5 Series I want to finish in 2023 – Top 5 Tuesday

It’s Tuesday and the sun is shining. We seem to have said goodbye to the grey skies for a few days and it’s lovely to feel the sun. As it’s Tuesday, it must be time for this week’s Top 5 Tuesday post

Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm, and it is now being hosted by the lovely Meeghan at Meeghan reads!! For details of all of the prompts for Oct to Dec see Meeghan’s post here.

This week the theme is 5 series that you want to finish in 2023. I have posted some of these before as I did an unfinished series post at the end of last year. However this is the updated version.

The Rook and the Rose by M A Carrick

The third book Labyrinth’s Heart is due to be published in August 2023 and I am really looking forward to it as the first two were two of my favourite books of last year.

The Last king of Osten Ard by Tad Williams

I’ve got this one to read to get me up to date and then the final book in the series should be out in November 2023

The Drowned Empire by Andrea Stewart

I am so looking forward to the conclusion of this series and can’t wait to find out how it all ends. This is due for publication in April.

Ruth Dalloway series by Elly Griffiths

This will supposedly be the last of the Ruth Dalloway books at least for a while so I will be sorry to read it in a way but am eager to see what she gets involved with in this latest book. This one is published today, 31st January.

Hidden Norfolk by J M Dalgliesh

I really enjoy these police murder mysteries set on the Norfolk coast. It’s an area of the country that I know quite well and it’s nice to read about familiar landmarks. I like the cast of characters in the police department too. This is the latest one which I have yet to read.

So that’s my top 5 series that I am to going to finish or get up to date with this year. What about you? What series do you want to catch up with?

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Exiles by Jane Harper #BookReview

A new Jane Harper is always an exciting event and Exiles definitely lived up to my expectations. I have read all of her novels and loved each one of them. Her first book, The Dry, introduced the detective Aaron Falk and he makes his third appearance in this book.

In this latest book, I really enjoyed seeing him in totally new surroundings. This story takes place in a small Australian town in wine growing country and as always with Jane Harper, the sense of place is incredible. The landscape is vividly described and although it is very lush and green, we soon see how threats can lie hidden.

A year before the story begins, a young mother, Kim, had gone missing and she has never been traced. As Falk spends time with his friends who include Kim’s ex-partner and daughter, he gets drawn into the investigation of her disappearance and begins to realise that things are not necessarily as they seem.

I loved the gradual untangling of this mystery and the way we were drawn into the life of this small town where everyone knows one another. It’s quite a slow burn read and the sense of urgency in some mysteries is not present here as it’s effectively a cold case. Instead, the events of the past are slowly revealed through the different character’s viewpoints. As we get to know the characters and begin to see how their relationships are all tangled up together, we also get their memories of events of the previous year. Eventually that builds up to a complete picture although the final revelation still came as a shock to me.  

The cast of characters were all likeable which made the mystery even more puzzling as it was hard to see how any of them could have been involved.  I really liked the focus on the teenagers, especially Kim’s teenage daughter. Aaron Falk is one of my favourite detectives and I really enjoyed his story arc in this book. We see him at the beginning where he is finding that the pressures and workload of his job are getting in the way of any possible relationships and by the end of the novel, he has reached a decision that enables him to have a chance of finding happiness.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am really grateful to Net Galley and the publishers for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves mystery stories with a strong sense of place and atmosphere.

Exiles is published by Pan MacMillan on February 2nd 2023

Stacking the Shelves 79

It’s Saturday and that means it’s time for my weekly Stacking the Shelves post. Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality and details are on her blog. The gorgeous graphic is also used courtesy of the site.

Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

As usual, my stacking the shelves post is my weekly haul of books from the library and this week they are all just random picks off the shelves although one is a book that has been on my TBR for over a year.

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
I don’t often look at the Y A shelves but had a glance at them this week and was really excited to see not only this one but Rule of Wolves too which have both been on my TBR for over a year. I only picked up the first one though. I loved the first trilogy set in the Grishaverse and am really looking forward to reading about what happens next.

A Death in Chelsea by Lynn Brittney
The rest of my library haul this week are all crime books. This one is set in 1915 in London. A young gossip columnist is found hanged in her flat but her family suspect foul play. Then another death occurs leading to the involvement of Chief Inspector Peter Beech. It’s all set against the background of WW1 and sounds like a book I’m going to enjoy.

A Gruesome Discovery by Cora Harrison
This is another historical crime series and it ‘s the next in the Reverend Mother Aquinas series. I love this series set in Cork in 1925. The plots are always really clever and I really like the character of the Reverend Mother.

The Body under the Bridge by Nick Louth
This is a more contemporary thriller involving DCI Craig Gillard. In this one, a missing persons investigation becomes more serious when the Home Secretary becomes involved. I’ve read a couple of these before and enjoyed them so I’m looking forward to this one too.

So that’s my latest library haul.

What have you added to your bookshelf this week?

Book Blogger Hop January 27

 The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer @ Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer’s permission, it was relaunched on February 15, 2013 by Billy @ the Ramblings of a coffee addict. . Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end the following Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.

This weeks question is: Do you prefer to read in a quiet or noisy setting? (Submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer))

I actually don’t like sitting in silence. It makes me feel uncomfortable so I generally have the radio or some music on whenever I am reading. I think it stems from childhood when my parents always had the radio tuned to a music station or had records playing. I don’t actually listen to the music if I’m reading and often couldn’t tell you what was playing but it’s nice to have it in the background.

I do find it really hard to read while the TV is on though. If my husband is watching something, then I will have to go into another room to read as I find the sports commentary or dialogue in a film really distracting.

What about you? Do you need a quiet place to read.

Poetry Challenge – Week 4

It’s the fourth week of my personal poetry challenge to try and read at least one poem a week during 2022. After finishing my book of Thomas Hardy’s poems which often had a sad, reflective tone, I thought I would go for something hopefully a bit more cheerful.

I bought this book a year ago in the Waterstones half price sale and until this week, it’s sat unopened on my bookshelf. This anthology is full of poems to lift you up and keep you going when things get tough because ‘Tomorrow is Beautiful’.

My favourite poem so far is one by Jackie Kay who is a Scottish poet so it seems appropriate to choose this one in the week when we celebrated Burn’s Night. It’s also very apt for New Year being all about those resolutions that we make.

Promise
Remember the time of year
when the future appears
like a blank sheet of paper
a clean calendar, a new chance
On thick white snow

You vow fresh footprints
then watch them go
with the wind’s hearty gust.
Fill your glass. Here’s tae us. Promises
made to be broken, made to last.

Jackie Kay

I love the fact that it’s OK not to keep those resolutions. Some promises are made to be broken, others will last.

WWW Wednesday January 24

It’s Wednesday and that means that it’s time for WWW Wednesday. This is one of my favourite memes and I love taking part in it and reading everybody else’s posts. It’s currently hosted by Sam and it can be found on her blog Taking on a world of words which can be found here.

The idea of WWW Wednesday is just to answer three simple questions about what you are reading, have just finished and are about to read so here goes for this week.

What I’m currently reading

The Mitford Secret by Jessica Fellowes

This is the final book in the mystery series featuring the Mitford sisters and their old nursery maid, Louisa Cannon. In this book we have reached 1941 and the youngest sister Debo, now married to the younger son of the Duke of Devonshire, invites as many of her family as she can get together to Chatsworth for Christmas. The war plays a large part in the book with a lot about rationing and the lack of food as well as the men being elsewhere. Louisa gets involved with looking into the mysterious disappearance of a young maid 25 years ago and then there is another murder.

The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding
I’ve finally got around to starting this ARC. It’s a brilliant epic fantasy book full of journeys, battles against evil and great characters. It’s quite a hefty book at 800 pages so it’s taking a while to get through.

What I have recently finished reading

I loved this second book in the Realm Breaker series. It has all the things I want in a fantasy especially great characters. I especially enjoyed the character of Erika who has not turned out how anybody might have expected. I hope that we don’t have to wait too long before the next book comes out. After finishing The Shadow Casket, I might leave Epic Fantasy for a bit. It’s great having two brilliant series to read though.

The House with the Golden Door by Elodie Harper

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as The Wolf Den. It was still a good read but I missed the strong friendship and loyalty between the girls of the Wolf Den which was such a big feature of the first book. Amara is quite a different character in this volume and can be increasingly ruthless to achieve safety for her and her loved ones.

Angel of Death by J M Dalgliesh

I really like this crime series set on the Norfolk coast. In this new one, the remains of a young woman are discovered. Upon investigation she appears to have been killed only a short time ago but the body is that of a woman who disappeared six years previously.

What I am intending to read next

What are you reading this week?

Top 5 series I will start in 2023 #Top5Tuesday

Happy Tuesday and welcome to this week’s Top 5 Tuesday post. Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm, and it is now being hosted by the lovely Meeghan at Meeghan reads!! For details of all of the prompts for Oct to Dec see Meeghan’s post here.

This week we are thinking about those book series that we are looking forward to starting in 2023.

This is actually quite a hard prompt as I don’t often plan to begin a series. Mostly I begin series because I spot a book in a bookshop or library. More often now, it’s because I’ve seen a series recommended by another blogger but it does tend to be more spontaneous than planned. However, I have got 5 series that I am planning on beginning in 2023. One of them is a bit of a cheat though as I’ve already started it, but it was only last week so it still counts as new for 2023 😃

This has been on my TBR since it first came out and I bought it on my kindle in the Black Friday sale so I have no excuse for not reading this one soon and then moving onto The Oleander Sword.

This is another first book in a series that I’m looking forward to beginning soon. I loved all of the Powder Mage books and I’m just waiting for this one to be released in paperback.

I have heard loads about Elizabeth Jane Howard’s family epic and I saw that they actually have them all in the library so I’m definitely intending to begin this series soon.

OneBookMore posted a top ten post today about new fantasy authors and one of the ones mentioned was Laura Sebastian. I investigated and The Ash Princess Trilogy sounded like a fun read. Also as it’s currently on Kindle Unlimited, it was a good one to try.

The Darkwater trilogy is perhaps a tiny bit of a cheat as I’ve already read the first two books this month. It’s a brilliant epic fantasy series and as I’ve begun it in 2023, I’m including it in this post 😃

So that’s my Top 5 series that I’m planning on beginning in 2023. Apart from one, they are all fantasy series but other genres don’t seem to lend themselves to completed series in quite the same way.

I’m looking forward to next week’s post which will be a bit easier as I definitely have series that I am hoping to finish this year.

What series are you looking forward to beginning this year or do you prefer stand alone novels?

Best Debut Reads of 2022 #sixforsunday

I haven’t done a Six for Sunday post for ages and ages but it was the first meme that I joined in with when I first started my book blogging journey so I was really pleased that Steph at Alittlebutalot is carrying on with the prompts again. You can read all about Six for Sunday and see the prompts for the first few months of the year here

I love this week’s topic as last year, I read so many brilliant debut novels. The only problem is that I didn’t actually take note of which were debuts and so it’s taken a bit of tracking down but here are six of my favourite debut novels from last year.

There is a real mix here covering all the genres that I love to read but each of them was a fantastic debut.

What were your favourite debut authors of 2022?

Stacking the Shelves 78

It’s Saturday again and it’s really cold! The canals are frozen and the grasses and hedgerows stay frosty all day.

Saturday means it’s time for my weekly Stacking the Shelves post. Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality and details are on her blog. The gorgeous graphic is also used courtesy of the site.

Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

As usual, my stacking the shelves post is my weekly haul of books from the library and it’s a lovely selection of books that I wanted to read and random picks off the shelf.

Blade Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
This is the sequel to Realm Breaker which I reread last week and I’m really looking forward to finding out what happens next to this very random group of people. It’s described as YA fantasy but I’m not sure why. Maybe there’s a bigger market for Y A fantasy than normal adult fantasy?

The Mitford Secret by Jessica Fellowes
I’ve read all of the Mitford mysteries. Each one focuses on a different sister as they grow up. We’ve now reached 1941 and the focus on this story is Deborah, who begins the book by getting married and becoming Lady Cavendish. She invites all of the family to Chatsworth where they all become embroiled in another case of murder. This is the last of the books as Debo is the youngest sister and it will be sad to say good bye to a series that I have really enjoyed.

The Mystery of Four by Sam Blake
This was a random shelf pick. Tess Morgan is hosting a grand opening weekend for her house and garden but the event is plagued by accidents. A family friend doesn’t believe that they are accidents however and sets out to discover the truth.

The Museum of Ordinary People by Mike Gayle
This is was another random pick off the shelf. This time I was intrigued by the title. Jess is grieving for the loss of her mother but also having to clear her home. She comes across an archive of items known as The Museum of Ordinary People and begins to delve into the history of these objects.

Apparently the book was inspired by the discovery of a box filled with momentos discovered in a skip.

So that’s my latest library haul.

What have you added to your bookshelf this week?

Book Blogger Hop January 20

 The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer @ Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer’s permission, it was relaunched on February 15, 2013 by Billy @ the Ramblings of a coffee addict. . Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end the following Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.

This weeks question is: Do you use social media to keep up with your favourite authors? (Submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer))

I do follow quite a few authors on Twitter. When I was a class teacher, I followed several of my favourite Middle Grade authors who were really active on Twitter and had a lot of great interactions with them. Authors such as Jennifer Killick and Lindsay Galvin almost began to feel like friends as we chatted about their books and other more general stuff.

I do follow adult authors on Twitter too and a couple on Instagram such as Elly Griffiths who posts a lot of pictures of her cat and local scenery as well as book related posts. Many of the authors I follow aren’t particularly active on social media so it’s more just a case of tagging them in reviews etc. It always feels really special when you get a response from an author to a twitter or instagram post though.

Do you follow authors on social media?