Booking Ahead/Weekly Wrap Up
13 June 2021
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 this last year 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:
Last week:
I went off plan a little bit this week and read the first three of my SPFBO books. Hopefully reviews will be forthcoming this week. I’ve read a little more of For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten which I will complete this week, also hoping to complete my fourth SPFBO book. My two buddy reads have suffered a little as a result. I’m hoping to delve back into First Law later today and then I’ll be starting my third Discworld book. I’ve had an awful cold this week which in some ways slowed me down but at the same time gave me a little more down time for reading.
Complete For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten. Read my fourth SPFBO book. I still have a few more review books this month so hopefully think about which to pick up next.
- Wendy, Darling by AC Wise
- Day Zero by C Robert Cargill
Forthcoming Reviews:
- Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop
- Stranded by Rosalind Tate
- Graves Robbed, Heirlooms Returned by Ashley Capes
- Deathborn by CE Page
Friday Face Off : Covers that make you rant
11 June 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Books by Proxy, Covers that annoy you, Friday Face off

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.
Small update – I’m still catching up with blog hopping and I haven’t even started on comments on my own blog. I have read them all just not got back to everyone at the moment. I’ve been catching up with reviews and review books – or at least trying, I’ve caught a wicked cold and I don’t mind telling you it’s wiped me out. One day I will be fully caught up – one day very soon *fingers crossed*.
This week’s theme:
A cover that annoyed you and why
I have a few things that make me go on a rant about book covers. For the most part I’m very positive about covers and love sharing but there are a couple of things that really wind me up. Titles or author names being almost illegible/invisible. Huge banners that cut out most of the artwork, covers that are baffling because they don’t depict the content at all or misrepresent it somehow and – books with stickers on the covers. I do understand why publishers use the stickers and the desire to shout things from the rooftops, but, I’d go a long way to avoid buying a book with a sticker on it – it used to be that those stickers, were actual stickers and you could at least remove them (although not always successfully) but these days, they’re printed onto the cover. Argh!!!!
Anyway, to the covers – and for the record, these are covers that I like – I just don’t like the stickers:
Anyway, no favourite this week. Just a little medley of covers – that I like (for the record) – but that annoy me because of the stickers. I know, I need to just chill out don’t I?
I’ve updated the list now to include themes for next year. 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 – Out of perspective/makes you feel a bit dizzy
2021
June
18th – Out of Perspective, or make you feel a bit dizzy
25th – Upside down, back to front or topsy turvy
July
2nd – A book with a landscape you’d like to visit
9th – A Wicked Grin
16th – Books with ‘book’ in the title
23rd – A Black Hole – could be in the universe or going deep into the ground
30th – Chaos – maybe too much going on in this one
August
6th – “They cluck their thick tongues, and shake their heads and suggest, os so very delicately!” – The Motel
13th – A favourite holiday read
20th – Dressed to kill (could be literally someone dressed to kill, or someone dressed up for a big night out
27th – Sunbathing or on the beach
September (RIP event)
3rd – 1920s feel, noir detective
10th – I’m Henry the Eighth I am – let’s look at Kings or other Emperors/rulers
17th – Books with ‘Murder’ in the title
24th – A favourite thriller
October
1st – A Halloween read
8th – Chills – anything at all that almost makes you too scared to pick up the book (your own pet hate)
15th – Your favourite book of magic
22nd – Books with ‘Queen’ in the title
29th – Must be gothic
November – Sci Fi Month
5th – Your earliest sci-fi read or the first sci-fi you reviewed
12th – A book with ‘star’ in the title
19th – Futuristic vista
26th – A Black Hole – in the universe or going deep into the ground
December
3rd – Windswept, the classic figure, stood majestically, with wind blowing out in a fetching way
10th – A fairytale retold
17th – Winter Solstice approaching – anything cold and seasonal
24th – All things fire – red hair, red covers, fire breathing dragons, simply fire?
31st – What’s your catnip – if it’s on a cover you have to pick it up
Day Zero by C Robert Cargill
My Five Word TL:DR Review : I absolutely loved this book
In a nutshell this is an incredibly entertaining story about one small boy and his tiger bot nanny. It has just about everything you could want from such a story. It takes a look at issues such as slavery and artificial intelligence whilst at the same time exploring loyalty. There are plenty of fun moments which help to offset the bloodshed and horror, lots of action and underneath that a very touching and heartfelt story about the love between a young boy and his plush anthropomorphic tiger. What more could you possibly want.
I won’t elaborate too much on the plot. This is a prelude to the wonderful Sea of Rust by the same author. Rest assured that it isn’t necessary to have read that book before picking this up (although it is very good so why deny yourself the pleasure of reading it?) This is a standalone novel with a self contained story in which we discover how the post apocalyptic world from Sea of Rust actually came about – and it’s a harsh story indeed that eventually concludes with humans wiped from the face of the earth.
As the story begins we meet Pounce. I have to say that I adore Pounce, but more of that in a little while. Pounce is coming to terms with the worrying notion that once his ‘charge’, Ezra, grows up, his role in the Reinhart household will no longer be necessary. This hadn’t occurred to him until he found the box in which he was delivered stashed away in the attic and questions why the box was kept – obviously to return him once he’s no longer needed. Pounce is shocked and a little sad, he loves his family and they love him don’t they? Or is he just a robot, purchased to serve a purpose? This is when Pounce begins to question things and become more aware of events taking place around him, a general sense of unease, tensions between humans and AI and a groundbreaking case where an AI known as Issac is given his freedom. Long story short – things are about to get real, by which I mean everything is going to kick off.
There are so many reasons that I loved this.
The writing is fantastic, Cargill is excellent at describing action scenes and also quite masterful at pulling you into the story immediately. His sense of timing is perfect. We no sooner meet the family and start to ponder Pounce’s dilema than the plot moves forward, again and again and before you know it you’re in the middle of the most unexpected adventure. And I can’t deny that the adventure and action are just great. It does have a sort of popcorn feel to it because things move along at a swift clip but there is also the thought provoking moments that continue to play a role in an ever evolving way and I love the shout outs to Asimov that are included here. This might not be quite as deep as Asimov’s take on the theme but it is nonetheless really entertaining and a story that I think would make a great adaptation to the big screen.
The characters. The main characters are Pounce and Ezra and they are a fantastic team to follow. Kind of put me in mind of the second Terminator film with the young John Connor. Ironically, at 8 years of age, the family were starting to consider whether or not Ezra still needed a nanny, thankfully that decision hadn’t been made before the uprising began and that’s probably the biggest piece of luck that Ezra ever had. There’s so much more to Pounce than a plush and loyal tiger AI although I won’t say exactly why here because it’s such a woohoo moment when you discover his hidden talents. The thing I particularly loved about Pounce was the time he took to explain things to Ezra and the way he treats him, even though he’s questioning his own choices at this point or more to the point how he came to make those choices, Pounce always has time for Ezra. There are moments of pure tenderness between the two and those moments together with the humour that Cargill manages to throw in really help to offset the somewhat blood fuelled horrorfest when the AIs go on the rampage. There are also a bunch of extra characters that come into play that I also really loved.
The other thing that I’m really hopeful about, given the ending, is that maybe Cargill has something more in store for this world – I have my fingers and toes crossed for that eventuality of course, that could be just plain wishful thinking on my part, not to mention I can sometimes be quite wide of the mark when it comes to second guessing things – but nothing wrong with a bit of speculation crossed with a bit of hope.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 5 of 5 stars
Can’t Wait Wednesday : Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest
9 June 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Can't wait Wednesday, Cherie Priest, Grave Reservations, Wishful Endings

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine. Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for. If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. This week my book is : Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest. I just love the sound of this and I’m already familiar with this author and enjoy her writing very much so here’s the description:
A psychic travel agent and a Seattle PD detective solve a murder in this quirky mystery in the vein of Lisa Lutz’s The Spellman Files and Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden series.
Meet Leda Foley: devoted friend, struggling travel agent, and inconsistent psychic. When Leda, sole proprietor of Foley’s Flights of Fancy, impulsively re-books Seattle PD detective Grady Merritt’s flight, her life changes in ways she couldn’t have predicted.
After watching his original plane blow up from the safety of the airport, Grady realizes that Leda’s special abilities could help him with a cold case he just can’t crack.
Despite her scattershot premonitions, she agrees for a secret reason: her fiancé’s murder remains unsolved. Leda’s psychic abilities couldn’t help the case several years before, but she’s been honing her skills and drawing a crowd at her favorite bar’s open-mic nights, where she performs Klairvoyant Karaoke—singing whatever song comes to mind when she holds people’s personal effects. Now joined by a rag-tag group of bar patrons and pals alike, Leda and Grady set out to catch a killer—and learn how the two cases that haunt them have more in common than they ever suspected.
Expected Publication : October 2021
Top Ten Tuesday : Please sir, I want some more.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where every Tuesday we look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) bookish examples to demonstrate that particular topic. Top Ten Tuesday (created and hosted by The Broke and Bookish) is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found here. This week’s topic :
Books I Loved so much that I wanted more of the same thing:
This is a list that could become very long quite easily so instead of delving into the books from my way in the distance past I’m going to focus on books from my very near past. Here are ten books that I really enjoyed and wish that I could read more (this could have so easily been a lot longer list in fact I’m so pleased at the restraint I exercised). All the books are linked to reviews and they are all standalone novels or first in series:
- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
- A Boy and His dog at the End of the World by CA Fletcher
- A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay
- Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
- The Bone Ships by RJ Barker
- The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar
- The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
- The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
- Later by Stephen King



