Tag: The Cockroach

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I’ve Never Reviewed

If there’s one thing that’s apparent on this Top Ten Tuesday – Books I’ve Never Reviewed post, it’s that the books fall into one of two categories.

I’m proud to say that in the grand scheme of things, I review the vast majority of books I read. There are some I haven’t reviewed dating back to pre-blog days. Maybe I’ll re-read and review some of those whilst they are fresh in my memory. It wouldn’t feel fair to it now when it’s been over 10 years since I picked the books up.

The two categories the remaining books fall into are either those I feel indifferent over, or those I’m intimidated to even try to review!

Shall we take a look at what falls where?

 

Books I’m Indifferent About


Empress of All Seasons

My overall recollection on this book is one of general enjoyment, but nothing stands out In my head as to why I liked this book.


The Ruby in the Smoke

Nothing smacks harder of indifference than not actually being able to remember a single thing about this book or anything that happened in it.

Yikes.


Vox

On a different note, I do remember the plot and premise of Vox. I did enjoy the book, but as a feminist fiction, I feel it could have leant a little harder into the subject than it did. 


Jack the Ripper: Case Closed

I like Jack the Ripper books and stories, but this audiobook just felt a bit ‘meh’. It’s very hard to write a review and talk about a book when you really don’t have a lot to say about it.

Scouse Gothic


If I recall correctly, the author sent me a copy of this book after I read another of his. It was a book I read at my own leisure rather than for review. It was an okay read, if a bit out of my comfort zone. I didn’t have anything especially to say about it then and neither do I now.

 

You Are Not so Smart

You are not so smart

All I recall from this book is a bunch of surprising facts, interlaced with humour. It was a good and informative read, but I certainly don’t have enough to say about it to be able to draft a post dedicated to it.

It’s interestingly the only non-fiction to feature in this Top Ten Tuesday.

 

The Cockroach

This political satire is a short book I was recommended by someone I used to work for. It was an interesting and different short story to read. Again, there’s no way I’d be able to justify a review for it.

 

Books I’m Intimidated to Review

Blackwing

Blackwing

I’ve read and reviewed both Ravencry and Crowfall as part of blog tours. I read the first book in the series, Blackwing, to catch up on the book ready to review Ravencry.

Since I’ve loved the books so much (that I’ve already re-read them within just a few years), any future review has very big shoes to fill.

 


Godsgrave

In a bit of an admin oversight, I reviewed the first and final book of this trilogy on my blog, but not Godsgrave. I’m not sure how I managed that, but there we go!

Like Blackwing, I’m intimidated at the prospect of approaching this review. I adored this series – it’s what got me into Jay Kristoff’s books in the first place. Can I do the book justice and convince readers it lives up to the hype?


The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

I’m intimidated to review The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time because it’s such a well-known classic! The truth is, I’m probably missing a trick here. Reviews on my blog for classic or popular books, including The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone are why my blog gets as many views as it does nowadays (over 71,000 in 2024).

Maybe I need to just bite the bullet and have a go!

 Summary

Thanks for reading today’s Top Ten Tuesday post. Have you read and reviewed any of the books I feature in this Top Ten Tuesday instalment? I’d love to read your thoughts if you have!

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Sunday Summary – 18th July 2021

Good evening everyone – you know what time it is! I’m back with another Sunday Summary update post and I can’t wait to share everything I’ve been up to this week! It’s been a really good one for me. You’ll know that I’ve been taking a significantly slower pace this year, however this week I have felt more like my old self.

As I was taking part in a blog tour later this week, I decided to opt for a three-post schedule and shared my first post around midweek. That was a discussion post in which I shared my opinion on blog stats… and whether they really matter. If you haven’t checked out that post I’ll be really interested to hear your thoughts!

Then, it was the time of my blog tour post on Saturday. I haven’t generally been taking part in reviews for blog tours this year, however, I have enjoyed Karl Drinkwater’s Lost Tales of Solace series to date. I had an invite for this particular book, Clarissa, a little while ago and I signed up immediately! If you’re a fan of sci-fi, or even if you would like to give the genre a try, these books are a great way to give it a go as they are approachable to everyone.

 

Books Read

I’ve made quite a lot of reading progress this week; in this respect I feel a lot more like my old self as well.

As of last week’s Sunday Summary update I have just finished reading Ruabon by Karl Drinkwater. From there I went on to pick it up yet another short story. This one was completely different to the usual type of stuff I read. It was recommended to me by the CEO of my company, who is also an avid reader. The Cockroach by Ian McEwan is a political satire regarding the subject of Brexit. It’s something we all have an opinion on and I really enjoyed reading this author’s witty take on the matter.

I’ve picked it up a couple of times casually earlier in the year, however as I hadn’t deliberately set aside the time to read it I found I just wasn’t finishing it or picking it up for a while afterwards; consequently I was having to restart. I’m glad I set aside the time this week to get through it because it was an entertaining read and it was good to get out of my comfort zone!

Next, I decided to pick up something a little bit longer. I’ve read a few short stories in quick succession and so whilst I had the reading bug, I wanted to take a step up. I scanned my bookshelves and settled on The Taking of Annie Thorne by C. J. Tudor. I previously read and loved her first book, The Chalk Man, and so I felt picking up her second novel was a safe bet to keep the momentum going.

And I was right. I managed to finish this particular book as well! It’s not the longest, at around 350 odd pages, but it’s the quickest I’ve read a book of that length for quite some time. I loved the premise and the execution of drawing out the narrative. The characters are also fantastic – honestly, this is a serious recommendation!

I’ve done reasonably well with audiobooks this week too. I had only a few hours of A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin left to listen to and I got through those quite early on this week. I love the book, but I’m glad to finally got to the end so I can listen to something different for a change. The audiobooks are around 30 odd hours each. I’m sure you can understand why I’m looking forward to a change!

Speaking of which, I’ve actually picked of started listening to my next audiobook as well. I’m now listening to A Suitable Lie by Michael J. Malone. I can’t remember off the top of my head how I discovered this particular book, but it’s a psychological thriller. From what I have listened to so far, it seems to revolve around the subject of domestic abuse. Some people may not like that, however I’m reasonably pragmatic about it. Whilst unpleasant, these things do happen and I’m not averse to reading (or hearing) about it.

 

Books Discovered

Again, I have absolutely no updates for you here. This week my TBR went down one rather than up, so it’s going in the right direction for a change!

 

Coming Up…

I’m planning on beginning the week with a Top Ten Tuesday post. This week’s theme is Books I Have Read in One Sitting (Or Would if I Had the Time). I can’t say there are many books I have read in one sitting, but there are a few – and there are plenty more that I would have done given the opportunity.

On Friday I’m taking part in another blog tour and providing another review for Karl Drinkwater. In yesterday‘s post I reviewed the third book of the series, Clarissa, and I’m continuing next week with a review of the fourth book, Ruabon. This particular book lived up to my expectations and so you can expect a glowing review! I hope you can check that post out!

Then, as always, I’ll round off the week with another Sunday Summary update!

In the meantime, however, that is all from me in today’s Sunday Summary. I hope you have a fabulous week wherever you are and I will catch you in the next one!

 

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