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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!

Monthly Wrap Ups

June Wrap Up!

Happy Wednesday bookish people! So we’re here, it is finally the end of June. This month has been completely up and down for me in terms of my general life but in terms of reading I think it might have been my best month of the year… I did not complete my TBR but I was part of a bunch of book tours for this month so I was prioritizing them.

Also this month I was taking part in the Whatever-You-Want-A-Thon which was created by Maddie at Book Browsing Blog on YouTube. This was so much fun to be part of, I was part of team dreams and drama queens and I think it was one of my biggest motivations to read this month.

Onto the wrap up!

My June TBR and Thoughts:

  • Charmcaster by Sebastien De Castell – I read the first chapter.. I’m not going to count this as reading because the first chapter is only about ten pages.
  • Deadly Curious by Cindy Astley – I did read this one! You can find my book review of it here:https://theblindscribe.com/2021/06/14/book-review-deadly-curious-by-cindy-astley/
  • The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater – I did not read this book.
  • Fable by Adrienne Young – I did not get around to this book.
  • The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant – I did read this book! My review of it is here: https://theblindscribe.com/2021/06/07/book-review-the-hatmakers-by-tamzin-merchant/
  • I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan – I started this book while travelling to Bristol and back during this month but I wasn’t in the right mood for how dark this book is so I stopped reading at the halfway point.
  • Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova – I did not read this.
  • Master of One by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett – I did not read this either.
  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – I didn’t read this.
  • One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake – I didn’t read.
  • Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard – I did not read.
  • Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin – I read this! and LOVED it, I can’t believe it took me so long to get around to reading this.
  • Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri maniscalco – This was a reread but yes I did reread this! You can find my review here:https://theblindscribe.com/2021/04/26/book-review-stalking-jack-the-ripper-by-kerri-maniscalco/
  • The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner – I read this one also!
  • Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M McManus – I did not read.

So from my TBR I read 5 books and I started another two… that’s not bad. On top of this I read some book for book tours which were: Happy Ever After: Financial Freedom (Review here:https://theblindscribe.com/2021/06/03/book-review-happy-ever-after-financial-freedom-isnt-a-fairy-tale-by-the-seven-dollar-millionaire/ ), The Maidens by Alex Michaelides (Review here: https://theblindscribe.com/2021/06/17/book-review-the-maidens-by-alex-michaelides/), Embers by Josephine Greenland (Review here:https://theblindscribe.com/2021/06/18/book-review-embers-by-josephine-greenland/ ), Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon (Review here:https://theblindscribe.com/2021/06/21/book-review-instructions-for-dancing-by-nicola-yoon/ ), Murder at Rosings by Annette Purdey Pugh (Review here:https://theblindscribe.com/2021/06/25/book-review-a-murder-at-rosings-by-annette-purdey-pugh/ ), Fake News by C J Dunford (Review here:https://theblindscribe.com/2021/06/25/book-review-fake-news-by-c-j-dunford/ ) and Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone (Review here:https://theblindscribe.com/2021/06/27/book-review-mirrorland-by-carole-johnstone/ ).

I read 12 books and started another two so June was a pretty good reading month, hopefully July will be just as successful. That’s it for my June wrap up, I hope you enjoyed it!

Monthly TBRs

June TBR!

Happy Tuesday bookish people! It is the first of June and that means it is time to show you what I am planning on reading for this month.

So… May went okay it didn’t go terribly or brilliantly – I managed to read eight books, if you are interested in my May Wrap Up you can find it here: https://theblindscribe.com/2021/06/01/may-wrap-up/

Once again for June I have a mountain of books on my TBR – for a couple of reasons. First, my TBR game just loves giving me doubles and so many extra books – I always begin with twelve but end up with more. Secondly – and I am VERY excited about this… in June I am taking part in Whatever-You-Want-A-Thon. A readathon that has been created by Book Browsing Blog on Youtube. I am part of the team Dreams and Drama Queens. That team name is very fitting for me.. anyway, there’s all sorts of prompts and points you can get for different books – if you’re interested in it go and check out her channel on Youtube where she explains it all.

As well as my TBR books I also have some books to read this month for book tours and for publishers so we will see how well I do.

So onto my TBR for June!

  • Charmcaster by Sebastien De Castell – I am looking forward to reading this one, it is the third book in the spellslinger series and I have enjoyed both Spellslinger and Shadowblack.
  • Deadly Curious by Cindy Astley – a murder mystery set in Victorian London, it sounds like a very interesting premise.
  • The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater – I’m not looking forward to reading this one as much. This is the second book in the Raven Boys series, I thought the first book was okay but not brilliant and I do want to continue with the series so hopefully this will make me push through.
  • Fable by Adrienne Young – I’m so excited to read this one. The cover is beautiful, it gives me pirate themes… I’m excited.
  • The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant – I got this book for Easter from my parents and it is going to be the first book I read this month, I’ve been dying to read it since I got it but I hadn’t been able to get it onto a TBR until now.
  • I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan – this book sounds so interesting, a girl witnesses her best friend be abducted and later hosts a cold case podcast type show where she is anonymous, there’s all sorts of secrets surrounding everything and it sounds like it could be a new favourite.
  • Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova – I can’t actually remember what this book is about but it has been on my Tbr for a while so it’s time I got around to reading it.
  • Master of One by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett – I have had this one on quite a few TBRs and not gotten around to it so hopefully I will this month.
  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – I loved The Starless Sea, also by this author, and anything circus I’m drawn to so hopefully I will enjoy this one.
  • One Dark throne by Kendare Blake – I’m not excited to read this one, it’s another series that I thought the first book was okay and I want to continue the series but I’m not very excited about it.
  • Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard – The cover is beautiful, the plot sounds interesting… it is a very big book though.
  • Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin – I need to read this book, it sounds great and I’ve seen a lot of people recommend it.
  • Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco – this will be a reread for me, I’m buddy reading it with some other whatever a thon people which I am very much looking forward to.
  • The Lost Apothecary by Sarah penner – this book sounds very different to anything I’ve seen before so I’m looking forward to reading it.
  • and finally Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M McManus – I’ve read the cousins by the same authot and enjoyed it so I’m hopeful for this one too.

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