February 2023 Reading Wrap-up

February is one of those months where I tell myself the format of the books I read doesn’t matter (graphic novel, audio book, etc.) I read six books! That’s what matters!

Also apparently WordPress has a bug which means I can’t do my cute pile-of-books bullet points in the list below, which is sad. But my experience has apparently been passed onto the developers, so here’s hoping it will be back soon!

PAST MONTH’S READING:

• Heartstopper Volume 2 by Alice Oseman (YA romance/graphic novel – 3 stars)
• Heartstopper Volume 3 by Alice Oseman (YA romance/graphic novel – 3 stars)
• Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (dystopian/zombie fiction – 4 stars – review forthcoming)
• The Killing Code by Ellie Marney (YA historical fiction/thriller – review)
• The Clocks by Agatha Christie (mystery – 3 stars)
• Heartstopper Volume 4 by Alice Oseman (YA romance/graphic novel – 4 stars)

BOOKTUBE:

I’ve started making booktube videos again! Here’s the latest:

• Sims Readathon Mid-Month Update

INSTAGRAM:

After spending some time being pretty broke,

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

CURRENTLY READING:

Physical book: I’ve just picked up Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia again, after putting it aside last October when I was sick and exhausted (right before going travelling for 3 months). Ugh, it is exactly the vibe I’ve been wanting. I wish I’d picked it back up sooner! The only is that the print is really small but I’m coping!

Ebook: Nothing at the moment.

Audio book: I’m listening to A Kind of Magic by Anna Spargo-Ryan. This is a memoir in which the author documents her lifelong struggles with mental illness. It can be harrowing at times but she approaches the subject with a lot of humour. Anna narrates the audio book and hearing her describe her own experiences adds another special layer to it.

PLANNING TO READ NEXT:

I’m not sure yet, but it might be Tussaud by Belinda Lyons-Lee. I picked this up earlier in the month and wasn’t getting into it, but maybe it’s time to try again.

What are you reading? 🙂

Advertisement

January 2023 Reading Wrap-up

We have been back on home turf for a week now, and it’s been such a relief! I’m heading back to work tomorrow and it will be good to really settle back into routines. Quantitatively, it’s been an excellent reading month, but Heartstopper was the only book that I gave more than three stars to. The rest of my reads have all been fine down to okay. Fingers crossed for some 4 and 5 star reads in February!

PAST MONTH’S READING:

1. Cupcakes, Trinkets and Other Deadly Magic (Dowsers #1) by Meghan Ciana Doidge (cozy mystery/urban fantasy – 2 stars – review)
2. The Ghostly Grounds: Murder and Breakfast by Sophie Love (cozy mystery – 3 stars – review)
3. Miss Percy’s Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons (historical fantasy – 3 stars)
4. A Study in Time by Maureen Flynn (sci-fi – 3 stars)
5. Behind the Veil by E. J. Dawson (historical fantasy/horror – 3 stars – review forthcoming)
6. Mrs Rochester’s Ghost by Lindsa Marcott (thriller – 2 stars)
7. The Mightnight Library by Matt Haig (magical realism – 3 stars)
8. Heartstopper by Alice Oseman (YA romance/graphic novel – 4 stars)

BOOKTUBE:

I’ve started making booktube videos again! Here’s the latest:

1. Sims Readathon February TBR

INSTAGRAM:

Not exactly a bookish photo but book-adjacent! I only used my British Library card for one day and I won’t get back there before it expires, but I was pretty chuffed to get it!

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

CURRENTLY READING:

I don’t actually have anything on the go at the moment. I finished Heartstopper earlier this afternoon.

PLANNING TO READ NEXT:

It’s very likely it will be Heartstopper Volume 2. Being very simple graphic novels, these do not take long to get through at all and my partner has bought the whole series. I’m doing the Sims Readathon in February and one of the prompts is to read a book with a school setting, for which this series works perfectly.

What are you reading? 🙂

December 2022 Reading Wrap-up

Hello from Rome, and Happy New Year! December started off strong in the reading department, but it fell down in the second half of the month. Obviously that’s going to happen while travelling. Honestly, it’s 19 days until we return to Australia and as much as we still have some great places to visit, I am looking forward to being home again.

PAST MONTHS’ READING HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Planting Pearls by Virginia King (suspense/paranormal – 5 stars – review)
2. A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Bakin g by T. Kingfisher (MG fantasy – 4 stars – review)
3. The War of the Fae: the Changelings (YA fantasy – 1 star – review)
4. The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne by Jonathan Stroud (YA fantasy/dystopia – 3 stars – review)

Once again, I’m skipping the usual Booktube and Bookstagram sections on this post. From February, I’m hoping to be more active in both those spaces again and then I’ll re-incorporate them into the blog.

CURRENTLY READING:

Physical book: Nothing at the moment. I will admit that I am looking forward to being home with my bookcases.

Ebook: Cupcakes, Trinkets and Other Deadly Magic by Meghan Ciana Doidge. This was a Kindle freebie and it’s… fine. It’s a light-hearted paranormal mystery but it’s nothing mind-blowing.

Audio book: Nothing on the go at the moment. Maybe I should download something for the plane home…

PLANNING TO READ NEXT:

Genuinely no idea! It’s harder to determine that when you’re confined to ebooks and can’t cast your eyes over the bookshelves to see what you fancy. I am sure I’ll find something, though.

Well, this post has been short and sweet! I’ll finish it up here.

What are you reading? 🙂

November 2022 Reading Wrap-up

Hello from Florence, Italy! Despite travelling since November 14, I have managed to read 3 books so far on this trip! Turns out train travel is good like that.

PAST MONTHS’ READING HIGHLIGHTS:

1. The Eighth Wonder by Tania Farrelly (historical fiction – 3 stars – review)
2. The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall (dystopia/adventure/literary fiction – 2 stars – review)
3. The Untold Story by Genevieve Cogman (fantasy – 3 stars)
4. The Dragon Healer by Tiani Davids (YA fantasy – 3.5 stars – review forthcoming))
5. High Tide by Pip Russell-Brown (contemporary fiction – 4 stars)

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:

I am actually completely inbetween books at the moment, having finished the only one I had on the go earlier this evening. I am not sued to having nothing for this section!

PLANNING TO READ NEXT:

I’m doing the Reindeer Readathon this month (despite travel!) so it will be something from my TBR for that. I’m leaning towards A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher. You know how I love any book that combines baking and magic.

What are you reading? 🙂

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!

.

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? 🙂

July-September 2022 Reading Wrap-up

I’ve got to be honest, when I opened up A Keyboard and an Open Mind to check how long it had been since my last post, I was surprised it had only been three months. In those three months, I’ve been in rehearsals for a production of HMS Pinafore, had COVID, had another non-COVID bad cold thing, finished booking a trip to Europe, and managed to continue at my day job despite our team being rather depleted at the moment (long story).

Often it’s felt like I haven’t been reading much, but in those three months, I’ve read another nineteen books, bringing my total for the year to forty-one. These nineteen books have all been three or four star reads – nothing terrible but also nothing really stand-out. I’m hoping for a five-star read soon!

I’ll just post the highlights below, but you can see the full list on my GoodReads 2022 Challenge Page.

PAST MONTHS’ READING HIGHLIGHTS:

1. The Ghosts of Paris by Tara Moss (historical fiction – 4 stars)
2. The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu (historical fantasy – 4 stars)
3. All Systems Red by Martha Wells (sci-fi – 4 stars)
4. This Is Not a Ghost Story by Andrea Portes (YA horror – 3.5 stars)
5. Malice by Pintip Dunn (YA sci-fi – 3.5 stars)

In the interests of not fiddling around with this post forever, I’m skipping the usual Booktube and Bookstagram sections! 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: Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Moreno-Garcia is an insta-buy author for me. Her books are all very different and I don’t always enjoy them but I love reading her takes on the horror genre mixed with aspects of her Mexican heritage.

Ebook: Nothing at the moment.

Audio book: The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall. This is an Australian near-future thriller and it’s quite slow, but I’m interested to see where it goes.

.

PLANNING TO READ NEXT:

It will likely be Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova. I’ve had this on my shelf for a long time, and it fit one of the prompts for October’s Whodunitathon perfectly!

What are you reading? 🙂

June 2022 Reading Wrap-up

Ooof, it is nice to feel like I’m back into regular reading patterns again. It’s only taken… six months. Even with it taking me a week to get through one novel in June, I still had a total of seven. While I am still trying not to treat reading as a numbers game, it’s still nice to feel like I’m back to my old self.

PAST MONTH’S READING:

1. Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero (horror – 2.5 stars)
2. The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie (mystery – 4 stars)
3. A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow (fantasy/retelling – 3 stars)
4. Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo (fantasy – 4 stars)
5. The Eleventh Doctor Tales by various authors (sci-fi/media tie-in – 4 stars)
6. House of Salt and Sorrow by Erin A. Craig (YA fantasy – 4 stars)
7. A Remarkable Woman by Jules van Mil (historical fiction – 3 stars)

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. Jurassic Journey Readathon TBR

BOOKSTAGRAM:

That heading has always said “favourite bookish photo” in the past, but recently I’ve been branching out into Reels rather than photos. So now this section can be for either and I’ll post whatever type of content I’ve enjoyed most during the month.

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

CURRENTLY READING:

Physical book: By the time I’m writing this, we’re already a week into July and I’ve finished two more books. However, I’m planning to start The Ghosts of Paris by Tara Moss today. I really enjoyed the first Billie Walker book and I’m keen to dive into this one.

Ebook: Nothing at the moment.

Audio book: Nothing at the moment.

.

PLANNING TO READ NEXT:

I only went to the library the other afternoon to use the bathroom, but when I walked past The Ruby’s Curse by Alex Kingston and Jane Raynor on one of the display shelves, I simply couldn’t resist. I’ve been feeling very nostalgic for Doctor Who lately and reading quite a lot of the books. This is such a beautiful hardcover. I keep just picking it up. I hope the content lives up to expectations!

What are you reading? 🙂

April and May 2022 Reading Wrap-up

“Where’d you go, Emily?” I hear you ask. “I thought you had plans to enliven this blog again!”

Okay, maybe no one is asking that, but I’ll answer anyway. My stated plans to enliven this blog were rather dashed just after Easter when we noticed wet carpet in our living room. Long story short, while the issue could have been fixed (in our humble opinions), we ended up in the very stressful situation of having to find a new rental property instead, in a very short space of time. Let’s just say I don’t have much time for property management after this experience.

Fortunately, we have had very good luck and we are now somewhat settled in a new place, though the living room is still virtually uninhabitable due to being populated by full moving boxes.

I don’t want to jinx it, but I think coming into June, I have finally blasted the reading slump I was in, and I’ll be reading a lot more going forward. In the meantime, here’s what I’ve been up to over the past couple of months.

PAST MONTH’S READING:

1. Doctor Who: Twelve Angels Weeping by Dave Rudden (sci-fi/short stories – 4 stars)
2. Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker YA sci-fi/romance – 5 stars)
3. The Mortal Word (the Invisible Library #5) by Genevieve Cogman (fantasy – 3 stars)
4. The Secret Chapter (the Invisible Library #6) by Genevieve Cogman (fantasy – 3 stars)
5. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (fantasy – 4 stars)

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. Jurassic Journey Readathon TBR

BOOKSTAGRAM:

That heading has always said “favourite bookish photo” in the past, but recently I’ve been branching out into Reels rather than photos. So now this section can be for either and I’ll post whatever type of content I’ve enjoyed most during the month.

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

CURRENTLY READING:

Physical book: Nothing right now.

Ebook: The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie. My book club has chosen this as our next read and I am enjoying it thoroughly, though I’m only about 50 pages in so far.

Audio book: I am finally reading Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, and I wish I had listened to Six of Crows as well, as I think I would have enjoyed it more that way. Each POV character has their own voice actor and it really adds to the experience. Having said that, I’m almost at the 70% mark and feeling rather confused about Kaz’s big plan.

PLANNING TO READ NEXT:

After Waking Romeo became my first five star read of the year, I immediately grabbed In the Skin of a Monster by Kathryn Barker from the library. I’m planning to read this one over the weekend and I hope it’s as good as its successor!

What are you reading? 🙂

February and March 2022 Reading Wrap-up

The last few months have been an interesting exercise. As I mentioned in my January wrap-up, my only goal for the year was to make reading more intentional. To read for pleasure and not make it a numbers game.

I’ve been doing pretty well on this front, but as it stands we’re a quarter through the year and I’ve only read 10 books. If I continue at that rate, that’s only 40 books for the year, compared with the 70+ I’ve read for the past several. Even as I tell myself this is totally fine, there’s still a part of me hoping that once daylight savings finishes this weekend, I’ll be more functional and I’ll be able to read faster.

Anyway. I’ll keep working on that. The other thing I’m hoping April might bring is more motivation to write reviews and enliven this blog a bit. In the meantime, here are the seven books I’ve read since my last wrap-up.

PAST MONTH’S READING:

1. Fireborne by Rosaria Munda (YA fantasy – 4 stars)
2. The Voyage of the Basilisk (Memoirs of Lady Trent #3) by Marie Brennan (fantasy – 3 stars)
3. A Users’s Guide to Make-Believe by Jane Alexander (thriller/sci-fi – 2.5 stars)
4. Doctor Who: Tales of Terror by various authors (sci-fi/short stories – 2.5 stars)
5. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (crime – 3 stars)
6. The Lost Plot (the Invisible Library #4) by Genevieve Cogman (fantasy – 3 stars)
7. Come Join Us by the Fire: Season 2 by various authors (horror/short stories – 4 stars)

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. February Royal Readathon Wrap-up

FAVOURITE BOOKISH PHOTO:

To be honest, over February and March, my Instagram has been taken up by posts about my own writing rather than books I’ve been reading. So I’ll leave you with the cover reveal for my latest release, Enchanted Sleep, which you can buy here.

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

CURRENTLY READING:

Physical book: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. This is my first ever buddy read! The book is very well written but taking up a hell of a lot of my time! We’re nearly halfway through and things are starting to blow up in the Gentlemen Bastards’ faces. I can only imagine it’s going to get even worse as we go on.

Ebook: Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue. I started this for one of my book clubs and I’m enjoying it but it’s not my usual type of read, so it’s taking me a while.

Audio book: Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly is downloaded on my phone though I haven’t actually started it yet. I’ve had this author on my radar for a while now and I’m very much looking forward to her fairytale retellings!

PLANNING TO READ NEXT:

I’ve had Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd out from the library for literal months (yay for rolling renewals!) and I’m keen to finally start it. I read this author’s The Madman’s Daughter trilogy back around 2016 and I’m interested to see whether my tastes have changed and how this holds up in comparison.

What are you reading? 🙂

January 2022 Reading Wrap-up

Happy new year, everyone! Due to life stuff and reading slump stuff, I am just edging back into things like blogging and booktubing now as we enter February.

My only reading goal this year is to be more intentional with my reading. I realised last year how much store I put in reaching my GoodReads goal, so this year I’ve set it to five. I’m halfway through my fifth book now, as I knew I would be, and I love the feeling of no pressure. Yes, I’m still likely to read over 75 books over the course of the year, but I’m not going to worry about it.

Without further ado, here’s what got me started for the year:

PAST MONTH’S READING:

1. No Limited by Ellie Marney (YA contemporary/crime – 3 stars)
2. The Burning Page (The Invisible Library #3) by Genevieve Cogman (fantasy – 4 stars)
3. The Lost Plot (The Invisible Library #4) by Genevieve Cogman (fantasy – 3 stars)

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. Cozathon 2021 – Update
2. Royal Readathon Feb 22 TBR

FAVOURITE BOOKISH PHOTO:

Dragons are my favourite mythical creatures. Between what I own and what I had from the library at the start of the month, I had a pretty awesome stack of dragon books!

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

CURRENTLY READING:

Physical book: Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen. I’m a bit torn on this one because I’m pretty sure the author is doing something clever, but the clever thing he’s doing is actually what’s making the book fall flat for me. My favourite character is a badger who was only in three chapters. XD

Ebook: None at the moment.

Audio book: A User’s Guide to Make Believe by Jane Alexander. This is one of those near-future “has technology gone too far?” thrillers, though I have to admit my main reason for starting it is that it’s read by Kristen Atherton, who narrates the Invisible Library audio books. While I’m waiting for the next book in that series to be available, I decided to try this one.

PLANNING TO READ NEXT:

I have two Doctor anthologies out from the library at the moment, and I think I’m going to for the horror collection, Tales of Terror. I read a Doctor Who Christmas short story collection last year and absolutely loved it. I felt so nostalgic! So even though these ones will be spooky, maybe even scary, I’m hoping for more of the same!

What are you reading? 🙂