I’m back this week having a great time with reading!
I’m still loving having this space to write about books, and post my book photos. I do miss the Bookstagram of 2019/20 though. There were so many great people on there that I would talk to pretty much daily. Now it is pretty dry. I do try to check out what my friends are posting but these days I just don’t organically see their content and I find it a bit tedious.The rest of the app is just reels and AI which I cannot be doing with.
Away from books, this week I have been enjoying watching Karen Puzzles on YouTube. I am a very casual jigsaw puzzler, but I do love to see people who are way more ambitious and speedy than me do jigsaws. It is the most relaxing content to have on while I’m writing or reading on the sofa. It has also inspired me to pick up another jigsaw on Vinted, so I look forward to starting that when it arrives. I haven’t done one since Christmas time, and now I have an active toddler so I am not expecting to be very fast at completing it!
Progress with my Summer TBR Challenge
First up this week, I finished Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I ended up reading it partly in print and partly on audiobook, and I really enjoyed experiencing it both ways.
It’s hard to say anything about this novel that hasn’t already been said a million times, but something that I really enjoyed was Austen’s incredible characterisation. Every character feels so distinct, and even those with only a handful of scenes are still memorable. I also enjoyed how witty and sharp the writing was as well.
I already knew the story from the film adaptation, which is unusual for me, as I rarely watch films, especially if I know I want to read the book one day. Even so, reading the novel was an entirely different experience. After finishing this, Mansfield Park has shot up my TBR.
I had planned to readThe Girl With No Reflection by Keshe Chow for the prompt to read the book on your shelves with the best cover. But despite the cover being absolutely stunning, I’m sad to say this was a DNF for me. I didn’t initially mind the writing, but cracks started to show as it progressed. I could see that we had on our hands a main character with zero sense whatsoever. This is something that really frustrates me in YA- just because these books centre younger characters, it doesn’t mean that they should be utterly devoid of intelligence. On reading some reviews I confirmed my suspicions were correct and that things apparently only got worse, so I decided to put this one down for good.
So, instead I have switched to reading Runemarks by Joanne M. Harris- who also wrote one of my all-time favourite books, Chocolat. I have had this on my TBR for years and years (I think 2018!).
Runemarks is fantasy novel set in a world where the old Norse gods have been banished and magic is feared. It’s a little different from my usual taste, and perhaps for that reason, when I have picked it up in the past the start of it never quite clicked with me. However, as soon as I started reading this time, I got immediately hooked. I can already tell, only 100 pages in, that this is going to be a highly rated read.
A happy TBR update!
At the end of last year, I was taking stock of my books and thinking how I had some that had been on there for years, and many that I predicted would be 5-star reads that I still hadn’t got to. It was this that made me want to do this TBR challenge, which has been my year-long goal. I haven’t been buying more books, although I received a few for my birthday, which I am not counting towards this challenge- any that I don’t read this year will formally be added to my 2027 TBR challenge.
So, with that said, I have hit 30 books to go! Some of the most intimidating books still on this list (The Count of Monte Cristo and The Brothers Karamazov) are being read slowly, and will be finished by the end of the year. I still have some other whoppers like Middlemarch, so we will see if I can make it through them come the bells at New Year.
If you’re nosy, you can check out the list here.
Thanks for reading another weekly update post. I hope you’re also finding some 5-star reads this week!
Read While It Rains 