Tag: sunday summary

Sunday Summary – 15th April 2018

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Good morning everyone!!
My Sunday Summary is coming to you a wee bit earlier today, as I have forcefully dragged myself out of bed to do so. I had a really exciting week – and not of it is all about the books! My sister is visiting from Uni this weekend for a family occasion, so I have been off work for a few days (always a bonus!) So, I have gotten out of bed RIDICULOUSLY early is for two reasons;

  • to make sure you wonderful fellows get this lovely update post from me before I go back to visiting my family. As Sunday Summary posts are the most popular on my site, I’d be foolish not to make one;
  • I have had so many lie-ins over the past few days – if I had another one today, I would not sleep AT ALL tonight and I would be dead when I get back to work tomorrow (I probably will be anyway, sigh).

 
So aside from family… what has been going on this week?
Well, knowing that I was going to be preoccupied with family for the latter stages of the week, I prepared and posted an audiobook review of The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins on Wednesday. Also, in the spur of the moment last week I said I would publish a post about my favourite Terry Pratchett quotes from the book so far, but admittedly I haven’t done this yet. I actually found a post I wrote a while ago – Top 5 Inspirational Quotes by Terry Pratchett. If you feel you are missing out, you could always check this post out? Sorry guys… maybe I can get this post to you next week. My schedule has been thrown off somewhat, but I’ll be back to the daily grind next week!!! (yay…)
On a cheerier note, let’s take a look at what I have been reading this week!
 

Books Read


 
When I left you last week, I had read about 75% of Soul Music by Terry Pratchett; finishing this book was how I kicked off my week. I love Pratchett’s humour and easy writing style, so whilst this wasn’t my favourite book of the series, it still made for an enjoyable read.
Next I started reading The Seventh Scroll by Wilbur Smith, and this book picks up the story where Taita left off in River God – only thousands of years into the future (modern day, to us folks). Royan and Duraid are trying to decipher the enigma Taita has left for them (the location of the tomb of Mamose), when disaster strikes. I wasn’t sure I would take to this change of perspective very well, but actually it isn’t as difficult to adjust to as I thought. I’ve only made a fledgling start on the book really, with my progress at 13%, but we have to start somewhere, right?
A couple of days into reading The Seventh Scroll I became conscious that time is not on my side this month. I have some pretty big reads ahead so I wanted to up my game. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne is also a library loan and I didn’t want to incur any fees for running over term on this one. Being only a couple of hundred pages long, I thought this would be a perfect speed read and would make me feel I am making progress. I finished this late last night. When I committed to reading the book I fully expected it would make me cry… but I didn’t! I love that it is written in such a way that you know what is going on, based on prior knowledge, but not in a harsh way.
Lastly, also on the slightly morbid subject, I have made more progress on listening to The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. I am about half-way through this audiobook now, if memory serves, so I imagine this will be finished by the end of the month. Despite the content matter, I am really enjoying this book! Aren’t I such a cheery soul?
 

Books Discovered

This is a rare occasion indeed, for I have absolutely NOTHING to report this week! I’ve spent too much time playing Minecraft to look for new books this week…
Not that it’s a bad thing necessarily, I have more than enough to read. Yes, I’ve re-discovered my love of Minecraft lately… although I’m not particularly sure what’s brought it on. I’ve also been watching a lot of videos on YouTube…
Guys – I may have a problem, haha!
 

Coming Up…

So, normal scheduling resumes from next week.
On Wednesday, I will publish my review of my latest Netgalley read, Ekata: Fall of Darkness by Dominique Law.
I am going to write the post about my favourite Terry Pratchett quotes. Usually (I’ve noticed), if I don’t commit to a day that I’ll publish a post, it means I’m not sure I’ll get around to it. I shouldn’t do that really, so I’ll commit to a day. Let’s say Thursday.
Have you got anything exciting lined up for next week?
Rebecca mono

Sunday Summary – 1st April 2018

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Happy Easter everybody!!
I hope everybody is having a good day today – religious or no. Me? I’m just looking forward to scoffing my Easter Eggs. I only expected to get one from my Mum and Dad, so I treated myself to one too. I was then unexpectedly gifted four more… haha!
I won’t be eating them in one go – that’s for sure!
I didn’t post as much as I thought I was going to this week. I had anticipated to share a Blogger Recognition Award (which is still sat in Drafts as we speak) as well as my Review of Beowulf. I am determined to finish the Recognition post tonight – it is nearly there!
March is now officially over and I didn’t finish read as many books as I had hoped to. The last book on March’s TBR, The Mansions of Murder, remains unread, so I’ll have to pick that up another day.
 

Books Read


 
I have really struggled with Ekata: Fall of Darkness by Dominique Law this week. I would say this book is definitely targeted at a Young Adult audience, which I don’t have a problem with overly. For my taste though, the plot isn’t really all that sophisticated. If you follow me on Twitter then you may have seen a poll I posted about what people think of “unnecessary” love interests in books. I think in this book it really is that.
Asher and Alexis have quite clearly fallen for each other and I am just really uncomfortable with it. If I were to find out my life to date had all been a lie and I was whisked off to save a planet I didn’t even know existed – I WOULD NOT BE THINKING ABOUT HOW ATTRACTIVE THE GUY IS!!!
Ahem.
I nearly DNF’s this book this week. It just got progressively worse and worse until blessedly, the two end up separated for a little while. That made the book more bearable. I’m at 83% now, so I think I’ll read it through to the end. It won’t be topping my list for great books though, it has taken me way too long to struggle through.
On a positive note, I finished An Almond for A Parrot this week! It had a happier ending than I thought it would as well, which is also a bonus! I’ll have to review it here sometime; it was a fantastic audiobook!
 

Books Discovered


I saw Everless available at a discount on Bookbub this week and I loved the synopsis. I didn’t have to think about it too hard!
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson – oh my gosh I almost had a fit when I saw this was reduced for a limited time too! Steelheart has already been on my TBR for a while so I bought this one without hesitation too.
My most exciting acquisition of the week is Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio. I contacted Gollancz to find out if they had any review copies available and would consider sending one to me in exchange for a review. I picked the book up from the Post Office yesterday and I am so excited to read it! I was completely surprised when Gollancz said yes to my request. It is the first I have made and I fully expected a “thanks for your interest, but…” kind of email. I didn’t dare believe it until the book was in my possession and now it is!
Thank you Gollancz!
 

Coming Up…

Tonight I am going to share that Recognition Award post – and that is a promise! Sorry I have kept hold of that one for so long and promised to post it!
Tomorrow, I’ll be sharing my Reading List for April. This month I did something a little different in dedicating the month to ARC’s. In April, I am doing the opposite! I want to catch up on some of the traditionally published books I love and have been looking forward to for some time. Check out my post tomorrow to find out what I am going to be reading this month!
On Wednesday, I am reviewing Strange the Dreamer, and I seriously can’t wait!! Just thinking about how amazing the book was makes me want to read it all over again!
 
What are you reading in April?
Rebecca mono
 

Sunday Summary – 25th March 2018

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Good morning all! I hope my UK friends have remembered to roll your clocks forward!
I think I have – but there always seems to be one I miss… that I find about a week later.
dumbledore shrug
Every time. ANYWAY – moving on!!
Those of you that take your valuable time to look at this little book blog once in a while (and I am ETERNALLY grateful – thank you!) may have noticed a little more going on this week. I’ve been spending the past couple of weeks on the warpath to catch up with my reading, so I wasn’t really posting much. Now I am caught up though, it’s time to see the fruits of my labour!
On Monday I took part in a Blog Tour I have been looking forward to for a couple of months – StoneKing by Donna Migliaccio. This is the third book in the series, so in order to participate properly, I spent February catching up with the first and second books. Therefore, to me, this review felt like it was a long time in the making!
I published another review on Wednesday for Copper Sky by Milana Marsenich. This review was also followed up with a guest post written by Milana herself, so I would really encourage you check these out if you haven’t already!!
I was also hoping to put a post together in relation to a nomination I received, but I was feeling lazy yesterday decided that I would post about this next week instead!
 

Books Read


 
Last week I mentioned that I had just started reading Beowulf… and that was the book I kick-started the week with! It is the first poetry I have read in a long time, so it made a refreshing change actually!
My next (and current) read is Ekata: Fall of Darkness. Admittedly, I am only 16% of the way through this one at the moment; there is definitely a fine balance between reading and blogging that has to be struck! I’ve not read as much as I would like, but I’m sure I can have it read by the end of next week!
Lastly, I have made a little more progress through An Almond for a Parrot by Wray Delaney (Sally Gardener) and I continue to love that!! Now that I am not doing any painting, I have taken to listening in the morning if the news is particularly grim. Also, Piers Morgan. Ugh. Some mornings, I just cannot be doing with that!
 

Books Discovered

Scythe
This was a late add to my discovered list.
I seem to recall having seen this before and dismissing it as a book I wasn’t convinced I would enjoy. However, I read a review on another blog the other day (apologies – neither can I remember who wrote it, nor can I find you – sorry!) and it changed my mind completely! I’ll have to pick this up sometime. If I find the review, I’ll link it here, but in the meantime I’ll just have to keep searching! I really should keep a note of these!
 

Coming Up…

As I mentioned above, I’ll be starting the week with a blog nomination post – it’s great to celebrate blogs and the people behind them, so I appreciate the nomination!
On Wednesday I’ll be reviewing Beowulf, which should appease the Netgalley gods for a little while at least! I’m catching up on a few of my Netgalley reads, so my rating will have improved by this time next month! So many books, so little time…
That’s all for now – what are you reading this week?
Rebecca mono

Sunday Summary – 18th March 2018

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Good morning all on this snowy Sunday!
Thankfully we haven’t had too much snow at low level, but the hilltop views out my window are beautifully white! Have you guys had any snow?
Things have been pretty quiet here again this week as I have been trying to catch up with my March TBR. I didn’t have such a good month for reading in February and ended up nearly a week behind! Safe to say I have caught up with myself now though!!
This week I shared my review of Living on A Rainbow by Calvin Wade, a lovely book that addresses the impact mental illness can have on both individuals and families. It really was an eye-opener.
 

Books Read

 

 
This week’s reading has been really enjoyable, even if I do say so myself! I started the week having read the first 10 chapters (or thereabouts) of Strange the Dreamer, but I put that to one side as I needed to have StoneKing read this week.
I found StoneKing easy to pick up, having not long read the previous book in this series, Fiskur. I picked this book up  on Monday and I finished it by Thursday, so I made good time. I think the pace of the story helped too – I actually found it really easy and enjoyable to read!
Now, Strange the Dreamer. The book I didn’t really intend to read this month. In one fell swoop I created “March of the ARC’s” and broke it, but I don’t regret it. I was picking up the book for the odd sly chapter in between reading StoneKing (because I could and why not?!) – but after finishing StoneKing I threw myself into it. By Friday, I had read about 40% of the book. Yesterday, I didn’t just read the rest of it, I DEVOURED it!! I found myself picking it up again and again and again until I got to the last part late evening. I had to finish it before going to bed. And I did. And I loved it. And it’s all I can do to not read it ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!
I probably will before Muse of Nightmares is released later this year!!!
If you haven’t guessed, based on my excessive exclamation mark use, I may have enjoyed the book. Slightly.

A little
Source: Giphy

Lastly, I very briefly touched on Beowulf, my next ARC, but not enough to really comment any further at the moment. I have only flicked through the beginning. I don’t anticipate this to be a particularly lengthy read, as a lot of the content is the original, untranslated poem.
The past few weeks I have also been talking about listening to An Almond for A Parrot, but I’ve just realised I haven’t actually made any progress on that this week! Shameful!
 

Books Discovered


 
I have to wait five months for Muse of Nightmares… FIVE MONTHS?! I am so in love with this duology (and Lazlo, obviously) and I can promise you I will be reading this as soon as I have my hands on a copy in October!
I’ve heard some fantastic things about Children of Blood & Bone lately too, especially from you lovely bloggers out there, so I bought myself a copy earlier today! I cannot wait to read it!! Thank you all for sharing your thoughts on the book!!!
 

Coming Up…

I know my blog has been a little on the scarce side lately, so next week shouldn’t disappoint!
I’m kicking off the week with the much awaited (on my part at least) Blog Tour for StoneKing by Donna Migliaccio. I’ll be reviewing the book tomorrow in the penultimate slot and I would love if you could check that out!
I’ll be publishing another review on Wednesday for Copper Sky by Milana Marsenich, a fictional book illustrating the struggles of both men and women in the small mining town of Butte in 1917. Milana is also working on a guest post, which we are planning on sharing with you all on Thursday!
I also have another post up my sleeve; a few weeks ago I was very kindly nominated for a Blogger Recognition Award by the lovely Larissa! Thank you dear! I haven’t forgotten, so I will get around to this soon, I promise! I am going to try and share this with you all towards the end of the week, but I don’t want to commit in case of timing constraints! If all else fails, I’ll begin the next week with this post!!
So that is *ALL* for now – I look forward to seeing you around!!
Rebecca mono

Sunday Summary – 11th March 2018

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Happy Mother’s Day to all you wonderful women out there! I hope you have some lovely plans for today!
I’m off to spend the day with my mum a little later, but for now, here is how my week has gone in all things bookish!
So I kept things reasonably quiet in terms of blog posts as I knew I wanted to get a fair bit of reading done this week. For the first time ever I reviewed an audiobook, The Stand by Stephen King. I have really taken to audiobooks; they are so convenient to listen to if you are up and about doing other things… and that way you still get everything done and the benefit of “reading” at the same time! Win!
 

Books Read


 
I’m actually quite pleased at how much I have managed to read this week. Unfortunately, due to running over in finishing up my last February read, I am a little behind schedule and fingers crossed I can make that time up!
Living on A Rainbow was my last February read, which I finished on Monday. It covers a number of sensitive topics including mental illness, so be warned, but I have to say it is beautifully done. Not only that, watching the MC slowly decline only goes to show that it really can happen to anyone!
On Tuesday I began my March TBR in earnest, with Copper Sky by Milana Marsenich and again, what a beautiful book. It highlights the struggles of living in Butte, a mining town in Montana in 1917. Whilst it also includes the dangers men faced in working in such conditions they did and disasters experienced in the town, it predominantly focuses on the struggles of two women, Kaly and Marika. Kaly is a prostitute who finds herself pregnant and doubting the future of both her and her baby. Marika aspires to be a doctor and fights against her father and the arranged marriage he has planned for her. Without saying too much, I finished this book yesterday I really can’t wait to share my thoughts with you all about it!
I’ve also been listening to An Almond for a Parrot now for the past few weeks and it is so laugh out loud funny, I daren’t listen to it in public in fear of people thinking I am stark raving mad! It’s brilliant! It’s a little more risqué than I would normally “read”, but it is portrayed from a perspective of near innocence (which is funny, since our MC is a “lady of pleasure” to put it politely). You cannot help but laugh!
So, you may have noticed “Strange The Dreamer” up there and thought… what the? That’s not an ARC!! And you would be right – it isn’t. Yesterday, this book was really calling me. It’s been sat on my bookshelf for nearly a year and I keep picking it up, flicking through a few pages and then put it down again, vowing to read it next month. Or the month after. It hasn’t happened so far.
So yesterday, temptation got the better of me. I told myself if I had a productive day and finished reading Copper Sky I would read the first chapter. Naturally, this spurred me on, I got all my housework done and finished Copper Sky in the early evening. After a short break, I made myself a cup of tea and read the first chapter. Then the second, third, fourth… you get it. I ended up reading all of part one, which is about 80 pages worth.
 
dog cheeky grin.gif
So yes, you could say that I fell off the bandwagon in a way. That being said, if I find a book that I love so wholeheartedly that I cannot put it down, I’m not going to deny myself that! That is what we readers look and secretly hope for.
I’m still going to be fulfilling my ARC reads, but no doubt I’ll be reading this on the side too. I will not wait until next month to pick it up again.. I can tell you that now!
 

Books Discovered


 
I’ve heard many a good thing about John Grisham’s writing, so when I saw this book discounted last Sunday, I knew had to try one of his books for myself!
Likewise with The Fourteenth Letter by Claire Evans, the murder mystery element of the book intrigued me, especially since it is set in London 1881, and historic fiction IS one of my favourite genres after all!
 

Coming Up…

This week, I am going to be reviewing my recent read of Living On A Rainbow by Calvin Wade. I touched above on how well the book tackles difficult themes, so if you are interested to know more, please stay tuned for my review on Wednesday!
Again, this week I am keeping it reasonably QT in the hopes of catching up with my reading, but the following week I will be sharing a number of different posts with you!
Keep reading!
Rebecca mono

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