Weekly Wrap Up : 16th June 2019
16 June 2019
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Laura Purcell, Limited Wish, Mark Lawrence, Patricia Briggs, Silence Fallen, The Corset, Weekly wrap up
Hello again everyone. Hope you’ve had a good week. The weather has been absolutely horrible but the silver lining of bad weather is more reading. I’ve read three books this week and I have to confess I’m on a role – three really great reads. Limited Wish – the second instalment of Mark Lawrence’s time travelling sci fi which is a lot of fun and totally mind bending in a great way (how is that not a contradiction?). The 10th instalment of the Mercy Thompson series which I really enjoyed and really shook things up and finally The Corset by Laura Purcell – which absolutely blew me away – I loved it. In other news SPFBO5 is now live – and has already received over 250 entrants – in fact the tally as this post goes live is 264. Looks like there’s some strong competition and I’m looking forward to seeing which books and authors are in my group. So, here’s what I’ve been reading:
My books:
- Limited Wish by Mark Lawrence – 4.5 stars
- Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs – 4 stars
- The Corset by Laura Purcell – 5 stars
Next scheduled reads:
- The Whisper Man by Alex North
- Nocturna by Maya Motayne
- Across the Void by SK Vaughn
Upcoming reviews
- King of the Road by RS Belcher
- Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs
- The Fall by Tracy Townsend
- Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs
- The Corset by Laura Purcell
I’d love to know what you’re reading this week.
Friday Face Off : “Coraline opened the box of chocolates. The dog looked at them longingly.”
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, compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future week’s themes are listed below – the list has been updated to help out those of you who like to plan ahead – 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. This week’s theme:
“Coraline opened the box of chocolates. The dog looked at them longingly.” – A cover featuring something sweet
Ohh this was a tough theme. I did have a couple of books such as Chocolat or Willy Wonka but I think I’ve used them both before so I’ve gone for a book that I read many moons ago – a sweet book and a lovely read. Magical realism if you like it. My book this week is : The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen and here are the covers:
My favourite is – notice the cup cake:
This cover is kind of simple but I just like it with all the little bits and pieces that feature in the story.
Which one is your favourite?
Like last week I’ve added a Mr Linky here so that you can leave a link if you wish or please leave me a link in the comments so we can all visit and check out each others covers. Thanks
I’ve updated the list and included themes through to the end of 2019 – I’ve also included events that I’m aware of so that you can perhaps link your themes up where possible (if you know of an event you’d like to share that let me know in the comments). I also have a list prepared for 2020 and so will set up a separate page soon for forthcoming themes. As always, if you wish to submit an idea then leave me a comment.
Next week – Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year – Pagan rituals/standing stones/blazing suns – a cover with your own interpretation
Future themes: (if you’re struggling with any of these themes then use a ‘freebie’ or one of your favourite covers)
2019
21st June – Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year – Pagan rituals/standing stones/blazing suns – a cover with your own interpretation
28th June – “And who decided which people wore the striped pyjamas” – A cover that is striped
5th July – “The question of whether or not we are alone in the universe… has been answered” – a cover featuring something/somebody historic
12th July – A wrap around cover
19th July – “You can’t choose between life and death when we’re dealing with what is in between.” – A cover that is grainy or looks like ‘white noise’
26th July – “Ludo ….. down” – A cover that is Upside Down
2nd August – “There are children here somewhere. I can smell them.” A cover featuring children
9th August – “I’m disinclined to acquiesce to your request.” – A cover featuring Pirates
16th August – “The haft of the arrow had been feathered with one of the eagles own plumes” – a cover featuring feathers
23rd August – A cover that is a movie tie in
30th August – “I wandered lonely as a cloud” – a cover that is predominantly yellow
6th September “Warm September brings the fruit” – a cover that is seasonal for Autumn/Fall
13th September – Friday the 13th – unlucky for some! A cover with ‘curse’ in the title
20th September – “Your hair is winter fire,January embers.” – A cover featuring hair
27th September – Freebie
4th October – “Feed me Seymour” – A cover that is 60s horror
11th October – ““And, though there should be a world of difference between the smile of a man and the bared fangs of a wolf, with Joss Merlyn they were one and the same.” – a cover featuring an Inn
18th October – “It’s your favorite scary movie, remember? He had on the white mask, he stalked the babysitters.” – A cover featuring a scream
25th October – for Halloween – pick any scary cover you like
(I’m hoping that November will once again bring to us SciFiMonth – Twitter @SciFiMonth)
1st November – A cover that is predominantly grey
8th November – “big badda boom” – a cover that features an explosion
15th November – “No thinking thing should be another thing’s property, to be turned on and off when it is convenient.” – a cover featuring a robot
22nd November – A cover that is Futuristic
29th November – “When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.” – a cover that is 60s sci fi
6th December – Now is the winter of our discontent, Made glorious summer by this sun of York” – a cover that puts you in mind of winter
13th December – A cover that features a temple/or religious icon
20th December – Longest Night – a dark and foreboding cover
27th December – the festive season – a cover that is glittery or sparkling
(2020 – January is Vintage SciFi month so I’ll be including possible themes to take that on board.)
Limited Wish (Impossible Times #2) by Mark Lawrence
13 June 2019
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Impossible Times #2, Limited Wish, Mark Lawrence
Limited Wish was a blast of a book that brought with it more mind bending paradoxes and adventure very much in the style of Back to the Future. This series is a whole lot of fun – although I’m not sure fun is the word I’m really looking for or truly says what I want it to – it will suffice for now and maybe I’ll shoot back in time later and revamp this – and nobody will even see this version. Also, be aware that this review may contain spoilers for One Word Kill so unless ‘current you’ has a way of manipulating time and jumping back to tell ‘past you’ not to read it – then, well, be warned. That is all.
We jump forward a little as the story begins and find Nick in a punt, racing from a bunch of hysterical students with blood on their mind. It seems that Nick has caused offence in some way and is about to pay the price unless he can make his escape. As it happens, a young woman saves the day and rescues the dude in distress. Hooray.
Meet Helen. Nick has that strange feeling of deja vu, he’s sure he’s met Helen a few months earlier in what has come to feel like a haunting event. Helen is also a student at Cambridge, easy going and easy to like Nick develops an almost immediate crush – but, what about Mia you might very well ask – well, Mia and Nick are no longer dating, too much stress accompanied their pre-destined relationship – but, hold up, I’m getting ahead of myself.
Nick, at the age of 16, finds himself unexpectedly attending Cambridge University, mathematical genius and beater of cancer. He’s working, alongside an eminent professor to discover the time travel he will need to make use of in later years. Of course all is not plain sailing. Apart from getting off to a bad start with a number of the older students who very much resent Nick’s existence let alone his gall in attending their prestigious university, the pressure of finding scientific solutions becomes very real when the sponsors of the project start to use strong arm tactics to keep things on track. On top of this Nick once again finds himself becoming something of an anomaly, strange things occur around him and he finds himself visited by people from a future yet to come. But none of these things are as life threatening as the ‘wrinkle in time’ that has affected Nick’s timeline so disastrously and resulted in him having to cope not only with a world determined to see his demise but also facing the news that the cancer he beat has returned with a vengeance. Things have gone rapidly wrong to say the least.
I’m not going to go further into the plot as this could undoubtedly spoil the surprises in store. There is no shortage of mind bending twists in Limited Wish. It really is a book that will make you stop short and think hard. I love the conundrums created here, it truly is a ‘what came first, the chicken or the egg?’ type of read. If somebody didn’t come back in time in book one, for example, would time travel even have been thought of as a possibility? Riddle me this – the Terminator – travels back in time to assassinate the mother of the rebel leader who is proving such a problem in the future and in doing so leaves behind a peace of technology that is so futuristic that it actually enables that future, which the Terminator comes from, to exist. Yep, it kind of does my head in too but in a good way that, as strange as it may sound, I enjoy. So many, infinite possibilities that occur not in a lifetime but in a mere instant, all with the possibility to split into different possible futures.
On top of this we have the return of Nick’s friends, or nearly all of them. They’re starting to lead more separate lives in some ways, and Nick’s departure to University has helped to speed up the rift a little, but they still come together every weekend to share their love of D&Ds. Mia has a boyfriend and Nick struggles to come to terms with it all, particularly when she starts to bring her new fella to their weekly games sessions. It’s all part of growing up.
Lawrence has definitely tapped into our love of a certain era with this series. It’s just got such great vibes, its fast paced and is basically a story very well told. The other thing that is really well done is the voice of the main protagonist. Nick feels like a 16 year old and even though Lawrence manages to make this seem deceptively easy to achieve I have to applaud it especially the way that the main thrust of the story is all about the difficult choices which he’s presented with – which is a very real issue when you’re in your teens.
In terms of criticisms. I don’t really have anything to be honest other than the fact that the other characters play something of a lesser role here – but it feels like a natural part of their own growing up.
A second instalment that builds admirably on the foundations laid in the first book and in fact develops in even more twisted ways – I can’t even begin to imagine the ways in which the third book will explore the multiple possibilities that open up when time travel is a possibility.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
Can’t Wait Wednesday : The True Bastards (The Lot Lands #2) by Jonathan French
12 June 2019
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Can't wait Wednesday, Jonathan French, The Grey Bastards, The Lot Lands #2, The True Bastards, 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 : The True Bastards (The Lot Lands #2) by Jonathan French. When I saw the cover release for this one I was positively giddy with excitement. I loved the Grey Bastards and have been eagerly anticipating the second book in series – I now have a serious case of grabby hands. Definitely a woohoo moment and you can read all about it below to see why:
Fetching was once the only female rider in the Lot Lands. Now she is the leader of her own hoof, a band of loyal half orcs sworn to her command. But in the year since she took power, the True Bastards have struggled to survive. Tested to the breaking point by the burdens of leadership, Fetching battles desperately to stave off famine, desertion, and the scorn of the other half-orc chieftains, even as orcs and humans alike threaten the Lots’ very existence. Then an old enemy finds a way to strike at her from beyond the grave–and suddenly only one, faint hope for salvation remains.
Expected publication : October 2019
Bookish opinions: good, bad and ugly
11 June 2019
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: That Artsy Reader Girl, The Broke and the Bookish, Top Ten Tuesday, Unpopular book opinions
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 is:
Unpopular Bookish Opinions
I wasn’t really sure where to go with this one so I’ve probably gone off on a strange tangent but here are some of my probably unpopular bookish opinions:
- I don’t finish a book if I’m not enjoying it. I used to be absolutely completist and read dogmatically through a book whether I was enjoying it or not. I think I’ve come to realise that life is too short and there are a lot of good books. Therefore if I’m going to find all the good books then I’ll have to stop reading the ones I’m not enjoying. This probably makes my blog and reviews look as though they’re always glowing with praise – but that’s primarily because I only continue reading the books I’m enjoying. Otherwise reading becomes a chore and I tend to go into a slump.
- I’m an absolute convert to e-books. I know – break out the pitchforks! I just find them so convenient. I love physical books, the tactileness of reading them, just turning the pages, well, everything. But, I can’t deny I’ve totally gone over to the dark side. I read on kindle. My kindle has a backlight which I just love. I can carry around hundreds of books – which might feel unnecessary but, hey, you never know. It’s really easy to just highlight chapter headings, names, places or even make notes and I really like some of the other features like knowing how many minutes are left in a chapter – so I can easily prioritise between sleep and reading.
- Similar to the above, I’m starting to get on board with audio books. They don’t all work for me I have to admit and I know there seems to be a whole body of opinion out there that this isn’t really reading, and technically, maybe it isn’t actual reading – but I’m still mentally digesting the book so I say it counts. I did worry that audio wouldn’t work for me and that I’d switch off and miss huge swathes of infortmation but if anything it’s exactly the opposite. And, if you’re listening to a book with difficult place and character names you have the added bonus of correct pronunciation – and if you heard me making a totally ass out of some of the names I’ve read you’d truly understand what a gift this is. Yep, I’m very pleasantly surprised with just how well audio is working out for me.
- I don’t mind books that pay attention to detail. In fact I welcome some of the detail – obviously I don’t need every leaf on a tree or stone in a house detailing, and I don’t want a room describing in full every time a character enters but I like the extra attention that helps to bring the world alive even though I recognise that others may feel this sometimes slows the plot down.
- Ratings. At the moment I don’t rate the books on my blog – basically I don’t always think I make the right choice for my ratings and so I prefer to go off the tone of the review. So, if I’m gushing like a love sick puppy then it’s probably a full 5* whereas if I’m just giving a very straightforward review that tends to have the words ‘enjoyed’ and ‘liked’ as oppose to ‘smitten’, ‘in love’ etc, then that would be a book that was okay, a decent read, but probably 3/3.5 stars. (However, I am considering changing this in the near future. I have to rate my review books after all.
- I like adaptations. I know this can be a mixed bag and that some books adapted to screen can be a disaster but overall I just really like to see some of my favourite books converted into movies or series and I’m happy to take the risk – after all, if I don’t like the adaptation it doesn’t spoil the book for me.
- I can’t listen to music and read. It’s just not possible for me at all – too much conflict of interest – one of them always wins out and usually I realise that I’ve read the same page twenty times and not absorbed a single word because I’m too busy singing – badly singing at that.
- I don’t like every type of book! This is a fairly common misconception – people see you read a lot and so very kindly pass on their books to you – but more often than not they’re not your type of book. Just picture it – somebody brings in a box of books and says ‘you love reading don’t you, so I’ve brought you in some books I was getting rid of’ – firstly, my anticipation has now skyrocketed, BOOKS – what sort of books will they be, excitement am I. Then I open the box and can’t discover a single thing to stay excited about – BUT – because I’m very polite I have to maintain this expression (that is killing my cheeks btw) that everything is just hunky dory. Not to mention this person is then going to relentlessly pursue me for the next six months asking how I liked them all. Doomed. I’m not being ungrateful, seriously I’m not but more often than not I’d sooner not be the local second hand book depository because it rarely works out – I mean, what are the chances of somebody giving me a whole set of amazing fantasy books??
- Certain popular book tropes just don’t work for me – to name a few off the top of my head – instalove (lust by another name), love triangles, mysteriously never present parents, etc.
- I’ve told you mine now tell me yours….
