Hello, and I know it’s been a while… Life caught up with me with new responsibilities at work and home, working towards my CCNA qualification (until said new responsibilities put a halt to it.) Anyway, enough excuses. Here I am with my reading review of 2018. 2018 in Stats I use GoodReads as my book tracking application of choice. I read primarily on my Kindle and since Amazon bought GoodReads the integration works really well. Let me share the image that captures my main statistics: As you can see, in 2018 I read 53 books, which beat my GoodReads challenge of 45 books – yay! The shortest book I read was Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo at only 28 pages and the longest was Kingdom of Ash at 992 pages. I’ll be honest; this has not been my greatest reading year. It is the lowest book count since 2010 when I started tracking my reading on GoodReads and nowhere near my record of 117 books that I read in 2013. Admittedly, 2013 was boosted considerably by my tendency to listen to audiobooks to keep me awake during my long nightshifts. Additionally, there are not so many books I read…
Yes, I know, it’s been quite some time since I posted. Life has got away with me. 2017 wasn’t the greatest reading year for me; I really struggled to meet my GoodReads reading challenge of 80 books, and just squeezed in by the skin of my teeth. This post is based on a survey that Jamie of the Perpetual Page Turner came up with last year. there are some great questions here to review my reading year, so I’ll give it a go again this year. Reading Stats Number Of Books You Read: 81 booksNumber of Re-Reads: Six I guess?Genre You Read The Most From: YA fantasy Best in Books 1. Best Book You Read In 2017?This would be The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. This book’s concept combines time travel, witches, history and shadowy government organisations into an incredible story. It’s rather hard to describe. I loved everything about it. The premise, the writing, the strong and fascinating characters, everything. This is one I would recommend listening to in audiobook format. It is narrated by a full voice cast who really brings the story to life. I certainly recommend this book, expecially the…
Hello and here I am with another reading roundup. I must admit I’ve not been doing very well with my reading. I’m actually three books behind on my GoodReads 2017 reading challenge; 42 books out of 50. This is due to a couple of things. I’ve recently become obsessed with playing Assassin’s Creed on my Playstation and watching gameplay YouTube videos. Sigh. Honestly, I’m not so violent in real life. Additionally, I’ve listened to more audiobooks that I have read ebooks, which always takes longer. That’s my excuse anyway! So, onto the roundup. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland I absolutely ADORED this book. I wish I had more stars than 5 to give it. I would strongly recommend experiencing this in the audiobook version; it’s narrated by a full cast who really brings an extra je ne sais quoi to the story. Forgive me if I misspell some of the names since I only listened to it. In in a similar vein to the Illuminae files the story is told both through standard narration and letters, office memos, briefing files etc. The story is rather difficult to summarise into a few words; secret government organisations, time travel, Schroedinger’s cat, magic, witches. I loved, loved,…
Hello, and here I am with another reading roundup. It’s been a while since I gave a reading update and I have been on vacation so I have a lot to catch up on. Rick Riordan During my vacation I read two Rick Riordan books – The Dark Prophecy and Camp Blood Confidential. Both of these are pretty much what you would expect from Riordan; a fun middle grade read, based on Greek/Roman mythology with a good dose of humour. While I enjoyed them – they were both light, fun reads – they were what I was expecting, nothing more, nothing less. If you’ve read one Rick Riordan book, you know what to expect. They are hardly world altering, so I gave both books three and a half stars out of five. Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare One of my most anticipated reads of the summer was Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare, the second in the Dark Artifices series set in her Shadowhunters world. I absolutely LOVED this one. Although Emma and Julian are the ostensible protagonists, I found myself less interested in their journeys than those of their supporting characters. The growing bond between Ty, Kit and…
Hello, I’m back again with a roundup of all the new releases in May about which I’m most excited. May is often a busy month in terms of new releases and this one is no exception, so let’s get on with it, shall we? One of my favourite middle grade authors, Rick Riordan, has two books coming out next month. The first of these is The Dark Prophecy, the second book in his Trials of Apollo series. This set of books follows the god Apollo, who has been stripped of his powers and sent to Earth in the form of a gawky teenage boy. As with all Rick Riordan books, I fully expect this one to combine Greek mythology, adventure and humour in a wonderful blend. The Dark Prophecy is released on May 2nd. Tying in with this release is Riordan’s second book of the month, Percy Jackson: Camp Half-Blood Confidential. This is a pamphlet written as if by Percy Jackson explaining how things work at Camp Half Blood for new demigods. I expect it to be a fun, quick read. It is also released on May 2nd. Also on May 2nd we have the next in Sarah J. Maas’s fantasy…
Hello, and yes I am still here. It’s been two months since my last post. It’s been a challenging couple of months both at work and at home, and so my blogging has very much suffered. Things aren’t going to quieten down in the foreseeable future, so I’ll blog when I can, making no promises. I sincerely apologise to the publishers who have been kind enough to send me ARCs – I suspect that I will not be able to meet my commitments to review these books, but my responsibilities to my employer who pays our bills and family must come first. At this point in time, reading needs to remain an escape without pressure to review. So onto the books I’ve read in the last couple of months. [book-info]One of the pure joys of my reading/listening time recently has been the audiobook of J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them narrated by Newt Scamander himself, Eddie Redmayne. This was a wonderful surprise – I really wasn’t expecting it to be as entertaining as it was. This is a “revised edition” film tie-in, to include an additional footnote by Scamander commenting on the events of the film and…
Hello and here I am with another reading roundup. Since my last roundup I have read four books. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure that I’ve shared my reading goal for 2017 – I’ve challenged myself to read 80 books this year. So far, so good. Anyway, onto the books. [book-info]The first book I’d like to mention is Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. Hachette was kind enough to send me a Netgalley for this March 28th release – thank you so much! I anticipate publishing a full review of this book nearer the date, so I won’t say too much here. In summary though, I’ll say that Taylor’s worldbuilding and lyrical prose are both gorgeous. As an aside, isn’t that an absolutely stunning cover? Wonderful. Additionally, I’ll say that it’s been a while since I connected so quickly and so strongly with a protagonist. The more I read about him the more I felt we were really on the same wavelength. I loved his story and am excited to read the continuation. I gave Strange the Dreamer four stars out of five. [book-info number=1]Self help is not a genre of books I read very often,…
Hello, and happy new year to you all. Wishing you a wonderful, prosperous and book filled 2017. You know, sometimes you can go for months without coming across a real gem of a book. Other times, every book you read is a five-star wonder. That’s been the case for me so far in 2017. Here are some great reads I’ve picked up lately. [book-info]I know I’m a bit late to the table with Nicola Yoon’s masterpiece. The Sun is Also a Star tells the story of Natasha, an undocumented Jamaican-American immigrant on the point of deportation and Daniel, a young Korean-American struggling with the conflict between his dreams and his family’s expectations. The novel takes place over 12 hours, during the day on which Natasha’s family is due to be deported. The characters are well grounded, beautifully described and their romance is believable. I was really rooting for those two, despite their different outlooks. I loved how the lives of those with whom they come into contact are also briefly described, showing how everyone’s lives are interconnected and that no man is an island. I’m pretty confident that, come December 2017, The Sun is Also a Star will be…
Now that 2016 is almost done, it’s time to talk about my most anticipated books of 2017. Here in date order are the books I’m most looking forward to in 2017 Series continuations [book-info]The first book I’m really anticipating next year is Wayfarer, the second and final book in Alexandra Bracken’s time travelling duology Passenger. Bracken has created some wonderful characters and a solid and fascinating time travel story in this series. As you’d expect with Bracken, the author of The Darkest Minds, the worldbuilding is incredible and the time travel system is beautifully developed and intriguing. I love when magic/timetravel systems have clear limitations, which impact the story and characters. I’m very much looking forward to the conclusion. Wayfarer is released on January 3rd 2017. [book-info number=3]The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon is the third book in the Bone Season series. Now this is a series that has really grown on me. It is a mixture of genres. There’s a bit of fantasy, a bit of dystopian, a bit of politicking. I will say though that this series may not be the easiest to pick up. The worldbuilding (and associated jargon) is incredibly detailed and Shannon doesn’t ease the…
Thank you so much to Jamie of the Perpetual Page Turner for coming up with this end of year survey. I had planned to write a Best Books of 2016 post – and I probably will still write one to highlight my favourites – but there are some great questions here to review my reading year. Reading Stats Number Of Books You Read: 87 booksNumber of Re-Reads: Mmmm not sure. Four or five maybe?Genre You Read The Most From: YA fantasy Best in Books 1. Best Book You Read In 2016? This honour will go to Caraval by Stephanie Garber. This hasn’t actually been released yet, but I was lucky enough to get a copy at Book Expo of America. The world of Caraval is just so fantastic and beautifully described and the plot has so many twists and turns. I can’t wait for you guys to read it in January. 2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? Gemina. I absolutely adored Illuminae, especially in audiobook format, but two months after picking up the audiobook (I got an ARC at Book Expo of America) I’m still struggling to finish it. I…