The Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag

Well, hello there.

Sorry I've been a little haphazard in the uploading department, but I did get around to editing the Mid Year Freak Out Tag video, and right on time as it turns out.

There are some new books, some not so new books, and a few books mentioned in more than one question, but so far this year - even though I've read nearly 300 books so far! - there have been more misses than hits.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video, and until I see you next time,

 

June TBR

Hello, my lovelies!

Well. This feels a bit strange. I haven’t ‘blogged’ in so long that this feels a little weird 😉

I’m running a little bit behind this month, but I thought I’d take a moment to put up my June TBR. After May was a complete disaster on the reading front, Audible has been a great way to ease back into picking up books. I caved and bought the Kindle editions of Swamp Sniper and Swamp Team 3 by Jana DeLeon. These are books 3 and 4 respectively, and I am having so much fun with this light-hearted series. Full of comedy, murder, mystery, and a dash of Southern charm, I would recommend this series to anyone, but if you love Stephanie Plum I think this will appeal to you.

So, with my urge to read kickstarted, I am hoping to get to a few of the books that I neglected in May. I need to catch up on my #aclassicamonth by reading The Picture of Dorian Gray (April), Persuasion (May), and June’s classic which has yet to be decided. On the Stephen King front, I’m hoping to read Different Seasons, or at least one or two of the novellas, plus perhaps dipping my toes into The Talisman. The Rook by Daniel O’Malley - which hid from me for about 6 weeks, don’t ask - is also on my radar because of the upcoming Stan series, and last, but by no means least, I really need to get started on The Count of Monte Cristo. That sucker is over 1,400 pages and I have yet to read one sentence (really wishing I had joined in last years readalong).

 

So, I have officially committed. It is here for everyone to see, and will hopefully motivate me to get threw all these books.  If I get the time to film and edit a TBR video I’ll link it above, and I have plans to film and upload a few videos this week, including a ‘Meet Earl Grey’ update.

Anyway, that’s all for the moment. I hope you’re having a lovely day, and until I see you next time,

Weekend Reading + Bookmail

I tried to get this up last Friday, but thanks to more NBN maintenance - thanks Telstra! - I wasn't able to get it up. So I just ended up filming a wrap up of what I ended up reading instead. 

If you have read any of these books, leave a comment below as I'd love to connect with fellow Constant Readers ;-D

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

 

May Wrap Up + Elevation Review

OMG, Winter is here.  This morning was so cold and I didn't even want to stick my nose out from under the blankets.  When I finally emerged it was to discover that the mercury had plummeted to -2.4°c (felt like -4.8°c) and that does not bode well for the next few months.  It's at times like this that I really wish all houses in Australia came with wood heaters or radiators, because OMG it's so freaking cold.

On the book front, I have just filmed my book haul for May.  Not sure if I'll use that, or re-film it on the weekend because those last stragglers could arrive in the next two days, couldn't they? ;-D  Anyway, I'm feeling more upbeat about things, so hopefully that will translate into filming more, and actually editing the footage I already have.

In the meantime, I'm off to play with the new floof that I adopted on Sunday.  Earl Grey, or EG (as I've already dubbed him), is such a ball of energy. He can be so relaxed and chill and then be zooming off somewhere to chase a leaf.  Such a cutie.

Let me know what you thought of Elevation, and do you think King should stop publishing these novellas and just concentrate on his big ass novels? But I digress.  I'm out. Thanks for watching/reading this, and until I see you next time,

 

So, this (almost) happened

Yep, I nearly brought home the most gorgeous Alaskan Malamute.

Sadly, she was more than I could handle at the moment (with my health issues), so I decided it wouldn't be fair to her to adopt her.  However, I did find out that if she isn't adopted, she will be going to live with someone from an Alaskan Malamute Rescue group that will rehome this gorgeous old girl.

Instead, I came home with a new cat... my fourth cat!

He's a little hyper at the moment, so I'm going to wait a few days for him to calm down before trying to photograph and get some footage of him.  All I can say is that he is a gorgeous black fluffy cat that has fit in so quickly with the other three.

Let me know if you'd like me to do a video on my cats below.  And until I see you guys next time,

 

Family Emergency Update

I am so happy to be able to say that my mum is out of the CCU (Cardiac Care Unit) and is currently in the rehab ward of the hospital while she undergoes some physio in preparation of her coming home.

As you can well imagine, the last 2 weeks have been a complete nightmare.

However, now that my mum is on the mend, I will try to get my butt back into gear and start filming some new series I hope to include on my channel.  It won't happen this week as I'm taking this slowly, but I hope by the end of May I should be uploading more regularly.

Thank you once again to everyone who commented on my video with their well wishes, they were very much appreciated.

So, my lovelies, until I see you next time

 

Lucky Dip Questions 01 - Why Time Doesn't Fly in Stephanie Plum?

Okay, I don't think this Lucky Dip Question was solved by any means, but it's something that I've wondered about for a while now.  Why does time move so differently for some characters in the Stephanie Plum series?

If you have read the books, and notice this weird phenomenon, then please let me know what your thoughts are about this odd little quirk in the comments below. 

And until I see you guys next time,

 

Series Recommendation #01 - Miss Fortune Mystery

Hi there!

It's been a hot minute since I have been able to either film, edit, or upload something.  Today I'm just letting you know about a fabulous series I've recently been devouring and let me tell you, if you are a fan of fun, quirky, fast paced and action packed series with a hint of romance, and laugh out loud moments, then please pick up the Miss Fortune Mystery series by Jana DeLeon.

Would be a fantastic inbetween series for fans of Stephanie Plum.

Let me know in the comments if you have read this series because I am dying to chat to someone about these books and characters ;-D

Anyway, gotta go and hop on to editing the next video (trying to make up for lost time), and until I see you guys next time,

 

King-ly Reading Update: Part One

Hi, and welcome back!

I am so glad to be back at the computer, and finger's crossed, there will be no NBN or power maintenance holdups for the foreseeable future.

Now, as you can see from the title of the video, I've gotten back into my Stephen King groove and have been watching - and buying - a whole lot of King stuff.  Firstly, I blame this on finding Needful Things had dropped on STAN (Australian streaming service) and from there I bounced over to Netflix to partake of Gerald's Game.  I had been putting off watching Gerald's Game because I had wanted to read the book, as I mentioned in this video, but alas, I caved and on a hot afternoon I got myself comfy on the bed, snuggled down into the pillows with my iPad, and pressed PLAY... and OMG! did I love this adaptation.  Won't go into spoilers because I want to read the book and compare it to the adaptation in a video, but dang, it was amazing!

I have also been trying to track down some of the US hardcovers of Bag of Bones, Pet Sematary, Night Shift, Carrie, The Shining, and a few others that I just can't seem to find for a reasonable price.  I do have some more editions in the upcoming PARTS TWO and THREE of my King-ly Reading Update videos, because I got a little 'click happy' this month.

Anyway, I've got to get back to editing the new footage so I can get something up during the week.  Thanks for your patience, and until I see you next time,

 

Just a little hiccup is all

Currently reading Pet Sematary 

Oh, boy.  Just when you think it’s safe to go back in the pool, Murphy’s Law strikes.

So. I had two videos that I was hoping to finish editing and get uploaded this week, but the internet gods have thrown a spanner in the works and I received notification that not only was my NBN Broadband going to be down this week, you know, for maintenance (yeah, right), but my power supply would also be in question this week as the electricity company also wants to do some maintenance... seriously, what are the odds for this?

That means that I’m not going to be editing diddley-squat because I do not want to loose any of my footage thanks to an ill timed outage, not that I will be able to upload it anyway. So, I’m falling back on my reading, and to my delight, I’ve been burning up the pages. I’ve already surpassed my goal of 100 books for the year (28 February), and I’m now chasing my highest page count of 45,000+ (set in 2017).  I’ve been discovering a lot of great new authors and series - thanks to the free books on Amazon Kindle - so I think I’ll try to put together a list of my favourite new authors/series.

Then there are the books that I’m trying very hard to read because a) they’re on my personal reading goals list for this year, and b) because I want to watch the adaptation, so I need to read the book.  So far I’m working my way through Pet Sematary by Stephen King, and I’m expecting The Meg blu-ray in the mail tomorrow so I’m downloaded the ebook.  For my #aclassicamonth challenge, I’ve decided to go with Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie so I can get it off my list.  However my #bigbook2019 progress has floundered because I have yet to pick up The Count of Monte Cristo.  Oops.

I’m currently flying through some new urban fantasy and paranormal cosy mysteries, but I’ll catch you up on those in a future post.  Now, I think you’re all up to speed on what’s happening, or not happening, so I’ll leave you here, and until I see you next time,

Early February Reading Wrap Up

Phew, just got this up in time ;-D

Trying to keep this post nice and short, so all I'm going to say is that I'm trying a slightly different format for my end of the month reading wrap ups (to try and keep the run time down), so I hope you like it.

Thanks for watching, and drop me a line below if you have any ideas or book recommendations for me ;-D

And until I catch you next time,

 

Bookmail & Wrap Up

Sorry about the delay.  I've been having a few issues with the new Mojave OS ever since I updated my software from Yosemite.  It's been slow, and sluggish, and yesterday I couldn't force quit a program that was preventing me from shutting down the computer, so I had to pull the plug - oops, power outage.

Today I think I've gotten some of the kinks ironed out, but it's still so frustrating to feel like you're being held hostage by your iMac.  Finger's crossed I can actually shut down properly today.

Anyway, last week was quite a good week for me.  Two of the books I've been wanting to read - to see if I want to continue on with the series - were actually at my library.  I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but trust me, in a small regional country town, having any of my paranormal romance or urban fantasy series on the shelves is major.

I'm still on the fence in regards to Torpedo Ink.  I enjoy the overall story, but the messed up lives, the abuse, and the extremely graphic nature of these books is starting to get to me.  It's like the Anita Blake books all over again.  If you have any thoughts on the matter, let me know in the comments.  I'd seriously love to discuss this with anyone who is having problems with the direction the series is going in.

Thanks for taking the time to watch my videos, I hope to get more up soon.  And until I see you next time,

 

Kindle Binge

I can't believe that January is already behind us in the review mirror of life, and it seems the older I get, the faster time flies.  As I have mentioned before, thanks to the insane weather conditions this summer, I have spent a lot of time inside reading.  And this has led to a corker of a reading month.  So far, in January, I have managed to plow through a grand total of...

 

Yeah.  Just like last year, I have read over half of my Goodreads challenge goal in January.  Now, if I can keep this up for even another month or two, I'll be well on my way to having my best ever year!  If you are wondering if I'm competing against anyone/everyone by blowing through so many books

a) NO, and

b) I only compete against my own previous results.

and to my surprise, even thought I don't like reading Kindle/eBooks (because they make my eyes sore, and I can get bad tension headaches), I fly through them. I devour the electronic editions so much faster than I can the print versions.

Anyway, to wrap this up - Yes, January was a great reading month.  I discovered a few new series, and a couple of new authors that I will be trying more of.  I hope you also had a great reading month, whether that was finishing two books, or one hundred and twenty. 

If you have any recommendations - I'm always looking for new books and authors - please let me know in the comments below, and until I see you next time,

 

A tiny January wrap up

January was a pretty good reading month.  I have read 40 books so far (with 2 days left in the month), but I'm really happy with what I've read so far.

I managed to finish the Firekeeper Saga - after 12 years of looking for the books! - and I think I've mentioned it in most of the video's I've made recently that I had at least filled in the missing gaps in my collection.  It is a wonderful fantasy series that has no sex, sexual violence, graphic violence, nor does it have any swearing as such.  Truly, if you are hesitant about reading fantasy series because of the violence and graphic sex that usually accompanies a lot of fantasy books, then please try this authors work.  Okay, announcement over.

Apart from that I've reread a few of the Stephanie Laurens books, contemplated picking up The Count of Monte Cristo, as well as The Great Zoo of China, but decided that steamy tropical weather was not conducive to a good reading experience so I'm waiting for autumn to kick in.  Cold Comfort Farm is giving me some problems.  I put it down the other day (I'm 48 pages in) and I just don't feel the urge to pick it back up again.  Flora isn't a character that I am drawn to, but I hope once I get into the story again, that will change.

I don't have any solid plans for next months reading.  I'll choose another classic from my #aclassicamonth list, but that's about all.  I'm not even sure if any of the authors I read have any new releases in February, so I'll play it by ear.

Thank you for tuning in to my little rambling chats.  I hope to see you all next time, and until then,

 

Mid January Reading Wrap Up

Why, oh, why did I procrastinate and put off filming stuff for BookTube?

It's been such an effort to try and make this video as I had to do so much editing.  It is surprising how little time it takes to forget just how to talk to a camera.  Unfortunately, I had so many stumbles and moments where I couldn't find my big girl words that it's embarrassing, but I'm determined to get back in the swing of things.

Since I filmed and edited this on Wednesday, I wasn't able to add in my stats for the last couple of days.  So far January has been a massive month for reading.  As of this morning, Saturday 19th, I have read 30 book and have cracked the 9000 word barrier. Yep, 9000+ words have been read in 19 days.  I can't believe I have been quite that prolific. If I can keep up this pace for 2019 I think it will be my best ever year on Goodreads!

I have a few more (shorter) videos I hope to get up before the end of January, but until then thank you for watching, and until I see you next time,