Trilogy complete for #bookspin ! I enjoyed this one, I liked the twists we got at the end, and I thought it was a pretty satisfying conclusion.

#roll100 first book done. This was ultra violent and lots of twists and turns. It was ok but not amazing, a fair bit of exposition, and also some rampant sexism 🙄

#bookspin #doublespin for April! Only 4 new books on the list as have also been balancing 2 book club reads, and also doing #roll100 - getting to read lots of interesting stuff though! Although my TBR is still not getting any smaller 🙈

Maybe I‘m missing something but I thought this was dreadful. Rubbish pacing, completely ridiculous plot, and I didn‘t really develop any feelings for any of the characters. The one redeeming feature is its short chapters so quick to rattle through but could be at least 100 pages shorter.

Final #roll100 read for March and what a brilliant book this was. Excellent world building and character development, little to no exposition, just really really good fantasy. Keen to read the rest of the series now!

#doublespin was an easy, gentle rom com- not amazing, but not terrible!

Really enjoyed my second #roll100 read for March! A scarily prescient dystopian novel worth an eclectic bunch of characters. Short, far paced, and lots of interesting thoughts on phones, connectedness, robots, nanotechnology and corpocracy.

#bookspin done and I thought this was DREADFUL. I don‘t mind trashy, paranormal fantasy/thriller every once in a while but the main character was vapid, the prose was repetitive, and it really grated on me. I disliked how every other paragraph was about how pretty the MC was & she ‘couldn‘t do anything about it‘. I won‘t be continuing the series, so at least it‘s done now!

First off my #roll100 reads for March - sort but enjoyable, and an insight into French women‘s asylums which is something I knew basically nothing about prior. I found some the construction of some passages a bit odd; you would move on in time (present tense) but then immediately shift to a flashback of something that had happened since the end of the previous chapter - I‘m not sure if that was a symptom of this being translated from the French..

#bookspin #doublespin #bookspinbingo for March!

My book club read for the month - not what I expected but I enjoyed it very much. Loved all the little Easter egg references to classic books (and I probably missed loads too) - a nice cosy story.

Third #roll100 done for Feb. LOVED this. Really clever, interesting, and scary

#doublespin done - I struggled with this - it felt way too long and every time I thought we were reaching a conclusion some other twist happened which just left me confused and bored. Which is a shame cos I really enjoyed the forest in this trilogy, and they‘ve just gotten progressively worse. Hey ho!

Part 2 - I enjoyed this little detour through Holi and the introduction of Saeeda Bai and Maan. I‘m hoping we return to the ‘core‘ characters in the next part though! I liked Saeeda Bai‘s story and I feel like she will be an interesting side character that we return to… #suitableboy2024

My second #roll100 read for Feb and this didn‘t really do it for me. Didn‘t feel believable in the least, and although there were darkly comic moments it failed to grip me.

I‘ve really enjoyed reading part 1 this week. I keep having to refer back to the family trees in the front of the book to keep track of who everyone is and how they interrelate. I‘m loving the characterisation of everyone and looking forward to seeing how the plot unfolds. I‘m also enjoying all the references to amazing sounding food and drink! #suitableboy2024

A fascinating, terrifying book for this month‘s #bookspin

What an incredibly brave man.

Annnnd, I‘m probably on a list now 😬

I enjoyed this series of loosely connected short stories about people (and cats) in Tokyo. Some were pretty dark (!!), and I liked seeing the same characters flow across a few. This was one of my #roll100 reads for Feb, and also gets me started on my #bookspinbingo board!

I was really intrigued by the premise of this book (a dystopian future where depression / grief / despair is forbidden) but it fell a little flat for me. It needed more world building and character development of Dev & Shay IMO, I think that would have drawn me in more. That being said, I did enjoy part 2, and it had me recoiling in parts at some of the more graphic sections (but not overly graphic)

#bookspin #doublespin list for Feb! My birthday month 🎈 got a week off work so hopefully I‘ll be able to get a decent amount of reading done!

Scored a line in #bookspinbingo with this one! I really really like the Culture series, each one is so different, exploring lots of very serious themes with a sometimes lighthearted and often hilarious touch. I‘ll be sad once I‘ve finished them all.

What a nostalgic little read! I absolutely LOVED this series as a child and my parents have returned my copies… hilariously I have written my name inside the front cover about 27 times 🤣

Fully expecting the series to have some problematic passages in the 21st century, but I really enjoyed this one!

This is my book club read for the month and I thought it was absolutely dreadful 🙈 but that sometimes makes for better discussion! It had some horrendous metaphors in it (The sins of his family weighed so heavily on his shoulders he had to lay on his side or words to that effect… no. No they didn‘t) and the plot twist was obvious (and kind of boring).

Well this was pretty beautiful. There was a plot but it felt really meandering. I read it slowly, but I enjoyed it. It reminded me of American Gods, but wayyy more serious.

Third and final #roll100 read for Jan done!

Think this is the best true crime book I‘ve read (but tbh I haven‘t read that many!) really compelling, and contained all the necessary forensic detail without feeling dry. Totally heartbreaking, but nice to be reading an updated version with a ‘happy‘ ending for some of the main players (Cinnamon).

Number 78 for #roll100 and this was great! Not what I expected but really enjoyed this sad coming of age story. Definitely reminiscent of Stephen King‘s works from a teenage POV, with some really poignant moments.

#bookspin for Jan. an interesting read, but very short, and nothing really ‘new‘ IMO.

It does have a great selection of recipes included though, which elevates it to a pick, including the pictured recipe which I‘m making for my lunch 😋

Torn a bit between Pick and So-So for this one but think So-So most appropriate as I found this quite difficult to get into. The second half was wayyyy better and I am looking forward to reading the conclusion to the trilogy.

#doublespin done for Jan!

Absolutely loved this, even though Alethea had led such a sad life, this felt quite uplifting!

First #roll100 read down, and also #fourfoursin24 as Alethea works in retail and part of the plot is centred around this 🙌 - Retail Greyscale ✅

Final read for #wintergames - think my appendicitis was actually more of a help than a hindrance in the end!

This was bleak, but brilliant, a really moving story.

2375pts for #snowangels total

#promptmaze #snowedin #20in4

Pjs
Stay up (mainly to console the dog!)
Champagne flute
Couch
Slippers

I‘ve not been a NYE person since my late teens/early 20s - we‘ve always just enjoyed a quiet one at home watching films and eating & drinking too much!

#wintergames #snowangels

Pjs
Stay up (mainly to console the dog!)
Champagne flute
Couch
Slippers

I‘ve not been a NYE person since my late teens/early 20s - we‘ve always just enjoyed a quiet one at home watching films and eating & drinking too much!

#wintergames #snowangels

Meh. This was ok but quite predictable and the purpose was a bit over the top flowery and descriptive.

Here‘s my #bookspin for Jan!

#20in4 #promptmaze #wintergames #snowangels

I‘ve been reading one of these short stories in between each longer read throughout December and have finally finished. I enjoyed these, all pretty dark, most festive, and all entertaining!

#wintergames #snowangels

I enjoyed this, I just felt like Bardugo could have done…. More. More world building, more character building, and actually a longer story. Will continue the series though!

#promptmaze (Which I‘m now stuck in 😭) #wintergames #snowangels

Finally got a line in #bookspinbingo with this! I always enjoy a tale of a young female completing a mildly ridiculous adventure -however, I felt like this lost some momentum towards the end, and felt a bit rushed, nowhere near as much description of the final part of the journey as I‘d expected.

#promptmaze #20in4 #wintergames #snowangels

Here is my list for #roll100 in 2024! Looking forward to this one and getting a fair few of these off my TBR! Going to play it by ear each month but plan will be to read at least one of the rolls monthly.

I love a retelling of a Greek myth, so really enjoyed this! I thought Haynes‘ take on the story was interesting, and I enjoyed hearing from characters with less of a voice in other works.

#wintergames #snowangels #snowedin #promptmaze

#wintergames #snowangels

1. This is super hard to pick! My top 3 are Sleeping Giants, Wanderers & The Starless Sea. Sleeping Giants probably wins as just so unique and I devoured it!

2. Ravished - absolutely dreadful.

3. Just chilling, as still recovering from surgery and not big on NYE generally (especially with a noise-phobic dog!)

4. Yes - but just chilled, read & watched Xmas films 😁

5. It was a very very wet Christmas 😒

I think my opinion of this may be slightly tarnished by the fact I had a slightly dodgy digital copy that repeated the entire book twice through- so I got to the end thinking I was only halfway and it therefore felt a bit abrupt! An interesting read, but no real plot, and I definitely preferred the bonesetter‘s daughter.

#castthedie #promptmaze #wintergames #snowangels

#doublespin done! Another reread of the vampire chronicles and I enjoyed this! A lot of reviews mention it being rambly but I always quite enjoy Anne Rice‘s little philosophical diversions… and I bloody love Lestat and how much he loves himself 😆

This also fits into #promptmaze as a dubious ‘glow-up‘ (body swapping!) - could also have been categorised as make up or break up honestly but glow up felt most appropriate!

#wintergames #snowangels

There must be something about this series cos I kept buying the next instalment even though I don‘t feel like I enjoy reading them 🙈 way too much exposition for my liking, and lots of repetition.

#snowedin #promptmaze #wintergames #snowangels

After a chaotic few days in hospital with appendicitis, I finally finished our #teamread #snowangels

Really enjoyed this, the second time I‘ve read it, Joe Hill can spin a yarn!

#promptmaze #wintergames

So it turns out I‘ve already read our #teamread #snowangels but I‘m really enjoying re-reading it! And love this little nod to his dad 🤡

#wintergames

This was a cute book which managed to explore a pretty heavy subject without being too oppressive, but also not making too much light of it. I did think the end few chapters dragged a bit though.

#snowedin #promptmaze #wintergames #snowangels

A proper nostalgic reread of one of my childhood favourites for #castthedie #promptmaze

I didn‘t remember the fact that the dialogue in ‘Yorkshire‘ is absolutely hilarious 🙈 also loved reading about the moors especially now I live on the edge of them (although Lancashire not Yorkshire! 🌹)

#wintergames #snowangels

Xmas book club read - and whilst I didn‘t find this particularly Xmas themed I did find it darkly comic. A proper British domestic comedy, it would make a good BBC mini series… looking forward to discussing it at my club!

#wintergames #snowangels #promptmaze

Well that was… long. #bookspin for December, I will finish this trilogy but overall I am finding it long winded, not overly gripping, and a bit confusing.

But it‘s all points for team #snowangels #wintergames

Starting #wintergames off right! My first #snowedin read - I can‘t believe I‘ve never gotten round to reading this before, very well written, and a scary allegory for many countries, not just Stalinist Russia 😬

Also #20in4 - 1.5 hrs

Team #snowangels

1. Working - boo! And then curling up on the sofa with a good book and a glass of wine 🎄🎄

2. I‘m actually going to read one of my #snowedin choices first - I‘m thinking Animal Farm cos it‘s short and should get me off to a good start!

#wintergames #snowangels