Reading Review: June 2018

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.

This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

            

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

The Pisces by Melissa Broder

The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie

Wrath of Empire (Gods of Blood and Powder #2) by Brian McClellan

The House of Half Moon Street by Alex Reeve

Total Library Books Read This Month: 5
Total Own Books Read This Month: 0
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 5

Total Library Books Read 2018: 21
Total Own Books Read 2018: 0
Overall Total Books Read 2018: 21

MY READ OF THE MONTH

Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan. I’d looked forward to returning to the Gods of Blood and Powder series for a long time, and this book didn’t disappoint. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is 10 books read.  I’ve read:

The Watcher by Ross Armstrong
The Christmas Secret by Karen Swan
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Year One by Nora Roberts
A Gathering of Shadows by V. E Schwab
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie

GOODREADS

21 books read so far this year.
So, June was the month that I completed my Goodreads challenge, so I’m curious to find out what my final total is going to be.

GOALS

• I’ve kept up with reviews and posted quite regularly this month.
• Participated in Top Ten Tuesday.
• I’m even working on a non-fiction read at the moment. I very rarely read non-fiction so this was one of my goals for this year.

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So concludes June’s Reading Review. See you again next month

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Reading Review: May 2018

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.

This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

           

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton

A Time of Dread by John Gwynne

Total Library Books Read This Month: 4
Total Own Books Read This Month: 0
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 4

Total Library Books Read 2018: 16
Total Own Books Read 2018: 0
Overall Total Books Read 2018: 16

MY READ OF THE MONTH

This is so easy this month – The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. So good that I’m still thinking about it even after reading another three books this month. So good that I would probably read it again, and I don’t often re-read. In case you haven’t gathered, I enjoyed it, very much!

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is 8 books read.  I’ve read:

The Watcher by Ross Armstrong
The Christmas Secret by Karen Swan
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Year One by Nora Roberts
A Gathering of Shadows by V. E Schwab
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie

GOODREADS

16 books read so far this year. I’m glad I set myself quite a low target (20 books) this year, because anything after that will be a bonus and I’m curious how much I’ll end up reading.

GOALS

• I’ve kept up with reviews and posted quite regularly this month.
• Participated in Bout of Books, which is always one of my favourite reading events.

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So concludes May’s Reading Review. See you again next month

Bout of Books 22 (May 2018) Goals and Daily Progress Updates

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

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As always I’ll be using this blog for the majority of my updates during the read-a-thon, but you can also find me on Twitter.

 

Time Devoted to Reading

As much as I can manage each day.

My Goals

• To start a new read. I’m currently going between a Poirot short story, The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock and A Time of Dread. I have no idea which one I’ll end up choosing, or whether it will be something completely different.
• Keep track of my reading progress via daily blog updates
• Visit other blogs and comment regularly

Books to Read

• At least one of the books from my list above, maybe…

Updates

Monday

Bout of Books time once again and I cannot wait to share the next week of reading with everyone taking part in the event. Of the potential reads I mentioned above I think I’m going to try A Time of Dread by John Gwynne first. I’ve never read anything by him before, so here’s to a book by a new-to-me author.

Tuesday (Monday’s Progress)

Looks like I picked a good book for my first read of Bout of Books.
I love discovering an author I enjoy and then finding out they’ve written books that are already out there so I can add yet more to my TBR list.

Number of pages I’ve read today:   104
Total number of pages I’ve read:   104

Wednesday (Tuesday’s progress)

Never one to break with tradition, yesterday was the day where I read very little. There’s always at least one day during the read-a-thon when I just don’t seem to manage much.

Number of pages I’ve read today:   0
Total number of pages I’ve read:   104

Thursday (Wednesday’s progress)

Managed another good chunk of reading this afternoon. It was even warm enough to sit outside reading for a while.
Am really enjoying A Time of Dread, and am already thinking about adding the Faithful and the Fallen series to my never-ending TBR list.
I noticed that the library is due to get a copy of Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan but I doubt I’ll get that in time to start it before Bout of Books ends. Another book that I’m really looking forward to.

Number of pages I’ve read today:   78
Total number of pages I’ve read:   182

Friday (Thursday’s progress)

56 pages read today. I wish I’d had time to read more.
It’s supposed to be nice over the weekend, so hopefully I’ll have plenty of time to read then. I wonder if I’ll manage to finish my book before the end of Bout of Books?

Number of pages I’ve read today:   56
Total number of pages I’ve read:   238

Saturday (Friday’s progress)

Another slow reading day today.

Number of pages I’ve read today:   0
Total number of pages I’ve read:   238

Sunday (Saturday’s progress)

I don’t even know how today has gone by so quickly without more reading. I few a very few pages. I’m going to try my best for the final day tomorrow.

Number of pages I’ve read today:   20
Total number of pages I’ve read:   258

Monday (Sunday’s progress and final thoughts)

Final Summary posted HERE.

 

Reading Review: April 2018

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.

This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

The Bitter Twins by Jen Williams

Total Library Books Read This Month:   4
Total Own Books Read This Month:   0
Overall Total Books Read This Month:   4

Total Library Books Read 2018:   12
Total Own Books Read 2018:   0
Overall Total Books Read 2018:   12

MY READ OF THE MONTH

     

I tried, I really did, to choose just one of these two, but in the end it was just impossible, and so this month I have two Reads of the Month…

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. I’d not read any Poirot before, and only one Christie previously, but I enjoyed this so much that I’m requesting at least a couple more Poirot books from the library. It was something quite different for me, and I flew through it, loving every moment.

The Bitter Twins by Jen Williams. If you’re not reading the Winnowing Flame trilogy then you’re missing a treat. A Fantasy series with great characters, a formidable enemy and some pretty fantastic war-beasts (dragons/giant cats/griffins, and they can all talk). What’s not to love?

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is 7 books read.  I’ve read:

The Watcher by Ross Armstrong
The Christmas Secret by Karen Swan
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Year One by Nora Roberts
A Gathering of Shadows by V. E Schwab
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

GOODREADS

12 books read so far this year. I’ve read more this month than I have in ages, which has made a nice change.

GOALS

• I’ve kept up with my reviews and so probably posted to my blog more than usual this month.
• Having ventured into reading Agatha Christie I’ve tried something new-to-me, and it was a success as I’ve now found something else that I really enjoyed.

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So concludes April’s Reading Review. See you again next month

Reading Review: March 2018

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.

This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin

The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale

Total Library Books Read This Month: 2
Total Own Books Read This Month: 0
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 2

Total Library Books Read 2018: 8
Total Own Books Read 2018: 0
Overall Total Books Read 2018: 8

MY READ OF THE MONTH

The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin. I loved the atmosphere, the setting, the characters and the writing. Can’t wait to see what this author does next.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is 5 books read.  I’ve read:

The Watcher by Ross Armstrong
The Christmas Secret by Karen Swan
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Year One by Nora Roberts
A Gathering of Shadows by V. E Schwab

GOODREADS

8 books read so far this year. My target is pretty low at 20, but hopefully I’ll go beyond that.

GOALS

• I’ve kept up with my reviews.
• Am still reading IT so I’m giving some attention to books I already own.

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So concludes March’s Reading Review. See you again next month

Reading Review: February 2018

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.

This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

A Gathering of Shadows by V. E Schwab

Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan

Total Library Books Read This Month: 2
Total Own Books Read This Month: 0
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 2

Total Library Books Read 2018: 6
Total Own Books Read 2018: 0
Overall Total Books Read 2018: 6

MY READ OF THE MONTH

A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab

I loved venturing through the various Londons with Lila and Kell, and the magical tournament was great. Alucard Emery has become a new favourite character, and that ending! I don’t think it will be long before I read the next book.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is 5 books read.  I’ve read:

The Watcher by Ross Armstrong
The Christmas Secret by Karen Swan
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Year One by Nora Roberts
A Gathering of Shadows by V. E Schwab

GOODREADS

I set myself the target of 20 books this year, and now I’ve started a re-read of IT which has over 1000 pages I’m pretty glad I set a fairly low target.
My current total read so far this year is 6 books.

GOALS

• I’ve kept up with my reviews, which is quite good as various computer/internet issues mean I haven’t been online that often recently.

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So concludes February’s Reading Review. See you again next month

Reading Review: January 2018

Welcome to my Monthly Reading Review.
This post is my attempt to keep track of how I’m doing with my reading challenges and resolutions.

BOOKS I’VE READ

The Watcher by Ross Armstrong

The Christmas Secret by Karen Swan

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Year One by Nora Roberts

Total Library Books Read This Month:  4
Total Own Books Read This Month:  0
Overall Total Books Read This Month:  4

Total Library Books Read 2018:  4
Total Own Books Read 2018:  0
Overall Total Books Read 2018:  4

MY READ OF THE MONTH

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant.

It was my first 5* read of the year, so has to feature as my Read of the Month. Killer mermaids, scientists, dolphins, and high-stakes out on the vast ocean, what more could you want? Add in a few pretty scary moments and you’re in for a good read.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is 4 books read.  I’ve read:

The Watcher by Ross Armstrong
The Christmas Secret by Karen Swan
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Year One by Nora Roberts

GOODREADS

I set myself the target of reading 20 books this year, which is the same as last year. I didn’t want to go too high because I always choose such long books that I want to keep it low pressure and just enjoy what I’m reading, without having a massive target to reach.
My current total of books read is 4.

GOALS

• I’ve kept up with my reviews so far, which is quite good as I’ve read more this month than I usually do.
• I took part in my first readathon of the year, Bout of Books, and am on the lookout for another even to participate in.
• Sci-fi and Post-Apocalyptic featured in my reading choices this month, so I’m still indulging my enjoyment of those genres.

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So concludes January’s Reading Review. See you again next month