Up and Coming: April

I always used to pride myself as being organised and top of things when it came to the blog.

The last month has taught me it has been circumstances allowing that to happen.

I’m more organised for sure: I even have a spreadsheet of posts and my twitter schedule. That’s never happened before. I’m reading more; a commute means guaranteed reading time.

I haven’t seemed to have managed to get the posts done, though. My weekends are frantically catching up on reviews before I forget how I feel or writing content before the dates pass me by. I hate it is turning something I love into a chore.

Happy New Year: Looking Back at 2017/Resolutions

2017 has ended on a positive note for me. I’ve actually learnt to look back at what I’ve achieved and feel proud. For one thing: I now have a Masters!

How about resolutions for this year? Getting in shape and finding a job in my dream industry are two of them. They’re not the type that I feel I can blog about, however. I don’t want to spend my time writing about how I’m sending off applications, for starters!

My main aim, however, is blog related. I want to keep more up to date with reviews this year. My first target is to get to that golden 80% ratio on Netgalley (you may have noticed some extra reviews flying out over the last few weeks).

But I also want to get more books reviewed on time. I request them, then get caught up with blog tours and older books and miss the magic three-month time period where book publicity has the biggest impact. I review, not only because I love it, but because I want to help out the authors any way I can. A review is better than no review, but actually getting it out on time would be even better.

Book Review: The Tea Planter’s Bride by Janet MacLeod Trotter

Goodreads Synopsis: When Sophie is suddenly orphaned at the age of six, she is taken from her parents’ tea plantation, the only home she has ever known, to be raised halfway across the world in Scotland.

As the years pass and her exotic childhood becomes a distant memory, adventurous Sophie finds refuge in her friendship with her kind, shy cousin, Tilly. It is no surprise when the girls follow each other to India to embark on new adventures, new lives and new loves.

But the reality of 1920s India is far removed from their dream: the jungles are too humid and the breathtaking tea gardens too remote. And amongst the stifling beauty, intrigue abounds; while Sophie struggles with affairs of the heart, Tilly, alone in a difficult world, delves into the mystery of Sophie’s parents’ deaths. As the past begins to darken their friendship, will long-held secrets shatter everything they’ve ever striven for?

Back to Blogging!

Look who is getting herself back in the blogging business?

I apologise for the lack of posts and interaction over the last couple of months. As you may be aware from previous posts, I have just undertaken a MA. It’s been the most intense year of my life, juggling working part-time and commuting to university as well as studying. I reached a point where I was enjoying writing the reviews, but everything else had lost its fun. I couldn’t decide what additional posts to do, I didn’t have time to watch the films I wanted to review and promoting the posts just saw me falling further and further behind.

I decided to take a break. It was the right thing to do: I was stressed out enough as it was without adding a hectic blogging schedule into the mix. A couple of weeks ago (just as I started getting myself organised again!) I realised how much I was missing blogging and now feel that I am ready to give it my all once and again.

Book Buzz!

When you start to lose a blogging buzz, you know it’s time for a breather. Reviews were getting on top of me (books as well as films) and I needed to rethink my priorities.

Around a year ago, my book blogging habits changed when I discovered Netgalley. Unfortunately, I requested too many over the first few months and have been scrambling to catch up ever since, missing publishing dates and generally falling behind.

I am not one of those people who complain about having too many proof-copies sitting around. I am forever grateful for the books I have received, whether physically or digitally, and will get around to all of them, somehow.

Book Review: Gifted Thief

 

Integrity had no intention of ever returning to the Sidhe world. Why should she? She has a life here.

But despite being an expert thief trained to calculate every possibility, Integrity ends up being blackmailed to help the very clans she ran away from. She didn’t see that one coming. Magic is failing and the balance can only be restored with her and her bloodline.

Not everyone in the Sidhe world is happy about her arrival. With the help of her friends and a genie called Bob, Integrity must battle both magical monsters and her attraction to the Steward’s son.

Up and Coming: November

Who would have thought a monthly update could signal so many changes in my life each time? When I wrote October’s schedule, I was just starting the next step of my life, and here I am, a month in.

Everything is going well, which is nice. At least, I think it is. I am sitting here in a haze of exhaustion at the moment after a long shift at work yesterday, but that is to be expected.

Although things have been really busy, I’m pleased to have kept on top of posts. Films have been problematic as I have very few evenings, reducing my turn around on lovefilm. As they are being a nightmare at sending what I actually want, it means I’ve had to be very flexible in regards to what I am reviewing. Books, however, are falling into place nicely – it’s amazing what a train journey twice a week can help you get through.

Book Review: A Confession

An unknown narrator has a confession to make. In fact, he has several, and you, the avid reader/listener are going to bear witness as he bares his soul. From childhood bullies to drug addictions in his twenties to failed attempts at love, this is a man who has a lot to get off his chest.

You’re not going anywhere, right? Good. Because there are plenty more confessions coming out and at the end of it all, a decision has to be made. After all, all his secrets are out in the open now, so can the avid listener walk away?

 

 

Book Review: Talon

Plot: Forming a Rada-bond with the ice-tiger, Rekala, should have been a momentous occasion for Talon. It’s what he has been waiting for his entire life. But when old enemies kidnap Rekala, Talon knows his quest is only beginning.

Talon is more powerful than anyone dreamed though, making a secondary bond with Tiaro. A daring rescue mission starts Talon on an epic journey that will challenge all he knows about himself and his loved ones, testing his head and heart in ways he had never imagined. Talon must discover if he is strong enough to protect those he cares about.

 

Book Review: The Undays of Aralias Lyons

Plot: Aralias Lyons is a time-traveller. He is not the only one who can manipulate time though and his son is kidnapped by a mad-man wishing to control the time slipstream. Aralias will do anything to get Jack back.

Accompanied by a mysterious Clara Heartwell, Aralias can’t help falling in love as he fights mechanical dragons and clockwork men to save both his son and the world. But saving Jack might not be enough, not if time has been damaged beyond repair. Can Aralias save both his son and the woman he loves or will the cost be too great?