July 2022

Hey, hi. Hello! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I can’t believe that I haven’t posted since 2020. It honestly doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. Firstly, I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who have chosen to stick around. Sorry I haven’t been around. I was struggling pre-2020 with my reading, and because of that I was also struggling to write and post reviews regularly. Then the events of 2020 happened and everything that followed. I don’t think I read any books in 2020, or at least I didn’t keep a record of them. In 2021 I only read 10 new books that whole year. When I did read I struggled to find the words to share my thoughts on what I’d read. So honestly I’ve been floundering a bit on how to move forward with this blog.

Welcome to the first post of my attempt to clear my TBR pile.

Towards the end of June/the beginning of July I stumbled across a video by LilyCReads in which she challenges herself to complete her TBR pile by 2023. I looked at my TBR pile and thought to myself, you know what maybe I can do that too. So I’m going to try and post once a month updates on how I’m doing with this goal, along with reviews of what I read and maybe some other things – like if I buy any more books, or if I visit anywhere interesting. I don’t know if you will like it, but I hope you do and I hope it helps me to get back into the swing of reading. I will also be posting the few reviews I did manage to write that I haven’t posted yet.

An photograph of 19 books placed in a grid to show the full TBR.
My complete TBR pile at the start of July 2022.

I don’t think my goal is too unreasonable. I want to read 19 books in 6 months, which should be doable I think. I’m not going to force myself to read anything if it’s not for me – so with that in mind, I’m going to say that if I hit the 100 page mark and I’m still not interested then I’m going to give myself the permission to walk away from the book. A few of these books I got when I was subscribed to Illumicrate, but most are onces I picked up for myself. It was interesting to see all the books lined up, as I don’t store them altogether.

Continue reading

Bout of Books 22 | Sign-up & Progress

I’m back, and taking part in the twenty-second Bout of Books. Fingers crossed this will help me get ahead with my review schedule – sorry about missing last week, there will definitely be a review up this week.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 14th and runs through Sunday, May 20th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 22 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. 

– From the Bout of Books team

I’m hoping this Bout of Books will be better than my previous one in terms of the amount of reading I get done. With that in mind, here are my goals:

  • Read 700 pages
  • Read for 10 hours
  • Take part in the Saturday Twitter Chat
  • Complete 2 challenges
  • Keep up with updating my progress.

Most of all I want to have fun.

My progress:

Monday, 14 May 2018
Book(s) I’m Reading: None
Number of Pages Read Today: None
Time Spent Reading: None
Book(s) I’ve Completed: None
Challenge I’ve Participated In: introduce yourself #insixwords, show my TBR pile
Notes: As usual I’m running a little late, but I managed to sign up in time. I introduced myself in six words, and I showed my TBR pile. Unfortunately I didn’t get any reading time in. Ah well.

My physical To-Be-Read pile.

Tuesday, 15 May 2018
Book(s) I’m Reading: None
Number of Pages Read Today: None
Number of Pages Read Total: None
Time Spent Reading: None
Total Time Spent Reading: None
Book(s) I’ve Completed: None
Challenge I’ve Participated In: None
Notes: Today was more than a bit of a fail.

Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Book(s) I’m Reading:None
Number of Pages Read Today:
None
Number of Pages Read Total:
None
Time Spent Reading:
None
Total Time Spent Reading:
None
Book(s) I’ve Completed:
None
Challenge I’ve Participated In:
None
Notes: Today I realised how far behind I was with my Bout of Books goals, and still didn’t manage to get any reading in. Instead I buckled down and wrote the review meaning I will have no excuse tomorrow.

Thursday, 17 May 2018
Book(s) I’m Reading: None
Number of Pages Read Today: None
Number of Pages Read Total: None
Time Spent Reading: None
Total Time Spent Reading: None
Book(s) I’ve Completed: None
Challenge I’ve Participated In: None
Notes: Another day of procrastination. Oops.

Friday, 18 May 2018
Book(s) I’m Reading: Wolf Children Ame & Yuki by Mamoru Hosoda with art by Yu
Number of Pages Read Today: 550
Number of Pages Read Total: 550
Time Spent Reading: 42 minutes
Total Time Spent Reading: 42 minutes
Book(s) I’ve Completed: Wolf Children Ame & Yuki by Mamoru Hosoda with art by Yu
Challenge I’ve Participated In: None
Notes: So there was reading…

Saturday, 19 May 2018
Book(s) I’m Reading: None
Number of Pages Read Today: 0
Number of Pages Read Total: 550
Time Spent Reading: 0 minutes
Total Time Spent Reading: 42 minutes
Book(s) I’ve Completed: Wolf Children Ame & Yuki by Mamoru Hosoda with art by Yu
Challenge I’ve Participated In: None
Notes: So I was going to take part in today’s Twitter chat, but I totally missed it. Fail.

Sunday, 20 May 2018
Book(s) I’m Reading: None
Number of Pages Read Today: 0
Number of Pages Read Total: 550
Time Spent Reading: 0 minutes
Total Time Spent Reading: 42 minutes
Book(s) I’ve Completed: Wolf Children Ame & Yuki by Mamoru Hosoda with art by Yu
Challenge I’ve Participated In: None
Notes: I just didn’t feel like reading again today.

Please let me know if you’re taking part in this Bout of Books.

Good luck to everyone taking part!!

Wrap-up: So as far as my goals went, this Bout of Books was an almost complete fail. I did manage to take part in two challenges (although both were on day one) but everything else was a miss. However, I did manage to start and finish a book so I’m pretty happy. Thank you for all your support.

Bout of Books 19 | Sign up & Progress

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 8th and runs through Sunday, May 14th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 19 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

As I’ve left this so late, I’ve decided to combine the sign up and my progress into a single post. If you haven’t already, there’s still time to sign up – I believe sign ups are open until midnight on Tuesday/Wednesday, but go check the blog to make sure.

It’s taken me a while to write this post, so there’s a video of my TBR up on YouTube if you want to check it out:

Or you can just look at the pic below:

My TBR for #BoutofBooks 19

This year my goals, apart from reading the six books above, are to participate in one of the Twitter chats (probably Saturday’s) and complete at least one of the challenges. I’ll be keeping track of my progress below, so be sure to check back if you want to see how I’m doing or just leave a comment to let me know if you’re taking part.

Thanks for stopping by.

My Progress

Day 1: May 8th
Book(s) I’m Reading: The Turn by Kim Harrison [Book Depository]
Number of Pages Read Today: 90
Number of Pages Read Total: 90
Book(s) I’ve Completed: None today.
Challenge I’ve Participated In: #insixwords

My day: A slow start, mostly because I decided late on in the day to actually participate. Happy with the reading I did, and pleased I completed a challenge.

Day 2: May 9th
Book(s) I’m Reading: The Turn by Kim Harrison [Book Depository] and Doing It by Hannah Witton [Book Depository]
Number of Pages Read Today: 318
Number of Pages Read Total: 408
Book(s) I’ve Completed: The Turn by Kim Harrison
Challenge I’ve Participated In: I didn’t take part in today’s challenge.
My day: Well I got a lot of reading done. I’m actually really happy about that. I’m also really happen that I’ve finished The Turn and drafted a review for it.

Day 3: May 10th
Book(s) I’m Reading: Doing It by Hannah Witton [Book Depository], The Song From Somewhere Else by A. F. Harrold [Book Depository], Tsubasa World Chronicle volume 2 by CLAMP [Book Depository], Tsubasa World Chronicle volume 3 by CLAMP [Book Depository], and The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic [Amazon UK]
Number of Pages Read Today: 762
Number of Pages Read Total: 1,170
Book(s) I’ve Completed:  Doing It by Hannah Witton, The Song From Somewhere Else by A. F. Harrold, Tsubasa World Chronicle volume 2 by CLAMP, and Tsubasa World Chronicle volume 3 by CLAMP
Challenge I’ve Participated In: Share Your Shelfie (though not officially)


My day: I don’t even know what to say, other than it was a fantastic day for reading. I read a lot more that I thought I would. I’m kinda proud about it to be honest. It reminded me how amazing reading and books can be. Fingers crossed some of the momentum will carry across into day 4, even if I don’t read as many pages. 🤞

Day 4: May 11th
Book(s) I’m Reading: The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic [Amazon UK] and an ARC of Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy [Book Depository]
Number of Pages Read Today: 172
Number of Pages Read Total: 1,342
Book(s) I’ve Completed: None today.
Challenge I’ve Participated In: I didn’t take part in today’s challenge.
My day: It was not a good day, but I did manage to get some reading in which I’m proud of. I might not have read as much as I did for day 3, but then I didn’t expect to. I’m pleased with that.

Day 5: May 12th
Book(s) I’m Reading: The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic [Amazon UK] and an ARC of Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy [Book Depository]
Number of Pages Read Today: 221
Number of Pages Read Total: 1,563
Book(s) I’ve Completed: None today.
Challenge I’ve Participated In: I didn’t participate in today’s challenge.
My day: I didn’t spend a lot of time reading, but I’m happy with what I managed to put in around daily life.

Day 6: May 13th
Book(s) I’m Reading: The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic [Amazon UK], an ARC of Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy [Book Depository], Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman [Book Depository], and The Raven King by Nora Sakavic [Amazon UK]
Number of Pages Read Today: 285
Number of Pages Read Total: 1,848
Book(s) I’ve Completed: The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic, and Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy
Challenge I’ve Participated In: I was tempted to take part in today’s challenge, but in the end I didn’t.
My day: Today might not have been my best reading day, but it was a good day. I had lots of fun taking part in the Twitter chat – it was pure chaos, and all the more fun for it.

Day 7: May 14th
Book(s) I’m Reading: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman [Book Depository], and The Raven King by Nora Sakavic [Amazon UK]
Number of Pages Read Today: 487
Number of Pages Read Total: 2,335
Book(s) I’ve Completed: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman and The Raven King by Nora Sakavic
Challenge I’ve Participated In: There wasn’t a challenge today.
My day: I ended up reading to the bitter end (and actually a bit over, I didn’t actually check my time until I finished the final book). This Bout of Books has been amazing in terms of the amount of reading I have achieved. Honestly it kind of blows me away.

Bout of Books 17 | Keeping Track (My Progress)

Day 1: 22nd August

Book(s) I’m Reading: Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan
Number of Pages Read Today: 110
Number of Pages Read Total: 110
Book(s) I’ve Completed:  n/a
Things I participated in:  I took part in today’s challenge which was to name my favourite and least favourite book to film adaptations (image below clicks through to my Instagram so you can read my answer if you wish).

Bout of Books Day 1 challenge response

Day 2: 23rd August

Book(s) I’m Reading: Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan, When We Collided by Emery Lord
Number of Pages Read Today: 261
Number of Pages Read Total: 371
Book(s) I’ve Completed: Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan
Things I participated in: I decided not to take part in today’s challenge, but I had a good day reading-wise so I’m happy. My review for My Husband’s Wife by Jane Corry went live; an “intensely complex book […] [that] explores the grey spaces of human nature in an interesting way.”

Day 3: 24th August

Book(s) I’m Reading: When We Collided by Emery Lord
Number of Pages Read Today: 0
Number of Pages Read Total: 371
Book(s) I’ve Completed: Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan
Things I participated in: Nothing. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram then you’ll know I had a bee come into the house yesterday and kind of panicked. It took me over two hours to get rid of it, and I just couldn’t settle after so no reading got done. To be honest it was a bit of a disaster, BUT as is so often said by the lovely mods – you cannot fail at Bout of Books, only flail. So although I didn’t actually read anything I’m not bothered. There’s always tomorrow.

Day 4: 25th August

Book(s) I’m Reading:  A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart and When We Collided by Emery Lord
Number of Pages Read Today: 196
Number of Pages Read Total: 607
Book(s) I’ve Completed: Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan
Things I participated in: Today was a much better day than yesterday. I got a LOT of reading done. I also took part in the challenge which was to create a “tabloid” headline for a book I’m reading/have read for the read-a-thon (image below clicks through to my Instagram so you can read my headline if you wish and can’t easily, it’s a bit spoiler-y for The Lynburn Legacy though).

Bout of Books Day 4 challenge response

Day 5: 26th August

Book(s) I’m Reading: When We Collided by Emery Lord
Number of Pages Read Today: 81
Number of Pages Read Total: 688
Book(s) I’ve Completed: Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan, When We Collided by Emery Lord
Things I participated in: Life got in the way again, and although I managed to get some reading in I didn’t participate in the daily challenge. Ah well. I did managed to take a photo I quite like though (photo links to my Instagram for easier reading).

Where I spent some of Day 5

Day 6: 27th August

Book(s) I’m Reading: A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart
Number of Pages Read Today: 262
Number of Pages Read Total: 950
Book(s) I’ve Completed: Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan, When We Collided by Emery LordA Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart
Things I participated in: I read today, but that was it… I had planned on taking part in the Twitter chat which was around 4pm my time but I didn’t end up doing so. It’s the first Twitter chat I’ve missed in a while which makes me kinda sad. Still, I had a good reading day.

Day 7: 28th August

Book(s) I’m Reading: Stolen by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston
Number of Pages Read Today: 58
Number of Pages Read Total: 1008
Book(s) I’ve Completed: Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan, When We Collided by Emery LordA Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart
Things I participated in: Nothing, I just read.

That’s it. The end of Bout of Books 17 😭. No more Bout of Books until next year, which is very sad. But there will be one final post from me where I wrap things up.

Bout of Books 17 | Read-a-thon fun

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 22nd and runs through Sunday, August 28th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 17 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. 

– From the Bout of Books team

It’s time for another Bout of Books, and I’ve decided to sign-up again. I want to use this opportunity to both kick-start myself back into reading & I want to use the opportunity to finish some books I’ve had lying around the house for a while. I really like the fact that this read-a-thon is no pressure. With that in mind, I don’t plan to do daily vlogs this time around. If you want to keep track of how I’m doing I’ll post an updates post on Monday where you can keep track, or you can follow me on Instagram or Twitter. Depending on how things go I may also post a vlog round-up of how Bout of Books 17 went for me once everything’s done.

As far as goals go for this read-a-thon they’re going to be real low-key, as I don’t want to pile the pressure on myself. Basically I want to read – and finish – the three books in the photo below, and anything on top of that will be gravy. Oh, and I definitely want to try for one of the Twitter chats as they’re super fun and I highly recommend them if you’re taking part and can make them – they are chaotic fun at its best!

The 3 books I want to read!

Please let me know in the comments below if you’re taking part, & good luck and I hope you have fun.

Bout of Books 16 Day 7 & Wrap-up!

 

Sunday was the final day of Bout of Books 16, and to be honest I took it pretty easy. I only read 36 pages of the illustrated HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE. Not even close to my 100 page target, but oh well.

My first goal of Bout of Books 16 was to read 700 pages – in the end I read 870 pages, which I’m very pleased with. My second goal was to take part in a Twitter chat – I took part in the Saturday one, well about half of it, but I’m still counting it! And my final goal was to take part in 2 challenges – in the end I took part in 5: introduce yourself #insixwords, Show off Your Shelves Photo Challenge, 5 favourites, If You Like this, Try This, and Share Your Favourite Moments of Bout of Books. So I achieved all my goals, and had a great Bout of Books I think.

If you’re thinking of signing-up for the next Bout of Books it’s on 22nd August 2016 to the 28th August 2016 and you can find out more here.

Bout of Books 16 – Days 5 & 6

I’ve just noticed I’m really bad at doing daily updates. Oh well, just one more post to go after this one and then it’s back to normal folks.

I’m going to start off talking about my Friday reading. It started off real slow – I don’t think I started really reading until like 6pm.  As it was Friday 13th the challenge was “Freaky Friday Photo Challenge” which I didn’t take part in. I did however manage to read 124 pages.

Saturday was much more fun on the reading front. The challenge was to “Share Your Favourite Bout of Books Moment” and mine was (for both this, and previous Bout of Books) taking part in a Twitter chat (yes, I made it to today’s one). They are such fun, and I highly recommend that you take part in at least one if you sign up for a Bout of Books. I definitely managed to smash my 100 pages reading goal, I actually managed 248 pages which I am so pleased with. 24 of those pages were from the illustrated HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE which is such a gorgeous book.

Tomorrow will be my final update of Bout of Books 16. I’m sort of sad that things are coming to an end, but I have had a great week. Please let me know how your week has gone in the comments, and I’ll see you tomorrow.

Bout of Books 16 – Day 4

Thursday was a good reading day, I read 137 pages. The most I’ve read this week so far. This brings my total up to 472 pages in 4 days which I’m really happy with. Today’s challenge was the ‘If you Like This, Try This Challenge’ and you can find my picks by clicking here or by watching the video below.

I hope you had a good Thursday.

 

Bout of Books 16 – Days 2 & 3

So you may have noticed that I didn’t post yesterday about my progress… There were various reasons for that, so I’ll simply say sorry and here’s two updates in one to make up for that.

On Tuesday I managed to read 100 pages, my goal exactly. And the challenge was to do a shelfie which I did and you can find it here or alternatively it does appear in the vlog.

On Wednesday I managed to read 123 pages which I was very pleased with. And the challenge was to share my 5 favourite books – I picked my 5 favourite vampire books. You can find a photo of my picks here or alternatively watch the vlog and see why I picked them too.

That means, this week so far I have read 335 pages which I am very pleased with. I have also completed my goal of taking part in 2 challenges.

If you’re taking part let me know in the comments how your Bout of Books 16 is going.

And finally for some shameless self promotion, I had a review for Dreams of Distant Shores by Patricia A. McKillip go up today. It’s a short story collection and if it is something you might be interested in you can check out my thoughts here. The collection isn’t out yet, but I do recommend it if you’re a fantasy fan.