Tag: val mcdermid

Monthly Wrap Ups

July Wrap Up!

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a great day today.

July is at an end and I think it is safe to say that it was my best month for reading so far this year, both in the amount of books and my enjoyment of those books.

So, my July TBR, technically I didn’t finish it because I didn’t read the exact books I put on it BUT I did read a bunch of books so I read more books than I put on my TBR so I am going to count that as finishing it.

This was my TBR:

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

I did not read this book, it was actually in the pile for me to read next, to break up some of the mysteries I have been reading like a palate cleanser, but I didn’t get around to it.

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

I am currently reading this book and I have three days left of the month so I am optimistic that I will finish this book by the end of July.

A Feather So Black by Lyra Selene

I did not read this book, I didn’t even think about it this month so hopefully I will get to it soon but that time is not yet.

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrews

I was excited about this book but as with A Feather So Black I haven’t been drawn to fantasy at the moment so I didn’t get around to it.

The Jewelled Moth by Katherine Woodfine

I did read this book, it is the second in the series and actually I enjoyed it more than the first book.

Outside of my TBR I have also read: I finished Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood, The King’s Mother by Annie Garthwaite (the best book I have read so far this year!), The Suspect by Rob Rinder, The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz, Queen Macbeth by Val Mcdermid, and I started Seven Likely Suspects by Katy Watson as well.

So in July I read 8 books this month! I am very happy with that amount. How has your reading been this month? Any great books?

Book Reviews

Book Review: Murder On Christmas Eve

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Happy Monday bookish people! Today is a very busy and exciting day for me, I am going with my sister to see her try on wedding dresses. But before that I am here to share a book review or two, starting with Murder on Christmas Eve – an anthology of short stories all set on Christmas Eve.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

Murder on Christmas Eve Plot:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I will start by saying I don’t think there was a story in this anthology that I didn’t enjoy. My favourite of them being the one about the cat, The book isn’t near me now so I can’t check the title but if you read the book then you’ll know exactly which one I mean. There isn’t much more I can say about the plot except to reiterate how much I really enjoyed it.

Murder on Christmas Eve Characters:

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

This category is also hard to describe because there are so many characters throughout the stories but there is a wide range, old, young, tall, short, the villains aren’t always who you expect it to be and I loved that.

Murder on Christmas Eve Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Each of the stories are written by different authors, some of which I had read before and others that I hadn’t. It was nice to read some work by new authors and start to enjoy their texts.

Murder on Christmas Eve:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I gave this book four stars overall because it kept me very entertained while on a car journey. Each of the stories are very intriguing and contain great mmysteries.

Blurb:

Christmas Eve. While the world sleeps, snow falls gently from the sky, presents await under the tree … and murder is afoot. In this collection of ten classic murder mysteries from the best crime writers in history, death and mayhem take many festive forms, from the inventive to the unexpected.

From a Santa Claus with a grudge to a cat who knows who killed its owner on Christmas Eve, these are stories to enjoy – and be mystified by – in front of a roaring fire, mince pie to hand.

The trinity cat / Ellis Peters —
The Santa Claus Club / Julian Symons —
The four seasons / Michael Innes —
No sanity clause / Ian Rankin —
The footprint in the sky / John Dickson Carr —
A wife in a million / Val McDermid —
The dagger with wings / G.K. Chesterton —
Cambric tea / Marjorie Bowen —
As dark as Christmas gets / Lawrence Block —
On Christmas day in the morning / Margery Allingham