Tag: Wizard and Glass

Sunday Summary – 17th September 2023

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Good evening friends – it’s great to catch up with you again in today’s Sunday Summary update post. First of all, I hope you’ve had a great week This week has been a little less manic, thankfully! I caught up with some obligations I signed up to for this month. Once my review of The Trail went live earlier this week, I could breathe a sigh of relief. If you’re in the mood to pick up a psychological thriller this spooky season, then I suggest you go and check that review out!

Later in the week, I shared the next in my rotation of Friday feature posts. This week, it was the turn of my First Lines Friday post. In last week‘s Sunday Summary, I set myself the challenge of featuring a book I’ve added to my reading list in the last six months. I had an interesting time picking this week’s feature, sampling a few books on my reading list before committing to this feature. I’m excited for them all, but if you’re interested to go and read that particular introduction and details of the book, you can find that link here.

 

Books Read

 

The Trail

As of last week’s Sunday Summary post, I had just 30% left of The Trail to finish before my review went live on Tuesday. Fortunately, I didn’t need to pick up this book again on Monday; I finished it on Sunday night as I hoped! It ended up being a slightly late one, but then I couldn’t sleep anyway… Needless to say, Monday wasn’t a very fun day to then have to draft my review on! I have to say in the circumstances, I’m pleased with how I managed.

If you want to check out my full thoughts on the book, then I’m obviously going to recommend you to that post. What I will say on the ending of this book is that it surprised me. I didn’t expect this ending at all, but I really enjoyed how this narrative came together.

 

Wizard and Glass

I almost forgot to include this in today’s post. When I was looking back at what I read over the course of the week earlier today, I was a little disappointed with myself that I hadn’t read all that much. However, I was completely forgetting that I also re-visited and finished Wizard and Glass.

I picked this book up again and finished the remaining 30% (about 260 pages) as my reading obligations were over for the month. Despite having put it down for just over a week, I managed to get back into the narrative really easily. I finished the book within a couple of days, and I’m intrigued to see where the next book in the series is going to take us.

Wizard and Glass wasn’t the book I expected it to be. Where the previous books have showcased events in the present day, the majority of Wizard and Glass is spent recapping Roland’s early life and how he became obsessed with the Dark Tower. Don’t get me wrong, I like a bit of backstory. However, I didn’t expect this to span the vast majority of the book.

I still enjoyed it overall, and I’m looking forward to getting back to the present day in Wolves of the Calla.

 

Twelve Years a Slave

The final book I picked up over the course of the week was Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup. I initially took a digital copy of the book out from the library in order to read it. However, as I took a little bit longer reading the earlier obligations, my library loan expired yesterday and somebody had a hold on it. I’ve ended up buying a copy on Kindle in order to finish it, because I didn’t want to wait another two weeks! It’s my own fault…

This week they’re a lot of 70/30 splits in the reading progress we’re talking about, because I am just under 70% through Twelve Years a Slave as of this Sunday Summary update! I am enjoying the book, although I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a challenge to read – in every sense of the word. Not only is the subject matter difficult, but in my opinion, the narrative doesn’t flow as easily as modern day language. It’s important to remember that this book was written and published in 1853. In my opinion, the narrative is very overly punctuated – so much so, I’m having to almost glaze over it when I’m reading. It took some getting used to, but now I’m into it, I’m just not looking at it too hard!

All the same, I’m glad I added this book to my TBR and that I have finally gotten around to it. In terms of reading time, I have about an hour and 40 minutes left to finish the book. I probably won’t get that done tonight, but I hope to have it finished by the end of tomorrow.

 

Books Discovered

I’m on another run of no new additions to the reading list; I think this is three weeks on the trot now?

 

Coming Up…

I’ve had Tuesday’s post pencilled into my diary for about three months now! I’ve enjoyed sharing Top Ten Tuesday posts featuring books on my seasonal TBR’s… and next week’s post will be no exception. On Tuesday, I am going to share my top ten reads on my autumn TBR!

On Friday, I return with the next instalment of Well, I Didn’t Know That! I’m going to be completely honest with you in that the subject matter of that post is as yet undecided. I’ve been having a think all this evening, but I’m yet to come up with anything that I am happy to commit myself to. Rest assured, I’ll have something decided ready for that post on Friday.

And, as always, I’ll be back with another Sunday Summary post this time next week!

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary post. Have a great week, and I hope to see you in the next!

 

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Sunday Summary – 10th September 2023

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I’m back a little later than usual with my weekly Sunday Summary update. Today I’ve been taking part in a blog tour post, and that’s needed to take priority. So, I’ve deliberately scheduled this post for 11:59pm BST – the last possible moment for this to count as a Sunday Summary and give my review of Protector of Mercia as much headline time on the blog!

In addition to today’s blog tour post, I’ve shared a couple of posts with you throughout the week. I began the week with my Monthly TBR post. I’m picking up quite the range of books once again this month. The unusual thing is that this month’s books have a lower average page count than I’ve been picking up of late!

On Friday, I shared another Friday feature. This week, it was the turn of my Shelf Control feature. In this series, I take a look at upcoming books on my TBR and share why I’m excited to read them. This week’s featured book is a translated historical fiction mystery. I’m excited for this combination!

 

Books Read

 

Wizard and Glass

This week, I’ve had to temporarily set aside Wizard and Glass in order to prioritise a couple of reads for blog tour obligations. I was hoping to pick this up, even just a little over the week. However, that didn’t happen. I’ve read 570 pages over the course of the week to get as far as I have for my blog tours… that’s already a lot! So, this section is a quick update to say there’s no update.

 

Protector of Mercia

As you’ve probably guessed, my first priority of the week was reading Protector of Mercia ready for today’s blog tour post.

Having enjoyed the prior four books in the series so far, I was looking forward to this fifth instalment. Protector of Mercia varies from the series so far in that the internal politics that have so far been the backdrop of the series get to shine. In this book, we get to explore more in the way of character dynamics and relationships between Saxons. There’s also a wider story arc that we have finally got some detail on, and I can’t wait to see how this progresses.

If you want to check out my full review, you can find that post here.

 

The Trail

My next reading priority is The Trail by M.A. Hunter. I am reviewing this book, also for a blog tour, early next week.

As of this Sunday Summary post, I’ve made great headway with the book and I am on the home stretch. With just 30% left and a predicted hour’s reading time left to complete it, I’m hoping to finish the book before turning in tonight. Otherwise, I’ll be spending my lunch hour finishing it tomorrow so I have tomorrow evening to compose my review.

The Trail is a dark, atmospheric small town thriller about a woman who went missing 30 years ago. After remains are found, Nora’s daughter heads out to try and get answers; has her mum finally been found? What happened to her all that time ago? Only, Jess and her prying questions are unwelcome…

I hope you can check in and read my review very soon!

 

Books Discovered

Once again, there are no updates here for you this week. I managed to browse Waterstones this week and come out empty-handed. You must be proud of me!

 

 

Coming Up…

it shouldn’t surprise you that my first blog post of the week is my review of The Trail as part of the blog tour with Boldwood Books and Rachel’s Random Resources. My slot on the tour is Tuesday, so that post will be going live early doors.

I’ll be back again on Friday with my next Friday feature. This week, I’ll be sharing a First Lines Friday post. I’m in the mood for a challenge along with this post, so here are the rules. For next week’s feature, I need to choose a book I’ve added to the TBR in the last six months. I hope you can join me for that post.

Lastly, I’ll be rounding up the week with another Sunday Summary post. As usual, I’ll be updating you with the books I’ve read over the course of the week, any changes to my TBR, and what’s coming up soon on the blog.

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary. I’m off to continue The Trail. What are you reading?

 

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Monthly TBR – September 2023

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Hello fellow reading friends! I hope you’re as excited for my September Monthly TBR as I am!

I usually set myself a challenge every month and that’s no exception here! However, this month the stretch is more achievable. The books I set out on this list come out to around 2500 pages in total. Over the course of the month, that works out at needing to read an average of 83 pages a day. That’s about what I’ve been doing anyway.

I do have a small stretch in that in addition to the books shared on this list, I also need to finish my carryover book from August, Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. That adds an additional 400 pages to the monthly total, and ups the daily page count to 97 pages. As I say, a bit of a stretch, but not unachievable!

This month, I have a fairly even mix of fixed reads to pick up, as well as some that I have some freedom to change if I need to. Let’s get into this monthly TBR and take a look at what’s coming up reading-wise…

 

Fixed Reads

My first reading priorities of September are to pick up and finish two blog tour reads. I’m hoping to have both books finished by the 10th of September (at the latest, the first review is due on the 10th). I’ve already made a healthy start into the first and I won’t be hanging around to start the second.

The deadlines then slacken a little, as the remaining books on my ‘fixed’ reading list come from my monthly TBR pick, and a new feature, a book chosen by my Instagram followers.

 

Protector of Mercia

Protector of Mercia is my current read (Wizard and Glass is still ongoing, although I will be reading it around PoM if I can).

Protector of Mercia is the fifth book in M.J. Porter’s Eagle of Mercia series. I’ve already read and reviewed the first four books on my blog (review of Eagle of Mercia, book four linked here as that contains links to all prior books). Having really enjoyed the unique perspective these offer, I’ve been looking forward to taking part in that over the latest book… which incidentally was published today.

As I’ve already briefly alluded to above, the review deadline for this book is the 10th of September. With just a few days left before that review was due, I am making all haste through this narrative and enjoying every second of it!

 

The Trail

The next book I will be picking up straight after Protector of Mercia is The Trail by M.A. Hunter.

The review deadline for The Trial comes thick and fast after Protector of Mercia, being just two days later. I’m sure you can see why I’ve put down Wizard and Glass for now in favour of these books. I decided to take part in the blog tour for this book based on the sound of the synopsis. I haven’t read anything by this author before, so it will be a new experience for me. having not read a thriller for a little while, I’m looking forward to a change up in genre as well.

 

Twelve Years A Slave

September’s TBR Jar pick works really well with my goal of reading more non-fiction. I happened to pull Twelve Years a Slave from the jar.

I feel like I featured on my blog not that long ago, but in reality, it’s probably longer than I thought. Already, I’ve downloaded a digital copy of this book from my library already, and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in! Although I am familiar with the title, and I know that there has been a film based on this true story of the author, I am very ignorant of what actually happens. It’s for that reason that I am looking to pick this book up.

It offers a perspective I have never read before, and provides the educational aspect that I need. I’m a firm believer that we shouldn’t shy away from even the nastiest parts of our history. How can we learn from such things if we try to hide from them?

 

Priest of Bones

The last book on my fixed reads list of this monthly TBR is Priest of Bones by Peter McLean. In order to choose two books from my reading list, from which to poll my followers, I used a random number generator. This month, my followers had the choice of picking either Priest of Bones, or the runner-up, Killing for Company. I would have been happy with either choice, but I’m excited that this particular book won. I am predominantly a fantasy reader, yet I only have one other fantasy on this TBR (excepting Wizard and Glass once again!)

I suspect I’ll be reading the runner-up selection next month, as I’m keen to get to that one as well. If you want to have a say in my future polls, be sure to follow me on Instagram ahead of the next vote.

 

Mood Reads

 

A Storm of Swords – part 1

One of the things I set out to do earlier this year was to re-read the A Song of Ice and Fire series (aka A Game of Thrones), ahead of publication of the sixth book in the series. There were rumours that this was going to be towards the end of this year, although I’ve heard very little since.

That works out for me, because I am nowhere near as far along with the re-read as I initially planned. Instead, I’ve been picking up some other great reads, and this has fallen by the wayside a little.

In September, I’m going to be reading the first part of A Storm of Swords only. That’s hefty enough at about 600 pages. This is also the longest book on this monthly TBR… by a long shot! More typically, I would read books closer to an average of 500 pages. This month I’m uncharacteristically less at 357!

 

Lost Solace

The one book I didn’t touch at all in August is Lost Solace by Karl Drinkwater. I’ve read a number of books related to this main series and reviewed them for blog tours in the past. Lost Solace has been on my backlist to read. Since I didn’t get to this book in August, I am making it the highest priority mood read of the month.

 

The Last Thing To Burn

I’ve been a member of a local bookish group on Facebook for a while, and another member recently suggested starting a book club. There’s nothing set in stone as yet. But, I quite like the sound of the book that’s been chosen. So, I’ll read it in case an event (virtual or not) goes ahead.

 

Summary

As if quite often the case nowadays, I have quite the range of books and genres in this list!

Have you read any of the books listed in today’s monthly TBR? Are any of them on your reading list?

 

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Sunday Summary – 3rd September 2023

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We’re back with another Sunday Summary post, so make yourself comfy! I’ve had a pretty good week all in all. I’ve kept up with my average reading speed for the month despite being back at work (and with one stint of overtime too). It’s fair to say I’m back into the normal swing of things!

As always, let’s take a look at what I’ve shared already in my blog this week before my reading updates. My first post of the week was a review of a book that pushed me out of my comfort zone, but didn’t bowl me over. I’m not a romance reader, but I read The Duke and I as a result of enjoying the Netflix series, Bridgerton.

My next and most recent post (before this one) was my Monthly Wrap-Up of all the books I picked up in August. As always, I set myself an ambitious TBR that I didn’t quite finish, but I got close enough to be happy with the end result. If you want a reminder of the books I read in August and a feel for my overall impressions ahead of review, check out that post!

 

Books Read

 

Wizard and Glass

My week has been dedicated to reading Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. As of my last Sunday Summary update post, I had made a healthy start to this book having read the first 160 pages. Since that post, I’ve got onto read a further 500, which I’m pleased with! You must be thinking, “Gosh, Rebecca, you’ve got to be at about the end by now?” Unfortunately not! Wizard and Glass comes in at just under 900 pages, so I have a little way to go yet. My current page count puts me at 70% progress through the book.

Events that have been building up are just starting to come to a head now. I’m really excited to see where the plot goes from here and how the conflict unravels. My goal for the evening is to get through as much of this book as possible, as I will have to put it down briefly in order to fulfil other reading obligations. More on those below and in my upcoming Monthly TBR post. Depending on how quickly I read these two other books, I may get to dip into Wizard and Glass throughout the week. If the plot gets good, I’m going to find it very hard to resist the temptation regardless!

 

Books Discovered

No news is good news this week! The TBR hasn’t changed at all in the last seven days.

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post of next week will be my monthly TBR for September. I have a number of exciting books coming up in that reading list. I have a couple of thrillers, some fantasy, a non-fiction, historical fiction… sci-fi too. It’s a diverse one! It’s also been fun to include my Instagram followers on one of these picks this week. I hope you can check out that post on Tuesday!

On Friday, I’ll be sharing the next instalment in my Shelf Control feature. This week’s featured book is unusual in that it’s one of a few translated books on my TBR; this particular historical fiction/thriller was originally written and published in German! If you’re intrigued, please do check out my post on Friday!

Sunday is going to be a busy day on the blog as I’ll technically be sharing two posts. The first book I need to read on my September TBR is for a blog tour post due on Sunday. If you’ve read any of my reviews for M.J. Porter’s Eagle of Mercia series, then you can look forward to my review of the fifth book in the series (released next week) in just a week’s time!

I’ll also share my usual Sunday Summary post on that date. As priority needs to go to the blog tour, I will share my Sunday Summary update at 11:59pm.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Sunday Summary! I’m off to devour as much of Wizard and Glass as I can!

In the comments, drop me the title of the last book you couldn’t put down at the end!

 

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Monthly Wrap-Up: August 2023

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Pinch, punch, first of the month! Hello everyone and welcome to my monthly wrap-up post! It’s the beginning of a new month, so I’m excited to recap what I’ve been reading with you.

At the beginning of next week I’ll be sharing my September reading list with you. I hope you can join me for that on Monday. In the meantime, let’s take a look at my reading progress compared to last month’s TBR! I had high hopes of completing this TBR even though I put more on it in anticipation of reading more in my time off work. I did read more, but I had a good number of books on the list… and a few chunky ones as that.

Let’s recap my reading progress throughout August!

 

Books Read

 

The City of a Thousand Faces

August’s TBR was a mix of genres, mediums and book lengths. I started the month with my ‘fixed read’ that fell in middle ground in terms of length.

The City of a Thousand Faces is not your typical fantasy in terms of setting. We explore a city in a fantasy setting that reminded me very much of real life cities like Istanbul. Think arid landscapes, powerful sultans etc.

At 560 pages, this fantasy made for good exploration of a new world. The book can only be titled The City of a Thousand Faces as each character seems to have at least two – metaphorically of course! The characters and the plot are political in nature, and there was an awful lot of backstabbing!

The City of a Thousand Faces made for an okay read. It wasn’t my favourite book of the month, but I was interested to see how events concluded. It’s the most neutral review in this monthly wrap-up; the experience got better from here on out. 

 

Spike

The first a non-fiction book I picked up throughout August was Spike. If you think it is a little early to pick up and read books about the pandemic, then maybe hold off this one for a little while. If you do decide to pick it up, then I hope, like me, you find this an interesting and insightful read.

The book offers insight into the handling of the pandemic. We start looking at events from a global scale before narrowing its focus to the UK’s handling of the pandemic from the point at which it landed on our shores. There were insights in this book that are both shocking and in equal measure unsurprising. That may sound contradictory… but hear me out. What is shocking is how lackadaisical some of the approaches were when the pandemic was in its early phases. In ways, it is unsurprising based on who those individuals are!

I quite enjoyed this read, even when you take into consideration the topic and the consequences of this event has had our lives as we know it. The pandemic has impacted us for a number of years already and will continue to do so. This book only touches on a relatively short period of time and there may well be more to add to this at a later date. Should such a book come out, I would definitely read this one as well.

 

Ship of Destiny

The longest book on my August TBR that we’ll talk about in this monthly wrap-up was Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb. I’ve been looking forward to this conclusion to The Liveship Trader trilogy – and for very good reason! These books are very quirky in their fantasy set up, and at last we see the events over the prior 1800 odd pages lead characters into their destinies.

With prior Hobb books, I have on occasion felt the length and depth of the storylines. That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed them. However, I am very conscious of the fact I’m reading them, and that I’m having to read quite a lot in order to get through the page count. That wasn’t the case with Ship of Destiny at all. I was so invested in the narrative that the pages flew by, despite the dense storyline and events to take in. I’d go so far to say that I think Ship of Destiny is my favourite Hobb book so far!

 

A Brief History of Time

My second non-fiction read of the month was A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. This book pushed me out of my comfort zone because it is quite technical (and I am not). I enjoyed the concept of science and space despite not being so versed in complex, physical and mathematical equations and concepts. This book has those in abundance, although Stephen Hawking does do his best to explain these in simplified and practical examples.

Even though I’m not technically minded, I was able to read A Brief History of Time on a relatively superficial level and still find it interesting. I’m sure there is plenty more that other readers could get out of the book. However, I will save that for them. Although it is a science book, you don’t have to be too scientifically minded to understand the theories, principles, and discussion points that Stephen Hawking brings up throughout.

 

Leadership and Culture

Non-fiction isn’t a genre I read a whole lot of, although you know by now that I am trying to read more it. My third and last non-fiction on my August TBR and for inclusion in this monthly wrap-up is Leadership and Culture. I read this book whilst I was off work and managed to read it quite quickly. As someone who is invested in improving office culture and would be interested in a management position in future, I wanted to read this book ahead of that time to effectively set myself up.

This book has a lot of practical examples of do’s and don’t’s when it comes to management versus leadership. These are all examples I have seen in the workplace and felt their effects as well. I’m sure everyone has! For anyone who currently is in a management position and wishes to make improvements, the book is full of practical tips in order to identify or work on sticking points. Although I’m not necessarily in a position to adopt any of these now, I am in a position to encourage the healthy habits that some of these tips try to adopt. I can help encourage others to speak out by speaking out for myself, for example.

 

Wizard and Glass

The last book to feature in today’s monthly wrap-up is my final read of August, Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. I was determined not to leave it another four years before I returned to The Dark Tower series. It’s not even been four months… I’m sure you’re proud of me! On a serious note, I really enjoyed going back to the series and exploring the narrative and history of the world in a little bit of a different way. Whereas previous books hint at prior events and leave a lot to the imagination, this book seems to have more of a focus on building up that backstory.

It’s no wonder I didn’t get to the end of this before the end of the month, all things considered. This book is nearly 900 pages in itself as well! 

 

Summary

Unfortunately, I didn’t quite get to Lost Solace. It was ambitious to try and tack this onto the end of what is already an extensive reading list. It’s not going away though. As I didn’t get to it in August, expect this to feature on September’s TBR coming out on Monday next week.

Over the course of August I read in excess of 2,500 pages. That’s an average of 80 pages a day, so not insignificant at all. I needed to read 107 pages a day in order to get through my reading list. That was quite an ambitious target! If I had no other plans for my time off work, this may have been a possibility. The fact is, I did use that time off for other things as well. I still made fantastic reading progress and I’m pleased with what I’ve achieved!

That concludes this monthly wrap-up post. What books have you been reading recently? Do you have any recommendations for me?

 

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Sunday Summary – 27th August 2023

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Welcome to my Sunday Summary update post this August bank holiday weekend. I hope you’re having a good weekend whatever you’re doing. My time off work is coming to an end, but I’ve made good use of the time!

Aside from reading, I’ve been keeping to my usual blogging schedule. My first post of this week went live on Tuesday; I shared several books I unhauled earlier in the week. It’s not a common post I share, but it felt apt as I’d just gone through my shelves to make some room anyway!

Next, I shared my regular Friday feature post – Well, I Didn’t Know That! For this week’s feature, I shared some of the tips and tricks I’ve learned taking an online course on social media marketing. If you want to improve visibility and engagement on your posts, why not give some of these a try?

 

Books Read

 

A Brief History of Time

I left off in last week’s Sunday Summary having read 25% of A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. If you haven’t read this book, it’s quite a technical science book about space, time, and the theories as to the history of the planet and universe as we know it.

I’m not a science geek, so I ended up reading and understanding the concepts in the book on a superficial level. It was easy enough to follow, especially as Stephen Hawking helped explain some of the principles of the theories in approachable, everyday terms. I was initially sceptical of the later chapters being a bit difficult. But, the way the book has been written means that what we’ve read and understood previously helps us understand these later concepts!

I enjoyed this non-fiction book, not only for the subject matter but also for the change of pace. It was a stretch out of my comfort zone, but I wouldn’t rule out reading similar books in future!

 

Leadership & Culture

I jumped out of one non-fiction book into another, and quite a different subject matter entirely! Leadership & Culture concerns management in the workplace, and how different management styles can affect the work dynamic, trust and ultimate success of companies. The book mainly targets current managers, however, can easily be read by aspiring managers too. I’d argue if you want to get into a position like that, you want to learn this before you start on the wrong foot!

The authors of the book both have extensive leadership experience. They draw upon techniques and real examples of how leadership vs. management impacts employees and companies, as well as suggesting exercises to identify where improvements can be made by the reader in their own environment.

Leadership & Culture was a very quick read to pick up. It had a nice tone and easy-to-follow narrative style that I enjoyed. Should I find myself in a management position in future, it is a book I will revisit to implement the strategies detailed within.

 

Wizard and Glass

The final book I started this week is Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. This is the fourth book in The Dark Tower series -one I have really enjoyed to date!

Getting into Wizard and Glass has been a breeze. Since I’ve not left it so long since I read the last instalment earlier this year (compared to the four-year gap starting The Waste Lands in May), I’ve been able to pick up where I left off without a recap. The events of the book pick up exactly where he Waste Lands finishes. That book had a really interesting cliffhanger of a conclusion, so it was great to get straight back into that and resolve what was happening early doors.

As of this Sunday Summary update post, I am 159 pages into Wizard and Glass. Overall, I’m still a little behind schedule to finish my reading by the end of the month. However, I’m not too far behind and what I’ve read of Wizard and Glass has gone really quickly. I found this with the prior book in the series as well. If I remember correctly, I read that in just a handful of days! I’m hoping for a similar experience here!

 

Books Discovered

Having read a great recommendation/review earlier this week, I have added a book called Among Thieves to my TBR. I even did myself a favour and made a note of the link to that post, so you can go and check it out for yourself!

After reading the review and the synopsis of the book, I have every faith that I’m going to enjoy it. I have read similar books and themes previously and got on with them really well! here’s hoping I have the same experience with this book!

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post next week is going to be another book review. As I’m sure you won’t find it difficult to believe, I have quite a list of books to catch up with and share my thoughts on. Next week’s featured book is one I read even though it is a genre I don’t read a lot of. I decided to pick it up purely because I enjoyed the Netflix series, (against all odds I hasten to add!) If you haven’t guessed already, it’s The Duke & I by Julia Quinn.

On Friday, we will be officially in the month of September! With the coming of the new month, I’ll inevitably be kicking off with a wrap-up of the books I read throughout the month of August!

As always, I will be sharing another Sunday Summary update with you next weekend and going over the latest books I’ve picked up, any I’ve added to the reading list, and a schedule of what you can expect content-wise the following week.

That’s a wrap for this Sunday Summary post! Let me know in the comments what book you are currently reading!

 

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Monthly TBR – August 2023

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Hello readers – welcome to my monthly TBR post for August!

You would think having not completed a few month’s lists by now that I would slow down the pace. You would be wrong! I will be setting myself a list as ambitious as ever. On the plus side, I do have some annual leave coming up at work… so you know what I’m going to be doing with it, right?!

I have two goals for this month’s reading – the first is to get around to some of the books I’ve not made it to in previous monthly TBR’s. Secondly, I need to up my non-fiction game. In my mid-year review of my goals, identified that I was a bit behind on reading non-fiction in order to achieve my goal of reading more than 15 non-fiction books by the end of the year.

As a result, this monthly TBR is a little unusual. I have seven books on the reading list. Four of those are under 300 pages, which is very short for me. I have two books that are knocking on 900 pages, which is far more like what I usually pick up. Lastly, I have one solitary book in the no man’s land between… and that’s the book I’ve started the month with. It’s going to be an odd experience flitting between the two extremes!

 

Fixed Reads

This month’s set of fixed reads of the non-fiction books that I need to read to get back on track with my reading goal, plus the book that I drew out of my TBR Jar!

 

A Brief History of Time

I had every intention to get round to A Brief History of Time last month, but it wasn’t meant to be. So, I’m making it a priority read for this month. I’m of two minds as to which way this book is going to go. It’s under 300 pages, so it could be a relatively quick read. However, I understand that it can be a bit dense and mathematical. If I don’t get myself too bogged down in that, it shouldn’t be too bad. To be honest, I don’t think I will because I’m not too interested in that. There is absolutely no chance I’ll be able to follow the numbers anyway, so what’s the point?!

 

Spike: The Virus vs. The People

The second non-fiction I am looking to pick up this month is a reasonably topical read. If it’s still too early for you to be reading or talking about the pandemic, then maybe this book isn’t for you. However, I’m intrigued by the synopsis of the book. I’m willing to dive into our recent history to learn a little bit more about an event that quite literally changed our lives overnight.

 

Leadership and Culture

My final non-fiction read of the month revolves around personal development. I haven’t read any books in this vein recently, so when I saw this available for download on NetGalley, I decided to pick it up.

Whilst I am not a manager, it is a role I hope to be considered for in future. Not only that, but I’m sure the skills outlined in this book can start helping me within the workplace, even from a non-leadership perspective. Already, I am a senior member of my team and I am a regular point of contact with other departments. Aside from my day-to-day job, I also head up a newly established sustainability committee in our local office. I also drive the social committee. I’m looking to use these avenues to develop my skills and demonstrate my abilities in the long run. The tips in this book can only help me in this!

 

The City of a Thousand Faces

This month’s TBR Jar pick is The City of a Thousand Faces by Walker Dryden. I actually received a copy of this book to review from the publisher Orion. I confess it’s taken me a little while to get around to the book, but now I’ve picked it up, I am invested.

The City of a Thousand Faces is a historical fantasy that evidently has a lot of political machinations throughout. There is plenty of conflict from the get go in this narrative! As of drafting this monthly TBR post, I’m 120 pages in and I’m intrigued by the events so far. This book has made a solid impression from its introduction and I can’t wait to read more!

 

Mood Reads

 

Wizard and Glass

After reading and devouring The Waste Lands earlier this year, I knew it wasn’t going to be long before I picked up the series once again. Keen to avoid another four-year long hiatus, I’m jumping back in this month with the fourth book, Wizard and Glass.

It’s hard to say what to expect from a series like this, but I definitely didn’t expect the events of the last book. However, that worked out really well. I have absolutely no idea what could possibly happen next, but I’m all for finding out!

It’s great to get back into a series that allowed me to explore Stephen King’s writing whilst still sticking to my fantasy roots. I have since gone on to read several other books by him, but this was really the series that sold him to me. That and The Green Mile.

 

Ship of Destiny

I have been hoping to start Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb for the last couple of months, but not quite gotten there. This is a series I also want to make sure I keep progressing with. Not only does that work considering my goal of reading sequels for the year; but, it also means that I stay on top of what has happened before and I am still familiar with events when I pick up the next book.

The books, the series, and the world they are set in are grand. In order to appreciate them fully, you can’t leave it too long in between. It suits me because I have really enjoyed keeping up with this series. Robin Hobb is an author who was recommended to me by my friend Rachael. I am so glad she did! Robin Hobb has fast become one of my favourite authors, and for a very good reason!

 

Lost Solace

The last book I’m picking up in August is a science-fiction novel that I have been wanting to get round to for the longest time!

I have already read a number of books by Karl Drinkwater. Those were short stories set in the same universe as Lost Solace. Now, I’m finally getting around to the main series. Whilst I’ve been trying to stick to continuing ongoing series as opposed to starting new ones, I do want to make a start on this one. Karl has been very kind in providing me copies of several books from this series for the purpose of providing a review. Naturally, I don’t want to keep him waiting forever for me to start!

Lost Solace is the shortest fiction novel on my August TBR. By the time I get round to it, having such a short fiction novel may prove to be solace… in every sense of the word.

I’ll see myself out… 

 

Stretch Goal

Sometimes I like to set myself a stretch goal! However, since I’ll need to read about 107 pages a day as it is, I’m deliberately not setting one here. If I do (by some way of a miracle) get through this TBR, then I’ll decide whether and what I pick up there and then. I’ll either read on a whim, or if I want a break, take it guilt free. 

 

Summary

As you can see, I have a wide variety of books on my August monthly TBR. Have you read any of the books I’ve featured on today’s monthly TBR list? Are they already on your reading list, or have I inspired you to add them?

Let’s chat!

 

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