REVIEW: Down Amongst the Sticks and Bones (#2) - Seanan McGuire

Title: Down Among the Sticks and Bones (#2)
Author: Seanan McGuire
Series: Wayward Children
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Seanan McGuire
Time: 4HRS 4MINS
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

Twin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.

This is the story of what happened first…

Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter—polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline.

Jillian was her father’s perfect daughter—adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tom-boy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you've got.

They were five when they learned that grown-ups can’t be trusted.

They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretence of love can never be enough to prepare you a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices.

REVIEW: Becoming - Michelle Obama

Title: Becoming
Author: Michelle Obama
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Michelle Obama
Time: 19HRS 3MINS
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.

In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same. 

REVIEW: Me - Elton John

Title: Me
Author: Elton John
Publisher: Macmillan
Format: Audiobook
Time: 11HRS 47MINS
Narrator: Taron Egerton
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

Christened Reginald Dwight, he was a shy boy with Buddy Holly glasses who grew up in the London suburb of Pinner and dreamed of becoming a pop star. By the age of twenty-three, he was on his first tour of America, facing an astonished audience in his tight silver hotpants, bare legs and a T-shirt with ROCK AND ROLL emblazoned across it in sequins. Elton John had arrived and the music world would never be the same again.

His life has been full of drama, from the early rejection of his work with song-writing partner Bernie Taupin to spinning out of control as a chart-topping superstar; from half-heartedly trying to drown himself in his LA swimming pool to disco-dancing with the Queen; from friendships with John Lennon, Freddie Mercury and George Michael to setting up his AIDS Foundation. All the while, Elton was hiding a drug addiction that would grip him for over a decade.

In Me Elton also writes powerfully about getting clean and changing his life, about finding love with David Furnish and becoming a father. In a voice that is warm, humble and open, this is Elton on his music and his relationships, his passions and his mistakes. This is a story that will stay with you, by a living legend.

REVIEW: Every Heart a Doorway (#1) - Seannan McGuire

Title: Every Heart a Doorway (#1)
Author: Seannan McGuire
Series: Wayward Children
Publisher: Macmillian Audio
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Cynthia Hopkins
Time: 4HRS 44MINS
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

REVIEW: The Near Witch - V. E. Schwab

Title: The Near Witch
Author: V. E. Schwab
Publisher: Blackstone Audio Inc
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Heather Wilds
Time: 9HRS 28 MINS
Rating: ⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger-a boy who seems to fade like smoke-appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi's need to know about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

REVIEW: First Man In: Leading from the Front - Ant Middleton

Title: First Man In: Leading from the Front
Author: Ant Middleton
Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher Ltd
Format: Audiobook
Time: 6HRS 59MINS
Narrator: Ant Middleton
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

No one is born a leader. But through sheer determination and by confronting life’s challenges, Ant Middleton has come to know the meaning of true leadership. In First Man In, he shares the core lessons he’s learned over the course of his fascinating, exhilarating life.

After 13 years service in the military, with 4 years as a Special Boat Service (SBS) sniper, Ant Middleton is the epitome of what it takes to excel. He served in the SBS, the naval wing of the special forces, the Royal Marines and 9 Parachute Squadron Royal, achieving what is known as the ‘Holy Trinity’ of the UK’s Elite Forces. As a point man in the SBS, Ant was always the first man through the door, the first man into the dark, and the first man in harm’s way.

In this fascinating, exhilarating and revealing book, Ant speaks about the highs and gut-wrenching lows of his life – from the thrill of passing Special Forces Selection to dealing with the early death of his father and ending up in prison on leaving the military – and draws valuable lessons that we can all use in our daily lives.

REVIEW: Demon Dentist - David Walliams

Title: Demon Dentist
Author: David Walliams
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: David Walliams
Time: 4HRS 46MINS
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

Darkness had come to the town. Strange things were happening in the dead of night. Children would put a tooth under their pillow for the tooth fairy, but in the morning they would wake up to find… a dead slug; a live spider; hundreds of earwigs creeping and crawling beneath their pillow.

Evil was at work. But who or what was behind it…?

REVIEW: Crazy Rich Asians (#1) - Kevin Kwan

Title: Crazy Rich Asians (#1)
Author: Kevin Kwan
Series: Crazy Rich Asians
Publisher: Audible Studios
Format: Audiobook
Time: 13HRS 53MINS
Narrator: Lynn Chen
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

When Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home, long drives to explore the island, and quality time with the man she might one day marry. What she doesn't know is that Nick's family home happens to look like a palace, that she'll ride in more private planes than cars, and that with one of Asia's most eligible bachelors on her arm, Rachel might as well have a target on her back. 

Initiated into a world of dynastic splendor beyond imagination, Rachel meets Astrid, the It Girl of Singapore society; Eddie, whose family practically lives in the pages of the Hong Kong socialite magazines; and Eleanor, Nick's formidable mother, a woman who has very strong feelings about who her son should--and should not--marry.

JANUARY 2019 Wrap Up

Where has January gone, seriously I want to know it seems to have flown by. Well moving on welcome to another Wrap Up.

I managed to read 15 books overall, I also joined in with the 24in48 readathon where I managed to complete 3 books (I'm quite impressed with that)

I read:

1. Truthwitch (#1) - Susan Dennard (⭐⭐)
2. Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham (#8) - M. C. Beaton (⭐⭐⭐)
3. The Wide Window (#3) - Lemony Snicket (⭐⭐⭐⭐)
4. The Dark Day's Pact (#2) - Alison Goodman (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
5. You (#1) - Caroline Kepnes (⭐⭐⭐⭐)
6. Ringing in the New Year - Alexa Riley (⭐⭐)
7. The Secret Lives of Superhero Wives - Joynell Shultz (⭐⭐⭐)
8. First Man In: Leading from the Front - Ant Middleton (⭐⭐⭐⭐)
9. Hidden Huntress (#2) - Danielle L. Jensen (⭐⭐⭐⭐)
10. Day Shift (#2) - Charlaine Harris (⭐⭐⭐)
11. Mortal Engines (#1) - Philip Reeve (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
12. Horrorstӧr - Grady Hendrix (⭐⭐⭐⭐)
13. Ruby Red (#1) - Kerstin Gier (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
14. Renegades (#1) - Marissa Meyer (⭐⭐⭐⭐)
15. Demon Dentist - David Walliams (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

I'm quite impressed with myself that I managed to read 15 books. Here's to another good month in February.

FEBRUARY 2019 TBR

Welcome to another February TBR, again I will have 24 books on my TBR, but this month I have added quite a lot of books from last month as I still want to read them.

• The Miserable Mill (#4) - Lemony Snicket
• Hidden Bodies (#2) - Caroline Kepnes
• The Battlemage (#3) - Taran Matharu
• Asylum (#1) - Madeleine Roux
• The Invisible Library (#1) - Genevieve Cogman
• One of Us is Lying (#1) - Karen M. McManus
• Charmcaster (#3) - Sebastien de Castell
• Long Dark Dust (#2) - J. P. Smythe
• The Pirates! In an Adventure with Moby Dick (#2) - Gideon Defoe
• Alice (#1) - Christina Henry
• Three Dark Crowns (#1) - Kendare Blake
• And I Darken (#1) - Kiersten White
• Crooked House - Agatha Christie
• The Next Together (#1) - Lauren James
• Noughts & Crosses (#1) - Malorie Blackman
• Geekerella - Ashley Poston
• Shaken (#3) - Joss Stirling
• Dumplin' (#1) - Julie Murphy
• Free (#7) - Kristen Ashley
• The Secret Runners of New York - Matthew Reilly*
• Unearthed (#1) - Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner
• The Paper Magician (#1) - Charlie N. Holmberg
• Poor Unfortunate Soul - Serena Valentino
• Until I Die (#2) - Amy Plum

I'm currently reading Dumplin', Hidden Bodies, Unearthed, and The Paper Magician.

REVIEW: Hunting Prince Dracula (#2) - Kerri Maniscalco

Title: Hunting Prince Dracula (#2)
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Series: Stalking Jack the Ripper
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Format: Audiobook
Time: 11Hrs 18Mins
Narrator: Nicola Barber
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper's true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe's best schools of forensic medicine...and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.

But her life's dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school's forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.

December Wrap Up

Welcome, to another wrap-up.

Where did December go to, I really want to know.

1. Goodnight Mister Tom - Michelle Magorian (⭐⭐⭐⭐)
2. Distortion (#2) - Victor Dixen (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
3. A Boy Called Christmas (#1) - Matt Haig (⭐⭐⭐⭐)
4. Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe - Melissa de la Cruz (⭐⭐)
5. Inferno (#5) - Julie Kagawa (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
6. The Inquisition (#2) - Taran Matharu (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
7. Crazy Rich Asians (#1) - Kevin Kwan (⭐⭐⭐⭐)
8. The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists (#1) - Gideon Defoe (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
9. Final Promise (#4) - Alexa Riley (⭐⭐⭐⭐)
10. Mr & Mrs (#1) - Alexa Riley (⭐⭐⭐)
11. Blackmailing the Virgin (#2) - Alexa Riley (⭐⭐⭐)
12. Hercule Poirot's Christmas - Agatha Christie (⭐⭐⭐⭐)
13. Stolen Songbird (#1) - Danielle L. Jensen (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
14. The Christmas Hirelings - Mary Elizabeth Braddon (⭐⭐⭐)

Overall not a bad reading month, especially in December

January TBR

Here we go again

Another TBR, where has December gone so fast, and when did the New Year get here? (really, I'm honestly asking you).

So as you can gather with the start of a new month, it's a new TBR, Aaaaaannnnndddd Resolutions! (yes it is that much of a shock I need to use an exclamation).

I have set a goal of only buying 1-2 books a month this year (if you know me well, such as my husband, you know this is good in theory).

I am also wanting to read the majority of the books on my bookshelves (some booktubers have a TBR shelf, I have bookcases).

So enough of my rambling here we go.

• The Dark Day's Pact (#2) - Alison Goodman
• The Wide Window (#3) - Lemony Snicket
• Charmcaster (#3) - Sebastien de Castell
• Long Dark Dust (#2) - J. P. Smythe
• The ABC Murders - Agatha Christie
• One of Us is Lying - Karen McManus
• Asylum (#1) - Madeleine Roux
• Horrorstӧr - Grady Hendrix
• The Battlemage (#3) - Taran Matharu
• Ruby Red (#1) - Kerstin Gier
• Day Shift (#2) - Charlaine Harris
• The Pirates! In an Adventure with Moby Dick (#2) - Gideon Defoe
• Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham (#8) - M. C. Beaton
• The Paper Magician (#1) - Charlie N. Holmberg
• Mortal Engines (#1) - Philip Reeve
• Three Dark Crowns (#1) - Kendare Blake
• Hidden Huntress (#2) - Danielle L. Jensen
• The Invisible Library (#1) - Genevieve Cogman
• First Man In - Ant Middleton
• Alice (#1) - Christina Henry
• And I Darken (#1) - Kiersten White
• Divergent (#1) - Veronica Roth
• Dumplin' (#1) - Julie Murphy
• Renegades (#1) - Marissa Meyer

Overall, not a bad list of books to read in January

REVIEW: A Boy Called Christmas (#1) - Matt Haig

Title: A Boy Called Christmas (#1)
Author: Matt Haig
Series: A Boy Called Christmas
Publisher: Cannongate Books
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Stephen Fry
Time: 4Hrs 26Mins
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

A Boy Called Christmas is a tale of adventure, snow, kidnapping, elves, more snow, and an eleven-year-old boy called Nikolas, who isn't afraid to believe in magic. 

December 2018 TBR

Again, something different,

I'm doing a TBR list, I have that many books to be read I need to try and read more of them before I buy more to add to the list.

So to keep myself accountable, I am going to post a monthly TBR, every month.

• Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe - Melissa de la Cruz (E-Book)
• A Boy Called Christmas (#1) - Matt Haig (Audiobook)
• Distortion (#2) - Victor Dixen (Paperback)
• Frostblood (#1) - Elly Blake (Paperback)
• The Bear and the Nightingale (#1) - Katherine Arden (Paperback)
• Stealing Snow - Danielle Paige (Paperback)
• Wintersong (#1) - S. Jae-Jones (Paperback)
• The Inquisition (#2) - Taran Matharu (Paperback)
• Stolen Songbird (#1) - Danielle L. Jensen (Paperback)
• The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (#1) - Gideon Defoe (Paperback)
• Inferno (#5) - Julie Kagawa (Paperback)
• Renegades (#1) - Marissa Meyer (Paperback)
• The Hazel Wood (#1) - Melissa Albert (Paperback)
• Hercule Poirot's Christmas - Agatha Christie (Paperback)
• The WItch's Tears (#2) - Katharine & Elizabeth Corr
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (#1) - Roald Dahl (Paperback)
• Twilight (#1) - Stephenie Meyer (Hardback)
• Shiver (#1) - Maggie Stiefvater (Paperback)
• The Sleeping Prince (#2) - Melinda Salisbury (Paperback)

I choose 19 books to read (see above), then I add 5 more from my previous TBR list, so if I am still reading the book, or I haven't started it but still want to, it gives me a second chance.

• Crazy Rich Asians (#1) - Kevin Kwan (Audiobook)
• Goodnight Mister Tom - Michelle Magorian (Paperback)
• Truthwitch (#1) - Susan Dennard (E-Book)
• The Infinite Sea (#2) - Rick Yancey (Paperback)
• A Shiver of Snow and Sky (#1) - Lisa Lueddecke (Paperback)

So overall that is 24 books, wish me luck.

REVIEW: The Silkworm (#2) - Robert Galbraith

Title: The Silkworm (#2)
Author: Robert Galbraith
Series: Cormoron Strike
Publisher: Hachette Audio UK
Format: Audiobook
Time: 17Hrs 16Mins
Narrator: Robert Glenister
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he has gone off by himself for a few days - as he has done before - and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home. But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realises.

The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were published it would ruin lives - so there are a lot of people who might want to silence him. And when Quine is found brutally murdered in bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any he has encountered before...

REVIEW: Blame It on Bianca Del Rio - Bianca Del Rio

Title: Blame it on Bianca Del Rio
Author: Bianca Del Rio
Publisher: Random House Audiobooks
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Bianca del Rio
Time: 4HRS 45Mins
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Audible Blurb

Not today, Satan.

The cheeky, larger-than-life drag queen and outrageous comic - 'The Joan Rivers of the Drag World' (New York Times) - who isn't afraid to shock or offend, shares her trademark acerbic wit and sharp commentary in this uproarious collection of advice.

When it comes to insulting comics, Bianca Del Rio is in a class by herself. Fierce, funny, and fabulous - a would-be love child sired by John Waters and birthed by Joan Rivers - Bianca sandblasted her name in the annals of pop culture on RuPaul's Drag Race. Thanks to her snarky frankness, impeccable comedic timing, and politically incorrect humour, she became the show's breakout star, winning its sixth season.

In Blame It on Bianca Del Rio, Bianca shares her opinions loudly and proudly, offering raucous, hilarious, no-holds-barred commentary on the everyday annoyances, big and small, that colour her world, and make it a living, albeit amusing, hell for anyone who inhabits it. A collection of biting advice, Blame It on Bianca Del Rio will shock you and keep you laughing. But be warned: it is not for the faint of heart!

REVIEW: Sleeping Giants (#1) - Sylvain Neuvel

Title: Sleeping Giants (#1)
Author: Sylvain Neuvel
Series: The THEMIS Files
Publisher: Penguin Books LTD
Format: Audiobook
Time: 8Hrs 27Mins
Narrators:  Andy Secombe, Christopher Ragland, Charlie Anson, Laurel Lefkow, Eric Meyers, Liza Ross
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

Deadwood, USA. A girl sneaks out just before dark to ride her new bike. Suddenly the ground disappears beneath her. Waking up at the bottom of a deep pit, she sees an emergency rescue team above her. The people looking down see something far stranger...

We always look forward. We never look back.

That girl grows up to be Dr Rose Franklin, a brilliant scientist and the leading world expert on what she discovered. An enormous, ornate handmade of an exceptionally rare metal which predates all human civilisation on the continent.

But this thing...it's different. It challenges us. It rewrites history.

An object whose origins and purpose are perhaps the greatest mystery humanity has ever faced. Solving the secret of where it came from - and how many more parts may be out there - could change life as we know it.

It dares us to question what we know about ourselves.

But what if we were meant to find it? And what happens when this vast, global puzzle is complete...

About everything.

REVIEW: Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda (#1) - Becky Albertali

Title: Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda (#1)
Author: Becky Albertali
Series: Creekwood
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Michael Crouch
Time: 6Hrs 44Mins
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met. 

REVIEW: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (#1) - Mackenzi Lee

Title: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (#1)
Author: Mackenzie Lee
Series: Guide
Publisher: Harper Audio
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Christian Coulson
Time: 10Hrs & 47Mins
Rating:⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

Henry “Monty” Montague doesn’t care that his roguish passions are far from suitable for the gentleman he was born to be. But as Monty embarks on his grand tour of Europe, his quests for pleasure and vice are in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and travelling companion, Percy.

So Monty vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.