Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post hosted by Jen @That’s What I’m Talking About, where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the questions from Jen’s blog and answer it on your own.
What activity that you’ve read a character doing in a book have you dreamed of trying?
I’m a work-to-live person, not a live-to-work one, so it would either be marrying a billionaire or travelling to far-flung and exotic places.
Welcome to my weekly round-up post where I link up with The Sunday Post hosted by Kimberley @Caffeinated Reviewer as well as TheSunday Salon meme hosted by the wonderful Deb @Readerbuzz. Please pop by their blogs and show them a little love 💗.
Life Last Week
My continuing apologies for not replying to comments and visiting blogs lately. I am feeling more able to drop by your blogs and leave comments and will be doing more of that today as there are quite a few of your blogs that I need to catch up with.
The weather has been pretty mild and we still have plants flowering in the garden that should have finished and been pulled up over a month ago. It does mean we don’t need to have the heating on as long as we normally would, which means I’m struggling to dry laundry but the positive is it’s keeping those dreaded fuel bills down.
Last Weeks Books
I’ve been pretty tired this week, dozing on the sofa by 8 pm most evenings, so I didn’t get a lot of reading done. Ghost Talker is a murder mystery with a hint of a slow-burn romance, I can’t wait for the next book in the series! Talk Bookish to Me didn’t work for me, the plot felt forced and I didn’t care for many of the characters. It was a library book so I didn’t feel too bad DNF’ing it. Under the Mistletoe was another library book and, despite my wanting to give the heroine a shake for being so pessimistic, I very much enjoyed this one too.
Currently Reading
When Addie La Rue makes a pact with the devil, she trades her soul for immortality. But there’s always a price – the devil takes away her place in the world, cursing her to be forgotten by everyone. Addie flees her tiny home town in 18th-Century France, beginning a journey that takes her across the world, learning to live a life where no one remembers her and everything she owns is lost and broken. Existing only as a muse for artists throughout history, she learns to fall in love anew every single day. Her only companion on this journey is her dark devil with hypnotic green eyes, who visits her each year on the anniversary of their deal. Alone in the world, Addie has no choice but to confront him, to understand him, maybe to beat him. Until one day, in a second hand bookshop in Manhattan, Addie meets someone who remembers her. Suddenly thrust back into a real, normal life, Addie realises she can’t escape her fate forever.
Looking forward to…
… visiting blogs.
… reading good books.
… enjoying warming casseroles from the slow cooker.
Heat Level 🔥 Genre/Age Science Fiction, YA plus Goodreads
Synopsis Ocean’s Echo is a stand-alone, romantic space adventure, set in the same universe as Everina Maxwell’s hit debut, Winter’s Orbit.
When Tennal – a rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster – is caught using his telepathic powers for illegal activities, the military decides to bind his mind to someone whose coercive powers are strong enough to control him.
Enter Lieutenant Surit, the child of a disgraced general. Out of a desperate need to restore a pension to his other parent, Lieutenant Surit agrees to be bound to Tennal and keep him conscripted in the army, a task that seems impossible even for someone with Surit’s ability to control minds.
Tennal just wants to escape, but Surit isn’t all that he seems. And their bond may just be the key to their freedom.
My Thoughts Guiding lights… what a story this is.
This space opera epic was a very enjoyable read and has left me looking forward to reading more books by this author. I have criticisms, but they are far outweighed by the plot, world-building and characterisation. I do love a troubled and morally grey character, they are my kryptonite, which meant Tennal ticked every single box for me. Surit was a great foil to him, I didn’t quite feel that his inner monologue always matched his by-the-book persona but I loved him regardless. Best of all we got some excellent character growth throughout.
There wasn’t enough romantic action for me to describe this as a romance, it is a minor part of the overall story rather than a significant focus. Surit and Tennal do develop strong feelings for one another, which I found believable given their forced proximity for a good chunk of the book. I would have enjoyed more tender moments, lingering glances and smouldering kisses. This is a very long book and we had only a couple of stolen moments to cling to.
Part of me believes this might have worked better split into two or three books. There is a lot of plot to get through and the “end objective” isn’t obvious for quite a chunk of time. The author came up with an amazing premise and lots of exciting challenges for our intrepid duo to face, all of which she brilliantly converted into a wonderful storyline. It did mean that we took a very convoluted journey to get from A to B though, one where we seemed to visit every other letter of the alphabet in between. The constant rushing from one perilous situation to another meant the pace was constantly fast, but a book this length might have benefitted from some quieter, slower periods of assimilation.
I was constantly surprised by the direction taken, the story was never predictable and I loved how creative the author was. The world-building was also excellent, so rich, complex and layered. There are some amazing side characters, with good gender representation, and details. Details that made the political, military and cultural norms feel established without a ridiculous amount of exposition.
Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post hosted by Jen @That’s What I’m Talking About, where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the questions from Jen’s blog and answer it on your own.
Do you belong to any book clubs?
No, though I am a Moderator in a Goodreads group and frequently host buddy reads. I’m all about the personalreading experience, the in-the-moment emotions that are elicited by a good book. My mind works in a very factual way – hence my favourite school subjects (which I missed sharing last week!) being Science and Maths. I take prose to mean what it says, rather than looking for allegory and have often wondered if the greats of literature truly did imbue their tales with hidden meaning or if actually they just wrote them to entertain and it’s us who have given it a spin it was never meant to have. Either way I don’t gain anything by discussing what a phrase or passage alluded to, I just enjoy it for what it is… a well written story.
Welcome to my weekly round-up post where I link up with The Sunday Post hosted by Kimberley @Caffeinated Reviewer as well as TheSunday Salon meme hosted by the wonderful Deb @Readerbuzz. Do please pop by their blogs and show them a little love 💗.
Life Last Week
Water Tower, Kimberley
Last week saw the ending of British Summer Time. The positive is that we have lighter mornings but it does mean that it is now dark by 5 pm. Commuting home in the pouring rain several times last week wasn’t much fun – especially as those journeys took almost double the usual time. We have now moved into our permanent work home and the students were amazed by how much it already looks like a school. It feels so different to the austere, empty shell I first visited.
My apologies for not visiting blogs last week, or replying to comments. Life at the moment means I not only have less time for blogging but also less inclination too. I guess I’m on a semi hiatus and will post/blog hop as and when life allows.
Last Weeks Books
I feel as though I’ve barely read anything this week, but I did finish Dante’s End, which I started last weekend, and also finished Legends & Lattes. I’ve included His Talisman too, which I’ve been beta reading over the last couple of months. The author has finally finished this and so have I.
Currently Reading
Madame Elinor Chalamet battles a ghost in the Beyond.
Trained as a medium by the elite Morpheus Society, Elinor Chalamet uses her skills to aid the police while she hunts for her father’s killer in the coastal city of Alenbonne. But a dead body found in the canal puts her in deep with royal matters. And she might even succeed in solving the mystery if Tristan Fontaine, duke de Archambeau, would stop getting in her way.
The first of a six-part gaslamp fantasy ghost mystery series featuring a strong female character in a slow burn romance.
This novella of about 42,000 words is friendly to ages 16+.
Looking forward to…
… better das ahead.
… seeing cheerful, twinkling Christmas lights on the drive home.
Welcome to my weekly round-up post where I link up with The Sunday Post hosted by Kimberley @Caffeinated Reviewer as well as TheSunday Salon meme hosted by the wonderful Deb @Readerbuzz. Do please pop by their blogs and show them a little love 💗.
Life Last Week
The week started with covid, continued with someone driving into the side of our car as they pulled out of a side road, and continued to get worse from there. It’s been a week I’m glad to see the back of. I hope yours has been better.
Last Weeks Books
Thankfully the week’s terrible fortune didn’t extend to my reading, which included two Netgalley arcs and a library book. The Christmas Wish was genuinely laugh-out-loud funny (well I thought it was!) and was just what I needed. Ocean’s Echo was quite a long read, perhaps longer than it needed to be but I still enjoyed every minute of this action-packed space opera. The Sky Beneath the Stone is the first middle-grade book I’ve read as an adult in a very long time, maybe ever. I read them as a child and read them to my children, but it isn’t a genre I’ve tried before. It won’t be my last foray since I really enjoyed this captivating tale.
Currently Reading
Monsters are made, not born…
Most called him the Jailor. Some called him a monster. If he had a name, nobody had survived meeting him long enough to tell it. They said he sat atop a mound of skulls and marked each death on his throne, like notches on a bedpost. Some tales told of how he had wings as dark as night, and of how he wore a crown of razor wire woven around four horns.
Dante had heard all the stories before.
The only tale he cared for was the one that said the jailor could bleed. If the jailor could bleed, then he could die, and Dante was going to be the one to finally kill him.
This is the story of how all those tales were wrong. And so was Dante.
***
Dark slow burn enemies to lovers. For potential sensitive content, please see the paperback copyright page.
The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer @ Crazy-For-Books. It is now hosted by Billy @Coffee Addicted Writings. Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end the following Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.
Have you ever had a blogging nightmare? If so, what was it? submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer
I wouldn’t call them a nightmare but I have had some blogging catastrophes. These fall into mainly two categories: Publishing a post rather than scheduling it and not checking a post before publishing.
Publishing a meme post early is more embarrassing than anything, but I have occasionally hit publish on a blog tour post prematurely. That means I then have to go to my social media sites and delete the posts that WordPress auto-generates before copy/pasting the entire post and scheduling it properly. This is to make ensure the post is shared on Twitter, Facebook etc at the right time.
I tend to re-use posts, since they are already formatted, and just update book details etc. However this had led, on more than one occasion, to me publishing a post with either incorrect links, the wrong review or missing information. Well, they do say it’s impossible to proofread your own work accurately, I’m just happily proving that rule 😂. Usually somebody kindly points out my error in the comments, so that I can update the post accordingly. A huge thank you to all those who have done so before or will do it at some point in the future 💕
How is it possible to be grinning with insane happiness yet utterly devastated at the same time? Yet that’s how I seem to always find myself to be when reading work by the genius that is TJ Klune. He describes people and emotions in a way I’ve rarely come across before. A way that carves them onto your soul.
“Don’t,” Hugo said hoarsely. “Don’t say that. You know that’s not true.” He dropped the bandana to the floor. “I want to do everything with you.” Then, in a whisper, as if saying it any louder would break them completely, Hugo said, “I don’t want you to go.” Six little words. Six words no one had ever said to Wallace Price before. They were fragile, and he took them in, holding them close.
The humour in this book is wonderful, and I found myself smiling and sniggering throughout, though as Wallace’s time with Hugo draws to an end more and more it became tempered by heartbreakingly beautiful moments. At one point I was convinced that Nelson would be the one to sacrifice himself and save the day, turns out my brilliant deduction wasn’t quite so brilliant after all.
Death has a strange effect on Wallace, it turns him from a thoroughly despicable and odious individual to someone rather special. Mei, Apollo, Nelson, and Hugo most of all also play a role in this stunning transformation. And somehow I went from despising this unpleasant man to feeling a little sorry for him, and then on to loving the stupid lump.
“Gingerbread,” Hugo said. “Her favourite.” Another tear slipped down Nancy’s cheek.
– a whole river of tears fell down mine at that point!
Then I cried even harder at this…
“This wasn’t about me. This is your moment, Hugo. You did this.” He looked at Mei. “Can you do me a favour?” “Yes,” she said. “Yes.” “I need you to hug Hugo for me. Because I can’t, and I want to more than anything.”
Profound books with deep meaning and valuable life lessons have always felt a little dull, boring and difficult to read. This broke the mould and instead is not only entertaining but also inspiring, witty, charming and silly too. I cannot recommend this author highly enough and fully intend on trying to read his entire backlist of books.
Wasn’t that the point? Wasn’t that the great answer to the mystery of life? To make the most of what you have while you have it, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. In death, Wallace had never felt more alive.
The third floor. He wished he’s spent more time in Hugo’s room. He wondered what sort of life they could have made for themselves had he found his way to this little place before his heart had given out. He thought it would have been wonderful. But it was better to have had it for as long as he did than to never have had it at all. What a tremendous thought that was.
“What—” Wallace looked down. He’d changed his clothes. The sweats and shirt and flip-flops were gone. He made a strangled noise when he saw he now wore a striped bikini that left little to the imagination. And it wasn’t only bikini bottoms, no. He also had the top across his chest, the straps tied around his neck, the ends dangling down his back. His feet were bare, but that was the least of his problems. “What is this?!” he shrieked. “What have you done to me?!” Nelson huffed. “That had nothing to do with me. It’s all you.” He squinted at Wallace. “Is this what you wore in your free time? Seems a little … tight. Again, no judgment.” He was lying, obviously. His voice carried quite a bit of judgment. It was about this time Wallace lamented that humans had evolved with only two hands. He tried to cover his crotch with one hand while pressing the other futilely against his chest as if it would actually do anything. Mei whistled lowly. “You pull that off better than I’d have thought. I’m actually a little jealous. You’ve got a cute butt.”
Synopsis Welcome to Charon’s Crossing. The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through. When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead. And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead. But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.
Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.
The Immortality Thief (The Kystrom Chronicles Book 1) by Taran Hunt
Wow, this had everything I wanted – except for a touch of romance, but it didn’t promise me that so I can’t complain 😂. Action-packed, fast-paced and well-written, this story grabbed my attention from the first chapter and never let go. It was one of those books you just don’t want to put down though it was far too long a book to complete in only one sitting, which was even better!
The characters were complex, layered and engaging and whilst the story is written entirely from Sean’s point of view I still felt as though we got to know Tamara, Shay and Benny equally well. I loved that no-one was too perfect, I much prefer my characters to be flawed, it makes them so much more believable – and easy to relate to! Sean is a delightfully good man who will do bad things for good reasons. The moral compass is strong in this young one, but his innate goodness and always expecting the best of others does cause him untold problems.
The world-building was excellent, cleverly woven throughout the story so as not to overwhelm. I felt as though I were standing in the ship alongside Sean at times. The foreshadowing was also creative and subtle, I did suspect that amazing twist at the end and can’t wait to see where the author takes us next.
Synopsis The Immortality Thiefis a ridiculously fun, fast paced, seat-of-your-pants read full of treasure hunts, traps, deadly enemies, betrayal, secrets, mysterious aliens, adventure and action as the story races to the find the secret to immortality. Far off the edge of human existence, beside a dying star lies a nameless ship abandoned and hidden, lost for a millennium. But there are secrets there, terrible secrets that would change the fate of humanity, and eventually someone will come looking. Refugee, criminal and linguist Sean Wren is made an offer he knows he can’t refuse: life in prison, “voluntary” military service – or salvaging data in a long-dead language from an abandoned ship filled with traps and monsters, just days before it’s destroyed in a supernova. Data connected to the Philosopher’s Stone experiments, into unlocking the secrets of immortality. And he’s not the only one looking for the derelict ship. The Ministers, mysterious undying aliens that have ruled over humanity for centuries, want the data – as does The Republic, humanity’s last free government. And time is running out. In the bowels of the derelict ship, surrounded by horrors and dead men, Sean slowly uncovers the truth of what happened on the ship, in its final days… and the terrible secret it’s hiding.
Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post hosted by Jen @That’s What I’m Talking About, where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the questions from Jen’s blog and answer it on your own.
Share your favourite horror books or movies.
I have absolutely nothing to share for this one as I really don’t enjoy the horror genre in ANY format. I’m the kid who was scared by watching Jason and the Argonauts – though in my defence I was only 5 or 6 years old at the time.
Roald Dahl’s British TV series Tales of the Unexpected, which ran through the 80’s, was about my limit. I did watch the Omen series of films – all with my eyes shut at the scary parts. Jaws is probably as scary a film as I can cope with 😂.
Life with paper, scissors and glue 