October 2022 Reading Wrap-up

The eagle-eyed among you will have seen that I started reviewing again this month! Some of the busy-ness I’ve had going on for the past few months has finally settled down, letting me get back to fun things I’ve had to ignore for a while.

PAST MONTHS’ READING HIGHLIGHTS:

1. A Remarkable Woman by Jules van Mil (historical fiction – 3 stars – review) (read June, reviewed October)
2. Malice by Pintup Dunn (YA sci-fi/romance – 3.5 stars – review) (read September, reviewed October)
3. The Coming of the Fairies by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (non-fiction – unrated)
4. The House in the Woods by Yvette Fielding (MG horror – 2 stars)
5. Witchnapped in Westerham by Dionne Lester (urban fantasy/cozy mystery – 2 stars – review)
6. The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie (mystery/adventure – 3 stars)
7. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (YA fantasy/romance – 3.5 stars – review)

I’m skipping the usual Booktube and Bookstagram sections on this post. To be honest, I haven’t been terribly active on either, especially Booktube. That’s something I don’t think I’ll get back to until 2023, and I’m okay with that!

CURRENTLY READING:

Physical book: Nothing at the moment.

Ebook: The Untold Story by Genevieve Cogman. This is the eighth and final book in the Invisible Library series. I’ve enjoyed this series enough to want to see it through, though I have to admit the first three books were the strongest. Still, it’s good to complete a series (within a year, no less!) and tick it off the list!

Audio book: The Eighth Wonder by Tania Farrelly. This is a historical fiction that I am enjoying, though now that I am not driving for an hour every day due a commitment wrapping up, I have to admit that my inclination to listen to the last few hours has been low. I’ll endeavour to finish it soon, though, before it returned itself on the library app!

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PLANNING TO READ NEXT:

I’ll be finishing The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall. I started this as an audio book but I have now got the paperback out from the library to finish it, as I was getting a bit bored with the audio version.

Hopefully, I’ll manage that before I head off travelling in mid-November. For the next little while, it’ll be e-books only. It’ll be good to clear my Kindle backlog a bit!

What are you reading? 🙂

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October 2021 Reading Wrap-up

I’m usually not already a week into the following month when I write these wrap-ups. The problem is that while October is fine, the start of November has been a bit of a mess. But let’s focus on October, where I read seven books and had a great time participating in the Whodunitathon. I have to admit that I have lost my reviewing mojo somewhat in the last couple of weeks, and am only reviewing books that are part of my Australian Women Writers Challenge. While it would be nice to think I might get around to the others at some point, that seems unlikely.

PAST MONTH’S READING:

1. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (thriller/mystery – 4 stars – not reviewed)
2. A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli Clark (historical fantasy – 4 stars – not reviewed)
3. The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix (thriller/horror – 4 stars – review)
4. The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark (historical fantasy – 4 stars – not reviewed)
5. One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus (YA thriller – 4 stars – not reviewed)
6. Skalsinger by L. A. Webster (fantasy – 4 stars – review)
7. House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland (YA horror – 3.5 stars – review forthcoming)

BOOKTUBE:

I have a YouTube channel where I promote Australian books using the hashtag #AusReads, and also indulge my compulsion for signing up to readathons. Here are the latest videos:

1. Whodunitathon TBR Part 2 – The Investigation and the Resolution

FAVOURITE BOOKISH PHOTO:

L. A. Webster is a writer friend of mine and I was very pleased to read her new release in advance! In the first book in the series, the main character is literally a gardener and her powers are based in nature. While the main character in this second story has quite a different skill, nature still plays a large part and I felt the need to go and sit outside to read it.

You can see all my bookish photos (plus some RL as well) on my Instagram.

CURRENTLY READING:

Physical book: Nothing at the moment.

Ebook: Amazon Decoded by David Gaughran. As a self-published author, this is a must-read and to be honest, I’m a bit mad that it’s taken me so long. I’m reading the Kindle version and highlighting the hell out of it.

Audio book: The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan. This is book two in the Memoirs of Lady Trent series, which follows Isabella Camherst, natural historian, on her quest to study dragons whilst wrangling with expectations in a quasi-nineteenth century English society.

PLANNING TO READ NEXT:

I have absolutely no idea! I am in theory doing another readathon this month but none of the books on my TBR for that are appealing to me right now. I think it will probably be something short and light. Maybe some short stories.

What are you reading? 🙂

October 2019 Reading Wrap-up

At the start of October, I was speeding through a book every two days. I was hoping to keep that momentum up in the second half of the month, but alas, it didn’t happen. Still, I read a decent amount of books. I also participated in my first readathon, and I have already signed up for another one because I had so much fun!

Having said that, I’ve got other challenges to finish before the end of the year, plus a bunch of library books, so we’ll see how I actually go. Oh, and did I mention I’ll be doing NaNoWriMo at the same time?

Past Month’s Reading:

1. 1. Monuments by Will Kostakis (YA urban fantasy – 4 stars – review) (read September, reviewed October)
   2. Evangeline and the Spiritualist by Madelein D’Este (YA steampunk – 4 stars – review forthcoming)
   3. The Dead of Winter by Chris Priestley (MG horror – 2.5 stars – review)
   4. Songbird by Ingrid Laguna (MG contemporary – 5 stars – review)
   5. Vampire Island by Adele Griffin (MG urban fantasy – unrated – not intending to review)
   6. The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg (YA sci-fi/thriller – 5 stars – review)
   7. Serpent and Dove by Shelbie Mahurin (YA fantasy – 4 stars – review forthcoming)
   8. The White Hornet by Celine Jeanjean (steampunk fantasy – 5 stars – review)
   9. Evangeline and the Mysterious LIghts (YA steampunk – 3 stars – review forthcoming)

Booktube:

I have a Booktube account where I talk about Australian books. I didn’t post for about six months but I said October would be the month when I got back into it and I meant it! I got two videos posted.

• 1. She Returns! – And why I didn’t finish my CBCA Challenge
  2. Book Review: Monuments by Will Kostakis

You can check out the channel whole here. 

Favourite Bookish Photo:

I always love the covers for Celine Jeanjean’s books and this one for the White Hornet is no different! You can see all my bookish photos (plus some RL as well) on my Instagram.

Currently Reading:

Physical book: Too Flash by Melissa Lucashenko. This is a YA contemporary that I’m reading as part of my Australian Women Writers Challenge. I’m not very far in, yet, but it’s got a really authentic voice that I love.

Ebook: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I have to be honest, I wasn’t intending to read this series but a close friend recommended it so I’m giving it a go. So far, so good though it’s kind of on hold until I get some library books read.

Audio book: Circe by Madeline Miller. Audible kept recommending this to me so I selected it when Iw as at a loss about what to listen to. It’s not something I would normally read but I do enjoy my witches in fiction and Circe was kind of the original.

Planning to read next:

In my September wrap-up I said I was listening to the audio book of Illumination by Karen Brooks. This was way too long and I knew I wouldn’t get through it before it was due back, so I have the hard copy instead and that is next up. It is quite a hefty tome, though! Lugging it around is going to be annoying.

What are you reading? 🙂