Reading Review: December 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 Corset by Laura Purcell

Someone Like Me by M. R. Carey

The Lingering by SJI Holliday

The Christmas Lights by Karen Swan

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: 42
Total Own Books Read 2018: 0
Overall Total Books Read 2018: 42

MY READ OF THE MONTH

Someone Like Me by M. R. Carey. As I got further into this book I found it almost impossible to put down. I just had to know how it was going to end, having experienced so many twists and unexpected happenings. Also, how could you resist a book with a talking, cartoon-ish fox as a character?! I can’t wait to see what Carey writes next.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is 14 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
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence
A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson
Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

GOODREADS

My grand total for 2018 is 42 books read, which is probably more than I was expecting!

GOALS

• I think I managed to keep up with many of my goals, and now it’s time to think about a new list. I like the idea of some general ideas rather than committing to a number of challenges, although I’ll probably stick with the old favourites.

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

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Reading Review: November 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 House of Ghosts by W. C. Ryan

Adrift by Rob Boffard

Time’s Convert by Deborah Harkness

Total Library Books Read This Month: 3
Total Own Books Read This Month: 0
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 3

Total Library Books Read 2018: 38
Total Own Books Read 2018: 0
Overall Total Books Read 2018: 38

MY READ OF THE MONTH

Adrift by Rob Boffard. It’s my first foray into sci-fi for ages (or possibly ever) and I really enjoyed it. Adrift tells the story of a group of survivors who witness the destruction of their station from a touring vessel. It’s tense and exciting with a great cast of characters.
I’ll definitely be looking out for similar books in future.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is 14 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
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence
A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson
Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

GOODREADS

My current total for the year so far is 38 books. Do you think I might make at least 40 by the end of the year?!

GOALS

• I’m keeping up with reviews
• And I guess it might be time to start thinking about goals and challenges for next year. I cannot believe how quickly this year has flown by.

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

Reading Review: October 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 Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gower

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

Transcription by Kate Atkinson

Total Library Books Read This Month: 3
Total Own Books Read This Month: 0
Overall Total Books Read This Month: 3

Total Library Books Read 2018: 35
Total Own Books Read 2018: 0
Overall Total Books Read 2018: 35

MY READ OF THE MONTH

After much pondering I’ve decided to say Transcription by Kate Atkinson. It’s the first Kate Atkinson book I’ve ever read and I really enjoyed her characters and writing style, so I’ll check out more of her books in the future.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is 14 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
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence
A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson
Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

GOODREADS

My current total for the year so far is 35 books. I’m starting to wonder whether I should aim for 40 books? I won’t change my Goodreads target, but it’s something to aim for, isn’t it?

GOALS

• I’ve really enjoyed taking part in a read-a-thon – Readers Imbibing Peril.
• Am mostly keeping up with reviews.

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

Reading Review: September 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 Outsider by Stephen King

The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah

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: 32
Total Own Books Read 2018: 0
Overall Total Books Read 2018: 32

MY READ OF THE MONTH

The Outsider by Stephen King. I don’t want to give anything away, but I enjoyed the plot, the characters, the twists. This was a really good read.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is 14 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
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence
A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson
Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

GOODREADS

32 books read so far this year. I feel like I’ve been reading more slowly recently but I’ve chosen a few pretty long books so that’s probably why.

GOALS

• I’m taking part in a read-a-thon – Readers Imbibing Peril, which gives me a good motivation to pick up something suitably seasonal now that autumn is upon us at last.
• Top Ten Tuesday appeared twice on my blog this month.
• Am mostly keeping up with reviews.

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

Reading Review: August 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

     

Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie  DONE

A Shot in the Dark by Lynne Truss

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Fatal Inheritance by Rachel Rhys

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: 30
Total Own Books Read 2018: 0
Overall Total Books Read 2018: 30

MY READ OF THE MONTH

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. Magic, folklore, and some really strong characters made this a pretty gripping read.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is 14 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
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence
A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson
Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

GOODREADS

30 books read so far this year.

GOALS

• Participated in the latest Bout of Books and really enjoyed the regular progress updates.
• Participated in Top Ten Tuesday.
• Am mostly keeping up with reviews.

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

Reading Review: July 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 Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence

Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton

A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson

The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse

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: 26
Total Own Books Read 2018: 0
Overall Total Books Read 2018: 26

MY READ OF THE MONTH

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.
The characters, the setting of the hotel in which the Count was under house arrest, the humour and the fact that this book is still in my mind even though the actual copy was returned to the library weeks ago make this my Read of the Month. I would read it again, I enjoyed it so much.

BEAT THE BACKLIST

My total for this challenge is 13 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
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence
A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson

GOODREADS

26 books read so far this year.

GOALS

• I’ve (mostly) kept up with reviews.
• Participated in Top Ten Tuesday.
• Finally picked up some non-fiction. A book about books.

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

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

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

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