When the Harry Potter books first came out, I was in my 30s, child-free, and saw no point in reading a children‘s book, so apart from marvelling at the phenomenal success of the books, I mostly ignored them.

Now, I‘m in my 50s, still child free, and, having enjoyed the Cormorant Strike series, decided to read the first HP book, just to see what it was like…. And now I‘ve just finished book 7.

#UnpopularOpinion because most people seem to rave about this book, but on balance I found it just OK. There are some beautiful moments - the relationship between Dodo and “Monkey Pants” moved me to tears. But there are too many diversions from the main story; in some cases we get the full life story of minor characters. There‘s a great story here, but I felt like it struggled to get out

Book 10 #10BeforeTheEnd 🎉
Book 104 #Read2025

Cher has had an incredible career, spanning 7 decades. You‘d think her biography would be a great read.
Sadly, Cher needs to either sack her editor, or her ghost writer, or her own verbosity. This memoir focuses far too much on unnecessary detail. There also seems to be little responsibility taken for her own actions; I don‘t really like the Cher of this book.

Book 9 of #10BeforeTheEnd @ChaoticMissAdventures
Book 103 #Read2025

I‘ve lived in Gloucestershire for 35 years, so it‘s shocking that I‘ve only just read Laurie Lee‘s tales from his post-WW1 childhood growing up in Slad. The tales vary from almost whimsical to quite brutal recollections, covering both the hardship and the happiness of a lifestyle that no longer exists.

#HomeForTheHolidays #FictionalTraveler @julieclair
Book 8 #10BeforeTheEnd @ChaoticMissAdventures
Book 102 #Read2025 @DieAReader

Here‘s my full list of reads for the #LitsyAtoZ challenge hosted by @Texreader

I‘m probably more on the “self-absorbed ranting” side of the above quote, and philosophy is not my thing at all, but as the wife of a MechEng who maintains all his own vehicles, I found much of interest in this book.

#LetterZ #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader
Book 7 #10BeforeTheEnd @ChaoticMissAdventures
Book 101 #Read2025 @DieAReader

I‘ve enjoyed this trilogy of murder mysteries set in a remote village in Siberia. The main character is sweet and likeable, backed by some amusing side-characters.

Book6 #10BeforeTheEnd @ChaoticMissAdventures
Book 99 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025

It‘s Woolf, so of course it‘s well-written; it‘s just@not the sort of writing I enjoy. The PoV jumps around from person without warning, so it takes a minute to work out whose head we‘re in, which then makes it hard to feel the characters and the themes.

Book 5 for #10BeforeTheEnd @ChaoticMissAdventures
Book 98 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#BiteSizeBooks Goodreads Fall 2025 Challenge

This one is on the high side of so-so for me. The concept, a crime scene photographer who can see and talk to the ghosts of the victims, is a good one, but this first in the series has too much childhood back story to be properly considered a thriller, and there‘s too much unnecessary detail in places. But my kindle copy included the first chapter of book 2 and I‘m kinda already invested in that story
Book 4 of #10BeforeTheEnd
Book 97 #Read2025

The story of a former member of the French Resistance turned expert hit-woman is humorous but turns very dark very quickly. Not for the faint-hearted.
TW for animal cruelty.

Third finish for #10BeforeTheEnd @ChaoticMissAdventures
Book 96 #Read2025 @DieAReader

I do love a bit of Japanese whimsy. Not so much a novel as a collection of short stories about people who need help finding a clinic open visible to people who need it, where the treatment is cats prescribed as emotional support animals ☺️ 🐈‍⬛. As a slave to two cats, I know how much snuggles from a cat can help!
Second finish for #10BeforeTheEnd @ChaoticMissAdventures
#Asia for #FictionalTraveler @julieclair
Book 95 #Read2025 @DieAReader

First finish of #10BeforeTheEnd for me is this, the second in the Olga Pushkin Mysteries series. I like Olga as a character, and enjoyed this gentlest unfolding murder mystery, but, oh, the cliffhanger ending 😱

@ChaoticMissAdventures

Book 94 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025

One from my TBR

#Apples
#ARichLife

@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#Harvest
#ARichLife
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I was aiming to post for #HauntsAndHexes every day but I got sidetracked by the Cheltenham Literature Festival! I‘ll have to do better for November‘s challenge!

#Eyeballs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

A bit late to the party because I‘ve been busy, but apparently it‘s less than 10 weeks until the end of the year - how did that happen?!

To make sure I stay motivated, I‘m joining in on the #10BeforeTheEnd readathon. I don‘t actually know what 4 of my books will be yet: one will be my book club‘s choice for December, and three will be Goodreads challenges revealed in November.

@ChaoticMissAdventures

#BlackCvr
#HauntsAndHexes
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

A brief skip through the life British oak trees, looking at the mini eco systems each tree provides. There are some interesting facts, but, although the book is aimed at all age groups, Acton‘s writing seems aimed at more at the much younger end of the scale.

#FictionalTraveler #Trees @julieclair

This one seems to have been getting a lot of attention. The prose is good, the story interesting, a damning condemnation of child safeguarding fails, but something about the style just didn‘t click with me. My scientific brain found the metaphor to be far too overplayed.

This has Before The Coffee Gets Cold vibes, and I was finding it mildly enjoyable, and then the third of the three chapters came along and hit me in the feels.

Fire burn and cauldron bubble….

#Cauldron
#HauntsAndHexes
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#Bones
#HauntsAndHexes
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

A soft pick. The premise is good - a jaded author who, worried she will become haunted by the book ideas she hasn‘t felt able to complete, decides to build a cemetery and bury the stories - but I‘m not sure it was fully explored, it feels more like a tool to deliver multiple story arcs. But it was an enjoyable, thoughtful read nevertheless.

Book 87 #Read2025 @DieAReader

I read Nelson‘s second book, Small Worlds, and really enjoyed it.

If I hadn‘t read Small Worlds, I‘d probably be raving about Open Water.

And there‘s the problem. Both books seem far too similar. They are basically exactly the same story with names and professions changed.

The prose in both books is lovely. But I hoped for something more.

Book 86 #Read2025 @DieAReader

Oops, a bit late for yesterday‘s prompt!

#Grave
#HauntsAndHexes
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

On the whole, the writing, the anecdotes, and the information on, in particular, Italian art make this worth a read. But I‘m afraid I find Cusk, in this book, to be very judgemental and scathing of anyone who isn‘t a middle-class arty type like she is, so I couldn‘t settle into this memoir of a three-month extended holiday in Italy.

A classic

#Web
#HauntsAndHexes
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

I‘m very saddened to hear today of the death of author and journalist and British National Treasure Jilly Cooper, at the age of 88, after a fall.

It‘s barely two weeks since I finished reading her last novel, on my review of which @Bookbuyingaddict mentioned how frail Jilly had looked recently 😞

The world has lost a great character today.

I‘m not a fan of #Zombie films or novels, but this was an interesting take on the genre, where a fungal infection puts people into a zombie-like state, with the exception of some children, who are sort of “high functioning” zombies.

#HauntsAndHexes
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

This film scared the bejeebers out of me when I was a teenager.

#Werewolf
#HauntsAndHexes
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

A soft pick. The cheerfulness and pluckiness of the MC feels a little overdone, but beneath the frothiness of the book‘s overall tone, there is an interesting look at the plight of the women who took up work in factories while the menfolk were at war, particularly the lack of nursery provision for working mothers.

Book 84 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#LetterY #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader
No.2 in the Emmy Lake Chronicles #SeriesLove2025

#Costume
#HauntsAndHexes
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

#Ghoul
#HauntsAndHexes
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

#Witch
#HauntsandHexes
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

We all know of Jason, the Greek “hero” who captured the Golden Fleece. In Haynes‘ version of the story, he is shown as a charmer and a narcissist, who only succeeded because he had the help of the goddesses Hera, Aphrodite, Athene, Artemis and Hecate, and Hecate‘s priestess Medea, who is the main focus of this version of the story.

Thoroughly recommend this one!

#Read2025 @DieAReader

#Sunset
#Falling
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I missed the #Falling prompt yesterday! So here‘s a photo of #College Green in my home town of Gloucester

@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I very clearly remember reading the Mallory Towers series when I was a child, but at some point in my life, for a long time, I conflated it with the Chalet School series. A couple of years ago, I tried to find the Mallory Towers book that included a visit to Oktoberfest, only to find that it was actually one of the Chalet School books that I was thinking about!

#SchoolDays
#Falling
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

#Baking
#Falling
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

#Stargazing
#Falling
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#Harvest
#Falling
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This is a tough read. The narrator, Vanessa, has been abused by a teacher from the age of 15, and manipulated so much that she believes it‘s a romantic, consensual love affair. We, the reader, can see the manipulation, and sometimes Vanessa has moments of clarity. It‘s an unusual perspective.

Overall, it‘s a pick, but the novel is flawed in format - it‘s longer than it needs to be, parts could be removed without affecting the impact.

#Read2025

The latest (and probably last - Cooper is 88 now!) in the Rutshire series is the tamest of the series, with some decent characters and a happy ending. Good escapist nonsense!

Book 80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025

#WalkingHiking
#Falling
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

#Twilight #Falling

@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

“Pour me somethin' tall and strong
Make it a Hurricane before I go insane
It's only half past twelve but I don't care
It's 5 o‘clock somewhere”

#CountrySong
#Falling

@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Sorry for all the posts today, I‘ve been catching up on both reading and reviews after my recent, rather fabulous, holiday in Rome

An interesting concept, with some engaging characters, but the pace was unbearably slow at times, the author going of at slightly preachy-sounding tangents too often. And one of the least engaging characters was the main character herself.

Book 79/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader

Why, yes, I am a 57-year-old woman very to late to the party of this global phenomenon…

#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
Book 78/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader