WWW Wednesday – 12 June 2019

It’s time for WWW Wednesday! This blog hop is hosted by Sam over at A World Of Words. Link up with us by commenting on Sam’s post for this week, and just answer the three questions.

What have you recently finished reading?

I finished The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale. This was great, don’t get me wrong. I gave it 4 stars. But it did go in a direction I was quite sure about. Here’s my review.

I also finished The Diviners by Libba Bray on audio and really enjoyed it! Though there were a few times where I was listening to the scary stuff while driving alone late at night or walking from the bus stop in the dark, and that wasn’t so fun (though a testament to the creepiness of the book!). I will have a review up of this soon.

I also posted a review of The Red Labyrinth by Meredith Tate this week. Click the title to read it.

I’d like to think that in two weeks since my past post, I would have had far more to list under this question. But between doing a musical and then coming down with a cold, this is it!

What are you currently reading?

Since I haven’t been reading a lot lately, I’m still fairly early on in Get The Girls Out by Lucy Bloom. Lucy has such a fun style; I think she’s just blurted things onto the page. It reminds me a lot of the talk she gave that I went to a couple of years ago.

I started Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray pretty much as soon as I finished The Diviners. This is quite a bit longer than audio books I usually pick up, but knowing that I am already invested in it, I think it should be okay, even if it takes me a while to get through.

What do you think you will read next?

I need to get back to Lenny’s Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee, which I have read a couple of chapters of but not fully committed to yet. It is an Australian book but it’s set in 1960s Ohio. Pretty sure it’s going to make me cry.

What are you reading this week? 🙂

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WWW Wednesday – 29 May 2019

It’s time for WWW Wednesday! This blog hop is hosted by Sam over at A World Of Words. Link up with us by commenting on Sam’s post for this week, and just answer the three questions.

What have you recently finished reading?

I finished reading my ARC of The Red Labyrinth by Meredith Tate, which surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. The main character does some stupid stuff and I guess the world-building is a bit flimsy but I enjoyed it regardless!

Only one review posted this week: The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone by Jaclyn Moriarty.

What are you currently reading?

I am still going with The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale but I am within the final 100 pages. I really loved the first section where the characters were young but then the First World War hit and it’s all getting a bit sad. I sort of suspected it was going to be one of those books with a bittersweet ending but it’s going to be a different bittersweet to what I was expecting.

I have also started The Diviners by Libba Bray on audio. This has everything I want in a book: ghosts, serial killers, flappers, Prohibition, New York City. Though I’m doing a production of the musical Hello, Dolly! which opens this week, so every time it mentions something like the elevated train, my brain goes “Elevated trains, Barnaby! The lights of Broadway! The stuffed whale at Barnum’s museum!” and things like that. Fun times. 🤣

What do you think you will read next?

I picked up Get The Girls Out by Lucy Bloom from the library this week. I went to a talk Lucy gave a couple of years ago and that’s what ended up inspiring me to register to go on the UN Women Trek for Rights in Nepal last year. So I’m really excited to read her memoir because she is truly inspiring.

What are you reading this week? 🙂

WWW Wednesday – 22 May 2019

It’s time for WWW Wednesday! This blog hop is hosted by Sam over at A World Of Words. Link up with us by commenting on Sam’s post for this week, and just answer the three questions.

What have you recently finished reading?

I finished listening to Emily the Strange: the Lost Days by Rob Reger not long after Wednesday’s WWW. It was amusing, but very bizarre. I’m still not sure what it was actually about. Due to my confusion, I’m not planning to write a proper review of this one.

I finished The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone by Jaclyn Moriarty about an hour ago. It was sweet but sort of wore thin after a while… the cutesy, whimsical style didn’t really work when there were nearly 500 pages. I’ll  have a review up soon.

Two reviews this week: His Name Was Walter by Emily Rodda and Enchantee by Gita Trelease.

What are you currently reading?

I started The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale because That. Cover. Some of the reviews are comparing it to The Night Circus and I can see why. I actually started the audio book first but the narrator’s voice was annoying me so I switched to the ebook. But I really like the magical descriptions of Papa Jack’s Emporium so far.

What do you think you will read next?

I don’t really know what I’m in the mood for at the moment, but I just realised that The Red Labyrinth by Meredith Tate comes out on June 4, so I probably need to pick up the ARC pretty soon. Particularly considering I don’t know how much reading time I’m going to have over the next week or so.

What are you reading this week? 🙂

WWW Wednesday – 15 May 2019

It’s time for WWW Wednesday! This blog hop is hosted by Sam over at A World Of Words. Link up with us by commenting on Sam’s post for this week, and just answer the three questions.

First of all, sorry if I linked you to my writing blog rather than this one last week! I do blog hops on both blogs on a Wednesday and totally wasn’t paying attention to which link was on my clipboard!

What have you recently finished reading?

I finally finished Enchantee by Gita Trelease! My review will be up on Friday. I enjoyed it enough and I thought it tied up really well, but overall it was a three star read. Might have been partly because it took me so long to get through?

I also finished His Name Was Walter by Emily Rodda. I spent the whole book feeling a bit reading slumpy and thinking this would be a three-star read at most, and then things sort of all tied together in the last few chapters and got me right in the feels. To the point I teared up a little. So that was nice.

Only one review posted this week: The Things That Will Not Stand by Michael Gerard Bauer.

What are you currently reading?

I have started reading The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone by Jaclyn Moriarty (yes, sister of Liane for the curious). Jaclyn is an author I keep going back to, even though I don’t always enjoy her books. So far, this one is giving me Nevermoor vibes in that it’s quite lighthearted and whimsical and a bit nonsense (in the best way), but I suspect it will also get me in the feels at some point.

I also started listening to Emily the Strange: the Lost Days by Rob Reger on a whim. It’s rather bizarre, kind of a Lemony Snicket/Welcome to Night Vale mashup. Strange things happen but it’s all delivered with a completely straight face. I think Emily might be a clone or something?

What do you think you will read next?

Not sure what I’m in the mood for. Also Bronte Nettlestone is quite long so there’s a good chance I won’t finish it this week with everything else I’ve got going on. I’ll also finish Emily the Strange pretty soon but I have no idea what I fancy audio book-wise, either.

What are you reading this week? 🙂

WWW Wednesday – 08 May 2019

It’s time for WWW Wednesday! This blog hop is hosted by Sam over at A World Of Words. Link up with us by commenting on Sam’s post for this week, and just answer the three questions.

What have you recently finished reading?

I finished The Things That Will Not Stand by Michael Gerard Bauer in a single day, which I was not expecting. It was very readable, and full of puns. Also some really strong characters. Having said that, I haven’t quite figured out how to review it yet, so that’s still pending.

Then I finished my ARC of Lucid by Kristy Fairlamb, which I ended up giving three stars. I think I was hoping for something a bit more thrilling. I posted a review here.

What are you currently reading?

Enchantee by Gita Trelease as got a bit more interesting. I think I’m at around the 60% mark now. I don’t actually know why it’s more interesting, I think it may be more to do with me than the book, if that makes sense. Anyway, I’m a bit more keen to find opportunities to listen to it now.

I’m also reading His Name Was Walter by Emily Rodda. This is the first book I’ve read of hers as an adult, though she was a favourite author of mine when I was growing up. At the moment, I’m not quite sure whether this is more ghostly or fairytale-y or what it’s going to be, but I’m pretty sure I will enjoy it.

What do you think you will read next?

Not sure at this stage. I’m really more in the mood for fantasy, but the books I have from the library are more contemporary in one way or another. I might have a look at my ARCs and see what’s coming up soon.

What are you reading this week? 🙂

WWW Wednesday – 01 May 2019

It’s time for WWW Wednesday! This blog hop is hosted by Sam over at A World Of Words. Link up with us by commenting on Sam’s post for this week, and just answer the three questions.

What have you recently finished reading?

I finished P Is For Pearl by Eliza Henry Jones, which is a lot more character driven than books I usually read. But the coastal town vibe was so well done and I really liked the characters so I still enjoyed it. I’ll have a review up soon.

Click to read my review of The Doll Maker, book four in Celine Jeanjean’s The Viper and the Urchin series. This was released yesterday and might be my favourite one of the series so far!

What are you currently reading?

Still listening to Enchantee by Gita Trelease. The last audio books I read were A Thousand Pieces of You and Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray and I was actively cleaning or folding laundry in order to have more time to listen. I… am not having the same desire with this book. It’s going to take me a little while to get through, I think.

I am also reading an ARC of Lucid by Kristy Fairlamb, about a teenager cursed to dream the final moments of the dying. I’m about 20% of the way through and there have been some interesting characters introduced and some pretty nasty dream descriptions, but I’m kind of waiting for the story to get going. There’s a weekend away with friends coming up so I suspect that might be where things start getting interestinig.

What do you think you will read next?

I have accidentally ended up with eight library books out at once! Though a few of them are ready to return, several are for my Children’s Book of the Year reading challenge, which I need to get back to. I think I’ll start with The Things That Will Not Stand by Michael Gerard Bauer.

What are you reading this week? 🙂

WWW Wednesday – 24 April 2019

It’s time for WWW Wednesday! This blog hop is hosted by Sam over at A World Of Words. Link up with us by commenting on Sam’s post for this week, and just answer the three questions.

What have you recently finished reading?

I spent Friday reading Romanov by Nadine Brandes and for a while I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Part of that was because I was expecting it to be something it was not, but also in and of itself, there were things I had issues with. But I found myself thinking about the true story of the Romanovs a lot as a result, so it obviously got under my skin. Here’s my full review.

Then I read The Winter  Freak Show by Daniel Parsons, which has been on my TBR since about 2015! I want to give it the benefit of the doubt and say I’m just a bit old for it… but honestly, I think it was just not the best written book. I just never felt involved.

Last but not least, I finished my early copy of The Doll Maker, which is the fourth book in Celine Jeanjean’s The Viper and the Urchin steampunk series (she hasn’t got it up on GoodReads itself yet). I liked this more than the third book! I think because the conflicts were more personal to the characters, rather than the sweeping effects on a whole nation in the last book.

I don’t usually mentioned DNFs on WWW posts, but a couple of people were interested in Changing Gear by Scot Gardner when I mentioned it last week. I read about 90 pages and it’s possible that it was going to pick up after I left off. But the main character just made a string of terrible decisions and I didn’t have any sympathy for him!

I also reviewed Wolfhunter River by Rachel Caine this week. Click the title to read it.

What are you currently reading?

I’ve started P Is For Pearl by Eliza Henry Jones, which is next on the 2019 Children’s Book Council of the Year Award Notables list. It’s a contemporary, and the Aussie setting is really vivid and the teen characters actually seem realistic (with all the SFF I’ve been reading recently, everyone has seemed a bit older than their years). I’m not sure exactly what this one’s about but I’ve been warned to have the tissues handy.

Not much movement on Enchantee by Gita Trelease this week. To be honest, after finishing Romanov, I spent my solo driving time singing along with the Anastasia cast album,  so this got pushed aside.

What do you think you will read next?

I was scanning NetGalley the other day and Lucid by Kristy Fairlamb was available as a Read Now. I already follow this author on Twitter and had been considering reading the book, so I snapped it up.

What are you reading this week? 🙂

WWW Wednesday -17 April 2019

It’s time for WWW Wednesday! This blog hop is hosted by Sam over at A World Of Words. Link up with us by commenting on Sam’s post for this week, and just answer the three questions.

What have you recently finished reading?

I finished A Million Worlds With You by Claudia Gray. This was a great end to the series. I wasn’t sure how Claudia Gray was  possibly going to wrap everything up but she managed it, and it worked really well! Here are my reviews of the second and third books in the series.

I also read The Steam Engines  of Oz by Sean Patrick O’Reilly and Erik Hendrix with illustrations by Yannis Roumboulias. This was at the behest of my partner, who has started a YouTube channel talking about various Oz adaptations and how they relate to the original books. I didn’t love this. It didn’t have a whole lot of depth and while I’m not completely up on my Oz lore, even I spotted deviations from the original stories which didn’t really seem to add anything.

I also finished Wolfhunter River by Rachel Caine and enjoyed it despite it really only getting going in the suspense department in the last third. But it had a lot of really strong character stuff, and a pretty strong crime story, so still plenty going nfor it.

What are you currently reading?

I literally finished Wolfhunter River an hour ago, so I am something like 1% into Romanov  by Nadine Brandes.  I have really high hopes for this book, and I really hope it doesn’t disappoint. I had tickets to see Anastasia on Broadway later this year and then it closed in March so this book is all my Romanov-inspired fantasy for this year.

I have also started listening to Enchantee by Gita Trelease. I’m glad I’ve found an historical fantasy set in France that I am enjoying more than I enjoyed The Gilded Wolves. Though I think it is going to be a bit on the long side. We shall see.

On that note, thanks for your audio book recommendations last week! I appreciate it, and I’ve added a few to my wish list.

What do you think you will read next?

I’ve been saying this for weeks, but this week it really will be Changing Gear by Scot Gardner, another #LoveOzYA that is on the Children’s Book Council of Australia 2019 Notables list.

What are you reading this week? 🙂

WWW Wednesday -10 April 2019

It’s time for WWW Wednesday! This blog hop is hosted by Sam over at A World Of Words. Link up with us by commenting on Sam’s post for this week, and just answer the three questions.

What have you recently finished reading?

I finished Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray. It’s been a long time since  I sped through an audio book in a week. Yes, I had more solo driving recently, but i think it was also that I was actively putting this on whenever I possibly could. It’s not as good as the first one (my review will be up tomorrow and explains why), but it definitely does some good setting up for the last book.

On a related note, click the title to read my review of A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray.

What are you currently reading?

Of course, I have now moved onto A Million Worlds With You by Claudia Gray, which is the third and final book in the Firebird series. I am actually reading this one, rather than listening… I’m not very far in at the moment because I haven’t had much reading time. I’m doing a uni intensive this week, but tomorrow and Friday we don’t have site visits so I can bus to campus and read during travel time.

I’m at about 20% on Wolfhunter River by Rachel Caine. As I said, I haven’t had much reading time so I haven’t been able to give it much attention. I have a couple of days off next week in addition to the Easter public holidays so I might try to devote a morning to it or something.

What do you think you will read next?

I have some library books but I’m not sure where exactly I’ll go. Does anyone have any audio book recommendations? I can’t decide what to spend my next Audible credit on.

What are you reading this week? 🙂

Friday Five: 5 Bookish Snacks

Hello everyone! Welcome to my first Friday Five post. I’m joining Molly from Molly’s Madness in this meme. I’ve seen various iterations of Friday Five around the Internet, but this one is book-themed.

This week’s topic: Top five reading snacks

This was a tricky topic as I tend not to allow myself too many snacks while doing things like reading. My problem is I graze mindlessly and next thing I know I’ve polished off an entire block of chocolate or something. But these are the things I would choose if that wasn’t an issue.

5. Pretzels

If you’re looking for something savoury but don’t want anything greasy that will get fingerprints all over your book, pretzels are a good alternative to crisps. I could easily polish off a whole packet though I’m supposed to watch my salt intake, so I’d have to just pour myself a small bowl and ration it over my reading session.

4 . Cheese and crackers

This can be anything from Jatz and Homeband Tasty to fancy fruit and nut crackers with Brie or Camembert. Probably a good match with some character-driven literary fiction. Hey, now there’s an idea for a blog series: matching snacks to books as you do meals with wine.

3. Chocolate

I mean, duh. Bonus if it’s the ones with different flavoured cremes in the middle. I don’t know why, but Cadbury Roses is the vibe I’m getting when I think books + chocolate.  Though in googling that link I discovered they’ve changed a bunch of flavours and the wrappers, so it’s possible this reading experience would be wholly disappointing now.

2. Fresh fruit

Things like grapes or strawberries are particularly good because you can have a bowl full of them and just grab some whenever you need. Plus, it’s totally healthy! (Shhh, sugar? What sugar?)

1. Hot beverage

I usually do actually have a cuppa of some sort with my while I’m reading. I’m mostly a coffee in the morning, tea for the rest of the day type of person. I used to drink a lot more hot chocolate but I think maybe the combination of milk and it being very sweet makes it kind of hard on my stomach nowadays.