Spookathon 2019 TBR

I'm cooking with gas, today! 

Managed to get this filmed and edited yesterday, but just couldn't upload it.  However, that means it is going up on the start date for the readathon, so... ?

Fingers crossed I can get through all these - plus my Victober TBR - by the end of the month.

Thanks for watching, and until I see you next time,

 

October Reading Update

So, my October TBR is coming along pretty well.  I am taking part in #Victober this year, as well as my own Halloween Reads challenge.

Victober 

• Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
• Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell

Halloween Reads

• Thornyhold - Mary Stewart
• Pet Sematary - Stephen King
• Four Past Midnight - Stephen King

Of these five books, I have so far completed Thornyhold and Jane Eyre - both on the 1st of October - but since then I have not picked up anything else from my set TBR.  I did read Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness (which I bought on the 28th September), and one historical romance on my iPad, but since then I signed up for a trial of Netflix, and I have been hooked! ;-D

This weekend I am planning on starting one of the four short novels from Four Past Midnight, maybe Secret Window, Secret Garden?, anyway, I won't be missing out on any Stephen King because I can now watch Gerald's Game and 1922 movies that they adapted for Netflix.

A proper review video for Jane Eyre, Thornyhold, Time's Convert and whichever Stephen King I finish, will be up later in the month.  Until then, I'm heading back to catch up on some Netflix.

See you later,

 

Weekly Wrap Up

Hello fuds and duds!

Finally got my reading groove back.  It's been a while since I've been able to pick up a book and read more than about a page, but Agatha Christie has pulled me out of my funk.  I had fun reading Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun (loved that Death on the Nile is directly referenced in Evil Under the Sun).  Needed a little more Christie, so I picked up Black Coffee.  Although it's a novelization of her play, Black Coffee, I forgot that fact and enjoyed the locked room whodunit.

Bookmail, as always, trickled in.  Only four items this week - but I had a problem with one.  Still, the other three were amazing, so I'll call this a win.  Still waiting on late parcels - The Tommyknockers hardcover will get here one of these weeks - and I'm now switching my attention to completing my Discworld Library as those amazing clothbound hardcovers are soooo beautiful.  Four new titles are available in October, I think?, so I'm steadily buying any books I'm missing.

So that just leaves my reading plans for this week.  In honour of the A Discovery of Witches casting announcement the other day, I'm picking up A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night (my favourite!) for their yearly reread.  They are waiting on my bedside table, and I am planning on diving into them tonight.  

Then, if I manage to finish those two books, I have book one in the Dark Heavens series by Kylie Chan standing by.  White Tiger is such a fun read.  It's one of the few books where I have actually been to one of the places the characters visit!

Anyway, that's all from me for the moment.  Need to get my butt in gear and do a little tidying up around the house as I have electricians coming over on Tuesday to do a lot of work....

So until I see you next time,

 

It can't be October already!

Seriously, I can't have been in this house for almost a month!  There are still boxes stored in the garage and stuff spread out throughout the house with only a vauge idea of where they will finally go - and I'm freaking out about the hours of unboxing and decorating that need to be done before Christmas.  So with that deadline foremost in mind, I fired up the desktop and put on a movie and spent most of this morning in the spare room trying to bring a little bit of order to what will be the 'library' and sewing room.  It was so messy that I nearly twisted my ankle trying to get past the boxes that had been conveniently dropped just past the door and forgotten.  It's now nearly 1pm and I'm quiting for the day so I can go grab some lunch and either continue reading my October Miss Marple, At Bertrams, or (most likely) whack in a season of The Vampire Diaries and veg out for the rest of the afternoon.

Looking out over the farmland behind my place!

On the reading front, I finished my September Miss Marple in a few hours.  Enjoyed it more that I thought I would, but I can't believe how much the Miss Marple TV adaptations play fast and loose with the source material.  I'm down to my final three books for the year, and while some books were adapted quite closely - others... only vaguely.  Hopefully in the future the BBC will remake all the Marples in the style of And Then There Were None as that was beautifully designed and filmed.

Apart from these two Agatha Chrisite's, I have only started reading the All Souls Trilogy as October means Halloween Reads is back on again.  Like the LOTR trilogy for fantasy fans, I think this has become a yearly reread around this time of year.  I love the way the story unfolds over the trilogy, and while I don't think it ended with all my questions answered, I do love reading A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night.

Couldn't resist these gorgeous Halloween Jack-o-antern lights!

Luckily my first lot of Book Depository orders have arrived at the new address.  One is a bind up of the first two Aunt Dimity books that I ordered last month only to have the order cancelled and refunded as they were out of stock of this very book.  However, when I saw it recently I ordered it again and managed to get a copy! (It's now out of stock again).  The final book in the Kylie Chan series arrived as well, can't believe that Black Jade is the final time we'll see these characters.  Thankfully there are nine books in the series that I can reread any time I get the urge to see Emma and Xuan Wu, but still, I'll miss them.

Still having trouble finding all the books I'd like to read soon as the bookshelves are a total mess (and I won't be unpacking any more 'book' boxes until I get the current mess under control), so I'll go with whatever strike the Halloween spirit in me.

Until next time, 

Autumn is finally here

{as you can tell from the photo above, it's later when I finished this post.  Sky was so lovely to photograph against}

Good morning, my lovelies!  Today is a beautiful chilly autumn day, you know the kind - with painfully blue skies and not a cloud to be seen.  Been quite a while since we've had any autumn-worthy weather, so I thought I'd take advantage of it and try some outdoor book photo's later ;-D

On the plus side, my wrist is getting better slowly.  There is still a hard part under the scar, but I can now type more comfortably - but it means that I've had to spend the morning trying to update my Goodreads book challenge as I've been M.I.A there for the past 4 and a bit weeks!  Oops ;-D

I've read a few more titles since my last update, including Boyfriend from Hell by Jamie Quaid {review to come}, and discovering that the book I bought the other day from the Big W bargain bin is the same book that was delivered about 2 weeks ago - only with a better cover!  Oh well, such are the problems of a bookaholic.

My May title for A Year of Marple arrived today.  Sadly I can now no longer put off reading what is one of my least favourite of the adaptations.  Fingers crossed that I find the book more palateable.  And I have only read the first few pages of my Classic a Month book, Emma by Jane Austen.  It's not looking very good on the book challenge front, is it, if I can't get my butt into gear and read my designated TBR.  See, this is why I don't like setting a TBR for myself as I am a mood reader.  Oh well, at least I can tick them off my list and will be able to confidently say that "yes, I've actually read that" by the end of the year ;-D

Okay, have to quite now as I'm getting more than a few "Stop. . . NOW!" messages from my wrist.  I've learnt the hard way to stop when the aching sets in.  Will update the blog as I can, but will be posting pictures of my reading life on Instagram if you want to know what I'm reading.

Until next time,

The Book of Life left me hanging...

As most of you would know, especially if you have been following me on Instagram, I ❤️ the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness.  I adored A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night was amazing, but with The Book of Life... it has always been the problem child.  So when I finished rereading The Book of Life (BoL) last night, my mind just wouldn't stop trying to figure out what the deal is with that book.  Why is it that I don't love this book when I find the first two absolutely amazeballs?

Then this morning it hit me.  It's all those darned loose threads that are just dangling, unfulfilled and tantalizing in their promise.  Still not convinced?  Then let me elucidate . . .

All Souls Review - Part 3: The Book of Life

The Book of Life 
All Souls Trilogy, Book 3
Deborah Harkness

Published: 2014

Headline, Trade, 
ISBN:

After traveling through time in "Shadow of Night," the second book in Deborah Harkness's enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew's ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from "A Discovery of Witches"--with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In the trilogy's final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.

All Souls Review - Part 2: Shadow of Night

Shadow of Night 
All Souls Trilogy, Book 2
Deborah Harkness

Published: 2012

Headline, Trade,
ISBN:

In a world of witches, daemons and vampires the fragile balance of peace is unravelling. Diana and Matthew's forbidden love has broken the laws dividing creatures. To discover the manuscript which holds their hope for the future, they must now travel back to the past. When Diana Bishop, descended from a line of powerful witches, discovered a significant alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, she sparked a struggle in which she became bound to long-lived vampire Matthew Clairmont. 

Now the coexistence of witches, daemons, vampires and humans is dangerously threatened. Seeking safety, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to London, 1590. But they soon realise that the past may not provide a haven. Reclaiming his former identity as poet and spy for Queen Elizabeth, the vampire falls back in with a group of radicals known as the School of Night. Many are unruly daemons, the creative minds of the age, including playwright Christopher Marlowe and mathematician Thomas Harriot. Together Matthew and Diana scour Tudor London for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782, and search for the witch who will teach Diana how to control her remarkable powers...

All Souls Review - Part 1: A Discovery of Witches

A Discovery of Witches 
All Souls Trilogy, Book 1
Deborah Harkness

Published: 2011

Headline, Format B paperback, 688 p.
ISBN: 978-0-7553-7404-5


It begins with absence and desire.
             It begins with blood and fear.
                          It begins with a discovery of witches.


A world of witches, daemons and vampires.

A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future.

Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it. 

 

Coming Soon - Review of All Souls Trilogy

image made by me

In the spirit of Halloween I pulled out my copy of A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness and found myself, once again, lost in the world of witches and vampires, daemons and magic.  I marathoned the trilogy over three days, and today I am feeling a little bereft as I leave that world.  So to help me with my book hangover, I decided to do a review of the trilogy for anyone who has thought about picking it up.

I'll try to avoid any major spoilers - or at least warn you.

Oh, and an important bit of advice to anyone reading considering picking up this trilogy is the reading order.  This is definitely a trilogy where you must start at the beginning.  There will be no skipping ahead, ladies and gentlemen, as you will miss out on vital information that may leave your reading experience a little cattywampus.

So look out for each review as it goes up.  I can't wait to share my feelings and thoughts with you on a trilogy that I just adore.

Until next time,

OMG! It's coming...

This morning I finished re-reading The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness, and feeling a little lost I wandered around the internet and happened to go to her website to check up on the progress of the BBC adapation.  {pssst, nothing happening}

However, while I was there I found myself looking at her News & Events page - will she ever come to Australia for a book signing? - and found out that a fourth book has been bought!  WTF?!  OMG!  {almost hyperventilating!}  So excited.  I was, and promise to be for quite a while, over the moon and as I adore the trilogy I wanted to get that book in my hands asap.  But there is one little catch - it doesn't come out until 2017. 

So while that is a major bummer, I will content myself with the knowledge that a fourth book is making it's way to me.  

As you can tell from the my pic, the title of the book is The Serpent's Mirror, and according to Goodreads it...

... will be set in the All Souls’ world and centered on Matthew Clairmont’s career as a vampiric double agent in the Tudor era, the novel explores historical riddles surrounding the ascent of Elizabeth I to the throne. A contemporary narrative involves the witch-historian Diana Bishop and the cast of the Harkness’s bestselling All Souls’ Trilogy (A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life). THE SERPENT'S MIRROR is projected as the opening volume of a series of novels drawing from material in the centuries-old de Clermont archives, and a 2017 publication is planned.

Sounds amazing as I love Shadow of Night, the historical figures as well as the historical setting, and fingers crossed that the planned for series is as wonderful as All Souls.

So happy ;-D

Until next time,

Time flies

via Shutterstock

I can't believe it's almost Halloween already!  This year is just flying by.  It seems the older I get, the faster the years seem to speed by.  I wish it would slow down... I wonder, who do I call about that?

Anyway, onto other things.  I've been a very bad bookworm the last few weeks.  I have more than a few books that have arrived in the mail - with a few still left to arrive!  And I get to pick up an armful of books over the next few weeks that I have had on layby at a local store (mostly mine, but a couple for Christmas presents).  Soon it won't be a case of buying a new bookcase or two, but moving into a bigger place so I can fit all the needed bookcases.

In other news, I have a few Christmas ideas gelling at the moment.  I want to get back into sewing and quilting (stupid carpal tunnel has prevented me from sewing nearly all year!), but I've found 2 smaller, and quite simple, projects that I will try before attempting something more complicated - and possibly painful.

Speaking of painful, I got in my annual redecorating funk and moved nearly all the furniture and bookcases around 3 weeks ago.  I like the new layout as I can experience morning sunlight in the lounge area once again, and I'm not in a dark corner hiding behind a bookcase when I sit on the sofa.  But I paid for this one-woman-effort with major nerve problems in my wrists.  Thankfully after a day or two the pain subsided - and it was worth it.  I love the open plan look.

Apart from that, not much else has been going on.  I'm waiting to see the surgeon at the hospital to see what they have to say about operating on my wrists (something I'm really not looking forward too), and in the mean time I'm going to try and catch up on some Halloween reading.

Speaking of, I finished the All Souls Trilogy this morning.  Absolutely adore it.  I have re-read the trilogy at least four, perhaps five?, times.  The only problem is that there are so many unanswered questions that I'm hoping Deborah Harkness is planning another book to resolve all the loose threads.  I don't care if it's 10 years in the character's futures... I just need to know! 

{Hmmm... note to self: perhaps a review is in order?}

Anyway, I'd better scoot and get on with my long list of chores.

Until next time,

 

PS - Oh, I forgot to mention that I won my first ever giveaway (online)!  Allen & Unwin were having a spring clean and I won a book on Instagram.  Was so excited.  I had nominated to get the book, Prick, but somehow ended up with Undermajor Domo Minor?  Caused a few minutes of confusion, but the synopsis sounded very intriguing.  Hope to get to it in November.

T5W || Side characters that deserve their own series

This was an interesting topic because while there are a plethora of side characters, how many are deserving of their own series?  Well after wracking my brain, and frantically trying to remember books that had great side characters, I finally came up with five characters that I would love to read more of.  So, here goes...

5) Charlotte Lucas (Pride & Prejudice)

Practical, level headed, and BFFs with Lizzie!, Charlotte is an often overlooked figure.  I'd love to go behind the scenes and see what she thinks of Lady Catherine DeBurgh (and her husbands world class brown nosing skills).

4) Somerset (In Death)

Give it up for Somerset!  The former conman, and now snobbiest butler out.  Would love to follow him through the Urban Wars, or when he was looking after a young Roarke ;-D

3) Lula (Stephanie Plum)

I love Lula ;-D  She's so confident in herself, and isn't ashamed of what she's done in her life.  Instead of a series, I'd like a collection of short stories.  Snippets from the existing books in the series, but from her POV.

2) Gallowglass (All Souls Trilogy)

Gallowglass was a character that made his first appearance in book 2, Shadow of Night, and I adored him.  A world travelling, tattoo wearing, vampire who was tasked to watch over our main character and waited centuries to fulfil his duty.  Of course he fell in love with her, but that would be an interesting part of a series.  His getting over her, and finding another.

1) Arizona Snow (Arcane Society series, and mentioned in the Rainshadow series as well)

While we meet Arizona Snow when she is a strange, security obsessed old lady, I would love to read about her adventures and escapades in the Arcane Society when she was a younger woman.  Especially after the information we find out about her in the futuristic paranormal romance book "The Hot Zone" where it is discovered by an descendant that Arizona possessed some unique paranormal abilities.  Could be soooo good!

Well, that is my T5W list done for another week.  I really enjoyed this week, and last weeks topics, but the frantic searching through all my bookshelves for suitable books could be classified as a part time job I think... it took that long!

As always, T5W was created by the lovely Lainey at GINGERREADSLAINEY and I'll include a link to the Goodreads group {HERE} if you would also like to participate. 

Please feel free to leave a comment below.  I love to hear from you ;-D

T5W || Characters you wish you could drown

Hello, once again!  I hope you are enjoying your morning.  I'm freezing my fingers off - Winter is finally setting in - and so to get back to my hot water bottle, I'm just going to dive right in.

This week we discover all those characters we wish we could drown.  The mean, the nasty and the just plain horrible.  Meet the characters I'll be sending down to meet Davey Jones ;-D

Freezing my butt off!

It's been so cold here at night.  The weatherman commented, on the news tonight, that this is the coldest start to June in over a decade!  Last night was almost 10°c below average!  As you can see, we're in for more of the same tonight, so I've rugged up and I'm sitting in bed under the doona.  Brought a bottle of water and an old favourite to bed so I don't have to get up any time soon ;-D

Fingers crossed that I don't wake up to heavy frost covering everything.

Until next time,
 

T5W | Books I'd save in a fire

Sorry to keep it so short and to the point this week.  I just couldn't make up my mind as to which of my hundreds of books I'd save {more like which authors book's I'd save instead!}.

I hope you enjoyed my Top 5 Books I'd save in a fire, and if you want to know more about Top 5 Wednesday - or would like to participate - then head on over to the Goodreads group {here}.  This series was created by the lovely Lainey at GINGERREADSLAINEY and she has some great lists.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them down below.

Until next time,

 

T5W - Favourite Books of 2014

Happy New Year!  

I hope you all have a fabulous night - and aren't too hung over this morning ;-D  Just a quick post as I spaced yesterday and forgot to post my T5W post on my favourite books of 2014.  This will be super quick as I'm sure no one wants to be bogged down with a huge amount of text.

As always, T5W was created by the lovely Lainey at GINGERREADSLAINEY and I'll include a link to the Goodreads group {here} if you would also like to participate.  If you have any questions or comments, then please feel free to leave them down below.

So, on to my Top 5 Favourite Books for 2014.

Top 5 Historical Books

It's that time again, and since I'm going to be late if I don't get this up very soon, I'll just jump right in ;-D

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

This was the first book by Austen that I'd ever read, and my old battered secondhand copy was full of the most interesting notations.  It had been used by a high school student and her thoughts in the margins were so helpful - as well as funny - as they gave me another persons thoughts on the text.  I now have multiple copies of this book, but I'll never get rid of this edition ;-D

Top 5 over 500!

Hello, and welcome to another Top 5 Wednesday list!  This week we are demolishing our shelves, trying to find our top 5 books over 500 pages.  Yes, that's right - 500 pages!  Luckily I do have rather a few huge books on my shelves but as I was riffling through I realised that a few of them were in my TBR shelves.  Bugger!  Can't put those in my top 5, so this is what I ended up with...

 

Through Wolf's Eyes by Jane Lindskold

608 pages

This is the first book in the Firekeeper Saga, and essentially is about a girl who lost her parents when she was a young child and happened to be found and taken in by a pack of intelligent wolves.  Years later, they send her back to the humans {as they'd promised her mother} and the humans think that she is the lost heir to the throne (I think?) and there is a lot of political manoeuvring involved.  Set in an equivalent medieval era, it is a great introduction to Jane Lindskold if you love adult fantasy.

PS - this item is no longer available on Book Depository, etc.  Can find it on sites like AbeBooks.com {that's where I just ordered mine from ;-D}

 

Divine by Mistake by P.C. Cast

698 pages

This is the first book in Cast's Partholon Trilogy.  The story revolves around Shannon Parker, a teacher, and during her summer vacation she purchases, at auction, a Celtic vase and finds herself magically transported to the world of Partholon where she becomes the Goddess Incarnate of Epona and must find a way to return to Oklahoma before war erupts - oh, and she is married off to a centaur! ;-D

Much better than her series with daughter, this is an light, adult contemporary/fantasy trilogy.

 

 

Gladiatrix by Rhonda Roberts

582 pages

I love it when I can plug a great book from an Australian author!

When time travel was invented, everyone thought it would solve their problems. But for 22-year-old Kannon, it's about to turn her life upside down. Left for dead in the Blue Mountains when she was just a baby, Kannon has now discovered that an American Time Marshal, Victoria Dupree, could be her real mother. But Victoria has gone missing in ancient Rome while investigating the Hierophant, the mysterious leader of the Isis cult.  Kannon desperately wants to find Victoria, but the US National Time Administration is standing in her way ...

So amazing!  The next two books in the series have been published, Hoodwinked (set in the 20's I think), and Coyote (which is set in Wild West USA).

 

A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton

521 pages

I love this series, and stumbled across A Kiss of Shadows when it was first published way back when.  It is an adult contemporary fantasy series with explicit sex scenes, so if that's something that bothers you then I'd recommend you either skim those scenes, or try another book.  This series is NOT FOR YOUNGER READERS!

Merry Gentry, princess of the high court of Faerie, is posing as a human in Los Angeles, working as a private investigator specializing in supernatural crime. But now the queen's assassin has been dispatched to fetch her--whether she likes it or not. Suddenly Merry finds herself a pawn in her dreaded aunt's plans. The job that awaits her: enjoy the constant company of the most beautiful immortal men in the world. 

The reward: the crown--and the opportunity to continue to live. 

The penalty for failure: death.

 

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

690 pages

A world of witches, daemons and vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it. When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it's an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she was still a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than any witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she's kept at bay for years; one of powerful witches, creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires. Sensing the significance of Diana's discovery, the creatures gather in Oxford, among them the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire geneticist. Diana is inexplicably drawn to Matthew and, in a shadowy world of half-truths and old enmities, ties herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are crossing. As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels...

OMG! Such an amazing trilogy!  Can't say enough great things about these books, and would recommend anyone who loves magic, witches, forbidden love and history to pick up this book!

plus an

 

At just a smidge under the 500 page limit - 487 pages to be exact - I had to include Written in Red by Anne Bishop as an Honourable Mention as I love this book so much!  While not targeted as a YA fantasy, this book is a great read for anyone (of any age!) that loves shapeshifters, elemental beings, vampires with a difference, and other magical beings and wants to segue into adult fantasy. 

This is the first book in The Others series, the second book, Murder of Crows, is currently out in hardcover/trade while the third - and hopefully not last - book in the series, Vision in Silver, is due for release next March!   I so want an ARC copy of ViS! - if anyones listening {*hint hint *} :-D

So if you loved Written in Red and are looking for more of Anne Bishop's books that are aimed at an adult audience, then I would highly recommend that you try her Black Jewels series.

You'll might have noticed 3 a glaring omission from this list.  There is no LOTR, nor any Harry Potter books.  I've tried to stay away from YA (sorry The Diviners and Harry!), and I only read LOTR every couple of years and since it was originally published in 3 parts, I don't really think I could put it here - that and I didn't want to be that predictable ;-D

Okay, so that's me done for another week.  I hope you found something new to read, and if you want to find out more about this series, it was created by the lovely Lainey at GINGERREADSLAINEY and I'll include a link to the Goodreads group {here} if you would also like to participate.

If you have any questions, or comments, I'd love to hear from you... and you know what to do down below ;-D

So until next time,