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

My reading is a bit all over the place at the moment, I keep starting books then changing my mind so technically I’m probably partway through about five. My main focus at the moment is however on Force of Nature by Jane Harper which I received from NetGalley. I started it on Monday and unlike the other books I’ve started since the weekend it’s definitely holding my attention. It’s the follow up to The Dry (although it could be read as a standalone) and I think may turn out to be even better.

Still no progress on Frankenstein I’m afraid. I wandered off and started listening to something else over the weekend so this was put on hold.

Recently Finished

The team reading challenge I’m participating in is still playing havoc with my reading plans at the moment, which is proving to be both good and bad. I’m finally getting the push to read those books that have been on my TBR for years but the timing is not always right for my mood and I have found myself having to rush them at times to meet a deadline. I have however finished x books this week which is pretty impressive for me.

The first book finished this week was Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu (technically I finished it last Wednesday but I’m still counting it). This was one of those books I’d bought ages ago but had been putting off due to all of the hype around it. I’m always super wary of hyped books (particularly YA contemporary) as they often disappoint, but this was one of the exceptions.

It’s not perfect (I wouldn’t say it was a five star read) but I did find myself really enjoying it and think I read the whole thing it a couple of days. It’s about the girls in a school who get fed up being treated as second class citizens and decide to take action. It’s got a really strong feminist message but doesn’t get preachy so one I would recommend all YA’s read (girls and boys).

The next book finished, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, was all about the boys. Two 15 year old Mexican-American boys in fact, Aristotle and Dante, who become friends and discover some unexpected truths about themselves and the world around them. Unpopular opinion time, I didn’t love this. It may just have been that I was in the wrong mood for it (I’ve been working 60 hour weeks, totally stressed and still not completely free of that virus) and didn’t have much empathy for two teenage boys moaning about not fitting in / no one understanding them but the style didn’t really work for me either. It just seemed too episodic, jumping from one scene to the next with no real story (or point). I could appreciate a lot of the writing but sorry I just didn’t enjoy it.

The third book finished was RL bookclub book The Dry by Jane Harper and at long last we finally have a book club pick I really enjoyed. This is a murder mystery set in small town Australia during a drought. It’s not a fast paced or particularly original story but what I really loved was the sense of atmosphere the author created. It reminded me a little bit of Tana French’s stories where the focus is less on the murder or the action and more on the community and the detectives. I think this is going to be a new favourite series for me.

The fourth and final book finished this week was the audiobook of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. This was a bit of a random pick to fit a challenge task but I’m glad to have listened to it. I saw another reviewer describe it as a fable and I think that word describes it perfectly. I did really enjoy this, it’s not very long and has quite a simple story but does make you think. The one thing that I didn’t like about it is the way it portrays women. There are almost no women and those there are seem to be there solely as love interests or as an interference to the hero’s personal legend.

Reading Next

I’m going to see Pierce Brown at his Glasgow book tour stop tomorrow so I had been hoping to read Iron Gold before then but realistically that is never going to happen. I do still want to read it though so hoping to pick up at the weekend. I also have a couple of ARCs which are due to be published in February, The Belles and The Last Laugh so hopefully I’ll make a start on them too.

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. I may be a little slow responding this week again due to work pressures but I’ll get there eventually.

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 started reading Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu on Monday morning and I’m very nearly finished it already, it’s such an easy and enjoyable read. I do love books with feminist themes but have to confess I did have my doubts over whether this book was as good as a lot of the reviews made out. It has however really impressed me and also made me pretty angry about the way the girls in the school are treated. I do think it’s maybe a little exaggerated (or at least I hope it is) but it’s certainly very relevant and has made me think about behaviors and attitudes I’ve experienced.

No progress on my current audiobook Frankenstein I’m afraid. I haven’t really driven anywhere in the last week and I mostly listen in the car. This one seems to be taking forever but I’m determined to finish it.

Recently Finished

Work is still completely crazy at the moment and to make matters worse we’ve had a lot of snow which has been making getting anywhere a bit of a nightmare. Needless to say I haven’t been managing to read as much as I would like. I have however finished three books this week, the first of which was an ARC of The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert. Wow I really loved this book. Considering how completely exhausted and stressed I’ve been it managed to hold my attention and I actually found myself getting lost in it at times. It’s a story about stories and has some Alice in Wonderland type elements to it but it’s really creepy and dark. I’m hoping to have my review up tomorrow but failing that it’ll be up at the weekend.

The second book finished, The Deal by Elle Kennedy was a reread for me. It fit a challenge and it’s a book I really love so I couldn’t resist. It’s just so funny and sweet and I love the relationship between Garret and Hannah. Their banter and flirting just makes me smile so much.

The third and final book finished, They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera was probably a bit less of a fun read but I did really love it. It’s one of those books I bought when it first came out but kept putting off because it didn’t feel like the right time. It ended up fitting a challenge though (orange cover) so it gave me the push I needed to brave it. The title does suggest it may not have the happiest of endings but I kept hoping throughout that it was wrong. I absolutely adored MC Mateo and wanted him to have a happily ever after. I’m not saying what does happen but yep this book pretty much broke my heart. My review went up on Sunday and you can find it here.

Reading Next

My reading is still being driven by the Cutthroat Book Club team challenge I’m taking part in at the moment. This is probably one of the most restrictive team challenges I’ve ever taken part in but I have to admit that it’s pushing me to read a lot of the books from my backlist which is no bad thing.

Next up though will probably be The Dry which is my next book club book (the meeting is the 1st so I really need to make a start) followed by The Belles which is an ARC that’s due out at the start of February too. I also want to pick up Iron Gold by Pierce Brown as I’m going to see him when he comes to Glasgow next Thursday on the Red Rising book tour.

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. I may be a little slow responding this week again due to work pressures but I’ll get there eventually.

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 started reading The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert at the weekend but haven’t had much reading time so not a huge amount of progress. What I have read I’ve been really enjoying, it’s a kind of Alice in Wonderland themed story so a little bit strange and confusing but in the best possible way.

On audio I’m still listening to Frankenstein, narrated by Dan Stevens and have actually managed to make a bit of progress. I think I’m about half way through but I’m just not in the right mood for it and it’s kind of annoying me at the moment.

Recently Finished

I’m finally feeling a lot better but unfortunately this is my super busy time at work so I’ve been struggling to fit in much time for reading (or blogging). I have however managed to finish two books this week. The first of these was  It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne. I bought this a while ago and after reading and loving How Do You Like Me Now I was very excited about it. Unfortunately however it didn’t quite live up to expectations. It is brilliantly written, and very real in its portrayal of a teenage relationship but I suspect I just read it at a time when I was looking for a bit more fantasy and happily ever after. This had some funny moments but for the most part left me feeling a bit down.

The second book finished Ready to Were by Robyn Peterman was a reread that I needed for a challenge but I very much enjoyed it. It’s very short at around 170 pages but it’s quite a fun story about a werewolf who has to return to the island where she grew up to investigate some disappearances. That all sounds pretty straightforward and serious but it’s really not. She has a cross dressing gay vampire best friend, a Grandmother who dresses inappropriately and can beat her up and an alpha were ex who doesn’t want her anywhere near the case.

Reading Next

I’m still probably going to be picking my reads based on what fits various team challenges for the next month or so but I am hoping to get to the following books at some point. A few are ARC’s, one is a library book due back and the other is my next real life book club book.

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. I may be a little slow responding this week due to work pressures but I’ll get there eventually.

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 started reading It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne last night so I haven’t made much progress on it so far. I do however have high hopes for it as I’ve seen a lot of rave reviews and I loved Bourne’s soon to be released How Do You Like Me Now. Plus you know, there’s a whole movie theme.

On audio I’m still listening to Frankenstein, narrated by Dan Stevens but have made literally no progress as I haven’t really driven anywhere.

Recently Finished

It’s been my turn to be ill over the last week so I’ve had a couple of days where I haven’t been up for any reading, or in fact getting out of bed. Needless to say it also affected my reading choices, I have a bit of a tendency to go for light and fluffy romances. I did however manage to finish three books, the first of which was Happily Ever After by Kelly Oram. This was the sequel to one of my favourite feelgood books, Cinder and Ella, and while I’m not sure it needed a sequel I really enjoyed being back with all of the characters. It’s rare you get to find out what happens next after a big ending and I thought Oram did a really great job. It’s not quite as good but there are plenty of feels, yep I cried.

After Happily Ever After I came across Wildfire by Ilona Andrews on sale on Amazon and that seemed like a good excuse to finish another series I had in progress. It’s the third and I thought final book in the Hidden Legacy series but I’m pretty sure with that ending there’s more to come. Overall I found it an okay read but not as good as the first two books. I think this was me rather than the book though as I was feeling really rough when reading it. All of the other reviews I’ve seen (by reviewers I rate) rave over it. Maybe I’ll go back and re read at some point (also because I really don’t remember much of it).

The third and final book read this week was The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot. This has been lurking on my kindle for ages (possibly years) and I finally picked it up because it fit a task on the team challenge I’m taking part in on Goodreads. It was nice to finally read this and I very much enjoyed it. I’ve seen the film a few times, but there were enough differences to keep me engaged. I have to say I find Grandmere in the book much funnier and more interesting than the character in the film. I would have loved if they’d let Julie Andrews play her that way.

Reading Next

I’m going to be doing this team challenge for the next four or five weeks so I think my reading is going to be driven primarily by what I can make fit the various tasks. I’m therefore not going to attempt to guess what my next read will be.

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!!