Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
- What did you read last?
- What are you currently reading?
- What will you read next?
Since last week, I managed to finish two books.
The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love (Love’s Academic #1) by India Holton ★★★★☆
If you’re looking for an absolutely bonkers historical romance that will have you screaming with laughter, cooing with delight, and swooning with the romance, then I would highly recommend this. Beth and Devon were such a delight to read about—from their scholarly passion for magical birds to their achingly sweet rivals to lovers romance, I had so much fun following their mad(ly hilarious) hunt for the Caladrius. I honestly adored this and it would’ve been 5 stars had I not been so distracted & sad at the time of reading. This is one I’ll re-read and I can’t wait to continue the series!
One Dark Window (The Shepherd King #1) by Rachel Gillig ★★★★½
When I first started reading, I was on the fence about how I felt about it because the writing kept tripping me up. It didn’t take long for me to change my tune though and I went from page 50 to 150 in what felt like a blink—it was so hard to put down! I loved Elspeth, Ravyn, the Nightmare, the folklore, the magic of the Providence Cards… Everything! With the way this ended, I didn’t want to wait to keep reading so I’m starting the second book asap.
- Scavenge the Stars ⇢ 48% ⇢ I’m sad to say that I’m bored to tears reading this (and I’m not the only one feeling this way in the buddy read group)! There’s so much potential for this to be an engaging Count of Monte Cristo retelling but it’s just not fulfilling that potential. Every time I get into it, the pace (and perspective) switches and I end up feeling bored again. I’m gonna give it another two-ish chapters but otherwise, it might be a DNF! 😫
- Dungeon Crawler Carl ⇢ 32% ⇢ I started this on my morning commute and then picked it back up again while having dinner and I’m eating this up. 100% recommend the audiobook—it’s incredible! Princess Donut is THE BEST and Carl is also pretty awesome, too. 😂 The snarky cheeky humour has me laughing out loud (in public!) and I’m loving it so much.
I got a couple of buddy reads coming up but as always, let’s see where the mood takes me!
What are you currently reading? I hope you’re enjoying whatever book you’ve picked up, friends!
dinipandareads 
I’m currently reading the new Jayne Castle – It Takes a Psychic.
In the last week I read the following:-
1 The Summer that Changed Everything by Brenda Novak.
2 Purity in Death by JD Robb.
3 Portrait in Death by JD Robb.
Next up should be the new Eve Langlais book, then a few more In Death rereads
Gill
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I hope you’re enjoying all your reads, Gilly!
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Scavenge the Stars has so much potential. Kind of disappointing, but hopefully our next buddy read will be amazing!!
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SO MUCH POTENTIAL SQUANDERED!!! Aah, I’m so bummed that this was another Owlcrate read that didn’t work for us but I am hoping that the next one we pick up—which I’m really looking forward to reading—will be a hit for all of us! 😍
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I love when I get so absorbed in a story that the pages fly by. I have a copy of Frank & Red to read too.
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Wait, did I not add Frank & Red after seeing it on your blog or was that someone else? I thought it was you 🤭
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I saw the review on Carla’s blog and added it. She gave it a glowing review.
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I want to read both of the books you’ve recently finished, particularly The Shepherd King duology. The word bonkers in regards to the other one makes me slightly nervous but not sounds like such a fun idea and I do love rivals to lovers 😍
I’m so sorry to hear that Scavenge The Stars is a drag. I loved the book I’ve tried by the author but I never got around to that particular series. And everyone seems to love that dungeon series so much that I’m curious 😂
I hope you enjoy whatever you end up going for next too.
I’m currently reading nothing 🙈 but hope to start again over the weekend. I just want to get a few more catch up things finished first.
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I’m very excited to continue with the second and final book in the duology—I hope that it will be a stunning or at least very satisfying conclusion! Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve really heard much about the second book or what people thought of it… I hope that’s not a bad sign, lol! 🫣 Also, I meant the bonkers bit in the best way when it comes to Holton’s book. It’s so wholesome and hilarious and just thinking about the book makes me want to giggle and kick my feet! It’s so good! 🥰
I ended up skimming through the last 60% of Scavenge the Stars and … I’m sad that I didn’t listen to my gut and just DNF it cos it wasn’t worth the skim, lol. I’m pretty bummed with how disappointed I was with—all of us were, actually. Leslie even DNF’ed it in the end! I have heard good things about this author’s works before though, which is why I’m quite surprised how much this one didn’t work for me! It was just… So… Boring (when it really shouldn’t have been)! 😴
Also, yes! Dungeon Crawler Carl! Now, this is a truly bonkers book and again, I do mean that in the best way but it’s just SO wild and out there, haha. It’s so entertaining and the audiobook is fantastically done. I would highly recommend it! 😂 It’s a 5-star read for me!
I hope that whatever you pick up next is something that you really enjoy, Charlotte! Sometimes we all just need to take a break or do the other thing(s) that take up space in our minds before settling in with a book. 💜
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I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you that it’s a fantastic conclusion 🤞I’m not sure if I have either but then I think I usually just see people referring to the duology in general. So hopefully that means both are good. Oh wow that does sound like a good kind of bonkers then. I love when books have such a strong impact on you.
I’m so, so sorry to hear that. How frustrating. I hate it when books turn out like that. I was going to say I thought that was the series I’d heard good things about by the author but actually I think she wrote one prior to that and that’s probably the one that I heard more about. If you try anything else by them I hope it goes better. Although I know how off putting an experience like that can be.
Honestly it doesn’t sound like my kind of read but it’s so loved that I’m getting kind of tempted to try it. I don’t feel like I’ve seen a bad word said about it 😂 I hope the others end up being five star reads for you too.
Thank you, I still haven’t gotten reading but I’m definitely starting sometime this week. Hopefully tomorrow but we’ll see 🤞 I hope you’re reading something fantastic at the moment 🥰
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Yay, glad you enjoyed One Dark Window!
I keep hearing good things about The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love, and in certain aspects it sounds right up my street – but I’m worried about the humorous aspects, and whether it’s going to be too comical for me…
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Hmm… I can understand your concern about the humour. I would say that it’s not raunchy or modern cheeky humour. It’s very wholesome silly humour with an academic and sometimes a romantic twist, but it’s all very sweet. I know that description probably didn’t help at all but I don’t know who to describe it. 😂 I would recommend trying a sample though if you’re on the fence about it because the humour is mixed in right from the start! And I hope you enjoy it if you give it a try 🙂
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That does help actually – and trying a sample is a great shout, especially as that is what samples are actually for, doh! 😀 I’m going to add it to my TBR, and go from there!
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Yay so glad you liked ONE DARK WINDOW!!
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It was a bit of a rough start cos something about the writing just wasn’t clicking with me (or maybe it was just my mood/headspace) but at one point it just clicked and I didn’t want to put it down again. 😂 I can’t wait to read the second book!
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So glad you loved One Dark Window, it’s such a great duology. I’ve got the second book in Holton’s latest series on my Kindle and I’m dying to pick it up after loving The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love. Hope you enjoy all your reads, Dini!
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I can totally understand why the book is so hyped. I’m so keen to start the last book in the duology tomorrow and I’m also keen to keep reading Holton’s series. I hope you love the second book, Becky! I’m excited to learn more about Devon’s cousin who was delightfully grumpy in the first book—plus, it’s a marriage of convenience!? I’m sold! 🤭
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I love DCC, the audiobook is just in a league of its own! Glad you’re having fun with it!
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