Anxious Generation, and The Perfect Wife. In order to avoid a conflict, I didn’t vote in this month’s selection; it would have resulted in a draw. Instead, our other members chose The Perfect Wife by J.P. Delaney.

I have to say, although this wasn’t my first choice, I am enjoying the book. So much so, I have listened to just under half of this audiobook today. I like audiobooks because they are convenient to listen to whilst running errands. It certainly makes a trip to Tesco more bearable anyway…

That’s now I’m reading this book and it’s a good listen so far!


Books Discovered

I confess that I added one book to my reading list earlier today. However, my wallet can be satisfied because I didn’t purchase it.

In the world of finance and in light of the turmoil we’ve seen in markets this week, a book called Vulture Capitalism caught my attention. Whilst I’m not particularly informed on the content of the book to make an assessment on whether it’s true or not, journalist and author Grace Blakeley certainly seems to be. Would I be surprised at corruption within our capitalist society? Absolutely not.

It’s a completely different subject to what I would normally read, but that’s precisely why it’s caught my attention.


Coming Up…

My first post of the week will be a book review. I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts on Soul Identity by Dennis Batchelder.

On Friday I’ll be back with another instalment in my Shelf Control feature. In this series, I take a look at upcoming books on my TBR and share why I’m excited to read it!

Finally, this time next week I’m back with another Sunday Summary update. I hope you can join me to see all my latest reading updates and goings-on.

Until next time, happy reading!

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