Tag: sundaysummary

Sunday Summary – 16th July 2023

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Good evening friends and welcome to this week’s Sunday Summary post!

If you are a regular reader of my blog, or even just this series, you’ll know what’s coming up first. I like to recap of the blog posts I’ve shared this week! The first post I published this week was my midyear review of my 2023 resolutions. Broadly, I think I’m doing well against those resolutions. I have some actions to take in order to make sure I complete one resolution by the end of the year. If you want to find out what that is, you can check out that post using the link above.

On Friday, I shared a Shelf Control post. In that post, I featured a standalone historical fiction novel by an author I have already come to love through a well-known series of his. I’ve also featured this book before in the First Lines Friday post, where the introduction caught my eye. Personally, I can’t wait to get around to this one. As always, there is a link here if you want to check out what this week’s book was.

I shared an extra post this week as I had signed up to take part in the blog tour for Death at the Caravan Park by Susan Willis. You’ll read a little bit more about this book below as I finished it earlier in the week. However, if you’re interested in reading my full thoughts on the book, you can find a link to yesterday’s review above.

 

Books Read

 

Death at the Caravan Park

In last week’s Sunday Summary, I left off having made reading progress amounting to about a third of the book. As I had to read the book ready to review as part of the blog tour post due yesterday, Death at the Caravan Park was my priority read at the beginning of the week.

This particular book ended up being quite an easy read. It’s approachable for a lot of reasons, and I enjoyed branching out into the cozy crime genre for the first time in a long time! It was great to pick up something a little bit different, and I really liked some of the characterisation in the book. The setting reminded me of a family holiday taken many years ago now, which was nice to think back on around this book.

I finished the book on Wednesday, leaving me plenty of time to collate my thoughts ready for Saturday’s review.

 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

In my last Sunday Summary, I also confided that I had started reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine in tandem with Death at the Caravan Park. As of that update, I was 145 pages in (just over a third of the way through as well).

I didn’t really pick up this book again until I had finished Death at the Caravan Park. I didn’t want to put myself at risk of finishing that book quite late, or not at all, before my review was due. Once I had read it however, I dived back into Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine enthusiastically!

This is the type of book that succeeds at dealing with trauma in a way that is laced with a lot of humour, character depth, and readability. I really enjoyed Eleanor’s unique perspective and personal narrative. The pacing of the book really works as well. It is made clear early on that there is more to Eleanor than meets the eye. It gradually come to the fore throughout the book, but it’s teased out in a way that keeps you reading on for that extra tidbit.

Given the subject matter of the book, I think it does a brilliant job of handling very different emotions and trauma. Although (thankfully) I have never had to live in Eleanor’s shoes, I lived through her story through the book. If it gives you any context as to how much I enjoyed this book, I read approximately half of it over the course of a single day – and that was after I’d been at work! I physically couldn’t put it down near the end.

 

Storm of War

The final book I started this week, and as of this Sunday Summary post is my current read, is Storm of War by Peter Gibbons.

You may or may not recall that I reviewed the first book in his Saxon Warrior series as part of a blog tour last year. Somehow, I managed to miss the blog tour for this second book. However, I am signed up to be reviewing the third book early next month. With this in mind, I am catching up with Storm of War now so that I can pick up Brothers of the Sword, fully informed as to what is going on, and review it in the next few weeks.

I confess with the additional blog post I drafted this week, and some time spent on catching up with TV series I’m watching right now, I’ve only really progressed with Storm of War to the tune of 10%. I’ve pretty much done that in one sitting though, so I feel like this book is going to be very readable.

 

Books Discovered

Earlier this week, I discovered that Patrick Rothfuss is going to be releasing an expanded standalone story from his Kingkiller Chronicle universe. I started the series a very long time ago now, and like everybody else, I’m waiting for it to be wrapped up. In the meantime, I definitely want to check out this short side story!

 

Coming Up…

For my first post of next week, I want to share a discussion post. I’ve thought long and hard about the topic of this post, and I’ve come up with one that I’m looking forward to drafting for you. For this particular post, I am going to be sharing what my favourite tropes are within the fantasy genre and why!

On Friday, I will be sharing this week’s Friday feature post, otherwise known as a First Lines Friday post. The last couple of times I have done this type of post, I have set myself a specific challenge. For this post, I am going in with no guidance or preconceptions about the type of book I would like to feature. It’s an open book, shall we say?

As always, I will be back at the end of the week with another Sunday summary post to catch you up on all the latest updates.

That concludes today’s Sunday Summary update post! Do you have any book recommendations for me?

 

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Sunday Summary – 9th July 2023

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Good evening all and welcome to my Sunday Summary update for this week! Get yourself a cuppa and make yourself comfortable.

Before jumping into the books I’ve been reading throughout the week, let’s recap the blog posts I’ve shared. The first post shared this week was my monthly wrap-up post, covering reading progress in June. Whilst I didn’t read as much as I was hoping to, I enjoyed the books I did finish. If you want to read my full recap, you can find that in my wrap-up post linked above.

On Friday, it was time to talk about the books I plan to pick up and read in July. This month’s reading list is no less ambitious. I have a higher number of books on the reading list, but they are also shorter than the books. Amongst those are a number of books I need to read for upcoming blog tours. In addition, I’ve set myself a stretch goal to start a book I didn’t get to in June. If you’re curious to see what’s on the reading list for the month, here is the link to my post.

 

Books Read

 

The House in the Cerulean Sea

I left off last week’s Sunday Summary post having read a third of The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. I spent around the first half of this week continuing with that book, until it’s happy and heartwarming conclusion.

This is the first book I have read by the author, but I can assure you it won’t be the last! I loved the premise, the relationships and the diverse range of characters in the book. Whilst the ending of this book isn’t one I actively seek out in my reading, it worked in this book and I was routing for it!

Where I put down Children of Dune by Frank Herbert last week because it is a serious, political science-fiction, The House in the Cerulean Sea’s lighthearted charm what’s the perfect counter. It’s what I needed to read to get me out of that slump!

 

Death at the Caravan Park

The next book I picked up is the first book on my July TBR – Death at the Caravan Park by Susan Willis. So far, the book is reading okay. At about a third of the way in, we have the storyline and the titled death set up. Given that we’ve been introduced to a number of characters at this point, it will be interesting to see how the narrative unfolds so we can discover what has occurred.

It’s not something I can judge the book on in my review given that I am reading a draft, but I’m not sure the narrative style is completely polished. It initially took some getting used to, but I’ve gotten used to it enough now.

As I will be sharing my review for the book next week, this will be my priority read for the next few days!

 

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

On Friday, I took a stroll down to my local library and borrowed Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. And, as I’d forgotten to take my Kindle to work in order to continue with Death at the Caravan Park, I made a sneaky start on this book.

The unique character and writing style has me hooked so much that I am reading these two books in tandem. There is definitely a lot going on already, and plenty more has been alluded to, but not yet unpacked! I’m intrigued about the main character, her undisclosed past and her unusual relationship with her mother.

Since that lunchtime, I have continued reading the book over the weekend. At the point of publishing this post, I am on page 145.

I know I have to prioritise Death at the Caravan Park for my review. I suspect that my desire to return to this book will only help me through that one even faster! If that’s the case, then I should have plenty of reading updates in next week’s Sunday Summary!

 

Books Discovered

I finally broken my streak of no new books being added to the reading list.

I blame this as a result of joining Threads earlier this week. If you’re unfamiliar, Threads is a new social media network run by Meta and is an alternative to Twitter. Whilst I’ve been using Twitter for the entirety of my blogging “career” (for want of a better word), I confess I’ve never really liked it. I’ve decided to give Threads a try to see if it’s any more approachable. It’s proving to be so far, but time will tell.

It is through that social network that I have discovered new people and my new addition. It is a relatively new publication – The Housekeepers by Alex Hay. I really like the sound of this book as it touches on power, gender and class. It involves a heist, which I think will make for an exciting read. I enjoyed a similar topic when reading Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

 

Coming Up…

As we are now over halfway through the year, I want to take the opportunity to review my progress towards my reading goals for the year in a mid-year review post. I tend to do this post every year as it helps me understand where I’m at in relation to my goals, what I need to do to continue to make progress with them, and/or add or change them accordingly. With this in mind, I’m planning to make this my first post which will go live on Tuesday or Wednesday next week.

Later in the week, I’ll resume my Friday feature schedule with a Shelf Control post. This week’s featured book is a standalone novel by an author I have read several books by. The books I’ve been reading so far are all part of the same series. I purchased a paperback copy of this book years ago after reading the first few of the series and really enjoying it. I’m sure I’ve also featured this book in the First Lines Friday post, and I enjoyed the introduction immensely! I hope I’ll be getting to it before too long…

On Saturday, I will be sharing my review of Death at the Caravan Park as part of the upcoming blog tour. Naturally, I’ll be prioritising finishing this book in the week so I’m ready to share my thoughts with you this weekend. I hope you can join me for that post!

Then, to conclude the week, I’ll be back with another Sunday Summary update. You know me and what to expect by now! If I have as much reading progress to share with you next week, I will be very happy (and confidence that I’ve got an over the small slump I had at the end of last month).

 

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary update post.

What are you reading currently? Have you purchased or borrowed any books from your local library lately?

 

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Sunday Summary – 2nd July 2023

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Good evening folks and welcome to this week’s update post – aka my Sunday Summary!

I kicked off this week’s blogging schedule with a review of Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. If you are unfamiliar with the book, it is a non-fiction self help about women in the workplace, and why we need more women to have senior roles. The book is full of good personal advice for women to take on board for themselves. However, it also doesn’t shy away from the fact that there are external factors that can hinder a woman’s career… and goes someway to addressing how we can get around that.

Later in the week, I published the next instalment of my Well, I Didn’t Know That! series. In at post, I took the opportunity to explore some of the content available under the Kindle Unlimited subscription.

 

Books Read

 

Children of Dune

I’ve not had a very good week in terms of reading, if I’m completely honest. As I mentioned below, I have struggled with one of the reads I have been picking up (and putting down). But, it’s also fair to say that I have been doing more extracurricular things than usual this week. On Tuesday night, for example, I baked no less than three cakes for a coffee morning we were having a work the following day. I was also out for tea on Thursday with friends.

I didn’t get off to the best of starts with this book last week, as I struggled to get into it. There was one good evening in which I found my way and made some progress into this book last week – as of my last Sunday Summary, I was about 100 pages in.

As of this week’s post, I have only managed to read a further 50 pages, despite picking up this book several times throughout the week. I’ve just not been in the mood for it. There’s nothing wrong with the book. It’s quite a dense and hard science fiction plot, with a lot of politics thrown in for good measure. I have enjoyed the previous two books of the series, but I think it’s one you have to be in the mood for to get on with it.

I can’t really say I’ve been that this week.

 

The House in the Cerulean Sea

After picking up and putting down Children of Dune several times, and coming to the realisation that it wasn’t working for me, I then resumed my read of The House in the Cerulean Sea.

I only really decided to make the switch towards the end of the week, so I’ve only picked this up a couple of times. Even so, I have read about a third of the book in those two sittings. It’s not the most progress in the world, but it’s more than I’ve made with Children of Dune all week. I’ll take it!

Given that I’ve been struggling with Children of Dune, I have made the decision to put this down for now and come back to it later. Therefore, The House in the Cerulean Sea is my main current read and it’s the book I will be taking to bed with me tonight.

 

Books Discovered

It has to be a record, but once again, no news is good news!

 

Coming Up…

Next week, I will be putting my usual blogging schedule on pause as I will be taking the time to publish my monthly wrap-up for the month of June, and also to set out my planned TBR for July!

At the end of the week, I’ll be back with another Sunday Summary post to give you the details of my reading progress in the week. I sincerely hope I have more to report that I have in this post!

What have you been reading?

 

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Sunday Summary – 25th June 2023

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Happy Sunday friends – you know what time it is… I’m back with another Sunday Summary update!

I started off this week by sharing a Top Ten Tuesday post. The topic of that post was my top ten reads making up my Summer TBR. The list has a wide range of books and genres on it. They are the books I really want to prioritise reading over the next few months, and I can’t wait to get to each and every one.

Later in the week, it was time to share my next Friday feature with you. This week’s post was a First Lines Friday. I decided to set myself a challenge to feature the introduction to one of the books that made it onto Tuesday’s Summer TBR. You’ll be able to guess the book from the introduction, as it gives it away entirely!

 

Books Read

 

The Lost Metal

I left off last week’s Sunday Summary update with around 100 pages left to complete The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson. I kind of knew that I was going to push through and finish that book last Sunday. By the time I taken the book to bed to read some, I would then be so close to the end that I just wanted to power through and finish it. That’s exactly what I did! I can tell you now that I simultaneously loved the book, but it also made me very mad. If you know, you know.

I’m glad that I have read and finally finished the book. Although I will admit to being a little bit sad that second era Mistborn is now done. I really loved the characters in this series and how the world was developed to build upon the first era. I can only hope that a third era follows in future, and that we can expect even bigger and better things.

 

The Midnight Library

Moving on from The Lost Metal, I then decided to pick up a quick read, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.

Having heard a lot of great things about Matt Haig and several of the books he has written and published, I went into this book with high hopes. I’m always wary of hyped books or authors, because it’s so easy to be disappointed. That is not the case with Matt Haig and The Midnight Library. When I bought my copy of this book, the seller in Waterstones told me that it was a book that changed his outlook on life completely. And I can see why. For such a small book, it has a big message to get readers to think about.

The book explores mental health and the impact events can have on our outlook. At a point where Nora is fed up of her current life, she decides to end it. However, in between life and death, she finds herself in an infinite library. A prominent character from her past reappears and gives Nora other chances at life – each encapsulated in a book. At every point where a decision was made, a new life branches off into infinite possibilities. And Nora tries plenty of them!

Ultimately, Nora comes to learn a lot about who she is and what she values. I really enjoyed the book and its message.

 

Children of Dune

Next, I started Children of Dune by Frank Herbert, and as of this Sunday Summary post, this is my main current read.

The Dune series by Frank Herbert is dense science-fiction, and it’s quite political as well. Initially I struggled to get back into this book. However, I think that’s because I tried to start it quite late one evening when I was tired. So, I didn’t quite get off to the best of starts with it. I ended up picking up another book very briefly that night in order to explore that one instead. More on that below.

I went back to Children of Dune the following day and found reading much easier. I’m definitely back into the narrative now that I really given myself the opportunity to do so. As of this Sunday Summary post, I am just over 100 pages into the book.

 

The House in the Cerulean Sea

I briefly dipped my toes into The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. This book is one that has been on my reading list for a little while, and I pulled it out of my TBR jar to read in June.

For now, I’ve only made the briefest of introductions to the book. As I mentioned above, I started it as a trial when considering whether or not to put Children of Dune aside. As it happens, I am continuing with that book as my main read. However, first impressions of The House in the Cerulean Sea are very good.

I like the set up so far. It also proved easy enough to read whilst I was tired! I may end up reading this in tandem with Children of Dune, depending on my reading moods and/or abilities.

 

Books Discovered

With a few reads ticked off my TBR this week, in combination with no new books added, I can say that the reading list is going in the right direction!

For now…

 

Coming Up…

Next week, I want to share another book review with you. Having taken a look at my list of books pending review, I have decided to review Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. Whilst this is definitely a book about women and for women in the workplace, I would recommend it to anybody. You can find out exactly why in my review next week!

Later on in the week, I will be sharing another instalment of my series, Well, I Didn’t Know That! Up until recently, I had been using an app called Readly in order to access magazines from different providers for a monthly subscription fee. It was only when I discovered that I could access a similar range using Kindle Unlimited, for a fractionally smaller price, that I decided to make the switch.

In addition to magazines, I can also access books through Kindle Unlimited. Overall, I think it will be a better deal accessing both via this platform. However, I am going to explore some of the content available through Kindle Unlimited with you to make my decision. That way, if you don’t already subscribe, you can find out what kind of magazines are out there… And I’ve got a good reason to explore the range for myself!

Next Sunday, I will be back with another Sunday Summary update post. I’m hoping to have plenty of reading progress to share with you, and I’ll be sharing how I’ll be gearing up for a busy blogging week.

That’s all for today’s Sunday Summary update. What have you read recently?

 

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Sunday Summary – 18th June 2023

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Good evening all and welcome to this week’s Sunday Summary. It’s a special day here, as it is Father’s Day! Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful dads out there. I’ve enjoyed spending the day with mine. I know I’m completely biased in saying that mine is the best, but he is! 

I’ve kept myself busy on the reading and blogging front of this week. I started off the week in sharing my review of a Netgalley ARC I downloaded a couple of months ago – Death Magnanimous by Michael Martin. The book is due to come out around the 1st of July. With that in mind, I wanted to set out my thoughts ahead of publication. Although this is a book that handles some difficult themes, I think it does so very well. I really enjoyed the subject matter (and I hope you do too).

On Friday, I shared a Shelf Control post and featured a book that will be coming up on my TBR shortly. This particular book also made it to my 30 Before 30 list which I shared recently. If you’re interested to find out which of those books I plan to pick up in the very near future, here is a link to this post so you can find out!

 

Books Read

 

A Clash of Kings

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update, I had just 66 pages remaining of A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin. After sharing last week’s post, my plan was to finish the book that night… And finish it I did!

These books are brilliant, and they are books I could go back to again and again and enjoy just as much each time. It goes without saying that I really enjoyed diving back into the series. This second instalment is quite hefty, but it doesn’t really feel like it when you read it. The chapter lengths and changes in perspective suit me really well. I had already read a lot of this book last week, and I was happy to finally finish it off ready for a clean slate on Monday.

 

The Lost Metal

The next book I picked up, and have been reading for the rest of the week, is The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson. I chose this book to read next as it is slightly shorter than A Clash of Kings, and I didn’t want to jump into another chunky read straight after this one. The Lost Metal is still around 500 pages, so it couldn’t be called short. However, compared to A Clash of Kings, The Lost Metal is proving to be an easier read.

It’s been a little while since I last picked up the series, but it hasn’t been difficult to jump right back into the action. I also really love the second era Mistborn characters. Wax and Wayne, and the westernised setting of the books, works really well for me. I know that it’s not well suited to others, but I really enjoy it. The characters themselves also have a great dynamic and I’m enjoying their perspectives once again. I’ll almost be a little bit sad once I finish this book, as this is the end of second era Mistborn.

As of this Sunday Summary update, I have read just over 400 out of 500 pages. I’m hoping to go to bed not too late tonight, because I know I want to make more progress. But once I’ve made some progress, I’ll be keenly aware of how very close I am to the end. I have a bad habit of not being able to leave books once I get that close to the finish. I don’t doubt I’ll be pushing myself over the finish line tonight!

 

Books Discovered

I’m continuing my good streak of not adding any new books to my reading list. I’ve said it more than once but I will say it again. This is not a bad thing! If you take one look at my reading list on Goodreads, you will know I need absolutely zero help with expanding my TBR!

 

Coming Up…

The first post I intend to share with you next week is a Top Ten Tuesday post! It’s been a little while since I shared one of these features, but I’ve been holding out for a topic I’m interested in. Earlier this year, I shared my top ten books on my spring reading list. This time, I will be drafting a similar post, but for my summer reads. Whilst the weather is still looking good into next week, ironically, we’ve probably had our peak summer already! That doesn’t really matter though, as I’m not the type of person to pick traditionally seasonal reads. Not only that, but if the weather turns back cold/rainy/unpleasant, then that’s all the more justification to sit in with a good book, right?

On Friday, I’ll be returning with the next regular Friday feature due to come up on my blog. That post is a First Lines Friday. I’m in the mood to set myself a challenge for this post. I’m not going to set an overly difficult one here. On the theme of summer reads, I am going to feature one of the books that makes it to my top 10 summer reading list which I’m sharing earlier in the week.

As always, I’ll be back at the same time next week with another Sunday Summary to share all my reading updates with you, and let you know what I plan to share in the coming week.

That’s all for now! Have a wonderful evening and week and I will catch you in the next post! Happy reading!

 

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Sunday Summary – 11th June 2023

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Good evening and welcome to this week’s Sunday Summary update post! I have a lot of reading to share with you in today’s post. All that progress has been in one book, but it is a chunky one! More on that later. As always, let’s take a look at the blog posts I shared throughout the week.

The first blog post I shared this week was my 30 Before 30 list. Having been inspired by another book lover recently, I’ve decided to set down a list of 30 books I would like to try and read before I turn 30. I’ve left this a little bit late to set out, so I don’t expect to get through all 30 books. However, the post is my expression of intent to prioritise these books and read as many as possible before then.

The next post I shared with you was a new instalment to my Well, I Didn’t Know That! series. In that post, I featured a service that I discovered at the end of last week. If you are a history fan that likes to learn across multiple platforms (documentaries, podcasts, and more) then this post may be of interest to you.

 

Books Read

 

A Clash of Kings

In last week’s Sunday Summary post, I was 280 pages into A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin. Over the course of the week, I have read and listened to the equivalent of another 530 pages. That leaves me with just 66 pages until the end of the book! This week has been a bit of a funny one in how I’ve made my reading progress. Typically, I only own one copy of the book. However, as this is a much loved series, I own this in e-book, audiobook, and physical format.  I’ve ended up dipping in and out of all of these this week.

For the most part, I have been reading the physical book. However, there have been times where I’ve not been able to sit down and read traditionally. As and when needed, I have switched to the audiobook and listened whilst doing jobs around the house to continue with progress. Yesterday, I even dipped into the e-book format briefly. As it is not really practical to take a 900 page paperback with you to the hairdresser, I decided to pick up where I left off on my phone for a couple of chapters.

A Clash of Kings is a very chunky book. I typically find that larger books take me longer to read… not just because there’s more pages. They’re often far more dense and so I can’t binge read them in the same way. Although I am technically behind my page per day target, there is every chance I could catch up with other shorter reads throughout the month.

Even though I’m not here saying I haven’t finished the book this week, I’m confident that I will finish it tonight!

 

Books Discovered

Much as last week, there are no new additions to my reading list to share with you this week.

 

Coming Up…

Next week, the first post I plan to share with you is a book review for an advanced reader copy that I read last month. As the book is coming out at the beginning of July, I want to get my review published ahead of release. Death Magnanimous is the first book I have downloaded from Netgalley for a while. At least, it is the first download I have made in a while that hasn’t been for a blog tour. Not only do I want to get my review out there for the sake of the book, but it will also boost my rating on the site and give me access to request more, if I find something else that catches my eye.

On Friday, i’ll be back with my Shelf Control regular feature post. In that post, I’ll be talking about one of the books that made it to my 30 before 30 list, and that I’m planning to pick up as early as next month!

I’m sure you know what is coming by now. The last post I’ll share next week will be my next Sunday summary update. How many books will I have picked up between now and then? Only time will tell!

Until next time, happy reading!

 

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Sunday Summary – 4th June 2023

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It’s the end of another glorious weekend, and as always, I’m here to tell you about the books I’ve been reading in this Sunday Summary update!

Before we get into the books I’ve been reading, let’s take a quick look at the blog posts I’ve shared over the course of this week so far. On Wednesday, I shared my Monthly Wrap-Up post for May 2023. May was a fantastic month on the reading front! I picked up a total of eight books throughout the month, and finished seven.

On Friday, I talked about the books I plan to read throughout the month of June in my Monthly TBR post. I don’t intend to pick up half as many books as I did throughout the month of May. However, I am picking up lengthier books this month. If you want to check out what I’m reading, you can find a link to that post above. I’ll also discuss my first read of the month later in this post. 

 

Books Read

 

Against All Gods

As of my last Sunday Summary update, I had just started to read Against All Gods by Miles Cameron. I couldn’t really make too much comment in that post as I’d only just started the book. Unfortunately, I have more to say now, and it’s not great news.

I only made it to 20% into this book before I decided to DNF it. My main problem with it is that the book lacks any substantial plot line, in my opinion. As of the point at which I put the book down, we were introduced to a plethora of characters at a very superficial level. So much so, that I couldn’t really invest in any of them. Not only that, but very little had happened in the book to capture my interest.

We have been introduced to a lot of characters that for one reason or another had taken up issue with the gods. And I don’t blame them. Very reminiscent of gods in Greek mythology, those we are introduced to condone and encourage violence and debauchery amongst themselves and mortals… but other than that, there was very little about them.

If you haven’t guessed by now, I found the book a little bit boring. It took me at least four days to read the 20% I got through before putting it down. Ultimately, I made the decision to stop reading, and I’m glad I did. There’s nothing worse than forcing yourself to a book you’re not interested in.

It is a bit of a shame as the synopsis of the book caught my attention. It is a story that could have a lot of promise. However, I found it a little failing in the execution. That is just my personal preference though.

 

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

On a better note, I finished listening to As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow this week! I loved this book. It is not a book I would have picked up of my own volition. Instead, I read it as part of an online book club… And I’m glad I did!

The book and the author does a fantastic job of reminding us of the human face of the conflict in Syria. If you hear about it at all, it is about boats of refugees that sank when trying to flee for safety. They are numbers, not people. We do not hear about the civilians trying to live their daily lives being shot at. We do not hear about the fates of those who dared to protest against the regime and are arrested for their ‘crime’. Most are not seen again… but what they have to live through first in captivity is often worse than death.

Whilst this narrative does have its darker side, it is captivating in its description of the people and the countryside that make up Syria. I really enjoyed listening to the stories of the characters that touch the protagonist Salama, as well as her own.

It is definitely one of the most memorable, if not one of the best reads of the year so far!

 

A Clash of Kings

After the disappointment of Against All Gods, I was glad to be returning to a firm favourite for my first read of June. A Clash of Kings is the second book in the A Song of Ice and Fire (aka A Game of Thrones) series. I have decided to re-read this series this year as there is rumour about the next book in the series being published soon. I have seen a date as early as November this year, but that could still be subject to change. Regardless, I want to be prepared for when that book comes out.

As of drafting this Sunday Summary post, I am 280 pages into the book. That might sound a lot. However, when you consider that this book is 873 pages long, I still have a substantial way to go.

Even so, I am really enjoying the book. This series is one that I could read on loop and never get bored of. Whilst this book does have a lot of characters and perspectives, it does not work for plotline whatsoever. Quite the opposite, I enjoy the intricacies of all the threads between each character… and it is one of those series that you can always pick up on something else with every re-read.

 

Books Discovered

It’s another quiet week on the TBR, with no new additions… for now!

 

Coming Up…

I wanted to share something a little bit different this week. A book vlogger I follow has been running series called 30 before 30. The concept of this post is pretty much what it says on the tin. It is a list of the 30 books she wanted to read before she turned 30. I have decided to put together a similar list. I probably should’ve done it sooner, but better late than never! On this list, I’ll be featuring a number of books that I’ve been wanting to read for a long time (and so I’m taking this opportunity to prioritise them). If you’re interested to find out what these books are, check out my post on Wednesday.

On Friday, I’ll be sharing the next post in my series, Well, I Didn’t Know That. I’m keeping my cards close to my chest for this week’s topic. I have an idea for the post, but I want to explore it in a little bit more detail to see if I can make the content I want out of it!

To round off the week, I’ll be back with another Sunday Summary update this time next week!

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Sunday Summary post! What are you reading?

 

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Sunday Summary – 28th May 2023

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A happy long weekend to everyone in the UK! I’m back with my weekly Sunday Summary update, so I hope you’re sat comfortably with a cuppa for this one.

As always, I’ll kick off this post by summarising the blog posts I’ve shared over the course of the week. My first blog post was published on Wednesday. In that post, I shared a review of a short story anthology I read recently, Taking Liberties. The review turnaround on this book was quite quick as I had been asked to provide a review by one of the contributing authors. However, as always, I haven’t let that colour my opinion of the book; my thoughts are entirely my own.

On Friday, I shared a First Lines Friday feature. This time last week, I set myself the challenge of choosing a book for this feature that fits a ‘non-fiction medical’ description. I’m really happy with the book I chose to feature, as I have read and loved this author’s other books from this genre previously!

 

Books Read

 

Starsight

As of last week’s Sunday Summary post, I was 100 pages into Starsight by Brandon Sanderson. What I had read so far was already a great introduction. Over the course of the next few days, I chipped away at this book and made it to about 50%.

Then, on Thursday night, I started reading more of the book… and this great book became a fantastic one! I was so invested in the events and the storyline that I ended up reading all the second half of the book in one night. That’s about 230 pages, which has to be a reading record for me. Did I stay up far too late to finish this book? Yes. Do I regret that decision? No.

Starsight differs from Skyward, and there are readers out there that didn’t like this change. It’s a difficult one to talk about without spoiling the story, so I’m not going to mention the details. However, I really enjoyed this change. I think it would have been difficult to progress this series without that change taking place. In any case, it really worked for me, and as a result, the book was a very easy five-star rating.

 

Against All Gods

After finishing Starsight, I started making progress with my final read of the month, Against All Gods by Miles Cameron.

As of this Sunday Summary post, I’m only really just getting into the book so I don’t really have too much to say at the moment. So far, the introduction is fine, but it hasn’t grabbed my attention as much as I thought it would either. Then again, I am only 7% in. I’ll continue with it and see what progress I make in the next few days.

 

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

I’ve continued making progress with listening to As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow this week. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of gardening in some of the warmest temperatures we’ve had locally for some time. As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow helped me concentrate on something other than how hot and uncomfortable I was when trying to wrestle with a hover mower on uneven ground. Don’t say I don’t know how to spend my weekends…

I’ve now nearly finished this audiobook. It is a fantastic listen and I’m hoping to finish this off tomorrow. We are at a really exciting (and equally devastating) point in the narrative and I need to know what happens. I need to know if there’s a happy ending or not.

 

Books Discovered

Having added some books to my reading list over the last few weeks, I’m pleased to report a clean bill this week!

 

Coming Up…

Next week is inevitably going to be a busy one, as it is the week in which I will feature my monthly wrap-up post (Wednesday), as well as my monthly TBR for June (Friday).

Thankfully, I don’t have any other blogging obligations next week. Over the last couple of months, I have had blog tour posts that coincided with the beginning of the month. So, although I have enough going on with two sizable blog posts to draft and share, at least I don’t have anything else on top of that!

As always, I’ll be back this time next Sunday to give you another Sunday Summary and catch you up on what I’ve been reading.

Until then, I hope you have a fantastic week whatever you get up to. Happy reading!

 

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Sunday Summary – 21st May 2023

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Happy Sunday everyone and welcome to my weekly Sunday Summary update. I hope you’ve had a good week, as always! Before we dive into the books I’ve been reading this week, let’s recap the blog posts I’ve been sharing.

I started this week by sharing a Top 5 Recommendations post. Inspired by another blog post I had seen recently, I decided to share my top self-help reads that I’d recommend anyone pick up. The list includes everything from improving focus to empowering women in the workplace. As always, I provide a link to that post if you want to go and check that out!

Usually, I share a regular feature on a Friday. However, due to a bit of a lack of forward planning on my part, I didn’t get this ready in time to go out on Friday. I was at a friend’s house on Friday night, and didn’t get home til gone midnight anyway. So, I shared my planned Shelf Control post yesterday instead!

 

Books Read

 

Death Magnanimous

Picking up where I left off in last week’s Sunday Summary, I started off the week continuing my read of Death Magnanimous by Michael Martin. As of last week’s update, I was 22% into the book. Already, I was hooked my the story and the circumstances the protagonist found himself in. The split timeline, allowing us readers to explore Charlie’s life before his accident, really added to the narrative and understanding his loss. There is also an element of mystery that comes into the story, which I enjoyed.

I finished this book by midweek, and I really enjoyed this Netgalley ARC (advanced reader copy). As the book is to be published in July, I’m going to try and get my review published on my blog soon.

 

Taking Liberties

Next, I picked up a short story anthology – Taking Liberties. The anthology includes short stories written by multiple authors, all with a loose theme of freedom. Whilst they have this in common, the stories themselves are wide and varied. The last time I read a collection of short stories, I didn’t love the experience. However, I had a completely different experience with Taking Liberties.

In all, I read the anthology in it’s entirety (which granted, is only roughly 130 pages) in about 24 hours!

 

Starsight

The last physical book I have picked up this week is Starsight by Brandon Sanderson. I read Skyward about six months ago now and I’m excited to be reading the sequel. So far, I am exactly 100 pages into the book and I like where the narrative is leading us. I’d heard that this book differed from the first, but no real detail as to how. Now I have an idea how… but I’m not spoiling it here!

I’m intrigued to see how the plot is going to develop. I’ve read the first 20% of the book easily, and I imagine the rest will only follow suit.

 

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

This week, I’vve been listening to more of As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow. I was just under half-way through the audiobook in my last Sunday Summary. I’ve listened to another 25% this week.

I’m loving the chaacters, the setting, and the premise of the book. I’m especially invested with the characters. Everything has gone quite well for them up until now (as well as possible in a war-torn country anyway), and I’m almost expecting some kind of disaster to happen!

I have a couple of hours or so left in the audiobook. Once I start listening to it, I imagine I’ll listen through to the end.

 

Books Discovered

As if I don’t have enough books on the reading list, I discovered and added a couple more this week.

The first book is Spike by Jeremy Farrer with Anjana Ahuja. I discovered the book through inkinsights instagram, who gave the book 5 stars. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on our lives in the last few years, and I thinkwe can talk about it now. I’m intereted to read the insights this book has into the pandemic, written by an infectious disease expert.

The second book I added to my list also comes from another recommendation by a book blogger on instagram, readingmaria. That book is A History of Burning by Janika Oza. I like the sound and scope of the premise. This is a tale about how the decisions one person, as a result of a desperate act for survival, can reverberate for generations.

 

Coming Up…

I’ll be sharing a book review this week, and it’s for one of the books I picked up earlier this week.

Last month I was approached by Stephanie Bretheron, one of the author’s who contributed to Taking Liberties, for a review. I promised to read and review the book  this month, so I’ll be sharing my full thoughts on the anthology in a few days.

On Friday, and it WILL be Friday, is the turn of my First Lines Friday post. I’ve decided on a challenge for this post. Using a prompt list for some inspiration, I landed on a prompt to feature a non-fiction book about a medical subject. Naturally, that means I could feature my my addition, Spike. But then, I have also read some great books also in this genre which I could feature. You’ll have to check out my post on Friday to see what I choose in the end.

Lastly, I’ll be here for another Sunday Summary update next Sunday!

Now, Starsight is calling me. Have a wonderful day, evening and week, and I’ll catch you in the next post!

 

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Sunday Summary – 14th May 2023

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Good evening everyone and welcome to my weekly Sunday Summary update post. In today’s post, I’ll recap the blog posts I’ve shared in the week, the books I’ve been reading and those I’ve added to the reading list. There are two to share with you this week.

First, let’s cover what I’ve already shared over the course of this week. My first blog post of the week was a review of The Feedback Loop by Harmon Cooper. This sci-fi novel was a relatively short, average three star read. There were still plenty of elements I enjoyed. I talk about those in my review which I’ve linked above in case you want to go back to it.

Next, I shared my next post in my Well, I Didn’t Know That! Friday feature series. In that post, I featured a magazine dedicated to a big-name game that I love – Minecraft. Specifically, I shared some new upcoming features coming to the game shortly. If you’re interested to check those out, I’ve also linked this for you.

 

Books Read

 

The Waste Lands

As of last week’s Sunday Summary, I was just 53 pages into The Waste Lands. Thanks to the long weekend here in the UK, and that I took the rest of the week off work, I sped through this book. Considering I had to read summaries of what had transpired in the series so far just last weekend, I picked this up again really quickly.

What also worked out well is that the plot naturally recaps what’s happened so far. I already read up online what happened so far, plus the summary at the beginning of the book. This is a really good feature by the way, and one I would like to see you in every series. The plot looping back helped cement and slot everything back into place.

I can assure you that I won’t be leaving it another four years to continue with the series! I ended up reading this book quite quickly, finishing it on Thursday. It was great to go back to this fantasy world, and I can see myself picking it up again very soon.

 

Death Magnanimous

The next book I started is Death Magnanimous by Michael Martin. This is a Netgalley advance reader copy that I have downloaded for the purposes of providing a review. As such, I don’t actually know how many pages are in this book as it’s not really listed anywhere yet.

When I first talked about this book in my monthly TBR, I said I thought it was quite short because the reading time on my kindle was only 2 1/2 hours. Since starting the book, that has updated to around 5 1/2 hours. That’s still not a long read, but it’s obviously longer than I previously stated so I wanted to update you here.

As of today’s Sunday Summary, I am just under a quarter of the way through this book. It’s proving to be a decent read so far. The narrative spotlights a protagonist who had a terrible accident at the beginning of the book, and as a result of that, suffers from significant life-changing injuries. I will also disclose that the character is considering ending his own life, and the book appears to explore his journey towards that. That is as far as I have gotten with the narrative and I’m enjoying it so far. Hopefully I’ll be able to tell you a bit more about it in next week’s post, once I have made more progress.

 

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

As of last week, I had listened to a third of As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow. I confess that I haven’t made lots of progress this week, but we are coming up to around halfway through the audiobook now. I’m still really enjoying the storyline and the audio format as well. The narrator is doing a fantastic job of bringing characters and setting to life.

 

Books Discovered

I discovered Truth in Blue, the first book I added to my reading list this week, via Twitter. The author had posted the disappointment of an interaction they’d had with a potential reader, who implied they wouldn’t pick up their book as it has only a handful of reviews. That’s a shame, but ultimately, that person is missing out. I went on to look at that particular book for myself, and I really like the sound of the synopsis. I’m not going to let that stop me from picking it up… and hopefully a future review can help bolster this book and author for other readers to be brave enough to try!

The next book I added to my reading list is a late addition, having just been added a couple of hours ago. This also stems from Twitter, thinking about it. The author of Go Luck Yourselves followed me, and you know that title intrigues me. I’m a prolific potty mouth, so anything that parodies that has my attention straight away!

I like the sound of this book because I may be able to apply some of the content to myself. The purpose of the book is to talk about the influence and presence of luck in brand-building. I may not have any products, but I do have my blog. In a way, that is a product in itself. If there are ways in which I can help bring luck onto my side and potentially increase my exposure/influence to others, then the book is worth my time.

 

Coming Up…

I’ve been inspired by a recent blog post for you to feature some book recommendations in a specific niche – in particular, self-help. As part of my aim is to read more non-fiction this year, I have picked up a few books of this type. I’ve also read some good ones previously. So, my first post of the week is going to be sharing my five recommendations for self-help books to pick up!

On Friday, it’s the turn of my Shelf Control regular feature post. This week, I’m featuring a young adult fantasy novel I hoped to read last year, but didn’t get around to. I really like the sound of the premise, and I hope you will too!

And of course, I’ll be back at the same time next week for another Sunday Summary update!

 

But now, that is all for today’s Sunday Summary post. I’ll see you in the next post, and until then, happy reading!

 

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