Welcome to yet another weekly update post. It was one of those “not much really happened this week” weeks! I read, I went to work, I read a bit more, I wrote reviews and then… yes I read a bit more 😁

I don’t take part in too many Blog Tours now and that means I have quite a few free days for posting reviews… Would you ruddy believe that I still manage to book 2 tours for the same day later this week! There is no hope for me 😀

So let me share what I have read…

I finished reading…

The Secret Life of Books – why they mean more than words by Tom Mole

This is a fascinating book about books. How books play a role in our lives, how we use them, what we do with them, their history and how they can shape society. A brilliant book that I originally planned on just dipping in and out of but in fact read from start to finish!

Look out for my review as part of the Blog Tour on Wednesday.

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Then I read the first of 2 books I was sent by Run Amok Publishers…

Our Baby Was Born Premature (the same way he was conceived)

by Paul Alexander.

This is a humorous book about first time parents dealing with a new baby. It is told in little snippets of a single sentences to some being a full page paragraph and then all different lengths in between. It is a book of observations that made me so glad that my children are all grown up. This book had me chuckling knowingly to myself on several occasions. One of my favourite one liners was – “Always feed the baby after playing aeroplane” 😬😂

Review will follow soon.

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Then the 2nd book from Run Amok was…

Stealing the Scream by Theodore Carter

This is a book that the author has created around the theft of the painting of The Scream by Edvard Munch from Oslo in 1994. He has then taken a very unique and different approach to a story that really surprised me, in a very good way I might add! A thoroughly enjoyable and very addictive read. Review should be out this week!

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I also read…

The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames

I can remember seeing this book earlier in the year and for some reason never got to reading it. When I did, I did my usual and didn’t read the synopsis and just dived right in. This is another book that caught me by surprise as I thought I was going to be reading a mysterious novel. Yes, it is mysterious but it is Oh so much more than that. It is a historical fiction story about the Fortuna family and their lives in a remote Italian village and then their emigration to the US just as WWII starts. It spans 100 years and is an absolute belter of a read. A 400+ page book read in 2 days because I could not put it down!

Keep an eye out for my review soon.

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Then I read one my pre-ordered book…

Blood Song by Johana Gustawsson

I love this series, it is the 3rd in the Roy & Castells series and is bloody brilliant!

Once again the author uses her dual timeline structure that works so well and deals with horrific historical murder and abuse in Spain in 1938 at Las Ventas women’s prison. Also with the gruesome murder of a wealthy family in Falkenberg, Sweden. I love the way this author writes and also the stories she creates. Her charcaters are fabulous and have been so well developed, and yes to get the full benefit you should read her previous books – Block 46 and Keeper.

Yet another review that will follow soon!

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I then had a bit of a book hangover! I also needed to give my brain a break as that was a lot of pages read through the week! I will probably read my next Blog Tour book which is…

Cage by Lilja Sigurdardottir

This is another series that I absolutely love. Cage is the 3rd and final book in the Reykjavik Noir Trilogy and yes you absolutely need to read this series in order.I do love my noir fiction, I do love this series and I am so looking forward to reading this and also gutted that it is the final one! 😢

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Well, that is my books for the week. My current tally on my Goodreads Challenge is sitting at a very healthy 157/ 200, that is 12 books ahead of schedule!!!!

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Now as you may know I took part in the #20booksofsummer Reading Challenge, and then this week I saw that fellow Book Blogger Jo at Tea & Cake for the Soul (you can also find her on Twitter @littlejojackson) decided that she would like to do a similar one – 20 Books For Christmas, it is not just Christmas books but books that would be good to make the time to read over the winter months. If you took part in Cathy’s #20 Books of Summer Challenge then you will recognise the format.

Head over to Jo’s Blog and check it out. I will be compiling my list soon, I’m not sure yet how many books I will choose to read yet but it will be a good opportunity to catch up with some more seasonal reading. It starts Oct 1st and runs to 31st Dec xx

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BOOK POST & PURCHASES

On Thursday the OH had a hospital appointment, I love hospital waiting rooms because they often tend to have second hand books for sale. I did manage to pick up a few fab books… well it would be rude not to!😉😅

I also had a couple of Blog Tour Books…

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I love Maggie Mason aka Mary Wood, her hist/fic books are fabulous and addictive reading and I am really looking forward to reading Blackpool’s Angel.

The Photographer of The Lost by Caroline Scott is another hist/fic and looks as if it may be a very emotional read.

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Well that is me done for another week apart from to share a photo. As the weather is gradually turning to cooler and cloudier days, you have to make the most of the odd ray of sunshine that appears… well that is what “the boys” Billy & Buster think anyway 🙂

only thing left to say…

Thanks for reading my post and have a wonderful week ahead

Yvonne xx

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