happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a wonderful day today. Today I am doing the End of Year Book Tag, how would you answer these questions? Let me know in the comments.
Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish? At least two, but only two I can remember the names of which are A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas, which I wanted to finish but it’s a long book and I wasn’t feeling fantasy right then. The second book is Assistant to the Villain and I didn’t finish this book because I wanted to love it but there wasn’t enough plot in it to keep me captivated and for me personally romance gets boring after 100 or so pages if the plots not there.
Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year? I would have to say not really I tend to read a lot of mysteries towards the end of the year and I don’t feel they are very autumnal most of the time.
Is there a new release you are still waiting for? so many! All because I wrote my list of book early September for my mum to use as my Christmas list so I haven’t been able to buy any since then.
Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favourite of the year? I am going to say the Murder on the Christmas Express because I love a good murder mystery so we shall see. As I am writing this I am starting this book tonight, fingers crossed.
Have you already started making reading plans for 2023? Not really, I have my eye on a few books releasing next year and if you’d like to see what those are I am posting a top ten most anticipated releases.
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a wonderful day today. it has reached the end of November and so it is time again to do my monthly wrap up. November was a pretty good reading month for me, I technically read four books this month which I was pleased with considering I have so much else going on.
In my November TBR I was meant to read:
The Box In The Woods by Maureen Johnson – I did not read. I was trying to prioritise books this month that I could reference within my PhD work which unfortunately was not this one.
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano- I did not read this one either, same as the box in the woods, there wasn’t anything in this book blurb I could see that would work for my thesis so I had to prioritise other books but I am very excited to get to this one still, hopefully before the next book in the series comes out.
Nothing More To Tell by Karen M McManus – I did not read this book. Honestly, when I was choosing what to read next I spooked myself reading the blurb of this book. Don’t ask me why, my mind is a strange place.
Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood – I did read this one, it was a reread for me, I knew it was one I planned on discussing in my thesis so I went through my second read, which I loved just as much as the first time I read it, and marked all the points I could use.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman – same as the marlow murder club, I also read this one and it was a reread. For exactly the same reason as above.
Gideon Green in Black and White by Katie Henry – the third book I read this month. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected to and I will be putting up my review of it this month so check back soon for that.
on top of my TBR books I also read the Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese, which is actually on my December TBR but I felt in a romance mood which is not like me at all. It was a good book, the romance was pretty swoon worthy and it was set in a bookshop, enemies to lovers. I enjoyed the ride and the change of reading such a short book.
have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. I realise this post is quite a bit later in the month than it usually is but today I am bringing you what I want to read in the month of November!
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a wonderful day today.
October was quite the month for me, I had a stall at Cardiff Comic Con and I got some really good progress done on my PhD, I am exhausted but it is going to be worth it – I think!
Anyway, so my reading went down this month because all my free time is taken up with work but I still enjoyed a couple of books this month.
Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber – starting off good, I managed to read this one and I enjoyed it, if there isn’t a book review up by now there will be one soon.
Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco – I did not manage to read this one.
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout – I didn’t manage to read this one either.
Assistant to the Villain – I am currently reading this one so I have started it in October and I should, should, be able to finish it before the end of the month.
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid – I didn’t own this one at the time and so I couldn’t read it because I didn’t get it and I can’t get it on my library app at the moment.
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo – I did not read
Mrs Death Misses Death – I did read this one!
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi – I did not read
Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovilano – I did not read this
Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller – I did not read this
So, off my TBR I managed to read three books: Once Upon A Broken Heart, Mrs Death Misses Death and Assistant to the Villain. Outside of my TBR I have also read an ARC this month – Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens which I will be posting a review for on the 6th November.
What did you guys read in October? And what did you think of them?
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well today. Seeing as it is spooky season I thought it may be fun to share with you all my top 15 murder mystery books and this is one of my favourite genres to read so this was a difficult choice. Let me know if any of your favourites are on this list or if there are any you would have put on here instead.
The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner
Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco
Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
The Three Dahlias by Katy Watson
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
Dangerous Women by Hope Adams
The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today.
Today I am bringing you my book review for Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens. A big thank you to Harper Collins for sending me an ARC copy of this book.
As usual I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will do my best to not include any spoilers but there may be parts that come across that way, if you prefer to read a book with no idea before going I would highly recommend reading this review after you have read the book instead.
Last Girl Breathing Plot: 4 stars
In Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens you follow the people of a small town who are still reeling from a tragedy that happened eight years prior to the novel beginning. When a murder is committed Lucy Michaels starts investigating.
my first thought when I started reading this book was “wow, this is darker and more intense than I thought it would be” and usually that type of book doesn’t appeal to me, I prefer the cosier mystery. However, I was surprised by this book. Yes, it is dark and yes it’s got incredible twists and a very fast pace but also it felt real and I felt completely immersed in the story. It sounds cliche to say I couldn’t put this book down but I honestly couldn’t, I read it on a car trip to wales and when I had to stop reading I couldn’t stop thinking about the book and what was happening in it. I also have to say, I did not guess the identity of the killer.
Last Girl Breathing Characters: 4 stars
The main character in this novel is Lucy Michaels, she is a young girl still struggling with the grief of losing her brother during a dam break 8 years ago. She us at the centre of this book, she knows everyone in the town and has deep connections with many of the people connected with both events. Sweat I liked most about her character was the rawness and realness behind her. She wasn’t perfect, and she didn’t pretend to be. Court Stevens wrote her as a believably flawed character and I liked that. There are many other characters in this book but I don’t want to go into discussing them here because it would definitely reveal some spoilers.
Last Girl Breathing Writing and Dialogue: 4 stars
As I said before this book fully immersed me in its story and I believe that is a testament to an excellent writer. This is the first Court Stevens book I have read but I enjoyed her balance between tension and mystery combined with building strong community connections and separating their good features from the mystery.
Last Girl Breathing Overall: 4 stars
I gave this book four stars overall because I really enjoyed this novel and it surprised me how much I enjoyed it.
Blurb/Synopsis:
When the answers to a present-day murder lie in the past, one teen girl must examine a tragic event to prevent more lives from being lost. No one expected it to rain that much. But the rain kept coming, the dam broke, and lives were lost. One was Lucy Michaels’s little brother. She was there and while she saved the lives of many young boy scouts, despite being a child herself, she couldn’t save him.
Now eight years later, Lucy is preparing to graduate from high school and compete in the air rifle competition at the Olympics when her stepbrother goes missing right before his most important football game. The search is focused on the same plot of land where her younger brother died, and she can’t help but draw parallels.
When the search for a missing person becomes a murder investigation, Lucy knows the secrets she holds about what her stepbrother was up to that day could help find the murderer. The clues quickly connect Lucy’s ex-boyfriend to the murders, but he couldn’t be guilty… could he?
Everyone involved has their own secrets and revealing hers to the wrong person could put her life—and her whole town—at risk. Last Girl Breathing is a page-turning hunt for the truth as Court Stevens once again creates nonstop suspense with characters who will break your heart.
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well. Today I am sharing with you the five new releases I am most looking forward to getting my hands on in October! I hope you all enjoy. Let me know if you are excited for any of these releases too.
