Even though this book picks up right where Nemesis Games left off, I found the first 100 pages a bit of a slog. I set the book aside temporarily hoping it was just my reading mood. Turns out it was. Babylon‘s Ashes turned out to be much better than I thought it would be, and given the ending I‘m very curious to see where the series‘ final three books are heading.

#14book14weeks2021 Book 14 ✅

OMG I did it!! I actually read all 14 books 🥳

I‘m going way back on Ken Follett‘s backlist with this book, which I‘ve owned pretty much since it came out 😬 As is probably obvious by the cover, this is a work of historical fiction set during WWII. It features a group of female agents behind enemy lines. I liked it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#14books14weeks2021 Book 13 ✅ (I‘m almost there 🥳)

Having only read the first book a couple of years ago I‘m totally late to the Agent Pendergast party, but I‘m here now and that‘s what matters. This is the second book in the series, and I‘m glad there was a continuation of characters from book one cause I liked them. This one was fast-paced and never felt too long despite its length. Loved learning about underground Manhattan. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#14books14week2021 Book 12 ✅

This book, about a dysfunctional group of siblings, seems to have mixed reviews. I really liked it. The characters were great, and I was completely invested in how their lives would play out. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#14books14weeks2021 Book 11 ✅

I‘m doing well with thrillers this year, and The Last Flight is no exception. Focuses on two woman who both want to disappear. Fast-paced, and I liked both storylines equally. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Set against the backdrop of the publication of OED, this historical novel illuminates the importance and beauty of words, whether they be written or spoken. Hands down my favourite historical novel of the year. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#14books14weeks2021 Book 10 ✅

This was an entertaining murder mystery / quasi legal thriller. I love it when I don‘t see the end coming. At all. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks so much for sending me this one @TrishB 😊

I know there are a lot of fans of this book, and the Dark Tower series as a whole, so my only comment is that it just wasn‘t for me.

#14books14weeks2021 Book 9 ✅

This newest addition to my TBR mountain might be of interest to you @LeahBergen 😊

A good ending to a very enjoyable trilogy that mixes myth and history. While I didn‘t enjoy this one as much as the first two book, mainly because I thought the romantic subplot the weakest of the three books, I still think the end was fitting. I now want to read some pure historical fiction set in medieval Brittany. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

#14books14weeks2021 Book 8 ✅

I‘m officially done with this series. Sure, each book is quick and easy to read, but the storylines are essentially the same (and not at all believable). Only the locations are different. I‘m bored and don‘t care. I‘m tired of reading the same thing over and over again.

#14books14weeks2021 book seven ✅ I‘m counting this because I read more than half of the book.

I do not know why I‘ve avoided reading Elin Hilderbrand, but that stops now thanks to this book! I thought it was really well done. I could relate to the characters, I loved the Nantucket setting, and I appreciated the way Hilderbrand wrote the events of the summer of ‘69 into the narrative. Plus, the music references were fantastic! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#14books14weeks2021 book six ✅

Here‘s to my first ever Elin Hilderbrand novel 😊

Cc: @Megabooks @Cinfhen

#UnpopularOpinion This novel is getting rave reviews from everyone but this reader. I read more than 100 pages, which is long past the point at which I generally decide to continue or DNF a book that‘s not working for me, but my initial feelings of apathy never shifted. I‘ve been a reader long enough to know that if I‘m not enjoying a book at the 100 page mark, I won‘t magically start to like it the further into it I get. #bailingisliberating

Today‘s #bookmail 📬

It‘s not even 5pm but with thunder storms and heavy rain rolling through it‘s dark and feels more like 9pm. While I should be thinking about dinner, I‘m going to dive into this book instead. I‘m very much looking forward to reading it, but I‘m not going to lie. I‘m a little worried that it won‘t live up to the hype 😬

I went to the bookstore this afternoon. How else am I supposed to spend a Saturday? I picked up some lovely books but, more importantly, my daughter found this Jane Austen Funko! Of course I simply had to have it.

Yay for bookish packages 🥳

Thank you @LeahBergen your generosity made my day! I‘ve already sampled the cookies and can confirm they are 😋 I‘ve not tried the Harney & Sons English Breakfast tea before, but am a fan of their Earl Grey so I suspect I‘ll enjoy this one, too. And the books! The books! Thank you so much 😊

PS - I only like poetry if it‘s about tea so the ‘Not a Card‘ is perfect ☕️

I‘m facing a reader‘s dilemma. I started Babylon‘s Ashes on Sunday night, and then She Who Became the Sun showed up in my mailbox yesterday. I don‘t want to set the Corey novel aside, but I also want to dive right into Parker-Chan‘s book. I don‘t like to read more than one book at a time, hence my struggle 😂

#thestruggleisreal #bookwormproblems

This novel is a perfect example of why I love historical fiction. Set in mid-19th century India around and during the time of what‘s known as the Sepoy Rebellion, the main character is a Durga Dal - a member of an elite group of female guards who protect the rani (Rani Lakshmi). This book was not only entertaining, it also taught me a lot. We need more historical fiction like this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#14books14weeks2021 Book Five ✅

#Unpopularopinion This book gets lots of love on Litsy, but I had too many issues with it for the novel to work well for me. I‘ve read much better books about the power/importance of books, and about civilian struggles during wartimes. This is a dual time narrative, and the secondary narrative offers little value to the main story. Finally, I never warmed up to the main character. Yup, I‘m a #partypooper ⭐️⭐️💫

#14books14weeks2021 Book 4 ✅

Friday evening plans 📖

I‘m about halfway through this book and I don‘t love it. The themes are just too similar to those in other WWII fiction I‘ve read recently. I‘m also just tired in general. Work has been crazy since April, and I‘m putting in a lot of extra hours. My reading has suffered. I should get a break in August, but I also thought I‘d get one in July and that‘s not happening. I hate when life interferes with my reading plans🤷🏻‍♀️

Today‘s #bookmail 📬

I can‘t wait to continue with the Bess Crawford series, and Island Queen sounds so good!

Alright folks, I have a new favourite thriller of the year. Falling is one heck of a ride! Premise: Pilot Bill Hoffman is given a choice. Either he crashes the plane he‘s currently flying or his else his family will be killed. Great characters and great pacing. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Between so-so and a pan, which, based on Litsy ratings, puts me in the minority on this one. There were a lot of things I didn‘t like-the portrayal of the Dionne mother and the novel‘s ending for starters-but my main issue was the narrative format. The story unfolds as a series of rather choppy diary entries. The narrative simply doesn‘t flow, and the reader is told everything, never shown. ⭐️⭐️

#14books14weeks2021 Book three ✅

This is a powerful novel. It‘s brutal, it‘s violent and was often hard to read (I had to take breaks from it). Of course I‘m familiar with the War on Drugs, and the ruthlessness of the cartels, but holy hell, the violence is worse than I imagined! The Cartel is a work of fiction, but has been inspired by true events. Not for the faint of heart. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#14books14weeks2021 Book two ✅

It‘s Canada Day 2021, which marks the official close of the #ReadCanada challenge. Thanks to those of you who took part - I‘ve enjoyed seeing your choices.

How did everyone do? I did well, reading 10/13 provinces and territories, but sadly never got around to reading anything set in NB, PEI, or NFLD.

I hope this challenge encouraged people to read more Canadian authors. I know it did for me 😊

I first started this book over a month ago, but it failed to capture my attention so I set it aside. I picked it up again Thursday evening, and this time fell right into the story. I had several theories on how this would end, but it turns out I was not even close. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Entertaining medical thriller involving a rare and deadly meningitis outbreak, and a new vaccine. Not quite as good as Kalla‘s previous release, The Last High, but it‘s confirmed that Kalla will now be an auto-buy author for me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Have to make a slight change to my #14books14week2021 stack.

I started reading Mercy Among the Children this week and it‘s just not what I‘m in the mood for right now, and likely won‘t be this summer. I‘ve decided to swap it out for the tagged book, Mortal Heart.

The Red Power Murders is the second installment in Thomas King‘s Thumps DreadfulWater mystery series. The novel is every bit as good as the first book in the series. The mystery itself was interesting, but the cast of characters is what I love best about this series ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#14books14weeks2021 Book one ✅

I finally finished a book this month!

Malice may have started out a little slowly, but it picked up steam as it went on and raced to an intense ending. This is the first in a four book series, and I‘m pretty sure (based on the love for it on IG) that I‘m going to love books 2-4 every bit as much as I loved this one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hi Littens! I‘ve not been reading much lately so haven‘t been around much, but despite my reading decreasing my TBR pile continues to grow 😂

Non-essential stores were allowed to open back up as of yesterday, so of course I went to my favourite bookstore today! I may have been so overcome with happiness that I bought more books than usual. Oh well 🤷🏻‍♀️📚📚📚

Happy Friday! It‘s been a long week, and I‘ve only managed to read a few pages since last weekend. I should be turning my attention to something fluffy because I‘m mentally exhausted, but instead I‘ve decided to dive right into this epic tale of Mexican drug lords and DEA agents 😂

The Third Pole is a work of non-fiction that details a 2019 expedition to Mt. Everest that set out to find the body of Sandy Irvine. The books provides not only an account of that expedition and others on the mountain at the same time (2019 was a deadly season with 11 climbers dying), but also of Mallory & Irvine‘s 2024 summit attempt. The book is very well written, and left me pondering what actually happened in 1924 🤔

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I suck at challenges, but I‘m going to participate in #14books14weeks2021 anyway 😊 Here‘s the stack of books I plan to tackle. It‘s a mix of genres, so hopefully my reading mood will be satisfied as I try to cross each book of my list 📚

Look what I received in the mail today @TrishB 😊 I assume it‘s from you. Thank you! It sounds sooo good!

Today‘s #bookmail 📬

This is a total blame it on Litsy purchase thanks to @Cinfhen and @Megabooks as, despite my Mt. Everest obsession, I wasn‘t aware of this one until they posted about it. Will be starting right away!

This book wasn‘t really my thing. The prose is lovely, but the narrative was too reflective for my tastes. Plus, too many questions went unanswered, and I hate that! The book is only 250 pages long, but if it had been any longer I would have bailed. The so-so rather than pan rating reflects the fact that the writing is high quality. ⭐️⭐️

It‘s the Victoria Day long weekend and I should be at my parent‘s cottage, but lockdown is still in effect so we‘re spending it at home 😢

I‘m kicking off my weekend reading with the pictured book. Has anyone read it?

I was unsure what to make of this book at the story‘s outset, but by page 75 I was hooked! I‘m going to make my friends IRL read this one because I need to talk about it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Today‘s #bookmail from the UK. The Ward book is a total blame it on Litsy purchase (specifically @TrishB )

It‘s been a while since I‘ve been able to get through a 400+ page book in one day, but that‘s exactly what I was able to do with this thriller, which I finished last night. I had to suspend my disbelief on occasion, but this novel was non-stop action from the very first chapter. Note to self: must read more by Linwood Barclay! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I enjoyed The Martian, but hated Artemis so much I bailed on it. My verdict on Project Hail Mary? I LOVED it! The narrative revolves around one man‘s mission to save earth from an apocalyptic event. Sounds serious, right? This book, however, is so much fun. I loved Ryland, and all the secondary characters he interacts with (Rocky 🥰). Is it the best written book in the world? No. But the story had me engaged throughout. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks for the tag @FelinesAndFelonies 😊

1. The people I work with are awesome (I really hope I can see them in person again one day soon).

2. Don‘t be afraid to say no. Don‘t let others take advantage of your generosity.

3. Make a cup of tea.

4. Read, and set my alarm.

Want to play @vivastory ?

Thanks for the tag @Ruthiella ☺️

(1) Poseidon/Neptune, God of the Sea - I don‘t really have a favourite Greek or Roman god, but since I love water I‘m going with 🔱

(2) The Witch‘s Heart (tagged), which is a brilliant book based on Norse mythology.

#Two4Tuesday

Today‘s book mail.

I will probably read the Henry book sooner rather than later, but since I have Rutherfurd‘s three most recent previous releases sitting on a shelf waiting to be read, it might be years before I get to reading China 🤣

Settling in for the evening with Andy Weir‘s latest release. I read the first 100 pages last night and am enjoying it very much. Fingers crossed my enjoyment continues 🤞🏻

Look at that, it‘s my one-year Litsyversary (at least using this account, I‘ve actually been on Litsy for about four years minus about a six-month break).

Thanks to all for giving me a space to talk books 🥰

This is an impressive debut novel about Thelma Morgan, an American who married into the British aristocracy and had an affair with the Prince of Wales before he met Wallis Simpson - in fact, Thelma was the person who introduced the Prince to Wallis in the first place. But the novel isn‘t just about Thelma and the Prince, it‘s also about Thelma and her twin sister, Gloria Vanderbilt, and the infamous custody battle for Little Gloria.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️