Monday 9th March
06:52 Good morning, happy Monday and welcome to my 48th weekly reading blog! Hope you’re all really well. I’m so excited for this week because I’m working today and tomorrow and then I have 6 days off, which means lots of reading (hopefully).
So, what am I starting the week with? I will be continuing on with my March long read of East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I wanted to read this but I was a bit I found this book a bit intimidating so instead of trying to read it in one chunk I decided to break the book into 27 pages that I’d read a day. I didn’t read my section yesterday but I plan on catching up today, at some point.
I’ve picked up the audiobook of Hard-Boiled Wonderland at the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. I’m listening to this now and I’m now sure how I’m going to get on with it now because the synopsis sounds nuts, even for Murakami. Also, there was this mention of Steam Punk and I’m just not into Steam Punk at all, so I’ll let you know how I get on with that.
I’ve also got a physical copy of Lie With Me by Philippe Benson. I’m so excited to get to this book and plan on picking it up on my lunch break today.
Finally, I have a hold from my library on the Overdrive app that I’ve just checked out; that’s the ebook of Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey, no idea if I’ll get to this book but I’ve seen lots of people read it and I want to see what all the fuss is about. I’m off to read now, bye!
Wednesday 11th March
09:24 It’s Wednesday! Had a really long day at work yesterday so I didn’t get much done but I’m now on holiday for the next 6 days so I am gonna do ALL the reading! This morning I finished off my audiobook of…
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. I listened to the audiobook of this and I’m so glad because I honestly think I would have DNF’d it if I’d been reading they physical copy of it.
This book is COMPLICATED! It’s essentially the story of a man going into an underworld under Tokyo but honestly like all his work there’s so much more to it than that. It’s by far the most fantastical book of his I’ve read and I really wasn’t into reading it at first but once I got into it I was hooked and I’m honestly shocked at how much this book hit me right in the chest. I’m giving it 4.5 stars, only because it felt like a slog at the start, well worth it though.
As for my reading plans for the rest of the day; I’m going to start by finishing Lie with Me by Philippe Benson (which I’m still finding hard to grasp that this book was translated by Molly Ringwald), I’m about half way through this now and it’s only little so it shouldn’t take me long. Then I’m gonna catch up on my sections of East of Eden that I have to read because I’m a couple of days behind on this one; if I wanna get it read this month I must persist! And after that I’m not sure what I’m gonna pick up. Probably Fix Her Up by Tessa Daily because I’ve got it in loan from the library and I don’t want to hog it in case someone else wants it. See you all in bit!
23:24 I’ve had such a lovely day reading today! I managed to read a further 30 pages of East of Eden, still not caught up with my sections but I will, hopefully while I’m on holiday! I finished Lie With Me.
In this story we follow an author in his late 30s, seeing a boy who looked like his first love, telling us the story of that love and finding out what happened to the boy he fell in love with. This is such a beautiful book about first love, coming of age, not being able to be who you are and the repercussions of that over a life time. Parts of this book were really heartbreaking. I found the first half of the book a bit slow and I didn’t emotionally connect with it but by the end I was invested and it’s one of the best endings in a book I’ve ever read. I’m giving it for stars.
I then finished Fix Her Up this evening. This book follows a baseball star who is cut off in his prime by an injury, struggling back in the home town he never felt at home in and his best friend’s little sister who is sick of being seen as the goofy kid that no one will take seriously. The baseball star proposes that he and the little sister pretend to date for a multitude of reasons and you can probably guess how this one turns out.
I liked this book well enough, it advertises itself as a romantic comedy and I wouldn’t say it was particularity funny. It’s also a hell of a lot more raunchy than I was expecting. The chemistry in this book was fantastic but the sex scenes did get a bit monotonous as they went on. I felt the characters were a bit flat and didn’t have a lot of personality and some of the drama was so obviously put in there that it didn’t feel natural. I’m making this sound bad, it was terrible it just wasn’t anything new or unique. If you’re looking for a standard sexy romance and you’re not to bothered about it being a bit mediocre then give this a go!
I’m now off to bed cause your girl needs her SLEEP! See you all tomorrow.
Thursday 12th March
18:06 I’ve managed to DNF two books today! These were both books off my TBR bookcase so I’m happy that I can pass them on to someone who will want to read them and making more room on my shelves. So I’ve tried Trust Me I’m Dead by Sherryl Clark, I got 100 pages into this but I couldn’t deal with the repetitive writing so that had to go! Then I tried The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, this is the first book in the Wheel of Time series and it’s a high fantasy. I’m just not into fantasy anymore and if I do end up back there I’ll just buy another second hand copy.
But thankfully I did pick up and finish Toffee by Sarah Crossan today.
This is a YA book told in verse about a teenager with a turbulent home life and so she runs away and ends up living with an elderly woman who has dementia. I really enjoy Sarah Crossan’s writing style; I know books in verse aren’t everyone’s thing but I think she does it really well. I also think she is fantastic at talking about hard topics, if I had a younger teenager I’d absolutely be buying them her books, not read a bad one yet (or one that hasn’t made me cry). I gave this book 4 stars and I’m so glad I finally read it because it’s been on my TBR bookcase for over a year!
I’m now moving onto another book from my TBR bookcase (I’m so proud of myself right now) and that’s The Silence by Tim Lebbon. This was a TOTAL cover buy so I’ll let you know how I get on.
Saturday 14th March
07:51 I must say I did hardly any reading yesterday. I had really bad anxiety over night on Thursday and I didn’t sleep well. But I did go out for breakfast and it was so good!
This morning I finished The Silence by Tim Lebbon.
This is a horror book about a family trying to survive in the world when there’s an attack of creatures that came out of a cave and are killing people, they can’t see anything but if you make a noise, they will find you.
Sounds familiar right? Very similar to Bird Box and the film The Quiet Place. That was a big part of my problem with this book, it was ok but nothing new and any atmosphere built at the start of the book was quickly dismissed when we had the big reveal of what the creatures were. I felt like I had to drag myself through the rest of the books, not really caring what happened to any of the characters. I gave it 3 stars. I’m happy though cause that’s ANOTHER book off the TBR bookshelf!
I’ve started an audiobook today too (I’ve been up since 5am, can you tell?), this is a reread to me of Hot Milk by Deborah Levy. I gave this 3 stars last time I read it but I really wanna give it another go because I feel like I’m in the right head space for it now. I’ll be back later with an update.
17:49 I’ve had such a lovely day with family today! Here’s some good pictures…
Family and food; what more could a girl want? I also just finished Hot Milk.
This book is about a woman and her mother going to Southern Spain to see a consultant in the hope of curing the unexplainable illness that keeps her chained to her mother. It’s a book on family dynamics, of finding out who you are and exploring sexuality. I especially loved the complex relationship the protagonist had with her mother. I must say, I appreciated this book a lot more the second time round and I’m giving it 4 stars. Not gonna be reading anything more tonight cause it’s pizza time and I’m gonna be watching a film but I’ll be back tomorrow with more reading.
Saturday 15th March
11:42 So this morning I picked up and listened to the entire audiobook of Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren.
This is about 18 year old Tate who goes to London with her grandma for a 2 week holiday and ends up falling for another guest in Teheran hotel; 21 year old Sam. Sam is the only boy she’s ever been able to be herself with and he betrays her. 14 years later she’s forced to work with him and they have to sort out the mess of 14 years previously.
I really enjoyed this audiobook. It was a cute and full of heart. It felt a bit YA, it’s absolutely for adults but it was very angsty. I loved the struggle in this book and the emotional fighting. If you’re looking for what feels like an epic romance with all the trappings, then pick this book up. You might need your tissues though! 4.5 stars for this book from me.
19:36 I really fancied reading a smutty novella, cause it’s been ages. So I read All of Me by Lee Piper.
This is essentially about a woman who used to date a rock star, saw him cheating on her and a year after ends up face to face with him at one of his gigs.
I didn’t hate this book but it wasn’t for me. There was some questionable consent and some major stereotypical personality types I just wasn’t into. Some of the sex scenes were fun, some were not so fun. I also didn’t really believe the overall plot. 2 stars from me.
And that’s the end of this weekly reading blog so it’s time for a wrap up!
Books read: 8 books this week which I’m really happy with!
Breakdown: Of the 8 books I read; 3 were physical books, 4 were audiobooks and 1 was an e-book. Out of the physical books, 2 of them had been on my TBR bookshelf for a long time so I’m happy I got to them.
Books started but not finished: I’m still planning on carrying on with East of Eden by John Steinbeck but I haven’t read any of it this week, I’m probably not gonna finish this by the end of the month but I do want to try and get it read. I’m also listening to an audiobook of Pandemic by Alex Burns, I’ve nearly finished this so I’m sure I’ll finish it tomorrow.
Most disappointing book: Probably The Silence, I had so many people tell me that I’d love it and I’m sad that I didn’t. Know this wasn’t my lowest rated book but I knew I probably wouldn’t like the smutty novella.
Favourite book: Hard-Boiled Wonderland at the End of the World just because, not only was it fantastic but I also wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did.
That’s all folks! Thank you so much for joining me this week and I’ll see you next time!
CutLooseBookloose 