Booking Ahead/Weekly Wrap Up
15 February 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Review, book-blog, Booking Ahead, Books, Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Fantasy, reading, Sunday Post, Weekly wrap up

Today I’m posting my Weekly Wrap Up and I’m linking up to The Sunday Post over at Kimberly’s Caffeinated Reviewer. Without further ado:
Weekly Update
The bad weather has lessened which is a relief. I mean, it’s not brilliant, but it is better. I have been busy this week for some reason but I’ve still managed to squeeze in a couple of books. Here’s what I’ve been up to. I completed Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward, I enjoyed it but beware because it’s very dark. I also read Temple Fall by RL Boyle. I had mixed feelings with this one which is a bit of a shame, my review should be up tomorrow. I am currently reading Green and Deadly Things by Jenn Lyons (which is one of my March books). In other news I did pick up Loving a Vampire is Total Chaos by Aura Hayes but this was a DNF for me at 30%. I’m also listening to Boudicca’s Daughter by Elodie Harper which I’m hoping to finish next week.


Next Week’s reads
Well, I’d like to complete Green and Deadly Things by Jenn Lyons and also finish listening to Boudicca’s daughter by Elodie Harper. If I manage that I was thinking I would then pick up Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. But, the best laid plans, etc, etc. Watch this space.



Reviews Posted:
- Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
- Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward


Outstanding Reviews
- Temple Fall by RL Boyle
January Round Up: What’s on My Plate for February
31 January 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Backlist books, Book Reviews, book-blog, Bookforager's Picture Prompt Book Bingo 2026, Books, Books Bones and Buffy, February reads, fiction, January Round Up, reading, What's on my Plate
This year I’m once again going to try to post a wrap up for the end of each month, mainly to help me to keep track of my reading and at the same time look at what I’m intending to read during the month ahead (inspired by Books Bones and Buffy’s What’s on My Plate.
My Monthly Wrap Up: January
I had a really good reading month in January. I managed to complete all my review books, plus I read two of my February books. I also picked up one of my backlist books. I have three reviews outstanding which I am hoping to post next week. Here’s what I read:
- Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
- A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St James
- Rings of Fate by Melissa de la Cruz
- The Wolf and the Crown of Blood by Elizabeth May
- Fiend by Alma Katsu
- Enchanting the Fae Queen by Stephanie Burgis
- Traitor in the Ice by Karen Maitland
- Nightshade and Oak by Molly O’Neill
- Storm by Rachel Hawkins
- A Forest Darkly by AG Slatter










What’s On My Plate: February:
- Nightshade and Oak by Molly O’Neill – Already Read
- A Forest Darkly by AG Slatter – Already Read
- Temple Fall by RL Boyle
- Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
- Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward
- Loving a Vampire is Total Chaos by Aura Hayes
- The Magician’s Daughter by HG Parry (Backlist book)







Backlist Book
Traitor in the Ice by KJ Maitland (review to follow next week)
February’s Backlist book: The Magician’s Daughter by HG Parry

Bookforager‘s Picture Prompt Book Bingo
And the ‘wordy’ version:
Picture Prompt Book Bingo 2026 (text version)
| 1. A teacup and saucer | 2. A set of weighing scales | 3. A moth | 4. A hand holding some fanned out playing cards |
| 5. A hot air balloon | 7. A human eye | 8. A cooking pot hanging over a campfire | |
| 9. A griffin | 10. A large, old key | 11. A hand holding a threaded needle | 12. An octopus |
| 13. A plant being repotted | 14. A skull and crossbones | 15. A decorative water fountain | 16. A pinch-clip purse |
This month I’m going to tick off No.6 – An acorn by using Nightshade and Oak (which feels very appropriate) – I mean, check out the cover:
Booking Ahead/Weekly Wrap Up
25 January 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Reviews, book-blog, Booking Ahead, Books, Caffeinated Book Reviewer, reading, The Sunday Post, Weekly wrap up

Today I’m posting my Weekly Wrap Up and I’m linking up to The Sunday Post over at Kimberly’s Caffeinated Reviewer. Without further ado:
Weekly Update
The weather is still horrible, rain, rain and more rain. Anyway, reading and blogging has been okay this week. I finished Enchanting the Fae Queen by Stephanie Burgis which I really enjoyed and I also read Nightshade and Oak by Molly O’Neill. In audio I started Rachel Hawkin’s The Storm which is turning out to be a very quick story.
Next Week’s reads
Next week I’m hoping to make a start on my first Backlist book, Traitor in the Ice by KJ Maitland. I’d also like to finish listening to The Storm by Rachel Hawkins and maybe make a start on another February review book – A Forest Darkly by AG Slatter.
Reviews Posted:
- Enchanting the Fae Queen (Queens of Villainy #2) by Stephanie Burgis
- Fiend by Alma Katsu
- The Wolf and the Crown of Blood by Elizabeth May (The Broken Accords #1)
Outstanding Reviews
- Outlaw Planet by MR Carey
- Nightshade and Oak by Molly O’Neill
Booking Ahead/Weekly Wrap Up
11 January 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Reviews, book-blog, Booking Ahead, Books, Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Kimberly, reading, Sunday Post, Weekly wrap up

Today I’m posting my Weekly Wrap Up and II’m linking up to The Sunday Post over at Kimberly’s Caffeinated Reviewer. Without further ado:
Weekly Update
I have been a bit sporadic with my weekly updates but I really need to get back on board otherwise I completely lose track of what I’ve read and when I’ve read it. Plus it helps me monitor outstanding reviews. I’ve also (literally just) decided to update my A-Z of book reviews, this hasn’t been updated for years so I imagine it will take some time but I’m determined to do it.
So, this is my first update since the new year. I’ve posted a number of posts starting with my favourite books of 2025, my December round up, a Top Ten Tuesday post that gave me the opportunity to come up with another ten great books, my bookish resolutions and three reviews (What Stalks the Deep, Play Nice and A Box Full of Darkness. My reading has got off to a good start kicking off with A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St James (spoiler alert – I loved it) and earlier today I completed Rings of Fate by Melissa de la Cruz. I have three books left to complete in January – The Wolf and the Crown of Blood by Elizabeth May, Fiend by Alma Katsu and Enchanting the Fae Queen by Stephanie Burgis.
Next Week’s reads
Next week I’m hoping to read The Wolf and the Crown of Blood by Elizabeth May and make a start on Enchanting the Fae Queen by Stephanie Burgis. That will mean I have only one more January review book so I can then pick up a couple of February reads and maybe one of my backlist books. Although you know what they say about the best laid plans.
- Version 1.0.0
Reviews Posted:
- What Stalks the Deep by T Kingfisher
- Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
- A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St James
Outstanding Reviews
- Outlaw Planet by MR Carey
- The Last Death of the Year by Sophie Hannah
- Rings of Fate by Melissa de la Cruz
Bookish Resolutions for 2026
10 January 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Beat the Backlist, book-blog, Bookforager's Picture Prompt Book Bingo 2026, bookish, Bookish Resolutions, Books, reading
Well, this may be a little bit later than my usual style post but I didn’t want to be double posting. This year I’m going for a very simple and easy format for this. I don’t want to set myself any unrealistic goals or resolutions just keep it nice and simple.
For 2026:
I aim to be very careful about book requests. Last year I had a few episodes where my reading lessened for one reason or another and I fell behind, which just leads to massive feelings of guilt. So, this year I would like to be reasonable and keep my bookish requests to about 6/8 per month.
I would really like to raise my Netgalley stats. I mean, they’re not as bad as they could be but the recommended level of feedback is 80%. At the moment I’m teetering on 76/77 and I would like to improve this (although I do now have over 1,000 reviews submitted). It’s difficult because for a couple of years I went a bit crazy with requests being totally unrealistic with the books I asked for. Like I didn’t quite comprehend that those books needed to be read within a given period and feedback provided. Believe me, I am a lot, lot better, but, I did cause some damage in the first couple of years. My aim this year to do better – learn from my mistake people.
With the above in mind I would also like to read some backlist books. I did start to do so this year but then everything went to hell in a handcart so this year I would really like to read one per month. I just need to stay focused and with that in mind I thought I’d choose 12 books. Here they are (have you read any of these, and if so, do you recommend – this list is still up for debate):
I would actually like to write my reviews quicker. I used to write my reviews almost immediately upon finishing the book and I liked it that way, writing while everything was fresh and the emotions were running high. I really don’t like getting behind with reviews is the other reason.
I’d like to read 100 books this year. This is quite a normal figure for me in terms of books but due to personal reasons I didn’t read as much this year. Hopefully, 2026 is a nice smooth year. One can but wish.
I’m joining in with Bookforagers Picture Prompt Book Bingo. I love this bingo, it allows me a lot of artistic license so that I can complete the full sheet and everyone loves a challenge that they can complete don’t they?
I’m also considering taking part in another couple of challenges, I really like the A-Z book challenge and also the Spell the month in books. I’m still considering those and don’t want to overdo things so we’ll see.
That’s it for me. I’ll see you all around the blogosphere. Wish me luck and I wish all of you the best for 2026.































