Category: Read with me

Read with me – November

Posted on by Pam

Hello!  I’m afraid I’ve not done very well this month!  I had 1 book that took me quite a long time to get through, and so that threw off the month!

I read Summer Knight, book 4 by Jim Butcher.

I’ve started The Sword and Laser pick for October is Finder by Suzanne Palmer.

I’ve not read either of the below:

3rd Degree by James Patterson and Andrew Gross.

And the Robert Asprin’s mighty tome is actually multiple books, so I will read Myth Inc in Action.

Since it’s a new month, there’s a new Sword and Laster pick, which is Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.

I’m going to resist the urge to add any more books , like say, the next Dresden book Death Masks.  That will have to wait for me to read all of my NetGalley books for November, then the above books.

We’ll see what happens this month!

Read With Me: Summer Knight by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files book 4)

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Summer Knight by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files 4) is our introduction to more of the fae than just Harry’s Godmother.  Now we meet the Queens of the Summer and Winter courts.  The knight of the Summer court has been found dead at the bottom of the stairs, and so the Winter Queen “requests” Harry investigate.

Harry’s not in the best place after Susan was bitten by one of the Red Court vampires in the previous book, the White Council aren’t happy that war with the Red Court was declared by Harry trying to do the right thing, and Harry has been obsessively trying to find the cure for Susan.  

I really enjoy the Dresden Files books, and this was no exception, especially as our cast is slowly growing!

Summer Knight (Dresden Files 4) was published 3rd September 2002, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones, and your local independent bookshop.

You can follow Jim Butcher on his website, Twitter and Facebook.

My reviews for previous Dresden Files books are below:

Storm Front

Fool Moon

Grave Peril

Read with me – October 2020

Posted on by Pam

Hello there! So, I thought I’d tell you briefly about how my plans for books to read in September went, and then tell you what I’m planning to read for October!

I did read the books that I had planned to read in September, on top of the NetGalley books I was reading for their publishing dates, and I found it a good motivator to read books that I have on my shelves rather than just always reading NetGalley.  This is a pit I can fall in to as I have quite a backlog to get through!

Here are the reviews, because yes, I’ve read and reviewed them!  It’s a habit I’m getting into for all the books I read.

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher – Harry Dresden book 3

Skincare by Caroline Hirons

Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow

And I plan to do this again for October!

I’m going to carry on with Harry Dresden, so it’s time for Summer Knight, book 4 by Jim Butcher.

I’ve read the first 2 books in the Woman’s Murder Club series, and have the 20th to review, so let’s add 3rd Degree by James Patterson and Andrew Gross.

The Sword and Laser pick for October is Finder by Suzanne Palmer.

And the Robert Asprin’s mighty tome is actually multiple books, so I will read Myth Inc in Action.

Read With Me: Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow

Posted on by Pam

My review:?????

Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow is about January Scaller, a young girl who grows up in a large house as the ward of her father’s employer, Mr Locke, a collector of curiosities and artifacts.  Life is stifling and boring for her, but less so when she finds a book that changes so much for her.

I really enjoyed this book, and had a couple of moments of realisation whilst reading it about things that the author had been pointing at since the beginning, but which I only realised a page or so before the twist was revealed.  

I read this book because it was the September pick for the Sword and Laser bookclub, which has introduced me to so many wonderful books that I might not have found!

Ten Thousand Doors of January was published on 10th September 2019, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones, and your local independent bookshop.

You can follow Alix E Harrow on her website and Twitter.

Read With Me: Skincare by Caroline Hirons

Posted on by Pam

My review:?????

Skincare by Caroline Hirons was a book that I was pretty excited about, because I’ve been following Caroline Hirons since 2017.  I have found some of my favourite products through her, such as Moringa Cleansing Balm.  So when I heard about the book, I pre-ordered it!

And wow, I am really happy that I did! I learnt so much from reading the book, and I know that it’s going to be a book that I refer back to. 

Caroline Hirons has broken it down to talk about skin type and condition, and to tell you what that means.  She goes through a morning routine and an evening routine, and explains what product ingredients mean, what ingredients you need to look for at what age, and all in all, wow!

It is one of those books that I know I’ll be talking about with friends and that I already have talked about with family!

The mug was my favourite of Caroline Hirons offerings with Holy Flaps, and I also love the other side of it, which is below.

Skincare was published on 25th June 2020, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones (signed edition and pink signed edition as well!) and your local independent bookshop.

You can follow Caroline Hirons on her website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube.  Her Skincare Freaks Facebook group is here.

Other blog posts about skin care, and Caroline Hirons is mentioned in both of them….:

Glow Tonic from Pixi

DediKated – An evening with Kate Somerville

Read With Me: Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files book 3)

Posted on by Pam

My review:?????

Grave Peril is the third in the Dresden Files series, and introduces us to Michael Carpenter, a Knight of the Cross, and Harry’s friend.  We also meet Thomas Raith, a White Court vampire, and Harry’s faerie godmother, Leanansidhe.

So yes, we have vampires in this book, along with ghosts, and a Knight of the Cross who winces when Harry swears.  Something is making ghosts attack people, and Harry is out to find out why.

I like the building of Harry’s friends and contacts.  This is a good sign of a book series building momentum, especially as it means that people can appear in future books, and you remember their previous adventures, or how Harry put his foot in it before.

Grave Peril was published on 4th September 2001, and is available to buy from Amazon, Waterstones and your local independent bookshop.

You can follow Jim Butcher on his website, Twitter and Facebook.

My reviews for previous Dresden Files books are below:

Storm Front

Fool Moon

Read with me – September 2020

Posted on by Pam

Hello!  Yes, a different post to all of the book reviews I do!

I was having a think this morning, and maybe it’s early morning brain, but I thought it might be fun for me to tell you some of the books I’m going to read in the next month, and maybe you can read along at the same time, or wait for my review to come out at the end of the month.

Currently, I am reading a lot of books before they are published, thanks to NetGalley, so I’m not going to bother telling you about those, unless you want to know….(tell me in the comments!).  But, what I am going to tell you about are the books I’m going to read because they’re either sitting on my shelf waiting for me to read them, or they are the book for the month from Sword and Laser book club!

I’ve been a follower of Sword and Laser for ages, and I often forget to read the book in the month they set it for (see above re lots of books), but I’m going to add their books to my to read list on Trello, and regularly read those!

I have the Harry Dresden books to re-read, so those are going to appear over the next few months.

And I’ll pick something I already have in my office, sitting waiting for me to read!  Here’s my book trolley from July last year.  It’s not looking anywhere near as organised today!

So, for September, I’m going to read:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow (Sword and Laser pick)

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (I might read more in the series, this is at least what I’ll read)

Skincare by Caroline Hirons

I’ll publish the reviews at the end of the month, and we’ll see how this works out!