Booking Ahead/Weekly Wrap Up
4 December 2022
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Booking Ahead, Caffeinated Reviewer, Weekly wrap up
I’m trying to get back into the habit of doing a round-up of the week just completed and also take a look at my plans for the forthcoming week. I rather got out of the habit of doing so but I would like to reinstate this type of post as I feel it keeps me on track. So, I’m linking up to The Sunday Post over at Kimberly’s Caffeinated Reviewer. Without further ado:
Books read this week:
This week seems to have flown and I seem to have spent most of the week getting mixed up about what day I’m up to – everything slow down! Aarrgghghghgh. Anyway, in terms of reading I managed to compete both Silvia Moreno Garcia’s Signal to Noise and The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore. Both reviews to follow shortly (hopefully). I also started my Countdown to 2023 and I’m aiming to post a book per day for that. In other news I mentioned on my last Friday Face Off that I will be changing the format in the new year. I also started reading The Cloisters by Katy Hays and I expect to finish that by tonight all going well so I’ll add that on here too.
Next Week’s Reads:
Well, I may start my second SPFBO finalist. On the review list I have a few upcoming January books that I’m thinking of starting and also a couple of backlist titles that I’d like to catch up so there are quite a number of possibilities. How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix or Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett are both on my January list. I also started and need to complete All of Our Demise by Christine Lynn Herman; Amanda Foody and I also started Ithaca by Claire North.
Reviews Posted since my last Sunday Post:
- Pulling the Wings Off Angels by KJ Parker
- The Winter Killer by Alex Pine
- Love Will Tear Us Apart by CK McDonnell
- The Creeper by AM Shine
- SPFBO No.1
- Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno Garcia
- The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova
- The Cloisters by Katy Hays
Countdown to 2023 – Day 4 ‘Presents’ (27 days remaining)
4 December 2022
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Black Tide, Countdown to 2023, Day 4, KC Jones, Presents
Today is day 4 of my countdown to 2023. Today’s prompt is ‘presents’ and I’ve used a book that took me by surprise. The prompts can be found here if you want to join in. I’m hoping to use mostly books read this year. Let’s begin:
PRESENTS (a book you enjoyed more than you expected)
Black Tide by KC Jones – obviously I liked the sound of this one but at the same time I was a little bit worried as the description mentioned a likeness to Cujo which is a style of horror that doesn’t always work for me. As it happens this was truly a gift of a read because I loved it.
Tomorrow: Chocolates – a book that was simply delicious
#SPFBO 8: My First Finalist: Not a Review
3 December 2022
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #SPFBO, My First Finalist, Not a Review, Olivia Atwater, Small Miracles
What is SPFBO? Check out Mark Lawrence’s post here to look at this year’s entrants, judges and allocations list.
This year I am teaming up again with the ladies from The Critiquing Chemist.
We recently announced our finalist. To check out all the Finalists simply follow this link.
Our finalist this year was Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons by Quenby Olson – if you haven’t read it – I highly recommend it – seriously, grab yourself a copy and tuck in. It’s positively delightful.
Over the next few months my partners and I will be reading the other finalists and once we have a few tucked under our belts will start posting reviews. In the meantime I have randomly selected my reading order and the first book chosen was:
Small Miracles by Olivia Atwater.
Here’s a little more about the book and the author:
A little bit of sin is good for the soul
Gadriel, the fallen angel of petty temptations, has a bit of a gambling debt. Fortunately, her angelic bookie is happy to let her pay off her debts by doing what she does best: All Gadriel has to do is tempt miserably sinless mortal Holly Harker to do a few nice things for herself.
What should be a cakewalk of a job soon runs into several roadblocks, however, as Miss Harker politely refuses every attempt at temptation from Gadriel the woman, Gadriel the man, and Gadriel the adorable fluffy kitten. When even chocolate fails to move Gadriel’s target, the ex-guardian angel begins to suspect she’s been conned. But Gadriel still remembers her previous job… and where petty temptations fail, small miracles might yet prevail.
Olivia Atwater explores love, grief, and the very last bit of chocolate in this sweet modern fantasy, full of wit and heart. Pick up Small Miracles, and enjoy a heavenly faerie tale from the author of Half a Soul.
Olivia Atwater writes whimsical historical fantasy with a hint of satire. She lives in Montreal, Quebec with her fantastic, prose-inspiring husband and her two cats. When she told her second-grade history teacher that she wanted to work with history someday, she is fairly certain this isn’t what either party had in mind. She has been, at various times, a historical re-enactor, a professional witch at a metaphysical supply store, a web developer, and a vending machine repair person.
I confess that I have already read this one (review to follow in the not too distant future) and I can give all you prospective readers a piece of advice – you will need chocolate, or sweets, or cake – or all three – whilst reading this! You have been warned.
Countdown to 2023 – Day 3 ‘Wrapping Paper’ (28 days remaining)
3 December 2022
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A Lovely Cover, Countdown to 2023, Day 3, Elodie Harper, The House with the Golden Door, Wolf Den #2, Wrapping Paper
Today is day 3 of my countdown to 2023. Today’s prompt is wrapping paper and I’ve used a book from a series I’m loving and that has festive colours. The prompts can be found here if you want to join in. I’m hoping to use mostly books read this year. Let’s begin:
WRAPPING PAPER (a lovely cover)
The House With the Golden Door is the second in Elodie Harper’s Wolf Den Trilogy and this is a series that I’m totally loving with beautiful blue and cold colouring on the cover.
Tomorrow: Presents – a book you enjoyed more than you expected
Friday Face Off : Assassins
2 December 2022
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Books by Proxy, Friday Face off, Maria V Snyder, Poison Study
Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book (this doesn’t have to be a book that you’ve read), compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future’s themes are listed below – if you have a cover in mind that you’re really wanting to share then feel free to leave a comment about a future suggested theme. I’ve also listed events that take place during the year, that I’m aware of, so you can link up your covers – if you’re aware of any events that you think I should include then give me a shout.
I’ve added themes in below. For information, I’m trying out some new ideas so along with coming up with particular items for book covers I thought we could also look for certain elements contained within the book or that play a large part in the story – this really broadens things out because I have plenty of more ideas with this – I’ve gone for a few of the Tough Travel Themes (so a book with that theme – just choose any book – the theme isn’t necessarily on the cover, then compare covers), also, I’ve thrown in some genres and some colours. Hopefully this will open things out a little and give us some more freedom to come up with new books.
This week’s theme:
Assassins
Firstly, some news. As of the new year the Friday Face Off will be changing slightly which is why I haven’t posted a new list of themes. The FFO has been running for a few years now and I’ve had a lot of fun coming up with themes and finding books with covers that fit, but, I think the idea of themes has run its course and so from the new year the face off will be taking a more general course. This opens things up a little I think so you can choose any book that you’d like to compare the covers of.
Anyway, back to this week’s theme – assassins. I’m using a book that I loved, a series I loved – Poison Study by Maria V Snyder.
My favourite:
Do you have a favourite?
If you’re taking part in this week’s theme feel free to leave your link in the comments below. Also, you may have noticed that I’ve not updated the list. I’m making a change to the Friday Face Off and will post more soon on that front.
If you know of an event that’s coming up let me know and I’ll try and include covers that work for the event itself so that you can link up to the Friday Face Off and, as always, if you wish to submit an idea then leave me a comment – or if you’d like to host a week then simply let me know. Also, I would just mention that it’s very possible that some of these might be repeats from previous FFOs although I have tried to invent more ‘open ended’ prompt that can be interpreted differently and also prompts that relate to emotions. Finally, don’t struggle with any of these, this is meant to be a fun way of highlighting books. If you can’t come up with a book you think fits for a particular week use a freebie – perhaps a recent read for example:
Next Week’s Theme : Darklord
2022
Books and travelling with Lynn 