Here‘s your picks @CSeydel - happy reading 🎃
1. Needful Things (one of my faves!)
2. The Turn of the Screw
3. Reaper Man
4. In Cold Blood
5. The Trees
So hard to pick only 5!
#trappedinaspookyhouse

Super interesting read for #doublespin the robots are coming! 🤖

#roll100 soft pick. Probably would have enjoyed it more if I‘d read it 10-15 years ago but there was a bit too much teenage *drama* for my almost 40 year old self 🤣 a quick easy read though & I was drawn into the mystery

I liked this more second time around (first read about 20 years ago) but definitely the weakest of the vampire chronicles so far. Theological musings really not my thing, looking forward to getting back to proper vampire adventures in the next instalment 🤞

#roll100 LOVED this! My absolute favourite character in Greek mythology (I wore my dissertation on the portrayal of Medea through the ages), this was a really compassionate retelling of the many myths that surround the original scorned woman. Natalie Haynes has her retelling coming out later this month so I‘m really excited to compare the 2!

#bookspin I love the witches - such great satire, and actually some really thought provoking moments. It feels bittersweet to be closing in on the final Discworld book…

#roll100 felt like I missed something with this one 🤷🏻‍♀️ I enjoyed the experimental moon section more than of the others… just didn‘t really know what was going on for most of it!

Been a while since I‘ve devoured a book like this - read it in one day (yay for bank holidays!) absolutely LOVED it. Really enjoyed all the video chat and the story totally sucked me in. I have a book hangover now 😆 also got me a line in #bookspinbingo

#doublespin for this month was 5 more short stories in this anthology… I‘m up to more modern stories now and finding them more enjoyable than some of the older stuff!

That‘s more like it! #roll100 and this was super creepy. Really good at building tension and a nice short read!

#roll100 really not for me. Too long, misogynistic characters, and a mystery that I didn‘t find that interesting. Onto the next!

#roll100 plus book club read for this month. Really enjoyed this - although some pretty harrowing sections about Covid/Floyd George which made for difficult (but important) reading. I‘m looking forward to discussing this one!

Plus, first time I‘ve come across a dog in a book with the same name as mine!

#bookspin Interesting story of an impoverished girl in the Middle Ages (?) - lots of talk of the persecution of women / accusations of witchcraft. It was interesting but didn‘t really grip me..

#roll100 soft pick. I absolutely loved the relationship between Rao & Adam and how slowly it built up, but the broader sci-fi plot was a bit lacking. Really interesting premise, but the story didn‘t quite ever come together.

Pretty weird but enjoyable… and as a crazy dog lady it resonated with me 🤣

#doublespin Enjoyed the opener of this Grishaverse duology - almost done with the books and then I can watch the show!

#roll100 read and a soft pick from me - the pacing was a little off but this ramped up by the end - it felt Rosemarys baby-esque to me. Eloped all the discussion of old film too!

#bookspin bittersweet to have finished this series, so wholesome! I really liked all the inter-species discussion, such a fun book!

Not what I was expecting but found this very interesting. Thought provoking on feminism, misogyny & self-acceptance in particular. And it made me bloody starving 😆

#bookspin I feel like I may need to reread this (maybe with some sort of guide alongside?!?) to understand what exactly was going on 🙈

#roll100 a darkly comic domestic ‘thriller‘ - always enjoy Graham Norton‘s fiction

#doublespin done - another fun Famous Five book - so much food in this book 😆 also I know it‘s old but I found it hard to believe that anyone would let 4 children go off in a horse drawn caravan by themselves 🤯 Good fun - trying to teach Gary to #bemoretimmy

#roll100 fairly good book but nothing amazing. I actually think the tv series was a bit more compelling. Onto the next!

This was so close to a DNF for me. I really felt that it needed better editing. I found the concept of the astrarium confusing & didn‘t feel that it was properly explained at any point. The pacing was way off and overall it could have been a good deal shorter.

The premise of this seemed really promising but just fell a bit flat for me. As other reviews have said, I think it was trying a bit too hard to tick off multiple ‘hot topics‘, so then didn‘t really succeed in an in depth view of any of them.
#roll100

#bookspinbingo I absolutely loved it! Really thought provoking alternate history…. I loved all the etymology discussion - language is amazing. Unflinching look at colonialism - recommended

My book club read for the month… a soft pick 3.5* not my usual read but I‘m off work this week and it was actually a nice cosy holiday/beach read. Always nice too when a book is written from the perspective of and focused on older women 🤘 The main character is not very likeable at first but she did grow on my e by the end (and it‘s definitely intentional!)

#roll100 I absolutely loved this! A really interesting take on the story of the Trojan War, from the perspectives of Clytemnestra & Helen. I liked that it was grounded in realism, with divine acts from the Iliad explained without it being due to the gods. Would definitely read more by this author.

#doublespin I enjoyed this more than the first instalment, better character development & and more interesting ‘mystery‘ - looking forward to reading the next in the series!

#roll100 what a mindfuck! Fast paced, a quick read, blew my mind a little bit 🤯

#bookspin Really interesting reading this book from the 1950s during the age of AI and the rise of the machine. Frighteningly plausible.

#roll100 another thriller set at St Oswalds… Straitley reminds me of some of my old classics professors 😆 enjoyed it! Looking forward to finishing off the series

#roll100 had high hopes for this one, and it starts wrong, very Annihilation-esque. It just fell a bit flat for me, a bit slow and no real explanation of events. I would have liked some flashbacks to explain how planet Earth had got to this point. I do think it would make a good film though!

#roll100 another absolutely beautiful novel from Elif Shafa - she has such a talent for description and drawing you into the lives of her characters. Heartbreaking that so much of this is based on true events.

#doublespin done - I LOVE these books! Another cosy, uplifting sci-fi book, interesting thoughts on history, community and tradition.

#bookspin for April done! Really compelling and thought-provoking read on the power of diversity, recommended.

#bookspin finished! At 1100 pages long that was a bit epic, but actually really enjoyed it! Some of the cryptology stuff was a bit too in-depth for me, but I enjoyed all the different threads running through, and some great characters!

Super interesting read, and a really interesting perspective, focusing on a woman who has been largely forgotten by history

Really enjoyed my second #roll100 read for March. Very, very weird, and at times hard to keep track of what was really, and what was a dream, a pretty wild ride!

#roll100 An interesting take on the well known tale of Penelope waiting for Odysseus to return from the Trojan War. Soft pick for me

Love Sam Vimes 😆 I wish someone would adapt City Watch into a TV series. This got #doublespin done early in March, which is good cos my #bookspin choice is 1100 pages long 🤯

Not my usual sort of read, but I thought this was great! Completely bonkers plot, very very funny, and some amazing characters! Will definitely be reading some more Hiaasen.

And 2 lines in #bookspinbingo which I think is a record for me!

Absolutely loved this. A years adventure in a 20kmx20km map centred around the authors home. Really made me think about exploring more of the area in which I live - something I did a lot during Covid but may resume once I‘m moving a bit more!

Also some really interesting thoughts around sustainability, right to roam, housing, and numerous other topics.

#ASingleMap

Final #roll100 read for Feb and also scored a line in #bookspinbingo recovering from surgery and not being able to do anything has its advantages as gives me lots of reading time!

Really enjoyed this, loved the prose, and there were a couple of twists that I did not see coming. Really interesting subject too.

#roll100 didn‘t love it, didn‘t hate it. It really felt like a book that I would enjoy, delving into the world of Fae, but it didn‘t quite grip me, and I didn‘t really feel invested in any of the characters.

A trip down memory lane for #doublespin enjoying my reread of my favourite series asked around 7-8. Love all the descriptions of the food they get to eat I remember being really jealous of all the weird picnics 🤣

Enjoyable when not feeling at my best!

#roll100 read - This was an easy read, fairly enjoyable, but the ending felt like a bit of a cop out to me

#bookspin this month was a reread - still loved this. It‘s really nice to read some wholesome, positive AI for a change!

And I should have a good month of reading ahead as I‘ve been in hospital again after what was left of my appendix got infected so have now had 2 appendectomy‘s 🤯

TJR is just the BEST. #roll100 read and this has me near tears by the end. Beautiful writing and a horrendous premise.

This was a reread, and sadly not as good as I remembered it (first read when I was about 15 so a lonnnng time ago!) Really not a fan of the pedophilia that was completely romanticised. Did get me a line in #bookspinbingo though for Jan!

And #bookspin list for Feb!