Every season I like to look back and revisit my 5 star reads. As well as trying to read different genres, I also like to try and match my reading to the season as far as possible.
So here were my 5 star reads for the second half of Autumn (click for my reviews):
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “romance”, “cosy mystery”, “autumn reading”, “fall reading”, “reading slump”, “what should I read next”, “what book do you recommend”, “library”, “what book should I get from the library”, “what books should I read this autumn”, “what books should I read this fall”
Welcome to my Sunday post hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. Another quiet week this week as I am trying to cut down. My son has had a full week of health this week which makes a lovely change – hopefully this is the start of a healthier period!!
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “mystery”, “what should I read next”, “what books do you recommend”, “which books are popular at the moment”, “what is everyone reading”, “autumn reading”, “fall reading”
Welcome to my Sunday post hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. A quieter week this week as I needed to get some more reading in. That didn’t quite work out how I wanted it to but it was good to try it out!
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “mystery”, “what should I read next”, “what books do you recommend”, “which books are popular at the moment”, “what is everyone reading”, “autumn reading”, “fall reading”
A fairly decent amount of reading time was had this evening. I started off with my Blog Tour book The Cornish Cream Tea Bookshop by Cressida McLaughlin, followed by Fingersmith by Sarah Waters and ended the evening on A Bookshop Christmas by Rachel Burton.
I am still trying to separate the two Christmas books so that I don’t get confused. Fingersmith is quite dark and a complete contrast to the two Christmas books so is a nice palette cleanser (ironically given what the book is about!). Whilst it is slow going and I still have about 100 pages to go, I am really enjoying it. I actually read more than my allotted time for it as I got so into it!
It’s Time Travel Thursday! This is where I take a look back at what I was reading this time last year (or the year before or the year before that…) and compare it to what I am reading now.
“He’s been killing for hundreds of years. But he reckoned without her.
Kirsty has always been alone.
It’s fine. It’s what she’s chosen. People, as a general rule, are more trouble than they’re worth. It’s why God invented batteries.
But when she comes across the man being burned alive on the banks of the Clyde, she can’t just let him die. Without a second thought she batters in to save his life…
And accidentally tears the fabric of time.
Now an ancient serial killer is on the loose and only Kirsty can make him regret he was ever born.
Even if it means killing the only person who ever loved her.
Sometimes she can bloody well see all these magic destiny shenanigans far enough.”
“Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a “baby farmer,” who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.
One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.
With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways…But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.”
I am on the Blog Tour for this book on 28 November so keep your eyes peeled for my review on here, Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
Book Description From Goodreads:
“Ollie Spencer has started a new life in the idyllic Cornish seaside town of Port Karadow. Throwing herself into her job at the town’s bookshop, A New Chapter, is one way to make friends. The shop is glitzing up for first Christmas and Ollie hopes her inspired ideas will give the shop the edge it needs to dazzle the town.
But far from being the Sugar Plum fairy the place needs, Ollie is fast becoming its Christmas pudding. With the bookshop’s success at stake, Ollie turns to twinkly-eyed café owner Max for help. Can he help Ollie to turn the page, and put the sparkle back into her Cornish dream?”
“A snowstorm. A stranger. A spark. And it’s Christmas! It should be the perfect start to the perfect love story.
But real life is far messier and more complicated than in the pages of the books in Megan Taylor’s family bookshop – the last few years have left this young widow in no doubt of that. Moving back home to York should have been a fresh start, but all it did was allow her to retreat from the world.
When prize-winning author Xander Stone rams his supermarket trolley into her ankles and then trashes her taste in books, Megan is abruptly awoken from her self-imposed hibernation. It’s time to start living again, and she’s going to start by putting this arrogant, superior – admittedly sexy – stranger in his place.
Just as she is beginning to enjoy life again, the worst happens and Megan begins to wonder if she should have stayed hidden away. Because it turns out that falling in love again is about more than just meeting under the mistletoe…”
Comparison:
From Fantasy to Gothic Fiction and Christmas! Quite a difference. I am only reading Christmas books this early though due to my Blog Tour schedule and the fact that a library book became available far sooner than I had anticipated (it said that there was a 2 week wait on it, so I thought that that was a reasonable time to start reading more Christmas books, but then the library bought more electronic copies so I could start reading almost instantly!).
What were you reading this time last year or the year before (or the year before!)? Add your links in the comments below!
“Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a “baby farmer,” who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.
One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.
With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways…But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.”
I am on the Blog Tour for this book on 28 November so keep your eyes peeled for my review on here, Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
Book Description From Goodreads:
“Ollie Spencer has started a new life in the idyllic Cornish seaside town of Port Karadow. Throwing herself into her job at the town’s bookshop, A New Chapter, is one way to make friends. The shop is glitzing up for first Christmas and Ollie hopes her inspired ideas will give the shop the edge it needs to dazzle the town.
But far from being the Sugar Plum fairy the place needs, Ollie is fast becoming its Christmas pudding. With the bookshop’s success at stake, Ollie turns to twinkly-eyed café owner Max for help. Can he help Ollie to turn the page, and put the sparkle back into her Cornish dream?”
It’s Time Travel Thursday! This is where I take a look back at what I was reading this time last year (or the year before or the year before that…) and compare it to what I am reading now.
Azrael, the Angel of Death, knows pain. The deaths of his mother and sister, as well as his harsh experiences in the Watch Guard at age twelve, have brutally shaped him into the most feared assassin in all of Pandaren. Azrael’s role as a Hunter requires him to search for those with magic, called Spectrals, which he is happy to do. Hunting allows him to pursue his true goal—exacting revenge on the Fire Spectral who altered the course of his life.
Azrael’s obsession with revenge and power leads him to undergo an experimental procedure that gives him magic, but when this procedure has unexpected and dangerous side effects, he becomes a liability to the Hunters and the Watch Guard. Rescued by the people he has sworn to eliminate, Azrael finds himself questioning everything he once believed as years of secrets and lies are exposed. His very nature is challenged as he battles unfamiliar emotions and navigates relationships that contradict the heart of a killer.
Can the Angel of Death have a conscience? Can Azrael?
Chasing the Darkness is an escape to a land of magic, sword fights, and love, with memorable characters who must face the darkness within and journey down a path of destruction or redemption.”
Book Description From Goodreads:
“The Lottery, one of the most terrifying stories written in this century, created a sensation when it was first published in TheNew Yorker. “Power and haunting,” and “nights of unrest” were typical reader responses. This collection, the only one to appear during Shirley Jackson’s lifetime, unites “The Lottery:” with twenty-four equally unusual stories. Together they demonstrate Jackson’s remarkable range–from the hilarious to the truly horrible–and power as a storyteller.”
“Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a “baby farmer,” who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.
One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.
With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways…But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.”
“A Moment on the Lips Christmas may not be a perfect Christmas, but it’s definitely one you do not want to miss. From: Pamela Wilson
Date: 20 Dec 2021 04:43
Subject: Very exciting news! Prompt response required!
Dear Family and Friends,
You are cordially invited to join us at Midwinter Cottage from 30 December to 2 January, situated in the glorious wilderness of the Scottish Highlands, for a Christmas and New Year break to remember.
Midwinter is an extremely luxurious thatched cottage that sleeps 18 comfortably and was featured in 2020 Your Home magazine. Facilities include gym, cinema, indoor heated pool, sauna, Aga and manicured grounds with fire pit. Small dogs are allowed in the house. Outdoor shoes are not. This break is a gift from us to you. NO financial contribution is required. RSVP WITHIN 24 HOURS as we need the final numbers for the Ocado shop. Transport via executive coach is included. We look forward to hosting you! Let’s make some memories!
“Mario Conde has retired from the police force and makes a living trading in antique books. Havana is now flooded with dollars, populated by pimps, prostitutes, drug dealers, and other hunters of the night. In the book collection of a rich Cuban who fled after the fall of Batista, Conde discovers an article about Violeta del Rio, a beautiful bolero singer of the 1950s who disappeared mysteriously. A murder soon follows. This is a crime story set in today’s darker Cuba, but it is also an evocation of the Havana of Batista, the city of a hundred night clubs where the paths of Marlon Brando and Meyer Lansky crossed.”
Comparison:
From Fantasy/Romance and Dark short stories to Gothic Fiction, Christmas and Mystery. I am still keeping to the darker themes as with last year, but with the addition of a lighter Christmas themed book this year!
What were you reading this time last year or the year before (or the year before!)? Add your links in the comments below!
Welcome to my one word review post! This was inspired by a Top Ten Tuesday post that I took part in earlier in May. Not everyone has the time to read through a whole review, so I think that these one word reviews are an excellent way to get a book across to people in one word.
So that I capture all the books that I have read I have decided that at the end of each month I will do one word reviews for all the books that I have read in that month.
Here are the books that I read in October with links to my full review:
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “reading slump”, “what should I read next”, “what book do you recommend”, “one word review”
It has been half term this week so we have been out and about. On Monday we went to our local town and then a garden centre (a few Christmas bits were out which was exciting!), Tuesday we went with my parents to Romney Marsh and went on a train, Wednesday we went to a different garden centre, a pub for lunch and a park with my partner’s mum. Thursday we went round my partner’s grandparents house as we hadn’t seen them for a while. Friday we went shopping for Halloween tops ready for the annual Halloween Tea at my mum’s house (I have just realised that I didn’t take any pictures of the table. My mum went all out with spooky food and decorations!). Saturday my partner took my son to the local park then we went on a tiny walk to look for some nature bits for my son’s homework. We also did a bit of food shopping so that we could make some Halloween chocolate. This was fairly unsuccessful as the shop we went to had got rid of their Halloween stuff and it was all Christmas. Halloween isn’t overly big here so the Halloween bits in shops are small and sell out fairly quickly. We managed to make a large, marbled chocolate bar with fizzy sweets instead. Today we may go back into town to do some more Christmas shopping and to wear my son out at soft play!
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “book meme”, “weekly wrap up”, “sunday salon”, “what books do you recommend”, “what books are popular on social media”, “what book should I read next”, “gothic fiction”, “fantasy”, “autumn reading”, “fall reading”
Welcome to my Sunday post hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. Another busy blogging week and together with half term it has also been busy outside! Whilst not everybody is back to full health, we have been able to get out and do a few bits which has been nice.
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “mystery”, “what should I read next”, “what books do you recommend”, “which books are popular at the moment”, “what is everyone reading”, “autumn reading”, “fall reading”
*Budget Tales Book Blog* 