Tag: sundaysummary

Sunday Summary – 19th February 2023

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Happy Sunday and welcome to today’s Sunday Summary update! Before we jump into my reading progress, let’s do a quick catch up on the blog posts I shared this week.

The first blog post I shared this week was my next instalment of Well, I Didn’t Know That! In this week’s post, I shared some interesting but devastating facts about historic discrimination experienced by women of colour when it comes to abortion rights. I personally had no idea this was a thing, and it shocked me so much that I had to share to make other people aware as well.

On Friday’s Shelf Control post, I shared a classic novel on my to be read list that doesn’t fit into a conventional genre I would pick up. However, as it is a well known classic, I want to give it a try anyway. There are elements to this book that deviate from what I consider stereotypical to the genre. With that in mind, I’m prepared to give it a try and assess it for its own merits.

 

Books Read

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update post, I left off having made about 80 pages of progress into Becoming by Michelle Obama.

Even if you are not particularly interested in politics, Becoming is a great book on what it is like to grow up as an African-American in the late 20th century. Michelle comes from a very humble background. It’s not necessarily something you think about when you think about the former First Lady of the United States. Other than what I had seen of her on TV and in the news, I knew very little about her.

I have rectified that. Becoming has shown that Michelle is a fantastic woman in her own right. She has developed from a young child growing up in an increasingly disadvantaged background to somebody who is willing and motivated enough to change her circumstances. I particularly enjoyed the book because Michelle isn’t very political at all. Obviously, being wife of the former President means you do get roped in somewhat. However, I enjoyed her refreshing stance in not being politically motivated and sharing a more objective view of politics.

Next, I moved on to one of my current reads – The Rise of the Dragon by George R.R. Martin. I was a very lucky girl and received a copy of this as an early birthday present from my parents. It was a natural choice to read it in my birthday month. I love A Game of Thrones and anything associated with it. If I’m entirely honest, I have been looking for an excuse to pick something up like this for some time. Now that I know The Winds of Winter is due out later this year, I may have already talked myself into a re-read of the series…

As of this post, I am just on the halfway through Rise of the Dragon at 153 pages.

I have also started a second book as a current read. Sometimes I will do this, but not very often. My main motivation on this occasion is that Rise of the Dragon is too big and heavy to take to work and read. For a 350-odd page book, it is remarkably heavy. Then again, it is an A4 size hardback, so is it really a surprise? Instead, I am reading Africa Risen at work, as it’s on my kindle and far more transportable! Admittedly, I have only just started this book, having read just the first of 32 short stories within.

It’s only a handful of pages in the grand scheme of things, but a start is a start!

 

Books Discovered

 

I hope you’re sitting comfortably, because I have a lot of books to update you on this week.

If you follow me on Instagram, you will see that I shared a post earlier in the week about the number of books I received for my birthday. I had asked for seven of the books, and I received 13 in total!

One of these books I have already mentioned – The Rise of the Dragon. Whilst I did technically receive it as an early birthday present, it’s still a birthday present. The seven books I asked for are the next two sets in Robin Hobb’s the Realm of the Elderlings series. I was fortunate enough to have received one from my sister and the other from my auntie.

In addition, I received a fantasy series that I have been eyeing up – R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War. I received this series from my sister’s boyfriend Chris. He has not long started this series and is enjoying it so far. We have quite similar reading taste, so I have every confidence that I’m going to enjoy these books! In addition, he also gifted me a copy of The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett. You may recall that I read and enjoyed The Appeal by the same author last year. I really enjoyed how the book is written in multimedia rather than prose (a format I have also recently enjoyed in Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff).

That nicely segways into the last book on my list. My sister was very kind to gift me a special edition of Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. I loved this book last year and I can definitely see a re-read of this nicer edition happening in future!

That’s more than enough books to feature in a Sunday Summary post, wouldn’t you agree?

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post of the week is going to be a Top Ten Tuesday post. This week’s theme is all about our favourite bookish heroines. I already have a few in mind that I want to feature. I can’t wait to share my full list with you, and the books they come from, in my Top Ten Tuesday post.

Next is Wednesday’s feature, Well, I Didn’t Know That! I’m going to be perfectly honest here and say that as a writing this post, the topic has not yet been christened. But, as always, I hope to share with you some interesting information in that post.

On Friday, I will be back with a First Lines Friday feature post. The topic of this post is also yet to be decided. In the past, I have set myself challenges that have an influence on the book I choose to feature. I am going to set myself such a challenge this week; it has been a little while since I last did this. It also makes my selection a little bit more interesting. This week’s challenge is to feature a book that I read last year. That way, I can potentially introduce you to something new and I can give you a quick summary of my thoughts on the book.

Lastly, I will be back at the same time next week with another Sunday Summary to update you on all my reading progress throughout the week.

For now though, that’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post. I hope to see you again soon.

 

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Sunday Summary – 12th February 2023

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Happy Sunday and welcome to my weekly catch up post – aka my Sunday Summary! I hope you’ve had a fantastic week, wherever you are and whatever you have been up to.

The first blog post I shared this week was my book review post for Harry Potter and the Oder of the Phoenix. I completed a re-read of the Harry Potter series between 2021 and 2022. In this review series, I discussed my overall thoughts on the book, but also how the reading experience compares between reading them as a teenager, and again as an adult.

On Wednesday, I shared another post in my new series, Well, I Didn’t Know That! In this week’s post, I shared a short, 16 minute podcast I listened to recently, which introduced me to genre of books I wouldn’t necessarily have picked up myself. I may have even added a couple to my reading list…

On Friday, I shared a First Lines Friday post. For this week’s feature, I decided to share a book that I attempted to read in 2018, but ultimately DNF’d. It wasn’t through any fault of the book. I was trying to read a large epic fantasy at a time when it wasn’t suiting me. I initially put it down with a view to it being a temporary arrangement. However, to date, I haven’t gone back to the book. If you want to find out what that feature is, you can find a link to the post above.

 

Books Read

Picking up from where we left off in last week’s Sunday Summary post, I continued with my read of Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. As of that update post, I was 123 pages into this nearly 600-pager.

I went on to finish reading this book this week. Although it is quite a long one, it is written in a form of mixed media. Not only does that make it more interesting and break up the narrative, but it also means that there are pages within the book that are very easy to read as there isn’t so much content on them as a standard prosaic narrative.

I really enjoyed Illuminae. The story line is compelling, the way in which the story is told is unusual, if not unique, and I enjoyed the characters in the book. I can’t wait to continue reading the series.

Next, I moved on to my current read, Becoming by Michelle Obama. I have had this book on my shelf to pick up for some time. With it being black history month, I decided to read it this month with that theme in mind. It also contributes towards my reading goal for the year to pick up more non-fiction.

I am currently just over 80 pages in and also enjoying this one. I am not a big lover of politics. However, Becoming is not proving to be political – at least so far. In the 80 pages I’ve read, I’ve already learned a lot about Michelle’s younger years, and also the adversity she experienced growing up. It is one thing to know that the colour of your skin has historically made a big impact on what opportunities you get in life. It is another to live and breathe it through this kind of narrative. In lots of little ways, the lives of people like Michelle Obama could have been a lot worse. However, she has already proven to have grit and determination. That definitely comes through in her book, and I can’t wait to read more of her experiences.

 

Books Discovered

As a result of listening to the podcast I featured in my post, Well, I Didn’t Know That!, I added two books to my reading list this week.

These fall under the genre of business books. It’s not something I would have expected myself to pick up. However, the business book featured in that podcast are as a result of being shortlisted entries in the Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year award. If there are any business books that are going to be worth picking up, it will be these ones!

Both of these books sound interesting and I’m willing to give them a try.

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post of the week is going to be Wednesday’s feature, Well, I Didn’t Know That! I would normally share a post on Tuesday. However, with being a little bit behind in reading progress for the month, I’m going to give myself a night off to try and get back on track. I’m not hugely behind, but I don’t want to fall behind even further. Plus, I am going to be sharing three blog posts throughout the week next week. That’s more than enough to keep you going.

On Friday, I will be back with a Shelf Control feature post. This week, I feature a classic novel which I would like to try, even though it’s not my usual cup of tea.

My final post of the week will be a Sunday Summary update. As usual, I’ll share with you what reading progress I’ve made throughout the week, any books I’ve added to my reading list, and what I will be sharing on my blog in the next week.

For now though, that is all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post. Have a wonderful week and I will see you around soon!

 

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Sunday Summary – 5th February 2023

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In today’s Sunday Summary post, I have lots of blogging and bookish updates for you!

The first blog post I shared this week was my monthly wrap-up for January 2023. I would normally share this post on or around the first day of the following month. However, this month the first fell on a Wednesday. As I have recently started a series that I share every Wednesday, I didn’t want to conflict with that. As a result, I drafted most of my post ahead of time, adding a few last-minute updates, before the post went live on Tuesday. If you want to find out what I have been reading throughout the month of January, check out that post.

On Wednesday, I shared the aforementioned feature for my new series, Well, I Didn’t Know That! In this week’s post, I shared an article that introduced me to a book I wouldn’t have discovered elsewhere.

On Friday, I shared my planned TBR for February. Even though it is the shortest month of the year, I am not cutting myself any slack. I have set myself an ambitious list of seven books that I would like to get through this month. If you want to take a look at those, check out my February TBR post. Some of the books mentioned in that post are going to feature below in this week’s reading progress update.

 

Books Read

I don’t quite know how I managed it, but I’ve read in the region of 780 pages this week!

 

The Chimp Paradox

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update, I was just over a quarter of the way through The Chimp Paradox by Professor Steve Peters. I had decided to pick up this book as it interested me from a psychology point of view. Not only that, but I was hoping it will be able to teach me some ways in which I can help manage my metaphorical chimp.

In last week’s update, I did voice some gripes about the book. Those didn’t change throughout my reading experience, so it wasn’t the best read I’ve ever picked up. To summarise, the psychology is very simplified, I wasn’t a fan of the condescending tone, and whilst it did give me some useful information, I would say it was limited. This turned out to be a mediocre three-star rated read.

 

The House of Fortune

Next, I picked up the last book I intended to read in January, The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton. This book is the sequel to The Miniaturist, which I read around about this time in 2018. I confess that I had to remind myself of the characters in the first book in order for things to slot into place for the second one. Where the first book focuses on Nella as the main character, for the second book, we effectively move on a generation; Thea Brandt is the focus of the storyline.

I didn’t like Thea as a main character. For an 18-year-old who has lived a fairly sheltered life, she really does think she knows it all. Not only that, but her character is very different throughout the narrative – at times, she is headstrong and bold, and yet in other parts, she wallows away in her bedroom for a month because something happens that she doesn’t like. It didn’t seem consistent. I’m also a bit disappointed that a female author could do the disservice of creating a female character that could be this pathetic.

Small gripes aside, The House of Fortune was a decent read overall. This also ended up being a three star rating.

 

Illuminae

This morning I moved on to my current read, Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. So far, I am 123 pages into this book. I am already loving it! The target audience for this one is a little bit younger than I am, but the characters are still enjoyable from an adult perspective. The main selling point for this book is that it is written in mixed media. The story is told through messages between characters, interviews and such like. I really enjoyed this when I picked up The Appeal by Janice Hallett last year. Illuminae is different from The Appeal in that it is a kind of mystery in a sci-fi setting… but so far, it’s really working and proving really easy to read. I read the 123 pages towards my current progress just this morning!

 

Books Discovered

If you check out my Wednesday feature post, Well, I Didn’t Know That!, you will know that I have added a book to my reading list this week.

I have decided to add Deep Wheel Orcadia to my reading list as it is a completely new concept to me. If you are not familiar with this book, it is a sci-fi. That is not what makes it unique though. It is unusual in that it is the first complete book to have been written in Orcadian Scots for over 50 years. It does have English translation, in case you are interested in the story but are not bothered by the language element. Personally, I am intrigued by it, and I can’t wait to pick it up!

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post of next week is going to be a book review. This week, I am going to be sharing my thoughts on the next book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I re-read these books in 2021 and 2022 with a view to comparing my experience of reading them as a teenager versus an adult. I have reviewed a number of the books in the series so far, and this is the fifth instalment.

On Wednesday, I will be sharing my next post in my new feature, Well, I Didn’t Know That! If I am entirely honest, I am still deciding on the feature of this post. That’s why I’m not disclosing any more information at this time.

On Friday, I will be back with a First Lines Friday feature. Seeing as how my last post (and the novel way I planned to pick the featured book) didn’t go to plan, I’m not going to christen it this time. Instead, I will share how I went about it in that post.

As always, I will be back with another Sunday Summary update to catch you up on what I’ve been reading and what I have shared throughout the week!

For now though, that is all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post. Have a wonderful evening and week and I’ll catch you in the next one.

 

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Sunday Summary – 29th January 2023

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Good evening all and welcome to today’s catch up post – my Sunday Summary update! As always, I hope you’ve had a brilliant week.

I have been keeping myself busy as usual. I started off the week with a Top Ten Tuesday post, in which featured my top ten new-to-me authors discovered in 2022. It turns out I read quite a few books by authors I haven’t tried before last year. If you want to find out who my favourites were, you can take a look at that post by following the link above.

On Wednesday, it was the turn of my new regular feature, Well, I Didn’t Know That! In this week’s post, I took a look at an article recently featured in New Scientist magazine. The feature of teh article is an experiment in using AI in a courtroom to defend against a speeding ticket.

On Friday, I shared a Shelf Control post. If you are unfamiliar with this series, it allows me to review the books on my to-be-read list and share why I’m excited to read them. This week’s feature is a short sci-fi crime thriller novel that I can’t wait to try.

 

Books Read

As of my last Sunday Summary update, I was coming up to 25% of the way through After You by JoJo Moyes.

Contemporary romance isn’t my typical read. However, after reading Me Before You and discovering it was a series, I knew I wanted to continue. After You is a funny read, even though it deals with grief and loss. I thought the book balanced this out really well to tackle the subject. At the same time, it doesn’t drag the book down. In this particular book, Louisa is struggling to cope. Throughout the narrative, we see her attending group therapy in attempt to move on. But of course, this isn’t the only drama going on. Life doesn’t stop after all.

Personally, After You wasn’t quite as good as Me Before You. However, those were very big shoes to fill. After You was still a solid four star read. For the type of book I don’t pick up very often, it left me a satisfied reader.

I then went on to pick up my current read as of this Sunday Summary post – The Chimp Paradox by Professor Steve Peters. If you are unfamiliar with the book, it is a non-fiction about mind management that deals with some of the psychology behind how and why we do things (or not), experience inner conflict, and how this can be managed effectively.

As of this update, I am 27% of the way through this book. It is proving an interesting read so far. I think there are elements I can take away from it. If I have one small gripe, it is that a lot of the psychology is oversimplified. For the average reader, I would say this is fine. As a former psychology student, I would personally prefer to see less simplification and a little more of the technical side. But, that’s a personal preference, and it’s certainly not going to make me put the book down.

 

Books Discovered

All is quiet on the reading list front this week –there have been no new additions to the mountain of books I already intend to read!

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post next week will be a monthly wrap-up for January. In order to fit this in with my usual schedule, I will be sharing this post late on Tuesday evening, so I can fit in as much progress as I have made as possible!

Then, on Wednesday, I will be sharing the third instalment in my new series, Well, I Didn’t Know That! For that post, I’m taking a look at an article I recently read online. From this article, I discovered several potential reads that I would not have discovered anywhere else.

On Friday, I will be sharing my February TBR. Some of the books on February‘s list are slightly shorter, so I’m being ambitious and sharing six reads I hope to pick up throughout the month. I hope you can check out that post when it goes live.

Then, last but not least, I will be back with another Sunday Summary update to catch you up on all the books I’ve read over the last week, in the usual format.

For now though, that is all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post.

What have you been reading recently? Do you have any recommendations?

 

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Sunday Summary – 22nd January 2023

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It is the end of yet another week already – and so it can only mean that I’m back with a Sunday Summary update post for you. I have plenty of content for you this week.

Firstly, let’s recap the blog post I shared throughout the week. The first post I shared this week was a book review for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling. I re-read this series between 2021 and 2022. My primary aim was to see how my experience of the books compared between reading them as a teenager, and then again as an adult. If you want to check out my thoughts on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there is a link provided here.

The next post I shared in the week went live on Wednesday. That post was my first of my brand-new series, Well, I Didn’t Know That! The point I’m emphasising that all reading is reading. It’s not just books that count. As I am trying to read more non-fiction, this series also gives me a space to talk about things I read and learn from the genre.

The last post I shared was my First Lines Friday regular feature. I had a grand plan to pick this week’s feature in a new way. However, it backfired on me a little. The plan was to select my next book from my TBR Jar (an owl mug) and feature that book. It turns out I’ve featured the book I pulled out already. The odds were ridiculously slim for that eventuality happening, but I’m not mad. I’ve pulled out a fantastic book, and I can’t wait to read it next month! If you want to check out the book, I eventually did feature, again, there’s a link here to that post.

 

Books Read

As of my last Sunday Summary update post, I was 425 pages into The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I made quite a push with this last week, and that continued into this week. I read the remaining 200 pages over the course of Monday and Tuesday alone. Overall, The Secret History was a good read. I’m not entirely sure about the ending, but it was still entertaining. I was mentally comparing this to another read in the genre I enjoyed last year – Babel. I still think that book was better, but The Secret History is certainly a complement to the genre.

The next book I picked up was Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I must confess that I didn’t pick it up for very long though. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was on this month’s reading list as it is the book of the month in ezeekat’s bookclub on Fable. I didn’t even get through the first chapter. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style in the slightest. That’s a big dealbreaker for me. If I’m struggling to read a book based on the way it is written, even if it has a fantastic plot, I can’t jive with it. That’s what I found with this book, and so I promptly returned my library loan.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is my first DNF of the year. Whilst it is a shame, I would much rather spend my time reading books that I do enjoy, rather than trying to force myself through ones I don’t!

I was a little down heartened to have to give up a book so quickly. However, I decided to jump straight into my next read with a change of genre. A few years ago, I read Me Before You. I am not a contemporary romance girl, but I wanted to see how the book dealt with the themes it does. If you know, you know. After a discussion about the sequel to that book with friends recently, I decided to pick it up for myself.

I wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to jump back into the mess of emotions the book left me in. However, it has been long enough. This particular book deals with the grief of what happens in the first book. Even despite the difficult topics, these books have an effortless writing style and plenty of humour throughout. I picked up After You yesterday morning, and I’m already 22% through with hardly any effort whatsoever. I’m looking forward to continuing with this read over the next few days.

 

Books Discovered

I have two books to share with you this week – one I added to my reading list having seen it online, and the second I received as a gift today from my mum and dad.

The first book is called Don’t Fix Women by Joy Burnford. This particular book is about gender equality at work. It is obviously on my mind at the moment that I’m trying to read more non-fiction, and this appeals to me. Having read a book called invisible women last year, which dels with this topic to a limited extent, I would like to build upon them. I’m hoping Don’t Fix Women will do that for me.

On a much more fun note, I received an early birthday present today. Whilst in Waterstones having a browse, my mum pointed out The Rise of the Dragon.This is an illustrated history of the Targaryen dynasty. You guys know me – I am a huge, huge Game of Thrones fan. I also really enjoyed the written history of the Targaryen’s, Fire and Blood. Well, when my mum saw my face when she pointed this out to me, she very quickly connived with my dad to distract me while she bought it. And I have to say, they pulled it off very well. They did this right under my nose and I didn’t even have a clue!

I seriously can’t wait to pick this up!

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post planned for next week is a Top Ten Tuesday post.This week’s theme is a list of new-to-me authors of 2022. I read quite a few books by authors I hadn’t picked up before last year. I’m excited to feature them in this post.

On Wednesday, I will be sharing the second instalment in my series, Well, I Didn’t Know That. This week’s topic is about artificial intelligence, and and upcoming experiment in artificial intelligence being used in court to defend a plaintiff.

On Friday, I will be back with a Shelf Control feature. In this series, I review the books on my reading list, picking one in particular, and telling you all about why I’m excited to read it.

And, you know the drill by now. I’ll be back at the same time next week with another Sunday Summary update for you.

This evening, my plan is to continue making more reading progress with After You by JoJo Moyes, whilst resisting temptation to pick up The Rise of the Dragon!

What are you currently reading?

 

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Sunday Summary – 15th January 2023

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Hello my lovelies, and welcome to another Sunday Summary update to round off this week. As always, I hope you’ve had a fabulous week whatever you have been doing! I have been spending my free time reading, knitting, and blogging.

The first blog post I shared this week featured my favourite reads of 2022. When I planned that post, three books stood out immediately as favourites. I also added an honorary mention to this post, as another book was very high on my list. But, there was just one small factor that detracted from my experience – and it was no fault of the book. If you are looking for some reading inspiration and want to check out that post, I’ve provided a link above as usual.

My next post of the week went live on Wednesday. I’ve decided to start a new series on my blog called Well, I Didn’t Know That. I have two aims with this series – to encourage myself to read more non-fiction and to encourage reading of any kind. By this, I mean I will shine the spotlight on reading from other mediums, such as magazines, news articles, online blogs… anything! It doesn’t matter how much you read – it’s all reading! This week, I shared the introduction post and what I want to achieve with this series. I will regularly update this page with an index of the posts shared as the series develops.

My next post of the week was a Shelf Control feature. I added this week’s featured book on a whim after discovering it. The main character is one that I am familiar with through a TV series I used to watch. Admittedly, I have very little knowledge about the plotline of the book. But, I want to see how it compares with the actor’s portrayal of this character in the popular TV series from a good few years ago. If you’re curious as to what, and who, that is, take a look at the post I shared on Friday.

 

Books Read

The Secret History

As of my last Sunday Summary update, I was 130 pages into my current read of The Secret History by Donna Tartt. This book had already made a good impression on me by this time last week. I’ve only read a little of the genre so far (The Secret History is the second book), but I’m really enjoying it.

This week, I have made progress to the tune of a few hundred pages, so I am now 425 pages in. In my opinion, the story slowed down a little bit in the middle, but it has just started to pick up again and gain momentum. Knowing what I know about the story so far, I’m eager to see what happens next.

Despite being a book about very intelligent students with an emphasis on their classical learning, The Secret History is an easy book to pick up. It may be academic in its setting, but it is by no means a challenge for a reader. You don’t have to know too much to enjoy the story as it is. I am not knowledgeable on classics, and there may some clever references in here I’m not getting or appreciating. But, that doesn’t matter! I am really enjoying this book at face value, and I can’t wait to finish it and see what happens.

 

Books Discovered

Once again, I have no new additions or book purchases to report in this week’s update!

 

Coming Up…

Over the course of the coming week, I plan to share a total of four blog posts with you.

The first blog post of the week is a book review. It’s been a few weeks since I shared my last review, so it’s time to feature another book I have read and share what I thought of it. This week, I am going to be sharing my review of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling. I re-read this series in 2021/2022, having not read these books for a long time. I wanted to see how these books compared when reading them from a more mature perspective. From Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, we start to see the wider storyline open up and these are the books I enjoyed the most. Check out my review this week for all the details.

The next blog post I will share will be going live on Wednesday. That post will be the first of my series, Well, I Didn’t Know That. In this post, I am featuring an article I read in Writing Magazine’s October 2022 edition. That article is all about how recently developed finance technology may be implemented in the publishing industry.

On Friday, I will share a First Lines Friday feature. I am going to choose the book I feature in a new way – I’ll pull a book out of my TBR Jar to read next month, (and that will also be the feature for this post). I hope you can stay tuned for that.

As always, I will be back at the same time next week to share my reading updates and for us to have a general catch-up in my Sunday Summary post. I hope you can join me for that!

For now, that’s all from me today. Tonight’s plan is to continue weaving in a multitude of yarn ends on pair of socks I just made, and then take The Secret History and a cuppa to bed with me.

What are you reading?

 

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Sunday Summary – 8th January 2023

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I have a lot to catch you up with in today’s Sunday Summary post! I hope you are sitting comfortably with a cup of tea for this one.

Having just crossed the line of a brand-new year, I have been publishing a flurry of posts this week. On Monday, I shared my monthly wrap-up post for December 2022. In that post, I took a look at the books I read throughout December and catch you up with my thoughts on those. This post was the first of many this week!

Next, I shared my 2023 Resolutions with you on Tuesday. As you have probably gathered by the title, I share what my reading resolutions are for the upcoming year. Some of them are similar to those set in previous years, but I also have some new ones. If you haven’t checked out that post already, there’s a link for you to do so.

I was back on Thursday with my January 2023 TBR. Similarly to last year, I have set myself both fixed and mood reads so I have flexibility with my TBR. This month’s list has worked out approximately half and half. Normally I have fewer fixed reads on my list. But, since I’d already started a book on my December TBR, I wanted to carry forward another, and I wanted to take part in a book club read, it’s just the way it’s panned out this month. I’m excited to pick up everything on my list. Again, if you haven’t checked that post out yet, there is a link provided above.

My last post of the working week was shared on Friday and was my review of my 2022 resolutions. Overall, success with these resolutions was mixed. I can safely say that I had a good go at absolutely all of them. One was a resounding success, and two others were achieved differently from how I envisaged it at the beginning of the year. There is one last goal that I have carried forward into 2023 because it is one that I didn’t quite achieve in 2022. If you want to find out what worked and what didn’t, you can find out by following the link.

 

Books Read

As of my last Sunday Summary post, I was 11% through my read of The Secret Library by Oliver Tearle. I had just started this book at the end of 2022, knowing I wasn’t going to finish it to count towards those stats. I picked it up because I was in the mood to read non-fiction. If you like books about books, especially about lesser-known ones, then The Secret Library is definitely one I would recommend to you. 

I really enjoyed the structure of the book and how each chapter tackles a different setting or time period. Literature goes right back to ancient times. It may have only experienced a boom since the invention of the printing press and books becoming more widely available, but that’s not to say that literature hasn’t always been a big part of history – from ancient times to modern. The book covers its full history. 

Each section is also broken down nicely into a certain topic or featuring a certain author. This makes it really easy to pick up and put down as it’s cleverly organised and each section is relatively concise. We cover 99 topics across these 250-odd pages – if that gives you any idea as to how short each section is. Naturally, I made my way through this book quite quickly, finishing it on Friday.

Next, I moved on to my current read, The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I appreciate the titles are incredibly similar, but they are very different books. I picked up and loved a book in a similar genre to The Secret History last year – Babel by R.F. Kuang. Given that I enjoyed that book so much, I am optimistic that The Secret History will be just as much of a hit.

One of the elements I really enjoyed about Babel is the focus of language. In that way, The Secret History is working for me because classics and in particular, learning Greek, is prevalent throughout the narrative. We also have the same kind of setting – a very small but incredibly talented group of students. Whilst I can’t really comment on the events the narrative focus on at the moment and how it compares, it is promising. As of this Sunday Summary update, I am 130 pages into my 628-page edition. Given that I have read this much already and just a couple of days is good, and I will be further along by the time I go to bed tonight.

The Secret History is a book that I look forward to picking up and reading. I can only hope that it makes up to the expectations I have!

 

Books Discovered

This section is going to be short and sweet because I haven’t added anything to my reading list. Given that I added three books the week before, I certainly don’t need any more!

 

Coming Up…

I’m looking forward to a slightly more relaxing week next week; the blogging schedule is going to be more manageable than this week has been! I’m still going to be posting one more blog post but I would typically share in an average week, but I’m looking forward to drafting every single one of my features!

I am beginning the week with a post sharing my favourite reads of 2022. I’m all about encouraging reading, so I’m looking forward to talking about the best books I picked up in the year.

On Wednesday, I am introducing a new series on my blog. The crux of this series is to help with my goal of reading more non-fiction this year. Also, I’ll pass on tidbits of knowledge I pick up along the way that I find interesting. However, the point of this feature is to address that all reading is reading. For a number of the features I’ll share in future, I will be including reading material other than books, such as magazines etc. I will of course also be sharing books from time to time too, but I won’t be restricting myself to them either!

On Friday, I will be sharing my next Shelf Control regular Friday feature. If you are unfamiliar with this feature, I share a book on my reading list and go into some details as to why I’m interested to read it!

Lastly, I’ll be back with my typical Sunday Summary post to round up the week!

That was a bit of an epic Sunday Summary post, so if you’re still with me, thanks for reading!

What is your current read?

 

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Sunday Summary – 1st January 2023

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Happy New Year friends! Welcome to today’s Sunday Summary update post. I hope you’ve had a lovely Christmas and New Year as I did.

In previous years, I have taken the time off between Christmas and New Year from blogging. However, I decided not to do that this year as I didn’t feel like I needed it. So, business was very much as usual.

On Thursday (slightly later than the planned date of Wednesday), I shared my review of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling. As I said, I was hoping to get this out on Wednesday. However, by Wednesday evening I felt the review needed a little bit more work and polish before it went live. In the grand scheme of things, I thought it was more important to allow the extra day for that to happen. If you’re interested in my review and haven’t checked it out, there’s a link above for your convenience.

On Friday, I shared a First Lines Friday post. I featured the sequel to a young adult fantasy series I started in 2018. The motivation behind this post was to get excited to pick up this sequel later this year. Having read the opening lines and the synopsis, that is definitely the plan! If you want to check out what that feature was, you can find a link to that post here.

 

Books Read

Despite having family over a couple of days after Christmas, and then going back to work, I’ve still made really good reading progress. Last week I was just over 500 pages through Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb. For the most part, progress with this book has been slow but steady. In my opinion, these aren’t books that you can ingest at high speed. They are dense, and there is a sizable page count to go with that.

This week, I had just over 360 pages to the end of this book, and I read every single one of them! It’s the most progress I’ve made on this book in any one week since I picked it up; I’m really happy with myself for that. Overall I really enjoyed the book. If I had one comment, I would say that it doesn’t need to be 880 pages long.

Then, yesterday, I started The Secret Library by Oliver Tearle. I already knew that I wasn’t going to be finishing this book in 2022. Although it is relatively short at 250 odd pages, that’s too much to read in one evening. Not impossible, but not likely either. Nevertheless, I decided to start it anyway as I was in the mood.

As of this Sunday Summary, I am one chapter in, equating to 11% and I am enjoying it so far. It’s full of interesting tidbits of knowledge related to literature, and I’m intrigued as to what I will learn from the rest of the book. Given that I managed to read this small section in a relatively short amount of time, this will be a quick read. Compared to Ship of Magic, it will be a very quick read! And, my first read of 2023!

 

Books Discovered

I was a very lucky girl and received a book voucher for Christmas from my mum and dad.

Needless to say, I was down at the bookshop at (almost) the earliest opportunity to spend it. As I was coming to the end of Ship of Magic by this point, I knew I wanted to try and get my hands on the next books in the series – The Mad Ship and Ship of Destiny. Thankfully, Waterstones had both of these books in stock for the first time since I started looking for them. Needless to say, I promptly whisked them both off the shelf.

On my way down from a browse of the self-help section upstairs, I came across a few sale items they had left. One book in that section caught my eye. It’s a contemporary novel, which as you know, isn’t really the sort of thing I pick up on a regular basis. It was the title that grasped my attention; In Every Mirror She’s Black by Lola Akinmade Åkerström. After picking it up and reading the synopsis, I knew I wanted to give this a try.

 

Coming Up…

The first week of January is always manic for a blogger like me, and this week coming is no exception!

Tomorrow, I will be posting my monthly wrap-up for December 2022. As usual, I will recap the books I read throughout the month and share links to the blog posts drafted and published in that period.

On Tuesday I am back with another post – I will be sharing my reading resolutions for 2023. With the exception of reading, I’m not one for setting resolutions. However, I prepared a list of things I would like to achieve in my 2023 reading about a month ago and I haven’t changed my mind on any of them. So, those are going to be my reading goals and I look forward to sharing them with you on Tuesday.

Thursday’s post will be my January 2023 TBR. We are already a few days into the month at that point and I may well have finished my first book at the time I share this post. However, I have a number of fantastic books on the reading list and I’m excited to share them with you!

On Friday, I will be publishing my review of 2022. In that post, I’ll be talking about the reading goals I set for myself this time last year and how I feel I completed them. I will also be talking about what worked and what didn’t so well so that I can take that feedback on board for a better reading year in 2023.

And as if that’s not enough already, I’ll be back at the same time next week with my Sunday Summary update! I’m hoping to make some reading progress amongst all the blogging, but we’ll have to see. Join me next week to find out!

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

What are you currently reading? Have you set yourself any reading goals for 2023?

 

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Sunday Summary – 25th December 2022

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Good evening everybody – I hope you have had a lovely Christmas if you celebrate it, and a lovely day otherwise if not!

Whilst this post is intended to go live on Sunday, I do confess to drafting this week’s ‘reading progress’ as of Saturday night. If I’m honest, I’m not expecting to make any real reading progress on Sunday that will materially impact this post as I’m hosting our family Christmas celebrations this year!

Before we jump into this week’s reading progress, let’s quickly recap the posts shared with you this week! On Friday (admittedly a little later than initially planned), I shared my take on the 20 Questions Book Tag. I thought this post would be a fun way to share something of myself, but also it would be a nice and easy post to draft ahead of Christmas. Because I’ve been off work, my routine was off and that contributed to the lateness of this post. This also meant that my planned regular Friday feature post didn’t happen.

Then yesterday, I shared a short and sweet festive post. I just wanted to take the opportunity to acknowledge the festive season and how fortunate we are to be together at this time.

 

Books Read

My primary focus this week has been to make further progress with reading Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb. As of my last Sunday Summary update, I was around 270 pages into the book. This week, I’ve squeezed in a good deal more reading and I am now a healthier 519 pages in! I’ve been doing a lot of preparations this week for Christmas, so I’m happy with the amount I’ve read. These books are chunky and quite dense, so there’s a lot to take in from what I’ve already read. In terms of managing my own expectations on reading pace, I need to learn these aren’t books you can read quickly. 

 

Books Discovered

I’ve been very lucky to receive some bookish gifts today. I received two books for Christmas this year (in addition to a book token that will very gratefully be spent sometime soon no doubt!)

Both books received are already on my TBR, so thankfully, my reading list isn’t getting longer. I received both Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

 

Coming Up…

Next week is the last week of 2022. In previous years I have taken a break from blogging between Christmas and New Year. However, I’ve decided not to this year. Instead, I’m going to be posting as normal.

On Wednesday, I’ll be sharing my last book review of 2022. In that post, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling. Having concluded my re-read of the book series earlier this year, it’s about time I got on with my reviews of it!

Later in the week I’ll be back with my usual Friday feature. This week’s post ended up getting missed, so I’ll be posting it next week instead.

As always, I’ll conclude the week with my first Sunday Summary of 2023!

Have you had a good Christmas?

 

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Sunday Summary – 18th December 2022

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Good evening everybody and welcome back to another Sunday Summary update post. I cannot believe that we are just one week away from Christmas day! Are you ready for it?

Earlier this week I shared my first audiobook review in quite some time. In that post, I shared my thoughts on the first book of the Greatcoats series by Sebastien de Castell, Traitor’s Blade. If you enjoy fantasy with in-depth world-building and lots of action, then I can certainly recommend Traitor’s Blade. I would especially recommend the audio as it is performed very well!

For this week’s regular Friday feature, I shared a Shelf Control post. In that post, I discuss a historical non-fiction novel on my TBR. I’m looking forward to reading this one as it will help me fill a gap in my knowledge of British history. It sounds like it’s full of interesting facts that will give me the opportunity to view England in a completely different light. If you’re intrigued to find out what the book is, you can find a link to that post here.

 

Books Read

I had a fantastic reading week last week. That’s not to say that this one hasn’t been a good one, but rather, I’ve had bits and pieces to do to get ready for Christmas and that has impacted my reading time.

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update post, I was 136 pages into Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb. This week, I have read a similar page count, taking me to chapter 12 which is 271 pages in. It’s not the most progress in the world, but I have really enjoyed this book this week. I am also going to be reading some more of the book tonight before going to bed, so I will have some more progress by the end of the night.

I expect to make a significant amount of progress with this book next week as I have the week off work! Whilst I will be getting the house ready for Christmas, you can bet that I will be making time for reading and relaxing ahead of the big day. I can’t think of a better book to do it with!

 

Books Discovered

Over the last couple of week’s I’ve added a number of books to my TBR. That is not the case for this week (thankfully!) I think I’ve added enough recently, and inevitably, I may be adding a few more very soon.

 

Coming Up…

I’ve decided to share something a little bit different this week. I am winding down a bit for Christmas, but I thought it would be fun to take part in the 20 questions book tag. This covers everything from book format preferences to how and where I like to read. It’s a fun post that will give you the opportunity to get to know me a little better!

On Friday, I’ll be sharing a First Lines Friday post. At the moment I haven’t christened how I’m going to decide next week’s feature – I’ll just see how I go! This will be my last FLF feature of the year. That’s a scary thought…

I also have an additional surprise post going live on Saturday. I’m giving nothing away about this one, so you’ll just have to check out the blog to see what it is.

Given that Sunday is the big day, I may or may not get around to sharing a Sunday Summary update with you. I’ll probably try and draft most of this ahead of time and chuck it out into the world if I have the chance. If not, I might publish it a little late on Monday instead.

For now, that is all from me! I hope you enjoyed today’s post and look forward to seeing you in the next one!

 

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