Happy Friday bookish people! Today I am bringing you something extremely exciting. Earlier this month I teamed up with @Plaid_Reader is writing on Twitter to create a readathon. This readathon is based off the TV show Chopped and we have created book prompts to match different items of food and drink that could be found at a romantic dinner. The point of the readathon is to choose prompts by picking foods that you would have at your dinner. The readathon will run from February 1st – February 28th with a celebration on March 1st.
The Rounds
Like the real show the readathon will be broken into three rounds: Appetiser, Entree and dessert. You are welcome to take the rounds in whichever order you like but we have built them so the prompts get tougher as you go along.
Appetizers
1) Pizza
2) Strawberry
3) Milkshake
4) Leftovers
Entree
1) Steak and Lobster
2) Edible Glitter
3) Spaghetti
4) Dark Chocolate Truffles
Dessert
1) Champagne
2) Ring Pops
3) Baked Alaska
4) Yuzu
The Prompts
The Prompts
Spaghetti
Good Friendships or Multiple Points of View
Champagne
A Protagonist with Anxiety
Steak and Lobster
An expensive book or one that looks fancy
Ring Pops
A book where someone gets married or a wedding shapes the plot.
Yuzu
A book with a sweet and tart protagonist.
Dark Chocolate Truffles
A book from a ‘darker’ genre horror, mystery, thriller.
Leftovers
A book you started but didn’t finish
Baked Alaska
A book with a surprise
Edible Glitter
A book about magic or a fantasy
Milkshake
Two people must go on a quest
Pizza
A comfort read
Strawberry
Red Cover
The Reading:
We will be counting the pages that you (and we) are reading so make sure to enter the pages you read each day and make note when you finish each book. There will also be some cute prizes along the way…but remember everyone is a champion no matter how many pages or books you read.
The Points and prizes
Everyone will get a prize for participating but the top 3 readers may get a special prize. There will be two top winners, one from the US and one International, we will be doing a random draw for both. The US winner will receive a signed copy of A Place At The Table by Laura Shovan and Saadia Faruqi. The International winner will get £20 in Book Depository credit as long as it ships to your country.
And if you have any questions leave a comment below or contact me on Twitter at @oliviatempleto6 or my co-host at @Plaid_Reader is writing. All of this information and the sign up form is on the Chopped Readathon Twitter: https://twitter.com/choppedread
Also, we would love to see your TBR’s for this readathon!
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well. Today’s post is more of an information dump than what I usually post. I wanted to let you all know about what my plans are for this blog in December – and yes, I have given myself a lot of work to do because I plan to post every day in December. I’ve already started making and scheduling the posts so I won’t have to be stressed every day in December about whether or not I can make the posts in time, so as long as technology works as it should there will be a post from me every day. Fingers crossed.
I am going to list here what is currently the plan to be posted each day!
My December TBR
Bookish Advent Calendars – ones I saw on Etsy that looked interesting
Fun christmas bookish trivia – a quiz!
A collection of Night Before Christmas parodies
The best drinks to curl up with in winter – including some recipes
The Christmas Stocking Book Tag
The best books of 2021 – I love looking at these so I had to include my own
Cosy books to read at Christmas
Which book should I read over Christmas? – another quiz!
Bookish Christmas gifts
Books that surprised me this year
The Christmas song book tag
The best and worst books of each month in 2021
Books I wish I had got to this year
Goals and things I’m looking forward to in 2021
Books on my Christmas wishlist
Bookmas trees
Bookish naughty or nice tag
Bookshelf tour – I am still debating if I should just take pictures or if I should try and video it, what do you think?
Bookish Christmas quiz – yes another one!
Christmas cuisine book tag
Christmas films I reccomend
Books with a Christmas theme
Christmas Family traditions
Book Characters Who I’d love to spend Christmas with
Winter book tag
2022 most anticipated books
The jingle bell book tag
End of year book tag
My book of the year for 2021
My stats for 2021
So, that’s what my December posts are going to look like! Are you excited for them? What post are you most looking forward to seeing on my blog?
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all good. Today I am bringing you a blog post about all the books I own and haven’t read yet that I think will be a five star rating. I believe there are nineteen books I think I will give five stars which in comparison to the 300+ books I own and haven’t read is not that many.
Up first is…
Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb
I am excited to get around to reading this book because I have seen so many people read it and love it recently which makes me really want to read it soon. Also, it is my first proper adult fantasy, as I am trying to branch out of YA. I will still be reading that genre just not as much.
Up next is…
Sabriel by Garth Nix
I bought the rest of this series after I read Lireal earlier this year. My partner persuaded me to read it, he even bought it for me that’s how much he wanted me to read it, and I ended up loving it so I think I will have the same reaction to the rest of the series including Sabriel and the book up next…
Abhorsen by Garth Nix
I also anticipate the next two books in a series will be a five star read…
The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
The Bear and the Nightingale is a very dark fantasy read but I loved it! And I gave it five stars so I am excited to read the rest of the series and I have high hopes that I will enjoy them just as much as the first book.
Now the next group of books is also a series – this is a common theme for me, if I read the first book and give it five stars immediately I anticipate the rest of the series getting five stars too..
Queenslayer, Crownbreaker, Way of the Argosi and Fall of the Argosi by Sebastien De Castell
I absolutely love this series, I have read Spellslinger, Shadowblack, Charmcaster and Soulbinder so far and every single one of them has been so enjoyable. I haven’t actually given any of this series five stars so far but I really think the rest of these books are going to push me to giving that five star rating.
Finale by Stephanie Garber
This is the last book in the Caraval series, I love the first book. I gave Caraval five stars and it is one of my favourite books I have read. I didn’t like Legendary as much but I still liked it and I can’t wait to finish this series.
Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco
I loved reading Kingdom of the Wicked, the first book in the series, and the main characters are some of my favourites in all the books I’ve read. I can’t wait to be back in that world and see what happens next with Emilia and Wrath.
Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
I loved both her other books and something I really like is that they are all standalones and I get a full story all in one, it gives me a good feeling when I finish the book and so I am excited to read this one as well. I think it’s about nuns which sounds pretty interesting.
The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson
The Truly Devious series is a great mystery series with plenty of twists to keep you guessing and I am hoping this next segment of that series is going to be just like that.
Master of One by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett
I am highly anticipating this book because to me it has the same structure as six of crows, with a heist and a group of misfits being forced together. This is the type of fantasy adventure I really enjoy.
Blood and Honey and Gods and Monsters by Shelby Mahurin
I loved Serpent and Dove and the whole premise of the story so I definitely think that the next two in the series will also be five star reads just like the first one.
and finally…
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The Tudors is my favourite period of history and I love any book that is about them and I have heard such good things about the Wolf Hall series so I am excited to try it.
That’s it for all of my five star predictions, I hope you all enjoyed it!
Happy Friday bookish people! I have been seeing a few different videos on BookTube where people look at the book series’ they have started and not finished yet. It got me thinking about how many series’ I’ve started and so I am making this post to share them with all of you! As you can tell by the title, there’s quite a few of them.. 25 actually which seems like a lot, well, it IS a lot but I honestly thought there would be more.
Let’s get onto the book series’ I’ve started and not finished!
The Spellslinger Series by Sebastien De Castell
I don’t know if there is a title for the series overall but I’ve just called it the Spellslinger series because the first book is called Spellslinger. My progress on this series is pretty good actually, I’ve read Spellslinger, Shadowblack, Charmcaster and Soulbinder so I only have two more books in the series left to read. And then I can start on the Way of the Argosi series which is like a spin-off series. I really like the blend of serious fantasy and comedy in these books and I find I can read them very quickly and enjoy every page. Also, on Monday I won the chance to be part of a zoom meet and greet with Sebastien De Castell which I am so excited for!
The Invisible Library Series by Genevieve Cogman
Again, I don’t know if The Invisible Library series is what these books are called but the first one in the series is called The Invisible Library. I haven’t read as many of this series as I would have liked to by now. I have read The Invisible Library and The Masked City. I’ve had the Burning Page on my TBR before but I didn’t get around to reading it. This series follows Irene who is a librarian spy, it is such an interesting premise for a character and the books have a variety of other fantasy creatures like Fae and Dragons.
Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo
I think I read this in the wrong order because I read the Six of Crows duology first – and loved them! – so when I read Shadow and Bone I felt I knew the world quite well. I have only read the first book in this series so far but I did enjoy it, especially the villain of the series, I do think this is a series I will get to eventually but it’s not one I’m in the mood to finish right now.
A Darker Shade of Magic series by V E Schwab
I got the first book in this series from a special edition box that Illumicrate did and it is a beautiful edition of the book. I loved the idea of having four different Londons and being able to travel between them. I have only read the first book in this series because the second and third ones are quite long but I am hoping to get to A Gathering of Shadows soon.
The Way Of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry
This series is set in Edinburgh and is a dark mystery series. I have read The Way of All Flesh, the first book in this series. I loved the atmosphere the book had and the mystery was eerie and dark and the reader is thrown right into the centre of the tension when the novel opens. I am looking forward to continuing this series over the Winter months hopefully.
The Brown Sisters Trilogy by Talia Hibbert
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This series follows the three Brown sisters, Chloe, Dani and Eve and their romantic exploits. This is a genre I rarely read and if I do read it I don’t usually enjoy it. I read Get A Life Chloe Brown earlier this year and it surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. It wasn’t a five star read but it was still good. I have the second and third book in this series on my TBR for November so maybe I will get this series finished this month.
Ship Of Shadows by Maria Kuzniar
I was put on the book tour for the second book in this series, Secrets of the Stars so I bought the first book in the series Ship of Shadows as well and read that before the tour. I’ve put this series on the list because the way Secrets of the Stars ended I think there is going to be at least one more book in the series.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
This is a series I am very excited to continue with very soon. I own all the books in this series but so far I have only read the first one, A Court of Thorns and Roses. A Court of Mist and Fury is on my November TBR and I can’t wait to be back in the world of Feyre.
Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
In this series I have read Three Dark Crowns, the first in the series and I liked it but I didn’t love it. I want to continue the series but it’s not very high on my priority list. I liked the sibling dynamic of the first book and the magic elements.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series by Holly Jackson
A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder follows Pippa and Ravi, who she meets in the first book, as they try to solve mysteries that from what I can gather steadily get more intense as the series goes on. I loved the feel of the mystery in the first book and I am looking forward to diving back into this series with the second book sometime soon.
The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden
This series is so dark and mysterious and filled with folklore and superstition. I loved the Bear and the Nightingale, the first book in the series and I have been waiting for the winter nights to come again to curl up with a hot chocolate and continue this series.
Scythe series by Neal Shusterman
I read Scythe, the first book in this series a few years ago and I remember really enjoying the worldbuilding and the competition element of the first book and I want to continue the series but as with a few of the others it’s not high on my priority list because I don’t anticipate it being a five star series for me.
The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix
From this series I have read Lirael which is the second book in the series technically but Sabriel is sort of a prequel to the series. My partner was the one who got me to read this series and I ended up loving it. I don’t own them all yet but I am steadily buying up the series and looking for any chance to put them into my monthly TBR’s.
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
This is one of my favourite book series’ I have read so far. I loved the first book, Caraval, and then I liked the second book, Legendary but not as much and I am excited to read Finale and finish up this amazing series. I’m worried the ending of the series will disappoint me but I am hopeful it won’t.
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss
For this series I have read the first book and I have started the second book, European Travels for the Monstrous Gentlewoman. I loved the different characters in this series and how the author has made it so the different characters are interjecting into the writing process.
Cursebreakers series by Brigid Kemmerer
I have read A Curse So Dark and Lonely from this series and I liked how it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling but it was so much more than that at the same time. I’m scared to read the rest of this series because of the reviews I have seen and how people say that it breaks their hearts. I cry so easily anyway so I will definitely cry at these books I think.
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
I have read the Raven Boys, the first book in this series and I didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. I still intend to read the rest of the series but I’m not in any rush to do so.
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
I have read Truly Devious, The Vanishing Stair and The Hand on the Wall which is the main three from this series and I thought that would be the series finished but then the fourth book, The Box in the Woods, came out recently and of course I bought it because I loved the series and I am excited to continue with it.
Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco
This is another of my favourite series’ and I have read the first three books in it. I have read Stalking Jack the Ripper, Hunting Prince Dracula and Escaping from Houdini. My favourite of them was Hunting Prince Dracula and I didn’t enjoy Escaping from Houdini as much as the others but I am excited to finish the series soon.
The Prison Healer series by Lynette Noni
For this series I have read The Prison Healer and liked it and I think it has potential to be a great series. I own The Gilded Cage but I haven’t read it yet and Blood Traitor hasn’t been released yet.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
I really enjoyed the mystery in the Thursday Murder Club and the original premise of a group of elderly people being the investigators. I love the comedy in the series too. I recently bought The Man Who Died Twice and I’m hoping to read it very soon.
The Kingdom of the Wicked series by Kerri Maniscalco
I loved Kingdom of the Wicked the first book in this series, especially the character of Wrath and the dialogue between him and Emilia. I am so looking forward to reading the second book in this series.
Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin
I read Serpent and Dove on my way to Hampshire earlier this year and I loved it, I gave it five stars but I haven’t gotten around to continuing the series yet.
Dangerous Remedy by Kat Dunn
I have read the first book in this series and I enjoyed the premise of it and the found family aspect. It slightly reminded me of Six of Crows in that way and with the heist. I am looking forward to reading the second book and I love the title of the third book in the series: Glorious Poison.
The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh
This is the final series of my list of the book series’ I have started and haven’t finished yet. I read The Beautiful, the first book in the series and honestly I don’t remember a lot of what happened in the book but I do own the second book and I want to read it soon.
That’s it for this blog post, I hope you enjoyed reading about what series’ I have started and I haven’t finished reading yet, let me know if you have read any of these book series’!
Happy Friday bookish people! and welcome to my new Friday segments!
It feels good to be back this week, I wasn’t able to post on Monday and Wednesday this week like I usually would because there has been so much going on, including: a trip to A and E because my boyfriend slipped on a bottle and injured his wrist and ankle and… I found out I got onto the Creative Writing PhD course that I wanted. Now starts three years of hard but rewarding work.
Anyway, back to the exciting, new Friday segments. I was talking to a friend and we were laughing about how sentences from different books can create all new sentences and that gave me the idea for this segment. I will take two books and put together their first and last sentences to see what I get, whether it works or whether it doesn’t!
I would love to hear from you all what happens when you put together the first and last sentences of some of your books, let me know some down in the comments!
I also have some thoughts of maybe turning this into a giveaway once a month or something like that so let me know what you think of that idea down in the comments too!
Last week on my Instagram – @the_blind_scribe – I asked everyone for two numbers between 1 and 405 and today I am going to show you the first five sets of first and last sentences from books chosen by the numbers I was given.
The / is where the two different sentences are split.
Up first is…
One Of Us Is Next by Karen M McManus and The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
which gives us… My sister thinks I’m a slacker/Far above the stars are watching delighted.
This actually works! It’s not the clearest sentence but it does work which is great considering how different the two books that created it are.
The second one is…
A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer and Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie
which gives us… I miss knowing exactly what time it is/Girl found.
So, this one doesn’t work together which is a shame but of course, they won’t all work together but I’m still going to put them on here.
Next is…
Six Tudor Queens Kathryn Howard by Alison Weir and The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski
Which gives us.. Kathryn was seven when her Mother died/ “I am a God” I tell them “and I am your Queen”.
This could work.. with a few tweaks such as changing the tense in the sentence so they are both the same which would give us – Kathryn was seven when her Mother died and “I am a God” she tells them “and I am your Queen” which would work much nicer.
The fourth one is…
Legendborn by Tracey Deonn and One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake
Which gives us… The police officer’s body goes blurry and then sharp again/there is only the sea, clear and sparkling
Like the last one, this one almost works – if the ‘and then sharp again’ part was taken out it would work much better.
Finally for today’s episode of Friday First and Lasts…
Optimists Die First by Susin Nielson and Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
Which gives us… The first time I saw the bionic man I was covered in sparkles/they brought us together
This one works strangely well. It alludes to the characters being brought together by those sparkles and that sounds like a lovely thing to me.
So, that’s it for the first episode of this new segment. As I said above, comment down below with what you thought of it, any great ones you come across in your books and what you think of he giveaway idea and I’ll be back next week with some more!
Happy Monday bookish people! It’s Monday again which means it’s time for more book reviews. This weekend I was taking part in the 1000 doors readathon where I intended to read nine books, I did not manage this I actually only managed five before I got too tired.
The first of these books was The Appeal by Janice Hallett.
In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.
The Appeal Plot:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I loved how unique this plot was, you as the reader get to see the case exactly how the detectives are seeing it as they try to solve the murder. I was shocked by the end of this book because although part of it was exactly what I thought it would be but I didn’t predict it all which I loved. Discovering the story through the ‘evidence’ found after the murder made this a very unique mystery and I enjoyed trying to figure it out.
The Appeal Characters:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Because of how this book was laid out each of the characters felt like they had their own personal voice and I liked that because it felt more intimate than some mystery books do, I felt like I got a lot more background into the characters for me to base my opinion on.
The Appeal Writing and Dialogue:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I loved the uniqueness of the writing in this book. It was laid out in emails and text messages and not only did this make it easier for me to understand the characters and their motivations but also splitting it up into chunks made the complex plot manageable.
The Appeal Overall:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I gave this book four stars overall. I liked the uniqueness of the writing and the complex details of the plot but I do think some of the aspects could have been slightly less predictable.
Blurb/SYnopsis:
IN A TOWN FULL OF SECRETS SOMEONE WAS MURDERED. SOMEONE WENT TO PRISON. AND EVERYONE’S A SUSPECT. CAN YOU UNCOVER THE TRUTH?
Dear Reader,
Enclosed are documents relating to the events surrounding the Fairway Players’ staging of All My Sons, and the tragic death of one of its members. Another member is currently in prison for the crime. We have reason to suspect that they are innocent, and that there were far darker secrets that have yet to be revealed.
We believe that the killer has given themselves away. It’s there in writing, hidden in the emails, texts, and letters. In the events surrounding the charity appeal for little Poppy Reswick, and the question of whether that money was truly being used to fund her life-saving cancer treatment. Will you accept the challenge? Can you uncover the truth? Do you dare?
The standout debut thriller of 2021 that delivers multiple brilliant twists, and will change the way you think about the modern crime novel.
Happy Friday bookish people! It’s a bit miserable where I am this morning but luckily I get to spend the next three days reading for a readathon challenge – hosted by MegWithBooks on YouTube, so I’ll be happy.
Today I’ll be doing the Rip it or Ship it challenge, I’ve seen a lot of people do it on YouTube and I thought why not try and do it on my blog. So I wrote down the names of two or three characters from each book I’ve read that I thought would work, put them all in a bowl and picked out two each time until there were none left…. I ended up with 40 pairs. Now, that’s quite a few so I’m only putting fifteen up today and maybe if you all enjoy it I’ll put up some more rounds later.
Onto the pairings!
1. Kellen (Spellslinger series) and Sameth (Lirael)
I would have to Rip this pairing (just imagine I’m tearing up the names..) because they are both quite similar characters, both find themselves in the middle of nowhere, in danger, with an animal sidekick who’s there to help but doesn’t do much helping.
2. Nathanial (Sorcery of Thorns) and Alina Starkov (Shadow and Bone)
I have chosen to ship this couple. Because Nathanial can be quite snarky especially when you’re first getting to know him and Aline would be having none of that which I think he’d like, plus both of them technically have a form of magic which I think would be nice for their pairing.
3. Jaren (The Prison Healer) and Mary Jekyll (The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Duaghter)
Definitely not. This wouldn’t work at all. Mary Jekyll, although she does many unladylike things, sees herself as a Victorian lady and considering her opinions in the books Jaren would not be gentlemanly enough for her, she’d probably end up slapping him and goodness knows she wouldn’t be found in a prison – which is the only way they’d meet because that’s where he is..
4. Cardan Greenbriar (The Cruel Prince) and Cecelia Bassingthwaite (The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels)
This is an interesting one. I think I’m leaning more towards shipping it because their personalities probably would work well together, he would definitely be surprised by her and the fact that she goes wherever her mind takes her.
5. Nesta Archeron (A Court of Thorns and Roses series) and Thomas Cresswell (Stalking Jack the Ripper)
Yes! I ship this. Nesta could well be a bit much for him to handle but they both have very fierce personalities and their wits would battle well I think.
6. Emilia (Kingdom of the Wicked) and Blue Sergeant (The Raven Boys)
Absolutely not. Rip it. Emilia has gone through a lot so far (and I think she’s got a lot more hardship coming her way too) and I don’t think that her and Blue would mesh together, their opinions on things would be too different.
7.Julain Santos (Caraval) and Sherlock Holmes (The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter)
Hmm….. I love Julian but he is very mischievous and kind of lies a lot which I don’t think would go down well with Sherlock Holmes so rip it.
8. Eli Ever (Vicious) and The Darkling (Shadow and Bone)
I have to ship this simply because can you imagine these two together? They’d destroy the world.
9. Scarlett Dragna (Caraval) and Dorian (The Starless Sea)
If I didn’t ship Dorian with the person in the Starless Sea that is perfect for him I would probably ship him with Scarlett, she can be fiery and I think he could calm her when needed.
10. Lirael (Lirael) and Mal (Shadow and Bone)
Okay, ignoring the age difference here for a minute I think their personalities would go well together and they have a similar upbringing in that they don’t know their parents and they’ve been brought up in communities that have shaped them into the people they are.
11. Irene (The Invisible Library) and Jesper Fahey (Six of Crows)
Yes, I ship this. A librarian spy and a sharpshooter? Of course I’m going to ship this.
12. Cath (Fangirl) and Zachary (The Starless Sea)
I could see this working. They both really like books and are both quite introverted.
13. Kai (The Invisible Library) and Wrath (Kingdom of the Wicked)
I love a bit of chaos, I’d ship this. A dragon and a demon – what could go wrong…
14. Inej Ghafa (Six of Crows) and Reid Diggory (Serpent and Dove)
I think this would work. He would want to try and be over protective of her but I can’t see her liking that but I can see them working it out. If she doesn’t just stab him first.
15. Feyre Archeron (A Court of Thorns and Roses) and Jude Duarte (The Cruel Prince)
I could see these two being friends, and being a bit of a force if they worked together, they are quite similar.
That’s it for this challenge, I hope you all enjoyed it!
Happy Wednesday everyone! I’m back with another Where’d I Leave It Wednesday, today’s will be the next part of my time up in Southampton/Portsmouth and more specifically for today’s story, my trip to the Mary Rose Museum at the Historic Dockyard.
The day began with meeting Henry VIII in the middle of the street before we’d even gotten to the Dockyard. It was the strangest feeling, my family and I had just been talking about how places like Hampton Court Palace had people dressed up as Henry VIII and his queens, then I look up and right in front of me is Henry VIII. That was a pretty surreal start to the day. I got a photo with him, this Henry VIII actually sounded northern which was interesting, then he asked where I was from and I told him. His answer was “this must be a busman’s holiday for you lot then”….. I didn’t get it but my family laughed. Henry VIII said he’d see me in the Mary Rose Museum and then headed off for the Post Office.
When he said he would see me again, he meant it.
At the time I just thought I might see him in passing because he must be somewhere in the Museum. What I didn’t expect was Henry VIII jumping out at me multiple times.
The first time was on the middle level, the level that you enter the exhibition on – I’d just seen the Mary Rose herself which is a chilling experience and we were heading towards the lift to go down to the bottom level. There were a few other groups in the area as well. Then the lift opens and who steps out but Henry VIII and he of course spotted me immediately. “Pretty girl, I told you I’d see you here”. Yes, he did, though I wasn’t expecting him to step out of a lift towards me. He spent some time having conversations with me and some of the other people there, one of them was actually called Henry – nice coincidence.
The next time I saw him, or rather he saw me, was the other end of the bottom floor where he was stood with his hands on the bar in front of him and he was looking out over everyone going in and out of the different floors.
The final time I saw him, he snuck up on me. I was on the top floor of the exhibition. In this part you are able to look over the railings at the Mary Rose but I couldn’t see very well that way. So, I had knelt on the floor to look through the glass at the Mary Rose at the better angle from me. I’m there minding my own business when from down the end comes: “Olivia, what are you doing on the floor!” bellowed at the top of his voice. I instantly stood back up, it was like being shouted at by a teacher at school. I’m sure my eyes were as wide as saucers, then he took me over and showed me how the map has raised parts on it that I could feel with my fingers and helped me to visualize parts of the ship that couldn’t be brought up.
That’s it for this story, I hope you all enjoyed it!
Happy Friday bookish people! Today I’m going to be doing something that I saw on hiddengirl.41 Instagram. They posted a Bookish Scavenger Hunt and I thought it would be a great thing to do on here! I think there’s eight questions/tasks to answer.
Let’s begin!
A Book With Two Or More People On The Cover:
I’ve got a couple of options for this one – Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson but it’s only got half of each of the two people, each of the spellslinger books by Sebastien De Castell has two people on the cover like a playing card design and The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton also has two characters on the cover.
A Book With Ten Letters In The Title:
Finding books with exactly ten letters in the title was a bit more difficult than I expected, but I did find one – Dear Reader by Cathy Rentzenbrink.
A Book That’s Been Made Into A TV Show:
For this I have to go for Shadow and Bone, which I loved – both the books and the TV series.
A Book With Two Authors:
I don’t think I have very many of these but one I do have is Set Fire To The Gods by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons.
A Book That’s Been Made Into A Film:
I have the Maze Runner books and they were made into films.
A Book With The Name Of The Main Character In The Title:
Ooh for this one I’m going to go for Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. The third one in the Raven Boys series.
A Book With An Animal On The Cover Real Or Mythical:
Kaspar Prince of Cats by Michael Morpurgo, there’s a cat on the cover. It’s only recently that I’ve started liking cats and now I absolutely love them.
A Book With A Number In The Title:
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow is the only one I could find for this.
That’s it for this Book Scavenger Hunt, I hope you all enjoyed it!
Happy Monday bookish people! Today is Monday which means it is time for me to upload another book review, and today I won’t be uploading just one – I’ll be posting seven! The first of which was one of my first reads of July, Pumpkin by Julie Murphy. I picked this book up after I saw some of my favourite booktubers talking about it and I thought it would be an interesting read, which it was.
In this book review I will give star ratings for four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.
Pumpkin Plot:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I really enjoyed the sweet and heartwarming themes in this story. I was lulled into this story by it’s defying stereotypes of prom king and queen, but there is so much more to it. It covers friendship, acceptance, sibling relationships and on top of all this romantic relationships. In a small book I felt a wave of different emotions and of course, it didn’t take me long at all to read through it. The romance itself, although predictable, was sweet and I did find myself smiling sometimes.
Pumpkin Characters:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Waylon is the main character that the story follows and he is a great protagonist, he is relatable and fun. I felt everything he did right along with him and although I couldn’t relate to the things he was going through I did relate to being an outsider and my experiences at school weren’t the best, I found myself wishing I had the confidence he did. Clementine, twin sister of Waylon, was also a great character but I wish she was in the book more than she is.
Pumpkin Writing and Dialogue:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The writing in this book was very smooth and kept me swept along with the story. There’s not much more for me to say here because it wasn’t the best writing I’ve read but it also is very far from the worst I’ve read.
Pumpkin Overall:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I gave this book four stars because I enjoyed it, despite it being a contemporary romance, and I liked the representation that the book provides.
Blurb/Synopsis:
Waylon Russell Brewer is a fat, openly gay boy stuck in the small West Texas town of Clover City. His plan is to bide his time until he can graduate, move to Austin with his twin sister, Clementine, and finally go Full Waylon, so that he can live his Julie-the-hills-are-alive-with-the-sound-of-music-Andrews truth.
So when Clementine deviates from their master plan right after Waylon gets dumped, he throws caution to the wind and creates an audition tape for his favorite TV drag show, Fiercest of Them All. What he doesn’t count on is the tape accidentally getting shared with the entire school. . . . As a result, Waylon is nominated for prom queen as a joke. Clem’s girlfriend, Hannah Perez, also receives a joke nomination for prom king.
Waylon and Hannah decide there’s only one thing to do: run—and leave high school with a bang. A very glittery bang. Along the way, Waylon discovers that there is a lot more to running for prom court than campaign posters and plastic crowns, especially when he has to spend so much time with the very cute and infuriating prom king nominee Tucker Watson.
Waylon will need to learn that the best plan for tomorrow is living for today . . . especially with the help of some fellow queens. . . .
That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it! Have any of you read this book? What did you think of it?
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