Writing Goals
Got some more work done on 'Silver Darling'
Got the next book ready for Castle Priory Press publication
Got the company registered with Companies House
Reading Goals
2024 reading list is slowly reducing in size
This has been a month of listening to books more than reading them. This has largely been because I've been doing a lot of sewing, getting ready for Christmas and whilst it's been frustrating, as i can't listen as quick as I can read, it has been good to be able to combine two things I love doing. It also means I've been able to do a little more spontaneous reading as well as reducing next year's list.
Book Reviews
Classics
Diary of a Nobody - George & Weedon Grossmith (Funny insight into the mind of a man who longs to be considered more than he is. Unfortunately, nothing ever quite goes the way he wants.)
Pride & Prejudice Variations
Memory: Trials To Bear - Linda Wells (Middle of the P&P trilogy. Continues the story of what if Elizabeth and Darcy had met when they were younger.)
Memory: How Far We Have Come - Linda Wells (Last of the P&P variations I allowed myself to read. Important message about cutting toxic people out of your life.)
CNF
The Penguin Lessons - Tom Mitchell (Wonderful tragi-comic tale of a penguin rescued from an oil spillage and how it impacted the lives of everyone who came into contact with it.)
Non-Fiction
The Secret Royals - Richard J Aldrich & Rory Cormac (Audiobook. Interesting insight into the role the Royal Family have played in the world of espionage.)
Monarchy - David Starkey (Audiobook. Examination of some of the monarchs in the Middle Ages.)
A Hidden History Of The Tower Of London - John Paul Davis (There was a lot of information I knew already, but plenty that was new to me.)
Lost Realms - Thomas Williams (Combined Audiobook & reading. History of the 'lost' kingdoms of Great Britain. Fascinating to read about places I'm so familiar with.)
Haunted Blackpool - Stephen Mercer (I grew up in Blackpool and had no idea about any of these ghosts. Really interesting stories, whether you believe in ghosts or not.)
Lancaster and York - Alison Weir (Audiobook. A history of the Cousins War. Interesting to compare this with the Philippa Gregory historical fiction series.)
Walk Yourself Happy - Julia Bradbury (Not sure I will take on every piece of advice offered in here, but certainly the idea of getting out for a walk every day is one which appeals. I know I always feel better when I've been out in the fresh air and got some sun on my face.)
Historical
The Night Watch - Sarah Waters (Interestingly structured narrative, which gently unfolds, but tells a story that is far from gentle. Typical of Waters style, it is slowly paced but never fails to keep the reader engaged.)
The Map of Bones - Kate Mosse (Last in the Joubert series doesn't disappoint. It came full circle back to the Prologue of Book 1, The Burning Chambers to complete the family's story. This is a series truly deserving of the title 'epic' in every sense of the word.)
Thriller
Geneva - Richard Armitage (Audiobook. Debut novel from the popular actor. Perhaps not always the best writing - not bad, just an occasional intrusion of the author voice - nevertheless, the story is gripping and by the end I found I was sewing faster and faster.)
The Cut - Richard Armitage (Audiobook. Noticeable improvement in the writing without too much of a change in style. Set in a 1990s school, the murder which is committed in the prologue casts ever increasing shadows.)
Romance
Pepper Lane Sweet Shoppe - KT Dady (Latest instalment from Pepper Bay. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Full review to follow next month.)
Book of the Month?
The Map of Bones is the culmination of years of storytelling and every time a new book has come out, I've been part-anticipating and part-worrying that I wouldn't enjoy it as much as the first one. Every time, I should have just looked forward to it, because every book in the series is brilliant in its own right. It is incredibly hard to sustain a series over such a huge span of time (I know from my own experience of spanning just over 100 years of interwoven relationships just how complicated the family trees can get) and I am in absolute awe of the meticulousness of Mosse's planning. The fact that the final chapters of this book expand and develop the prologue of the very first book shows the amount of planning which must have been done even before Book 1 was released. Mosse is an absolute master of the art of writing.
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