WWW Wednesday #20: 17th of March 2021

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Hello Hello! How are you?

I missed last week’s catch-up post because I had another post planned, but I’m happing to be checking in with my reading again!

This is my week at home and in online classes so not as busy as when I have to commute to and from university, but still very busy.

I’ve also been trying out the Pomodoro method in the last few days thanks to Fiona from Fi’s Bibliofiles mentioning it to me because I am very bad at giving myself breaks and usually work from 7am to 7pm with just 30 minutes for lunch. Needless to say, I get grumpy really quickly aha! But with the new method and the breaks throughout the day, I’ve been a lot more productive and I’ve got a lot more reading in!

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over at Taking On A World of Words.

WWW Wednesday is based on 3 questions:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Moon Over Soho (#1 Rivers of London) by Ben Aaronovitch

I’m into the second section of this book so far and I have been loving it. I’m enjoying this one more than book 1, which I loved anyway, so I think this will be a case of each book getting better and better. Yikes, what high expectations aha! I love learning more about Peter, and especially more about Nightingale. So far, there have been some really high-stakes and amazing scenes and lots of new events and characters. I am really looking forward to reading the third section in the next days!

The Last Spell Breather by Julie Pike

Onto my second section of this book too and I have quite a few issues with it, which is really annoying because I want to adore this book. I just keep finding myself thinking “wait, how does that work?” or just having lots of questions about the world, some secrets, the magic. It’s kind of bizarre because although I understand these things, I also don’t for some reason and they are stopping me from loving it. The 2^nd section ended on a bit of a cliffhanger though, so hopefully, we will get lots of answers in this next part.

Nightbooks by J. A. White

This is the other Middle Grade Marvels book we are reading this month and I am LOVING this one. It is a really spooky book with lots of great elements – apart from creepy crawlies, if you don’t like insects, don’t read this book. Someone also likened this to an MG version of The Shining by Stephen King and I can definitely see that. I’m not one for scary stories, but this one is so good. I hope that Alex and Yasmin will get out of the flat, that they will become friends and I want to know more about Natacha, Lenore, Unicorn Girl and more importantly, about the apartment itself!

Stay Mad, Sweetheart by Heleen Kist

I’m reading this one for a tour I’m on in the next few days and it’s one of the BBNYA finalists. I actually read the first 10k words during the second round of BBNYA 2020 and I didn’t really have many thoughts then, and I don’t yet as I just stopped at that point again. I’m going to put on a reading burst tonight to see if I can finish it and see if my thoughts change. I’ve heard that a lot of people really enjoyed it, so fingers crossed I will too.

City of Fallen Angels (#4 The Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare

Erika, Fiona and I are continuing our Shadowhunter mission and I just read the 2^nd section of this book a few days ago. I am getting really annoyed at Jace for being such a useless blob with women and Simon turned a little bitchy, BUT, I’m enjoying it a lot. Of course, not as much as The Red Scrolls of Magic, but this book is kind of comforting to me at the minute, so I’ll try to read the next part soon.

Poirot Investigates (#3 Hercule Poirot) by Agatha Christie

This is the book that I have been reading in my breaks throughout the day and I’ve been really enjoying the short stories in this book. There is one that I wasn’t a fan of and didn’t understand to be honest, but they have all made me laugh because Hastings is completely clueless and very much into women, so much so he forgets everything else going on around him. Poirot is, as always, such a character. I’m having a great time reading this book but getting a bit worried because it’s only 3 days into the week and I’ve nearly finished it. I will need to go on the hunt for more engaging, fun and easy books like this one, so please recommend any that come to mind.

Shadows (#0.5 Lux) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

And the last book I’ve been reading lately is the first book in my Armentrout mission. I read Obsidian by this author right at the start of 2020 and fell in love with both the writing style, and the story, so I’ve gone back to the start and I’m going to slowly make my way through all her books, even those under her penname. I have only gotten a few chapters in, but so far I’m enjoying it, not as much as Obsidian, but I think it’s just a case of waiting for things to get going.

The Stars That Guide You Home by Jemma Robinson

I read this book last week as an author request and it was quite enjoyable. Here is the warning though, there are a LOT of TWs and some very violent and traumatic things happen in this book, so please don’t think it’s a cute fluffy romance, it’s anything but. I wasn’t the perfect target audience for this and I found it a bit lacking in terms of world-building, plot and character arcs, but it was still an enjoyable historical romance. You can read my full thoughts here!

Silence is a Sense by Layla AlAmmar

And the latest book I finished was this incredible fiction about a young immigrant and refugee from Syria who now lives in England but who is mute because of everything that happened to her while she was travelling through Europe, and what happened in her homeland. It was my 2^nd 5-star read of the year and it deserves all the stars because it was incredible. There are again a lot of TWs, but it had a beautiful and raw writing style and narrative that has made me want to pick up this author’s other book soon. I highly recommend this one, and you can read more about it in my full review.

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys

I am going to be picking this one up soon and I’m really looking forward to it because it’s been a while since I have read a historical fiction. I also don’t think I’ve read one set in Spain, so this is going to be really interesting and I’m just it’s going to break my heart, but I’m in that kind of mood so all is well.

Bloodlust & Bonnets by Emily McGovern

This is the book that the TWR Gang is reading this month and we set the discussion for this weekend, so I think my Friday night will be spent diving into this graphic novel. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it and the blurb sounds so good. I think this is going to be fun, really fast and hopefully the perfect book after a long and busy week.

What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson

The next blog tour I’m on is going to be for this YA thriller, which is admittedly not my favourite genre, but it is a TWR tour, and Dave offers the best book, so no way could I say no. This one has been out a while but I think it’s being released again by Penguin, hence the blog tour, but I remember that I really wanted to read it last year and didn’t get accepted for it on NetGalley, so I’m looking forward to finally being able to read it.

Karolina Dalca, Dark Eyes by M. R. Noble

And the final book on the list for this week is for another blog tour organised by Dave and this time it’s fantasy, so much more my kind of thing. I can’t remember the blurb much other than the fact that it’s got vampires, and that’s all I need to know, so I’m keeping this one intentionally fairly vague. I’ll seek my teeth into this one this weekend I think.

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And there you have it, a really long list of loads of books that have graced my reading habits in the last week or so. I think I’ve been reading some really good books and I hope that I’ll get some more finished in the next week!

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed this post, see you soon, stay safe,

Ellie xx