The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

---

Currently Reading

I picked up The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross on Monday morning but haven’t made a huge amount of progress on it so far. This is one of those titles that NetGalley tempted me with and I couldn’t resist despite being a little bit down on YA at the moment. I’m starting to wonder if I’ve hit some particular age where I’m too old for it, although my Mum’s 70 and she likes her YA fantasy and sci fi. It’s probably more likely that I’m just reading too much of it and it’s all becoming a bit samey. Ah well, maybe this will surprise me. I’m keeping everything crossed.

No progress in the past week on the audio of The Black Witch by Laurie Forest. I have been stuck inside for pretty much the last week so no driving which is when I usually listen to my audios. I’ve also been feeling pretty anxious, about everything and nothing, so I’ve found my mind wandering a lot and have been having trouble concentrating. Focusing on an audio is just not happening.

---

Recently Finished

I had last week off work and ended up trapped indoors by snowmageddon (seriously there were 6 inches which apparently is enough to bring Scotland to a standstill) so I did quite a bit of reading (and snow shoveling) and finished four books.

The first of these was A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. This was my pick for RL book club and I think it was a brilliant choice even if I do say so myself. Such an emotional read, I think yet again I cried my way through about half of it and at the most unexpected parts. I adored Ove, he’s such a lovable grump and his interactions with the boisterous family who move in next door are hilarious. I was kind of worried it was going to have a sad ending but without saying whether it was or wasn’t, it was absolutely perfect.

The second book finished was  Wye: A Zombie Novel by Jack Croxall. This was one of those semi random picks from kindle unlimited and turned out to be a pretty interesting story. It’s told in the form of a journal written by Wye (Theadora) as she travels across England after the zombie apocalypse has killed all of her family and friends. All is not as it seems however and even from the beginning it is clear that Wye is not the most reliable of narrators. This wasn’t without its flaws, it’s a little bit slow in places and I found the jumps back and forward in time confusing as there are no headers or dates, but it’s an intriguing story and I’d read more from this author.

After Wye I was in the mood for something a bit more positive and uplifting and picked up The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu, an ARC I’d received via NetGalley. I was expecting this to be similar to Moxie which left me feeling all fired up but unfortunately this turned out to have the opposite effect. It’s about the damage rumors can do to a reputation, slut shaming and what lengths people will go to to be part of the popular crowd so it depressed the hell out of me. None of the characters are particularly likable (maybe one) so it was difficult to care about them or what the truth about Alice was.

The final book finished was thriller, Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris which I also received from NetGalley. This was one of those completely addictive reads. I swear every chapter ends with some kind of cliffhanger or teaser of what’s to come so you have to keep reading (damn you B A Paris). I ended up reading the whole thing, cover to cover, on Sunday. I probably should have been cleaning or writing up this weeks blog posts but that just didn’t happen. Needless to say I’m writing this late on Tuesday night.

---

Reading Next

I’ve managed to get my NetGalley shelf down over the last couple of weeks so I would like to reduce it even further by reading Skin Deep by Liz Nugent and The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven. I’m also way too excited about the Shatter Me series finally being available on Amazon. I received the first book from NetGalley and pre-ordered the remaining books as soon as I finished it. I’m thinking it may be time for a full on series binge this weekend starting with Unravel Me.

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading ❤

The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

---

Currently Reading

I had to put my next RL book club book, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, on hold for a bit while I finished off a couple of ARC’s but I picked it up again yesterday morning and I don’t think I’ve put it down since. There is just something I love about Backman’s writing and Ove could be one of my all time favorite characters. He’s just such a grump, always insisting that no one does things properly but he secretly has a heart of gold. I think I’ve spent the past 24 hours alternating between laughing and crying. I am crossing everything that this has a happy ending as I don’t think I could take the alternative.

Speaking of books I suspect may not have a happy ending I’m also reading Wye: A Zombie Novel by Jack Croxall. I picked up X: A Short Story by the author last week because it fit a challenge and it seemed promising so I wanted to read more. I’ve also just been in the mood for a zombie story. I find the human behavior in these types of stories so fascinating.

Finally, on audio, I started listening to The Black Witch by Laurie Forest at the weekend. I’d put a hold on this at the library and completely forgot about it, so was surprised to get the notification it was in. It seems to be quite a long one (around 16 hours) and I’m only a couple of hours in so it’s pretty early days but I do think this could be good. I have some suspicions that it may be a little tropey and possibly slow (hardly anything has happened in 2 hours) but hopefully I’ll still enjoy it.

---

Recently Finished

Things have thankfully calmed down at work and I’ve had a few days off so I’m finally starting to get back into my reading. I am still struggling to decide what I want to read but I am at least finishing the books I’m starting rather than abandoning them after a few pages (or at least most of them).

The first book finished this week was The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey and I even managed to get a review up. This was one of those books I’d been wanting to read for ages but hadn’t been able to squeeze it in and, if you’ve read the Girl with all the Gifts, you’ll know it was probably not going to be a quick and easy read. I’m not sure I would say The Boy on the Bridge was quite as good but it is worth reading to get answers to a lot questions. It also has an absolutely incredible ending which on its own bumped my rating up at least half a star.

Because I’m an idiot, the next book I picked up after the traumatic ending of The Boy on the Bridge was The Last Laugh by Tracy Bloom. I have no idea what I was thinking as this was yet another emotional read, it’s about a 45 year old woman who is diagnosed with a terminal illness and discovers her husband is cheating on her (fun times!!!). Thankfully though while I did cry for a large proportion of the story there were quite a few laughs too. This is my second or third book by Bloom and I do like her writing, I flew threw the whole story in more or less a day. You can read my full review here.

The third and final book finished this week was The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin, which I listened to on audio. I have to confess I listened to the last couple of hours on double time (I don’t recommend this) because I had to get it finished by a specific time for a challenge. Unfortunately as a result I didn’t get to appreciate the ending which I’m sorry about as I was finding it fascinating. This is the one and only book by LeGuin I’ve read, it’s probably not something I would have sought out, but I enjoyed it so much more than I expected. Hopefully I can pick up some of her other books soon.

---

Reading Next

Pretty much all of my reads over the last couple of weeks have been rather emotional so I’m feeling a bit fragile. I think I therefore need something more up beat and happy, or possibly super dark and violent, just not another sob fest. I do have a few rapidly approaching ARC publication dates so I’m leaning towards The Truth about Alice by Jennifer Mathieu or Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris. I’m also going to see Holly Black and Alwyn Hamilton at the end of March so I may go for one of their books.

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading ❤

The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

---

Currently Reading

I finally made a start on The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey at the weekend and while I haven’t made a huge amount of progress with it, I’m around the 20% mark, I’m really enjoying it. This is one of those books that I’ve been wanting to read for ages but kept putting off because it never seemed like the right time. I absolutely loved the previous book in the series, The Girl with all the Gifts, and I think this has the potential to be just as good. It certainly has an interesting cast of characters.

I also picked up my next book club book, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, from the library last night and needless to say I couldn’t resist starting it immediately. As I’m writing this I’ve literally read only the first two chapters but I’m already in love. There’s something very easy about Backman’s writing and Ove is my kind of character (I’m also a bit of a grump). This was actually my pick for book club so I’m keeping everything crossed that everyone enjoys it. My last choice, More Than This by Patrick Ness, got a bit of a mixed reaction but I’ve heard nothing but great things about this one and I loved Backman’s latest book Beartown.

On audio, I’m making good progress on The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K Le Guin. I probably would never have picked this up if it wasn’t for the reading challenge I’m currently participating in but I’m glad to have had the push. I’ve never read anything by LeGuin, and I often struggle with sci fi, so I was a little wary going in but I am finding it such a fascinating and engaging story. If someone could explain the title to me though that would be great, I thought a lathe was a woodwork machine.

---

Recently Finished

My reading has been all over the place again this week, lots of starting and abandoning books and reading super short stories to fit challenge tasks. I did however manage to finish two books.

The first of these was The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee. This was a book I was ridiculously excited about and it did not disappoint. It’s just such a fun and cute read about two young men on a tour of Europe. It is possibly a little bit tropey but it’s packed full of action and a lot of their adventures were unexpected. I can’t wait for the next book in the series, The Ladies Guide to Petticoats and Piracy.

The second book finished was yet another fairytale retelling (I have an addiction), Bellamy and the Brute by Alicia Michaels. As you can probably tell from the title it’s a Beauty and the Beast type story and I really enjoyed it. I wouldn’t necessarily say it was great, it’s not one that’ll stay with me, but it had it’s moments. There are elements of gothic horror about it and it has some truly creepy sections but I don’t think the author goes far enough and it becomes a little scooby doo (they would’ve gotten away with it if it wasn’t for those meddlin kids).

---

Reading Next

One of the team challenges I’ve been taking part in ends on Monday night so that should free me up to read pretty much whatever I want. I have loved being pushed out of my comfort zone but I have to admit I’m looking forward to being able to read more of what I want. I do have a lot of ARCs sitting on my shelf (I’ve lost my 80% 😦 ) so I do need to focus on them but they’re all books I’ve been looking forward to so it’s not exactly a hardship 🙂

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading ❤

The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

---

Currently Reading

I’m a little bit all over the place with my reading again, I think I’ve read the first few pages of I don’t know how many books then changed my mind. I have however finally settled on The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. I’ve been desperate to read this ever since I first heard about it but had been starting to get a little worried it wouldn’t live up to expectations. I only started it this morning but I’m already loving it. If only I didn’t have to go to work and could just stay in bed all day reading.

The other book I’m kinda reading at the moment is Brave by Rose McGowan. I say kinda because I started it but after reading around 15-20% I parked it. I’d picked it up out of curiosity after hearing so much about it but I’m not sure it’s for me, or at least not at the moment. It seems like it’ll be an fascinating read but the tone is just so angry and so anti men (and the whole of Hollywood) that I don’t think I’m in the right mood for it. I can understand why McGowan is so angry but right now I need something a bit more positive and happy.

On audio, I’ve somehow started listening to 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I’ve seen the TV series, read the book, so I suppose I may as well complete the trifecta by listening to it too. Honestly I was just hunting for something short and easy on Overdrive and this popped up. It does work really well as an audio as they have different narrators for Clay and Hannah so it’s almost like a conversation at times. I’m not sure if I’ll finish this as I have another audio I should probably be starting and really, I’m pretty sure I know the story.

 

---

Recently Finished

I’ve been working flat out since Christmas so it’s safe to say that I’m reaching the tired and grumpy stage and am finding it harder and harder to concentrate on pretty much anything. It’s definitely affecting how much I read and also the type of book I’m picking up but I have managed to finish three books.

The first of these, The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare, was a book I’d received from Netgalley and was a really easy and fun read. It’s historical romance and is a Beauty and the Beast type story. A Duke left horribly scarred from his time at war convinces a poor seamstress to marry him so he can have an heir to his title and property. They bicker, they tease each other and they flirt a lot so it’s very funny and pretty steamy. Perfect for my mood.

The second book finished, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. was also pretty heavy on the romance but that’s not why I loved it. This is a series I’ve been trying to find for ages but I don’t think has been available in the UK (or at least I could never see it anywhere). It’s a dystopian about a girl who’s been locked up in prison alone for 264 days because her touch is lethal, and then she gets a new cell mate.

The style of this is very unusual and actually there’s a warning from the publisher at the start so you know it’s deliberate. MC Juliette is a little unbalanced after being alone for so long so she repeats, she counts, she loses her way in the middle of sentences. I know a lot of people have complained about it but I loved it. It was when it became more coherent and normal that it lost it a little for me. I am however looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Just need to wait till it’s released in March.

The third and final book finished this week was Grey by E.L. James. Shameful confession time, I actually kinda liked Fifty Shades. It’s wrong in so many ways but for some reason I found it addictive reading. Grey is the Midnight Sun of the series and tells Fifty Shades from Christian’s side. Not entirely sure we needed to hear his side but it does give a bit more of his history. No doubt I’ll read Darker at some point but I have no plans to rush out and buy it 🙂

---

Reading Next

I have a few fast approaching publication dates for ARCs I haven’t read yet so I’m thinking I should probably make them my priority. I also need to try and find a book by an author who died this year for a challenge so I think I’m going to try an Ursula K Le Guin. I’m not a big sci fi fan though so not sure how I’ll fare.

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading and Happy Valentines Day ❤

The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

---

Currently Reading

I received an email ages ago from NetGalley saying Tessa Dare’s latest book The Duchess Deal was available for request and being unable to resist temptation I requested then totally forgot about it. Needless to say I received notification during the week that my request had been approved and being on the hunt for some light and fun reading couldn’t resist giving it a try and I have to admit it’s been just what I’ve been needing. It’s a historical romance and has a Beauty and the Beast type plot and it’s absolutely hilarious. I don’t know if it’s just my weird mood but I can’t remember the last time a book made me laugh so much.

---

Recently Finished

The weather was pretty good at the weekend and I had some family events and a book signing so it’s been a bit of a slower reading week for me. I did however manage to finish two books, the first of which was Force of Nature by Jane Harper which I received from NetGalley. This is the second in the Aaron Falk series although it could probably be read as a standalone (but I do recommend the first book The Dry).

I am definitely going to be looking out for more in this series as I loved this book as much if not more than The Dry. This time the story’s about five women who head out on a corporate retreat but only four of them make it back. As Falk has a connection to the missing woman he becomes involved in the investigation. This is an absolutely riveting read and yet again it’s the setting and characters that are the stars. It’s another rather slow paced story but has so much tension it’s completely addictive.

The second book finished, The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton, was also a NetGalley pick and one of my most anticipated books of the year. I have to admit I found it a little slow in the beginning and I began to have my doubts about all of the hype around it but by around a third of the way through I was hooked. The world building and descriptions are absolutely brilliant and I found this world where beauty is all important to be fascinating. The plot is not necessarily the most original, you could see a lot of things coming but I did like all of the power plays and back stabbing. I’m hoping to get a full review up this week.

---

Reading Next

I’m currently juggling three team reading challenges (why do I do this to myself) which is restricting my reading choices at the moment but I have a couple of ARCs and a couple of library books which I’m really excited about and need to sneak in somehow. Most exciting of all is that I found The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue on Overdrive. I have been desperate to read this since I first heard about it, I just hope I haven’t built it up too much.

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading!!