Happy Monday bookish people! Welcome to my first post of 2023, I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year.
as we all know last year was definitely a rollercoaster, and I was extremely busy so reading took a backseat for much of the year. I am hoping this year that I will be able to read much more so fingers crossed.
January TBR
Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson
A Gathering of Shadows by V E Schwab
Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T A Willberg
A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune
Love in the time of serial killers
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
the unexpected everything by Morgan matson
that’s it for January’s TBR, I am excited for it so hopefully I will get to read a few of them at least. Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?
Happy Friday bookish people! My goodness the end of the year has arrived very quickly and it is time to do my yearly wrap up. For this year I am going to show a picture of the book cover of every book I have read this year all broken down into categories determined by the star rating I gave the book.
overall, this year I have only managed to read 49 books, compared to over 100 last year.
2 star
This year I read no books that I disliked so much that I gave them one star, it was close but I eventually decided the books in the two star category are:
In my 3 star category are:
4 star ratings
and finally… my two books I read this year that I rated five stars are…..
Happy Monday bookish people! As we near the end of 2022 I wanted to make a post about my goals for 2023, this year has been full of difficult moments and a lot of stress. Of course, there’s been lots of good moments too but it has overall been very draining.
I have three main goals for 2023 which are:
To find more time to read for me. By this I mean not reading for my PhD or any work purposes, just because I want to read. I haven’t been doing that much this year but I am hopeful for next year.
To organise everything I am doing in order of priority. This year I have been doing so many different things what with school and braille and guide dogs and starting at Etsy and so on and so on, I’ve been getting very very tired so I am aiming to not put as much pressure on myself, I’ll do all my work etc but if I can’t manage something then I am going to try not to push too hard.
work hard on a children’s picture book idea and find an agent (this has already been started, I sent my work to a few agents but I haven’t heard back yet so fingers crossed)
that’s it for my goals, what are your goals for 2023?
Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. I am bringing you my November Wrap Up today. It was one of those months where I felt like I read a lot but I actually only read a little bit, do you ever have those types of months?
Anyway onto the wrap up!
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – I did not read this but I do have a reason, it’s literally on the top shelf of my bookcase and I can’t reach it without a step ladder which I also can’t get to at the moment.
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas – I think we can safely say none of us are surprised I didn’t read this, romance is not my go to genre.
Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead by Elle Cosimano – I did read this! And I really enjoyed it so look out for my book review coming soon.
The Girl’s I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe – I did not read this.
Emma by Jane Austen – Okay so I started reading this in November and I am currently reading it now, It is also on my December TBR so it is a bit of a crossover into both months.
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley – I did not read this.
City of Brass by S A Chakraborty – I did not read this.
Finale by Stephanie Garber – I did not read this either.
Crownbreaker by Sebastien De Castell – I am still currently halfway through this book.
Amy and Rogers Epic Detour by Morgan Matson – Another romance of course I didn’t read it.
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout – I did not read this
Gallant by V E Schwab – I did not read this either.
So, that was the books on my TBR and I read one of them…oops. But outside my TBR I also read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, I borrowed the audiobook from my library for my trip to Liverpool and that was really enjoyable.
What did you read in November?
That’s it for my wrap-up I hope you all enjoyed it!
Happy Thursday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good first day of December! I am very excited today to be taking part in the book blog tour for Holly Jackson’s new book, Five Survive. Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours for sending me a netgalley version of this book to read and review. I love Holly Jackson’s books, her Good Girl’s Guide To Murder series are some of my favourite mystery novels. For my spot on the tour I am posting a book review and then a playlist of songs that I think would be great to match the atmosphere of the book.
As usual with my book reviews 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 spoilers.
I hope you enjoy my book review!
Five Survive Plot:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The premise of this book was very exciting for me from the start. Six people all with dark secrets trapped in an RV they can’t get out of because of a sniper. I will admit that the beginning was a little slow for my taste, while waiting for the van to breakdown – when you know it is going to happen already it felt like it took a while to get to that point but I get that Jackson was using this time to introduce the characters and the tensions between them already. Once the story really got into the action I was hooked. It was atmospheric and exciting and I could feel my heart beating right alongside the characters. It has a much darker feel in my opinion to the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series but I quite liked that, it was different in a good way. The ending really had me surprised and I think if you read this you will be too (you’ll have to let me know if you were!)
Five Survive Characters:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
This part was the most interesting for me to rate here, simply because I couldn’t say I liked any of these characters but I was so intrigued by their motivations and I can tell you I was dying to know what all their secrets were and for me that worked for this story, I didn’t need to like them or trust them that was the point – they didn’t know who they could trust and as readers neither can we.
Five Survive Writing and Dialogue:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
As I have already said I love Holly Jackson’s books and her writing and this book was no different.
Five Survive Overall:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I gave this book four stars overall because I really enjoyed the mystery and surprisingly the dark atmosphere.
Playlist!
For the playlist I would say that this book warrants some dark powerful songs to go with the tone and the plot.
This won’t be in order by the way but here are some of the songs I would put with this book:
Run Boy Run by Woodkid
I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift
I’m A Mess by Avril Lavigne and Yungblud
Darkside by Neoni
My Heart’s Grave by Faouzia
Avalanche by Avril Lavigne
Book Synopsis:
The brand new unmissable crime thriller from Holly Jackson, best-selling, award-winning author of the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy.
Eight hours. Six friends. One sniper . . .
Eighteen year old Red and her friends are on a road trip in an RV, heading to the beach for Spring Break. It’s a long drive but spirits are high. Until the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere. There’s no mobile phone reception and nobody around to help. And as the wheels are shot out, one by one, the friends realise that this is no accident. There’s a sniper out there in the dark watching them and he knows exactly who they are. One of the group has a secret that the sniper is willing to kill for.
A game of cat-and-mouse plays out as the group desperately tries to get help and to work out which member of the group is the target. Buried secrets are forced to light in the cramped, claustrophobic setting of the RV, and tensions within the group will reach deadly levels. Not everyone will survive the night.
Happy Friday everyone! What a month it has been! If you have seen a few of my blogs you will know my Sister got married in October but the day before her wedding something exciting happened; my second matching visit with Guide Dogs. Two days before the wedding I got a phone call from the people at Guide Dogs and they told me that there was a potential match, a beautiful golden retriever cross yellow Labrador. It is really nerve-wracking, and exciting of course, but I have never had a dog before so I knew that whether it was this dog or another one I would eventually be looking after one. That is something that isn’t talked about as much with guide dogs, the reason to apply for one is for the help they will give me but also, it is a big responsibility.
So, the day of the matching arrives and immediately I could tell that she was the perfect temperament, she plays for a short amount of time and spends most of the time sleeping and resting at my feet. One the first matching day we went on a nice forty minute walk that I do regularly, and she worked well, a good speed for my walking pace and of course everything comes down to practice with these situations.
The second matching walk was done the week following and again it surprised me how well it went. The Thursday it went to panel I was so nervous in the morning I was chatting about everything and nothing all at once. When I got the phone call to tell me that I would be going forward with the training stage and that is when all the hard work started, which I will be talking about in my next Guide Dogs post.
Happy Monday bookish people! What’s better on a rainy Monday morning than a good book review about a cosy mystery.
As always in this book review 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 in the book review. I hope you enjoy it!
The Three Dahlias Plot:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
This book combines some of the best elements of Golden Age Detective Fiction/ Cosy Crime genres such as the isolated location, who doesn’t love a murder mystery set in an old manor house, a close knit cast of characters, and a bunch of intriguing twists. The Three Dahlias is based on the three actresses who have, and will have, played the character of Dahlia in different shows and films throughout the years. They come together for a Dahlia convention and then actually find themselves having to work together to solve a crime. I really enjoyed this take on the murder mystery, I haven’t read many novels or actually any that come to mind with three main protagonists but it was a nice way to make the reader feel part of the group.
The Three Dahlias Characters:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
As much as I enjoyed each of the three characters individually, I sometimes felt that when they were together in the same scenes they blended into each other and the character development wasn’t as good. However, I still enjoyed the three female main characters being the ones to try and solve the mystery.
The Three Dahlias Writing and Dialogue
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I haven’t got much to say for this category because the writing was good, it allowed me to not think about the writing at all because I was engrossed in the story and that is a sign of a good writing style.
The Three Dahlias Overall
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I gave this book four stars overall because it was an enjoyable twist on the murder mystery genre.
Blurb/Synopsis:
Three rival actresses team up to solve a murder at the stately home of the author who made them famous – only to discover the solution lies in the stories themselves. A contemporary mystery with a Golden Age feel, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Jessica Fellowes.
In attendance: the VIP fans, staying at Aldermere; the fan club president turned convention organizer; the team behind the newest movie adaptation of Davenport’s books; the Davenport family themselves – and the three actresses famous for portraying Lettice’s 1930s detective, Dahlia Lively.
National treasure Rosalind King, from the original movies. TV Dahlia for thirteen seasons, Caro Hooper. And ex-child star Posy Starling, fresh out of the fame wilderness (and rehab) to take on the Dahlia mantle for the new movie.
Each actress has her own interpretation of the character – but this English summer weekend they will have to put aside their differences, as the crimes at Aldermere turns anything but cosy.
When fictional death turns into real bodies, can the three Dahlias find the answers to the murders among the fans, the film crew, the family – or even in Lettice’s books themselves?
That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!
Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you all had a great October! If you have seen my November TBR that I posted on Friday then you will know that my October was so busy, with my sister getting married, working towards my RDC2 and meeting a potential guide dog match (I will be posting about this on Friday if you are interested in knowing more about it).
So, my reading month in October was much better than it has been recently so that has made the month a lot more enjoyable. And now I am going to share with you which books I managed to read this month. Let me know in the comments if you have read any of these, what you thought of them and what you read in October!
October Wrap-Up!
Beach Read by Emily Henry – I did not read this
Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovelino – I did not read this one
Nothing more to tell by Karen M McManus – I was so excited to read this one but I didn’t manage to get around to it this month
Pages and Co 3 by Anna James – I did read this one and as with the rest of the series, I really enjoyed it.
Finale by Stephanie Garber – I did not read this
Belladonna by Adalyn Grace – another book I was so looking forward to reading but I didn’t get to this month
The Three Dahlias by Katy Watson – I did read this book and loved it
Miss Marple short stories collection – I read this one too
Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber – I did not read this either
A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle – I did not read this
Your Turn to die by sue wallman – I did not read this one either
European Travels for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss – This book is huge, so I did not read it this month
Devil’s Advocate by Steve Cavanaugh – I did not read this either
outside of my October TBR I also read The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett which I also really enjoyed.
So, this month I read four books which is a great amount for me at the moment.
That’s it for my October Wrap-Up, I hope you enjoyed reading it!
Happy Friday bookish people! October flew by didn’t it? So much has happened in the past month, and don’t worry I haven’t forgotten about my October Wrap up, that will be coming on Monday instead.
So, of course the biggest thing that happened is that my sister got married! She has just got back from honeymoon and while she was gone I have ben catsitting for her which has been fun.
And in amazing news, I matched with a guide dog! She will be moving in with me next week and then it is ten days of training before she graduates as my official guide dog! Of course I will be updating you all on here about my journey throughout this month.
Anyway, onto my November TBR!
November TBR
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
Finlay Donovan Knocks Em Dead by Elle Cosimano
The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe
Emma by Jane Austen
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
City of Brass by S A Chakraborty
Finale by Stephanie Garber
Crownbreaker by Sebastien De Castell
Amy and Rogers Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout
Gallant by V E Schwab
That’s it for my November TBR, have you read any of these? Let me know!
