Tag: wrap up

Sunday Summary – 25th February 2024

Posted on by

I’m back with my usual Sunday Summary update, and I’m looking forward to sharing what I’ve been up to this week! As always, I hope you’ve had a great one?

This week has been more chilled out than last, so I have more in the way of reading updates to catch you up on very shortly. First, let’s take a look at the blog posts I’ve shared so far this week.

My first post of the week was a Top Ten Tuesday post. In that post, I explored some of the fun superpowers I wish I had to help me along with my bookish endeavours. From infinite storage space to being able to remember every minute detail about books, I had a lot of fun thinking about this post. The content is a bit more whimsical than I’ve been posting of late and it was great fun to draft. If you haven’t checked out that post yet, as usual, I’ll provide a link to that here.

My next post was a Shelf Control feature. This is the third post I have shared of its kind so far this year, and once again I have shared a historical non-fiction with you. I obviously went through a flurry of adding these to my reading list! Although they are the same genre, each of the three books I have featured so far are all from different time periods. This week’s feature post explores history of Tudor England. It’s a short book, but when I’m looking forward to reading to refresh my knowledge on a topic I already know I love.

 

Books Read

 

The Queen’s Gambit

I left off from last week’s Sunday Summary post in between books. After some debate, I decided to pick up my Instagram poll pick runner-up next, being The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis.

I added this book to my reading list after watching the Netflix series several years ago. I already knew what to expect in terms of the storyline and characterisation. The time between watching the TV show and picking up this book has probably helped negate any real comparison between the two as it wasn’t too fresh in my mind. I was still able to enjoy the story without overthinking how it compared with the Netflix show.

The Queen’s Gambit is a relatively short book, and I read this in its entirety this week. I rated the book four stars as I enjoyed the storyline, characterisation and flow of the plot. Whilst I have some basic understanding of chess and how to play, this prior knowledge isn’t especially needed to be able to understand the book. If that’s something that worries you, don’t let that put you off!

 

Hogfather

Next, I picked up what is my current read as of this Sunday Summary post. I only started this book yesterday, but already I have read 37%.

Hogfather has a really approachable narrative and is generally a bit of fun. I wish I’d had the foresight to check when this was coming up in the series, as I’d have read it in December if I’d known it was next. Hogfather is part of the Death miniseries within Discworld, and pokes fun at the concept of Father Christmas and belief.

I’m really enjoying the book so far, and given that I’ve managed to read about 160 odd pages in 24 hours, I can’t imagine I will be too long reading this book. In any case, it’s a digital loan from my library so I’ll have to get my skates on.

 

The Atlas Six

Finally, I have started listening to The Atlas Six again this week. As usually happens with me, I have let progress in audiobooks fall by the wayside in the last few weeks. However, I’ve had the motivation to start listening again this week, and I’m glad I have. I’m still not very far into the narrative, but I’m intrigued by the characters and where events in the book are going to take us.

This week, I listened to about two hours of the audio. Whilst it’s not a huge amount, it is a start considering it has been nearly 3 weeks since I last picked this up. Now that I am back into the story and the characters, I’m going to look to find more opportunities to listen whenever and wherever I can!

 

Books Discovered

Remember last week I shared that I got some book vouchers for my birthday? Well, I may have spent some of them this week 😇

I picked up quite the range of books this week. From cyborg assassins (Lifelik3) to biology (The Song of the Cell), it’s fair to say I’ve got quite the range in reading taste!

In addition to these, I picked up a couple more non-fiction books – The Survivor and Normal Women. Whilst Normal Women wasn’t officially on my TBR, it has been on my radar. You may recall that I featured a podcast from Philippa Gregory of the same name in my Well, I Didn’t Know That! series. This podcast features research that contributed towards the book, and I really enjoyed listening to the particular episode I shared. I was aware the book was coming out soon, but I confess that it had escaped my notice that it was out already. I happened to see a copy of it just as I was turning to pay for the others I picked up. I’m glad I spotted it last minute, and I eagerly grabbed a copy!

 

Coming Up…

Usual scheduling will be put on hold this week as we are already at the end of February. Where on earth has the time gone?

My first post of the week will be a Discussion Post. In this post, I’ll share how my reading tastes have changed over time. I plan to cover my reading tastes from my teenage years onwards, so that’s quite a time span to cover!

On Friday I’ll share my Monthly Wrap Up for February. Overall, I’ve read less books this month than I have for a while. It shouldn’t be a particularly long post, but I’m doing my best to fit in as much reading before then as I can! Maybe I’ll surprise myself?

As always, I’ll round up the week with another Sunday Summary update for you at the same time next week!

Until the next post, that is all from me. What are you reading right now? Do you have any recommendations for me?

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads

Sunday Summary – 18th February 2024

Posted on by

Good evening readers and welcome to this Sunday Summary update!

This week has been an unusual week of social plans, and so you’ll find this post a little light when it comes to reading updates. I celebrated my birthday this week, so I’ve had plans with family and friends over different days for the occasion. For the first time ever, I’ve also taken part in tree planting with a local charity just this morning. It’s a coincidence that it happened to be this week as well, but I’m ready for a rest! 😂

I did manage to turn out a couple of blog posts earlier in the week. The first of those posts was my book review of Skyward by Brandon Sanderson. Whilst I’ve had the time to be able to share more reviews, I wanted to feature this young adult sci-fi as I have really enjoyed the series. I have already read the next two books in the series and will be reading the fourth shortly. It made sense to kickoff with my review of this first book so then I can follow on with the rest.

On Friday I shared a First Lines Friday post. This week’s feature was inspired by conversations I’ve had with family in the last week or so about a specific author. Mum has been reading other books written by the author of this week’s feature (that I’ve already reviewed on my blog). Plus, mum’s recommended me a TV series based on another book of hers I intend to pick up very soon. If you want to find out what that is, you can check out that post here.

 

Books Read

 

Heart of the Sun Warrior

As of last week’s Sunday Summary post, I was 75% into Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lyn Tan.

My initial hopes of finishing this book quite quickly were quashed by the amount of ‘extra curricular’ stuff I’ve been doing this week. I have finished this book now, but I didn’t finish it until yesterday.

Overall, I rated this four stars. It could have been a three star, but I actually really enjoyed the ending. I wasn’t sure how the love triangle was going to play out. Had it gone the way I was expecting, I think that would have impacted the rating. The ending, however, was better than expected and so bumped it up to a four star.

I’m pleased that I can tick this off my reading list as complete as that is a series now wrapped up. It’s my first series concluded in 2024 – let’s hope it’s not the last!

 

Books Discovered

I didn’t receive any books for my birthday this year, but I was very fortunate to get vouchers so that I can spend them down the line…

I’m gutted! Can’t you tell? 😉

 

Coming Up…

My first post of the week will be a bit of a fun one. As I’ve shared some reviews lately, I want to lighten the content by sharing my version of this week’s Top Ten Tuesday post. This week’s topic is bookish superpowers I wish I had! There are many…

On Friday I’ll be back with another Shelf Control feature. I’ve already shared two non-fiction historical books in these features so far and I’ve got a third lined up for this week’s post. It’s a completely different time period and subject to those I’ve already featured in this series so far. I like to read about a lot of historical periods, clearly! I hope you can check out this post.

As always, I’ll be back this time next week with another Sunday Summary update for you. As of this post, I have a lot less in the way of social plans lined up so I’m hopeful that more reading will get done. We’ll see though!

Until my next post, happy reading!

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads

Sunday Summary – 11th February 2024

Posted on by

Good evening friends – I’m back with my usual Sunday Summary post! If you are new here, Sunday Summary is my weekly update in which I share with you what I’ve been reading and sharing on my blog.

Before we get into the books I picked up this week, let’s do a quick recap of the blog post I’ve already shared.

The first post I shared this week went live on Wednesday. That post was a book review of Lost Solace by Karl Drinkwater. I have already read a number of Karl Drinkwater’s books before. They were part of a side series to Lost Solace. After months of trying to get to the book, I finally read it in November last year. It’s always a pleasure to feature this author my blog; I have enjoyed every single book of his to date. If you want to find out more about this introduction to his main sci-fi series with a strong female lead and a witty AI, you can find out more here.

On Friday, I shared the next instalment in my Shelf Control regular feature. This is the second post of its kind of this year, and it also happens to feature a second historical non-fiction novel. Where the previous instalment looks at World War II, we step back far further into the realms of Ancient Egypt in Friday’s featured book. It is a biography of a famous female pharaoh, and not the one you would imagine. If your interest is piqued, you can find that post here.

 

Books Read

 

Heart of the Sun Warrior

I’ve only really made progress with one book this week, but it is another reasonable size. I’ve still managed to read a good few hundred pages.

Heart of the Sun Warrior is the sequel to Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan. I initially read the first book of this duology last year. Given that I’m trying to read more series, picking up the sequel was a natural choice.

As I borrowed this from my library digitally, I’m actually reading this book on my phone. It’s not my favourite format, but I’m making do. I’m enjoying the book, the complexities of the plot and the character relations within. I especially enjoy this book as I like the Asian inspiration behind the characters and storyline. I’m very used to reading westernised fantasy. It’s making a refreshing change to pick up something different.

As of this Sunday Summary, I am bang on 75% of the way through and hopeful that I’ll finish it shortly!

 

Books Discovered

After watching the first episode of Fool Me Once on TV, I have added the book of the same name by Harlan Coben to my reading list.

 

Coming Up…

Midweek, I plan to share a book review with you. I have quite the backlog, and I want to share another fun sci-fi book series with you. I am a huge fan of Brandon Sanderson, and I have read three out of four books of his Skyward series so far. I am yet to review any of the books in his series so far, so that’s what I’ll be featuring this week!

On Friday, I’ll be back with my First Lines Friday feature post. As with the last time I shared this type of post, I’m going to keep the topic free so that I have flexibility to feature what I want nearer the time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun to pose myself a challenge sometimes. However, I’m quite happy to allow myself full flexibility on this occasion.

You know what’s coming next. I’ll be back at the end of next week with another Sunday Summary update. I’ll catch you up on the books I have read over the course of the week, any I’ve added to my reading list, and lastly, what is coming up on the blog.

Thanks for taking the time to read this Sunday Summary post!

What are you reading?

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads

Sunday Summary – 4th February 2024

Posted on by

Evening all and welcome to my Sunday Summary update for this week! It’s been a busy week with blog posts as it’s the beginning of the month. This is my fourth post of the week so far! Normally I’d spread the posts out over the week, but the way timing has worked out, they’re all at latter end.

My first post of the week was my monthly wrap-up for January, which was shared on Thursday. I read seven books in full in January, with plenty of variety in there! If you are interested to see what books I picked up, that’s the post to check out.

On Friday, I took part in a blog tour post for Sword of Vengeance by Peter Gibbons. In that post, I shared my thoughts on this fourth instalment in the series. If you’re following the series and want to find out more, you can see my thoughts in my review above.

Yesterday, I shared my February TBR. With a long reading list completed in January, I set myself another ambitious list to keep up momentum. If you want to find out what I’m reading this month, you can find a link to my reading list using the link above.

 

Books Read

 

The Black Coats

This week I picked up The Black Coats by Colleen Oakes. I intended to read this in January, but I ended up finishing the book a couple of days ago.

As a contemporary fiction, it was quite a quick read. I enjoyed the feminist angle on the narrative and how the plot line progressed. It was a fun read, and although not too long, there was enough in there to help me invested in the characters and plot.

There is also plenty of action in the book to keep it moving forward. My reading pace with this book was naturally quite quick as the constantly moving and unfolding narrative kept me wanting to read more!

 

The Atlas Six

I’ve also made a little progress with The Atlas Six this week. As of this Sunday Summary, I’m still at the stage of getting to know the main characters and the set up of the book. However, I’m intrigued by everything I have listened to so far and I’m really enjoying the production.

I like how each of the main characters have been cast separately, as they are easy to identify and each have their own distinct voices and personalities. I’m not picky when it comes to audiobooks in terms of casting, or whether it is narrated by multiple people or not. However, I do seem to be enjoying multi-cast audiobooks a little more.

I’m looking forward to listening to more of this in the coming week!

 

Books Discovered

It’s another clean bill this week with no new books added to my reading list! As I’ve also finished The Black Coats, as of today’s post the reading list is at a mere 195 books to read.

Not many then…

 

Coming Up…

My first blog post of next week will be a book review. Since reading the book in November 2023, I’ve intended to share my review of Lost Solace by Karl Drinkwater. I have read and reviewed multiple books in a side series of Karl’s previously. If you like science-fiction then make sure you check out my review in the coming days!

On Friday, I’ll be back with another Friday feature. This week, it is the turn of Shelf Control. If you are unfamiliar with the series, it encourages me to review upcoming books on my reading list and share why I’m looking forward to them. It’s proved a great way of whittling down the reading list behind the scenes if I’ve changed my mind on something since I added it. Otherwise, it hypes me to pick it up. Hopefully soon, but then I do have a lot to read so I can’t always promise that…

Lastly, you know that I’ll be back with another Sunday Summary at the same time next week.

Until then, happy reading!

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads

Monthly Wrap-Up – January 2024

Posted on by

Happy Thursday February 1st, and welcome to my first monthly wrap-up of 2024! How are we one month into 2024 already? As they say, time flies when you’re having fun!

I set myself a chunky TBR back at the beginning of January. I’ve linked to that post if you want to see the full list of books I set myself. I didn’t get to all of them this month, which isn’t surprising given I set myself a list of 10! Saying that, I’ve read more than average this month, setting myself in good stead for the rest of the year (I can only hope!)

Shall we get to the recap of the books I read in January? Strap yourselves in – it’s going to be a longer post than usual!

 

Books Read

 

Gemina

Gemina was the physical read I carried over from 2023. I had only read about 40% of the book by the end of December. A solid start, but there was plenty of progress to make still!

As Gemina is a YA sci-fi written in a mixed media format, I gobbled up the rest of the book in just a couple of days. Like Illuminae, I found it difficult to put down! The way it’s written is easy to read and the different perspectives and data sources that make up this story keep the narrative interesting.

I also loved the characters within the book. There is some small overlap on characters, although broadly we enjoy two new perspectives in the overarching storyline. I can only hope all parties come together in the sequel and last in the trilogy, Obsidio.

It’s safe to say that I started off the year well; Gemina was a great first read of 2024, netting my first 5 star rating.

 

My Sister’s Keeper

In addition to Gemina, I carried over My Sister’s Keeper from 2023. At the beginning of the year, I was approximately a third of the way through this audiobook.

My Sister’s Keeper isn’t a type of book I would pick up very often, but I’m glad I did! I was drawn to it because of the synopsis and the question of morality over Anna and her lifelong role as a donor for her sister, Kate.

I loved how this book played out and the drama within. The end made me teary and I am so glad I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to pick it up. Not everybody loves the ending of this book and I can understand why. However, I think it depends on what expectations you go into the book with. If you go into it looking for an answer to the morality question, then you may not get what you’re looking for. However, I think the book is about asking the question of ourselves – and that I did throughout reading.

 

The Girl in Seat 2A

I downloaded a copy of The Girl in Seat 2A published by Boldwood books via NetGalley. I have reviewed multiple Boldwood books through Rachael’s Random Resources tours before, and this book caught my eye.

The Girl in Seat 2A has an interesting storyline and I enjoyed the wider plot. I confess that I didn’t love the main character Jade, but that is because we are very unlike each other. I struggled to relate to her as a person, and also her circumstances, meaning that I could only invest so much into her.

Hers is not the only perspective in this book though, and it’s that second perspective that made the book for me. I also enjoy how the plot really starts to come together from this alternate perspective and the action and drama was fun to read.

If you’re interested to read my full thoughts on this book, you can find my review here.

 

Betrothal and Betrayal

Another reading obligation to include in today’s monthly wrap-up post is my read of Betrothal and Betrayal as part of a blog tour I took part in mid-month.

Betrothal and Betrayal is a fun and relatively short historical fantasy novel. With a strong, fiery, female protagonist living in a man’s world, I got everything I wanted from this book. I loved the protagonist and her unwavering resolve, despite her circumstances. She is the kind of protagonist to make a great role model for all young women, so it’s great to see represented in fiction.

I’m not going to go too far into the book here as I have already shared my review as part of the blog tour. If you want to go and see that review, I’ll provide a link here.

 

Crime and Punishment

The slowest read on January’s TBR that I include in today’s monthly wrap-up is Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

And that’s not surprising. I am always slower with reading classics because I find the narrative styles differ from modern day. Until I’m used to it, there is an adjustment period. Although it took me a little longer to get into than the rest of the books on this monthly wrap-up, I still enjoyed picking it up.

In this narrative we follow the actions and fall-out of destitute student Raskolnikov murdering a moneylender. The booking itself explores mental health as that features heavily in the narrative, but also around morality of killing, and whether such actions can be washed out by any overall benefit to society as a consequence.

That is a very brief and probably not the best summary of the book, but it’s the best I can do with limited paragraph space!

 

Unmasked

The second audiobook I picked up in the month of January was Unmasked by Ellie Middleton. This is also the first non-fiction book I have picked up this year. If the rest are as good as this one, then I’m in for a good year!

The primary focus of Unmasked is about Ellie’s experience of late diagnoses of ADHD and autism. However, the book also takes an objective view of these neurodivergent conditions, as well as others, to educate readers about what it is like to interpret the world differently. Not only that, but the book explores how those who are neurodivergent are often discriminated against, and what steps we can take in society to be more accepting and accommodating.

I picked up this book to understand more about neurodivergence in general. I was surprised to find that I could relate to some of the traits of autism. That’s not to say I have autism, but it helped me appreciate overall how difficult it must be to grow up with these differences… especially if you grow up undiagnosed as most women do.

It was an eye-opening read, and if you’re interested in the subject, I would strongly recommend picking up Unmasked. I especially enjoyed listening to the audiobook as Ellie narrates this herself.

 

Sword of Vengeance

The last reading obligation I picked up in January that our feature on this monthly wrap-up post is Sword of Vengeance by Peter Gibbons. You won’t yet have seen the review for this book on my blog as it is going live tomorrow.

To date, I have enjoyed following along with the series and I’ve reviewed 2 out of the 3 prior books in the series as part of blog tours. I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts on this fourth book of the series tomorrow. In summary, the book was everything I expected it to be based on the high expectations from reading the earlier books in the series. Again, there is a lot of action in this book, as well as underlying political intrigue which I love to read about.

I hope you can stay tuned for my review tomorrow!

 

The Black Coats

As of this monthly wrap-up post, I’m currently reading The Black Coats by Colleen Oakes and I’m 40% into the book.

It’s an enjoyable read so far and I’m loving the feminist take. I can see the action only picking up from where I’m up to, so I think I’ll have the book finished within another day or two! If you want to find out more about this book, I’ll be talking about it in more detail in the coming days. 

 

The Atlas Six

My next ongoing read at month-end is The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake. As of writing this post, I’m just over 2 hours into this nearly 17 hour long book. For the stats nerds, that’s about 13%. Unlucky for some, but not me!

I’ve only really gotten introduced to the characters and basic premise so far, but I’m intrigued. There’s definitely a lot to be explored in the narrative. I’m also glad I went for audio; each character is separately cast, making it easier to follow who is who. I love the different voices and styles as well – it adds a layer of interest.

Given that I’m not too far into the book, there isn’t really much I can say right now. This is one to stay tuned to my blog for!

 

Summary

I needed to read 5 books to stay on target of 60 books by the end of the year. I let the new year excitement get away with me in setting 10 books. However, I think having a longer reading list has encouraged me to read a little more this month. It doesn’t always work this way, but it’s working at the moment!

Next month’s TBR is going to look much the same – there’s always more to read! If you’re interested to see that list, I’ll share my February TBR on Saturday! Stay tuned for that!

In the meantime, what are you reading?

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads

Sunday Summary – 28th January 2024

Posted on by

Good evening gang – it’s time for another Sunday Summary update. Why do the weeks just fly by? Next week is the start of February already; I honestly don’t know where January has gone! Before getting to the books I’ve read over the course of the week, let’s do a cheeky recap of the posts I’ve shared so far.

My first post of the week was a Top Ten Tuesday post. In that, I shared ten books I didn’t get to in 2023. This wasn’t so much a *top* ten as a list of ten that I just about scraped together!

On Friday I shared my first First Lines Friday post of the year. I didn’t set myself a challenge for that, so when it came to drafting it I decided to feature an opening from a favourite read of 2023. If you missed that post there’s a link above. Can you guess from the clues in the introduction what the book is?


Books Read


Crime and Punishment

As of last week’s Sunday Summary, I had read 484 pages, or just under 75%, of Crime and Punishment.

With the end in sight, I ploughed on and completed the book on Tuesday. Although it took me a little longer to read than other books I’ve picked up so far this month, I did enjoy Crime and Punishment. It was the book I expected it to be based on the synopsis and it was an interesting read. If you are unaware, the narrative explores the actions of a destitute young student who commits murder, and then struggles with his mental health and dealing with the consequences of his actions.

I am usually slower with reading classics, because of the difference in writing style and language. However, I’m glad that I’m finally able to take this one off my list as read!

 

Unmasked

I was just under half way through Unmasked as of last week’s Sunday Summary. Once again, I’ve made a good deal of progress and listened to the remaining three hours and change this week, taking me to 100% completion.

I really enjoyed Unmasked. I initially wanted to listen to the audio to understand how neurodivergence is such as autism and ADHD may affect people. Did I think I would relate to some of the symptoms or experiences as I did? No, but there we go!

If you are interested in the subject, Unmasked is written in such an approachable way that you can read as much or as little of this book as you want. It’s also a book you can go back to and read certain chapters of again. It’s well structured, comprehensive, and written very well. I also like that the audiobook is narrated by the author herself; Ellie talks a lot of her own experiences as a neurodivergent in this book, and it wouldn’t feel right to hear these narrated by someone else. It felt much more authentic coming from Ellie herself.


Sword of Vengeance

After reading the first chapter of Sword of Vengeance a couple of weeks ago at a hairdressers appointment, I picked up the book in earnest this week.

Sword of Vengeance is the fourth book in Peter Gibbons’ Saxon Warrior series. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know that I have been following reading and reviewing the series as part of organised blog tours. See my reviews of Warrior and Protector and Brothers of the Sword here. This fourth book is no exception. If you are interested in the series, I will be reviewing this book next week – you can find out more about when below.

Sword of Vengeance picks up where we left off after the events of Maldon and the tragic battle that took place at the end of book three. I won’t want to go into too much detail on that so I don’t spoil that third book. What I can say is that events unfold from there and once again we are thrown into a narrative of action and intrigue.

Sword of Vengeance was everything I have come to expect having read the earlier books in the series. I enjoyed the plotline and the introduction of new characters, as well as the return of favourites. If you enjoy historical fiction, and in particular, reading battle scenes, Sword of Vengeance will not disappoint you.


What next?

It’s unusual that I have to feature a section with this title, as I am rarely writing a Sunday Summary being in between books.

I generally have a couple of reads on the go, one physical or e-book, and one audiobook. I am finally getting to The Black Coats by Colleen Oakes in e-book format, which was my December TBR Jar pick. For my audiobook choice, I will be listening to The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake. Stay tuned to find out more about my reading progress and thoughts on these books over the next week!


Books Discovered

No news is good news once again this week! I’m down to 196 books on my Goodreads to-read shelf… which sadly is the lowest it’s been for a while!


Coming Up…

Next week we are in the realms of month-end. That means that it’s time to share my monthly wrap-up post for January, as well as my monthly TBR for February.

In order to accommodate those, my blogging schedule is going to be out of sync. Normally I try to post consistently throughout the week. However, with the timing of month-end and other obligations, I will be sharing four posts all in the second half of the week.

Starting on Thursday, I will be publishing my monthly wrap-up for January. I didn’t want to leave this post too long to share with you, so I am jumping in there at the first opportunity. Literally, the 1st haha!

My second post of the week goes live on Friday, and this is my blog tour review of Sword of Vengeance by Peter Gibbons. I’m glad I got this book finished earlier today as that gives me several days to draft my review and make sure I’m happy with it before going live with the tour on Friday.

On Saturday I’m sharing my TBR for February. Whilst I could technically share this on Monday the fifth, I feel like that would be quite late. Thankfully, I’ve already decided what my reading list will be and drawn my TBR Jar pick. It’s going to be another busy month… put it that way!

Then, last but not least, I’m back again to round off the week with another Sunday Summary update! In that post, I’ll recap the books I’ve read in the last seven days and update you with any books I’ve added to my reading list. Finally, I’ll share what’s coming up on the blog.

 

Summary

I hope you check out my upcoming posts as they are published. In the meantime, that is all from me in today’s post. Have a fantastic week however you spend it!

If you are reading right now, what book have you picked up? Are you enjoying it? Will you recommend it?

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads

Sunday Summary – 21st January 2024

Posted on by

Happy Sunday everyone and welcome to this week’s instalment of Sunday Summary. If you are unfamiliar, I take the time every week to update you on the books I’ve been reading, the blog posts I’ve shared with you, and finally what to expect in the coming week.

This week reading progress has been slower, but this isn’t unexpected. I’ll share more on that below. First, let’s recap the blog posts I shared earlier this week.

So far I have shared not one, but two book reviews with you. The first of these book reviews was for The Girl in Seat 2A by Diana Wilkinson. Technically, this review was due second, but based on timing I decided to publish this earlier than the book’s publication date.

On Thursday, I shared my review of Betrothal and Betrayal by Janet McGiffin. This was part of a blog tour and so I had to publish on this on this set date. I already established in last week’s Sunday Summary that I had a great time with this book. If you want to check out my full thoughts, here is a link to that review so you can check it out for yourself.

 

Books Read

 

Crime and Punishment

As of last week’s Sunday Summary post, I left off having made 132 pages of progress into Crime and Punishment. As this is a classic and is one of the oldest books on my list in terms of publication date, I knew the narrative style was going to be clunkier. I fully anticipated reading progress to slow down with this book, so I’m not surprised that it has.

That said, I have made more progress in the last 24 hours than anticipated. I’ve been able to pick up the speed, either because the narrative is getting good or because I’m getting used to the style. I’m not sure which. Either way, I’m now 484 pages into the narrative which equates just under 75%. Now I’m coming towards the end of the book, I imagine the quicker reading pace will continue. I’ll share more about how I get on in next week’s post.

 

Unmasked

I listened to a further hour and 10 minutes of Unmasked by Ellie Middleton yesterday. This takes my reading progress of this book to just under half as of this Sunday Summary.

I really like how this book is structured and covers each of the topics within. It’s also proved easy to pick up again even though I probably haven’t made any progress in it for about a week.

It’s a really interesting audio and I would recommend anybody with interest in autism, ADHD or other forms of neurodivergence to give it a look. In the more recent chapters I’ve listened to, the narrative explores how different conditions may show up in real life. Particularly, I liked how it covered ways that symptoms differ from society expectations. I’m looking forward to seeing how the topics are explored further in the second half of the book.

 

Books Discovered

I’ve added nothing new to my reading list this week, which is as well given it constantly seems to hover at the same level and never go down!

 

Coming Up…

On Tuesday I plan to share my first Top Ten Tuesday of the year. This week’s topic is Books I meant to Read in 2023 but didn’t get to. I have a variety of books to share that fall into this bracket! Stay tuned for more on those next week.

On Friday I’m back with a First Lines Friday post. Sometimes I set myself a challenge for these posts, but I’m going to keep an open field and decide what to feature later in the week!

Lastly, I’ll be back with another Sunday Summary update this time next week. Until then I hope you have a fantastic week!

What are you reading?

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads

Sunday Summary – 14th January 2024

Posted on by

In today’s Sunday Summary post I have plenty of updates to share with you. It has been a fantastic week of reading, and I can’t lie when I say I’ve enjoyed going back to a more relaxed blogging schedule. Yes, this week I was back to my regular three post schedule, and it’s been far more manageable.

The first of those posts was a book review of Leadership and Culture by John and Katie McCann. I read this book last year as a way of picking up another non-fiction, but also to work on some of my soft skills. This book would be great for either first-time managers, aspiring leaders, or even as a refresher for those more experienced. As always, I’ll provide a link in case you want to go back and check out that post.

On Friday, I returned with a Shelf Control post. If you are unfamiliar with this series, I use it to look at upcoming books on my reading list and share why I’m excited to read them. This week’s particular feature was another non-fiction book that is on my reading list, but about a completely different topic. It’s one that I am really interested in reading about even though it is not the most pleasant! If you want to find out what that was, there is a link above.

 

Books Read

My Sister’s Keeper

As of last week’s Sunday Summary post, I was 75% into this audio and hopeful that I was going to finish it soon.

I did indeed finish this audio on Thursday night, and oh my goodness, what an ending! I fully appreciate that some people don’t like the ending of this book. However, I really enjoyed it and I didn’t see it coming! It also made me cry my eyes out. It ended up being quiet in the office than usual on Friday, so no one noticed the puffy face. Then again, I do work with mostly men…

 

Betrothal and Betrayal

The second read I carried over from last week’s Sunday Summary was Betrothal and Betrayal. In that post, I shared that I’d read the first 20%, and it’s from there I picked up from.

I read Betrothal and Betrayal on my phone, which is something I don’t do very often. However, this is a review copy of the book and the deadline for reviewing it is coming up. Had I not been able to view the book on my phone I would have gone back to the organiser to see if I could get the matter fixed. As things stood, I could, and the book is only 250 pages long. I decided to work with what I had, and to be fair, it worked reasonably well.

As I’ve already mentioned, the review for this is coming up – as imminently as next week. I’m not going to go too much in detail as to my thoughts at this time. Overall it was a fun, short historical fantasy book in which we get to explore the life of a fiery female protagonist set an interesting setting – Constantinople and the Byzantine empire.

 

Crime and Punishment

I picked up Crime and Punishment for the first time after finishing Betrothal and Betrayal. I suspected this would be the book my reading pace slowed down with, and that is the case.

In order to read all of the 10 books I have on my January TBR, I need to read about 100 pages a day over the course of the month. Since Thursday, I’ve only read the first 132 pages of this classic. In fairness, I haven’t picked up read at all today, and I will be making some progress with the book tonight once this post goes live.

I already expected that the writing style of Crime and Punishment would make 100 pages a day a stretch. When you take into account the book was published in the late 1800s, by a Russian author and then translated, it doesn’t quite flow the same as modern language. This isn’t to say I’m not getting on with it, because I am. However, to get my hundred pages a day, I’m definitely going to have to read a couple of books in tandem. More on that later. As of this post,Crime and Punishment is my main read and my focus going into next week. If I can read 50 pages of this book a day, in tandem with 50 pages of another, I’ll be on track.

 

Sword of Vengeance

To help with keep up my reading pace and give me a change, I’m going to read Sword of Vengeance in tandem with Crime and Punishment. It so happens that I started the book yesterday whilst at my hairdressers anyway. I am reading Crime and Punishment in paperback form, but it wasn’t worth taking with me to the appointment. I was able to read the first chapter of Sword of Vengeance on my phone.

Sword of Vengeance is the fourth book of the Saxon Warrior series. I’ve kept up to date with it and so there isn’t too much in the way of investment to pick up and follow the action. I’ve already done the legwork and know what’s going on. It’s a completely different writing style, but it’s one that I find very easy to read. I’ll be using this book to switch to when I need a break and/or to try and make up page count in my daily reading.

I confess that, as of this Sunday Summary, I have only read the first chapter, or 5%. I’m looking forward to picking up more of the book next week. 

 

Unmasked

The last book I need to update you on this week is Unmasked.

I started this audiobook after finishing My Sister’s Keeper. It’s not an overly long one, so I’ve already made good progress. As of this Sunday Summary, I’ve listened to about 30%.

The book is about the author, Ellie Middleton, and her late diagnoses of ADHD and autism. Whilst the book’s aim is to go some way to educate readers about the conditions generally, it is particularly about her experience and how women and ethnic minorities are less likely to be diagnosed at an early age.

I’m enjoying the audio even more as it is narrated by the author herself. I don’t think it would’ve felt right being narrated by a third-party given that this is about her individual experience. I’m looking forward to listening to more in the coming days!

 

Books Discovered

It had been a little while since I’ve had a look on my library’s digital offerings. I confess I was originally looking to see if I can borrow one of my upcoming reads later in the month. No such luck. However, I did find an e-book written by author I enjoyed in 2020 with an interesting premise.

The Sentence sounds like an intriguing legal thriller. I’ve tried multiple drafts to sum up the story without really doing it justice (no pun intended). So, here is the synopsis instead:

A law intended to end capital punishment.

Prosecutors who seek the death penalty put their lives on the line if the guilty are later found innocent.

A lawyer convinced beyond reasonable doubt.

Justine Boucher is presented with overwhelming evidence in a brutal murder case. Her request for execution is granted.

But what if she’s wrong?

Coming Up…

I have two reviews due next week. With this in mind, these will be my priority posts in the week.

In order to space out these reviews, I will be reviewing the second book first. I appreciate that sounds contrary, but allow me to explain. This second book is due to publish on the 19th of January, but I haven’t necessarily committed to provide my review on that date. Instead, I look to have it prepared a few days in advance, so it is out in the world (and on Netgalley) by publication day. With this in mind, I look to share that review on Tuesday.

The other book I will be reviewing this week is one where I have agreed to do it on a set date, and that is Thursday. I’m taking part in a blog tour for Betrothal and Betrayal, organised by TheWriteReads. I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts on this book as I really enjoyed the action and setting. Stay tuned and you will find my thoughts, both on my blog and across my social media accounts on Thursday 18th.

Lastly, I’ll be back with another Sunday Summary update next week. Given the nature of the posts I am sharing this week, I’m not doing a Friday feature as well. Reviews take a lot of time to get right and I want to make sure I do both justice. As well, I’ve not long ago had a busy week of blogging during a busy period at work. I’m sticking to the three day schedule and I’m unapologetic about it!

For now, that’s all from me in today’s post. Have you read any of the books I talk about in this post? What are you reading right now?

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads

Sunday Summary – 7th January 2024

Posted on by

Good evening friends and welcome to this Sunday Summary update. This post is the fifth I have drafted and published this week. It’s not very often I have such a busy schedule. However, with the end of the year, I’ve had a lot of content to push out in a short window. I’ve shared about 7,100 words with you in the last week, when you include this post as well! 

The first blog post I shared was my monthly wrap-up for December 2023. In summary, reading progress slowed down a little bit in December, given I’d already met my reading goal and because of the festive period. If you’re interested to see what I read in the final month of the year, you can check out that post here.

The next post was my wrap-up for the whole of 2023. In this post, I took a look at the goals I set myself at the beginning of the year to see if I managed to complete them.

After a day’s break, I shared my 2024 Reading Resolutions on Thursday. Some of the resolutions I have set myself this year are very similar to ones I set last year. But, there is one brand-new goal for 2024. If you want to find out what I’m setting out to do this year, you know what to do.

Lastly, I shared my January TBR on Friday. I may have set myself a reading goal that equates to 5 books a month, but I am very excited for the New Year and new reading opportunities. As a result, I maybe have been ambitious with my reading goal for the first month. I feature no less than 10 books on this reading list… yeah, that’s where we’re at!

No pressure…

 

Books Read

 

My Sister’s Keeper

Leaving off from last week’s Sunday Summary update, I picked up My Sister’s Keeper having already made progress with about a third of the audiobook.

I’ve raced ahead this week and I am now just over 3/4 of the way through. This book is everything I hoped it would be in terms of dealing with the morality and ethical aspects of the underlying story. Even better for me, I am just getting to the point where Anna gets her hearing in court. We get to dive into the detail of the family dynamics as well as the ethics of the story. How is it likely to end? I have no idea at this point. That makes me all the more keen to keep listening!

I’m looking forward to making further progress in this audiobook next week. If I’m any judge, I think I could get it done next week. We’re at the interesting bit and there’s only a few hours left to listen!

 

Gemina

Gemina is the second book I carried over from last week’s Sunday Summary post. In my last update, I had read just over 200 pages with a further 450-odd to go.

I raced through those 450 pages within the first few days of January! I’m not surprised, as I knew what to expect from my enjoyment of the first book in the series, Illuminae. The character perspectives are fun to read and the format of the book (mixed media) makes it very easy to pick up. Now and then it’s nice to break away from books written in traditional prose.

Gemina was a great book to pick up both to end 2023 on, but also to start 2024 with. It was my first read of the year, and also my first five star read at that!

 

The Girl in Seat 2A

The next day, I started the book I picked up and read in full this week, The Girl in Seat 2A.

The book is a thriller written by Diana Wilkinson and is due to be published on the 19th January. As a reviewer and follower of Boldwood books, I was very lucky to be accepted for an advanced reader copy to share my thoughts with you ahead of publication.

You can expect those thoughts in full coming up on the blog very soon. However, to give you a flavour of the book now, it is a thriller about a young woman living the lifestyle of a millionairess. But, not all is as it seems. When she meets and starts to date a wealthy man whilst on holiday in Marbella, things take a turn for the worse.

Overall, the book was a four-star read. I wasn’t a huge fan of the main character, just because we are opposing personality types. But, that didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. It is also told from another perspective which I liked far more. I’m looking forward to more detail in the near future!

 

Betrothal and Betrayal

I picked up one final book this week, and as of this Sunday Summary post, Betrothal and Betrayal is my current read.

Betrothal and Betrayal is another book that I am reviewing for a tour coming up very soon. I’m having to read this particular book on the Kindle app on my phone, which isn’t my favourite, but I’m making do. It’s a relatively short read at about 250 pages, so I’m not anticipating it will take too long to read anyway.

As of this post, I’m already 20% through the book, having picked it up just yesterday. The storyline is still in the introductory stages, so I can’t tell you too much about it right now. Set in the Byzantine empire, we follow a young woman called Thekla in this historical fantasy. She has fled from her family who are trying to marry her off to someone she is unwilling to commit to after her betrothed has stood her up for a third time. Shes young and fiesty, making her much more my cup of tea compared to Jade in The Girl in Seat 2A!

I can’t really tell you much more than that at this stage, as I’m just getting introduced into the story myself. I trust I’ll be able to share more with you in next week’s update.

 

Books Discovered

I went to town with family today, and of course I made us stop in Waterstones on our travels.

I’ve added a couple of books to my bookshelves as a result of that trip. One of the books I purchased was already on my TBR, but now I officially own my copy. So far, I’ve read and loved two books by C.J. Tudor, The Chalk Man and The Taking of Annie Thorne. With this in mind, I added The Burning Girls to my reading list just over a year ago. I didn’t yet own a copy of that book… until today!

The second book I discovered from Waterstones IOM Instagram page. It is their non-fiction book of the month, The Wager. I like the sound of the premise, and as I’ve just set myself another goal of picking up non-fiction again this year, it was a no brainer!

In addition, I added one further book to the reading list after Bibliobeth featured it on her Instagram. Again, another non-fiction, the Icepick Surgeon appealed to me because the title hints at some of the topics I explored and loved in when doing my psychology A-Level.

If you’re a bit squeamish, then perhaps this content is not for you. I suppose there is a theme in my reading, because this book explores the ethics and morality of science and where boundaries have been blurred in the past. Sound familiar to another book I’m currently reading?

 

Coming Up…

I’m not lying when I say I’m looking forward to going back to my regular blog schedule next week!

Still, there is no rest for the wicked, as my first post of the week is going to be a book review. I have a pending review on NetGalley for a book I read last year, Leadership and Culture. As leaving this outstanding can affect my feedback ratio and potential to be accepted for further downloads in future, I’m going to prioritise reviewing this. It’s also been outstanding since August last year; whilst not the longest a book has had to wait from me for a review, I don’t want to leave it too long either!

I’m keeping up with my Shelf Control and First Lines Friday features this year. So, this Friday, I will be back with a Shelf Control. If you are unfamiliar with this series, I take the opportunity to feature upcoming books on my reading list. I’ll tell you all about them in detail, and most importantly, share why I’m excited to pick it up!

The last post I will be sharing next week will be another Sunday Summary. With all the luck in the world, I will have as good reading week as I’ve had this week and I’ll have plenty of updates to share with you. Maybe my 10 book TBR isn’t so ambitious after all…

Who am I kidding?! 😂

 

That’s all from me in today’s Sunday Summary though! It’s 11pm and I’m off to prep lunches for the week ahead, and then get stuck in with a few pages of Betrothal and Betrayal before bed.

What are your Sunday plans?

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads

Monthly Wrap-Up – December 2023

Posted on by

Happy New Year gang – welcome to my final monthly wrap-up post relating to 2023! In today’s post, I recap the reading progress I made over the month of December. Tomorrow, I will be publishing an overarching review of 2023 as a whole, so if you’re looking for that content keep your eyes peeled!

With festive plans and lots of catch ups, reading progress naturally slowed down a little in December. However, as I had already met my official reading goal of the year, I wasn’t too bothered about this. I did set myself an unofficial goal, however, to try and get to books before the end of the year. Did I achieve that? Find out more below!

 

Books Read

 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

I started the month of December carrying forward The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. At the end of November’s monthly wrap-up, I was just over 25% into the book.

It was refreshing to pick up a mood read for a change. If you recall that post, I picked up The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes after DNFing another read on November’s TBR. I had just been to watch the film at the cinema, and I loved it.

It’s fair to say that I enjoyed the book every bit as much as the film, even if there did turn out to be those usual minuscule differences between the two. I also think knowing the ending impacted the speed of which I read this book… combined with the festive period, of course. That’s not to take away from my experience of the book though! I really enjoyed this prequel, and following on from this, I will be looking to re-read The Hunger Games trilogy this year.

 

The Success Code

With my non-fiction reading goal in mind, I picked up two non-fiction books in December. The first of those was a physical read of The Success Code by John Lees.

This book is great as it is made up of multiple short chapters. It outlines small steps we can take in order to represent ourselves as best we can, put our best foot forward and promote positive image of ourselves to others.

It’s content should be worked through sequentially, as some of the latter chapters build upon framework outlined earlier. I think that’s useful though, as this framework gives you a model to work around, rather than giving you some generic advice and expecting you to be able to implement it without any guidance. The baby step nature of it as well, stop you from getting intimidated and falling over at the first hurdle.

I’ll definitely be looking to take away some of the points brought up in this book, so it was definitely a worthwhile read!

 

Order and Chaos

My next physical read, was picking up Order and Chaos, a short story anthology. I read another anthology, contributed to by the same author that approached me, earlier this year. Having enjoyed the experience of reading that first book, it was easy to say yes to the second.

I’m not going to go too much into the details of why I enjoyed the anthology, because I have a review live on my blog that you can check out instead. In summary, though, the anthology is a fun and diverse collection of stories that all revolve around the themes of order and chaos. But, from there, are vastly different from each other! It was a nice short read that fit in perfectly around the busy Christmas period.

 

Gemina

The last book I picked up physically in the month of December is Gemina. As of the end of 2023 and this monthly wrap-up post, I have read 266 pages of Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman.

Yesterday, I was under no illusion that I wasn’t going to get through this book before the end of the year. I had read just over 200 pages at the start of the night. There was no way I was going to get through the final 450… even with the best of intentions! It doesn’t matter though. Through my reading to date, I did indeed meet my unofficial (larger) goal of reading 60 books by the end of the year. There wasn’t a massive push to get this finished. I’m also happy to take this through into January and set my reading year off right!

I read the first book of the trilogy, Illuminae, earlier this year and I fell in love with it. I love the way in which the books are written, the characters (different between both books, but that doesn’t matter one iota) and the overarching story. It’s a different format to what I usually pick up, but it’s working really well for me!

 

Audiobooks

 

November Insta Poll Pick – The Minders

I left off my November monthly wrap-up post having listened to half of The Minders by John Marrs.

I listened to the second half of this audio when making gifts for Christmas. Although not a festive read, I found it compelling to follow along with whilst doing something mindless. The narrative of this story is interesting. As it’s a conspiracy thriller, we’re always pondering what we don’t know or what is going to happen next.

I liked how this audio was cast. We had a couple of different narrators (one for each gender), and the characters were differentiated well enough that we could easily follow who was who.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Minders, and for sure, it won’t be my last John Marrs book!

 

How to Win Friends and Influence People

The second non-fiction book that made it onto December’s reading list was How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

I confess I went into this book with a preconception that it was going to be a little trickier compared to The Success Code. In comparison, the second book is more modern and considerably shorter. How to Win Friends and Influence People was first published in 1936 and the audio was around seven hours long.

In reality, How to Win Friends and Influence People was a very easy listen. Despite the age of the book, I still find a lot of the points raised in it to be relevant today. Well, some people may resent being told to smile more. But, there is definitely argument for why this can help you. Don’t worry ladies, this isn’t targeted at just us!

 

December Insta Poll Pick – My Sister’s Keeper

I ended the month of December having listened to just less than a third of My Sister’s Keeper. I wanted to pick up this book for the moral debate that makes up the vast majority of the story. Now and then I will read out of my comfort zone for a specific reason. For example, I read Me Before You in 2019 as it deals with the topic of euthanasia.

My Sister’s Keeper is about a 13-year-old girl, Anna, who was conceived as a donor match for her sister. Kate was diagnosed from a young age with an aggressive form of leukaemia. Throughout her childhood, Anna has undergone multiple procedures and surgeries in order to donate to her sister. However, the nature of her illness means more invasive treatment is required each time.

At the opening of My Sister’s Keeper, Kate is suffering from kidney failure and is in need of a transplant to save her life. Anna‘s parents expect her to undergo the surgery and give her a kidney, but she has ideas of her own.

I enjoy reading stories that take a look at some of the more difficult topics in life. It’s more than just a story to enjoy, but one to think about as well. Although I am only a third of the way through the book so far, the set up is giving me everything I was hoping this book would be, and more! It’s a nice easy listen and I hope the narrative going forward explores the issue in as much depth as it can.

 

Summary

I trust you can tell from this monthly wrap-up post that I enjoyed each and every read I picked up in December, whether I finished it or not. I’m taking forward some great books into 2024!

I have briefly mentioned that I met my unofficial goal of reading 60 books. If you want to see what other reading goals I set myself, and how I did with those, check out tomorrow’s blog post in which I take a look at my 2023 year in review.

I hope to see you in that post. But until then, thanks for checking out today’s monthly wrap-up… and happy reading!

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads