Author: Christy.E.S

readathons

Bout of Books 24

Christy.E.S6 Comments

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 7th and runs through Sunday, January 13th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 24 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team


Bout of Books
Goals:
For this readathon, I won’t set myself a page count goal, because I never really reach them and they usually just make me focus more on the amount I’m reading than what I’m reading. I will still provide updates for my page count, but I won’t be too fussed if it’s not a lot (as it often is).
I want to finish reading The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper and if I can I want to read the other three books in the series as well. I will also be re-reading The Cruel Prince by Holly Black before I start the second book in The Folk of The Air series – The Wicked King – if I can finish all these books by the end of the week it will be a miracle as I’m in work every day except tomorrow, but I’m hoping I can at least make a big dent in all of them!
The only other goals I have are to update on here every day and to take part in at least one of the twitter chats – though one of them is at 2am my time, so that really only leaves one as I will be asleep at 2am, and to spend some time either on blogs or on twitter with other people also doing Bout of Books this time around as I usually get so caught up in the reading that I forget the point of a readathon is to make reading sociable!
I will also try to take part in at least three of the challenges throughout the week.
Monday:
Pages Read: 110
Total Pages Read: 110
Challenge: introduce yourself in six words: Reads when not distracted or working.
Notes: Have found that The Wicked King won’t be being released tomorrow but is now being released next week instead – after the readathon has finished – while this means I won’t be able to read the book as part of the readathon, it does mean I have more of a chance of being able to read the other books in my TBR pile this week and if I can get through all of them this week then I have nothing to stop me from reading The Wicked King when it finally does come out next week!
Tuesday:
Pages Read: 10
Total Pages Read: 120
Notes: Today was probably the day that I will be able to read least, although I am in work all day Thursday and Friday too but am hoping that I will be able to finish The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper tomorrow.
Wednesday:
Pages Read: 120
Total Pages Read: 240
Books Finished: The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
Notes: Have found out that I have the day off work on Saturday so will be able to take part in the twitter chat that is going to be in the middle of the afternoon for me. Finished The Dark is Rising and am thinking of doing a full review of the series when I have finished all five books. I am however, going to be in work earl on Monday morning – so won’t be able to read until midnight on Sunday, so the last bits of my reading will be happening on Saturday.
Thursday:
Pages Read: 41
Total Pages Read: 281
Notes: The Wicked King is now available on my kindle – I think there must just have been a delay in letting me download it. So as I am off work on Saturday, I plan to finish reading The Cruel Prince on Friday night and read The Wicked King on Saturday morning.
Friday:
Pages Read: 76
Total Pages Read: 357
Notes: Won’t have time to finish The Cruel Prince before I get tired and have to go to sleep, but it is a fairly quick book to read, so I do still have time to read it on Saturday. I have to go out in the afternoon, but have Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo as an audiobook so can listen to that while I’m out of the house.

Saturday:

Pages Read: 130

Total Pages Read: 487

Audiobook: 3 hours 39 minutes

Notes: will definitely be able to get up to five hundred Pages Read before the end of the readathon and will hopefully finish the Cruel Prince tomorrow, but won’t ha time to finish Greenwich or start The Wicked King before the end of the readathon.

Sunday:

Pages Read: 24

Total Pages Read: 511

Notes: Only have a few more pages to go of The Cruel Prince but won’t be able to read it before Tuesday now, so will have to finish it then. Over five hundred pages is pretty good going for me during a readathon though, even if it I did only finish one book during the week.

 

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Reading Goals and Not Reaching Them

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On Goodreads it is possible to set yourself a reading goal for the year, previously I have set and succeeded in reading a total of fifty and sixty books in one year. In 2018 I set the goal of reading 35 books and failed. I managed 27 of 35 books which Goodreads tells me is 77% of the way there.

I had wanted to reach the goal but I simply had less time to read in 2018 then I did in the year I read sixty books and even if I had had the time to read I had less disposable income for the majority of the year to spend on reading material.

In 2019 I have set the goal of reading 30 books, this is less than I planned to read last year  as I am unlikely to have any more reading time this year as I am starting a Masters course at the end of January. However, it is still more books than I managed to read because it is supposed to be a challenge after all.

And if I do fail again, the goal of reading thirty will still make me read more books this year than I would be likely to if I set no goal at all.

 

 

Book Reviews

The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All The Way Home (Catherine M. Valente) Review

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5 stars.

This is the fifth book in the Fairyland series and I think the last. At least it is the last following these characters anyway, but the ending does such a good job of tying up September’s story that I don’t mind at all.

“The Land of Parents is strange and full of peril.”
The last book in the series followed the changeling children Hawthorne and Tamburlaine and I did find that the writing style which I usually thoroughly enjoy started to annoy me a little in that book, however, that must have just been down to the characters or the story, because the writing style in this book read to me like the first one and is infinitely quotable all the way through.

“Today I shall be a wicked murderous tyrant and crush something nice under my heel.”
We meet September as she is the Queen of Fairyland, but all the previous monarchs of Fairyland are also present and they all want to rule, so The Cantankerous Derby is set in place and whoever can find The Heart of Fairyland will rule. The derby takes up most of the rest of the book and The Heart of Fairyland, while possible to be anything is of course only possible to be one thing really, and once you know what it is it’s obvious and very fitting for not only the Fairyland series but every fairytale about magical worlds.

“All librarians are members of the Catalogue. That’s what you call a coven when it’s made up of Librarians instead of witches.”
I would say that while I do have my favourite books of the series and less favourite books of the series, as a whole the series does work extremely well and I know this will not be the last time I read the whole series through.

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Dewey’s 24 hour Readathon Update post

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So normally by the start of a readathon I would at least have some kind of TBR sorted but a combination of being busy at work, moving house, and training meant I forgot about this readathon completely until last night!

However, I am still reading The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All The Way Home by Catherynne M. valente (I had hoped to finish it by the end of September) so thought the readathon was the perfect time to read it.

I will be updating on here throughout the 24 hours.

1pm – 2pm:
Pages Read: 20
Notes: managed to read while on my break at work but now won’t be able to get more reading done before 7pm.

9:30pm – 10:30pm:
Total Pages Read: 60
Notes: Have set my alarm for a little bit earlier than I need to tomorrow so I can try and get to a hundred pages before I have to leave for work!

7am – 9am:
Total Pages Read: 101

12:30pm – 1pm:
Total Pages Read: 111
Notes: Am now more than halfway through The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All The Way Home and will hopefully be able to finish it before I go away tomorrow!

TBR's

August Wrap-Up and September TBR

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Books Read in August:

The Island by M.A. Bennett:
3 stars
I did a full review of this book here.
Favourite Quote: “”They cancelled the show. So you never saw the characters getting off the island. In the world of the show, they’re still there, stranded, frozen in TV limbo.””

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson:
4 stars
This is a collection of short stories by Shirley Jackson, as with any collection of short stories, I enjoyed some more than others but the majority of these stories are good and I read the entire book in only a couple of days.
Favourite Quote: “”Reality,” she said, and went out.”

September TBR:

The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All The Way Home by Catherynne M. Valente:
The latest book in the Fairyland series of which I have read all of them. I think this may be the last book in the series and am looking forward to finishing it and am hoping that I enjoy this book enough that I want to spend winter re-reading the entire series!

I don’t have any other books planned to read in September so once I have finished this book I’ll have to choose another!

 

 

 

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Bout of Books 23 Goals and Update Posts

Christy.E.S2 Comments

Bout of Books
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 20th and runs through Sunday, August 26th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 23 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team
Goals:
1. To read at least 500 pages throughout the week.
2. To finish at least one book during the week.
3.Participate in three challenges.
4. Maybe participate in one of the twitter chats – it depends though because one is in the middle of the night for me and the other is when I might be out of the house.
Monday:
Pages read: 8
Challenges: Introduce yourself in six words. I did this one on twitter: Writer that reads, Barista drinking tea.
Notes: I knew I wouldn’t get much reading done today, but should be able to make up for it tomorrow when I have the day off work. Am currently reading The Lottery by Shirley Jackson which is a book of short stories, so is easy to dip in and out of during a readathon.
Tuesday:
Pages Read: 109
Total Pages Read: 117
Notes: Was hoping to finish reading The Lottery today but will easily finish it tomorrow. I had already started r adding The Lottery before the readathon so want to try and finish another book before the end of Sunday.
Wednesday:
Pages Read: 74
Total Pages Read: 191
Books Finished: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Notes: am hoping to do the challenge tomorrow and start reading The Girl Who’s Raced Fairyland All The Way Home by Catherynne M. Valente.
Thursday:
Pages Read: 29
Total Pages Read: 220
Notes: Have started reading the last in the Fairyland series by Catherine M. Valente and am already enjoying it more than I did the last book in the series.
Friday: 
Pages Read: 4
Total Pages Read: 224
Notes: Knew I wouldn’t get much reading done today and tomorrow is likely to be the same, but as I have Monday off work, I can read Sunday evening all the way through to midnight.
Saturday:
Pages Read: 20
Total Pages Read: 244
Notes: Not bad considering I was travelling for most of the day and couldn’t get much reading done. Unfortunately I had to miss the twitter chat (as I thought I might) as I was on a bus at the time and can’t read while being in a moving vehicle!
Sunday:
Pages Read: 96
Total Pages Read: 340
Total Books Finished: 1 (The Lottery)
Notes: Didn’t quite manage to reach my goal of 500 pages in this readathon but didn’t fall as far behind as I normally do and there’s always the next readathon to try again!
Book Reviews

The Island (M.A. Bennett) Review

Christy.E.S1 Comment

3 stars.

Contains spoilers for the book.

A sort of retelling of Lord of The Flies by William Goldman. Seven students survive a plane crash on a desert island, but all is not as it seems.

“I was just sorry I didn’t have a swishy cloak.”
I was going to give this book two stars until I got to the last third. Though the writing style is similar to how a modern teenager would speak and is written well. There didn’t seem much point to the story and I after a few incidents on the island I found it hard to sympathise with the narrator, as he does act incredibly selfish while on the island.

“”You know there actually is a middle of nowhere? It’s the Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility, and it’s called Point Nemo.”
The last third of the book gained that extra star as the character does start to become less selfish as time on the island goes on. And after the characters find out that the plane crash did not happen by accident but was in fact staged and their time on the island is being documented, then they do all work together to get off the island.

“”They cancelled the show. So you never saw the characters getting off the island. In the world of the show, they’re still there, stranded, frozen in TV limbo.””
The book is quite a quick read and easy to follow. It’s just a shame that the last third of the book is the only part where I enjoyed the story and characters.

TBR's

July Wrap-Up and August TBR

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Books read in July:

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman:
4 stars.
A book with an ending I didn’t expect which always makes reading more enjoyable. The story of a woman with an ordinary life these days. But her life wasn’t always ordinary. The book deals with many different themes including loneliness and was a spectacular read.
Favourite Quote: “It’s SpongeBob, Eleanor,” he said, speaking very slowly and clearly as though I were some sort of idiot. “SpongeBob SquarePants?” A semi-human bath sponge with protruding front teeth! On sale as if it were something completely unremarkable! For my entire life, people have said that I’m strange, but really, when I see things like this, I realize that I’m actually relatively normal.”

Munmun by Jesse Andrews:
3 stars.
The writing style used in this book does take some getting used to. It’s a little like a beginners version of the language used in A Clockwork Orange, but easier to figure out the meanings to words. I think the writing style is meant to be as if the main character Warner is writing the book himself, as he is illiterate at the beginning of the book, it makes sense that he would write phonetically, e.g. in the book six is written as sicks, while many words are spaced out or pushed together as Warner is used to hearing words said this way instead of writing them.
The book is set in a world where the amount of money you have directly corresponds to how tall you are, so the poorest are the size of rats, while the richest are giants. The story is an interesting look at society and how people with a ton of money just don’t have to worry about the same things as others – like cat attacks in the book. While I did empathise with the characters the plot didn’t pull me in the way I had hoped and the main reason I finished the book was because of the characters rather than the plot or the writing.
Favourite Quote: “”Yeah it’s true, Lifty is the secret home of geniuses,” I said. “Yesterday during Generic Distress Response three guys working together invented a brandnew way to get trapped under a bus.””

July TBR:

The Island by M.A. Bennett: A retelling of The Lord of The Flies by William Goldman. Although I had to read The Lord of The Flies at school and declared I hated it at the time and haven’t read it since. I am interested to see what a modern retelling of the story is like and whether it’s the general plot I disliked or whether it was just that I had to read it in school.

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson: A set of short stories by Shirley Jackson. I have previously only read her novel We Have Always Lived in The Castle so want to read more of her work.

 

TBR's

Reverse Readathon TBR

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The Reverse readathon is a readathon organised by the people who run the Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon. The readathon starts at the same time across the world and goes for 24 hours. This means that usually the readathon starts at 1pm in the UK. However, as this is a reverse readathon then it will start at the opposite time, so 1am on Saturday for me and it will go until 1am on Sunday.

I will be at work for most of the day tomorrow but will be able to read through the night. I will be reading:

MunMun by Jesse Andrews – I got this book from the Readers First website and want to finish it so I can write my review.

The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue – This was the book chosen by my book club for the month of August.

The Lost in Limbo books by Angela Roquet – I have these books on Audible and have been meaning to finish them for the past few months. As they are on Audible I will be able to listen to the books on my way to and from work during the day.

 

Book Reviews

June Wrap-Up and July TBR

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Books read in June:

War Storm – Victoria Aveyard:
3 Stars
This is the final story in the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, though the first book in the series is one of my favourite books from the last few years, the third book in the series and this one will not be. The book wraps up the series well and doesn’t fall into the trap of many books of the same genre in trying to give all the characters a happy ending and thew ending of the book does make sense for the characters, but I’m still disappointed by it.
Favourite Quote: “Soft hands, better suited to book pages. Never used in war. Never needed in battle. I envy those hands.”

As They Say in Zanzibar – David Crystal:
4 Stars
This is a linguistics book that I got from the library and is mainly a book of proverbs from around the world. As someone who studies linguistics as much as they can it is interesting to learn how different countries have different sayings for the same situations and hoe some sayings are more well known than others.
Favourite Quote: “Those who hear not the music think the dancers mad – China.”

City of Circles – Jess Richards:
3 Stars
This is a book set partly in a circus and partly in a city called Matryoshka – the city of circles from the title. I enjoyed reading about the world and the places in the book more than I enjoyed the actual plot and story. Matryoshka is a city that seems like places I have been and places I have never been at the same time and reading the book did make me wonder if it is time I went travelling again, but the plot didn’t capture as I had hoped it would.

Books to read in July:

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman:
This book is the book chosen by my book group for July and I have been recommended this book by a few different people so was waiting for a reason to go and buy it. The book follows Eleanor as she tries to stop being lonely. Having already read the first few pages I can already tell I am going to thoroughly enjoy reading this book, I just hope I can finish it before I meet with my book group!

Mun Mun – Jesse Andrews:
This book is the latest book I have received from Readers First in exchange for a review so will be doing a full review of this book after I have finished it. The book is set in a world where your physical size is directly related to how much money you have and those with the least money are roughly the size of mice. It follows one person as they try to make more money so they can become taller. The book seemed such an interesting way of looking at wealth in society that it seemed impossible not to read.

TBR's

May Wrap-Up and June TBR

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Books Read in May:
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides:

2.5 Stars.
This was the book chosen for my Book Club in May. I was on holiday at the time so missed the meeting discussing it, but finished the book anyway. The book is well written, though it doesn’t seem so much to be a story at least not one with a clear ending. Though this is obviously on purpose, making the book read more like a memoir than a fiction, it did leave me feeling intimately disappointed after reading the rest of the book.
Favourite Quote: “‘Whoever named it morning sickness was a man,’ Lina declared.  ‘He was just home in the morning to notice.’”
The Illumination of Ursula Flight – Anna Marie Crowhurst:

3 Stars.
I got this book to read from the Readers First website and my review of the book can be found here

The book is well written and generally quite quick to read, though the story is a bit slow and the ending did leave me a little disappointed.

Favourite Quote: “there was nothing I liked more than to see my own name drawn out by my own hand, and so I wrote it everywhere I could, including places I knew were forbidden”.
The Little Friend – Donna Tartt:

3 Stars.

I had had this book on my to read pile for over a year by the beginning of May so wanted to read it before I read anything else. If you are a fan of Donna Tartt’s writing then you will enjoy the writing in this story, though the story itself seemed a little convoluted and difficult to follow. I am glad I have read the book but will probably never read the book again.

Favourite Quote: “She did not care for children’s books in which the children grew up, as what “growing up” entailed (in life as in books) was a swift and inexplicable dwindling of character; out of a clear blue sky the heroes and heroines abandoned their adventures for some dull sweetheart, got married and had families, and generally started acting like a bunch of cows.”

TBR:

In June I will read:

War Storm – Victoria Aveyard: 
This is the final book in The Red Queen series. The first book was my favourite book I read in 2015 and while I have read all the other books in the series including the short story prequels, the third book in the series was not as good as the first two. But I am invested in the series and need to finish this book this month so I can find out how everything turns out!

As They Say In Zanzibar – David Crystal:
This is essentially just a big book of proverbs from around the world and is a book I got from the library. I do linguistics and so when I went to the library for another book entirely, the chance to learn some proverbs from around the world was too good an opportunity to pass up.

City of Circles – Jess Richards:
This is the third book by an author I have met before and as this story is a love story set partly in a circus, I am looking forward to reading this book more than I was the first two.

 

 

 

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Bout of Books 22 Update Post

Christy.E.S2 Comments

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 14th and runs through Sunday, May 20th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 22 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

Goals:

I am a little late in signing up for this one as the readathon started yesterday but am hoping to finish at least two books over the course of the week and will update this post each day (leaving out Monday obviously.)

Tuesday:

Pages read: 17

Notes: Didn’t get much reading done as was out most of the day but will be able to get a bit more done tomorrow.

Wednesday:

Pages read: 80

Total pages read: 97

Notes: am hoping to finish reading The Little Friend by Donna Tartt tomorrow which has been in my TBR for over a year now, am also hoping to participate in the challenge tomorrow.

Thursday:

Pages read: 192

Total pages read: 289

Notes: Did not quite manage to finish The Little Friend today and will probably be the weekend before I manage the last hundred pages. However, these two books arrived today:

War Storm by Victoria Aveyard and The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All The Way Home by Catherynne M. Valente

And as I have been wanting to read both these books for a long time, I started reading them yesterday and will be reading them over the weekend as well.

Friday:

Pages read: 24

Total Pages Read: 313

Notes: Knew I wouldn’t be able to get as much reading done today as I was in work most of the day but did get more done than I thought!

Saturday:

Pages Read: 35

Total Pages Read: 348

Sunday: 

Pages Read: 110

Total Pages Read: 458

Notes:

Even though I did not manage to finish The Little Friend by Donna Tartt I have made huge progress in that book considering it has been on my TBR pile for over a year and I will be able to finish it soon. If I had remembered to sign up for the readathon on Monday I would have been able to reach 500 pages so for the next one I need to put it into my calendar so I don’t forget! Despite not finishing a book I always enjoy the Bout of Books readathon and set myself more goals for the next one.

 

 

Book Reviews

Book Review: The Illumination of Ursula Flight (Anna-Marie Crowhurst)

Christy.E.S1 Comment

“there was nothing I liked more than to see my own name drawn out by my own hand, and so I wrote it everywhere I could, including places I knew were forbidden”

The story follows Ursula Flight as she vows while young to become an actress and the twists of fate that must happen for a respectable woman to become an actor in the 17th century.

“”She tried to cure the baker with a toasted toad,” said Mary. “But she only gave him warts.””

The book is well researched and the characters are well rounded making them feel real as you are reading it.
The book is a bit slow considering it is mainly just the story of Ursula’s life and though the pay off at the end is great for Ursula, it doesn’t feel like enough to warrant the build up of all the previous chapters.

“SIBELIAH: I cannot look at the sunset!

URSULA: Plainly you must open your eyes first or you will not see it.”

The writing includes some scripts and lists which make the reading easier and quicker as you go along and the writing style is humorous without ever going anachronistic in it’s style.

Book Reviews

Book Review: The Electrical Venus (Julie Mayhew)

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“Some of us start humble and choose to climb. Then comes the fall, a momentary loss of balance, but we get up, we brush ourselves down, we bathe in dust and we ready our feathers. For soon, I believe, we will sing, bird. In ways quite fantastic, we shall sing.”

This is a book that got better near to the end. Not that it wasn’t good at the beginning, but having seen the characters grow and learn from their mistakes throughout the book it does make the ending more enjoyable.

“‘Will it feel as sure as a punch to the jaw? Like the sting of alcohol upon a wound? Will it be as certain as the teeth of a goose? Or as sound as a beating with a wooden spoon?'”
The book has three perspectives, one a narrator, and the other two the characters Mim and Alex – these two characters perspectives are written as if they are diary entries, but on account of them both being circus performers instead of writing their diary entries down, they speak to the animals in the circus in monologues that would do well to be read aloud – at the back of the book it is stated that the book started life as a radio show which explains the monologues.
“MISS MIM, a Student of Natural Philosophy, Human Nature and Magical Electrickery, and her Partner, MASTER ALEX, a lofty Tumbler, Rope Dancer and Acrobat of some Distinction will demonstrate the accurate Disposition of the Heart via the most extraordinary Means.”

The characters are well written and I found myself truly invested in their stories and characterisation by the end of the book.

Book Reviews

Book Review: The Pharmacist’s Wife (Vanessa Tait)

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3/5 stars.

“‘But we find a bee’s sting in nature, why should we not find this? Only instead of poison there is pleasure…'”

Set in 1869, the book follows Rebecca Palmer as she is given a new medicine created by her husband named heroin. The book follows her descent into addiction and although the drug takes her away from her unhappy marriage with Mr Palmer, her life starts to unravel.

“The very last shoe any woman could run away in.”
The book has possibly slightly too many things in it. Rebecca’s descent into addiction and the world she now finds herself in would have been plot enough, instead we are shown Victorian bawdy houses, as well as Mr Palmer’s belief that heroin will prove to be a wonder drug for women to keep them in their place and to stop them from wanting to encroach on the world of men.
While these scenes are well written and do to an extent have an impact on the plot, you can’t help but feel that the story would remain exactly the same if they were taken out.

“‘For women are strong and bear much punishment.”
The last third of the book is the only time where I found the book to be a page turner – without revealing too much – Rebecca finds an ingenious way to take revenge on her husband for making her addicted to heroin.
The book is a good read, especially for all the knowledge of Victorian pharmacy that is inside it, but it was not the same book I was expecting to read.