WWW Wednesday | 11/11/2020

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking On a World of Words that highlights three questions:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you'll read next?

 

What did you recently finish reading?

I finished Bird Box by Josh Malerman on Sunday and I enjoyed it more then I thought I would. It was very well written but I'm not gonna lie, this book gave me major anxiety. It's executed really well but the premise of this book really freaks me out. Knowing that there's something out there that you can't escape from and the only way to prevent something is to blindfold yourself. This isn't a horror book in the traditional sense but it did scare me enough that I had to keep putting it down and give myself a break from it.

What are you currently reading?

The Loney by Andrew Micheal Hurley is my current physical read and it's one I'm reading for the 1000 doors readathon. This is to fit the prompt of an acquired tase and I thought this could fit as I've seen a fair few mixed reviews. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it though, I'm about halfway through but I've gotten a little bored and I'm waiting for the plot to ramp up. It's amospheric but I've started to ignore picking it up which isn't a great sign!

 

The Surface Breaks by Louise O'Neill is my current ebook right now, it's a library loan that I've had for a while so I needed to get it read. I'm around 100 pages in and I'm unsure about this one too. It's a The Little Mermaid retelling but so far I don't feel like it's done anything different to the source material other then maybe flesh it out a bit. I haven't warmed to the main character yet either but I'm hoping it starts to pull me in soon.

 

What do you think you'll read next?

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai is one I'm hoping to pick up next or at least soon as I obviously don't know what my last prompt will be yet. Fingers crossed I can make this fit because Malala is such a fascinating person who's story is one that I've wanted to read for a while now.

 

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.

Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

 

Have you read any of these? What were your thoughts? What are you currently reading and hoping to pick up next? Leave a comment or link your own WWW Wednesdays below for me to check out!

Top Ten Tuesday | Book Titles That Would Make Awesome Band Names

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature that highlights ten books that all relate to a certain topic and is  hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. 

This Weeks Topic Is...

Book Titles That Would Make Great Band Names. It was actually supposed to be song titles originally but I was scrolling through Goodreads and I kept noticing how so many titles would make great band names and so I decided to tweak the prompt a bit. 

 

#5OnMyTBR | Friendship

 

This meme was created by E. @ Local Bee Hunter's Nook and you can find the announcement post here. Also, side note, these aren't necessarily books that I own physically but they're all on my Goodreads TBR and they'll mostly be the five most recently added.  

This Week's Prompt is...

Friendship. This is a pretty vague prompt so I tried to fit in a mix of genre's and types of friendship to keep things interesting.

 

Down The TBR Hole #9

Current TBR shelf: 3959

Last week's TBR shelf: 3963

The rules   

1. Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
2. Order on ascending date added.
3. Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if you’re feeling adventurous) books. Of course if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
4. Read the synopses of the books
5. Decide: keep it or should it go?

Owlcrate October 2020 Unboxing | Legends & Lore

I decided to carry on my Owlcrate subscription maybe until the end of 2020 because whenever they announce the next month I keep getting sucked back in again! I'm really enjoying getting these boxes though, it's a nice little treat each month. I've been really impressed with the book selections and the products they include are really well sourced, great quality and support small businesses. Without further ado, let's get into what was included in October's box.

October's theme was Legends & Lore and to be honest I thought I wasn't going to get this box because I thought it would be straight fantasy which most of the time I'm not keen on but I figured out what the book was this month and I knew I had to get it. Also, I've been putting up these little artwork cards up on my wall because they're just too beautiful to throw away!    

Book Review | A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison

Title: A Pinch of Magic 
Author: Michelle Harrison • Author's Site 
Publication Date: 7th February 2019 by Simon & Schuster
Format: ebook via Scribd
Target Audience: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy  

Goodreads • Waterstones • Blackwells

 

All Betty Widdershins wants is an adventure—one that takes her far away from Crowstone, the gloomy island where she’s always lived. But instead of an adventure, Betty and her sisters, Fliss and Charlie, are given of a set of magical objects, each with its own powers: a scruffy carpet bag, a set of wooden nesting dolls, and a gilt-framed mirror. And these magical objects come with their own terrible secret: the sisters’ family is haunted by a generations-long curse that prevents them from ever leaving their island—at the cost of death.

The sisters set out to break the curse and free their family forever. But after stumbling upon a mysterious prisoner who claims to be able to help them, they find themselves in great danger. And in order to break the curse—and stay alive—they must unravel a mystery that goes back centuries, one that involves shipwrecks, smugglers, and sorcery of the most perilous kind.

 

Rating

My Thoughts

"She who tries, triumphs."

I can't rave about this book enough. This is exactly the kind of middle grade that I adore; magical, high stakes adventure and unbreakable family bonds. This book follows the three Widdershins sisters - Betty, Fliss and Charlie - as they are given the news that an old family curse means that they can never leave their island home of Crowstone otherwise the unspeakable will happen, they will die by the next sunset. Betty is determined to find a way to break the curse and with some unlikely help, she sets out to do just that.

 

This is a middle grade series that everyone raves about and so when a readathon prompt came up in October where I had to read a book about sisters, I knew that it was finally time to pick this up. I have actually read some of Michelle Harrison's books before. Her Thirteen Treasures series were some of my favourite books in my early teens but this book exceeded all my expectations. 

 

From the very first page I was swept up into this enchanting story. Harrison's writing made this feel like a dark fairytale especially with the whole curse and magical objects aspect. I always love the descriptiveness of middle grades, the imagination behind the settings always make me feel like I'm right there. I loved the setting of Crowstone and it's surrounding isles, with names likes Marshfoot, Windy Bottom and I particularly like the name of the inn the Widdershins family owns - The Poachers Pocket. When books have such creative names for places, it makes it all that more whimsical. 

 

The characters are some of my favourites I've ever read about. Betty is so strong and determined and her voice really helps to tell this story. I think it was definitely the right decision to have her take the central role in this adventure as I knew that whatever was thrown at them, Betty would keep marching forward. I could relate to Fliss a lot as she shouldered a lot of responsibility being the eldest but she also had a quiet resolve that reminded me of myself. Charlie was probably my favourite though! For six years old she is the mischievous one that kept me laughing as well as being such a colourful character. Together they make a wonderful team and it was beautiful to read about how much love they have for each other and what they're willing to sacrifice to save one another.

 

The plot is weaved so well, we get the main adventure of the three sisters setting out to break the curse as well as the occasional flashback as to how the curse began and the tale of Sorcha Spellthorn. These sections were some of my favourite as I really enjoyed getting to know her as a character as well. I was also pleasantly suprised at the different turns the story takes as I honestly didn't know where it was going to go next. I especially loved the ending as I felt it was the perfect way to wrap up this story but also leave things to progress nicely for the sequel which I will inevitably be reading very soon.

 

I'm so glad I picked this book up, it has so much going for it and was a fantastic adventure that left me wanting more from these characters, their sisterly bond and their escapades. I can't recommend this book more, even if you're not a big middle grade lover, i'd still urge you to give it a shot.                    

October 2020 Reading Wrap Up

I had such a great time in October and I even found some new favourites which was amazing. I'm very picky with my five star ratings and this month I had 3! I loved reading all the spooky/autumnal books and I enjoyed pretty much all of what I did read. I managed to read 15 books in October which I think equals the amount of books I've ever read in a single month. I did read quite a few books under 300 pages though so I don't think my page count is as high or maybe just equals last month. I only managed to not read two books from my October TBR which was Shadowsea by Peter Bunzl so that will be rolled over into November. I technically started Bird Box by Josh Malerman but I only managed to read the first chapter before I ran out of time. I was only reading this because it was one of the team books for the Spooktober Readathon so, at the time of writing this, I'm not sure if I'm going to finish it off yet or not.      

WWW Wednesday | 04/11/2020

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking On a World of Words that highlights three questions:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you'll read next?

What did you recently finish reading?

My first completed book of November was Horrid by Katrina Leno which I read for the 1000 Doors Readathon as my first prompt was 5 so I decided to go with a five star prediction. Unfortunately it wasn't quite a five star read more like a 4.5 or maybe a 4, I still haven't managed to completely make up my mind. This was a super quick read, I read it in just over a day and I was really enjoying it up until the ending. The ending wasn't horrendous, I even liked it, but I just felt like things took a weird turn and I felt a bit dissatisfied with it. It was creepy but I just wanted something more from it that I can't quite put my finger on.  

What are you currently reading?

I was supposed to read Bird Box by Josh Malerman in October for a readathon but ran out of time but I was intrigued enough to keep reading it for this month. I didn't know too much about this going in other then what I'd seen people say of the film adaptation but I think it's definitely better this way. I'm just under halfway in and man, this book is giving me major anxiety. Each chapter I'm on tenterhooks because I have no idea what's going to happen. I don't want to spoil anything but the events in this book are so horrible to imagine and I think that's why I keep having to put it down after a few chapters and breathe! 

 

My next prompt for the 1000 Doors Readathon was a meme so it's difficult to describe! Basically, it's surrounds the phrase "I'm back" so I'm reading a sequel. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater is the next book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series and I read the first book in October. I'm about 120 pages in and I only read for just over an hour so I'm speeding through it but like the first book, I'm just not hooked on the story or the characters. We do have two new POV's so I may change my mind the more I read.

 

What do you think you'll read next?

Due to the fact that the readathon is subjective and you won't know your next prompt until you complete your current read, I'm in the dark about what I'll be picking up next. I'd like to get to Shadowsea by Peter Bunzl after I finish Bird Box though as I was supposed to read it in October. I'm really excited to read this but it's bittersweet as it's the last book in the Cogheart series.

 

Swept into the bright hustle and bustle of New York, Lily, Robert and Malkin discover shadowy secrets lie beneath its surface. For there are chilling goings-on in their hotel…

A strange boy held captive, haunted by an undersea mystery; and a revengeful villain with a treacherous plan. Searching for clues, Robert and Lily are plunged into deep water… But can they reveal the deadly truth before the secrets submerge them?

 

Have you read any of these? What were your thoughts? What are you currently reading and hoping to pick up next? Leave a comment or link your own WWW Wednesdays below for me to check out!