#5OnMyTBR: Unconventional Formats

Hello Mondays, welcome back to #5OnMyTBR, a meme created by the wonderful E @ The Local Bee Hunter’s Nook. This bookish meme gets us to dig even further into our TBRs by simply posting about five books on our TBR! You can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. You can find the full list of prompts (past and future) at the end of this post!

This week’s prompt is: Unconventional format (e.g. text messages, emails, verse, etc.)

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

This Sunday I spent part of the day in bed with The Die of Death which is book II of The Great Devil War by Kenneth B. Andersen. It’s nice to be back with Philip after book one — I feel in ways that he has grown a lot although time didn’t pass in the real world when he was in hell. I’m looking forward to learning more about Mortimer (Death) and seeing what happens next!

Philip’s adventures as the Devil’s apprentice have changed him—in a good way. Although he misses his friends in Hell, he has made new friends in life.
But when the future of the underworld is threatened once again, Philip’s help is needed. Death’s Die has been stolen and immortality is spreading across the globe.
Philip throws himself into the search—and discovers a horrible truth about his own life along the way.

The Die of Death is volume 2 in The Great Devil War-series and winner of the ORLA-Award.

The Great Devil War-series is a humorous and gripping tale about good and evil, filled with biblical and historical characters, such as Judas, Goliath, and Pontius Pilate, as well as modern figures such as Elvis Presley, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, and many more.

The Great Devil War-series is a Danish bestseller, topping library and school reading lists among teens and young adults. The books have been published in more than ten countries and have won numerous awards. 

What are you currently reading?

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Top 5 Saturday: Books by Debut Authors

We’re back with another Top 5 Saturday! Just in case you don’t know Top 5 Saturday is a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and it’s where we list the top five books (they can be books on your TBR, favourite books, books you loved/hated) based on the week’s topic. You can see the upcoming schedule at the end of my post 🙂 This week’s topic is: books by debut authors!

I’m always surprised by how many debut authors I have on my TBR because I don’t usually pay a lot of attention to that especially if it’s from a different genre than I normally read. For this list though I decided to keep it simple for myself and focus on the books being released by debut authors in 2020. I’m pretty sure that all of these are by debut authors but sorry if I get anything wrong!

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#WWWWednesday: 13 May

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:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

This is going to be a bit of a long one so if you manage to read through to the end, thank you 😉

It’s been a hot minute since I made one of these posts but a nice surprise is that I’ve been reading! …Okay, it’s still mostly blog tour reads but considering how I wasn’t even reading at all at certain points in the last month, it’s good progress! Since I last updated two weeks ago I’ve managed to finish 6 books and lucky for me I enjoyed all of them!

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar ★★★★½
I finished this morning and I’m glad to say that I really enjoyed it (plus this cover is just 😍)! I wish this existed when I was still in school but I still related to it now. I loved the diversity, queer rep, cultural rep and discussions about appropriation, religion and identity. My review for the blog tour is up tomorrow so watch out for that if you want to know more!

The Hopes and Dreams of Libby Quinn by Freya Kennedy ★★★★☆
This was a perfect transition book that left me feeling the warm fuzzies at turning the last page. It’s about chasing your dreams and it’s full of hope despite the many doubts that plague our MC. I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed it and how I really related to Libby. Check out my full review!

Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis ★★★★☆
I took a big step outside my comfort zone to read this horror/thriller and I’m glad to report that I didn’t end up feeling that scared (although I made sure to not read this one at night)! Kat Ellis masterfully builds this sinister and eerie atmosphere throughout the read. I do wish we got more answers though… Check out my full review!

Auxiliary: London 2039 by Jon Richter ★★★☆☆
This “dark fiction” was also pretty well outside my comfort zone but I still managed to enjoy parts of it. The characters were lacking but the world building had Scythe, Warcross, Ready Player One vibes that I loved! One thing is for sure: I will never ever buy a 3D printer for home. If you’ve read this, you’ll know why! Check out my full review!

War and Speech by Don Zolidis ★★★★☆
I’ve never read a book about speech/debate but this was so interesting and the MC really won me over. She was snarky and hilarious and I loved seeing her character grow through the read. It was fast paced and fun, and I’m so glad I got to read this one! Check out my full review!

Sunshine Over Bluebell Cliff by Della Galton ★★★☆☆
It’s been a while since I read women’s fiction but this one had all the elements to remind me whyI like them. The best parts were definitely the atmosphere/setting! I could picture it so easily and it made me nostalgic for Norwich 💙 (even though it’s not set in Norwich… but still). Check out my full review!

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#5OnMyTBR: Contemporaries

Hello Mondays, welcome back to #5OnMyTBR, a meme created by the wonderful E @ The Local Bee Hunter’s Nook. This bookish meme gets us to dig even further into our TBRs by simply posting about five books on our TBR! You can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. You can find the full list of prompts (past and future) at the end of this post!

This week’s prompt is: Contemporary.

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

This Sunday I probably should’ve spent the day in bed reading Auxiliary: London 2039. This is my next blog tour read for next week and I started it last night. I haven’t gotten far into it yet but it’s giving me Warcross, Ready Player One and Scythe vibes, so it has been interesting so far. There are some scenes that have me scratching my head (a little bit in discomfort) because I don’t know if they’re necessary but let’s see what happens. It’s definitely an interesting world — not so far-fetched and futuristic that it’s impossible to believe which is honestly just a little bit scary!

The silicon revolution left Dremmler behind, but a good detective is never obsolete.

London is quiet in 2039—thanks to the machines. People stay indoors, communicating through high-tech glasses and gorging on simulated reality while 3D printers and scuttling robots cater to their every whim. Mammoth corporations wage war for dominance in a world where human augmentation blurs the line between flesh and steel.

And at the center of it all lurks The Imagination Machine: the hyper-advanced, omnipresent AI that drives our cars, flies our planes, cooks our food, and plans our lives. Servile, patient, tireless … TIM has everything humanity requires. Everything except a soul.

Through this silicon jungle prowls Carl Dremmler, police detective—one of the few professions better suited to meat than machine. His latest case: a grisly murder seemingly perpetrated by the victim’s boyfriend. Dremmler’s boss wants a quick end to the case, but the tech-wary detective can’t help but believe the accused’s bizarre story: that his robotic arm committed the heinous crime, not him. An advanced prosthetic, controlled by a chip in his skull.

A chip controlled by TIM.

Dremmler smells blood: the seeds of a conspiracy that could burn London to ash unless he exposes the truth. His investigation pits him against desperate criminals, scheming businesswomen, deadly automatons—and the nightmares of his own past. And when Dremmler finds himself questioning even TIM’s inscrutable motives, he’s forced to stare into the blank soul of the machine.

What are you currently reading?

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#WWWWednesday: 29 April

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:

  1. What did you read last?
  2. What are you currently reading?
  3. What will you read next?

Well, we’re back to my reading taking a hit thanks to Animal Crossing (yes, still)! It’s the second to last day of April and let me just tell you… April was a bit of a failed month for me! Since last Wednesday I’ve still only managed to finish one book and it was a book that I felt went on FOREVER and it was definitely not in a good way!

Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2) by Emily A. Duncan ★★★☆☆
This book had me hitting struggle town hard and I don’t know whether I’m at 2.5 stars or 3. I still haven’t learned how to DNF a book so I pushed onward with it but I just… I don’t even know how I feel. No, I do. I’m annoyed because Nadya was so awful in this book and she completely ruined it for me. I wanted more Gods! More back story to these monsters that people worshipped but instead we got a very frustrating “romance” and a lot of pining. I still need to write my review but… Yeah. No. It just didn’t work for me.

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#5OnMyTBR: Poetry

Hello Mondays, welcome back to #5OnMyTBR, a meme created by the wonderful E @ The Local Bee Hunter’s Nook. This bookish meme gets us to dig even further into our TBRs by simply posting about five books on our TBR! You can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. You can find the full list of prompts (past and future) at the end of this post!

This week’s prompt is: Poetry.

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

This Sunday I spent the whole day in bed with Ruthless Gods and I’m so happy to say that I’m done with that book. Finally! Wow. I mean, I know I’ve been gaming a lot but I honestly feel like I’d been reading that book forever. I thought the first book was just okay, it didn’t blow me away like I was expecting it to, but I was hoping I’d enjoy book two more. Sadly, I have even stronger lukewarm feelings for this one… Review will be coming soon if I can write a coherent one! Might just be a mini review… I am picking up Incendiary tonight though, so I’m hoping for a turn around in reading feels with this one!

I am Renata Convida.
I have lived a hundred stolen lives.
Now I live my own.

Renata Convida was only a child when she was kidnapped by the King’s Justice and brought to the luxurious palace of Andalucia. As a Robari, the rarest and most feared of the magical Moria, Renata’s ability to steal memories from royal enemies enabled the King’s Wrath, a siege that resulted in the deaths of thousands of her own people.

Now Renata is one of the Whispers, rebel spies working against the crown and helping the remaining Moria escape the kingdom bent on their destruction. The Whispers may have rescued Renata from the palace years ago, but she cannot escape their mistrust and hatred–or the overpowering memories of the hundreds of souls she turned “hollow” during her time in the palace.

When Dez, the commander of her unit, is taken captive by the notorious Sangrado Prince, Renata will do anything to save the boy whose love makes her place among the Whispers bearable. But a disastrous rescue attempt means Renata must return to the palace under cover and complete Dez’s top secret mission. Can Renata convince her former captors that she remains loyal, even as she burns for vengeance against the brutal, enigmatic prince? Her life and the fate of the Moria depend on it.

But returning to the palace stirs childhood memories long locked away. As Renata grows more deeply embedded in the politics of the royal court, she uncovers a secret in her past that could change the entire fate of the kingdom–and end the war that has cost her everything.

What are you currently reading?

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Top 5 Saturday: Books Under 300 Pages

We’re back with another Top 5 Saturday! Just in case you don’t know Top 5 Saturday is a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and it’s where we list the top five books (they can be books on your TBR, favourite books, books you loved/hated) based on the week’s topic. You can see the upcoming schedule at the end of my post 🙂 This week’s topic is: books under 300 pages.

This was a lot harder than I anticipated because I thought I’d have a lot more books that were less than 300 pages but a lot of them are more under the 400 page mark. After a bit of searching I did find a few on my actual TBR. I don’t actually have a preference for book lengths, it really all depends on the content. If a book is great I’ll likely never want it to end but when it’s the opposite, even less than 300 pages sounds like too much! I also generally don’t pay much attention to details such as page numbers, so I’m surprised by a few of the ones on here. I definitely thought they’d be longer!

209 pages

I feel like This Is How You Lose the Time War has been featuring on quite a few of my lists lately or maybe that’s just my mind constantly conjuring it up because I want to read it soon?!

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