Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today! Today I am sharing with you the books that I hope to get to in November. I have been a little ambitious this month, my TBR is long but I wanted to give myself a lot of choice so I could also sort of mood read at the same time.
What are you planning to read in November?
The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen
People of Abandoned Character by Claire Whitfield
Queen B by Juno Dawson
Powerless by Lauren Roberts
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well today. It is the first of November and the cold weather has arrived which means it is time for my October Reading Wrap Up! Enjoy!
What I read from my TBR:
Murder at Enderley Hall by Helena Dixon – I did read this! This is absolutely my new obsession. It is the second book in the Miss Underhay mystery series. Kitty Underhay and her Grandmother run the Dolphin Hotel and Kitty ends up getting involved with investigating thefts and murders alongside an ex-military man named Matthew Bryant. I love this series, I am planning on reading one a month so I should finish the series in around eighteen months….
Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft – I did not read this, I am interested in the premise but this month there were other books I was more excited about.
Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco – As I am writing this post, I am currently 100 pages into this books so I should get it finished by the end of October. Another book that I am loving, it follows Envy, the brother of Wrath from the Kingdom of the Wicked series, he is a prince of sin and I am very intrigued so far about what Envy needs the main female character, Camilla, for.
A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn – I did not read this, again there were other books I wanted to read more.
Belladonna by Adalyn Grace – I did not read this. Honestly, in September and October I have been redecorating parts of my house and I am not sure where I have put my copy of Belladonna so I wasn’t able to read this in October.
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik – similar to Belladonna, I didn’t read this because my copy is hidden away on my bookshelves for the time being.
Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson – I have not read this yet but I am hoping to still get to it by the end of October, I am going on holiday so I will have some travel time to do some reading.
Shadowscent: The Darkest Bloom by P M Freestone – Same as Enchantment of Ravens I have not got to this book yet but I am still hoping to by the end of this month. Fingers crossed.
Outside of my TBR, I also read The Examiner by Janice Hallett, The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman and also, (I haven’t yet, as I am writing this my copy will be arriving tomorrow but I will be reading it immediately), Spectacular by Stephanie Garber.
Overall, that means I have read 5 books and hope to finish two more on top of that by the end of the month. I am happy with that, I didn’t realise I had read as much this month as I have.
How has your reading been this month? Any new favourite books? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Friday Bookish People! I hope you’re all having a good day today. It is nearly Halloween! Do you do anything to celebrate? I don’t but I love seeing people in costumes, where I live there are lots of kids on the street so I hear them laughing and it is nice to hear them enjoying themselves.
As Halloween is so close I thought it would be fun to do a short Halloween Book Tag, I found this tag on spaceandsorcery.wordpress.com so go check out how they answered the tag.
1. Carving pumpkins: What book would you carve up and light on fire
It has to be Ulysses by James Joyce. I had to read it for University and I hated every minute of it, it is a large book and the plot did not hook my interest but the worst part of it is that for a big section of it there is absolutely no punctuation.
2. Trick or treat: A character who is a treat and one who is a trick
I am going to cheat a little bit here and pick a character who can be a trick and a treat depending on his mood and that is Jacks the Prince of Hearts from Stephanie Garber’s Once Upon A Broken Heart series.
3. Candy Corn: What book is always sweet?
I decided to go with the Lady in the Tower by Marie Louise Jenson and I love this book, the spine is cracked terribly because of how many times I have read it.
4. Ghosts: A character you would like to visit you as a ghost?
It was tough choice between Thomas Cresswell from the Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco, one of my favourite male leads from any book or Reichus from Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell which is a squirrel cat creature.
5. Dressing in Costume: A character you would want to be for a day.
Scarlett from Caraval by Stephanie Garber, I actually have dressed as her before to go to Comic Con.
6. Wizards and Witches: Your favourite Harry Potter moment
This would be the fight scene in the Order of the Pheonix
7. Blood and gore: A book so creepy you had to take a break
The Devil makes Three by Tori Bovalino, seriously if you like creepy books this is one to read.
Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today.
Today I am bringing you my book review for Nine Lives by Peter Swanson, I read this during September and honestly I had been putting off reading the book because of the things I had heard about it. So, I am glad that I have finally read it and if you want to hear my thoughts, read on! Just so you know there might be light spoilers in this post.
Blurb/Synopsis:
Nine strangers receive a list with their names on it in the mail. Nothing else, just a list of names on a single sheet of paper. None of the nine people know or have ever met the others on the list. They dismiss it as junk mail, a fluke – until very, very bad things begin happening to people on the list. First, a well-liked old man is drowned on a beach in the small town of Kennewick, Maine. Then, a father is shot in the back while running through his quiet neighborhood in suburban Massachusetts. A frightening pattern is emerging, but what do these nine people have in common? Their professions range from oncology nurse to aspiring actor.
FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out. Could there be some dark secret that binds them all together? Or is this the work of a murderous madman? As the mysterious sender stalks these nine strangers, they find themselves constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering who will be crossed off next….
My Review:
I have read one of Peter Swanson’s books before and I found it to be quite enjoyable, it was easy to guess the ending but good none the less. So, when Nine Lives came out a few years ago it sounded interesting and I bought a copy but then I started seeing other people not enjoy the book and it put me off reading it but I was looking for a short, quick read and I decided to pick it up and.. it was exactly like everyone said it was.
Okay, in terms of the novel itself it was well written and overall plotted quite nicely. The problem is that it very clearly was inspired by Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, I think had I read Nine Lives without ever seeing, hearing about or reading And Then There Were None I would have enjoyed Nine Lives more as a quick easy read but as it was I found it a bit dragging because I sort of knew what was coming. I also couldn’t get a connection with any of the characters because they weren’t on the page for very long and I also didn’t understand the overall motivations of the killer, it didn’t make much sense to me.
Overall I gave this book a three star rating because as a book I would describe it as ‘fine’ but as a novel with the intentions it had it wasn’t to my taste.
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today.
Today I am sharing my book review for The Covent Garden Ladies by Halle Rubenhold, I got hold of a copy of this book while I was at the Capital Crime Festival in London earlier this year, I hadn’t heard of it before but I am glad that I gave this non-fiction book a chance.
Blurb/Synopsis:
The Covent Garden Ladies tells the story of Samuel Derrick, Jack Harris, and Charlotte Hayes, whose complicated and colorful lives were brought together by the publication of Harris’ List, an infamous guidebook of prostitutes which detailed addresses, physical characteristics and “specialties.” The true history of the book is a tragicomedy motivated by poverty, passionate love, aspiration, and shame. Its telling plunges the reader down the dark alleys of 18th-century London’s underworld, a realm populated by tavern owners, pimps, punters, card sharps, and of course, a colorful range of prostitutes and brothel-keepers.
My Review:
I would first like to say that nonfiction is not my usual genre, I don’t read a lot of it because I sometimes find the information a bit dense to read but this novel is descriptive in the way that a fiction book would be even though the stories it tells are the truth.
This book follows three key people in the world that inspired the TV show Harlots, I found it really interesting to read about people I had never heard of before and how each of them struggled through life, they each had different struggles they had to fight through but somehow all of their stories intersected with one another. I read this book very quickly, every time I put it down I was excited to get back to reading it. If you are interested in reading about people, often people who are misunderstood in society, and the actions that changed the directions of their lives.
Have any of you read this book? Let me know what you thought of it in the comments!
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well.
Seeing as it is the month of Halloween, I thought it might be fun to share a book for each genre that I can think of that has the spooky vibes we all look for during this time of the year.
Just a note – I say one for every genre but by that I mean a couple of genres which were the only ones that I could think of.
Children’s Books/Middle Grade – The Araminta Spook novels by Angie Sage – these books are great they follow a girl called Araminta and her adventures with the ghosts who live alongside her in her haunted house.
Historical – Dangerous Women by Hope Adams – a group of women aboard a convict ship heading for Australia and everyone has a secret.
Fantasy – The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino, I read this book earlier in the year, it features a library, demons and magic and the whole thing was so spooky I wasn’t sure I could finish it.
Romance – The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling, a girl with a broken heart accidentally hexes someone and all sorts of trouble ensues. it is a fun romance with a little bit of mystery. You wont be able to predict what happens.
Mystery/Thriller – An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena if you like isolated trapped in murder mysteries then you will love this book.
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a lovely day today.
It is October already, the skies are getting darker and it is time to talk about what I read in the month of September.
From my September TBR:
Nightshade by E S Thomson – I did not read this book
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent – I was really hoping I would find the time for this book but unfortunately this month I ran out of time.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – I am currently reading this book with ten days left in the month when I am typing this so there should be no problem there, I should finish it by the end of the month.
Nine Lives by Peter Swanson – I did read this book and my review is coming on the 21st October.
Five Broken Blades by Mai Cortland – I did not read this book. I have been trying to prioritize reading the books that have been on my TBR the longest.
Murder at the Dolphin Hotel by Helena Dixon – I did read this book and loved it. I recommend this to everyone.
Covent Garden Ladies by Hallie Rubenhold – I did read this book and the review is coming on the 14th October.
The Wren in the Holly Library by K A Linde – I did not read this.
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – I did read this, as I am writing this it is the last book I finished.
Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber – as it stands right now if I finish the Night Circus quickly then I may get this book read as well.
That means I definitely read 4 books, and two depending on how quickly I can read for the rest of the month. So 4 – 6 books read this month is pretty good.
What books did you read this month? Which one was your favourite? My favourite read this month was Murder at the Dolphin Hotel by Helena Dixon.
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well today. The most recent book I have read is Helle and Death by Oskar Jenson and today I am bringing you my review for it. This review will probably include spoilers so if you haven’t read Helle and Death and still want to, I’d suggest reading my review after not before.
With all that said, on with the review!
Blurb/Synopsis:
A snowstorm. A country house. Old friends reunited. It’s going to be murder…
Torben Helle – art historian, Danish expat and owner of several excellent Scandinavian jumpers – has been dragged to a remote snowbound Northumbrian mansion for a ten-year reunion with old university friends. Things start to go sideways when their host, a reclusive and irritating tech entrepreneur, makes some shocking revelations at the dinner table. And when these are followed by an apparent suicide, the group faces a test of their wits… and their trust.
Snowed in and cut off, surrounded by enigmatic housekeepers and off-duty police inspectors, not to mention a peculiar last will and testament, suspicion and sarcasm quickly turn to panic. As the temperature drops and the tension mounts, Torben decides to draw upon all the tricks of Golden Age detectives past in order to solve the how much money would it take to turn one of his old friends into a murderer? But he’d better be quick, or someone else might end up dead…
This witty murder mystery puts a modern spin on the classic country house whodunnit. A must-read for fans of Agatha Christie, Richard Osman and Janice Hallett.
My Review:
Helle and Death is a book that, on paper, has all the ingredients to make a great murder mystery novel. However, in my opinion, I don’t think all of these things worked. A snowstorm keeping all the suspects locked inside, great. A group of old friends with buried secrets, amazing. An old manor house where a murder takes place, perfect. Execution – missed the mark.
In terms of the characters, I thought for the most part they were well-developed and intricate. Their secrets well hidden as well. However, the main character you spend time with is Torben Helle and I did not click with him at all. Whether this was because of the third person, distant way it was written in his perspective or not I mainly saw him as just another suspect and it irked me how the main role of his personality was to state that he was Danish over and over. By the end of the novel that was really the only thing I knew about him.
Now, even with that I would have found the book okay and probably have given it three stars if not for the ending. Again I say if you haven’t read the book this is going to be a huge spoiler. I HATE when a book is listed as a murder mystery but it turns out to not include murder at all. Honestly, there were so many twists that could have been used to give this book a good ending but instead the author chose that ending. It was a big disappointment.
Star Rating:
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
If you have read this book, what did you think of it?
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