Monthly TBRs

May TBR

Happy Friday bookish people! I am going on a week long holiday this month so I have made sure that my TBR has a lot of choice and variety.

The Agathas

Beggars Abbey by V L Valentine

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

Daughters of Night

Everyone in my family have killed someone

Finlay Donovan jumps the gun

The Good Thieves

The Hemlock Cure

I Hope You’re Listening

Katherine of Aragon by Alison Weir

The London Seance Society

Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder

Northranger

Pen Dipped in Poison

Queen’s Assassin

Radio Silence

Sabriel

Traitors Blade

Under the Whispering Door

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Guide for murderers

Wolf Hall

Your Turn To Die

What are you reading in May?

Monthly Wrap Ups

August and September Wrap Up!

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. My goodness it has been a busy couple of months, and being that busy has meant my reading has taken a backseat.

In August I started three or four different books and I was just… bored quite honestly, I couldn’t get through them and I don’t think that is anything about the books themselves I think it was my tired brain. So, I decided not to do an August wrap up and now it is October so I am going to do the books I have read in August and September all in one big wrap up!

So, August!

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas – I did not read this book

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard – I was not in a fantasy mood at all.

Ninth House by leigh Bardugo – Same point as above

A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn – I did not read this book either but I am very excited to get around to it hopefully soon

The Library of the Unwritten by A J Hackwith – Another book I did not read in August (this was a very common theme this month)

Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco – I did not read this. I don’t know why I put so much fantasy in my August TBR because I obviously wasn’t going to eat it.

Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb – I did not read this book either

Crownbreaker by Sebastien de Castell – this is one of the books that I started reading, I got about halfway before I stopped

Six Tudor Queens Katherine of Aragon by Alison Weir – I did not read this book either

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J Maas – there was no way I was going to read this book in August

By the Book by Amanda Sellett – I actually did read this one, in August and September

The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett – I did not get around to this but I am excited to.

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas – I did not read this

Small Favours by Erin A Craig – Another book I did not read

The Shadows between us by Tricia Levenseller – I did not read this either

Last Chance Books by Kelsey Rodkey – I did not read this

The Falconer by Elizabeth May – I did not read this either

So, also in this month I read The Very Nice Box (review is already up) and Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah which brings my total books to 3.

September!

Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price – I did read this and by the way, I loved it!

The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton – I am currently reading this so technically I read this in September

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas – I did not read this

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo – I did not read this

Dance of Thieves by Mary E Pearson – I would have liked to get around to this one but unfortunately I did not

It sounded better in my head by Nina Kenwood – I did not read this

Down comes the night by Alison Saft – I did not read this

Hunting Party by Lucy Foley – I did not read this.

So in two months I read five books which is pretty good considering everything else I have been doing.

What was your August/September reading like? let me know in the comments!

Monthly TBRs

August TBR

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. Today I am bringing you my August TBR, there’s a lot of fantasy on it this month which I haven’t been reading a lot of in the past few months so we will have to see how that goes but overall I am pretty excited about the books on my TBR for the month.

August TBR

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn

Library of the Unwritten by A J Hackwith

A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer

Kingdom of The Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco

Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Crownbreaker by Sebastien De Castell

Six Tudor Queens by Alison Weir

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J Maas

By the Book by Amanda Sellet

The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

Small Favours by Erin A Craig

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

Last Chance Books by Kelsey Rodkey

The Falconer by Elizabeth May

That’s it for my August TBR, I hope you all enjoyed it!

friday first and lasts

Friday First and Lasts!

Happy Friday bookish people! I know it has been a long time since I did one of these but I am bringing back my Friday First and Last segments where I take random numbers, one corresponding with a first sentence from a book and one that corresponds with the last sentence in a different book, I put them together and see what I can make from them. And yes, it took me a very, very long time to write out all the sentences and put them with a number.

I used to do five of these per post but I am only going to be doing three each time for the moment and see how that goes.

So, onto the first set of sentences!

Numbers 333 – which I think was from The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman and number 111 -from The Six Tudor Queens: Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir

Which creates “Well let’s start with Elizabeth shall we, her skin was rather sallow” – this is quite the pairing. It sounds like an insult you’d get when you were in high school or on one of those roasting shows. If somebody started a book with this I’d think this book was going to have a character with a lot of attitude about them.

Number 424 – from The Library of the Unwritten by A J Hackwith and number 121 – I can’t actually remember what book this one is from because I didn’t write it down next to it

Which gives us “This is my last entry in the librarians log, we dreamed of carving our dragons”

This one also works really well together. It turns what could be an uninteresting statement into a fantastical, want to know more story. I would love to read a book about a librarian who had a relationship with some sort of dragon, I can imagine it being there in the corner of the library, turning the pages with it’s dragon paws and trying not to sneeze and burn the pages.

And finally, number 18 – from The Upside of Unrequieted by Becky Albertalli and number 36 – from Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Which gives us “I’m on the toilet at the 9:30 club, I hope somebody is listening”

… okay, first I have to say these numbers are chosen at random and I have no idea what to say about that last one other than if I was in that character’s position I would hate for somebody to be listening.

Okay, That’s it for this set of first and last sentences, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Monthly Wrap Ups

September Wrap-Up

Happy Friday everyone! I’ll be putting up three posts today and this is the first of them. It’s a day or two late but I’m finally getting around to doing my September wrap-up.

So, the month of September was super busy for me and a lot of things happened. First, I moved in with my partner on the first of September and it has been quite the month getting used to living with someone new and learning how they are. This month I also found out that I have gotten onto the PhD that I wanted and now I’m just waiting for when I’m going to start. And finally, I found out that I got a distinction on my Master’s Dissertation.

As I said last month, I’m very surprised I read as much as I did this month, the only problem is that hardly any of the books that I read were from my TBR…. I’m sure you can guess that I didn’t finish my TBR. So, let’s get straight into what I did and didn’t read this month.

September TBR and Thoughts:

  • A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder by Holly Jackson – we are starting off well, I did read this one and I have posted my review of it.
  • All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace – I did not read
  • Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb – I did not read
  • Lore by Alexandra Bracken – I didn’t read this one either
  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – I wish I had gotten around to this one but unfortunately I didn’t
  • Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty – I did not read
  • Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim – I did not read
  • Six Tudor Queens Katherine of Aragon by Alison Weir – I did not read
  • The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White – I did not read
  • The Switch by Beth O’Leary – I did not read

So… I only actually read one book from my TBR but I did read these nine other books:

  • Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain
  • The Woman in the Wood by M K Hill
  • The Crime Archives
  • The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
  • The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
  • The Chateau by Catherine Cooper
  • The Curry Compendium by Richard Sayce
  • Stalking Shadows by Cyla Panin
  • The Dinner Party by Sarah Gilmartin

That’s it for my wrap-up for September! I managed to read ten books which I am pretty happy with. I hope you all enjoyed it!

Uncategorized

Friday First and Lasts!

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!

Book Tags

Top 5 Intimidating Books I Want To Read

Happy Friday bookish people! I’m back with another book tag! I was tagged in this by @moonraa23 (sorry if I’ve spelt this wrong) on Twitter, so thank you to them.

The idea of this tag is – telling you all five of the books on my TBR that I find intimidating and why. It was very difficult to get it down to just five, there’s a lot of books that anticipate me for many different reasons. Also, I will say the book title and then I will give you the synopsis of the book and then the reason that it intimidates me.

Let’s get to the first one!

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas

Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

So… I read A Court of Thorns and Roses at the beginning of this year and loved it and I’m very excited to pick up A Court of Mist and Fury but it intimidates me. Simply because I’ve heard so many good things about it and especially about Rhysand that I’m worried about reading it even though I’m 99% sure I’m going to love it.

Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

Evangeline Fox was raised in her beloved father’s curiosity shop, where she grew up on legends about immortals, like the tragic Prince of Hearts. She knows his powers are mythic, his kiss is worth dying for, and that bargains with him rarely end well.

But when Evangeline learns that the love of her life is about to marry another, she becomes desperate enough to offer the Prince of Hearts whatever he wants in exchange for his help to stop the wedding. The prince only asks for three kisses. But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’s pledged. And he has plans for Evangeline that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy… 

This book isn’t out yet, I can’t wait for it to be published! I absolutely loved the Caraval series and that’s why I’m intimidated by this one, I’m hoping I’m going to love it at least as much but we shall see once I get it in my hands and get around to reading it.

Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

From Harper Lee comes a landmark new novel set two decades after her beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird. Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch—”Scout”—returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise’s homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a MockingbirdGo Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in a painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past—a journey that can be guided only by one’s conscience. Written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman imparts a fuller, richer understanding and appreciation of Harper Lee. Here is an unforgettable novel of wisdom, humanity, passion, humor and effortless precision—a profoundly affecting work of art that is both wonderfully evocative of another era and relevant to our own times. It not only confirms the enduring brilliance of To Kill a Mockingbird, but also serves as its essential companion, adding depth, context and new meaning to an American classic.

I really enjoyed reading To Kill A Mockingbird, luckily I didn’t read it for school otherwise I might not have enjoyed it as much. I was surprised when they brought out this book and I’m not sure on it because To Kill A Mockingbird worked perfectly as a stand-alone so I want to read it but I also don’t.

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth

Our story begins in 1902, at The Brookhants School for Girls. Flo and Clara, two impressionable students, are obsessed with each other and with a daring young writer named Mary MacLane, the author of a scandalous bestselling memoir. To show their devotion to Mary, the girls establish their own private club and call it The Plain Bad Heroine Society. They meet in secret in a nearby apple orchard, the setting of their wildest happiness and, ultimately, of their macabre deaths. This is where their bodies are later discovered with a copy of Mary’s book splayed beside them, the victims of a swarm of stinging, angry yellow jackets. Less than five years later, The Brookhants School for Girls closes its doors forever—but not before three more people mysteriously die on the property, each in a most troubling way.

Over a century later, the now abandoned and crumbling Brookhants is back in the news when wunderkind writer, Merritt Emmons, publishes a breakout book celebrating the queer, feminist history surrounding the “haunted and cursed” Gilded-Age institution. Her bestselling book inspires a controversial horror film adaptation starring celebrity actor and lesbian it girl Harper Harper playing the ill-fated heroine Flo, opposite B-list actress and former child star Audrey Wells as Clara. But as Brookhants opens its gates once again, and our three modern heroines arrive on set to begin filming, past and present become grimly entangled—or perhaps just grimly exploited—and soon it’s impossible to tell where the curse leaves off and Hollywood begins.

A story within a story within a story and featuring black-and-white period illustrations. 

A murder mystery set in a school sounds amazing to me, and it reminds me of a more adult version of Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson a little bit but I’m intimidated by this book – not only because it is massive, but also because it might be too much of a thriller for me.

The Six Tudor Queens series by Alison Weir

I won’t give you a synopsis here because this is a whole series not just a single book. So, this one I’m intimidated by because I love books set in the Tudor Period and Philippa Gregory is one of my favourite authors but I’ve read all her books so I needed some new Tudor historical fiction and I’m hoping Alison Weir can give me that.

That’s it for this tag, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Monthly TBRs

September TBR

Happy Thursday bookish people! It’s september already, this year is moving so fast. So, this month I’m adjusting to living in a new house and I’m hoping to get onto a PhD course still but we will see and I’m hoping to just make a bit more time for myself and to see friends and generally have a nice time.

As for my actual reading this month, I’m taking part in Becca’s Bookopolathon by Becca and the Books on YouTube, and I’m hoping to take part in the Magical Readathon by Book Roast on YouTube but I haven’t worked out what books will go with which prompt yet.

For September once again I have a large TBR even before any commitment reads so this will be a difficult month to complete but I’m optimistic. Let’s see what is on my TBR:

  • The Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb – I’m so excited and nervous to read this book, I think it will be a five star read.
  • Six Tudor Queens: katherine of Aragon by Alison Weir – I think I will enjoy this book because I love the Tudors though my favourite queen is Anne Boleyn.
  • Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty – I’ve heard mixed things about this book so I’m hoping I will still enjoy it.
  • All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace – There’s a pirate in this book. I don’t need to say anything else.
  • A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson – I’ve been putting off reading this book but no more, I have to get to it this month.
  • Lore by Alexandra Bracken – I’m in the mood for a bit of Greek mythology so hopefully I will enjoy this book.
  • The Switch by Beth O’Leary – I’m torn on this because it sounds so good… but I so rarely enjoy contemporary/romance books.
  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – this is another book I think will be a five star read because I love Erin Morgenstern’s writing.
  • Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim – this book sounds fantastic.
  • The Guinevere deception by Kiersten White – I enjoy the myths of Arthur so I’m hoping this will be a good read.

That’s it for my September TBR, come back at the end of the month to see how I did!

Monthly Wrap Ups

May Wrap Up!

Happy Tuesday Bookish people! I’m a day late with this one but it’s finally the end of May. This month has been a difficult one, there’s been good parts to it of course but there’s also been some horrible parts. Nevermind, June is a new month and hopefully it will be a great one!

This month I will admit now, my TBR was mostly forgotten about. I had quite a few book tours I was taking part in and towards the second half of the month I was losing my motivation to read because of what was going on in my life.

So, onto the wrap up.

My May TBR:

  • The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni – I did read (start with a good one, however, this does not continue..)
  • The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – I did not read
  • A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik – I did not read
  • Watch Her Fall by Erin Kelly – I did not read
  • Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch – I did not read
  • Lore by Alexandra Bracken – I did not read
  • Six Tudor Queens: Katherine of Aragon – I did not read
  • Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert – I did not read
  • Turtles All The Way Down by John Green – I did not read
  • A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas – I did not read
  • A Masked City by Genevieve Cogman – I did read! (surprised you there didn’t I)
  • A Gathering of Shadows by V E Schwaab – I did not read
  • Radio Silence by Alice Oseman – I did not read
  • Yes, No, Maybe so by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Seed – I did not read
  • Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel – I did start this but I didn’t manage to finish it within the month

So.. my TBR went pretty terribly, I read two and started another. But I did read other books that weren’t on my TBR which were: The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss (which I loved!), Love Is What You Bake Of It and Love by Design by Effie Kammenou, Things To Do Before The End Of The World by Emily Barr and You Had It Coming by B M Carroll.

Altogether I read eight books this month which isn’t bad I suppose but it felt like I had a terrible reading month. Hopefully I’ll enjoy my reading more in June… I’m about to post my June TBR so check that out too if you are interested in seeing what I’ll be reading in June.

That’s it for my May Wrap Up, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Monthly TBRs

May TBR!

Happy Friday bookish people! Today I’m bringing you my May TBR and I am telling you now my TBR game was not kind to me this month. I just kept getting doubles on the dice and by the end I had 18 rolls to do… oh dear.

April.. didn’t go the way I planned and I ended up not reading very much. If you’d like to see what I did read go and check out my April Wrap-Up. I’m hoping that May will be a much better month for me so fingers crossed!

As well as my very long TBR I also have some books I need to read for my spots in book tours which I’m hoping to get read first and then concentrate on my TBR.

I also have a lot of contemporary on this month’s TBR, anyone who knows me will know that I do not really like contemporary.. so how did I end up with so many on my TBR? Well, I put the contemporary space on my game board so that I covered every genre and with all the rolls this month I kept landing on it… maybe I’ll find a new genre to like but I doubt it.

My May TBR:

First, Usually I would put pictures of the books on my TBR however, today for some reason it’s not letting me put the pictures in so I’m going to have to just list them and then see what is happening later.

  • The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni – I picked this one up because the cover is so beautiful! And also, the back of the book just said something like ‘keep her alive we are coming’ and that hooked me right in.
  • The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – I have had this book on my shelves since it came out. I loved his book the Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle so I have high hopes for this one.
  • A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik – I got this book in one of my Illumicrate boxes and it is so lovely, it has a gold cover and blue sprayed edges. It’s dark academia which is something that I am getting into quite recently.
  • Watch Her Fall by Erin Kelly – a psychological thriller set in a ballet company just sounds amazing!
  • Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch – the first of many contemporaries this month.. I don’t know much about it but hopefully I will enjoy it.
  • Lore by Alexandra Bracken – I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book so of course it’s straightaway on my TBR.
  • Six Tudor Queens: Katherine of Aragon the True Queen by Alison Weir – I love Historical Fiction especially the Tudor ones and I have read all of Philippa Gregory’s books to date so I needed some new Tudor stories and this is what I went with.
  • Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert – I have seen a lot of good things about this book and I actually won my copy in a competition on Twitter.
  • Turtles All the Way Down by John Green – again I don’t know much about this at all but I’m hoping it will be a good read.
  • A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas – I will get around to reading this at some point! I keep putting it on my TBR and then not reading it..
  • A Masked City by Genevieve Cogman – A librarian spy… I don’t need to say anything else about this.
  • A Gathering of Shadows by V E Scwab – I read A Darker Shade of magic a little while ago and it’s about time I read the second book in the series.
  • Radio Silence by Alice Oseman – there’s a lot of books this month I know nothing about but it is another contemporary.
  • Yes, No, Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Seed – It’s got a lovely bright yellow cover…

That’s it for my May TBR! Check back at the end of May to see how well or how badly I did with my reading!