Teaser Tuesday – 3rd November

November 3, 2015November 3, 2015 Ali@abookishlifeLeave a comment

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm where you grab your current read, flick to a random page and select two sentences (without spoilers).

TeaserTuesday-ADailyRhythm3 This is my first Teaser Tuesday but I’m a big fan of book quotes so this seems perfect for me. I’m continuing my current Halloween themed reads with The Beast of Barcroft by Bill Schweigart.

My Teaser

“No lights were on except for the perpetual Halloween glow of the front porch lantern. No one pays attention to the scary things after Halloween, he thought out of the blue.”

~ location 1001 (sorry no page numbers)

Happy reading everyone. Don’t have nightmares 🙂

WWW Wednesday : 28th October 2015

October 28, 2015October 28, 2015 Ali@abookishlife7 Comments

It’s WWW Wednesday time.

The WWW Wednesdays 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.

WWW Wednesday The three W’s are:

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

So here’s my W’s for the week.

Currently Reading

I was feeling the need for something a bit spooky so based on a recommendation I started reading Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper by J.L. Bryan this morning. It’s a haunted house story so I’m hoping for lots of creepy goings on. I’ve only read a couple of chapters so no ghosts as yet but I’m liking the writing style. Slightly worryingly it’s the first in a series so there is a fair possibility I’ll end up reading the lot.

Recently Finished

Over the last week I’ve managed to finish a couple of books. The first was The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance by Kirsty Greenwood. For the most part I really enjoyed it. It definitely made me laugh a lot. I have a feeling though that it’s one of those books that is more or less instantly forgettable.

For once I also read one of the books I had planned as my next read, Blonde Eskimo, and posted my review here yesterday. As I predicted it was probably not the right book for me. I don’t know if it’s just one YA fantasy too many or if it was just meant for readers a lot younger than me but didn’t really enjoy it too much.

Reading Next

I’m planning to continue my spooky themed reading over the Halloween weekend and have just received The Beast of Barcroft by Bill Shweigart via NetGalley. Have never read anything by this author but I like the cover and quite fancy a creature feature. I am a little worried as it tells you the beast eats the main character’s dog but I plan to skim that bit.

I’m also still trying to convince myself to read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It’s been lurking on my kindle for a while but I keep putting it off based on the mixed reviews it seems to get. If I don’t go for that I may switch back to Love, Death and Tea or try a classic such as Dracula or Frankenstein. Not sure yet.

Does anyone have any recommendations or ideas for Halloween reads?

WWW Wednesday – 7 October 2015

October 7, 2015October 7, 2015 Ali@abookishlife5 Comments

It’s WWW Wednesday time.

The WWW Wednesdays meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. This is my second week taking part and am really enjoying it. It’s great to do a round up of the books I’ve been reading and to get some recommendations from other blogs.

WWW Wednesday The three W’s are:

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

So here’s my W’s for the week.

Currently Reading

I seem to have managed to catch the cold at the weekend and am having a mad busy week at work so I have been bookless for the last couple of days. What I tend to do when I’m feeling sorry for myself or stressed is to pick up one of the books that lurks at the side of my bed. These include A Girls Guide to Kissing Frogs, I’ve Got Your Number, How Hard Can It Be and Jane Eyre. All girly, fairly romantic, in some cases funny and books I’ve read so many times I can just start reading at any point and be sucked in. Perfect.

Recently Finished

I finished Wendy Darling by Colleen Oakes last week. Really good re telling of Peter Pan with quite a dark twist. Peter Pan was a creepy character and Neverland was not the happy cheery place from the Disney film. Even poor Tink was a bit of a pathetic creature. Unfortunately it finished on a cliffhanger so have to wait who knows how long for the next in the series. Definitely one I’d recommend though.

I also came across a great book review for know not why on mud and stars which convinced me I really needed to read it. Bought it on Saturday morning was finished by Saturday evening as I couldn’t put it down. One of the funniest stories I’ve read in while and definitely one to keep close at hand for when you’re in need of cheering up. I’ve been re reading bits on and off for the last couple of days. Hasn’t cured my cold but it’s still making me laugh.

Reading Next

I went on a bit of a mad book buying spree on Friday, Amazon is a dangerous place when there’s a sale on and you’ve just been paid. Needless to say the TBR collection on my kindle has now increased by 5 books. I bought Matched, Legend, The Night Circus, I Am Number Four and The Black House. I should probably be reading one of the other books I’ve had lurking for a while but so tempted to try one of these instead. What’s slightly worrying though is that 4 of the 5 are the first in a series and I’m incapable of starting series without finishing it. Hmm decisions, decisions…

What do you think? What should I start next?

WWW Wednesday – 30 September 2015

September 30, 2015September 30, 2015 Ali@abookishlife4 Comments

Yesterday I participated in my very first book tag so I’ve decided to keep trying new things and am taking on my very first meme. I’ve seen the WWW Wednesday meme popping up a lot and it looks fun so thought I’d give it a go. The WWW Wednesdays meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

WWW Wednesday The three W’s are:

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

So here’s my W’s for the week.

Currently Reading

Yesterday I started Wendy Darling by Colleen Oakes. As you may have noticed I’m a big fan of fairytale re-tellings so when I spotted this new version of Peter Pan I couldn’t resist. I read Neverland by Anna Katmore back in April so this is my second Peter Pan book this year. This one however seems much more of a classic re-telling than Neverland which put a bit of a twist on the characters. Really enjoying it so far, finding it quite dark and sinister. Peter is kind of giving me the creeps but then I think there is something a bit odd about a boy who doesn’t want to grow up and seems to want to collect little boys.

If you look to the widgets on the right you will also see I’m currently reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I started this a few weeks ago got about half way through and came to a stop. Not sure I will ever actually manage to finish it. I’m obviously not that effective.

Recently Finished

My most recent read is Genie by Kitty French. Kitty French is the other pen name of Kat French who wrote one of my favourite books this year, The Piano Man Project.

This is a little more X rated than the Piano Man Project but I thought it was a great read. She’s a burlesque dancer and he’s the owner of a chain of gyms who wants to buy the theatre where she works and hates “strippers”. There are a lot of arguments and an undeniable attraction between the two of them. I’ll post a proper review soon but it’s definitely one I’d recommend if you like an erotic romance (and who doesn’t).

If nothing else don’t you just love the cover.

Reading Next

This is actually the hardest question for me as I usually don’t make up my mind till the very last possible moment. I currently have 103 books on my kindle TBR shelf so there are no shortage of options. It will no doubt depend on whether I feel like something light and funny or if I want something a bit darker.

I really, really want to read A Court of Thorns & Roses by Sarah J Maas but feel I should take a break for a month or so to recover from the last two books in the throne of glass series. I think therefore the most likely candidates for next read are either 3:34am by Nick Pirog or What Could Possibly Go Wrong by Jodi Taylor. Both are continuations of a series I love and are likely to be slightly silly reads.