Category: books

Genres
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Genres

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Do you ever think you know what your reading year will look like, only to find it turns out to be completely different?

I honestly thought this year would be jam-packed with action/adventure thriller-type novels. I discovered and fell in love with Matthew Reilly’s books last year – completely OTT action scenes and I was HERE for it! His book Temple was my surprise book of the year last year. And then there was Decipher by Stel Pavlou which was another action/adventure thriller with bonus added sci-fi – it was utterly batshit and I fell in love with it.

So yeah, I thought this year would be very much in that vibe. I started reading the Scarecrow series by Matthew Reilly…

But then I fell into memoirs. Out of the 50 books I’ve read so far this year, 14 have been memoirs (that’s 28%) and 4 have been biographies.

There have been food-related ones (Grace Dent, Jay Rayner, Ed Gamble)
There have been mental health, health and neurodivergence-related ones.
There’s been the latest Jeremy Clarkson/Diddly Squat one.
There’s been best-selling celebrity memoirs (Jennette McCurdy, Britney Spears)

And over a third of them have been fostering memoirs by Cathy Glass!
How? Why?
I haven’t a fucking clue but I am completely obsessed and just devouring them. I cannot get enough and have a whole bunch of them on my Borrowbox list

In the second half of the year though I want/need to pay more attention to the prompts in reading challenges. I’ll be interested to see if the memoir pattern continues, if another one emerges or if, by focusing on more specific books there’ll be no pattern at all.

audiobooks · books · magazines · TBR

TBR w/c 17.06.24

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My reading list for the coming week looks something like:

finish BBC Science Focus June 2024 (currently 28%)
finish Neil Gaiman – Neverwhere (currently 81%)
finish Alix E Harrow – The Ten Thousand Doors of January (currently 19%)
finish Neil MacGregor – A History Of The World in 100 Objects (55%)

read Ruth Goodman – How To Be A Victorian (currently 22%)
read Thomas Halliday – Otherlands (currently 14%)
read Emily Henry – Book Lovers (currently 29%)
read Ronald Hutton – Stations of the Sun (currently 53%)

start Carrie Fisher – The Princess Diarist
start Joanne Fluke – Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (and try to finish because it’s due back to the library next week and I can’t renew because someone’s reserved it!)
start Nicola Lewis – Em & Me
start Nancy Warren – Lace & Lies

I’ve also started the full cast audiobook of Good Omens. Audiobooks aren’t something I usually listen to, I zone out but I need an audiobook for a challenge and figured this was a good option. We’ll see how it goes!

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Sunday Reading Wrapup

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What are you currently reading?

M.T. Clanchy – From Memory to Written Record: England 1066-1307 47% read. I’ve said this before – this book was written to be written, not to be read. It’s utterly fascinating but it’s a serious slog
DK Publishing – SuperSimple Chemistry 18% read. I picked this up on the Libby app, I didn’t realise it was a bite-size revision guide LOL but I’ve been on a science kick lately and it looked interesting. It is.
Imogen Edwards-Jones – The Witches of St. Petersburg 65% read. I’m feeling a little meh on this one. It has some good bits but mostly interspersed with blah. I don’t really care about the characters but I’m kinda curious where it goes. Mostly reading to fill the Russia prompt on a Round The World reading challenge.
Claire Heywood – The Shadow Of Perseus 49% read. Picked it up from the library, and I am loving this, y’all. It’s being told from the women in his life, so far I’ve read Danae and Medusa, and moving to Andromeda. So much love!
Stel Pavlou – Decipher 40% read, still absolutely batshit and I fucking love it! grins a bit like Matthew Reilly’s Temple, it has all the best bits of crazy sci-fi & pseudoscience & pseudohistory, with just enough of the actual stuff… kind of Ancient Aliens. LOL
Matthew Reilly – Ice Station 35% read, not loving it quite as much as Temple but it’s still a thoroughly enjoyable read. Maybe a little similar plotline-wise in places to Decipher but a very different approach.

I think my goal for the weekend is to finish either Witches Of St Petersburg or The Shadow of Perseus

What did you recently finish reading?

Steve Jackson & Ian Livingstone – The Warlock of Firetop Mountain 4/5 Li and I discovered we both loved Choose Your Own Adventure & Fighting Fantasy books when we were kids, so naturally we checked this out of the library and had a super nerdy date night. It took us 4 attempts to get through – Li drawing the map of our adventure while I read the book out.
Raynor Winn – The Salt Path 4/5 This had been on my TBR for ages, I saw one of her other books in the library so checked to see if they had this one, which they did and it was bloody brilliant, I could barely put it down.
Janna Levin – Black Hole Survival Guide 3/5. Like I said, I’ve been on a science kick recently, this was actually one of Li’s library books but I ended up reading it as well. I understood about 60% of the actual science, but could follow what Levin was saying about 90% of the time. Throughly enjoyed my trip into a black hole grins
Kris Hallenga – Glittering a Turd 4.5. I picked this one up on Libby purely based on the title, didn’t look to see what it was about. And I’m glad I didn’t, because I probably wouldn’t have read this, if I’d known it was a memoir of someone living with stage 4 cancer. But it’s amazing and highly recommended!
Angela Kelly – The Other Side Of The Coin 4/5. Another random Libby read (I love the app for that LOL) but I couldn’t resist it. A memoir of the Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Personal Advisor, Curator, Wardrobe and In-house Designer, filled with so many lovely anecdotes and fascinating details about what goes into dressing The Queen. And lovely never-seen-before candid photos. I thoroughly enjoyed it – and Li knows I did because of how much I read out loud to her LOL

What do you think you’ll read next?

Meik Wiking – The Little Book of Lykke
Katja Pantzar – The Finnish Way: Finding Courage, Wellness, and Happiness Through the Power of Sisu
Both books I picked up from the library based on how much I loved the Hygge books. I don’t know if I’ll enjoy them, but I’m curious and they’re due back next week so definitely moving to the top of the pile LOL

Series I’d Like to Start/Catch up on/Finish
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Series I’d Like to Start/Catch up on/Finish

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Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.

This week’s prompt isn’t inspiring me, so I’m going for a rewind and using one I missed previously which is Series I’d Like to Start/Catch up on/Finish

Ben Aaronovitch – Rivers of London I’m like 3 books, 2 novellas and a short story collection behind. Hanging Tree is actually top of my TBR
Kelley Armstrong – Women of The Otherworld I don’t think I’ve ever read further than about 6 or 7 books through the series. Bitten is back on my TBR to restart – and finish the series.
Christie Barlow – Love Heart Lane I own pretty much the whole series on Kindle but haven’t even started it yet. Love Heart Lane is on my Spring TBR to resolve this
Patricia Briggs – Mercy Thompson Absolutely loved the first 2 or 3 books, but for some reason never carried on.
Jim Butcher – The Dresden Files I’ve read Storm Front, book 2 has been on my TBR for years and I’ve never carried on.
Sarah J Maas – A Court of Thorns and Roses I’ve read the first 2 books, got the next 2 on my Kindle, I think I’m invested enough that it won’t take long!
Chloe Neill – The Chicagoland Vampires Some Girls Bite has been on my TBR for years.
Anne Rice – The Vampire Chronicles Even though these have been my favourites for years, I’ve not actually read the last couple. I’ve started a re-read recently and Vampire Lestat is on my TBR
Ransom Riggs – Miss Peregrine I read the first book years ago, recently finished the second and the third is near the top of my TBR. Turns out there’s a lot more in the series than I realised!
Nancy Warren – The Vampire Knitting Club I accidentally read the first book in one sitting, bought the next couple… and didn’t read them.

The more I started looking at these, the more and more I realised there are SO MANY book series that I’ve started and not finished, so I think once I’ve whittled a little away at my TBR, I need to go through the history of my goodreads and work out all the series I have in progress. I sense a new spreadsheet in my future!

TBR Reorganisation
books

TBR Reorganisation

Cassie2 Comments

You know those 5-minute jobs that end up taking over a day? Yeah, I had one of those over the weekend.

I’d finished a book and couldn’t decide what to read next, Li mentioned something about wondering if there was a random TBR generator or one that suggests items on your TBR based on what you were in the mood for and I remembered that Storygraph can actually do that. Li asked why I didn’t utilise that and so I explained that my Storygraph TBR was copied over from my Goodreads want-to-read and wasn’t just the books that were physically on my TBR/kindle.

A quick realisation that the storygraph one is literally called TBR and I decided to use it as such. I deleted the whole TBR from storygraph and started manually adding books back onto it. I added the whole Waterstones haul, the books I have out of the library, the books I have on Libby, all the books currently downloaded onto my Kindle and the first pile of my physical TBR (which while I don’t have all the books with me, I do have a spreadsheet). It ended up taking… much longer than expected but also because I ended up doing a lot of librarian-ing on Storygraph, correcting detail information, uploading cover images etc etc.

I’m going to keep using the goodreads want-to-read as being a huge long list of books I would love to read. Does it need sorting through at some point? Yes, yes it does but that’s a worry for Future Cassie.

But what I do now have is a TBR on Storygraph that accurately reflects my TBR. and there’s only 99 books on it

books · music monday

My route around the library + Music Monday

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I’ve been told that the way I choose books in the library – and in the Libby app – other than collecting reservations is a little bit… well.. odd. So I thought I’d write about it and see what y’all think!

My first stop in the library is the ‘quick choice’ or recommended reads section. There’s usually a good selection and I can usually pick up a chick lit there. Though lately there’s been some good historical there too.

Then, I’ll have a look at the returns cart, I find it interesting to see what other people have been reading and it’s a good way of finding something I wouldn’t necessarily normally pick up.

From then, a lot of it depends on the book/s I’m returning – if I’m returning non-fiction, I’ll pick up another non-fiction on the same topic, plus a fiction book by an author whose surname is alphabetically similar.
So, for example, when I return David Attenborough’s Adventures Of A Young Naturalist, I’ll pick up:
– another auto/biography
– another nature book
– and a fiction book by someone whose surname starts ‘Att’.

If I’m only returning fiction, it’ll be another book by someone’s who name starts with the same letters

I then pick up fiction from the start of the fiction section, one horror or sci-fi, and one history or science non-fiction.

With the Libby app, I’m more likely to have placed a reservation but I also work through the newly added titles, I’ll pick a book from one of the advertised curated collections, and I’ll choose one of the categories that have the lowest number of books available and pick something from there.

Like I said, kind of odd but I find it works and it keeps me reading a wide variety of books.

I’ve been listening to a lot of music while I study again this last week, and on my old blog always used to post a Music Monday where I basically share something I’m really love right now. It’s usually my most-played song of last week and I’ve been listening to a LOT of Peyton Parrish recently – his voice gives me ASMR like fucking crazy, my entire scalp is tingling and it feels like someone’s just taken my brain out of my skull and given it a good massage. I’m purring

For those of you who use the library – do you have a particular route around it or way of choosing the books you’re going to check out? And what music have you been loving lately?

Stacking The Shelves
books · stacking the shelves

Stacking The Shelves

Cassie8 Comments

Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Reading Reality all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Do you remember how back in May I said I was going to stop getting new to me books, stop checking books out on Libby, stop going to the library and focus on my current physical TBR that’s taking over my flat?
HAHAHAHAH that’s gone about as well as could be expected. I currently have a pile of books akin to Mount Everest. And then I ended up in the library again this week (in my defence, it’s part of my therapy homework to keep practising leaving the house, and the library is generally safe!)

Well the books that came home with me this week are:

I’m particularly looking forward to Adventures Of A Young Naturalist. Bird Summons isn’t one I would normally have picked but it something about the colours and patterns called to me.

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Thanátou (The Blood Witch Saga Book 1)

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Happy Publication Day to Natalie J Case whose latest book Thanátou (The Blood Witch Saga Book 1) is out today.

Thána Archer thinks she knows what her life is about. A mid-level manager at a manufacturing company, Thána is good at what she does. She doesn’t believe in magic, witches or ghosts, because those things just aren’t real.

One day, a strange man appears with a strange box and an even stranger story about a family Thána has never known. After him there are others seeking to kill her because she is Thanátou, a Blood Witch. Trying to stay one step ahead of the would-be-assassins, she has to race against time to find the mother who abandoned her all those years ago.

To get to safety, Thána will have to sacrifice her freedom. But can she come to terms with the truth about her past, and the magical powers she doesn’t yet understand?

Doesn’t it sound fantastic? I accidentally just bought it, breaking my ‘new new books, for the love of Zeus will you finish something already Cassie!’ rule because I can’t wait to read it!

I Ate’nt Dead
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I Ate’nt Dead

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You know what’s really funny? I’ve been meaning to write a post for about a week or so where I say ‘I’m not dead, just distracted’ because…. well because after submitting my essay on the Sanctuary Of Zeus, I fell down the rabbithole of playing Stardew Valley and barely picked up a book in over a month.

Today, I’m finding the time to sit and write this post… because I’m off work sick and feeling pretty dead-like. Li is also sick, but we tested negative for COVID last night so just A.N.Other virus – we’re both fatigued, aching muscles, coughing, fevery so we’re curled up on the couch and I decided now would be the perfect time to move my book blog to it’s new domain

Welcome to bibliollama.uk 

I’m very excited. At some point over the summer, a new llama-themed layout will get created but for now, the only thing different is the background.
Also coming soon, because I am SERIOUSLY rediscovering my love for video games is ludollama.uk

Bookish content to resume shortly!
But for now I shall tell you that I’m currently reading:

books · weekly wednesday blogging challenge · www wednesday

Benedict Cumberbatch, Fictional Mothers & WWW Wednesday

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I finished reading This Is Not A Book About Benedict Cumberbatch last night and it left me feeling quite disappointed. I was really looking forward to reading this, the subtitle of the book professed it was about ‘the joy of loving something – anything – like your life depends on it’, and I am a shameless fangirl who has always passionately loved their fandoms. So this seemed like it was going to be my kind of book

However, I found that the author spent far too much time being angsty, ashamed and guilty over their love for Sherlock and Benedict Cumberbatch. She didn’t know how to reconcile herself with her random obsession and honestly I found myself feeling SO sorry for her. Imagine not allowing yourself to love something? But I do recognise that I’ve been in fandom – both on and offline for the best part of 25 years, and pretty much everyone I know is also likewise engaged. I can’t wrap my head around the concept of not passionately and unashamedly loving the things I love (seriously – never ask me about Raintown, Riley Smith or Stargate or you will never get me to shut up. Just ask Jaimie LOL) so I struggled to empathise with Carvan’s point of view. She got there eventually, but I spent a lot of time thinking ‘the muggles are not ok, are they?’

I give it 2.5 out of 5, a cross between ‘meh and ‘it was…alright’ with a side of thinking how much better it could have been

Weekly Wednesday Blogging Challenge this topic is Best Mother in a book, movie or TV show and my answer to this is Molly Weasley from Harry Potter who is a quintessential mother figure, practically adopting Harry even though she has seven children of her own. She’s kind, stern, forgiving, patient, loving, protective and to me was a really good role model.
Li suggested Janet Fraiser from Stargate SG-1 but looked slightly deer-in-the-headlights when I asked her why. Although I do agree with her: Janet adopted an alien child who was the lone survivor of a virus, even though Cassie actually turned out to be a bomb designed to blow up the SGC. But Janet still did everything in her power to save Cassie, and oh did she go mama-bear when that girl was threatened!

WWW Wednesday
What are you currently reading? Notes On A Nervous Planet by Matt Haig, A Court Of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas, Ancient Greece by Paul Cartledge, Summer At Skylark Farm by Heidi Swain and A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled by Ruby Wax.
What did you recently finish reading? This Is Not A Book About Benedict Cumberbatch by Tabitha Carvan
What do you think you’ll read next? I’m really hoping to finish some of the books I’m currently reading, and then work on finishing Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Cruel Price by Holly Black and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell