Welcome to my weekly update for the books I have read. I am back to feeling hooman after my bout of bronchitis, thank god, and apart from a bit of a head cold I feel loads better.

I had some good news this week. I finally got my Top 500 reviewer badge from Amazon. I put all my book reviews on there as well as review any purchases and have been in the 700-800 reviewers for about 3 years. But when I decided to check where I was listed I suddenly saw I had jumped into the top 500. I dare not check again in case it was all a mistake 🙈😂

So let me share the books I have read…

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

This was such a lovely book to read, a whimsical fantastical book that I got on with really well. There were so many things that caught me by surprise with this book. At times it felt like a magical mystery journey as I followed January on her travels, it also felt a little bit like a historical fiction read. It is the story of January finding out who she is and what she wants to do with her life. A truly captivating read and one I would recommend to readers who like books of discovery with a literary fiction feel to it.

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The Poker Game Mystery by Peter Bartram

I am a big fan of Peter’s books and his latest book is brilliant. Colin Crapmton is a journalist for The Chronicle. Colin is a fabulous character and I love the dry humour and wit that the author has injected into him. Another favourite character is Shirley, Colin’s girlfriend and between them they investigate a murder. The banter that these two have is great reading. Even though this is part of a series, each book can be read as a stand-alone, but in my opinion you are missing some of the dynamics that make Colin and Shirley work so well. Fabulous read and highly recommended.

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The 24-Hour Cafe by Libby Page

This is one of those “quiet books” and I thoroughly enjoyed the comings and going of the customers and staff of Stella’s a 24-hour cafe. The book is set out in chapters that are titled by each hour of the 24 hours that the book is set in. It switches perspectives between the main customer at each hour and also the tow main waitresses. It is a really laid out story that I found very captivating. Even though you only get a snapshot of each customer, I found it emotional, but not the full blubbering eyes watering kind. It felt very representative for its setting. It is a story that I can describe as “people watching” and it is a book I would definitely recommend.

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Fighting Back by Rachel Churcher

This is the fourth instalment in Rachel’s YA dystopian series and “Boy Oh Boy” is the intensity building! This is such a brilliant series and it is proving to be so addictive, I am going to be so lost when it ends 😦 This is set just after Brexit and in an Independent Scotland scenario and so it feels very relate-able.

Rachel doesn’t put her books up on Goodreads until publication date, so this is why I have not included the book cover, I have seen it and it it does follow the same format of her previous ones.

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It Started With A Secret by Jill Mansell

Confession time… This is the first book I have read by this author! I do have a couple of her books on my kindle and on my bookshelves and, like every reader knows, they have just got lost amid the other books on the shelves. But now I have read one her books I will most definitely be reading more. This book is just fabulous and I made the mistake of planning to read just a couple of chapters at 11pm… What a fool I was, and I now know the error of my ways when picking up a book by this author. I was yawning and feeling rather tired when I decided to glance at the clock and see what time it was… 01:17 and reluctantly put in the bookmark and went to bed. I then finished it yesterday afternoon and I loved it sooooooooo much! 😁

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My next read will take me back to my scheduled reading for a blog tour…

Six Steps To Happiness by Suzie Tullett

This for me sees a return to an author whose books I have not read enough of. The couple of books that I have read by Suzie have been fabulous and I have enjoyed them so much. So when I saw the Blog Tour shout out for this book I was right there asking if I could join up 🙂

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A good reading week for me this week and I am really pleased with that because some of these books were 400+ pages.

I also decided to be brave and hop over to Netgalley and check to see if I needed to add reviews for any books that came via there for Blog Tours. I was good and didn’t request any 🙂 When I arrived I was sitting at 83% and left with a 89% Feedback Ratio… happy days!

My Goodreads Challenge is almost complete, currently at 197/200 but as Fighting Back has not been listed it is actually 198/200. I have actually read more than 198 books this year, but have not put all the books on as yet. I read a few Amazon Vine Children’s books and also a couple of manuscripts So very pleased indeed :).

Well that me done for yet another week.

Wishing everyone a good week ahead, Happy Reading Folks

Yvonne xx

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be wonderful and greatly appreciated 🙂 xx