Did you know Roald Dahl wrote stories for adults? Not just Matilda or The Witches?
I had no idea! To put this right I promptly purchased a collection of his short stories for adults - Someone Like You, but will they work golden tickets, magic potions and Quentin Blake?!
Did you know it was national Bookshop Day in October?
I did and I celebrated by visiting my favourite bookshop and purchasing not one, not two but three brand new sparkly books (no glitter was used in the making of said three).
On Writing by Stephen King, part memoir part writing aide, is a book frequently mentioned in bookish circles and following my stumbling across a very good reading list of King's novels (see From a Buick 8 review below) I just had to add it to my pile.
Once upon a time there was a lady who had had her eye on Below Zero, a young adult adventure thriller based in the Antarctic, for quite a while. The author of the book visited the lady's favourite bookshop and added his autograph to several copies of said book. The lady arrived swooped a copy and lived happily ever after.
Last but not least of my purchases was Sourdough by Robin Sloan. For those interested it's about a lonely software engineer whose life changes when she inherits a sourdough starter. I purchased it purely for the fact it is named after my favourite bread product.
One very long winded explanation behind next book purchase - I went to France on holiday, came back via Utah Beach which prompted me to re-watch Band of Brothers (my favourite series ever) which prompted me to re-watch Pacific (favourite opening credits ever but just not as good) which confirmed the fact that I had no clue as to why the Americans were fighting on a teeny tiny island in the middle of nowhere. To put this right I have purchased the doorstop that is The Second World War by Antony Beevor which has multiple chapters with the words 'Pacific' 'Japan' and 'Peal Harbour' in the title. It looks all encompassing and I feel I will need my biggest 'concentrating really hard' pants on to read it.
As well as the Blog Tour books received for this month and our Book of the Month (Snare by Lilja Sigurdardottir) the last book added to my To Be Read shelf was MacBeth by Jo Nesbo. I'm almost afraid to read this one in case it isn't good as I hope. Does anyone else ever get that fear?
I kicked off my October reading with Wyld Dreamers by Pamela Holmes. A group of nearly adults spend the summer living on a farm in Somerset in the 1970s experiencing their first taste of freedom. But what happens when it all goes horribly wrong? Excellent descriptions of the setting, and capturing the 70s but the second half of the book just wasn't as good as the first.
From a Buick 8 by Stephen King was a novel about a scary car that possibly eats people. More emphasis on the 'camp fire spooky story' would have helped sell the idea bit it's still not a patch on 'Salem's Lot.
Palm Beach Finland by Antti Tuomainen was my first Blog Tour book of the month and what a good one it was. Set in a holiday resort in Finland labelled 'the hottest beach in Finland' this glorious mishmash of Scandi noir and dark comedy comes served with a large dose of neon and I loved it.
Recommended by a friend, read by my daughter, mother in law and mum beforehand I was late coming to the party with Nevermore by Jessica Townsend. It's OK though as it now means I have shorter to wait for the second instalment, Wundersmith that is out this month. Featuring umbrella transportation, Magnificats and hotel rooms that mould themselves to suit the occupant it's everything a fab child's book should be and I embraced it with open arms.
Elsewhere A Tale of Two Cities became my favourite Dickens book, So Here It Is by Dave Hill was placed on my Christmas presents to buy my male (of a certain generation) relatives and we had a Lilja Sigurdardottir double bill with Snare being the Book Club's Book of the Month and Trap being my last Blog Tour book two days afterwards.
Following on from my September Round Up I'm sticking with my #ReadOfTheMonth and this month the crown goes to......................................................................................................................................
Palm Beach Finland!!!!!!! Whoop! Whoop! As the long nights set in it brightened up my day and I just loved the dark humour and brash neon that embraced the clever scandi plot.
Let me know what you thought of the above books and what you have been reading this month.
I had no idea! To put this right I promptly purchased a collection of his short stories for adults - Someone Like You, but will they work golden tickets, magic potions and Quentin Blake?!
Did you know it was national Bookshop Day in October?
I did and I celebrated by visiting my favourite bookshop and purchasing not one, not two but three brand new sparkly books (no glitter was used in the making of said three).
On Writing by Stephen King, part memoir part writing aide, is a book frequently mentioned in bookish circles and following my stumbling across a very good reading list of King's novels (see From a Buick 8 review below) I just had to add it to my pile.
Once upon a time there was a lady who had had her eye on Below Zero, a young adult adventure thriller based in the Antarctic, for quite a while. The author of the book visited the lady's favourite bookshop and added his autograph to several copies of said book. The lady arrived swooped a copy and lived happily ever after.
Last but not least of my purchases was Sourdough by Robin Sloan. For those interested it's about a lonely software engineer whose life changes when she inherits a sourdough starter. I purchased it purely for the fact it is named after my favourite bread product.
One very long winded explanation behind next book purchase - I went to France on holiday, came back via Utah Beach which prompted me to re-watch Band of Brothers (my favourite series ever) which prompted me to re-watch Pacific (favourite opening credits ever but just not as good) which confirmed the fact that I had no clue as to why the Americans were fighting on a teeny tiny island in the middle of nowhere. To put this right I have purchased the doorstop that is The Second World War by Antony Beevor which has multiple chapters with the words 'Pacific' 'Japan' and 'Peal Harbour' in the title. It looks all encompassing and I feel I will need my biggest 'concentrating really hard' pants on to read it.
As well as the Blog Tour books received for this month and our Book of the Month (Snare by Lilja Sigurdardottir) the last book added to my To Be Read shelf was MacBeth by Jo Nesbo. I'm almost afraid to read this one in case it isn't good as I hope. Does anyone else ever get that fear?
I kicked off my October reading with Wyld Dreamers by Pamela Holmes. A group of nearly adults spend the summer living on a farm in Somerset in the 1970s experiencing their first taste of freedom. But what happens when it all goes horribly wrong? Excellent descriptions of the setting, and capturing the 70s but the second half of the book just wasn't as good as the first.
From a Buick 8 by Stephen King was a novel about a scary car that possibly eats people. More emphasis on the 'camp fire spooky story' would have helped sell the idea bit it's still not a patch on 'Salem's Lot.
Palm Beach Finland by Antti Tuomainen was my first Blog Tour book of the month and what a good one it was. Set in a holiday resort in Finland labelled 'the hottest beach in Finland' this glorious mishmash of Scandi noir and dark comedy comes served with a large dose of neon and I loved it.
Recommended by a friend, read by my daughter, mother in law and mum beforehand I was late coming to the party with Nevermore by Jessica Townsend. It's OK though as it now means I have shorter to wait for the second instalment, Wundersmith that is out this month. Featuring umbrella transportation, Magnificats and hotel rooms that mould themselves to suit the occupant it's everything a fab child's book should be and I embraced it with open arms.
Elsewhere A Tale of Two Cities became my favourite Dickens book, So Here It Is by Dave Hill was placed on my Christmas presents to buy my male (of a certain generation) relatives and we had a Lilja Sigurdardottir double bill with Snare being the Book Club's Book of the Month and Trap being my last Blog Tour book two days afterwards.
Following on from my September Round Up I'm sticking with my #ReadOfTheMonth and this month the crown goes to......................................................................................................................................
Palm Beach Finland!!!!!!! Whoop! Whoop! As the long nights set in it brightened up my day and I just loved the dark humour and brash neon that embraced the clever scandi plot.
Let me know what you thought of the above books and what you have been reading this month.
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