2024

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It is all about sharing the books that you have recently added to your bookshelves. These books can be physical books, ebooks and of course audiobooks.

Hello!

This year I am trying to buy less books and read the books off my backlist. However, I have preordered some books so I have some nice surprises through the year. Two books arrived this week one was a preorder and the other was my little splurge in the Waterstones sale.

An Extra Pair of Hands by Kate Mosse – I really like Kate Mosse’s work but I have gotten on better with her fiction rather than her nonfiction so I thought I would give her nonfiction another go.
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Bettany Hughes – I love the documentaries that Bettany Hughes does so I thought it was high time I read one of her books. I preordered this a while ago and I am really looking forward to reading it soon.

My plan this year is also to read new books as quickly as possible and not have them sit around unread for years. I really hope I stick to it!

Happy Reading

Etsy

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Stacking the Shelves: 30/12/2023

Hello!

How is everyone coping with the weird time between Christmas and New Year? I am loving all this time I have for reading, oh and drinking loads of tea. I also went for a lovely walk today between all the rain we have been having so that was also a bonus.

Anyway, back to the books. These are the books I got for Christmas off my lovely family.

World of Wonder by Aimee Nezhukumatathil – My niece and nephew bought me this book for Christmas and it is a really nice surprise because I have never heard of this book before. I’m really excited to read this book as it looks fascinating.
The Earl and the Pharaoh by The Countess of Carnarvon – This was on my wish list and I dropped quite a few hints to my husband. My husband thankfully picked up on the hints and bought me this wonderful book. I have already started reading it and I adore it. I just love the writing of The Countess of Carnarvon, she is so good at getting the history across.
Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly by Jeremy Clarkson – I have already read this book in basically one sitting. I love the Diddly Squat books and this did not disappoint. Thankfully, this was another book I dropped a lot of hints for and the husband picked up on. I have a very good husband!

I hope everyone had a good Christmas with lots of book shaped presents under the tree.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Waterstones Challenge: Gloucester

Hello!

On my recent adventures I managed to tick off another Waterstones store. I found the Gloucester store really nice and I loved the layout of the ground floor. Sometimes the ground floors can be a little cramped like the one in Lincoln but this one was laid out really well with plenty of room to move around and not get in each others way.

I only purchased one book as I am trying to be good as Christmas is just around the corner. However, the book I purchased is rather beautiful and one that I look forward to reading soon.

So there is number 16 off my list. Still many many more to go.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Waterstones Challenge: Lincoln

Hello!

I met up with some friends this week in Lincoln and this meant I could tick off another Waterstones from my Waterstones Challenge. I must admit my challenge has not been going well recently but I’m hoping I can get back into it again properly soon.

This was a lovely store with a very traditional store front. I found the ground floor rather cramped which made browsing rather a trial but the second and third floors were lovely. I especially loved the science fiction and fantasy section which was huge. They also had a dedicated cat section which was brilliant!

Here are the lovely books I purchased or should I say my wonderful husband purchased for me. I must admit social media made me buy The Pumpkin Spice Cafe so hopefully I enjoy it.

I have already started reading Hauntings by Neil Oliver and I am really enjoying it so far.

So there is number 15 off the list. I’m not even thinking about how many I have left.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Stacking the Shelves: 21/10/2023

Hello!

It was my birthday yesterday and I got some lovely books to add to my shelves. I always love getting books for my birthday and thankfully people have realised they are some of my favourite presents.

The Romantic by William Boyd – Boyd is a new author for me but my niece chose the book for my birthday because she thought I would enjoy it. I am looking forward to reading it.
Cats in Medieval Manuscripts by Kathleen Walker-Meikle – I read the Dog version of this a few years ago and absolutely loved it. I have been trying to find this book for about two years and my wonderful husband managed to find a copy for my birthday. I will be reading next because it looks so interesting.
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien – Yes, I have read The Hobbit many times and yes I have many beautiful editions of The Hobbit but I don’t have this beautiful edition. This edition will proudly sit on my Tolkien bookshelf.

Have you added any new books to your bookshelves recently?

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Stacking the Shelves: 22/09/2023

Hello!

I thought it was time to show some of the books I have recently added to my ever growing TBR piles around the house.

The Words of Kings and Prophets by Shauna Lawless – I have the first book of the series and I plan on reading it soon so I thought I would buy the second one so I could read it straight after the first one.

Tudor England: A History by Lucy Wooding – You might have noticed that I am going through quite a Tudor phase at the moment. I’m also preferring nonfiction as well with my reading which is rather strange for me.
Queens of the Age of Chivalry by Alison Weir – Alison Weir is one of my all time favourite authors. I just can’t enough of her books.

Have you added any new books to your bookshelves recently?

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Stacking the Shelves: 3/06/2023

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend so far. I will be honest I ended up in a bookshop again this week and I bought 3 books. I only went in to buy Yellowface but I ended up buying a few extra books. However, the books were paid for by my Waterstones points so at least they were technically free.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway – I’ve always wanted to read this and I thought it would be a nice short read to read during the summer.
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang – I’ve read so many fantastic reviews about this book I just had to get it. I’m really hoping I get to read this over the summer.
Atlas The Story of Pa Salt by Harry Whittaker and Lucinda Riley – This was another book I’ve seen loads of good things about so it slipped into the basket as well.

I’m so excited to get reading these books and I am really hoping I have some time over the summer to read them, preferably in the sunshine with a glass of something nice.

Have you added any new books to your bookshelves recently?

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Stacking the Shelves: 18/02/2023

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far.

I thought I would join in with Stacking the Shelves this week because I actually bought some books this week. I am making an effort to buy less books this year and read the ones I own and so far I have been doing quite well.

I have decided to read the Dr Ruth Galloway books from the beginning because I haven’t read them all. This has also meant buying some of the books I don’t own and discovered this lovely book set and although I do own a couple of these books I just couldn’t help myself with the lovely book set.

I have already started reading The Crossing Places and absolutely loving it.

Have you added any new books to your bookshelves recently?

Happy Reading

Etsy

Stacking the Shelves: 29/10/2022

Hello and welcome to my first ever Stacking the Shelves post.

This week I spent a few days in my favourite place, Bath. This also meant I visited my favourite bookshops and went a little crazy on my book buying.

So here are the books and the bookshops I bought them from.

Persephone Books

I always love how Persephone Books have little descriptions of each book on the bookshelves so you can immediately see what the book is generally about. This also means that I found a lot of books I wanted to buy and read. I actually started to read The Victorian Chaise-Longue as soon as I got back to the hotel so that has already been read and reviewed.

Mr B’s Emporium Bookshop

I really want to see the film of this but I always love to read the book first so hopefully I will get reading this soon. I would have liked to have spent longer in this bookshop but unfortunately there was rather a nasty smell in the shop that rather put me off my book browsing.

Toppings and Company Booksellers of Bath

Now I will be honest I went a little crazy in Toppings and Company. Once I had filled my arms up with books I passed the books to my husband so when I went to the checkout the nice lady on the checkout had a bit of a shock. In fact she thought I had started Christmas shopping so she was even more surprised when I said they were all for me. In all honesty I am so excited to start reading all these lovely books I am not sure what to read first. What do you think I should read next?

So there are all my new books! I am returning to Bath in December so I really must be careful I don’t go book shopping crazy again.

Have you added any new books to your bookshelves recently?

Happy Reading

Etsy

Waterstones Challenge: Cheltenham

Hello!

Today I met up with a friend in Cheltenham and got to tick off number 14 off my Waterstones Challenge. My poor challenge has been rather forgotten about because of covid putting a halt to travelling etc but now I am ready to get ticking off a few more Waterstones stores.

I loved the Cheltenham store, it has three floors and the Science Fiction and Fantasy section was fantastic. I also had a question about a book and the staff were so helpful it was brilliant.

I know you are wondering what books I bought, so here is the list.

Quick Reads

Blind Spot by Paula Hawkins

The Cutting Season by M. W. Craven

Darkness Rising by A. A. Dhand

Witness by Alex Whittle

My husband was overjoyed to see these books because they were only £1 each. He said I could have as many as I wanted but sadly there were only four there. I love the Quick Reads books because I find them great introductions to authors I have never read before.

Books

Witherward by Hannah Mathewson

This is my husbands choice but I hope to read it as well as it looks interesting.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

This was recommended to me by my niece so I thought I would give it a try.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

This was recommended to me by a member of my family but I can’t remember who. Either way I’m looking forward to reading it as I love a sci-fi read.

Gallant by V. E. Schwab

I bought this purely because I have seen a lot of people reading and talking about it on Bookstagram.

So there is my book haul. I can’t wait to get reading these books.

Please drop me a comment if you have read any of these books or if you have a favourite Waterstones store.

Happy Reading.

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you