Tag: weekly wrap-up

Sunday Summary – 13th October 2019

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Good evening readers! It’s Sunday night again, so you know what time it is… time for my Sunday Summary post!

Even though I have published posts every day this week, I don’t feel that it has been all that stressful. Now that I’m a little ahead of myself and have gotten into the routine of writing more than one post in a sitting, it’s become easier. I’ve also ended up going to two work social events this week, which has probably contributed as well.

What have I been gracing your screens with this week? I began the week with a discussion post about how to write book reviews, and what I think is important to include. In that post, I talk about why I don’t really use a star rating system on my blog and why it is important to express yourself as honestly as you can, even if you don’t love a book. I published another Top Ten Tuesday post (you guessed it, on Tuesday), in which I list what I think are my top ten achievements since starting my blog. When I started the post I imagined it to be a nice, light-hearted one, but it actually ended up quite personal.

Wednesday was the day for me to publish an audiobook review. This week’s subject was a little okay a lot overdue, having finished listening to it over four months ago. The Painted Man by Peter Brett is an enjoyable read (or listen) for fantasy-lovers and you can find all my views in that post. On Thursday I discussed the results of an experiment I conducted at the end of September. If you are a book blogger and want to find out whether paid advertising is really worth it, I strongly recommend you check out my results before you spend your money. Seriously. Know what you are getting yourself into.

On Friday I shared the introduction to last month’s work book club read (that I didn’t get around to… oops!) in my First Lines Friday post. I definitely want to try and read it on holiday though, so fingers crossed I can catch up with it. Then, yesterday, I shared my list of books I wish I had never read. Thankfully, these are very few and far between; there is nothing worse than investing time in books to end up disappointed.

 

Books Read

Between drafting blog posts, meeting friends for lunch, taking part in a Quiz Night and going bowling with my work friends, it’s amazing I have had time to fit in any reading this week! Following on from last week, I started by making progress with The Haunting at Paradise House by Killian Wolf. You can tell I had a busy week as I only really finished this on Friday after bowling. I had only just about started this last week, so I suppose I almost read it all in a few days.

Yesterday I picked up After Whorl: Bran Reborn by Nancy Jardine. This is my last read of the month for which I have an upcoming blog tour. I have already read 36% of the book and found it quite easy to do so. I can’t see that this will take me too long to finish at all. It’s a lot easier to read than The Beltane Choice, in my opinion. It’s definitely more historical fiction than romantic fiction, which I like.

Visions of Zarua is taking me a lot longer to listen to than I would have liked. My blog tour post is coming up pretty imminently, and I still have seven hours left to listen to. I’m going to put some serious time into listening to it next week to have this completed in time to write my review. I have to. It’s not that I’m not enjoying it, because I am, I just don’t listen to audiobooks very quickly.

 

Books Discovered

So, a few books have been added to the TBR this week. My first addition of the week came from a charity stall in my local Tesco, for the benefit of Cancer Research. I managed to pick up a second-hand, but a good-as-new copy of The Forbidden Queen by Anne O’Brien. You can tell it has never been read by the condition of the spine – not only has it not been cracked, it’s not even stretched.

Thanks to Bookbub, I have also added a couple more books by John Marrs to the TBR. I have already added The Good Samaritan to the list. This week, I added When You Disappeared and Her Last Move, because both sound fantastic!

 

Coming Up…

Blogtober continues and I have a mixed line up of posts to keep things fresh for you guys. Here is what to expect popping up in the near future: –

  • Monday 14th October – Quintessential Quotes: Margaret Atwood edition
  • Tuesday 15th October – Top Ten Tuesday: New releases I am excited for
  • Wednesday 16th October – Book Review: Crowfall by Ed McDonald
  • Thursday 17th October – Book Promo: Darkest Hour by Rachel Churcher
  • Friday 18th October – Shelf Control
  • Saturday 19th October – My Holiday Reads
  • Sunday 20th October – Blog Tour: Visions of Zarua by Suzanne Rogerson
  • Monday 21st October – Netgalley: Yay or Nay?
  • Tuesday 22nd October – Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Worlds I Love
  • Wednesday 23rd October – Tips to get out of a reading slump
  • Thursday 24th October – Autumn: The Season of Reading (for me!)
  • Friday 25th October – First Lines Friday
  • Saturday 26th October – Blogging and Social Media
  • Sunday 27th October – Sunday Summary

 

I have lots of blog posts in this week’s list as I am going on holiday very soon! I already have four of these scheduled, with a draft for a fifth post well underway. I’m going to be prepping these posts before I go, with the exception of my Sunday Summary on the 27th. Even if it’s a brief list, I am going to do my best to update you on everything I have been reading in the two weeks since my last summary.

Wish me luck…

 

Top Blog Posts of the Week

It has been a few weeks, but here are a few blog posts I have stumbled across and enjoyed reading this week: –

Nope Book Tag

Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Demon by James Lovegrove Book Review. #BookReview #BookBlogger #BookBloggers #SherlockHolmes @JamesLovegrove7 @TitanBooks @Sarah_Mather_15

Book Review: The Winter Sea

A big bookish discovery

Bookish tattoos and my favourite tv show | The Liebster Award 🌰🍂

What have you been reading this week?

 

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Sunday Summary – 6th October 2019

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My Sunday Summary posts are going to be quite busy for the next few weeks on account of Blogtober. I’m actually feeling quite good about it. At the beginning of the month it felt like a huge challenge, but I have made good progress with it already. That’s not to say it has been easy, but it’s proven how much more productive I can be when I push myself.

Blogtober officially kicked off on Tuesday, and how better than to start the month by sharing my October TBR? It’s one of my longest lists to date, but I am going on holiday shortly and I should be able to get plenty of reading done!

On Wednesday, I shared my thoughts on Thran Book I: The Birth by Brian McLaughlin. I discovered this book through Voracious Readers Only. Then, on Thursday, I published an interview with the author Brian, which accompanies the book well and gives some detail on Brian’s writing process and his advice when it comes to publishing.

Friday’s post is hardly surprising – it was a Shelf Control post featuring a book co-authored by one of my favourite authors. I have already read eighteen of this particular author’s books, compared to only two of his co-author. I am hoping the writing styles of the two complement each other. There’s only one way to find out, right?

Yesterday I published a bit of a fun post, Behind the Scenes: A Day in the Life of a Book Blogger. It gives a little insight into how I work such a time-consuming hobby around a full-time job and what fractional social life I have. Obviously, today, here we are!

 

Books Read

 

In last week’s Sunday Summary post I vowed that I was going to really try to finish Elantris before month-end and that I was going to start listening to Visions of Zarua in the mornings. Well, I achieved one of those things. I finished Elantris on the 1st October, and it did not disappoint! I have loved every Brandon Sanderson novel I have read to date. This was his fifth book, so he’s basically an auto-buy author at this point.

After reading such a lengthy epic, I really fancied picking up something short. To that end, I picked up the shortest book on October’s TBR – To Snare a Witch by Jay Raven. At just over 80 pages, I read this in pretty much one sitting on the 1st October as well.

I picked up Hallowed Ground on Wednesday, the first book on my TBR. I’m still quite a way off my tour date, but I wanted to have it read in good time. All my review tours fall at the end of the month so I had to bear this in mind. I finished Hallowed Ground last night, well in time for the tour date (which makes a change)! Since I am so early, I am tempted to make some notes whilst it is fresh in my head. I also need to add this read to Goodreads, as a record for the book isn’t actually on the site yet.

I have also made a cursory start on The Haunting of Paradise House by Killian Wolf. We’re only talking about 12% off the top of my head. It’s a good start, especially since I am not normally on my third book of the TBR in the first week.

I really need to give myself a kick up the backside when it comes to audiobook progress. Last week I said I was going to start listening to it more, particularly in the morning. That hasn’t consistently happened though. I think I did one day, and that’s it. My review date is getting quite close now, so I am going to have to start listening for an hour a day to have it finished in time to draft my review. Rather than mornings, I’ll see if I can listen to it whilst I am cooking tea, or in the evening before bed. I have to find a way to make it work.

 

Books Discovered

Thankfully I have been too busy to see or hear of anything new. My TBR can breathe a sigh of relief, safe in the knowledge that it isn’t going to collapse under its own weight for another week.

 

Coming Up…

I feel really good about next week since I have blog posts prepared and scheduled up to and including Friday already! Here is the line up for next week’s posts: –

  • Monday 7th October – How to Write Reviews… and how I write mine!
  • Tuesday 8th October  – Top Ten Tuesday: Achievements
  • Wednesday 9th October  – Book Review: The Painted Man – Peter Brett
  • Thursday 10th October – Advertising: Is it worth it?
  • Friday 11th October – First Lines Friday
  • Saturday 12th October – Books I wish I had never read
  • Sunday 13th October – Sunday Summary

So, that’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post. What have you been up to this week? Are you participating in Blogtober? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

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Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary – 9th June 2019

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If this week’s Sunday Summary post is going to be anything like my week, it’s going to be a busy one!! Mad in fact, but it’s been fun! This weekly summary post makes my fifth this week. Fifth!!!!!

Thankfully I had the foresight to prepare Wednesday’s Time of Lies extract post last Saturday ahead of time… otherwise I may have been in trouble. I have never published so many posts in one week in the history of this blog; it’s not a schedule I have any hope of maintaining. I hope you have enjoyed it this week because I’m not planning on such a busy schedule again. For now, anyway.

This was the first full week of a brand new month. Naturally, June’s TBR was finalised and published on Monday! As it happens, I think I’ll be adding a couple of books to it. I’ve made a lot more reading progress than I anticipated and I have already started reading one book on the side.

I’ve already mentioned Wednesday’s Time of Lies tour; on Friday I published my review of one of last month’s reads, The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King. The Drawing of the Three has a totally different vibe to The Gunslinger. Where book one establishes Roland, his history and quest, book two is driven by characters drawn out of modern-day New York into Roland’s world to battle their own demons before facing an even greater challenge.

If anyone has checked out my blog today, you’ll see I’m currently touring Game of Crones by Jay Raven. The book is a collection of dark fantasy short stories surrounding the themes of witchcraft and dark magic. If you haven’t already taken a peak of my thoughts on the book, you can check out the link above!

 

Books Read

Not only have I been writing a lot this week, but I’ve also managed to read a few books too! Okay, half of them are short stories… but still!

I began the week continuing with A Feast for Crows, my carryover from last month. I expected to have a lot more catching up to do than I actually did with this one. Still, I was reading this for a few days before I had to set it aside (temporarily).

All too aware of my upcoming blog tour dates, I picked up Game of Crones by Jay Raven and The Lynmouth Stories by L. V. Hay. Game of Crones was reasonably short, so I read practically the whole book in one sitting. The Lynmouth Stories turned out to be a LOT shorter than anticipated. I managed to read this cover to cover in about half an hour.

After finishing these two short story collections I was back to A Feast for Crows. I’ve been reading this for about two weeks (although it feels longer since I am used to reading books quite quickly). Consequently, I’m pleased to report that I finally finished this yesterday. I am so glad I elected to re-read the books!

After wrapping this up I swiftly moved on to my two current reads, Biohacked and Begging by Stephen Oram and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon. Biohacked and Begging is another collection of short stories, all with themes of individuals with some form of enhancement or another. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time isn’t strictly on my TBR, but since I have made such good progress with my TBR, I asked myself “why the heck not?” I’ve been meaning to read it for some time now…

 

Books Discovered

If I’ve not bored you to death with all my wittering so far then read on. As if I didn’t have enough to talk about this week, I also have a few honorary mentions here too!

I’ve added three books to the TBR this week – The Whisper Man by Alex North, Back to Reality by Mark Stay and The Thinking Game by Lara Kane.

The Whisper Man is a thriller with a really exciting premise and very good reviews on Goodreads. I can’t wait to pick this up! I saw Back to Reality on Reedsy, and after reading The End of Magic by Mark Stay I’m definitely going to give this a try. Likewise, Reedsy is also responsible for me adding The Thinking Game to the list. If someone can help me manage my time better and improve the way I handle myself, then they deserve a medal. This will be really helpful for managing my time at work AND her e on the blog. Reading it will also go towards my goal of reading five non-fiction books this year…

 

Coming Up…

What’s coming up this week? That’s easy… less. A lot less. Haha!

I’m taking a few days to read and recuperate. My first post of the week is for a blog tour on Wednesday. That’s my tour date for reviewing The Lynmouth Stories, so I hope you can call in and check out my thoughts on these great short stories!

Depending on how my week pans out, my next post will be on Friday (Saturday at the latest). I haven’t made any moves to clear out the TBR in a few weeks, so I’ll be reviewing the next five books on my list and deciding whether they need to stay or go!

 

Top Blog Posts of the Week

Lastly, friends, in my Sunday Summary posts I like to try to recognise some great blog posts I’ve stumbled across by other bloggers. Here is this week’s list of blog posts I really enjoyed reading: –

The Orangutan Librarian – Monthly Monkey Mini Reviews – June

Reader Fox – Book Blogger Tips Topics for the Future (ARCs, Followers, etc.) – Reader Fox

Wee Writing Lassie – The Top Ten Best Greek Gods out there + The Worst One

 

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