So what’s this? Month three of the reading slump? Well one things for sure, this is once again going to be a very short wrap up, hence combining it with my TBR again.

Throughout August I was reading Dance of Thieves by Mary E Pearson; I adore this book, I have absolutely no idea why I haven’t finished the final 50 pages. Well other than I’ve been ill, and had a wedding, holiday and general life stuff going on. But either way, its just not an excuse, I normally read loads more than this even when I’m busier.

So in September, despite one of my favourite readathons being held, I am going to try and be realistic with my aims. I need to prep for university starting again next month, and have a short getaway this weekend, but other than that I have a pretty free month.

With the many challenges of the Emojiathon (you can see the challenges and my options here), I decided to just choose the books from my options that I most want to read. I’m hoping that by doing this, I should hopefully fly through some books and get catching up with my Goodreads goal.
The first book that I will most definitely be finishing is Dance of Thieves by Mary E Pearson; so far this is an easy 4 if not possibly a 5 star read for me- though I knew it would be. Honestly, I will not lie, other than my reading slump I don’t know why this book has not possibly been read several times over already.

For a while now, I’ve been wanting to do a reread of the Noughts and Crosses series by Malorie Blackman. I read this when I was in my mid teens, and loved it then; I’ve kept hold of the books for so long just knowing I would love to reread them.

Next is another gorgeous fairytale retelling, Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. I received my copy for review- thank you TOR!!-and I just cant wait to jump into it. Only thing is, I don’t want to start it while I’m in a slump as I’m nervous it will make me love it slightly less. But we will see, maybe a fairy tale is exactly what I need to get me out of this.

The last and final book on my TBR is Lancelot by Giles Kristian. I bought this for myself straight after it came out, having intended to read it while on holiday back in July I believe. I love ancient historical fiction and Giles Kristian is one who has been on my radar for a while, just sadly I’ve never picked up one of his books. This will have to change.

Although those four books make up my TBR, the same day that this will be going up on my blog, the new C.F Iggulden book will be released and I have it on preorder. I will warn you now there is a very strong chance that I will be picking it straight up.

What are you reading this month? Are you taking part in the Emojiathon?

Well, you may of noticed that my reading has pretty much halted thanks to the bugger that is a reading slump. I really thought I had gotten out of it, but then with going away for the bank holiday it completely ruined any progress that I might of made to dig myself out of this slump. What better way to get out of a reading slump though, than with a readathon?

The Emojiathon is a month long readathon that is taking place throughout the whole month of September. There is a whole variety of challenges for you to try and achieve through the duration of the readathon, and each of these challenges are linked to an emoji. As always some of the challenges are very specific in what you need to read, while others allow for you to have a choice of what you want to read to fulfil the emoji; of course, all the challenges are optional and you don’t have to complete any of them if you don’t want to.

This is just going to be a list of books that could possibly be used to complete each challenge, it is not my TBR- that will go live a little later on. So lets get to it..

Book by a favourite author- This one is very much a personal choice. For me this could be a range of authors; Conn Iggulden, Philippa Gregory or Mary E Pearson. I have a large collection of books I could read for this challenge.

Read a book with your favourite colour of the cover- my favourite colour is green, so I’m bound to have a large array of books for this challenge.

Read a book you said you would read, but never did- I have a terrible habit of doing this. I’m always buying books to read straight away and then never do. Some options for me are; Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo, Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and The Light Between Us by Katie Khan.

Give an author a second chance- this is meant to be a book by an author who you’ve given a previous book a low rating. Now a few of my options for this I have given one of their books a low rating, and another a decent rating. Such as Veronica Roth and Richelle Mead. The only author I can think of that I’ve only read one book from and given it a 3 star or less rating is Victoria Aveyard.

Read a diverse book- Not going to lie, but I’ve had to look up what books would fit for this one. I am by no means opposed to reading diverse books, but I also never really know if they are until I read them. Some of my options are, Cinder by Marissa Meyers, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor and Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman.

Read a Scary Book- I don’t really do scary, not in books or movies or anything. I can only think of two options and they are YOU by Caroline Kapnes and Lost Boy by Christina Henry. 

Read a 5 star predicted book- currently I have so many books that I feel will be 5 star reads for me, its going to be tough to choose and then interesting to know if I’m right. These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch, Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and Everless by Sara Holland are just a few of the options.

Read a book you’ve been seeing everywhere- Lately for me the books that have been popping up a lot on my feed are Circe by Madeline Miller, The School of Good and Evil by Soman Chainani and Heart of Thorns by Bree Barton.

Read a book that takes place somewhere other than where you live- This one is super easy for me, both because I live in the UK and because I read a lot of fantasy.

Read a book set in winter- Once again I have had to look up what books are set in the winter, you picking up the point that I never really know what my books are about? The only idea I have off the top of my head is Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, it would be a reread for me though. Other options from what I own would be, The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  

Read a book that reminds you of your favourite song- If I’m quite honest, I have absolutely no idea for this one, no books really remind me of songs at all.

Read a book that takes place outdoors- Thankfully a lot of fantasy is all based mostly outdoors, so this gives me plenty of options, a few being: Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

Read a book that takes place in college/uni- I don’t know if Im being really dumb, but I honestly can think of any books set in university. The closest that I can think of is Harry Potter being set in a school- I know pathetic.

Read a thriller- Who doesn’t love a good thriller, I’ve got several to choose from, some of the recent one I have acquired are; Zero by Marc Elsberg, The Key by Kathryn Hughes and No Way Out by Kate Elysia

Read a book about a social justice topic- I’ll be taking this one a bit literally, there are social justice issue in most fantasy novels, so I’ll likely be running with that idea; examples are, These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch, The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Attwood and Red Rising by Pierce Brown.

Read something that’s less than 100 pages- For this the only thing I can think of is to read one of the many samplers that I have gotten in my fairyloot boxes.

Read a book that takes place on a boat- I don’t think I own a book that takes place on a boat, at least not that I know about.

Read a book in under 24 hours- I’m probably just going to see if this happens, I would bet on it probably not though.

So they are just some of my options for each of the challenges for this round of the Emojiathon. In a couple of days, I’ll be posting my actual TBR of what I am hoping to read in the month of September.

Are you partaking in the Emojiathon? What are you reading for it?

I know, I know, its a bit of an odd time for this post. Normally its the sort of thing that you would see around the middle of the year, and as its now August, I have missed that. But with my current state of being in a reading slump, I find these posts to be useful for getting motivation back for reading.

In this list is a mixture of proof books, books that have been on my shelf for what feels like forever, as well as some new releases that I just cant wait for. I’m going to keep this list short as I don’t want to be too over ambitious, after all, I will need to get out of this reading slump to begin with. We will see over time how it all turns out.

My first has to be Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, I have this sitting on my shelf, looking at me longingly, I don’t want to pick this up until I know I’m going to read it cover to cover in just a couple of days. However I am truly hoping that this will be some point in this month.Lately I’ve been reading the Harry Potter books back in order, sadly though this is taking an awful lot longer than it needs to be. I cant even remember exactly when I started this but I’m only on Goblet of Fire. So I am determined to at least read this one, if not more of them, before it turns to 2019; this is just shocking, I’m almost embarrassed to admit how poorly I am doing with this series.

Although still dubious as to when I will manage to get my hands on a copy of this, I will be reading it this year no matter what; that book is Dance of Thieves by Mary E Pearson. I read the Remnant Chronicles back to back in February, and absolutely adored it, so when I found out there was going to be another book in the same world I just knew I would adore it. I have to admit though, I am very confused as to when it actually will be coming out in the UK, so I have two pre-orders for it as I refuse to wait longer than I have to.

I think the final book I’m going to put on this list is Lancelot by Giles Kristian. I grabbed this on one of my weekly food shops, and although I have heard nothing about this yet, I am truly excited to get to it. Giles Kristian is one of those authors that has always been on my list of authors to try, but this novel just sounded like the perfect one for me.

Do you have a list of books you want to read before the end of the year? What is on your list?

This is the first month of me combining these two posts, and I definitely chose a good time for it; I managed to read the grand total, of a whole zero books. Yes you heard that right, I didn’t manage to finish any books at all in the month of July. Admittedly it was a bit of a crazy month, what with moving, falling down the stairs, a holiday and my partners baby’s first birthday party. But I have high hopes for August, so lets get started.

So this month, I have a few things going on that will make less time for reading, but it should still be better than July. With my Dad’s birthday, partners daughter’s birthday, a wedding and another weekend away; I definitely will be a touch busy, but should still get plenty done. Plus have I mentioned that most of my books are still in storage from where we moved, which does limit my book choices.

In July I did manage to get half way through at least one book, and that was Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo, not too sure why I didn’t manage to finish it to be fair, but I am confident I will finish it in early August. Ive also started The Light Between Us by Katie Khan. I absolutely adored her debut novel, full review here, and although only a chapter in I can tell that I’m going to love this one just as much.

With the upcoming release of Bright Ruin, I have decided to do a reread of both Gilded Cage and Tarnished City. I honestly cant remember much of anything but I do remember that I truly enjoyed these books. Hopefully by rereading, I should fly through these. Who knows, I may also pick up Bright Ruin by Vic James straight away. We’ll have to wait and see.

How I have not already flown through this next book I do not know! I have been waiting for this to come out for so long, longing to get my hands on a copy of it. And yet somehow with the move, I just haven’t gotten around to picking it up. But I am certain that I will be picking up Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. A fairy tale retelling of Rumpelstiltskin I believe, I am adamant that this will live up to Novik’s previous novel, Uprooted.

Finally, I am hoping to get time to dive into Marc Elsberg’s second novel, Zero. To be honest, I know nothing about this, I only know that I adored Black Out, full review here. I have only heard good things, and if its anything like the previous book then I will be flying through it.

I am very excited to have a month of rereading and new release books, I just hope that I don’t turn out to of slipped into another reading slump!

What are your August reading plans?

I’m so excited to once again be working with Titan Books, to bring you the chance to win one of two copies of this fabulous, genre blended novel. Mixing thriller, with fantasy, woven together in a historical fiction setting. This is a book that you really do want to get your hands, and what better way than through a free giveaway.

Now if you haven’t been following the blog tour for this fabulous book, then that’s a good place to start to convince you that you really do need a copy of this. This tour has been filled with some amazing bloggers, and some really worthwhile content all about this book.

Europe. 1963. And the true Cold War is fought on the borders of this world, at the edges of the light.
 
When the assassination of a traitor trading with the enemy goes terribly wrong, British Intelligence agent Christopher Winter must flee London. In a tense alliance with a lethal, mysterious woman named Karina Lazarov, he’s caught in a quest for hidden knowledge from centuries before, an occult secret written in the language of fire. A secret that will give supremacy to the nation that possesses it.
 
Racing against the Russians, the chase takes them from the demon-haunted Hungarian border to treasure-laden tunnels beneath Berlin, from an impossible house in Vienna to a bomb-blasted ruin in Bavaria where something unholy waits, born of the power of white fire and black glass . .

Have I convinced you yet? Well then I should tell you how to enter, its very simple really. There is two ways this time around. You can either comment on this blog post with your email address so I can contact you if you win; or if you aren’t comfortable with that, then you can follow me on Twitter and RT my pinned post.

This competition closes at midnight on Wednesday the first of August, winners will be announced and messaged on the Thursday. Everyone is open to enter, International okay.

Good luck to all..

For some reason lately, I have just been adoring thriller novels, which is odd for me in this time of year. That’s why I thought I’d pick up A Baby’s Bones, that combined historical fiction with a thriller plot. This book in short, was a gripping quick read that was really enjoyable. The two plots were equal, without one being favoured and generally was a well rounded book- which I find unusual for two different time periods. However the ending let it down for me a little.

I would just like to thank Titan Books and Rebecca Alexander herself, for sending me a copy to review, I always appreciate getting the opportunity to read and review books and help promote.

Archaeologist Sage Westfield has been called in to excavate a sixteenth-century well, and expects to find little more than soil and the odd piece of pottery. But the disturbing discovery of the bones of a woman and newborn baby make it clear that she has stumbled onto an historical crime scene, one that is interwoven with an unsettling local legend of witchcraft and unrequited love. Yet there is more to the case than a four-hundred-year-old mystery. The owners of a nearby cottage are convinced that it is haunted, and the local vicar is being plagued with abusive phone calls. Then a tragic death makes it all too clear that a modern murderer is at work.. (from Goodreads)

I adored Sage’s character in this novel, I found her to be so down to earth and slightly flawed that it made her appear realistic and relatable. Personally, I found myself having a sympathy for her and her situation, between the knowing what was right and the longing of the heart. When I was younger I wanted to be an archaeologist for a while, so her work in that field was really interesting to me; and of course I love my history. 

Normally in a joint split plot like this one, with the two stories running together, I find myself skimming one in order to prioritise the other; but this one I found equal enjoyable. Neither of them stood out more than the other to me, and was constantly engaged and wanting to keep reading. I read this book in just two sitting, and if life hadn’t got in the way, it was one of those books I could of read in just one sitting, it was really that good.

The only one downside for me was that I had guessed the culprit to the modern day murder. I pretty much could tell after only a quarter of the book, and although it was still interesting to see how it came about, it was a bit disappointing that I had guessed it. But to be fair that isn’t too big a deal, as the book as a whole is still very enjoyable.

I would personally say, as a psychosis sufferer myself, that it may not be the best book to read if you are a chronic sufferer, as there was a scene that could possibly trigger.

Overall this book was a good solid four star read, and definitely one for any thriller or historical fiction fans out there.

Over the last few years, Christina Henry has found her way to becoming one of my favourite authors; I wait each year in anticipation for her novels and their spooky fairytale vibes. The Mermaid, which I believed was a Little Mermaid retelling was no different. Although this was very different to my expectations, it was never the less, another amazing novel.

I just want to thank Titan Books and Christina Henry for sending me a copy to review, it is always very much appreciated, especially when its a book I am so excited for.

Once there was a mermaid who longed to know of more than her ocean home and her people. One day a fisherman trapped her in his net but couldn’t bear to keep her. But his eyes were lonely and caught her more surely than the net, and so she evoked a magic that allowed her to walk upon the shore. The mermaid, Amelia, became his wife, and they lived on a cliff above the ocean for ever so many years, until one day the fisherman rowed out to sea and did not return.

P. T. Barnum was looking for marvelous attractions for his American Museum, and he’d heard a rumor of a mermaid who lived on a cliff by the sea. He wanted to make his fortune, and an attraction like Amelia was just the ticket.

Amelia agreed to play the mermaid for Barnum, and she believes she can leave any time she likes. But Barnum has never given up a money-making scheme in his life, and he’s determined to hold on to his mermaid. (from Goodreads)

The thing I love about Christina Henry’s novels are the fact that the take some of my absolute favourite fairytales as a child, and twists them to show the spooky scary side of what could of happened. I always find I have to read her books in the day time with all the lights on and my dog snuggled at my feet; but I absolutely love it. This one was not quite like that.

I started this in the afternoon, prepared that I would probably struggle to sleep that night, but instead of scary this one had more of a morality vibe to it. Do not get me wrong, I still absolutely loved it, and finished this book in less than 24 hours, which is a record for me. It had me thinking about the classification of what we count as human, the treatment of animals and also of those that are unique. Admittedly this was more a thing in the past, but I definitely feel like there was something to be taken from this

Amelia was a character that you just found your heart reaching out too. She’d gone through such heartache, and knew that it was bound to happen again, I can appreciate this feeling. Having to decide what was worse, denying herself what her heart wanted, or knowing that it would all come apart in the end; I felt so sorry her, and wanted everything to be okay.

Im not too sure whether I would say it was closely linked to the Little Mermaid if Im honest, but you can definitely see the influence. Though then again I am only going from the Disney movie as I have not actually ever read the book- yes that is something I need to fix.

In the end, I gave this novel a four star rating. There was nothing wrong with it, I just didn’t love it as much as I have her previous novels, but this will be because I was expecting something different. I think I may need to reread it at some point. This novel is now available in the UK.

You have got to love the month after you have defeated your reading slump; to be able to pick up a book that you are look forward to reading and know confidently that you will be able to stick with it. That has been my month. Admittedly, this month has been a busy one with a trip and what not, but I have also not been too well therefore giving me plenty of resting reading time. I have tried to make the most of it without pushing it too much- last thing I want is to knock myself back into the slump. So this is what I read this month.
The first book I finished was The Hazel Wood, and was an amazing start to the month. I loved this book giving it a full four and a half stars, with a fantastical creepy vibe, and a rather unique story in my opinion. This was a great book to read coming out of a reading slump as wasn’t too much information to take in while still very interesting and fast paced.

Only Human was my next read, which was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and it did not disappoint, being a five star read. This series was just amazing and Im not normally a Science fiction fan! I am actually a little sad that this is now over, but I have not given up hope that there may be more books in the universe at some point.

One of my most anticipated books of the year is always Christina Henry’s latest fairytale novel, and The Mermaid was just the same. Although this one was not as spooky as the rest of her beloved novels, I definitely felt like this one had more of a moral understanding to it. This was a four star read for me, there wasn’t anything wrong with it, it just lacked the hide under the blanket spookiness that I have grown to love from her books.

I have been doing so good this month, I then finished a book that has been on my shelves ever since the day it came out, and I have always been too daunted to pick up; and that is The True Queen by Alison Weir. This is the first in her Six Queens series, and I have been meaning to jump into it for the longest time. I love everything that Alison Weir writes, and this was no exception.

Following on from my thriller kick of last month, I picked up A Baby’s Bones by Rebecca Alexander. This book, following two different parallel stories, in two different time periods, for once didn’t have me split. I found that I enjoyed both the stories and was excited for both equally, well until the end where I found the modern day story to be very predictable and unsatisfying. Though it was still a really good read and a solid four stars.

My final book of the month was Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo. I now own both Six of Crows and Crooked kingdom, so I’m trying to get through the Grisha series first. Last year I read Shadow and Bone and absolutely loved it, Siege and Storm wasn’t quite as good to begin with, but did then really pick up and I feel it has prepared me for the final book. I gave this 3.5 stars.

So that’s what I read in June, a much better reading month than what I have had lately. What did you read this month?

You may of heard, but I am moving in early July, the 6th to be exact; and that means that this reading month is going to be a touch different to those in the recent past. I am going to have a month of only reading books on my Kindle. This is so I don’t have to worry about getting books unpacked etc, plus it works as I am going on holiday at the end of the month. Normally holiday would mean lots of reading, but as Im going with my partner who is not a reader, I don’t think I will get much of a chance. So here are the books on my Kindle that Im hoping to get to this month.

Firstly, I will be restarting A Kings Obsession. I finished the first book in this series in June and absolutely loved it. Took all my strength to not pick this one up straight away, but I thought it best to wait until I was moving and could read it on my kindle.

I am honestly so intrigued to try and read a graphic novel from my kindle so I am also going to read A Quest of Heroes by Morgan Rice. I honestly don’t know any more about this other than its a graphic novel, though I do have a feeling Im either going to love or hate reading graphic novels on my kindle.

A while ago, I downloaded The Gender Game by Bella Forrest, as it had been described as being like Divergent I believe. Anyway, it intrigued me, was free and seemed like an easy read; that just seems like the perfect thing to read while I am moving.

I believe this one may be a Netgalley download, but it sounds very interesting and I do need to get back on top of my Netgalley reviews, so I will be reading Ensnared by Rita Stradling. Again, I know very little other than its a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I do love a good retelling.

Finally, the last book on my TBR is The Orphans Wish by Melanie Dickerson. Another retelling, but this time it a retelling of Aladdin, I believe this came out late June, so I’ll have my review up as soon as possible for this. Not too sure what to expect as it seems to have very mixed reviews.

So this month there will not be a twitter poll book as I am limited to just what I have on my kindle, but if I get my books unpacked quickly then I will possibly add one mid July. What are you reading this month?

I am truly so sad that this series is now over, but I hold hope that I may at least get some further stories within the same world. Normally, I am not exactly a science fiction fan, I’m much more into high fantasy or dystopian, but this series has been a gate way to getting me reading more. With giant alien robots, an alien planet and aliens themselves, this final book of the trilogy went above and beyond to wrapping up this series for me.

I have reviews for the other books in this series, where again I rave about how I have loved this series since the very start.

We always thought the biggest threat to humanity would come from the outside.
We were wrong.
As the human race picks up the pieces of destruction left behind, a new world order emerges. New alliances are formed. Old divisions are strengthened. And, with a power struggle fuelled by the threat of mutually assured destruction, nothing is certain.
At a time when the world’s nations should have been coming together, they have never been more divided.
With the human race teetering on the brink of total war, Rose, Vincent and Eva must choose sides. But doing the right thing might mean making the ultimate sacrifice.

I have been invested in this series, told through a series of interviews and status reports, since the very start. Somehow, despite the unusual format of the story telling, this entire series is easy to follow and very fast paced. This is a big thing to me, as normally I have been known to struggle to follow what is going on with this interview based format, but this is an exception thankfully.

In this book specifically, the three key characters are also well rounded, and loveable. While they are flawed in the most human of ways, you cant help but root for them. With the underlying back story in this novel, I found myself looking ahead to see when you would find out more about what happened. Honestly, I’d be happy just to have another book about the alien planet and the civil war that was kicking off there. I would love to know what happened further and how the world then settled back down, or if they possibly didn’t.

I cant say I have read any other books outside of this series by this author, but I think he may now be an automatic read author for me. The writing style, characterisation, and the worlds he develops are just amazing; they drag you in, and you just cant help but be intrigued by the politics and actions of the characters that aren’t even that integral. This is an easy five star read for me, and I highly recommend that you pick this series up. I am tempted to do a reread already using the audiobooks as I can imagine they would be very good.