Tag: The Housemaid’s Secret

Monthly Wrap-Up – November 2025

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I’m looking forward to sharing the books I read in the last 30 days in today’s monthly wrap-up for November! I put in some solid reading, and I have a lot of good books to recap and share with you. How many books did you read in November? I’m not even sure how many I read; let’s take a look, shall we? 

 

Books Read 

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping 

As of my last monthly wrap-up post, I had just 100 pages left of A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping. I got on so well with this book, I didn’t even feature it on November’s monthly TBR – I finished it on the first day of the month. 

I enjoyed this cozy, whimsical read. The message is great, and I was compelled to find out whether Sara’s life and circumstances changed after the book or not. The characters were great, and A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping was a well-received read, even if it’s not one I’d have picked myself. That’s what makes books clubs fun – and helps me meet me reading goal of reading outside of my comfort zone. 

 

Wizard of Ends: United Army

The beginning of the month was punctuated with reading deadlines. In a way, I actually think that helped me get some solid reading done. Sometimes, you need something like that to give you a kick up the bum, right? 

The added bonus is that Wizard of Ends: United Army was a shorter read. I read the book over the course of a day, and I published my review of the book on the 3rd November. No rest for the wicked, is there? In the interests of getting you to appreciate my efforts in writing down my thoughts, I’m going to point you to that review. I had fun with this short fantasy book. I also have a unique perspective in that unusually, I read this third instalment before picking up the earlier books. It’s not a habit of mine, but necessity struck. 

 

The Angel Prophecy

Just three days after my review of Wizard of Ends went live, I had another deadline to meet. When it rains, it pours, eh? It’s my own fault! I have a tendency to book myself on to a load of blog tours in one go, then not do any for a bit. Rinse and repeat. 

I wanted to pick up The Angel Prophecy after reading and reviewing The Atlantis Covenant as part of a blog tour back at the beginning of September. Honestly, it was as fun as I anticipated after reading that first instalment. Not only that, but I enjoyed getting to read some chapter perspectives from characters I liked from that first book, but maybe didn’t have a dominant enough role or personality to shine in The Atlantis Covenant. 

As with Wizard of Ends, if you want to read more on this book, you can check out my review. 

 

The God of the Woods

My final deadline was to read The God of the Woods ahead of our book club meet at work. I did have to put this meeting back a couple of weeks, as originally it was coinciding with my deadlines earlier in the month. 

Thankfully, events of this book were compulsively readable and I enjoyed this one thoroughly. So did Meg, who listened to the audiobook of this in just a matter of days after I announced the read to the club. If anything, I had to remind her of events as it had been a good while between her reading and our meet! 

We had a good discussion about the book too. The characters are interesting and I was doubting pretty much everyone at some point in the narrative. What’s real, and who could be trusted? It’s an interesting narrative. I’m glad I chose this book! 

 

The Shadow of What Was Lost 

Another book carried forward from October’s monthly wrap-up is my audiobook listen of The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington.  

Progress remained slow and steady throughout the month, until my time off work in the second half of the month. I was 30% into the audio as of the beginning of November, but rapidly made much more progress in the first week I had off and finished the audiobook on the 22nd. 

It’s a long audiobook, and I felt it in a way. However, it was a solid story and the ending really made the book for me. My decision to continue the series was made by the epilogue and by the epilogue alone! I had some suspicions that there was more to Kaden’s character. It wasn’t what I expected, but somehow, it was better… 

 

The Housemaid’s Secret

After listening to The Shadow of What Was Lost, I flew through The Housemaid’s Secret. The audiobook is about a third of the length of that first audiobook. That, and I was midway through kitchen renovations and both a crochet and cross-stitch project at the time. All are perfect opportunities to listen to audiobooks at the same time. 

I listened to the first book of the series, The Housemaid, earlier this year. To be consistent, I opted to continue the series in the same format. It was every bit as good as the first instalment. Given that I’d just listened to such a long audio, this one felt like it flew by! 

 

Empire of the Dawn

The last physical book I progressed with in November was Empire of the Dawn by Jay Kristoff. Admittedly, I slowed down on physical reads towards the end of the month. On the one hand, I’d argue that it’s because I was doing more physical things and therefore listening to audio instead. However, that wouldn’t be a real answer. If I’m honest, I think I started holding out on reading the book because I’m scared and sad to get to the end. 

I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read so far, and I am having a good time with the book. As a result of not finishing it in November, this is one of my first reads of December – and I need completion to achieve my series goal. Is that motivation enough to get over my trepidation about finishing the book? 

 

A Crucible of Souls

Finally, the last book on this monthly wrap-up is A Crucible of Souls. I started listening to this audiobook right at the end of the month, but still succeeded in getting to 33% before the end of the month. Audiobooks have really been working for me, what can I say? 

So far, this audio is pretty interesting and I’m optimistic it’s only going to get better. Caldan is an intriguing character and I can’t wait to find out more. What really happened to his parents, and who is he? Is he going to be taken advantage of in the big wide world he’s not used to? I suspect so, but that remains to be seen. 

You’ll find out more in the near future as I report progress in my Sunday Summary updates. 

 

Death of a Billionaire

Finally, I picked up my e-reader for the first time in a while to start an ARC of a book you’ll be hearing more about soon. Sneaking on to today’s monthly wrap-up post is Death of a Billionaire by Tucker May. I started this book yesterday, the last day of the month, as I am due to review this in just a couple of days time as part of an ongoing blog tour.

I read the first 20% yesterday, with the rest to follow very shortly!

 

Summary 

I’ve made good reading progress this month, especially audiobooks! Circumstances have meant these have suited what I’ve been doing this month. It’s odd, because there are months I don’t read a lot on that format at all. Then, I get months like this where I listen to several. 

I’ve enjoyed this month, and I also have the great news to share that I met my Goodreads Challenge of 45 books this month. I’m a happy bunny, so any reading above and beyond this is a bonus. Naturally, in December’s monthly TBR I’m going to focus on reading towards my other reading goals. 

Thanks for checking out today’s monthly wrap-up! How many books have you read so far this year? 

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Sunday Summary – 30th November 2025

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This week’s Sunday Summary follows another week off work. Don’t take this the wrong way, I’m not rubbing it in. If you feel that way, you can laugh at me because I’m back tomorrow. Bag packed? Check. Lunch organised? Yup. Jokes aside, it’ll be nice to get back into my normal routine.

The routine that hasn’t really changed is my blog schedule for this week. Whilst I’ve been off, I’ve kept up with posting online as usual. This week, my first post was a final review of my 2025 resolutions and a list of books I could pick up in December to meet my outstanding goals. As of that post, I have actually already completed one of my goals due by the end of the year! If you haven’t read that post and you want to find out what’s coming up in the very near future, you can check that out now.

On Friday, I set myself a challenge to feature a young adult novel in my First Lines Friday feature. In the end, I featured the first book of a series loved and plan to re-read in future. Whilst young adult isn’t a genre I gravitate to very often, I did enjoy this one. I even confess in that post that I could get behind the relationship between the protagonists – that’s not something I say lightly! 

 

Books Read

Empire of the Dawn 

Progress with Empire of the Dawn has admittedly been slow. I’ve enjoyed picking up this book in the couple of instalments I have, but honestly, I think I’m holding myself back. Empire of the Dawn is the final instalment of Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire trilogy. The only reason I can give for my resistance picking up this book is that I’m not looking forward to finishing it and the series being over. 

I’ve enjoyed every aspect of the book I’ve read so far and to continuing with it. I’ll have to put my big girl pants on and just accept that it’s the final book and I won’t find out what happens unless I read it! Even when it’s over, I can always re-read it… 

 

The Housemaid’s Secret

You may recall in last week’s Sunday Summary post, I shared that I’d listened to just over 25% of The Housemaid’s Secret. Well, it’s fair to say I made pretty light work of that book! Having listened to such a long audiobook before picking up this one, finishing Freida McFadden‘s second instalment in her housemaid’s trilogy was a breeze! 

As I mentioned in last week’s post, whilst I’ve been off work, I’ve been doing some work around the house. More specifically, I’m updating my kitchen. Because I’ve been doing physical work, I’ve been occupying myself with audio to keep myself entertained. I’ve also been doing a lot of crafty projects in my downtime, and listening to audio works really well for me at the same time. 

As a result, I devoured The Housemaid’s Secret. The plot and characters in the book really helped this along. It was an easier read because it was a lot shorter, but it is also engaging and an interesting story to listen to. Truthfully, I expected nothing less. I felt the same about the first instalment of the series, The Housemaid. If you read or checked out my 2025 resolutions review post earlier this week, you may have spotted the sequel to the series on that list as a potential December read.

Watch this space… 

 

A Crucible of Souls

After devouring The Housemaid’s Secret, I started A Crucible of Souls by Mitchell Hogan. This is the second book I’m reading as part of a ChatGPT recommendations challenge I’ve set myself. 

So far, I’m getting on pretty well with the book. For a debut, it reads really well and I’m hoping the action in the book starts to pick up pace very shortly. As of this Sunday Summary post, I am a third of the way through this audiobook. It’s interesting, and there are elements of the plot that have us intrigued because they are unresolved at the moment. The main character Caldan is also a little bit of a mystery. Who is he, and is he going to draw unwanted attention by his abilities? Time will only tell. 

 

Death of a Billionaire 

Finally, I picked up Death of a Billionaire by Tucker May today. I am reviewing this book as part of a blog tour which kicked off earlier this week. My review is due on Wednesday, so naturally this book is taking priority in the immediate future. 

As things stand, it’s a pretty short and easy read. I’m enjoying the humour and I’m intrigued as to who the mystery narrator is. Their overt opinions and distain for a lot of people, the reader included, has me asking questions as to who it is and why they presenting themselves that way. It’s not the sort of thing you see in a lot of books, but it has me intrigued! I have a suspicion already, but it remains to be seen whether that turns out to be the case! 

As of this Sunday Summary update, I’m 20% into Death of a Billionaire. Naturally, I’ll be sharing more about this book on Wednesday, so I hope you can check in with me then. 

 

Books Discovered

I popped into town on Friday to do some Christmas shopping, and of course I had to take a look in our local Waterstones. Armed with some vouchers, I picked up Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad and Come to This Court and Cry. 

No prizes for guessing I combed through the history section… as sad as it is, I love reading about World War II and the associated events, history and people affected. I’m looking forward to reading these books in this category. 

 

Coming Up… 

I may be back to work next week, but there is no rest for the wicked here! I have a full week of content planned, and I’m excited to share each of these posts with you 😊

My first post will go live tomorrow as it will officially be the beginning of December. I can no longer complain about premature Christmas music or mince pies being on sale. With it being the end of the month, I’m looking forward to sharing my monthly wrap-up for November and sharing the books I’ve read over these last few weeks. Progress has felt really good, so I hope to have plenty of content in that post for you.

Next, on Wednesday I’ll be sharing my review for Death of a Billionaire, as I’ve previously alluded to. December 3rd is my official stop date, so that’s a hard deadline to meet.

On Friday, I’ll share my December reading list in my usual monthly TBR format. I’ve already got several books planned which has been shaped from my 2025 resolutions review post. I’ve got some cracking books to finish up the year with. If you are intrigued to see what those will be, I hope you can check in with me later this week.

Finally, this time next week I’ll be back with my next Sunday Summary instalment. No doubt I’ll be a little bit tired and fed up because I’m planning to put up my Christmas decorations. Good luck to me – I have no idea how the cats are going to react to the Christmas tree. However, I have my suspicions and it may not be pretty 😂 

Like I said, no rest for the wicked! 

What have you been up to this weekend?

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Sunday Summary – 23rd November 2025

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Today’s Sunday Summary brings plenty of reading progress. I’ve enjoyed the week off work, and the good news is, I’ve got another one next week! I’ve enjoyed doing some jobs round the house, and reading… of course! 

On the blog, I shared a book review for Stephen King’s The Waste Lands. I’ve enjoyed reading this series so far, and The Waste Lands is probably my favourite book so far! 

On Friday, I shared a Shelf Control post. In this series, I look at upcoming books on my TBR. Friday’s feature was a historical fiction classic that’s nearly 1000 pages long. 

 

Books Read

 

The Shadow of What Was Lost

Last week, I shared in my Sunday Summary that I was about 50% through the book. It’s a long audiobook, and I had approximately 14hrs audio left. I wasn’t sure if I’d manage to listen to it all this week. Progress so far was pretty slow. However, I shouldn’t have doubted myself! 

I’ve spent a good portion of the week doing household jobs that allow me to listen to audio as well. That, and working on a large cross-stitch project! I love listening to audiobooks at the same time. Thankfully I’m not having to wrestle kittens off my work too frequently anymore and the two hobbies go side-by-side very well 😂

I finished The Shadow of What Was Lost yesterday and I have lots of thoughts! The epilogue did so much for convincing me to pick up the sequel. I’m looking forward to documenting my thoughts on this one properly. 

 

Empire of the Dawn 

Another finish I was hoping for this week, but didn’t quite get to, was Empire of the Dawn. 

I’ve read the book spasmodically over the week. And I’m enjoying it! However, with the jobs I’m doing at home at the moment, I’ve not done much in the way of conventional reading. I was also out watching Wicked: For Good last night. 

My focus will be to finish Empire of the Dawn next week. As of this Sunday Summary, I’m about 20% through. I’m intrigued where the story is going to take us. 

 

The Housemaid’s Secret

The final book I’ve progressed with this week is one I started today – The Housemaid’s Secret. Just as I was settling down to read Empire of the Dawn, one of the kittens decided to fall asleep on my arm and rendered holding a hardback book impossible. 

So, I started my next audiobook instead! It’s been a good few months since I listened to The Housemaid earlier this year. My efforts to continue series whilst they’re still fresh in my mind motivated me to start The Housemaid’s Secret. 

Already, I have listened to 2 hours and 30 minutes of the housemaid secret so far. If you are a stats boffin, that puts me at 26% progress in one sitting. Not bad, eh? I always feel like progress goes really quickly when I pick up a short audiobook straight after a lengthy one 😂 When you consider this audiobook is just under 10 hours long, it’s only a fraction over a third of The Shadow of What Was Lost in terms of page count. Big difference! 

I’m actually enjoying the shorter and more faster post read. I do enjoy a lengthy epic, but sometimes something short and sweet (and a thriller to boot) helps pick up the pace.

 

Books Discovered

It’s another quiet week here in terms of new additions to my monthly TBR. I actually took a book off my reading list when prepping for Friday’s Shelf Control post. It’s fair to say things are moving in the right direction… 

 

Coming Up… 

Next week is the last week of November. Please tell me where that’s gone! I’ll have to start mentioning the C word before long 😂 

Before that though, I’ve got plenty of non-festive related content to share with you. I’m pointedly avoiding this week’s Top Ten Tuesday post theme to get away from the festivities – how bad is that? 

My first post of the week will be a recap on where I’m up to with my reading goals this year and an opportunity to set my final intentions for the last month of the year. How close am I to my reading goals? Is there anything I can do to get myself over the finish line with some of these before the end of the year? That post is all about setting out my intentions. I hope you can check in with me and celebrate my progress so far. 

On Friday, I’ll return with a First Lines Friday feature post. I’m in the mood to set myself a challenge for next week’s post. Sometimes I like to make my life difficult, okay? 😆 For next week’s First Lines Friday, I’m challenging myself to feature a book that is either for a young adult or new adult audience. Most of my reading list falls outside of these two genres, so I’ve got my work cut out for me to feature something interesting that meets these criteria.

Last, but certainly by no means least, I’ll be back the same time next week with another Sunday Summary. Fingers crossed, I’m able to use my time off work to get a lot more reading done before I’m back to the daily grind. 

That’s all for me in this Sunday Summary update, however. How have you spent your weekend? What projects do you have ongoing at the moment, bookish or otherwise? 

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Monthly TBR – November 2025

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I’ve got just a few books left to complete my Goodreads reading challenge, and I’m optimistic! I had a bit of a reading lull in October. However, November’s progress is already off to a great start. Long may it continue. The great news is, I’ve got an exciting upcoming monthly TBR to share today!

As of drafting this monthly TBR, I’m still reading one carryover from October. It’s a long audiobook, so not unexpected in the circumstances. Otherwise, though, I’ve already finished two books this month and we’re just a few days in. I’ve already read Wizard of Ends and The Angel Prophecy. 

Let’s take a look at what’s left, shall we? 

 

Fixed Reads 

 

The God of the Woods 

I’m not completely out of the woods (pun intended!) with my reading obligations. In order to accommodate both blog tour posts for Wizard of Ends and The Angel Prophecy, I postponed our work book club. As things stand, I have only just started the book today and read the first 80 pages so far. I’ve got a busy weekend ahead! 

Even still, I’m looking forward to reading this one! The synopsis is intriguing and one of the ladies who also comes to book club raved about the book after she finished it. Naturally, I really hope it lives up to expectations now! 

 

The Shadow of What Was Lost

My audiobook carryover from October is The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington. I’m already about eight hours into the audio and I have about fifteen hours yet to go. 

So far, my experience of the book is a good one. It’s following a bit of a classic ‘coming-of-age’ storyline, and the characters aren’t who we think they are exactly. However, I’ve enjoyed how the main protagonists haven’t been protected from the harshness of the world they live in. It has been wondering what’s next. 

 

Mood Reads 

 

Empire of the Dawn 

I just received my pre-ordered copy of Empire of the Dawn. It’s also the last book of the Empire of the Vampire trilogy by Jay Kristoff. Needless to say, I’m both super keen and also somewhat not looking forward to getting to the end. 

It’ll be a bittersweet moment, but I have high hopes the series will have an epic conclusion. The earlier books have set my expectations very high, and I have no idea which way it’ll end up…

 

The Housemaid’s Secret 

With darker nights now in full swing, I’m in the mood for more mystery and thriller books. 

I read The Housemaid earlier this year, and it was a fun read. We picked that up as part of book club and I’m keen to continue the series. 

The last book was also a pretty easy listen, so I’ve already got my audiobook copy ready to go. As I have some longer fantasy books on this TBR, I’m hoping something shorter and a change of genre will make a refreshing change. 

 

The Murder Box

Sticking with the shorter and lighter theme, I’ve added a second mystery to my November monthly TBR. 

The synopsis of The Murder Box caught my eye nearly three years ago now. On the one hand, I’d say it’s time I got to it. However, the reality is that I’ve got books on my TBR that have been there far longer… 

 

Beyond Redemption 

If I get through all of the above books, I’m going to start the next book in my ChatGPT challenge. 

I’ve already got a copy of Beyond Redemption through Kindle Unlimited. Given I’m reading the other books on this list in either physical or audiobook format, it’ll be nice to get my Kindle back out. 

 

Summary 

I’m 41/45 books into my Goodreads challenge. Even if I only make a solid dent in November’s monthly TBR, I’m almost set to reach my target before the end of this month, and definitely by the end of the year. 

I’ve got some great books on the list to help me get there! Have you read any of the books on this monthly TBR? Are any of the books on your list? 

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