Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a lovely day today. It is the end of June. I honestly don’t know where this month went. I have been so busy trying to meet my PhD deadlines that the month has flown by. How has the month been for all of you?
I did manage to read a bit this month, not as much as last month but I got through some pretty good books and I did manage to finish my TBR so I’m happy with that.
From my TBR I read:
The Ballad Of Never After by Stephanie Garber – I enjoyed this book a lot more than Once Upon A Broken Heart so I’m glad about that because I loved her Caraval series then when I wasn’t sure on Once Upon A Broken Heart I was worried, but unnecessarily because the second book was much better.
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas – I finally got around to reading this book after far too long. I have to say the first half of the book was dragging a little bit but once the action started kicking in I was more intrigued, and I got sucked into the story and I can’t wait to keep going with the next book in the series. I will be posting a book review on the 23rd June.
Library Of Shadows by Rachel Moore – I wasn’t sure about this book going into it but I was pleasantly surprised. If you want to see all my thoughts about this book I will be posting a book review on the 13th June.
The Murder Hypothesis – again, another book that I wasn’t sure about when I picked it up but I thought it was good, for a YA mystery it was intriguing, nothing overly special or groundbreaking but an enjoyable read.
The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton – another book that has been on my shelf for a while that I have been meaning to get to, and of course I loved it. It was actually in line for my favourite book of the month, it just missed out on that accolade.
In Want of A Suspect by Tirzah Price – the continuation of Lizzie and Darcy’s story that started in Pride and Premeditation. I loved the first book, it was one of my favourite books that I read in that year, and this second book was just as good, I have to say that the romance in this novel wasn’t quite as good as in the first book in my opinion but it was still good. This was my favourite read of May.
Outside of my TBR I also read: The Mysterious Affair of Styles by Agatha Christie which I was a little bit underwhelmed with, it was okay but not the best of her novels. And I also read Murder At The Charity Ball by Helena Dixon which is maybe the tenth book in the Miss Underhay series? A solidly good book all round.
So, that means this month I read 8 books which is a pretty good effort with how my month has been going. How many books did you get through this month? Which book that you read was your favourite?
Happy Monday bookish people! How are you all doing today? It is May and that means it is time to share the books I hope to read this month. May is full of all sorts of things happening so I have chosen books that I am very excited to read and I have only chosen a few so that it doesn’t feel too overwhelming. I am hoping that six will be the perfect amount.
What are you planning on reading in May?
MAY TBR:
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
Crown Of Midnight by Sarah J Maas
Library Of Shadows by Rachel Moore
The Murder Hypothesis by Sarah Wishart
The Secret Service of Tea And Treason by India Holton
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, 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 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 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!
Happy Friday everyone! I hope you are all having a good day today. As it is the 2nd of the month I am bringing you my TBR for September, believe it or not my TBR is actually a bit shorter this month than usual because I am swamped with so many other things going on I haven’t actually had much chance to read at all. In September I am taking part in the month long Bookopolathon readathon hosted by Becca and the Books on YouTube so my prompts were all spaces on the specially made for this readathon bookopoly board.
Onto the TBR!
Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
The first space I landed on gave me the prompt of Spring and this book has a bright green cover with these flowers that look like they have all been stitched into the cover, what’s more spring than a floral cover? With a dash of murder mystery of course.
The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton
The second prompt came out as dice roulette which picks a shelf and then picks a random book on that shelf. For me this came out as The League of Gentlewomen Witches and I am looking forward to reading this book- witches, enemies to lovers and pirates sounds pretty good to me.
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas
This book actually covers two of my prompts: My favourite trope which is enemies to lovers, and Highest rated. I know this book has been on loads of my TBRs but hopefully I will get around to it this month.
King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
This prompt was a random letter generator which gave me K and I am very excited to be getting back into the Six of Crows/Shadow and Bone world.
Dance of Thieves by Mary E Pearson
This covers the prompt of big book. I remember when I got this book I was really excited to read it with the cast of outsiders type plot but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet so maybe this month I will.
It Sounded Better In My Head by Nina Kenwood
This was my chance prompt, I picked a book title from my jar where I have all the titles written on pieces of paper and this was the book that I got. I honestly don’t know much about this book.
Down Comes the Night by Alison Saft
This was for the prompt buildings on the cover. I had so much trouble finding a book for this prompt, I am obviously not drawn to books with buildings on the front.
Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
I chose this book for the random emoji prompt, I got a sunflower and this book is bright yellow so that is why I chose it. I am reticent about this one because I tried to read her other book, The Guest List, and I got 50 pages in, put it down and so far I haven’t picked it back up again so I don’t know if I will enjoy this book or not.
That’s it for my TBR this month! Have you read any of these book? What did you think of them? Let me know!
Happy Monday bookish people! And Happy Valentine’s day! Today I wanted to bring you some of my opinions on the couples – or characters that are often shipped together in some cases- in some of the books that I have previously read.
There may be spoilers in this post so read at your own risk.
Dangerous Remedy by Kat Dunn – Camille and Ada
Camille and Ada are already dating when the book begins and there is a lot of tension growing between them throughout the book and I enjoyed the relationship because they seemed to be struggling through real problems that readers can relate to even though it is a fantasy book.
The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh – Celine and Sebastian
These two have an enemies to lovers thing going on which I really enjoyed. They are both very strong and feisty characters that bounce off each other. I think their relationship fits well within the plot and doesn’t take over. I am looking forward to seeing how these two characters develop in the rest of the series.
Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen – Petula and Jacob
This was one of the first books I read that fit properly within the contemporary romance genre. It has a simple enough story but it is full of heartache and delving into characters with mental health issues that are also trying to navigate a relationship. I liked the build up to Petula and Jacob getting together but their relationship throughout the rest of the book was difficult to read about because I didn’t completely understand the struggles they were experiencing.
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton – Ned and Cecelia
Again these two characters start off as enemies which I love in books, also the reason they meet was one of my favourites in the books that I read last year. Their personalities lend to some very sassy dialogue and I enjoyed their pairing. The only thing is that both of them love their freedom and don’t seem the type to be in committed long relationships.
To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo – Lira and Elian
To be honest this book didn’t get much emotion from me, it was an average rating from me and so I didn’t feel that much for either of these characters or their relationship. I feel that the two characters were thrown together to make it into a Little Mermaid retelling but actually neither of them fit together well in my opinion.
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern – Zachary and Dorian
I don’t feel like I saw enough of this couple. The Starless Sea is my favourite book ever and I would enjoy any couple that was written into it. It was great to see LGBTQ representation in this book and the only way to describe the way this couple was portrayed is enchanting.
Not Here To Be Liked by Michelle Quach – Eliza and Len
This is another book that I struggled to get any enjoyment from. I felt that the whole romance was forgotten generally or just used to forward the author’s views on feminism and the place it has in relationships. I really like Len as a character but I didn’t feel that Eliza was fleshed out more than a 2D character.
The Upside of Unrequieted by Becky Albertalli – Molly and Reid
I love this pairing. Reid was one of my favourite male characters until I properly started reading fantasy and he’s nerdy and sweet and exactly the type of man I like in books, and in reality actually. Molly is a very interesting character and I enjoyed being taken along with her as she discovered so much about herself and what she wanted.
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco – Thomas Cresswell and Audrey Rose Wadsworth
One of my all time favourite couples. Thomas Cresswell is charming and intelligent and completely annoying but I love him. Audrey Rose is also incredibly intelligent and full of fire and personality, she lets nobody stand in her way and that sets them up for very interesting moments.
Caraval by Stephanie Garber – Julian and Scarlett/ Tella and Legend
Okay so there are two main couples in the Caraval series of books. The first is Julian and Scarlett, which I think are probably my favourite book couple ever. They start as enemies – do you see the trend starting here?- and develop feelings later but I love that Scarlett struggles to trust him, it fits perfectly with the plots and if there was a lot of tricks happening I would have trouble trusting him too.
Then there is Tella and Legend. Currently, I haven’t read the third book yet, I don’t love them as much. I think they would make a good pairing, he offers her the enchantment and the mystery that she craves but they don’t have as much of a spark in my opinion.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell – Cath and Levi
I don’t usually like romance books but this one I ended up loving. Cath reminds me of myself in a lot of ways, particularly her shyness and then Levi is cheeky and cute and I would honestly love to find a Levi in real life to be with, you just know that no matter what he would be there for her.
Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco – Wrath and Emilia
Emilia is a headstrong witch who, when her sister is murdered, decides to investigate for herself and summons a demon, Wrath. Wrath is so morally grey that I never know if he’s on the good side or the bad and this just draws me to him, the same as it does for Emilia and I think they challenge each other both physically and mentally which is great to see in book characters.
The Lady in the Tower by Marie Louise Jenson – Eleanor and Phillip Stanton
Another pairing that starts off as enemies, I really can’t help but have a type. I love the historical nature of the relationship, the bending of the boundaries. He is so charming and charismatic that I can’t help but like him even when the main character doesn’t. I liked the way this was a slow burn and you saw the moment when it all changed for Eleanor and she realised her feelings.
I am going to leave this post here as I have included a lot of great pairings but if everyone enjoys this I have plenty more couples to make a part 2 or part 3!
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