My Bookish Weekly Wrap Up!

Hello all!! Sat here looking out on blue skies, which makes a change from the greyness of the past couple of days! Why can’t it be like this all the time?!

I trust we’ve all had a wonderful week?!  One word sums mine up, SLUGGISH!  That’s how I’ve felt and how my approach to reading has been! It’s like the reading side of my brain – if there is such a thing! – has gone on strike and I’ve really struggled to find the time or inclination to pick anything up!  Never a good thing BUT I’m happy to report that the past 24 hours have shown me that the brain can still work and reading has picked up a little so hopefully this is a good sign and will carry on! And with a big storm forecast for tomorrow, this could be handy for reading time!!  And eating biscuits!!

So how has your reading week been?!  Read much? Bought much?! Despite my little slump I have still managed to finish 3 books, 1 of which was an audio book.  Does anyone else do the audio thing?! I’m still undecided on the matter as I do find myself often being distracted while listening and not taking in what has been going on! Maybe the ‘audio’ part of my brain needs some re-training!!  

So here’s how my bookish week has looked… please click on the title if you’d like to read my GoodReads reviews!

BOOKS FINISHED

Heartless by Marissa Meyer – 4 stars

So lovely to read a book of my choice, just for fun and really escape into!! I need to do this more often!!

Wide Awake Asleep by Louise Wise  – 3 stars

The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler –  4 stars

 

This was the audio book that I listened to and it did take a while for me to get into, but was worth the effort!

BOOK HAUL

This week there has only really been one book on my radar that I NEEDED to have and so today I got my mitts on a copy thanks to a little visit to a nearby Waterstones….

La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

 

Finally!!  La Belle Sauvage is with us!! Anyone else as excited as me?!  If you’ve not read His Dark Materials trilogy then this will mean nothing to you! But if you have, then this means everything and I can’t wait to see what journey this ‘prequel’ trilogy will take us all on!! Squeeeeee!!!

And another book/comic that I’ve been excited to get hold of arrived this week too..

I Hate Fairyland #3 by Skottie Young

This is fabulous fun and such good escapism! If you are looking for a good way to break into comics/graphic novels, then you can’t go wrong with this! It is fluffing fantastic!!

The Bones of Grace by Tahmima Anam

This was a freebie as I re-subscribed to the fabulous Nudge Books who produce a rather fine magazine and website full of book recommendations and reviews, and I’m intrigued to read this as I’ve not heard of the author before.

My Side of the Diamond by Sally Gardner

First saw this on another fab book website, Readers First , where you get to read a first impression of a book  and that is what made me want to read more!  Has a bit of a sci-fi twist to it and that always gets my attention!  It has mixed reviews and sounds like a bit of  hit or miss book – wonder which side of the fence I’ll be on!!

CURRENTLY READING

Visited the Borrowbox app again on my tablet for yet another audiobook to listen too while I do some cross-stitch ( I like to multi-task when I can!!) and this was my choice;

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

I have the paperback version of this – with it’s lovely green page edges! – and it has been sitting on my bookshelves FOREVER!! So when I saw it available in Audio version I jumped in and started to listen – so far so good!!  Really liking the storyline and pace!

How could I not jump in and start reading this straight away?! Perfect escapism reading material just before bedtime!!

The Crow Garden by Alison Littlewood

 

It’s that time of year again to start reading books that are a little darker and more mysterious and this is definitely one of those so far – really enjoying it and can’t wait to finish it which will hopefully be very soon!!!

So there we have another week all wrapped up!!  Just hope my reading brain doesn’t go on strike again anytime soon!  Hope it has been a successful reading and book buying week for you all too!! Any must reads that I need to add to my lists?!! Always love your comments!!

HAPPY READING

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My Bookish Weekly Wrap Up!

Greetings!!  Strike another week off the calendar!! And another week closer to Christmas! Noticed shops are already full of Christmas decorations and even heard Christmas songs being played in a garden centre I visited the other day – TOO EARLY!!!!    There is no escape!!

Hope a good bookish week has been had by you all! Been another productive one here with another 5 books finished! And only 3new books added to the TBR pile!  So I’m feeling very smug with myself!! But so many more added to the wish list after reading other peoples’ reviews – it’s all your fault people!! I hope you feel suitably told off!!!

So on with the bookish news sharing!!  Click on the title for links to GoodReads reviews and blurbs if you so wish to find out more .. i know you do!!!

BOOKS FINISHED

Into The Trees by Robert Williams  –  3 stars

Resort to Murder by TP Fielden  – 3 stars

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey  –  5 stars

Mischling by Affinity Konar  –  3 stars

DeadLands by Lloyd Otis  –  4 stars

BOOK HAUL

A restrained week on the book accumulating front which is always a good thing! Made it to a Bookshop last saturday for #BookshopDay and did hope to pick up a Tote Bag while in store, but they had NONE!!! GGRRRR!! But thankfully a lovely friend who owns a bookshop on the Isle of Bute managed to put one by for me so very happy to have my mitts on one! Guess I’ll have to go shopping again soon and fill it up with lovely books!!

While I was in a bookshop last week, I did pick up one book which is being sold to help raise funds for Oxfam with 100 % of the profits going to worthwhile projects that they run! Please click on the link below if you’d like to order your copy from Waterstones!!

The Invisible Child by Tove Jansson – Waterstones

Whiteout by Ragnar Jonasson

Ahead of the Blog Tour I’m due to take part in, the copy of Whiteout arrived so really looking forward to racing through this!

The Winds of Heaven by Monica Dickens

And another lovely Persephone book arrives to add to my collection!

CURRENTLY READING

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

This is my current ‘bedtime’ read and I’m loving it so far! Anything related to Alice in Wonderland is fine by me, and this is a great twist to the story!!

The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler

Still listening to the audiobook version of this and it is enjoyable BUT I do keep finding my mind wandering!! Is it me or is it the story?!  Hopefully I can make it to the end with some memory of what has been going on!

Wide Awake Asleep by Louise Wise

Just about to start this ahead of another Blog Tour soon to come your way!

And that’s it! Another week wrapped up! Any of these caught your eye?!  Any new books to recommend my way?! 

HAPPY READING!!

My Bookish Weekly Wrap Up!

Happy Friday to you all!  We made it through another week!!  And just about made it through here as insomnia has struck me again – bleurgh.  I seem to build up an immunity to all the pills and potions I try from the various chemists and health shops I visit, so this week has been a struggle! It could all be related to the full moon too though as I’ve been reading that it often affects the sleep patterns of some people – anyone else suffer?! Any miracle cures?!  Tempted to try a hammer to the head tonight and see if that knocks me out… will keep you posted on the success rate 😉

But on the positive side of things, insomnia does mean extra time for reading – ooh i wonder if too much reading could be an insomnia factor?! eek!!! 😒 – so I’ve managed to get another 5 books off the TBR pile!!  Always a good feeling to find time to read a number of books and it’s been a pretty positive reading experience as well! No book stinkers to report thankfully!! So here’s a little look at what I’ve read, what book post I’ve got, and what I’m now currently reading!! Are you ready?! Click on the titles for a link to my GoodReads reviews and all the blurby stuff!!

BOOKS FINISHED

Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier  –  3 stars

The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes   –  3 stars

Deadly Intent by Sheryl Browne  –  5 stars

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J. Sullivan  –  4 stars

Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Charlotte Butterfield  –  4 stars

Little bit of everything I think for me reading wise this week!! Just the way I like it!! No wonder my poor brain cells (if i have any left!) can’t switch off at night!!

BOOK POST / CURRENTLY READING

Oooh and this week the books I received are the books that I’ve dived right into and are currently keeping me company so here’s a little look at what they are!

The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio

Yep! I’ve gone all high brow!!  But just for September!!  To be honest I’d never heard of this book or author ( shame on me!!!) before I was watching BookTube and saw the lovely Adam at memento mori Youtube  and for this year he’s hosting a read-a-long for September or #Decomorama as it is known on Twitter and Instagram, for those of you who want in on the fun! It’s a chunkster of a book and I don’t know why it grabbed my attention to join in, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised so far at how relevant some of the stories are even now considering it was written in the wake of the Black Death!  My eyes have been opened to new reading experiences, and surely that is what we all love as readers!!

Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford

 published 12th September 2017

Was lucky enough to get this in the post on Thursday morning, thanks to the publishers Allison & Busby.  I’ve had ‘Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet’ on my bookshelves from this author for what seems like forever now, and it’s always been one of those books I want to get to, but never have.  But having started reading this already I definitely will be bumping  ‘Hotel’ up the TBR pile as I’m finding the way the author tells a story utterly captivating, and I’m hoping to finish this very soon as I’m racing through it!

So there we have it! All up to date and hopefully a few different books for you to consider adding to your shelves!  Hope you’ve all had a productive week – any books I need to add to my reading pile?! Look forward to some good recommendations!

HAPPY READING!!

My Bookish Weekly Wrap Up!!

And so we meet again!  Thank you for stopping by to check up on how my week has been  bookwise!  And happy to report that thanks to a rather fabulous Bank Holiday Weekend of very little socialising, and lots of hot weather to enjoy/endure, that meant my books finished total went up again and a grand total of 4 books were started and finished this week!  So that creeps my GoodReads reading challenge up to 146 for the year so far – way ahead of schedule!  So I could take the rest of the year off reading if I wanted to……. yeah right! Like that will happen with so many good books being released and already waiting on my shelves!!  So here’s a closer look at all those books that have kept me entertained this week, along with new arrivals and those I’m currently reading! Please click on the book title for links to my GoodReads reviews and GoodReads blurbs!

BOOKS FINISHED

Rubies in the Roses by Vivian Conroy   –  4 stars

The Lustre of Lost Things by Sophie Chen Keller   –  4 stars

High Spirits by Rob Keeley  –  5 stars

The Brazilian by Rosie Millard  –   3 stars

BOOK HAUL

Been fairly restrained again and treated myself to just one book this week, but the postie has brought me some lovely bookpost from lovely publishers that I’m really looking forward to diving into over the next few weeks – hopefully!!

Franklin’s Flying Bookshop by Jen Campbell

 First up, I treated myself to this beauty from Jen Campbell! It is her latest release and I did plan to give it to my niece, but I think I might have to buy another copy for her as I have fallen in love! Dragon!! Bookshops!! Need i say more?!  

The Fourteenth Letter by Claire Evans

 I always love a good historical mystery so this sounded perfect when I heard about it via Twitter, and the publishers kindly sent a copy my way so it’s on my ‘TBR v soon’ pile!!

Rattle by Fiona Cummins

With Autumn fast approaching, I’m ready to tackle a few scarier thrillers and this sounds like it might be a little unsettling! Perfect for those dark nights! 😱

Muddy Boots and Silk Stockings by Julia Stoneham

Was lucky enough to win this fabulous Tote bag and book from the wonderful Allison & Busby via a Twitter competition so looking forward to stepping back in time with The Land Girls!

CURRENTLY READING

Deadly Intent by Sheryl Browne

Halfway through this one and racing to get to the end as it’s got me gripped!

Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier

Feel like I’ve been reading this forever!! That’s not to say I’m not enjoying it, as I am, but as I only read it before bed it seems to be taking a while longer to read it all!

And another week is now all nicely wrapped up and filed away!  How has your bookish week been? Good? Bad? Indifferent?!  Here’s to a fabulous weekend ahead anyway!!

HAPPY READING!!

My Bookish Week!

 

Greetings fellow bookworms!  I trust we are all well this Friday! What I thought was going to be a dull, dreary, grey day has been transformed by the arrival of blue sky and sunshine so that’s a great way to end what has been a rather sad week in the UK following the horrific scenes in Westminster.  But it also shows the wonderful side of humanity with so many people there to help those in need and all the amazing stories of fundraising going on for the families of those murdered.

So what has been happening in your worlds this week?  Much book action going on??!  Been a fairly steady one here.  Managed to read 3 books – only 2 of which I can discuss as the other one is a secret reveal for the 28th March!! –  and managed to add to the bookshelves again! Oops it keeps happening doesn’t it!! I did have a little clearout though and took 2 big carrier bags of books to a local charity shop so I’m doing my bit!

BOOK HAUL

The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan

Florence Grace by Tracy Rees

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

I picked these three up at The Works for £5 while I was in there stocking up on stationery bits the other day so it was rude not to have a browse through the book stock!

The Defectors by Joseph Kanon

From the bestselling author of Leaving Berlin and The Good German comes a thrilling and richly imagined novel focused on three weeks in the lives of a select group of defected American spies in Moscow during the height of the Cold War.

Moscow, 1961. Stalin has been dead for eight years. With the launch of Sputnik, the Soviet Union’s international prestige is at an all-time high. Former CIA agent Frank Weeks, the most notorious of the defectors to the Soviet Union, is about to publish his memoirs, and what he reveals will send shockwaves through the West.

Weeks’s defection in the early 50s shook Washington to its core—he had been a beloved member of the OSS and then the CIA, one of the bright young men who’d come out of the war ready to take an early lead in the new American century. His betrayal rippled throughout the State Department, prompting frantic searches for moles and forcing the resignation of Simon, Frank’s former college roommate and best friend.

Now, a Soviet agency approaches Simon, a publisher in New York City, with a controversial proposition to publish the memoirs of his old friend, Frank Weeks. Simon knows that there’s no way the US government will approve the publication of a book clearly intended as propaganda for the KGB…yet he finds the offer irresistible.

Set against the paranoiac atmosphere of the Cold War, The Defectors is a smart and authentic exploration of espionage and betrayal, perfect for fans of John le Carre, Alan Furst, Philip Kerr, and other masters of wartime and postwar espionage fiction (Library Journal, starred review).

This was bookpost that I received from the publishers – out in June.  Looks like a really exciting read!

 

THE FOREVER HOUSE by  Veronica Henry

 Out May 18th 2017

Would you know your forever house if you found it?

Hunter’s Moon is the ultimate ‘forever’ house. Nestled by a river in the Peasebrook valley, it has been the Hamiltons’ home for over fifty years, and now estate agent Belinda Baxter is determined to find the perfect family to live there. But the sale of the house unlocks decades of family secrets – and brings Belinda face to face with her own troubled past.

A gorgeous escapist read for anyone needing a hug in a book – perfect for fans of Erica James, Lucy Diamond and Harriet Evans.

Received this via a competition from Orion publishers on Twitter so really excited to read this as I love Veronica Henry stories!

 

Fell by Jenn Ashworth

 A haunting and otherworldly tale of the impact on one family of a guest with seemingly magical powers, who alters the course of their lives in ways neither they nor he foresee.

A haunting, mysterious tale imbued with the force of myth, by the award-winning author of A Kind of Intimacy.

When Annette Clifford returns to her childhood home on the edge of Morecambe Bay, she despairs: the long empty house is crumbling, undermined by two voracious sycamores. What she doesn’t realise is that she’s not alone: her arrival has woken the spirits of her parents, who anxiously watch over her, longing to make amends. Because as the past comes back to Jack and Netty, they begin to see the summer of 1963 clearly, when Netty was desperately ill and a stranger moved in. Charismatic, mercurial Timothy Richardson, with his seemingly miraculous powers of healing, who drew all their attention away from Annette… Now, they must try to draw another stranger towards her, one who can rescue her.

Blurring the boundaries between the corporeal and spirit worlds and subtly echoing the myth of Baucis and Philemon, this is an eerily beautiful, evocative and highly original novel, which underlines the eternal potency of hope

 

I received  my copy of this via Bookbridgr and it has been on my radar for quite a while so really excited to read it very soon!  And I LOVE the cover!!

 

 

BOOKS READ

 

When a little girl goes missing, an entire town comes together to find her.

When Tia Walsh rides into the small town of Coorah Creek on a Harley Davidson, Sergeant Max Delaney senses that everything about her spells trouble. But Tia’s trouble is not all of her own making, and the dangerous past she tried to leave behind is hot on her heels.

Sarah Travers has returned home after three years of college to find that her parents have been keeping a devastating secret. Her teenage crush, Pete Rankin, is facing his own struggle with a tough reality that will take him away from the girl and the life that he loves.

Tia, Max, Sarah and Pete are all trying to find their future, but when a little girl goes missing in the harsh outback, nothing else matters except finding her safe..

 

My GoodReads review

 

 

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:

1. I’m in a coma.
2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore.
3. Sometimes I lie.

My GoodReads review

Two 5 star reads is always a welcome bonus for a week!!

Currently Reading

Thought I would start sharing what is on my reading pile at the moment! Just 2 right now and really enjoying both!

I have borrowed Lincoln In The Bardo from the library via the BorrowBox app so enjoying that experience so far! Did take a while to download the app on my Kindle Fire – especially for a technophobe like me! – but all seems to be working ok so hope to be downloading a lot more in the future!!  Does anyone else use this app?

HAPPY READING!!

Bookish Weekly Round Up

Greetings bookish humans!! Hope everyone survived Storm Doris in the UK – few pots blown around the garden here but everything else seems to have stayed intact so phew!  This hellebore is blooming away nicely so always a lovely sight to see! Yay for Spring!!

On to books!!  And yay!! Normal service has resumed after a few weeks of not buying anything, I ventured into a local charity shop for a ‘browse’  and ended up leaving with 2 new additions for my bookshelves.

SIRENS by JOSEPH KNOX

 

Sirens is the brooding and assured debut from Joseph Knox, the next big name in crime fiction.

Set in a sprawling, twilight northern city, Sirens introduces Aidan Waits, a disgraced young detective caught stealing drugs from evidence and subsequently blackmailed into going undercover. When an MP’s daughter runs away from home, Waits is sent to track her down and finds himself at the centre of a maelstrom of drugs, blackmail and deception.

Uncovering the motives of those involved, he’s thrown forwards through politicians, police and drug lords – towards a conclusion and a truth he really doesn’t want to know.

THE NIGHT CIRCUS by ERIN MORGENSTERN

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices plastered on lampposts and billboards. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

Within these nocturnal black-and-white striped tents awaits an utterly unique, a feast for the senses, where one can get lost in a maze of clouds, meander through a lush garden made of ice, stare in wonderment as the tattooed contortionist folds herself into a small glass box, and become deliciously tipsy from the scents of caramel and cinnamon that waft through the air.

Welcome to Le Cirque des Rêves.

Beyond the smoke and mirrors, however, a fierce competition is under way–a contest between two young illusionists, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood to compete in a “game” to which they have been irrevocably bound by their mercurial masters. Unbeknownst to the players, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will.

As the circus travels around the world, the feats of magic gain fantastical new heights with every stop. The game is well under way and the lives of all those involved–the eccentric circus owner, the elusive contortionist, the mystical fortune-teller, and a pair of red-headed twins born backstage among them–are swept up in a wake of spells and charms.

But when Celia discovers that Marco is her adversary, they begin to think of the game not as a competition but as a wonderful collaboration. With no knowledge of how the game must end, they innocently tumble headfirst into love. A deep, passionate, and magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

Their masters still pull the strings, however, and this unforeseen occurrence forces them to intervene with dangerous consequences, leaving the lives of everyone from the performers to the patrons hanging in the balance. 

And today in the post a prize from the lovely people at Choc Lit UK that I won via a recent Valentines’ Twitter competition arrived so really looking forward to reading this title – and forcing myself to enjoy some chocolate! 😉

What if you were powerless to protect the person you cared about most?

When Ruby finds out that her partner has done the unforgivable, she has no option but to move out of their home. With nowhere else to go, a job house-sitting in Cambridge seems like the perfect solution.

But it’s soon clear the absent owner hurts everyone he gets close to, and Ruby’s faced with the fallout. As violent repercussions unfold, her instinct is to investigate: it’s a matter of self-preservation. And besides, she’s curious…

But Ruby’s new boss, Nate Bastable, has his eye on her and seems determined to put a stop to her sleuthing. Is he simply worried for the welfare of a member of staff, or is there something altogether more complicated – and potentially dangerous – at play?

Now on to the books that I finished reading this week! 

Falling Awake by Alice Oswald

Alice Oswald’s poems are always vivid and distinct, alert and deeply, physically, engaged in the natural world. Mutability – a sense that all matter is unstable in the face of mortality – is at the heart of this new collection and each poem is involved in that drama: the held tension that is embodied life, and life’s losing struggle with the gravity of nature.

Working as before with an ear to the oral tradition, these poems attend to the organic shapes and sounds and momentum of the language as it’s spoken as well as how it’s thought: fresh, fluid and propulsive, but also fragmentary, repetitive. These are poems that are written to be read aloud.

Orpheus and Tithonus appear at the beginning and end of this book, alive in an English landscape, stuck in the clockwork of their own speech, and the Hours – goddesses of the seasons and the natural apportioning of Time – are the presiding figures. The persistent conditions are flux and falling, and the lines are in constant motion: approaching, from daring new angles, our experience of being human, and coalescing into poems of simple, stunning beauty. 

This was a really beautiful read. I have always wanted to read  more poetry and have pledged to do so in 2017 – if they’re all like this then I’m in for a fun year! As well as being beautifully written, they are also beautifully displayed and that really did help me enjoy them more as it made it more interesting.  Loved the different ways of looking at nature and the british landscape too.

One Little Mistake by Emma Curtis

Vicky Seagrave is blessed: three beautiful children, a successful, doting husband, great friends and a job she loves. She should be perfectly happy.

When she risks everything she holds dear on a whim, there’s only person she trusts enough to turn to.

But Vicky is about to learn that one mistake is all it takes; that if you’re careless with those you love, you don’t deserve to keep them . . . 

This was a real page turner of a read for me – full of characters that have you shouting at the pages but gripped by what was going to happen next and unable to predict some of the twists and turns ahead for them all!  

The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

I adored this book!  It did take me a little while to get into as it did get a little confusing to begin with – i am very easily confused at the best of times! –   but once I was under the spell of the characters then the story had me gripped and I couldn’t stop reading!  The main character, Vasya, was a wonderful female character in a historical/fairytale setting and I am extremely pleased to hear there’ll be more in the series!  This is how stories should be told!!

Anyone read any of these?! Hope you had as much fun reading them as I did!  And has the reading pile shrunk by much over the past week?! Of course not!!  I think some of the spirits that Vasya speaks to in The Bear and the Nightingale are sneaking in extra books to my house! 😉

Happy Reading!!

my bookish weekly wrap up!

Greetings fellow bookworms! I trust we are all feeling fit and well and glad to reach the end of yet another week.  Little bit scared that February is almost here already too! Shops are already full of Easter Eggs I see!  Always a positive thing!! 😉

On to the books! And there has been a good mix of reading some fantastic stories this week and receiving some great new books too so without further ado…….

BOOKPOST

my order from the lovely folk at  Goldsboro Books arrived this week and that is a signed first edition of the latest release from Ragnar Jonasson  ‘Rupture’ so am excited to have this on my shelves now along with the others and excited to read another thrilling part of this series as this is book four! 

THE BLURB  

  1955. Two young couples move to the uninhabited, isolated fjord of Hedinsfjörður. Their stay ends abruptly when one of the women meets her death in mysterious circumstances. The case is never solved. Fifty years later an old photograph comes to light, and it becomes clear that the couples may not have been alone on the fjord after all…
In nearby Siglufjörður, young policeman Ari Thór tries to piece together what really happened that fateful night, in a town where no one wants to know, where secrets are a way of life. He’s assisted by Ísrún, a news reporter in Reykjavik, who is investigating an increasingly chilling case of her own. Things take a sinister turn when a child goes missing in broad daylight. With a stalker on the loose, and the town of Siglufjörður in quarantine, the past might just come back to haunt them.
Haunting, frightening and complex, Rupture is a dark and atmospheric thriller from one of Iceland’s foremost crime writers. ‘Traditional and beautifully finessed… morally more equivocal than most traditional whodunnits, and it offers alluring glimpses of darker, and infinitely more threatening horizons’ Independent • ‘Jonasson’s books have breathed new life into Nordic noir’ Sunday Express • ‘Bitingly contemporary in setting and tone’ Express • ‘A modern take on an Agatha Christie-style mystery, as twisty as any slalom…’ Ian Rankin • ‘A classic crime story seen through a uniquely Icelandic lens … first rate and highly recommended’ Lee Child • ‘Chilling, poetic beauty… a must read!’ Peter James • ‘British aficionados of Nordic Noir are familiar with two excellent Icelandic writers, Arnaldur Indridason and Yrsa Sigurdardottir. Here’s a third: Ragnar Jónasson … the darkness and cold are palpable’ Marcel Berlins, The Times For fans of Trapped, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Agatha Christie and Ann Cleeves

Next up in the post this week was this rather gorgeous proof of The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel which I’ve been hearing lots about via Twitter and I was excited to receive my copy and will enjoy reporting back soon hopefully with my thoughts!  Sounds like a real rollercoaster ride of emotions ahead for me with this one!

 

THE BLURB  

 A gripping, provocative thriller about the twisted secrets families keep, perfect for fans of The Girls. Beautiful. Rich. Mysterious. Everyone wants to be a Roanoke girl. But you won’t when you know the truth. Lane Roanoke is fifteen when she comes to live with her grandparents and fireball cousin at the Roanoke family’s rural estate following the suicide of her mother. Over one long, hot summer, Lane experiences the benefits of being one of the rich and beautiful Roanoke girls. But what she doesn’t know is being a Roanoke girl carries a terrible legacy: either the girls run, or they die. For there is darkness at the heart of Roanoke, and when Lane discovers its insidious pull, she must make her choice…

And i was also lucky enough to win a prize from the lovely folks at Michael Joseph Books on their Twitter feed and it was a book to make me feel warm and fuzzy all about Hygge – The Danish Art of Happiness by Marie Tourel Soderberg.  If you haven’t heard of Hygge by now then where have you been?!  Perfect for these cold and grey days!

Oh and by the way, the Pete’s Dragon figurine was a recent buy as I’m obsessed with him – the original though! Not the recent remake!! I can’t even bring myself to watch it even though I’ve heard good things!!

THE BLURB

Others books will tell you how to be hygge. This is the only book that will show you.

Though we all know the feeling of hygge instinctively few of us ever manage to capture it for more than a moment.

Now Danish actress and hygge aficionado Marie Tourell Søderberg has travelled the length and breadth of her home country to create the perfect guide to cooking, decorating, entertaining and being inspired the hygge way.

Full of beautiful photographs and simple, practical steps and ideas to make your home and life both comfortable and cheering all year round, this book is the easy way to introduce hygge into your life.

And then I paid a visit to the Library to take back one book and can never seem to leave without bringing at least one home with me, despite the mountain of books I already have to  read at home!  And I chose The Proof of Love by Catherine Hall as I heard Simon Savidge of Savidge Reads on his YouTube Channel waxing lyrical about it so I had to read it! So far so good!!

THE BLURB

During the long, hot summer of 1976, a young Cambridge mathematician arrives in a remote village in the Lake District and takes on a job as a farm labourer. Painfully awkward and shy, Spencer Little is viewed with suspicion by the community and his only real friendship is with scruffy, clever ten-year-old Alice.

BOOKS I’VE READ THIS WEEK

All top reads this week so that always helps my reading mood!!  Can highly recommend them all if you are looking for an enjoyable new adventure to dip into!

Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller

A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan 

 

Britt-Marie was here by Fredrik Backman

And that is that!  Got another couple of books on the go already which will hopefully make the forecast rainy weekend a brighter prospect! Anything you have read that you need to recommend to me?!  Trying my best not to add any new purchases to my bookshelves at the moment but have found myself clicking on a couple of NetGalley covers – ebooks don’t count as real books do they?!

HAPPY READING!!

My week in bookish form….

Here we go again! Another look back at what has been keeping me amused in the world of books this week!! Hope it has been a good one for you all!  

Shelf space has reached a critical stage again so I’ve had to have another little declutter and send some of my old books on to pastures new via a local charity shop! I hope they get to go to good new homes!  I am finding it much easier to part with paperback books now rather than  hardbacks – is this normal?!  I seem to be going through a hardback appreciation phase at the moment, even if they do take up more space!  Maybe it will pass!

Book Haul

Yep! New books have been added to my collection yet again! I’ve given up trying to fight it now! I just need to accept it and embrace the book buying habit that I have been blessed with!

Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton

 

This cover though??!!  How could I not!!!  Have heard some good things via BookTube about this one and it sounds like a fascinating read, as well as being a cover stunner, so am hoping to get to this very soon!

 

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

This has been bought as an online facebook book club that I’m part of is reading this as their next book club read, and as a massive fan of the Anime movie I couldn’t resist wanting to join in and see where it all began!  Another cover stunner too!!

Kill The Father by Sandrone Dazieri

Received this early copy via the publisher and it is set to be released on the 9th February 2017 so will hopefully get to it very soon.  Looks like another stunningly dark thriller, and is the first in a planned series.

The Blurb   –   In this fascinatingly complex thriller, two people, each shattered by their past, team to solve a series of killings and abductions…

When a woman is beheaded in a park outside Rome and her six-year-old son goes missing, the police unit assigned to the case sees an easy solution: they arrest the woman’s husband and await his confession. But the Chief of Rome’s  Major Crimes unit doubts things are so simple. Secretly, he lures to the case two of Italy’s top analytical minds: Deputy Captain Colomba Caselli, a fierce, warrior-like detective still reeling from having survived a bloody catastrophe, and Dante Torre, a man who spent his childhood trapped inside a concrete silo. Fed through the gloved hand of a masked kidnapper who called himself “The Father,” Dante emerged from his ordeal with crippling claustrophobia but, also, with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and hyper-observant capacities.

All evidence suggests that the Father is back and active after being dormant for decades. Indeed, he has left tell-tale signs that signal he’s looking forward to a reunion with Dante. But when Columba and Dante begin following the ever-more-bizarre trail of clues, they grasp that what’s really going on is darker than they ever imagined

 

Three-Martine Lunch by Suzanne Rindell

 

This was the book in the January Book and a Brew subscription box and I know very little about it so hoping it will be an interesting read!

The Blurb    –      From the author of the “thrilling” (The Christian Science Monitor) novel The Other Typist comes an evocative, multilayered story of ambition, success, and secrecy in 1950s New York.

In 1958, Greenwich Village buzzes with beatniks, jazz clubs, and new ideas—the ideal spot for three ambitious young people to meet. Cliff Nelson, the son of a successful book editor, is convinced he’s the next Kerouac, if only his father would notice. Eden Katz dreams of being an editor but is shocked when she encounters roadblocks to that ambition. And Miles Tillman, a talented black writer from Harlem, seeks to learn the truth about his father’s past, finding love in the process. Though different from one another, all three share a common goal: to succeed in the competitive and uncompromising world of book publishing. As they reach for what they want, they come to understand what they must sacrifice, conceal, and betray to achieve their goals, learning they must live with the consequences of their choices. In Three-Martini Lunch, Suzanne Rindell has written both a page-turning morality tale and a captivating look at a stylish, demanding era—and a world steeped in tradition that’s poised for great upheaval.

Books Finished

The Book of Mirrors by E.O. Chirovici  – loved this one! Really kept me guessing the whole way through

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett – listened to the Audio CD version of this one and thoroughly enjoyed the characters being brought to life by Tony Robinson.  Hoping to listen to more Audio CD’s in the future so recommendations for the best ones to listen to are always welcome!

Not a bad week again!  Am halfway through a couple of other books at the moment so hoping to have those finished over the weekend, and then have a nice big pile of reads to get through which are set to be released towards the end of January and the start of February – where is 2017 going already??!!!  Time needs to slow down a little!

Happy Reading!!

My week in books….

So Black Friday is with us! I’m doing all I can to resist the urge to browse a few online deals despite the emails arriving by the minute it seems! Anyone grabbed any bargains today?!  Just hope I can hold out for the rest of the day – before the next round of sales emails arrive next week!!

On to the subject of books!!  Been keeping the postman busy this week with a few arrivals of the purchased and ARC kind so here’s what has popped through the letterbox so far this week…

The White Camellia by Juliet Greenwood

Won/Bought this through a charity auction online for a signed copy so am excited to read it as it sounds like a fabulous historic fiction story!

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

This is a review copy I received from Nudge Books and all I’ve heard is good things about this so can’t wait to dive into this stunning looking book!

The Lonely City by Sara Laing

Am determined to read more non-fiction books, inspired by non-fiction November – and this title really intrigued me as I’ve seen it quite a lot online so had to treat myself!

The Book of Mirrors by E.O Chirovici

Another ARC arrived today and it is this intriguing title that has been a hit wherever it has been released and it is due to be released at the end of January 2017 in the UK by Cornerstone.

BOOKS FINISHED

Another successful week of reading too and have put reviews on here and GoodReads for all of them so will just add pics of the covers and they’ve all been really great reads!

 

 

 

Got another 3 books on the go at the moment too so hoping I will be able to add those to my wrap up next week if the reading mood sticks with me! Managing to avoid the reading slump vibes at the moment and that is always a blessing when the book TBR pile keeps growing!!

ooh and before I forget, there’s a competition running on my Twitter page @bookkaz until sunday evening to win a copy of the fabulously festive read Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson – so head to my page, follow and RT the pinned tweet and you could grab yourself an early Xmas pressie!! Go on, you deserve it!

HAPPY READING!!