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This blog post is all about what I was reading in March!
I read 8 books this month from some 5* stunners to some that were just OK.
The first book I read was The Horror Zine's Book of Monster Stories which is a short story collection of horror stories. I was on the book tour for this with Black Tide Book Tours and you can read my review here.
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This is the first time I have done the 'Firsts of 2024 book tag' but it sounds really fun and is a good way to round up the first 3 months of the year! It was originally started by Tanya @girlxoxo.
Here are my firsts of 2024:
First Book Read This Year
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I was recently offered the opportunity to receive a Your Paper Quest subscription box and I jumped at the chance.
Your story awaits...
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After 18 months of silence, I am back with another book review!
Book Title: You're Not Supposed To Die Tonight
Author: Kalynn Bayron
My Rating: 3*
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: 20/06/23
Genre: Horror, YA, LGBT, Mystery
Pages: 228
Format read: Paperback
Goodreads: At Camp Mirror Lake, terror is the name of the game... but can you survive the night?
Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business.
But the last weekend of the season, Charity's co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity's role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they'll need figure out what this killer is after. Is there is more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected?
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For the month of December the #TsundokuSquad read is Underneath the Christmas Tree by Heidi Swain. Not only are we reading this book but Heidi Swain agreed to a Q&A so the group came up with a selection of questions which Heidi answered!
For anyone who hasn't read any of your books where would you recommend starting?
That’s a great question! I would suggest reading the books in series publication order to build up character and setting knowledge. So, for the Wynbridge books that’s THE CHERRY TREE CAFÉ, for Nightingale Square SUNSHINE AND SWEET PEAS and Wynmouth, THE SECRET SEASIDE ESCAPE.
All the books work as standalone titles as they feature different main characters so you don’t have to read in order for them to make sense, but lots of readers tell me that publication order works best for them and I always listen to my fabulous readers!
What inspired Underneath the Christmas Tree?
Back in November 2019 I read an article in Country Living magazine about a business that rented out potted Christmas trees and that gave me the initial idea for Wynter’s Trees. I loved the eco credentials and thought setting a story somewhere where visitors could buy gifts from local crafters among snow-topped trees while drinking marshmallow-topped hot chocolate would be the ultimate romantic festive setting!
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It is pride month and so this year I challenged myself to only read wlw books for the month! I have a lot on my TBR and I have managed to read 7 books throughout the month. Lets see what I have read (and loved).
1. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid - 5*
OMG this book was so good! I laughed, I cried and by the end I was an emotional wreck. Evelyn is a spectacular character with an amazing, life story to tell full of surprises and you may just fall in love with her like I did!
Author: Heather Walter
My Rating: 5*
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication Date: 13/04/21
Genre(s): Fairy tale retelling. Fantasy, LGBT
Pages: 496
Format Read: Ebook
Goodreads: A princess isn’t supposed to fall for an evil sorceress. But in this darkly magical retelling of “Sleeping Beauty,” true love is more than a simple fairy tale.
Once upon a time, there was a wicked fairy who, in an act of vengeance, cursed a line of princesses to die. A curse that could only be broken by true love’s kiss.
You’ve heard this before, haven’t you? The handsome prince. The happily-ever-after.
Utter nonsense.
Let me tell you, no one in Briar actually cares about what happens to its princesses. Not the way they care about their jewels and elaborate parties and charm-granting elixirs. I thought I didn’t care, either.
Until I met her.
Princess Aurora. The last heir to Briar’s throne. Kind. Gracious. The future queen her realm needs. One who isn’t bothered that I am Alyce, the Dark Grace, abhorred and feared for the mysterious dark magic that runs in my veins. Humiliated and shamed by the same nobles who pay me to bottle hexes and then brand me a monster. Aurora says I should be proud of my gifts. That she . . . cares for me. Even though it was a power like mine that was responsible for her curse.
But with less than a year until that curse will kill her, any future I might see with Aurora is swiftly disintegrating—and she can’t stand to kiss yet another insipid prince. I want to help her. If my power began her curse, perhaps it’s what can lift it. Perhaps, together, we could forge a new world.
Nonsense again.
Because we all know how this story ends, don’t we? Aurora is the beautiful princess. And I—
I am the villain.
Book Title: The Cousins
Author: Karen M. McManus
My Rating: 4*
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: 03/12/20
Genre(s): Young Adult, Mystery
Pages: 325
Format Read: Paperback
Goodreads: The Storys are the envy of their neighbours: owners of the largest property on their East Coast island, they are rich, beautiful, and close. Until it all falls apart. The four children are suddenly dropped by their mother with a single sentence:
You know what you did.
They never hear from her again.
Years later, when 18-year-old cousins Aubrey, Milly and Jonah Story receive a mysterious invitation to spend the summer at their grandmother's resort, they have no choice but to follow their curiosity and meet the woman who's been such an enigma their entire lives.
This entire family is built on secrets, right? It's the Story legacy.
This summer, the teenagers are determined to discover the truth at the heart of their family. But some secrets are better left alone.
The Tsundoku Squad book club is a group of people in a group chat on Twitter and we read one book a month and discuss a section at the end of each week to see our thoughts on it. We talk books and everything else too and we are always having a good laugh! There are 13 of us (all female), 12 are from the UK and 1 is all the way in USA!
Our January pick was Love at the Northen Lights by Darcie Boleyn as it was a free kindle book at the time and we thought a cosy romance would be a good start for our first book.
Our February pick is Paris by Starlight by Robert Dinsdale.
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This time last year I set out 5 goals for my blog and reading right here. Firstly lets take a look at what I was hoping for in 2020!
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2020 is finally nearly over so it's time to look back over my year of reading with the information taken from Goodreads.
I read 75 books this year with 23,364 pages read!
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton was my longest book of the year at 576 pages and My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent was my shortest book at only 60 pages.
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We are nearing the end of 2020 (FINALLY) so it is time for my favourite books of the year. Some are books that have been released this year and some have been on my TBR for ages! I read 75 books this year so I had a lot to choose from.
1. The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
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Last month I took part in NetGalley November which was created by Emandherbooks and Girlnovelliving. We had a group chat full of people and were always talking about books, I don't know how we managed to read! There were 50 people who took part and together we all read 355 books throughout November! Here is how I did.
As shown in my last blog post these were my start stats:
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Last year I dedicated the whole month of October to reading scary books and I am doing the same thing this month! We are already halfway through the month so here is what I have already read and what I thought of them:
1. The Malan Witch by Catherine Cavendish - 3*
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Do you ever buy a book that you have heard lots about and know it's going to be amazing so you just leave it on your shelf for a long time never being read?? Or you buy a book for the hype but then don't want to pick it up in case it disappoints you? This is me! For this post I am going to go through some of my most anticipated reads (new and old) that are on my bookshelf that will probably take me a very long time to pick up!
1. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
Book Title: Normal People