Happy Friday bookish people! How are you all doing today? It is December, the final month of 2024, and I am excited to get stuck into reading the christmassy books that I have, admittedly I don’t have very many but the ones I have, I plan on reading.
December for me is looking like it will be a busy month, my diary is already getting pretty full so hopefully I will still have some time to read.
What are you planning to read in December? Any special plans for Christmas?
December TBR
A Lively Midwinter Murder by Katy Watson
Everybody This Christmas Has A Secret by Benjamin Stevenson
Hercule Poirot’s Silent night by Sophie Hannah
Murder on the Dancefloor by Helena Dixon
Okay, this one isn’t exactly christmas but it is set in winter and I have been reading one a month of this series so I want to continue this.
Happy Monday bookish people! How are you all today? It is December, the final month of 2024 but before that we need to talk about how November went.
As a month in general, not the best honestly. It seemed to be a month of one bad thing after another, but hopefully we are past all of that now. Onwards and upwards. In terms of reading, it was actually one of my best months of the year. I have started doing an hour or two of reading every evening instead of watching something on TV and it has made me feel much better, not only in terms of loving what I am reading but also I just feel better within myself, most of the time. Reading has been a great escape from everything this month.
How was your reading this month? Any new favourite books?
My November TBR was:
Murder At The Playhouse by Helena Dixon – the third book in the Miss Underhay cosy mystery series – I did read this and LOVED it, it might be my favourite one in the series so far.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett – I did not get to this one, I really wanted to and still do but it wasn’t at the top of my priorities for this month.
Curtain Calls to Murder by Julian Clary – I did read this book. It looked like something i would love from the description and I didn’t hate it but it also wasn’t something I loved. If you’re interested in knowing why I will be writing a review soon.
Powerless by Lauren Roberts – I finally read this and again, I loved it. I will be putting up my review for this in December so look out for that if you are interested.
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannon – I am currently reading this book and honestly, I’m not sure at the moment if this is going to be a soft DNF and I will come back to it later or if I am going to push through and see if I like it. I am 100 pages ish in and I have no idea what is going on so we will see.
People of Abandoned Character by Clare Whitfield – I did not read this. I just was not in the mood this month for a gothic feeling book.
The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton – I did not get to this either which was a shame because I was hoping to get a series finished and crossed off my list.
Queen B by Juno Dawson – I did read this, I love anything Anne Boleyn so I wanted to make sure that I gave this book a go.
Diabolical Bones by Bella Ellis – I did not get around to this book either unfortunately.
Pandora by Susan Stokes Chapman – This was one book that I really wanted to get around to but it just didn’t happen this month.
So, from my TBR I read five books this month which I am pretty happy with but, I also read two books outside of my TBR. I finished Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco and then I also read The League of Lady Poisoners.
So, overall I read seven books this month. Which is a great amount in my opinion. I am happy with it and excited to get started on my December TBR.
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. Today I am bringing you the End of Year Book Tag, it is never too early for this. I found this tag on Twirling Book Princess’s Blog.
What would be your answers to these questions? Let me know down in the comments.
Are there any books you started this year you need to finish? I can instantly think of one, which is I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan, I need to read this one to write about it in my PhD. I started it earlier in the year and got about 100 pages in, but it talks about the abduction of a child and I wasn’t in the right mindset for it so I couldn’t continue but I need to get this one read by the end of 2024.
Do you have an autumnal book to transition to the end of the year? Not an autumnal book but I love reading complex fantasy and cosy mysteries around this time of year and I have got a few of those to choose from luckily.
Is there a new release you are still waiting for? I am literally waiting in today to get my copy of Spectacular by Stephanie Garber, I can’t wait to read this and be back in the world of Caraval.
What are three books you want to read by the end of the year? My top three to read at the moment are: Powerless by Lauren Roberts, Curtain Calls to Murder by Julian Clary and Queen B by Juno Dawson
Is there a book that could still be your favourite? Ooh, I don’t know, my absolute favourite book is the Starless Sea and I don’t think there’s one that can top that but as far as a favourite of the year, I have read some amazing books so far. There are possibly a few books on my November TBR that could top it but I’m not sure on that, at this point I think my favourite of 2024 is between A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid and The King’s Mother by Annie Garthwaite.
Have you already made reading plans for 2025? I have not, I haven’t started thinking about 2025 at all, not just for reading. I should really seeing as it is only a few months away.
Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day!
Today, I am bringing you my book review for The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman, the fourth book in the Thursday Murder Club.
Blurb/Synopsis:
Shocking news reaches the Thursday Murder Club.
An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.
As the gang springs into action they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home.
With the body count rising, the package still missing and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out? And who will be the last devil to die?
My Review:
Okay, so, this book is the fourth in a series and I have read them all. Quickly, I will say my opinions on the rest of the series: Book 1 I thought was okay, it wasn’t anything special but it was an okay read, the second book I did enjoy – I liked it a lot more, book 3 I did not enjoy because it felt unnecessarily complex and didn’t seem to understand where it was going itself and now we get to book four. I really disliked this book.
I will say there were two parts I liked, first that Joyce had a larger role as a leader rather than a follower I did like seeing that character progression and secondly, there is a character who struggles with dementia and that was explored a lot in this book – I would say it was explored too much, too much time was devoted to that part of the story and it brought the mood of the whole series down but it is always good to see real life themes appear in books.
I read someone else’s review to see if other people were feeling the same way as me, and they described this book as feeling like the author was bored with writing it and I definitely agree with that. It did feel bored and it felt like it didn’t understand what it was trying it say, the plot easily could have been condensed by about 200 pages, most of it felt like filler put in just for the sake of it. I did not enjoy it at all.
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today, I thought it might be fun to share the top five series’ that I would like to finish up by the end of 2024. I have started a lot of series, I love getting to spend multiple books with characters so it is the main bulk of what I read.
Here are the five I want to prioritise:
The Hercule Poirot series by Sophie Hannah
I only have one book left, Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night, then I am up to date with this series and seeing as it has a winter/christmas theme I should get to read this in December.
The Painted Dragon by Katherine Woodfine
This is the third book in the series starting with the Clockwork Sparrow, there are actually four books out in this series but I only own the first three and I don’t plan on buying the fourth so I will be finishing the series with book three.
As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson
This is the third and final book in the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series, I have been putting it off because I love the first two and I have heard mixed things about the last book but I would like to get this one finished off soon.
The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton
This series is very quirky and fun and this is the third and final book in the series. I have it on my TBR for November so hopefully that will be this series finished up.
A Death in Diamonds by S J Bennett
This is the fourth book in the Queen Elizabeth II investigates series and reading it would mean I am up to date with the series so far. I do enjoy this series although not every books has been brilliant, I’d say two out of the three I have read so far were great and one was not, so fingers crossed for this one.
Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today!
Today I am bringing you my book review for The Examiner by Janice Hallett. I don’t usually include spoilers in my reviews but there is one tiny twist from this book that I want to talk about, I don’t think it will ruin a big part of the book for you if you read this review then read the book but if you want to go in with no spoilers at all, maybe wait and read my review after.
Okay, on with the review!
Blurb/Synopsis:
Six Students. One Murder. Your Time Starts Now.
The students of Royal Hastings University’s new Multimedia Art course have been trouble from day one. Acclaimed artist Alyson wants the department to revolve around her. Ludya struggles to balance her family and the workload. Jonathan has management experience but zero talent for art. Lovely Patrick can barely operate his mobile phone, let alone professional design software. Meanwhile blustering Cameron tries to juggle the course with his job in the City and does neither very well. Then there’s Jem. A gifted young sculptor, she’s a promising student… but cross her at your peril.
The year-long course is blighted by accusations of theft, students setting fire to one another’s artwork, a rumoured extra-marital affair and a disastrous road trip. But finally they are given their last assignment: to build an interactive art installation for a local manufacturer. With six students who have nothing in common except their clashing personal agendas, what could possibly go wrong?
The answer is: murder. When the external examiner arrives to assess the students’ essays and coursework, he becomes convinced that a student was killed on the course and that the others covered it up. But is he right? And if so, who is dead, why were they killed, and who is the murderer? Only a close examination of the evidence will reveal the truth. Your time starts now.
My Review:
I have read all of Janice Hallet’s books so far, I absolutely love them. I love the unique way that she writes entirely in different forms of mixed media. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to do it that way, with its limitations on plot and form and it not really having an active voice as everything has already happened when it is talked about but I love the way she does it. I can’t day much about this book because it will be spoilers but I can say that I found I had strong feelings about each character individually and that is what drove me to keep reading, I wanted to know what happened to them and which one of them had supposedly been ‘murdered’ or not.
Now, as I warned at the beginning, there is one thing I want to talk about that can be considered a spoiler. So, stop reading here if you missed my earlier warning.
One of the characters in this story is revealed to be visually impaired. Personally, I had figured this out a long time before it was revealed but that is because I was reading the character and relating to how they described people by smells not aesthetics and the other things they were doing, it is the same way I recognise people being visually impaired myself, and that is why I wanted to talk about this. There are so few books that include blind characters and the ones that do, that I have read, don’t do it very well or they use the character as a gimmick, or worse than all of that – they put in a blind character and then the twist is that they were faking it the whole time. I just wanted to make a comment about how nice it is to have a visually impaired character written well.
Have you read The Examiner? What did you think of it?
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a great day.
I wanted to share with you just some of the exciting books being released in November, the dates they are going to be released and a short blurb for each of them. Are any of these on your radar? I know some of them are ones I want to read.
The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong – 5th November
An immigrant fortune teller joins forces with an ex-mercenary and a reformed thief in search of a missing child in this sweet and big-hearted fantasy debut.
Small fortunes. Big feelings.
A cozy fantasy about trying to find yourself – and finding a family instead. Perfect for fans of Legends and Lattes, A Psalm for the Wild-Built and The House in the Cerulean Sea.
Fleeing a troubled past, immigrant fortune teller Tao roams the dusty countryside with only her mule for company, telling small fortunes, for small prices. Big fortunes come with big consequences . . . which she knows from bitter experience.
It’s a lonely life, until she encounters an ex-mercenary and a (semi) reformed thief, who recruit her into their desperate search for a lost child. Soon, they’re joined by a baker with a knead for adventure, and – of course – a slightly magical cat.
Tao sets down a new path with companions as big-hearted as her fortunes are small. But as her friends break down her walls, the shadows of her past close in. Now, Tao must decide whether to risk everything to save the family she never thought she could have…
Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibanez – 7th November
1885, Egypt: Inez Olivera is left reeling from her cousin Elvira’s murder, and her mother’s betrayal, and when TÃo Ricardo issues an ultimatum about her inheritance, she’s left with only one option to consider.
Marriage to Whitford Hayes.
Former British soldier, her uncle’s aide de camp, and one time nemesis, Whit has his own mysterious reasons for staying in Egypt. With her heart on the line, Inez might have to bind her fate to the one person whose secret plans could ruin her.
The Author’s Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams – 5th November
There’s been a sensational murder at historic Castle Kinloch, a gothic fantasy of grey granite on a remote island in the Highlands of Scotland. Literary superstar Brett Saffron Presley has been found dead—under bizarre circumstances—in the castle tower’s book-lined study. Years ago, Presley purchased the castle as a showpiece for his brand and to lure paying guests with a taste for writerly glamour. Now it seems, the castle has done him in…or, possibly, one of the castle’s guests has. Detective Chief Inspector Euan McIntosh, a local with no love for literary Americans, finds himself with the unenviable task of extracting statements from three American lady novelists.
The prime suspects are Kat de Noir, a slinky erotica writer; Cassie Pringle, a Southern mom of six juggling multiple cozy mystery series; and Emma Endicott, a New England blue blood and author of critically acclaimed historical fiction. The women claim to be best friends writing a book together, but the authors’ stories about how they know Brett Saffron Presley don’t quite line up, and the detective is getting increasingly suspicious.
Why did the authors really come to Castle Kinloch? And what really happened the night of the great Kinloch ceilidh, when Brett Saffron Presley skipped the folk dancing for a rendezvous with death?
A crafty locked-room mystery, a pointed satire about the literary world, and a tale of unexpected friendship and romance—this novel has it all, as only three bestselling authors can tell it!
Games Untold by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – 14th November
Romance, luxury, and secrets abound in this thrilling new collection that takes readers deeper into the world of the #1 bestselling Inheritance Games series.
There is nothing frivolous about the way a Hawthorne man loves.
An amnesiac playboy and the woman with every reason to hate him. A daredevil, his favorite heiress, and three nights in Prague. An unlikely pairing between a cowboy and a goth. Four brothers with an inescapable bond, strengthened by the family they chose, in a house of wonders that promises to always deliver one more secret.
Discover their stories of love and loss, power, puzzles, and life-and-death secrets in this mind-blowingly romantic collection that proves that when you love the way Hawthornes love, there is no going back.
The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E Pearson – 14th November
After losing both their parents, Bristol Keats and her sisters struggle to stay afloat in their small, quiet town of Bowskeep. When Bristol begins to receive letters from an ‘aunt’ she has never heard of, who promises to help, Bristol reluctantly agrees to meet her – and discovers that everything she thought she knew about her family is a lie. Her father might even still be alive. Not killed but kidnapped by terrifying creatures and taken to another realm – the one he is from.
Desperate to save her father and find the truth, Bristol journeys to a land of gods, fae and monsters. Pulled into a dangerous world of magic and intrigue, she makes a deadly bargain with the fae king, Tyghan. But what she does not know is that he is the one who drove her parents to live a life on the run. And he is just as determined as she is to find her father – dead or alive . . .
A heart-wrenching love story that spans worlds and decades, The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson explores second chances – the ones we are denied and the ones we refuse to give – and the lines we cross that may never be forgiven.
In Want of a Suspect by Tirzah Price – 12th November
The first book in a thrilling mystery duology that follows Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy from the acclaimed Jane Austen Murder Mystery series!
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that London’s first female solicitor in possession of the details of a deadly crime, must be in want of a suspect.
The tenacious Lizzie Bennet has earned her place at Longbourn, her father’s law firm. Her work keeps her busy, but luckily it gives her plenty of reasons to consult (and steal occasional kisses) with Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, a stern but secretly softhearted solicitor at Pemberley.
Lizzie is hired to investigate a deadly warehouse fire and to find the mysterious woman who was spotted at the scene moments before the flames took hold. But when the case leads to the sitting room of a woman Darcy once proposed marriage to, the delicate balance between personal and professional in their relationship is threatened.
Questions of the future are cast aside when the prime suspect is murdered and Lizzie’s own life is threatened. As the body count rises and their suspicions about what was really going on in the warehouse grow, the pressure is on for Lizzie and Darcy to uncover the truth.
Classic characters with an enthralling twist—Lizzie and Darcy, as introduced in the hit novel Pride and Premeditation, are back for more suspense, danger, and romance!
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.
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