Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm, and it is now being hosted at Meeghan reads!! For details of all of the prompts for Oct to Dec see Meeghan’s post here
November is all about time travel. So far we’ve gone back to the past and looked at books set in the present. This week, it’s time to head off into the future to see what authors think our world might look like in years to come.
I’ve always loved Science Fiction that looks at how our societies might evolve over the years and especially dystopian fiction. I loved the books of Peter Dickinson as a child and that interest has never left me. Here are some of my favourite futuristic reads.
The Children of Men by P D James Far better known for her detective fiction, this is a brilliant exploration by P D James of what the UK would look like if no children were being born. The novel was published in 1992 and the events actually take place in 2021. Luckily, the events she describes haven’t happened.
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara This is a bit of a cheat as the book is divided into three sections and takes place in New York in the past, present and future. However, the longest section takes place in 2093 in a world decimated by plague. This is one of my 5 star reads for this year.
After Dark by Jayne Cowie This is set in the very near future in a society where to prevent violence against women, all men are subject to a curfew. Despite this, a woman is found murdered. This was an intriguing look at a solution to the increasing levels of violence that seem to be taking place against women.
The ‘In Death’ series by J D Robb Another cheat as this is a whole series rather than a single book. This detective series is set in New York in 2056 and features the brilliant detective Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband Roarke. I love this series as although the crimes are very dark and the violence level is quite high, there is a huge amount of warmth and friendship between the main characters which stops the books from being too bleak.
Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov Another detective novel this time by the master of Science Fiction, Isaac Asimov. Again, set in New York in the distant future, a human detective, Elijah Bailey, has to work with a robot to solve a murder. This was originally published in 1953 but I still think that it’s a good read.
So that’s my top 5 futuristic books. What would your top 5 books set in the future be?
I’m really looking forward to next week when we’re flying off to distant universes. See you in Space!
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.
I just love this meme and the questions that come up. They generate so much discussion which is great.
This weeks question is: Which do you prefer to be known as: a voracious reader or a book nerd?(submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer))
This week’s question is a really easy one to answer. I would definitely want to be known as a voracious reader rather than a book nerd.
I’ve always read lots and quite quickly. When I was in primary school, my teachers sometimes wouldn’t believe that I could have a read in the time that I had. I usually get through a minimum of 4 books a week and if they’re relatively short, then it’s often more. I also read fairly widely. My favourite genres are fantasy, crime and historical fiction but I will read pretty much anything if I’m bored. I’m not that struck on my husbands military history books though.
Book Nerd sounds lot more negative to me whereas I think that reading lots is a positive thing. The best online definition that I found was this: a person who is extremelyinterested in one subject, especiallycomputers, and knows a lot of facts about it:
I don’t think that I am particularly nerdish about books. Apart from with a couple of members of my family, I don’t really discuss them outside of this blog. I don’t remember quotes or author facts either. I just love to read the stories.
What about you? Which would you rather be known as?
It’s Saturday and the sun is shining again. We certainly seem to have some beautiful weather this Spring. Welcome to the weekend and another 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!
My STS posts are generally my library books. The library is where I get most of my books and I hope that maybe I can inspire other people to use their local library. Our libraries are constantly under threat of closure but the more people that use them, the less likely that is. My library is also how I manage to read a lot of newly released hardbacks as I can order them. Sometimes they can take quite a while to arrive if a title is really popular though.
However, for a change, this week is about the books that I have actually bought. As we’re going on holiday next week, I’ve been making sure that I’m fully supplied with books to read so this is what I’ve bought to keep me going.
Quicksilver Court by Melissa Caruso The second book in this latest trilogy by Melissa Caruso. I love the world that she has created in this and her previous Mage Fire trilogy.
Beneath the Keep by Erika Johansen I loved the Queen of the Tearling series and found out this week that the author published a prequel last year. The reviews are good so I’m looking forward to this.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells I’ve seen so many great reviews for this series that I had to finally get round to reading it.
Jade War by Fonda Lee Jade City was the last book that I read in 2021 and I loved it so I’ve been looking forward to reading this next one for a while.
The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold I saw this series in a review by Shelleyrae at Bookdout and it definitely sounded interesting.
Kagan the Damned by Jonathan Maberry This was recommended this week by Lady Tessa at Tessatalksbooks and I am definitely looking forward to reading it. As is my husband as it appealed to him too.
It looks like being a real fantasy fest over the week that I’m away although I’ve got a couple of crime novels sitting on my Net Galley shelf if I fancy a change.
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 week ‘s question is:
Do you post negative reviews? Do you promote those reviews if you post? (submitted by Heather @ MM Romance Reviewed)
I only post negative reviews if I have to. So, for my Net Galley ARCs where I have to write a review, I will post a negative review if I haven’t enjoyed the book. These reviews are also posted to Goodreads. I don’t post these on my blog though so I don’t publicise or promote them. I do try to be selective in the books that I request from Net Galley as I don’t want to be in the position of having to review something I haven’t enjoyed. Sometimes books take you by surprise though and even though it sounds fantastic, it just isn’t for me.
Reading is such a personal experience and I ‘m very aware that just because I don’t like a book, somebody else won’t love it. I do try to make it clear that this is my personal opinion and other people may have a completely take on the books.
Even though I don’t generally post negative reviews on my blog, I will often post negative comments about particular books in posts such as WWW Wednesday so that I do give a true reflection of my reading.
However, I do think that negative reviews are important. I’ve just read a negative of a Colleen Hoover book and it was so refreshing to see a different opinion of an author who seems to be everywhere at the moment. Which has now made me wonder if I ought to post negative reviews more often?
This is an interesting question and I’m looking forward to seeing other people’s answers.
PS – If anyone is interested in the negative review, it’s on Siena’s blog at Booksophobia. Ir’s a great, thoughtful review and explains really clearly why she didn’t enjoy the book.
Yesterday I achieved a Net Galley milestone as I hit the 100 reviews mark. It feels like quite an achievement as I only posted my first review on the site on July 13th last year so in exactly 8 months I’ve reviewed 100 books. I’ve had some amazing reads over that time and I’ve loved being able to read and review books that otherwise I might never have heard of.
When I read book blogs and reviews, I couldn’t understand how people managed to read books in advance of their publication date and then noticed that several reviews mentioned Net Galley. A bit of searching on Google and I was quickly installed as a new reviewer in the amazing sweet shop of books.
It took me a few months to get my feedback ratio up to the preferred 80% but I managed it before Christmas. Then in early February it plummeted as I had a whole stack of books approved, some of which I had completely given up on. I’ve been reading quite a few books from my NG shelf lately though and I’m back up to 83%😃
Here’s what I’ve read on Net Galley so far this month:
I loved this collection of essays by Margaret Attwood. They span a period of almost two decades but even the oldest essays still have resonance today. She covers a wide range of subjects but mainly focuses on the art of writing including Canadian writers and the environment. Many of the essays were originally given as lectures and this makes them very easy to read. She writes about the things that she loves or that interest her and this shines through her writing. It’s a great book to dip in and out of. I read an essay a day during my lunch breaks and often found myself thinking about what I had read later that day. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Nine totally unconnected people receive a list of names. In each case, the only name they recognise is their own. That seems a bit strange but nothing to worry about. Until the people on the list begin to die.
This is Peter Swanson’s take on the famous Christie mystery ‘And then there were none’ and it works well. There was a very disparate cast of characters, some I really liked, one or two I really didn’t and the switching from one character to another kept things moving. If you know the plot of the original, then that means some of the plot twists might be a bit obvious but the author keeps it new enough to have kept me reading and wanting to know what was going to happen next.
The weakest point for me was the actual motive behind the killings as it didn’t really seem convincing. However, that didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying the book and not wanting to put it down until the final page. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
What a brilliant read! I loved the cover and the blurb sounded interesting but had no real expectations beyond it being a new fantasy. It’s so good when you then discover a book that you absolutely love.
We first meet Miscellaneous (Lanie) Stones as a young girl after the death of her parents. She is the youngest daughter in the family of royal assassins and is that rare thing, a necromancer. However she also has a severe allergy to death and violence and suffers echo wounds whenever she is in the presence of these. Lanie is an absolutely brilliant protagonist and I loved reading her journey as she grows up and comes into her powers. She is fiercely loyal to those that she loves and extremely intelligent which is what enables her to survive everything that attacks her and her family. She doesn’t always get things right which just makes her more human.
The plot is complex but basically involves the Stones family fighting for their survival against other powerful families. There is a lot of political intrigue and double dealing as well as magic and the gods taking a direct hand in what is happening. The world building is incredibly detailed even down to footnotes in the text. There were one or two moments when I felt slightly confused as there is a lot happening, but these moments did not spoil my enjoyment of the story. I loved Lanie’s magic and the way that the different characters all have their own magical abilities.
The author has created a perfect blend of slightly macabre fantasy with a real sense of humour. For me, there were definite echoes of The Addams Family at the start, especially with the naming of the characters. There is a bit of romance, but this is very low key and certainly not the focal point of the book. The real themes are about caring for and fighting for those that you love and that your real family is those people, not necessarily the family you were born into. This is definitely one of the best fantasy books that I have read this year ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The cover, the blurb and the author all appealed about this book. I really enjoyed Louise Hare’s previous book, This Lovely City and the idea of a murder mystery aboard a trans-Atlantic cruise liner was something I was definitely eager to read. The story opens in London in 1936. Lena Aldridge is a singer who has never managed to achieve the heights of success that she dreamed of and is singing in a dingy night club when she receives an almost too good to be true offer of a role in a new musical on Broadway. That night she witnesses the murder of her boss by her best friend and feels that she has no option but to take the job and sail for New York on the Queen Mary.
While on board, she comes into contact with the wealthy Abernathy family and is witness to another death. The story is told as a dual time line: one as she travels across the Atlantic and the other as we see the week previous and the events that lead up to the voyage. There are also diary entries from an unnamed protagonist who appears to be present at all of the significant events and also pulling the strings of the characters.
I enjoyed reading this story. The settings both in London and on the liner are well described. We go from the sleaziness of the night club to the sumptuousness of travelling first class and both come alive for the reader. I liked the character of Lena. The issue of race and the treatment of non-white people isn’t such a big part of the book as in This Lovely City but it is still a major part of Lena’s character as she is the mixed race daughter of a black Jazz pianist but is able to pass for someone of southern European heritage. Lena grows up in more than one way during this voyage and her understanding of her heritage is part of this.
The plot is interesting and definitely has echoes of an Agatha Christie mystery as the limited cast of characters fall under suspicion one by one. I felt that the weakest part of the book was the conclusion of the mystery and I wasn’t totally convinced by the murderer. However, I did enjoy the journey and love the author’s writing style. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is the third book in the Shires Mysteries series featuring ex lawyer Sam Dee and his neighbour Maggie Kaye. As previously, the action centres around the actions of the local archeological society who are trying to prevent development of a local site. When it begins to look as though they have succeeded in their efforts, everything is turned upside by a gruesome murder.
I’ve read the previous two books in this series which seemed be a promising start for a new series however, this latest instalment didn’t live up to that promise. Cosy mysteries is a very crowded market and this one just doesn’t stand out for me. The main characters aren’t really interesting enough to make me want to read more in this series. It’s an OK read but nothing special. ⭐⭐
This book left me with very mixed feelings. At times I found it difficult to get through as it was very slow but I couldn’t give up on it as I was extremely curious to find out where the story would end up.
The story is told by Linda who is 43 year old woman working in a charity shop. She tells the story in the present and recent past but also thinks back to her childhood which involved traumatic events concerning her father. We get hints very early on that Linda is not a reliable narrator but even knowing this, the ending took me completely by surprise. At first she comes across as being extremely naïve but then as we learn more about her, you begin to wonder how true this is.
This was a very clever story although I didn’t always enjoy reading it. Three stars due to the way that the author kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next. ⭐⭐⭐
I’m so glad that through book blogging I discovered the existence of Net Galley and the wonderful, never-ending supply of books to read. I’ve some amazing sounding books lined up on my shelf to read and am certainly looking forward to the next 100.
Thank you Net Galley and to all the publishers for allowing me to read these books.
There are so many fantastic books being released in March and a lot of them seem to have today, March 3rd as their release date. Here are today’s releases that I have been lucky enough to read as ARCs on Net Galley.
Welcome to No.12 Rue des Amants
A beautiful old apartment block, far from the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower and the bustling banks of the Seine.
Where nothing goes unseen. And everyone has a story to unlock.
The watchful concierge The scorned lover The prying journalist The naïve student The unwanted guest
Something terrible happened here last night. A mystery lies behind the door of apartment three.
Only you – and the killer – hold the key . . .
I really loved this book. Lucy Foley is one of my favourite authors and this is just as good as her previous novels.
Paris, 1750.
In the midst of an icy winter, as birds fall frozen from the sky, chambermaid Madeleine Chastel arrives at the home of the city’s celebrated clockmaker and his clever, unworldly daughter.
Madeleine is hiding a dark past, and a dangerous purpose: to discover the truth of the clockmaker’s experiments and record his every move, in exchange for her own chance of freedom.
For as children quietly vanish from the Parisian streets, rumours are swirling that the clockmaker’s intricate mechanical creations, bejewelled birds and silver spiders, are more than they seem.
And soon Madeleine fears that she has stumbled upon an even greater conspiracy. One which might reach to the very heart of Versailles…
This is a brilliantly atmospheric historical novel that I found really difficult to put down. There are lots of twists and turns to surprise you.
December, 1962 Desperate to salvage something from a disastrous year, Malorie rents a remote house on the Norfolk coast for Christmas. But once there, the strained silence between her and her daughter, Franny, feels louder than ever. Digging for decorations in the attic, she comes across the notebooks of the teenaged Marianne, who lived in the house years before. Though she knows she needs to focus on the present, Malorie finds herself inexorably drawn into the past…
July, 1930 Marianne lives in the Marsh House with her austere father, surrounded by unspoken truths and rumours. So when the glamorous Lafferty family move to the village, she succumbs easily to their charm. Dazzled by the beautiful Hilda and her dashing brother, Franklin, Marianne fails to see the danger that lurks beneath their bright façades…
As Malorie reads on, the boundaries between past and present begin to blur, in this haunting novel about family, obligation and deeply buried secrets.
This is a great gothic mystery with a very strong sense of time and place. I loved the dual time line and the way the two stories intersected.
When the world’s best magicians are offered an extraordinary opportunity, saying yes is easy. Each could join the secretive Alexandrian Society, whose custodians guard lost knowledge from ancient civilizations. Their members enjoy a lifetime of power and prestige. Yet each decade, only six practitioners are invited – to fill five places.
Contenders Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona are inseparable enemies, cosmologists who can control matter with their minds. Parisa Kamali is a telepath, who sees the mind’s deepest secrets. Reina Mori is a naturalist who can perceive and understand the flow of life itself. And Callum Nova is an empath, who can manipulate the desires of others. Finally there’s Tristan Caine, whose powers mystify even himself.
Following recruitment by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they travel to theSociety’s London headquarters. Here, each must study and innovate within esoteric subject areas. And if they can prove themselves, over the course of a year, they’ll survive. Most of them.
I loved the ideas behind this book but sadly, it wasn’t a book that I enjoyed especially. However, I know that a lot of people have absolutely loved it.
Happy World Book Day everyone and I hope you are all reading something amazing today.
It’s Saturday and the sun is shining. Welcome to the weekend and another 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!
My STS posts are generally my library books. The library is where I get most of my books and I hope that maybe I can inspire other people to use their local library. Our libraries are constantly under threat of closure but the more people that use them, the less likely that is. My library is also how I manage to read a lot of newly released hardbacks as I can order them. Sometimes they can take quite a while to arrive if a title is really popular though.
This week I didn’t even bother to look at what was on the shelves as I had four books that I had reserved arrive since my last visit. That’s quite enough to keep me occupied for this week.
This week’s library haul
Look at the pretty blue/green colour coordination too. Completely accidental but very fitting for today’s lovely weather.
We were the Salt of the Sea by Roxanne Bouchard I picked up Roxanne Bouchard’s second book about DS Joaquin Morales a few weeks ago and loved it. This is the first book set on the remote Gaspe Peninsula in Canada.
The Tenant by Katrine Engberg This Nordic crime series was recommended by Elnade at Confessions of a Serial Reader and I’m hoping that it’s as good as others that I’ve read in this genre.
A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle I requested this on NetGalley but wasn’t approved so I ordered it from the library instead. I’m glad as I think it will be much nicer to read the nice shiny hardback. A murder mystery set on an Atlantic liner in 1924. This book ticks so many boxes. I really hope it lives up to my expectations.
Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn My next non fiction read. Abandoned places and ruins hold such a fascination for me that I had to read this when I saw it reviewed in a recent paper. It’s all about what happens to places like Chernobyl and parts of Detroit when the people leave and nature moves back in.
I’m really looking forward to reading all of these as well as ticking off another couple on my NetGalley shelf. I’m gradually working my way along my shelf however I have been approved for another 4 this week 😃. That might be the subject of next week’s STS post.
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 acknowledge publication days for books you have read with a blog or social media post? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver’s Reviews)
Oooh, that’s interesting as it’s something I’ve never thought about doing. I know several bloggers who post blogs about upcoming releases, generally as a new month approaches , but it isn’t anything that I have ever done. I usually hold off posting reviews until quite close to publication date but I’ve never done a blog post specifcially about books being released. It’s definitely something that I might do in the future though.
It’s Wednesday again and what a week we’ve had! Three storm force weather systems crossing the country in 6 days is definitely unusual weather by anyone’s standards. Luckily, in the depths of the Midlands, we’ve been spared the worst of the weather and its effects. However, our trip to the east coast might not have been the best idea. The wind on the beach was so strong on Friday that it was hard to stand upright. It was still nice to be somewhere different though.
Wednesday 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 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
I’ve only just started this which is the second in the fantasy series The Broken and The Bound. It has dragons, elves, dwarves and people. What more could I want? I really enjoyed the first book in the series and this one has started well so far.
What I haverecently finished reading
Medicus by Ruth Downie is a murder mystery set in Roman Chester. I really enjoyed this book which was recommended by Sam, the host of WWW Wednesday. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a classic that I’ve somehow managed to miss up until now. I loved it and can’t believe that I haven’t read it until now. Atticus, Scout and Jem will stay in my memory for a long while.
The Liar’s Knot by M A Carrick is the second in The Rook and the Rose trilogy. I read the first one over New Year and loved it. There’s a lot of political intrigue and you have to pay attention to who everyone is but I love the characters of Ren and Grey and the world building is amazing.
Murder on the Menu by Fiona Leitch is the first in a cosy crime series featuring Jodie Parker, an ex police officer turned chef. I read A Cornish Christmas Murder as an ARC from Net Galley and enjoyed it so much that I went and bought the first one. The characters are interesting and there’s a lot of humour which always appeals.
What I am intending to read next
Sadly, I wasn’t approved to read the ARC of this last year so I ordered if from the library instead. I’m really looking forward to finally getting round to reading this one.
This week, the book by my bed is actually by my bed rather than being on the arm of the sofa. We’re currently on the Norfolk coast and thanks to storm Eunice, I’ve had a bit more time for reading than I had planned to this weekend.
Sundays in bed with is a meme hosted by Midnight Book Girl but I came across it recently on Jill’s Book Blog. It is simply a chance to share the book that is by your bed at the moment (or that you wish was by your bed). This week, the book is The Liar’s Knot by M A Carrick.
Trust is the thread that binds us . . . and the rope that hangs us.
In Nadezra, peace is as tenuous as a single thread. The ruthless House Indestor has been destroyed, but darkness still weaves through the city’s filthy back alleys and jewel-bright gardens, seen by those who know where to look.
Derossi Vargo has always known. He has sacrificed more than anyone imaginesto carve himself a position of power among the nobility, hiding a will of steel behind a velvet smile. He’ll be damned if he lets anyone threaten what he’s built.
Grey Serrado knows all too well. Bent under the yoke of too many burdens, he fights to protect the city’s most vulnerable. Sooner or later, that fight will demand more than he can give.
And Ren, daughter of no clan, knows best of all. Caught in a knot of lies, torn between her heritage and her aristocratic masquerade, she relies on her gift for reading pattern to survive. And it shows her the web of corruption that traps her city.
But all three have yet to discover just how far that web stretches. And in the end, it will take more than knives to cut themselves free..
This is the second in the Fantasy series, The Rook and the Rose and is as intricately plotted as the first book. There are a lot of characters and political alliances to keep up with but it is a fun read.
Wicked Witch's Blog 