Just a quick a quick update about where I am up to this week with my reading.
I am still trying to get out of a reading funk I am currently in. I am really enjoying the two books I am currently making my way through, so I can’t blame it on the fact I am reading the wrong books at the moment.
I am currently still making my way through The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I am 351 pages into this one and I am finding the story is picking up and I am getting more attached to the characters. I can’t wait to dive into this more and get more into the story.
I am also reading Malice by John Gwynne and again this book is really good. I am 96 pages into this. The characters are extremely likeable and the plot is gripping.
My reading goal for the year is 75 books and I am currently 9 books behind schedule so I will need to pick up more books and hopefully I should be out my funk soon so that I can complete this challenge.
I am also a very big planner and organiser, I have just currently bought a new planner, the Passion Planner, and I am finding that I am managing time a little better so I am going to schedule in books I want to read in the month so hopefully this will help me get back on track. I do have a planning blog that I am starting it and its linked in the menu bar at the top of my page.
What have you been up to this week? What have you been reading? Let me know in the comments below
Just thought I would do a quick post to go over what I am hoping to read/continue to read in the month of July.
The two books I am carrying over from June are:
The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J Maas
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
I am currently enjoying these books and think I should have The Assassin’s blade read by the end of today
The books I am planning to read in the month of July are:
The City of Brass by S.A Chakraborty
This book will be a re-read for me but I want to continue on with the rest of the series and I would prefer to do this after refreshing myself with the story and the world again.
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
I hope I manage to get through all these books, my reading has been drifting off in recent months so I am hoping to get back onto this month and get through some of the series I have unfinished on my shelves.
If you have read any of these let me know what you thought of them and let me know what your reading in the comments below.
Just thought I would give an update on what I have been reading this passed week, well technically this month. I have been in a reading funk and I am hoping I am now coming out of the funk so hopefully I will get more reading done in this last week.
There has been so much going on in the news that I am trying to educate myself on, I have purchased some kindle books which I think would help in this process. The books I have currently purchased are:
If you have any other recommendations please let me know in the comments below.
What I have finished this month
I have finished my first book of June, I finished Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I gave this book a 4 stars and the review will be up on my blog on Friday 26th June so make sure you check that out.
What I am currently reading
The Assassin’s Blade Synopsis
Celaena Sardothien owes her reputation to Arobynn Hamel. He gave her a home at the Assassins’ Guild and taught her the skills she needed to survive.
Arobynn’s enemies stretch far and wide – from Adarlan’s rooftops and its filthy dens, to remote islands and hostile deserts. Celaena is duty-bound to hunt them down. But behind her assignments lies a dark truth that will seal her fate – and cut her heart in two forever…
The Black and The Blue Synopsis
Veteran police officer and CNN law enforcement analyst Matthew Horace offers an unforgettable account of the racism, bigotry, and colorlines that permeate America’s law enforcement culture, institution, and system, and lays out a blueprint for change.
Matthew Horace was a police officer for 28 years in every state in the country. Yet it was after seven years of service when Horace found himself face-down on the ground with a gun pointed at his head by a fellow white officer, that he fully understood the racism seething within America’s police departments.
Using heart-wrenching reportage, on-the-ground research, and personal accounts garnered by interviews with police and government officials around the country, Horace presents an insider’s critical examination of police bias and tactics in what he concludes is an “archaic system” built on “toxic brotherhood.” He dissects some of the nation’s most highly publicized police shootings to explain how the bias’ that black and white police harbor bring detrimental outcomes to the people they serve. Horace shares fresh analysis on communities experiencing the harm of racist policing such as Ferguson, Detroit, St. Louis, Baltimore, and Chicago to uncover what has sown the seeds of violence.
Timely and provocative, The Black and The Blue sheds light on what truly goes on behind the blue line.
The Way of Kings Synopsis
I long for the days before the Last Desolation.
The age before the Heralds abandoned us and the Knights Radiant turned against us. A time when there was still magic in the world and honour in the hearts of men.
The world became ours, and yet we lost it. Victory proved to be the greatest test of all. Or was that victory illusory? Did our enemies come to recognise that the harder they fought, the fiercer our resistance? Fire and hammer will forge steel into a weapon, but if you abandon your sword, it eventually rusts away.
There are four whom we watch. The first is the surgeon, forced to forsake healing to fight in the most brutal war of our time. The second is the assassin, a murderer who weeps as he kills. The third is the liar, a young woman who wears a scholar’s mantle over the heart of a thief. The last is the prince, a warlord whose eyes have opened to the ancient past as his thirst for battle wanes.
The world can change. Surgebinding and Shardwielding can return; the magics of ancient days become ours again. These four people are key.
One of them may redeem us. And one of them will destroy us.
If you have any recommendations of books on the BLM movement or if you have any thoughts on the books I am currently reading, let me know in the comments below.
Author: Brandon Sanderson Pages: 652 Star Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪
Synopsis
Warbreaker is the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn’t like his job, and the immortal who’s still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago.
Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren’s capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people.
By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.
My thoughts
Once again I love the stories and worlds which Brandon Sanderson creates. He is definitely one of my favourite authors. Lightsong was a really interesting character. He was funny and added humour when the story was getting a little rougher.
Vivenna was a character I really liked, I found her growth from a spoiled rebellious girl to a mature adult. I loved all her parts in the story and was really invested in what happened to her. She took on her on role that she was thrown into when her father had a change of heart.
Siri was my least favourite character in the book, it is hard to explain how I felt about her, she seemed selfish with her actions, I understand her life was turned upside down but I think that she blindy went into things she should have been aware of due to her studies without thinking of the consequences.
overall I really enjoyed the book and the twists and turns that where thrown in there. Brandon Sanderson has such an amazing imagination. His magic systems are just not something I have ever seen before. They are so thought out and really well described and explained.
Have you read this book? what did you think? Let me know in the comments below.#
Author: Val McDermid Pages: 292 Star Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪
| Synopsis |
Val McDermid is one of the finest crime writers we have, whose novels have captivated millions of readers worldwide with their riveting narratives of characters who solve complex crimes and confront unimaginable evil. In the course of researching her bestselling novels, McDermid has become familiar with every branch of forensics, and now she uncovers the history of this science, real-world murders and the people who must solve them. The dead talk – to the right listener. They can tell us all about themselves: where they came from, how they lived, how they died, and, of course, who killed them. Forensic scientists can unlock the mysteries of the past and help serve justice using the messages left by a corpse, a crime scene, or the faintest of human traces. Forensics draws on interviews with some of these top-level professionals, ground-breaking research, and McDermid’s own original interviews and firsthand experience on scene with top forensic scientists. Along the way, McDermid discovers how maggots collected from a corpse can help determine one’s time of death; how a DNA trace a millionth the size of a grain of salt can be used to convict a killer; and how a team of young Argentine scientists led by a maverick American anthropologist were able to uncover the victims of a genocide. It’s a journey that will take McDermid to war zones, fire scenes, and autopsy suites, and bring her into contact with both extraordinary bravery and wickedness, as she traces the history of forensics from its earliest beginnings to the cutting-edge science of the modern-day.
| My thoughts |
I also find it difficult to review non-fiction books but I found this one so informative.
I found this book extremely interesting and very well researched. I like the fact it was based on UK proceedings but also touched on cases in other countries. It had a mixture of old and new cases, some of the newer cases were ones I was familiar with due to them being on the news in the UK. The author puts enough detail into the case to discuss the topic she is talking about but she didn’t pry into the lives too much. There were so much I didn’t realise about the forensics in cases and how they work to catch the suspects.
Val McDermid also writes mysteries but I haven’t had a chance to pick any up at the moment.
I would highly recommend this book for people who are interested in forensics.
