Tag: sunday summary

Sunday Summary – 4th March 2018

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Happy Sunday everybody!!
I hope you got lots of reading done this week – a lot of people would have had the opportunity with the weather being the way it was. My parents were in Derbyshire and they experienced 8-10 inches of snowfall… and whilst the pictures are lovely I wouldn’t like to be stuck in it!!
Alas, here at home we only had a dusting of snow, so there were no reading days for me this week. *silently wallows in despair*
I could have used the time to finish my February TBR, but never mind. I set myself the target to read five books, but only made it about halfway through book four on the list. That being the case, I’ll have to sincerely apologise to ADSOM fans, because I am going to have to postpone this read for a short while.
Moving on to cheerier topics, I treated you all to two reviews this week! First I posted my review of Fiskur by Donna Migliaccio, in preparation for reading StoneKing for the ongoing Blog Tour. Then on Thursday I took part in another Blog Tour for P.J Reed’s The Torcian Chronicles. I would really appreciate if you could take a look at those if you haven’t already.
Finally on Friday I published a brief Reading List for March, called March of the Arcs! As the name would suggest, this month I am dedicated to reading some ARC’s received. The first book on my list was added at the request of the author, the second a Blog Tour (19th March) and the final three are Netgalley downloads that I have had for shamefully too long!
 

Books Read


 
This week I have been attempting to finish Living On A Rainbow by Calvin Wade. It is the last book that I managed to start in the month, and I am really trying to finish it so as to not set myself too far back for this month. I’m really enjoying it so far though, so hopefully I’ll be able to share my thoughts with you about it soon.
I also made a brief start on Copper Sky by Milana Marsenich, which the author has kindly asked me to read and review. Thank you to both her and OpenBooks for the opportunity and I can’t wait to get stuck in further!
On the audiobook front, I began listening to An Almond for A Parrot yesterday, whilst I was doing my housework of all things. I like to listen to books when I am doing mindless tasks, as it gives you something to concentrate on. I added this book to my TBR last year and it’s perfect to listen to. I love the narrator’s way of voicing characters – she has really brought them to life.
 

Books Discovered

This week I was *reasonably* tame.
By reasonably, I mean I bought two books… but here me out…
Over the next year or more, I am looking to save a lot more money than I do currently. I’m actually quite good at saving normally, but if I am saving for anything “extra” and I don’t see the reward in the near future, I find it more difficult to not spend money for that purpose.
So, knowing what I am like and knowing that I am looking to be saving this money over a long spell, I have decided to set up a reward scheme for myself. I have set myself a savings target every month, starting in April. Basically, if I save my target every month I am going to buy myself a Penguin Classics book as a reward! That way I get to grow my collection and see the benefits of saving my money. I think it’s a good idea and it’ll work for me.
So, finally, to that end, I started my collection to set the wheels in motion with Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

 

Coming Up…

Next week is blessedly going to be less manic and I am hoping to get plenty of reading done. I only have one post planned for you, which is a review of the first audiobook I listened to – The Stand by Stephen King.
I also hope to invest more time into discovering new blogs to follow this week – so I look forward to reading your posts soon! If anyone is feeling so kind as to post a link to their blog, either here or on my Twitter page, I would greatly appreciate it!!
Rebecca mono

Sunday Summary: 11th February 2018

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I hope you are all having a lovely weekend!!
I’m finally glad to be sharing the good news I withheld from you last week. At that time, I had only just been contacted about it and wanted to be sure everything goes ahead before I announced it.
So, I have been taking requests from authors to review their books for a little while now, and during my time doing so I have reviewed a couple of books published via OpenBooks – Remember For Me – Diana Tarant Schmidt and more recently, A Mentor and Her Muse – Susan Sage.
Following on from the work I have done with these authors, OpenBooks asked if I would like to become a contributor on their site and if they could share my reviews! Naturally I accepted and on Friday, my review of A Mentor and Her Muse was re-published on their site. The review I wrote for Remember For Me is also to be re-published shortly!
So… that’s my news!! Exciting stuff for me, at least!!
On slightly more mundane matters, this week I shared my review of Former.ly – Dane Cobain, finally appeasing the Netgalley Gods and raising my score considerably – aha! I also reviewed ReWired by S R Johannes on their site and Goodreads, so that should keep them quiet whilst I download the next one…
Oops…
 

Books Read


 
This week I made a lot of progress with Kinglet this week, and I actually finished it midweek. From there, I started reading the next book in the series, Fiskur. So far I have  only really started this one, but I am going to finish it within the next week.
I don’t normally “binge-read” a series like this, however the third book is to be published imminently (20 Feb) and I have had the opportunity to get onto the blog tour to review it! Therefore, I’ve had to read both of these pretty snappy, but it has by no means been a chore. I loved the first book. It’s been a while since I’ve read this type of fantasy and I am looking forward to finishing the next one.
On the audiobook front, I have also been listening to The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins. This isn’t a book I would have picked up and read in the typical way I don’t think, but I am enjoying the audiobook. The narrative is very well read and the plot just keeps getting more dense!!!!
 
The Girl on The Train.jpg

Books Discovered


 
I added a few books to the TBR this week. Shock horror… right?!
A couple of them are iconic books that I really need to read. The Great Gatsby is something I have considered before, but I didn’t add it to the list at the time. The Diary of Anne Frank is a book I came across at school, when we studied History (obviously), but having read a little more about her story on a whim, I decided I wanted to read her diary.
I acquired a copy of The Irrationalist on request from OpenBooks, after being made a contributor on their review website! I can’t wait to read this one!
I discovered A Land of Shades via Bookbub; it is about a priest’s struggle with his faith during the First World War.
I also received some bookmail on Friday, which I have been waiting for! I won my first ever giveaway a couple of weeks ago, and here is the book I won!!
 
Tricks of the Trade
 
Lastly, having eased the oppression of a dud Netgalley score and seeing it above fiifty per cent, I decided to have a mooch around, like you do, and I ended up downloading another book. Please don’t judge me – I have no will power…
 
Mansions of Murder
 

Coming Up…

This week, I am looking forward to sharing my review of The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton with you. This was my last book on the list from January, so I am reasonably up to date with reviews!
As usual, I am going to try to get this posted for Wednesday, however I have a couple of busy days coming up, so it may be Thursday by the time I get it finished!
We’ll see. Until then, see you around!
Rebecca mono

Sunday Summary – 4th February 2018

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I’ve really enjoyed this week, even if I do say so myself.
It’s been a productive week on the blog for starters, and I’ve enjoyed investing the time into both writing my posts and exploring other blogs. I forget to do that sometimes, and it is awful of me.
I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch, so I’m going to keep some good news I have close to my chest… at least until next week! All will be revealed, I promise!
As I mentioned above, this week was a good one on the blog – again, it’s a four posts week! Not only did I share both my review and author interview in relation to A Mentor and Her Muse, by Susan Sage, I also shared my reading list for February on Friday. If you want to check out which books I am reading, you can either check out this post or alternatively, they can be found on Goodreads in my Currently Reading section.
 

Books Read


 
I finished reading The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton at the beginning of this week, leaving me a couple of days before getting a kick-start on February’s list. I’m glad I heard about this book last year and bumped it up the list having watched the TV adaptation, otherwise I’d have been missing out on enjoying a great read for a lot longer.
I’ve also started Kinglet, the first book of the Gemeta Stone series.  I can tell it is going to be an enjoyable one for me. It’s been a little while since I read Fantasy like this, and that probably helps me appreciate it more! When I say I’ve made a start, so far I have read 27% of the book, but hardly feels like I’ve “put time into it”. It sucks you in straight away.
 
The Stand
 
On a separate note, I also finished listening to The Stand by Stephen King via Audible at about 11pm last night. It cannot be called anything but an epic, at just over 47 hrs worth of audio, but I’ve loved every second of it! I’m going to review this as well, if anyone is interested, and I feel more than sure that further down the line I’ll be reading a copy of this myself and experiencing it all over again.
 

Books Discovered


 
I have added some exciting books to the TBR this week!!
Year and years ago I watched Luther on TV, (you know, Idris Elba? Please tell me you watched this too) and I’ve only just discovered BOOKS ABOUT LUTHER!!!! So they aren’t the same stories, but the one I have added is like a prequel to those.
I also watched my first BookTube, hosted by a blogger I have followed and loved for some time. If you want to watch the video, you can find it here. She also blogs at A Frolic Through Fiction and her twitter is @frolic_fiction. In case you hadn’t guessed, this is a MAJOR PLUG – go and check her out!
The point I am getting to is this – in her wrap up she talked about reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and she has inspired me to pick the book up. I’m not 100% sure it is my thing, but I began this blog to broaden my horizons, and I won’t know if I like it or not until I try. So thank you Ashleigh!!
Lastly, I added India Black yesterday and I thought it sounded really intriguing – for no reason other than that! And why not?
 
Punishment
 
This is the only book I bought this week – but again, the combination of crime and sci-fi intrigued me! From what I gather, the detectives use a machine in order to help catch criminals and understand motives etc, but this leaves some kind of mental scarring. It sounds like an unusual and exciting read to me anyway, so I have added this one to the TBR too!
 

Coming Up…

As I hinted at earlier, I may have some news to share with you all next week, so please be patient on that front.
In the meantime, I will be reviewing one of my Netgalley reads on Wednesday, Former.ly by Dane Cobain. At the same time I am going to write a brief review for Netgalley only on ReWired by S. R. Johannes, in order to fulfil the obligation, but I wont be reviewing it here.
Until next time, I hope you have an exciting weekend and a lovely week ahead!
Rebecca mono

Sunday Summary – 28th January 2018

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Good morning everyone!!
I think this week could definitely be called a productive one, as this is the fourth blog post I am bringing to you this week! At the beginning of the year I announced that I was reducing my regular posts down from three to two – and it’s taken the pressure off me a bit. I’ve enjoyed having a more intense week though, as I have had some exciting things to talk about!
On Tuesday, I brought to you an Author Interview with Steve Campitelli, in which he talks to us about his first book of a future series, The Fall, set in post-apocalyptic Australia. I followed up with my Book Review on Wednesday!
Last week I was nominated for the Liebster Award – my first nomination for the blog. I won’t lie, I was a little excited! It’s nice to get some appreciation for your blog once in a while, especially given how much time and effort we all pour into them.
 

Books Read


 
I began the week by making a start on ReWired by S R Johannes, with high hopes. I downloaded this book from Netgalley, but unfortunately, I just didn’t like it. This is my first DNF for the year. On the whole the writing was pretty good, but I struggled to relate to the main character. The straw that broke the camel’s back came about 10% into the book, in which the story was so clearly rushed to move things along, and it was done badly. After that, I knew I wasn’t going to enjoy it.
I’ll have to get something together for a review on Netgalley, but I am not going to bother to review it here. I don’t think it’s really fair to review a book you only read a small portion of.
After that, I moved onto the book I have been looking forward to picking up all this month – The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. I saw the book for the first time last year and added it to the TBR; months later around Christmas, I saw a two-part TV adaptation and recorded it.
I actually watched the TV adaptation first, on New Years Eve, and I knew I had to read the book ASAP. I loved it!! So far, I am 67% through the book, and on track to finish by the end of the month.
 

Books Discovered


 
I added The Potato Factory after seeing a fellow bloggers post talking about it. I’ve just had a look to see if I can find the post again, but unfortunately I can’t. I need to make notes when I see posts like these, so I can link them here.
In essence, the post talked about the blogger’s mum being a great lover of Bryce Courtenay, and for a long time [blogger] didn’t pick up any of his books. Now she has – and she loves them! If I ever come across that post again I am going to link it here, because it deserves recognition.
 
I bought a physical copy of The Necronomicon by H. P. Lovecraft this week, and I absolutely LOVE IT!! It’s hardback and smells amazing; it has a leather cover, is ridiculously heavy… and did I mention it smells amazing? I will confess that I love the smell of new books and I am not ashamed.
When I brought it back to work, having bought it in my lunch hour, I ended up having a pretty long conversation with a colleague about H. P. Lovecraft and the book itself; which stories he really liked etc. It was a lovely conversation – I don’t actually get to have many of those, as there are very few people in my life as fanatical about books as I am…
Admittedly, I don’t usually spend as much on any one book as I did with that one, but it’s worth it to me; he’s an influential writer, there are lots and lots of stories in there, and what the hell – it’s my birthday in a couple of weeks! That can be my present from myself.
 

Coming Up…

Next week is also going to be a busy one on the blog, and I am looking forward to it! I get a couple of days respite before things get underway with a review of A Mentor and Her Muse by Susan Sage on Wednesday.
Following on from that, Susan kindly spent some time in order to get an interview post put together, so look out for that on Thursday!
On Friday, it’s time to share my Reading List for February, as the new month will be upon us!!
I hope you will be able to join me in the week ahead for more things bookish!
Rebecca mono

Sunday Summary – 21st January 2018

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Yes folks, it is THAT time of the week again!
I quite enjoy writing my little Sunday summary posts, and I think it is good to have a regular feature on your blog. Mine also happens to keep me organised and thinking about the week ahead, so it’s a win-win situation!
What do you guys think? Is this something you like to read on my blog? Do you think these posts could be better? I really want to know what you think, so please leave some feedback for me if you can! Thank you!
 

Books Read


When I posted last week I had just started reading A Mentor & Her Muse by Susan Sage, my third and final review request of the month. I am pleased to say that I really enjoyed reading about Maggie and Tae’s road trip, with all its peaks and pot-holes, so keep an eye out for a review in due course!
I also managed to finish a book I downloaded from Netgalley months and months and MONTHS ago, which I have been putting to the bottom of the pile a lot. No wonder my Netgalley rating isn’ t great…
Anyway, I pretty much read the remainder of this book, (and we are talking about 80%) in one day – pretty good going for me! I’ll have to get my review up and posted so my name in the world of Netgalley isn’t trodden in the mud quite so much…
 

Books Discovered


So, I added this first book to the reading list last Sunday, after my regular post. I saw this book on the daily email I get from Bookbub… and who am I to resist a fantasy book from an established author?
The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century – I think I saw this book on Goodreads. I thought it would be interesting to learn a little of the differences between England then and now… being the little history geek I am!
 

Coming Up…

Next week I have three posts planned for you guys, and I am super excited!
On Tuesday, I am posting an interview with Steve Campitelli, author of The Fall about his book and the inspirations behind it… and I’ll be following this up on Wednesday with my review of the book.
I was also kindly nominated for the Liebster award this week, so on Friday I will be taking part in the tag, and who knows… maybe, I’ll tag you!
Lastly, I advised you all that I was going to be putting some work into my Goodreads account this week, in order to get my reading list all in one place, and I can happily announce that it is now live! Want to see what books I plan on reading this year? If so, so and check out my Reading List shelf on Goodreads! If you’d like, whilst you’re there, add me as a friend!
Rebecca mono
 

Sunday Summary – 14th January 2018

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Today’s Sunday Summary comes with a very grim view out of the window next to me. The Sun is trying its best to make an appearance, but it isn’t succeeding.
It has been a wet, dank and dreary week, and sadly the weekend so far has been no better. There’s also potential snow forecast here for next week – and whilst I am sure school children everywhere will be delighted… I for one don’t fancy the frozen fingers and carnage of trying to drive to work in it on barely gritted roads. Again.
We don’t cope with snow at all. I envy places like Canada that deal with it as a minor inconvenience. If one single snowflake settles on lower ground here, we grind to a halt. Maybe a slight exaggeration, but not much.
 

Books Read

This week I’ve made a lot of progress on reading the second review request I received, being The Fall by Steve Campitelli. When I published my Summary last week, I had read about a quarter of the book. I actually finished reading it last night, so watch this space for an upcoming review.
Having finished The Fall, I made a small start on A Mentor and Her Muse by Susan Sage, but only a small one so far. This is the third and final request I have taken on this month, so I am looking forward to seeing where this book takes us on its literary journey. I don’t normally take on more than two requests – I believe my review policy even says as much. Given that my first request was a children’s book, I felt I could make the exception.
Not so much “reading” per say, but I have also been listening to a few more hours of the audiobook, The Stand by Stephen King. I am working on a DIY paint-it-yourself canvas for my living room, and audiobooks are perfect to listen to when you are doing this! I’ll have to share a photo once it is complete.
 

Books Discovered


 
I have added a few books to the TBR this week. I added The Litigators after seeing it was the deal of the week with O2 Priority. Based on the blurb, I think this is going to be humorous and enjoyable for a number of reasons, but it will also be my first encounter with John Grisham as an author.
I was of two minds about adding The Tattooist of Auschwitz, because it centres around characters that fall in love and build a new life following atrocities of the Holocaust. I am hoping the book focuses more on the historical struggles, because basically I am an unromantic soul and reading about peoples soppy feelings just makes me uncomfortable. There, I said it.
I saw a review for The City of Brass at Hollie Blog and fell in love with the book from there. This also a fantastically written review, so please check it out guys!
 

Coming Up…

On Wednesday I am going to be writing a review of Snobbity Snowman, written by Quiet Riley over at Quiet Blogster, and I can’t wait to share that with you. I am also in the process of working to see if either an interview or guest post is an option to accompany this, so watch this space.
Those of you that follow my blog know that the Sunday Summary is a weekly gig, so I am going to stop writing that I do it in this section. It’s a given.
I am also hoping to take some time to work on my Goodreads account this week, as I am going to set up a shelf to show my actual TBR as opposed to books I have added as they look interesting. That way, you guys get an idea of what is coming up when and then I don’t have to manage my list with several apps!! Win win!
Also, I have just gotten by behind into gear and I am doing my best to get into #bookstagram . I have linked my account to my blog, it can also been found here – so a follow would be appreciated!! I’m still very new to it – particularly with how people who read on kindles or other e-readers manage, so any inspiration is welcome!!
 
I think that is all from me for this week, so until Wednesday, adieu!
Rebecca mono

Sunday Summary – 7th January 2018

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I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!
New Year celebrations are officially over and we are back to the daily grind. That isn’t such a bad thing though – at least for me anyway. Getting back into a normal routine is what I like, and I have a review to catch up with on here so I should have time to do it. The thought that the next bank holiday is Easter is somewhat depressing though!!
 

Books Read


This week I made a good, healthy start on some of the requests I received this month. I have read Snobbity Snowman by Maria Bardyukova & Quiet Riley, a children’s winter-themed tale. After that, I picked up The Fall by Steve Campitelli and so far I have read 26% of the book.
The Stand
I’ve also made further progress on Audible with The Stand by Stephen King. Why have I not tried audiobooks before?! They are so handy to listen to when you are busy doing other things and can’t physically pick up a book.
 

Books Discovered


From reviews I have seen, written by fellow bloggers, I have added the above two books to the TBR. If you want to read those review posts, you can find them here and here.
 
A King Ensnared.jpg
I also downloaded another book, as it was recommended to me by email from Bookbub and was free for the day. A King Ensnared is a  historical fiction book based on the trials and turmoil experienced by the James Stewart in 1406, heir to the Scottish throne.
 

Coming Up…

On Wednesday I want to share a review of Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. It was my last read of 2017 and it was absolutely sensational… I can’t wait to tell you why!
As usual I’ll wrap up the week with a Sunday Summary, and hopefully next week I’ll have some news for you in terms of reviewing some of the requests I have been reading.
Until Wednesday, ciao for now!!
Rebecca mono
 

Sunday Summary – 31st December 2017

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Firstly, I would like to wish everybody reading this a Happy New Year!!
Not only is this the last post of the year from me, it also happens to be my 100th post! I never thought I would stick with blogging this long, but thanks to a great community and support, I am glad I have!
New year is the time for making resolutions: swearing never to bite your nails again or starting new diets and inevitably giving up a week later (or is that just me?) I don’t really make resolutions in the strictest sense anymore because I am doomed to fail them. Do you guys make resolutions? If so, what resolutions are you making this year?
 

Books Read


So, this week I managed to finish Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein and OHMYGOSH, that was fantastic! Not only that, if anyone happens to follow me on Twitter, you might have seen that finishing Code Name Verity means that I have completed my reading challenge for this year!
self celebrate glitter.gif
Having taken a brief interlude to celebrate that little victory (okay, well it’s a pretty big one considering before this year I sucked at reading regularly), I also made a start on one of my Netgalley downloads, as my rating is not all that good at the moment… aha… oops. I downloaded the books a little while ago and I think I’ve left it too long…
The Stand
I’ve also been listing to more of The Stand by Stephen King via Audible. I really think I am going to take to audiobooks.
 

Books Discovered

This is one of those rare weeks in which I have absolutely nothing to report… I haven’t added any books to the list or bought any – which is a rarity!
Between Christmas and New Year really throws me off my beat…
Equally, I’ve been busy trying to set up a bullet journal for this year. That’s my excuse! I’m looking forward to seeing what people are doing with their own this year – as a newbie, any inspiration is welcome! If you have any tips, tricks, or have written any posts on this, could you pretty please pop a link in the comments? I’ll be forever grateful.
 

Coming Up…

I’m thinking of trying out a slightly different schedule; as much as I love posting on the blog, currently managing things the way I have been last year is hard work and time consuming. I am going to be keeping my Sunday Summary post, because I find it really useful, but I’m thinking of reducing my number of posts a week to two on a regular basis with some other ad-hoc posts interspersed periodically. With that in mind, I am thinking of posting on Wednesday and Sunday.
I’m sorry if that disappoints anyone, but I think it is for the best. I would rather take the time to produce two good posts in a week rather than three or more mediocre ones because I’ve rushed them. I hope you understand…
 

Sunday Summary – 24th December 2017

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IT’S CHRISTMAS EVE!!!
The end of the year is nearly upon us, and with all the festivities going on, this is going to fly by!
 

Books Read


I’ve not read so much this week, as I have had other things going on including a number of blog posts being written, as well as family coming for Christmas etc. What I did manage to do was finish reading Triple Cross Killer by Rosemarie Aquilina ahead of the review I was writing as part of the book’s Blog Tour. If anyone is interested in checking that post out, you can find it here.
Following on from that, I also managed to make a start on Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, but don’t get too excited. I’ve only gotten to about 10% so far, but I am determined to finish this book before the end of the month because this is the LAST book of my reading challenge!!
The Stand
I’ve also been trying something a little different this week on the recommendation of a friend – I have started a free trial with Audible and I am giving audiobooks a try! I downloaded The Stand by Stephen King with the credit I got as part of the trial and so far I am really enjoying it. Not only is it good for me to listen to whilst I am getting ready for bed (it’s helping me wind down – music just makes me lively and I struggle to sleep then), but it’s a great way to still experience a book even if you have other things to do. I am scaling back the reading next year to do other things (and getting off my backside a little more is one of them) and I think audiobooks will be a great compromise for this.
 

Books Discovered

I’ve treated myself to a few books this week – two of which I had added to the TBR anyway because they sounded interesting!

 
Memoirs of a Geisha is due to come upon a Down The TBR Hole post soon, so whilst I saw the book was on sale for a reduced price I had a look and decided it was something I wanted to keep on the list and read. You may also remember I looked at The Keeper of Lost Things only recently and decided it was a keeper, so I’m pleased with these two purchases.
The final book I bought is called The Incedium Plot by A D Swanston. This was an impulse buy, but again, at a discounted price. From the blurb, it is a historical fiction book and it’s one of my favourite genres, so I’ll give it a try!
The Incendium Plot
 

Coming Up…

This next week coming up is going to be a quiet one, and I am not going to lie. I fully intend to spend this next week with family, attempting to complete my reading challenge and getting through this busy period we have at work.
I only plan to write one post this week, instead of my usual three, and that will be my summary next Sunday.
Until then, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
Rebecca mono

Sunday Summary – 17th December 2017

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Hi everyone!!
December just seems to be flying by!! Is anybody else finding that time runs away from them lately? Between working, blogging and trying to get ready for Christmas (I am comparatively unorganised this year bearing in mind my usual standard), the weeks just seem to be merging in with one another.
I’m normally one of those people who is ready for Christmas by November. Yep, I am one of those. I hate the last minute panic, and yet this year I am doing just that. I have had problems getting presents when I finally do find something suitable and it’s all one giant mess. I held off buying presents early as I went to some Christmas markets at the end of last month but came back more empty-handed than I expected. If I do that again next year, I think I’ll leave the stocking-filler presents for the markets. Is it acceptable to start Christmas shopping in January?! Aha…
 

Books Read

Triple Cross Killer
This week I’ve been reading Triple Cross Killer by Rosemarie Aquilina. You’ll remember last Sunday that I had literally just started the book. I had hoped to have this read by now, but with department lunches with work and then the Black Eye Friday Christmas party… I had less free time than usual and it didn’t pan out as I’d hoped. I am about 65% of the way through, so I’ll have to pull my finger out and get this read as my review is due on Thursday.
 

Books Discovered


I decided to treat myself to a couple of books since my last update. Well, it is the season of giving after all, and if I can’t give myself a little gift then who can I… right?!
After my last Sunday Summary, I discovered Merchants of Virtue by Paul Monk. It is a true story of religious persecution experienced by the French under the rule of Louis XIV, aka Louis the Great.
I also discovered The Saint’s Rise by Michael John Grist. His bio quotes that he is an author of “dark and weird science fiction and fantasy books“. The Saint’s Rise involves plague and prophecy, so I was curious. This is also a very new release – it was published on 13th December!
 


 
Following my “Down the TBR Hole post, I’ve also added the books I opted to keep to the reading list from my Goodreads “pile”.
 

Coming Up…

Next week is going to be a busy one in terms of the blog!
On Tuesday you can expect a Top Ten blog post, in which I will be picking my favourite books of the year. This was something I was debating about posting last week, and although I technically haven’t finished the year yet, I think we are close enough!
As I mentioned above, I am reviewing Triple Cross Killer on Thursday as part of a Blog Tour arranged with Fiery Seas Publishing… so I really need to go and finish that book!
I’ll also be posting another review on Friday for Seeker by David Noe and Laura Loolaid. This is the second review request I took on this month and I’m glad they approached me with a copy of the book. It was refreshing to read some pure science-fiction for a change! So, watch this space for Friday.
Setting a provisional date for Saturday, David and Laura have agreed to do some extra material with me about the book. They usually work collaboratively and the recordings of such are posted on their YouTube Channel (I strongly recommend you check it out – I loved their outtakes video particularly). Once the video has been uploaded, I’ll be posting a link and for anyone not able to watch, I’ll be working on transcribing it for you too!
AND THEN after we’ve squeezed in all this madness, it will be Sunday, aka Christmas Eve I’ll be doing a wrap up as usual before taking a very short break for the festive season.
Are you ready for it?
Rebecca mono