Jan-Feb Book Haul - Part 1

Hello, my lovelies!

I am so far behind the 8 ball this year, in regards to videos I want to make, that it's not even funny.  So far 2020 has not been a stellar start to a new decade. Although, during all this mayhem in my everyday life I have managed to read at a ridiculous rate, smashing my Goodreads reading challenge goal by February.

In this first of two parts, I have just gone over all the new books that I have added to my library, and the few that I have already read.  Sadly, after filming Part 2 (up soon) I have already accumulated a few more books.  It's a sickness, I tell you.  Then there is Kindle Unlimited... and I think you can guess how my reading month for February went.

Outside of my reading life, things have been chugging along as always. Chronic pain is never fun, but it has really kicked my butt this summer. The hot and humid weather we've experienced here (it's not humid here!) plus the bushfires, etc., just wrecked havoc with my system.  Thankfully with autumn temperatures kicking in, I'm feeling a lot better, but still not yet 100%... well, as good as I'm going to get at the moment anyway.

I'm hoping to do to a big unhaul, or weeding my shelves, in a couple of weeks so if you're interested in that, let me know and I'll see if I can get something up.

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

 

My 2020 Reading Goals

Well, hello there!

Welcome to my first video for 2020.  I still can't believe we're into the roaring 20's of the 21st century.  This decade there are so many books that I have read that were considered modern classics when I was reading them for high school, or for pleasure, that are turning 100.

For this video I'm just going over my fairly laid back goals for 2020.  I'm relaxing my restrictions for my #BigBook2020 and my #aclassicamonth challenges. For the Big Book challenge I will consider any book over 800 pages.  Yep, I've dropped it back from the 1000 I previously used as I'm running out of those big a$$ books, so... and on the Classic a Month side, my only rule is that I pick a classic a month. Not that hard. I have the choice of any book that is considered a classic. Western or Eastern canons, translated, modern, childrens, you name it, it's fair game.

My Goodreads goal is a do-able 150 books. I usually fly through January with at least 60-70+ books because a hot Australian Summer + AC = lots of reading inside. May up it to 200 if needed, but I'm not planning on repeating a monster of a result like last year (still can't believe I wracked up 443!).

Now, in regards to my channel, uh, nothing major. Just hoping to be a bit more consistent in filming and posting videos. Hoping to get the grey cells up and firing soon so I can decide on perhaps a few future set ideas (Halloween, seasonal recommendations, uh, series recommendations, etc.), that may take a bit more time. I'd be well and truly screwed if I scripted any of my videos.

So, that's it. My 2020 Reading Goals in a nutshell.  I'd just like to say thank you for watching, and until I see you next time,

Greetings 2020!

Hello, everyone!

I can’t believe that 2020 is here.  A new year, and a new decade to boot. Things have been motoring on while I try to finalise my 2020 Reading Goals for an upcoming video. 

I’ve already started on my Goodreads Challenge by submitting the goal I’d like to reach this year... well, at least my jumping off point if previous years are any guide. So 150 is my first target to reach, and then we’ll see what happens from there. And while I would love to surpass last years amazing tallies (443 books and 124k+ pages), I’m not going into this years challenge with that in mind.

So far I have completed 3 books, and before you say anything, they were small cozy mystery novels, two of which were average, and one that I adored. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I’m going to purchase a paperback edition for my shelves (I read it from OverDrive), and I can’t wait for the second book to come out in June.  Death in a Budapest Butterfly is the first book in Julia Buckley’s A Hungarian Tea House Mystery series, and I think I’ll give it a post of it’s own to highlight what a great cozy mystery I think it is. However that may have to wait a few days until my back/hip sorts itself out and I can sit at my desk to fire up the desktop and either film a review, or do some fancy-smancy stuff on PS to tizzy up the picture for y’all.

Oh, so you caught my little slip of the keyboard. Yes, after mentioning in my last video that I’m feeling a lot better I managed to pull a muscle or tendon while washing my hair in the shower - of all things! I feel like such a dink, but there I was, rinsing out my hair, sitting on the bench seat, when I felt a ‘pop’ in my rump and felt a hot and tingling sensation. I had to get out of there asap while I could still move! Spent the evening with a cold pack on my butt, and this morning it feels like someone has punched my hard in the hip. But I’ll take a deep muscle pain over a pinched nerve any day of the week.  At least I can move and get myself out of bed, etc.

So, this latest adventure in my chronic pain journey has me reassessing how I’m going to try and live my life, even my social media/online life, in a normal fashion when my body is rebelling. I think I’ll have to save up and invest in a laptop (my old one died about 5 years ago. RIP my HP laptop) so that I can at least edit and upload my videos while confined to the bed or couch. My trusty iPad was just not made for editing videos.

Anyway, I think I’ve jabbered on enough for the moment and had better get back to brainstorming those 2020 Reading Goals.

I hope to see you guys soon. So until next time

Reading Wrap Up 2019

 

OMG! I can't believe it's the end of the year already. Time to get those end of year wrap up videos filmed and edited, and figure out what I'm going to do for my 2020 reading challenges.

But, today is about my Goodreads year in review, and boy, did I surpass my goals in 2019.

My goal for 2019 was to read 100 books (passed in February), so I upped it to 150 - nailed it! - and then I thought I'd really challenge myself and upped it again to 250 books.  Well, jokes on me because I flew past that and ended the year with a grand total of 440 books and 123,817 pages!

I don't think I'll have that good of a reading year in 2020, but I'm determined to at least give it a red hot go.  I'm so proud of what I accomplished in my reading year, although my reading challenges tanked, and I have so many ideas for next year that I really need to get myself sorted out.

Thanks for watching my videos in 2019.  I appreciate your support, and until I see you next year,

Victober 2019 Wrap Up

Yah! I have finally been able to edit this and get it up - and all before the end of the first week of November, woo-hoo!  Victober was a mixed bag. I did finish the two titles that made up the four challenges, but the other books I'd hoped to read... well, that didn't go so well.

Sorry this is so short.  Hopefully as Christmas gets closer I can find the time to get some more blogging in. Until then, I hope you had a more successful Victober than I did. Let me know what your favourite book was in the comments, and until next time,

 

Victober Quickie & Bookmail

Okey-dokey, then.  Just thought that I'd put together a super quick (for me) video to chat a little bit about where I am with my Victober reading - keeps me honest! - and about the latest book I'll be adding to my TBR shelves after watching Mara's "Where to Start with Classics" video.

One of these days I really need to do a TBR bookshelf tour to see exactly how many books I have that still haven't been read.

Sorry to run off so quickly, but I can hear a bit of thunder, and where there's thunder, there are appliances to unplug ;-D, so a big thank you for watching, and until I see you next time,

 

Uh, Amazon, why did you do this?

So, Amazon did a thing to my book that I'm a little peeved about.

Let me know if this has ever happened to you after ordering online.  I'm genuinely curious as to how often this actually happens, if it does, or did I just get super unlucky?

Thanks for watching, and until next time,

 

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,

 

Victober 2019 Update

I can't believe it's almost half way through October!  Where has the month gone?

 

My (late) #Victober TBR

Hello there stranger!

Yes, it is I.  It is hard to believe that I have been absent from BookTube, and this blog, for about 2 months.  I have had a rather difficult time with my health - darn that chronic pain! - and that has affected my ability to a) film videos, and b) to sit down for hours to edit them.

However, I couldn't let Victober pass without at least getting a TBR out there... so, here we go.

I have listed all the links to the hosts, and other various sites/videos, for your Victober pleasure, so I won't rehash all that.  But, I will tell you about the books I have decided to read for this Victober.  The first is ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴍᴇɴ ɪɴ ᴀ ʙᴏᴀᴛ by Jerome K. Jerome.  Although I only read this book at the start of the year... oops, last August acutally!, and I still think about some of the passages.  The language is beautiful, and the characters are memorable.  I love the lazy storyline, it is so simple an idea and executed so well that I'm surprised that I hear so little about this book online.  A great way to spend a few hours.

Next up is ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴍᴇɴ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴜᴍᴍᴇʟ, a sequel to his much earlier novel.  Not surprising since I loved their first outing up the Thames.  This time round, the hypochondriac trio are off to the Black Forest on a cycling tour, with Montmorency in tow.  I don't know anything else about it, and I'm going to go into this with no expectations apart from expecting more beautiful prose.

And finally, there is the underrated, and new to me, offering of Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett with ɴᴇᴡ ᴀᴍᴀᴢᴏɴɪᴀ. Published in 1889, it is a contemporary of Three Men in a Boat, and as I perused the synopsis, I immediately stopped as soon as I saw 'dystopian', and I'm going into this with no idea what it is about other than that.

So, those are the three books that I'm going to be reading this October.  Fingers crossed it all goes well, and I will be devouring other Victober videos so if you have made one, or have posted something on your blog about it, then leave me a link in the comments.

A big thank you for watching, and until I see you next time,

 

Last Bookmail in July

Hi there!

I finally fired up the ol' desktop today and while I was waiting for Norton to update all the anti-virus things, I thought I'd edit another video for you all.

July was a great month for bookmail - I only wish I hadn't ordered all this myself! There are still some items that are currently MIA, however, I have high hopes that the AbeBooks will arrive in the next week or so... but that Powell's order from the US is still not here, and I am getting rather antsy about it.

Okay, I'm off now.  Hope your July reading was wonderful, and that you found something new and interesting, or rediscovered an old favourite.  Thanks for watching, and until I see you next time,

 

Dark Tower issue resolved

Well, hello there.  Hope you’ve had a wonderful day.  My day was pretty average. It was a beautiful winters day with a painfully blue sky that makes you think if summer - but it was way too cold to even consider leaving the house!

Okay, enough of the social pleasantries. You’re here for the book stuff 😁  Here we go...

As you can tell by the title of this post, my issue regarding a used book I purchased from AbeBooks was resolved... but I’m not sure how I feel about it.  As previously discussed on both my IG, and BookTube, I ordered what should have been the reissued edition of The Song of Susannah (Dark Tower 05) by Stephen King. I particularly wanted this book because on the matching covers that form a larger landscape image when put together. But anyhoo, when the book turned up in the mail on Thursday, 18/07/19, it was not the right edition.  Yes, I know that sounds shallow and smacks of consumerism, but I want the edition that I’d paid for.

Seeing the error, I emailed the seller. They were lovely to deal with (so this isn’t a drama queen post about shitty customer service) and after me supplying them with the details they requested, I woke up to an email stating I was being refunded the full cost of my order (inc. p&h).  Now, while this was expected, I would rather have received the correct edition.

So, the hunt for The Song of Susannah begins anew.

Wish me luck, and on that note I’ll bid you a fond adieu, and until I see you next time,

Bookmail Quickie

It was a beautiful winter's day yesterday, so I walked down to the post office.  Thankfully I live close by as I came home with a few parcels - and one of those was something I was very eagerly awaiting.

Things did not go according to plan (as the thumbnail hints) and I'll get into that in the next post, but until then, I hope you enjoy the bookmail unboxing ;-D

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

 

Mid July Reading Update

Woo-wee, is it cold! Thanks to an Antarctic front that's blustering up from the south, I am freezing my butt off.  In an attempt to get a little bit of sun - and to try a different filming location - I rugged up and ventured out into the back yard.  By more dumb luck than good management I happened to choose a time where the winds had died down for a good half hour, but it was still colder than it looks.  Seriously, if the temperatures drop below freezing there should be mandatory snow.  Winter here in rural QLD looks no different than high summer, except for the winter woolies I'm sporting.

On the bookish front, I have been rereading some of my urban fantasy series that have new books coming out soon.  I also read a little bit more from The Count of Monte Cristo, which I'm hoping to finish next month, perhaps, and just listening to more audiobooks as I go about my daily routine.  As it's been so cold here, I haven't spent any time in the office/library. I really need to start filming and creating extra videos so that I have a buffer for times like this.

Anyway, my fingers and toes feel like they are about to drop off, so I'm going to say thank you for watching, and until I see you next time,

 

The Dark Tower is coming

Like I said when I posted this on IG, Yah! My Dark Tower bookmail is starting to trickle in 😊

I read The Gunslinger about 18 months ago, and just never continued on with the series as I didn’t have the next books. There was also the very real book problem of trying to decide which edition to get. Unfortunately by the time I decided on these US ones (in this very odd, tall mass market paperback format), they seemed to be going out of print for some of the titles.

Thankfully, these two were easily obtained from Amazon AU, while the rest had to be sourced from AbeBooks, and Powell’s (from America), which is a whole other story.  Fingers crossed the used books I bought match this edition.

Okay, now to find space for these new books...