The Weekend Post #16

Join me as I look back over the last week (or more in this case) in blogging and books.  This week I am linking up with the Sunday Post Meme @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Showcase Sunday @ Books Biscuits and Tea, Stacking The Shelves by Tynga’s Reviews, and It’s Monday! What Are You Reading by Bookjourney.

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I feel like this week has been a productive week for blogging.
I caught up with some reviews, and posted two news one on my blog (links are below).
I really enjoyed both of those book, so writing the reviews was a pleasure, especially for The Diviners which I cannot recommend highly enough.

I’ve also started a new feature on my blog called On Reading… which is basically all the thoughts and feelings experienced whilst waiting for a book to be released/reading the book which won’t really fit into a book review. It’s a bit more casual and conversational, and more along the line of things I would mention at a book club if I was a member of a book club (which I’m not at present). There will undoubtedly be spoilers, which is why I’ve created this separate feature and will put anything spoiler-ish under a Read More cut. It’s something new I’m trying out and probably won’t do it for every book I read and review.

And, when I’m not blogging I can currently be found laughing myself silly as I rediscover my love for the world of Jeeves and Wooster care of P. G. Wodehouse.

Onto the books…

New To My Shelves

From the Library:

Nothing! Can you believe it?! I’ve actually managed to resist the endless pull of the library in an attempt to take control of my spiralling-out-of-control TBR list/pile. That said, I do have a couple of books on request from the library, so this isn’t something I’ll be saying very often.

From my Shelves:

Very Good, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse

And in E-Books:

I had a gift card for Christmas which I hadn’t used yet, so decided to treat myself to a few new titles:

The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

The Martian by Andy Weir

Joyland by Stephen King

Books I’ve Reviewed

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins – I loved this book, it was such an engaging, exciting read, but I must admit that it left me with something of a book hangover. For a while I just couldn’t seem to find a read that grabbed my attention quite as much.

Revival by Stephen King – As well as reviewing the book I took the opportunity with Revival to introduce the new feature to my blog – On Reading… which is something I’m hoping to add more often in the future.

The Diviners by Libba Bray – I know, I’m late in finding this book, and I’m certainly wondering how I managed to miss it for so long, because it’s wonderful, and features everything I love in a great book. That said, I don’t think I’d have been too patient waiting for the second book in the series, so maybe discovering it now, when Lair of Dreams is due out later this year is actually good for me.

Books That Caught My Eye (Must Find Out More)

The Coincidence Authority by John Ironmonger – This sounds like something a little different, and seems like it may offer an intriguing read.

The Blood Cell by James Goss- I’ve become such a big Doctor Who fan of late that I would like to check out some of the Twelfth Doctor novels and this one appeals to me most. I think I may have read a few some years ago, probably featuring Ten, so it’s almost like something new for me.

Other Posts on my Blog This Week

Top Ten Tuesday – I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Read These Classics Yet!

#BookADayUK February 2015 Part 1

Events/Challenges I’ve Participated In and Upcoming Events

#BookADayUK on Twitter, hosted by Borough Press.

Reading Challenge Progress

I have progress to report, only a little progress, but every book counts.

I added another three books to my I Love Library Books Reading Challenge – The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo, and A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray.

The Mount TBR Reading Challenge is going fairly slowly, but I added another book to my total – Very Good, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse

While I’ve yet to read any Stephen King this year, which pains me greatly, I have now written my Revival review, which some people may be interested in checking out.

My Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge is going quite well as I added three books to my total. The Girl on the Train counts for January, where the keyword is Girl. Ruin and Rising counts for November (Rise) and A Thousand Pieces of You counts towards October (Number).

As for my Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge – Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo and A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray both go towards this, although I’m not absolutely sure whether that second book would be classed as fantasy?

Beyond the Books

I watched The Giver on DVD and quite enjoyed it. I think it had a more definite conclusion than the book, which I thought was open to interpretation as to what had actually happened.

Revenge series 3 is offering up plenty of twists and turns and remains entertaining even though it’s into a third season. I think series 4 is on tv now as well, so here’s hoping they keep delivering on the story as I love this version of life in the Hamptons.

American Horror Story: Coven – I am amazed I like AHS so much when I think of how weird it gets sometimes! There’s just something incredibly watchable about it, and Coven is no exception. I like the way they use the same actors throughout the various seasons, and Jessica Lange is definitely a highlight.

Also, I’m very excited for the upcoming release of season 4 of Game of Thrones on DVD.  I hate having to wait for the boxsets but I never mind finding spoilers online about what has happened in the series so far as I’ve read the books so know roughly what to expect and I like finding out how they did certain scenes.

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So, that’s my bookish news to date. Did you receive any great books this week or has anything new and bookish caught your eye lately? As always, talk to me in the comments!

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