Favourite reads of 2017

Well, hello!

Yes, it's been a hot minute since I last posted.  December was a crackin' reading month.  I caved in and used my library's Overdrive platform to devour a ton of books.  Apparently I can read even faster on a device, and the week before Christmas I managed to power through 40 books!  Yes, that was not a typo.  I will try to do a 2017 statistics wrap up soon, but today I just spoke about some of my favourite reads of 2017.  These are not based on ratings, or Goodreads reviews.  These are just the books that I kept thinking of when trying to decide what I enjoyed reading last year. 

It is a longer video, and it almost a wasn't.  I tried to film it twice on my little digital camera, but the battery got so hot that I had to stop, and the second time my battery went flat half way through so that was a bust.  Still, I wanted to get a video up today so I had to resort to the webcam on my desktop so the quality isn't all that.  Then it took nearly 3 hours for the video to upload to YouTube.  Seriously, 3 hours!

So, I've done my dash with this video.  It was as frustrating as all get out to do, but I'm glad I was able to upload something after being a no-show in December.

This year I have a few self imposed challenges.  My #aclassicamonth is heading into it's third year, and I'll once again be reading slogging through the Big Book 2018.  I'm hoping to get back to reading a Poirot a month, and I'm tentatively planning my Halloween reading list.  My Goodreads challenge is set at 100 books.  I completed the challenge in Aug/Sept last year and didn't bother to add any of the books I read after that point, so this year I want to log everything I read on Goodreads - just to see exactly what my reading year looks like.

Okay.  I've been online for hours today trying to get all this up.  My butts gone numb, and my computer is getting rather hot to the touch, so I'll say Happy New Year and good luck with your reading in 2018, and until I see you next time,

 

Really late bookmail

What the hell is going on with the postal service at the moment?  I finally received some mail today that was as much as 6 weeks overdue (Misty's letter) and my order from Awesome Books was 2 weeks late.  Even my Funko and Booktopia order (in the flat oversized parcel) were late.  Is it the pre-Christmas postal panic?  I don't know - and I don't particularly care.  I am only worried about my orders getting to me in a reasonable amount of time!

Okay, now that that mini rant is out of my system - I actually didn't indulge in a hissy fit in the video - I will say that for once, all of the used books I ordered from Awesome Books arrived in very good condition.  There is always one item that looks like it's been dragged through the bushes backwards, but today, not a problem.

So out of everything that I opened this morning, the biggest surprise came with the green Harper Perennial spine you can see above on the video titlecard, it is sooo floopy and very much smaller than other editions of the book I own.  I'm trying so hard not to go into video spoilers, but if you've read the book you'll know how much of a chunker it is.  On the plus side, I now no longer have to worry about emailing sellers asking for refunds (and then quibbling about the refund of postage as well) so that's a huge plus.

I was also going to haul the books I discovered at a local thrift shop last week (and I have been posting images on IG) but that would have made this video super long so I might just leave for now.

Anyway, so happy to finally have all my missing orders here, I'm only waiting on two books I won on Twitter comps over the past two weeks.  I'm now going to clean up this mess around my desk and try to find a spot for them on my shelves.  Wish me luck ;-D

And until I see next time,

 

Look what arrived today!

Hadn't been home long after a visit to the hospital physio when the courier knocked on my door.  Inside the surprisingly chunky parcel was my pre-ordered copy of the illustrated edition of Neil Gaiman's NEVERWHERE (illustrated by Chris Riddell).  

So excited to flick through this.  There are illustrations everywhere, even it they only frame the page, and although not as crisp as those in The Sleeper and the Spindle, they still capture the mood very well.

Can't wait to read this.  

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 Wednesday - Halloween Recommendations

Happy Halloween, my lovelies!

Welcome once again to another Top 5 Wednesday.  This week we are looking at our top 5 Halloween recommendations.  Whether or not you like to have the fright of your life, or just want to get into the Halloween spirit, books can play an important role in getting your inner-imp all fired up.  So here is a list of what I plan to be reading in the coming days leading up to Halloween...

Wicked as They Come  by Delilah S. Dawson

With steampunk hunks and a twisted atmosphere it's a winner - plus it's got Blud-bunnies!!

The Woman in Black - Susan Hill

 OMG!  So good.  This is a Victorian Gothic/Haunted House deal.

{PS, the movie of this is way creepy ;-D }

 The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman

Such a fabulous book.  Eerie and mysterious.  A fast, action packed story.

 Maplecroft - Cherie Priest

 Just arrived in the mail, and can't wait to read for Halloween ;-D 
Lizzy Borden and demons... hmmmm

Guilty Pleasures - Laurell K. Hamilton
This is the first book in the series, but it has everything!  Vampires, zombies, shapeshifters,
witches, necromancers, fae - and not the nice kind! - and anything else you can think of ;-D

WARNING
 Not for children or readers under 18!
Seriously, this series is full of MATURE CONTENT and does have graphic violence
 - and from book 6 there is are sex scenes (very graphic icky scenes from book 10 onwards)

So these are the books I'll be reading this Halloween.  I hope you found something you might like to try this spooky season.  Leave a link to your favourite Halloween Reads in the comment section below, I'd love to see what you're reading this Halloween.

And remember, this series was created by the lovely Lainey at GINGERREADSLAINEY and I'll include a link to the Goodreads group if you would also like to participate {here}

Until next time,