2020

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and a share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?

Hello!

I hope everyone is well and getting lots of reading done whilst we are all at home. I myself have managed to get a bit more reading done recently. So here is my WWW Wednesday…

What I am currently reading

Just the one book at the moment but I am dipping into several poetry books. I was planning on reading another book before this but I changed my mind.

What I recently finished reading

Two of the books I read for my course and I will admit I loved the Euripides! I finally finished The Enterprise War which has taken me forever and to be honest I am glad that is over as it just dragged so much.

What I will read next

I will put these two on the list but who knows as I do tend to change my mind. I had planned to read The Lantern Men next but decided to stick with Star Trek so we will wait and see what happens when I finish my current read.

So that is my WWW Wednesday! Please drop me a comment with the link to your WWW Wednesday or let me know your thoughts on my chosen reads or both.

Stay safe my fellow book dragons.

Star Trek Discovery: The Enterprise War (Review)

Star Trek Discovery: The Enterprise War by John Jackson Miller

About the author

John Jackson Miller is the New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Star Trek: Prey trilogy (Hell’s Heart, The Jackal’s Trick, The Hall of Heroes) and the novels Star Trek: The Next Generation: Takedown; Star Wars: A New Dawn; Star Wars: Kenobi Star Wars: Knight Errant; Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith-The Collected Stories; and fifteen Star Wars graphic novels, as well as the original work Overdraft: The Orion Offensive. He has also written the eNovella Star Trek: Titan: Absent Enemies. A comics industry historian and analyst, he has written for franchises including Halo, Conan, Iron Man, Indiana Jones, Battlestar Galactica, Mass Effect, and The Simpsons. He lives in Wisconsin with his wife, two children, and far too many comic books.

Blurb

Hearing of the outbreak of hostilities between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire, Captain Christopher Pike attempts to bring the U.S.S. Enterprise home to join in the fight. But in the hellish nebula known as the Pergamum, the stalwart commander instead finds an epic battle of his own, pitting ancient enemies against one another – with not just the Enterprise but also her crew as the spoils of war.

Lost and out of contact with Earth for an entire year, Pike and his trusted first officer, Number One, struggle to find and reunite the ship’s crew – all while Science Officer Spock confronts a mystery that puts even his exceptional skills to the test… with more than their own survival possibly riding on the outcome…

Review

I will be honest I struggled with this book, the first half just dragged but thankfully the second half improved otherwise I’m not sure I would have lasted. The book just felt like it had a load of irrelevant scenes that did nothing to add to the storyline and the book could have been a lot shorter in my opinion.

I did enjoy the storyline of the two battling alien races and the Enterprise stuck in the middle of the war. My favourite character in the book wasn’t actually a member of the Enterprise but one of aliens called Baladon. I really enjoyed his humour and the way he adapted into the way of life of his kidnappers, it was like he had never found anywhere where he truly belonged and he had finally found that place even if it was in a war zone. I also liked the character of Connolly and the friendship between him and Baladon, their interactions were very funny.

Sadly, I did not like Una i.e Number One and just struggled with her character and I found Christopher Pike a little bit dull. They just both seemed to be lacking for me. I did enjoy the character of Spock and found that his experience made a lot of sense with the TV series and I was pleased to see it all linking together and I did feel really sorry for poor Spock and the suffering he was going through.

Out of all the Discovery books so far I found this one my least favourite and I really hope the next one is better as I have loved the series so far. If this book had been shorter I think I would have enjoyed it more so I have given this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

Purchase Links

Amazon

Book Depository

Waterstones

A P. G. Wodehouse Pick-Me-Up! by P. G. Wodehouse (Review)

A P. G. Wodehouse Pick-Me-Up! Goodbye to All Cats by P. G. Wodehouse

About the author

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse wrote more than ninety novels and some three hundred short stories over 73 years. He is widely recognised as the greatest 20th- century writer of humour in the English Language. In 1936 he awarded the Mark Twain Prize for ‘having made an outstanding and lasting contribution to the happiness of the world’. He was made a Doctor of Letters by Oxford University in 1939 and in 1975, aged 93, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He died shortly afterwards, on St Valentine’s Day.

Blurb

A Wodehouse pick-me-up that’ll lift your spirits, whatever your mood.

Review

I picked up this book when I was last in Bath. I picked it up at the counter. I must admit a lot of bookshops tend to sell me an extra book at the counter.

This is a very quick read but a very fun read that contains three short stories.

Goodbye to All Cats

This story is the first in the book and I must admit my favourite and made me laugh out loud a lot! This story is all about Freddie’s experience with cats that made him dislike all cats in general for the foreseeable future.

The story is hilarious but at the same time I did feel sorry for Freddie who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Ukridge’s Dog College

I was surprised by this story as I had just presumed all the stories would be cat related. I was so pleased to see this assumption was wrong because I love dog stories. This story focuses on the eccentric Ukridge, who will do anything to make a quick fortune that doesn’t involve hard work. A fantastic little read for dog lovers.

Ukridge’s Accident Syndicate

This is an interesting story but for me lacked the humour of the other two stories. I just found the story dragged a little. The basic concept is a group of friends who pool all their money to buy insurance for their friend and wait for the friend to have an accident. Oh and it does involve a dog, which is always good.

All in all I loved the book and think I will purchase the other three books in the series as they are quick fun reads that you can read in one sitting or one story a day. I highly recommend the book especially for animal lovers and anybody who just wants to read a light hearted fun book. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons! Pan loves the book as well.

Purchase Links

Book Depository

Waterstones

WWW Wednesday 11/03/2020

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and a share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?

Hello!

I haven’t done one of these for ages, mainly because my reading has been so pitiful but I am slowly reading more and getting back into it again. Fingers crossed it continues, but I doubt I will read as much as I did last year.

What I am currently reading

I have been reading the Star Trek Discovery books and really enjoying them, this is my light reading. The Euripides plays are my homework for my course but I love reading them. I must admit I am becoming quite a fan of Greek Tragedy.

What I finished reading recently.

Two tiny books but at least I have finished them! I loved them both!

What I will read next

I love Elly Griffiths and have been desperate to read this, so this will definitely be next.

So here is my latest WWW Wednesday. Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday in and your thoughts on my books.

February Wrap Up

I must admit I was in two minds whether to even bother with a wrap up after February as I have read barely anything. I have read loads of chapters and journal articles for my course but no real fun books.

However, I have read a few books so I thought I would make a wrap up.

Emma by Jane Austen

Star Trek Cats by Jenny Parks

Star Trek The Next Generation Cats by Jenny Parks

A Wodehouse Pick-Me-Up! Goodbye to All Cats by P. G. Wodehouse

As you can see a few books read. Hopefully I will do better in March.

Please drop me a comment if you have any thoughts you would like to share about the books.

Happy reading!

Waterstones Challenge: Norwich

Hello!

It has been ages since I have visited a new Waterstones and ticked another store off my list but finally I have managed one. This week has been half term so I visited my best friend and her husband and their new little boy who is currently 9 weeks old and extremely cute. This meant I had the opportunity to take the little Book Dragon to his first bookshop and buy him a nice book. He slept through the whole experience but I bought him a book and his parents also bought him some books. A very lucky little Dragon!

The book I chose to buy was Winnie the Pooh! I have a beautiful book of Winnie the Pooh that a work colleague of my mom’s bought me when I was little and she told my mom that no child should be without a copy of Winnie the Pooh so I followed her advice.

I did also treat myself to a book that has been on my wish list for quite some time. I also bought a Waterstones bag that I really liked the look of.

The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths

I really liked the Waterstones in Norwich. It was very nice and the cafe was excellent, one of the best soya hot chocolates I have ever tasted.

Well worth a visit for all Book Dragons.

The photo outside the store features my best friend who you will have spotted in another Waterstones picture and her husband and their little Book Dragon in his pram. Sadly it was raining at the time. Massive thank you to Lord Book Dragon for taking the picture.

To see the list so far of my Waterstones visits please click here

New Books 18/02/2020

I have bought my first fun books for 2020! I have bought a lot of books this year but they have all been for my Masters, but I have given in and treated myself a little.

Star Trek Picard: The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack

I am so excited about this book even if to be honest the TV series is painfully slow and in certain places annoying beyond belief. This book is written by Una McCormack and her previous Star Trek novels are just amazing so I am looking forward to her take on the new series.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Cats by Jenny Parks

This one I could not resist, I bought the first one in the series for my husband as he loves Star Trek and cats and after reading it I immediately bought the second one.

So only two books as I am trying to be well behaved this year as I have so many books to read already and I know I won’t get to read many non study related books.

Happy reading

Book Trolley

Hello!

Yesterday was an interesting day. The weather led to flooding so I couldn’t get to work in the morning so I had the whole day free. I felt a little lost to be honest but I got loads of washing done, some clarinet practice, studying and I built my book trolley!

I’ve seen so many book trollies on social media lately and I gave in and got one for myself. This now means my TBR is not on the bedroom floor but neatly in the trolley. Also the wheels are brilliant, it means I can roll the trolley around to vacuum under it.

So here is the wonderful trolley.

I’m now hoping my husband will also get one so we can both have our TBR piles neat and tidy.

Please let me know if you have a book trolley and what you use it for? I would love to hear what books you use it for.

Happy Reading!

Emma by Jane Austen (Review)

Emma by Jane Austen

About the author

Jane Austen born 16th December 1775 died 18th July 1817 was an English novelist known for her six major novels. Austen’s novels are known for social comedy and accurate depiction of human relationships.

Blurb

Emma Woodhouse is one of Austen’s most captivating and vivid characters. Beautiful, spoilt, vain and irrepressibly witty, Emma organises the lives of the inhabitants of her sleepy little village and plays matchmaker with devastating effect.

Review

This is a reread for me and thankfully a better read than when I first read it in 2002. I must admit when I first read Emma I swore never to read it again as I really did not enjoy the book. However, this year I plan on giving some books another chance and this was the first one on the list. In 2002 I rated this book 2 out of 5 stars.

I really enjoyed reading this book for about the first third of the book but I must admit the middle did drive me a little insane. It comes across as long winded and rather overly written and I must admit I just wanted it to get to the happy ending.

The second time of reading I felt rather differently about the characters, I still disliked the Elton’s greatly and found Frank Churchill a spoilt brat who should never have been forgiven for his awful behaviour. Mrs Bates I felt very sorry for living in ever increasing poverty and with a daughter who means well but does not give anyone a moment’s peace. Miss Bates’ dialogues I will be honest I skipped over in places because they just made me cringe.

Mr Woodhouse bless him was more of an old fuss pot than I remembered but he made me smile. Emma was her annoying vain self but thankfully Mr Knightley as usual rescued the situation. Harriet I found very endearing this time and it was nice to see her journey through the book.

I must admit I enjoyed Emma but my rating has only increased slightly to 3 out of 5 Dragons. I will be watching the new film adaptation this year to see if it beats my favourite adaptation starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Still my least favourite Austen novel but I do not hate it and would read it again.

Purchase links

Waterstones

Book Depository

Be More Cat by Alison Davies (Review)

Be More Cat: Life Lessons from our feline friends by Alison Davies

About the author

Alison Davies is an author, columnist for Child Education and a freelance writer for a range of magazines including Nursery World and Mother and Baby.

Blurb

Careful observation of the behavioural quirks of our favourite felines can actually be very revealing. From living in the moment, to trusting our sixth-sense instincts, to taking cat naps, and even going feral, there are real benefits to being more cat! In Be More Cat, Alison Davies explores nine key traits we can take on board to be more cat-like and live a happier, healthier, and all around ‘feline fabulous’ existence. With practical tips and exercises, interspersed with folklore and fun facts about our kitty gurus, there’s something for everyone in this cute, fully illustrated guide!

Review

I received this book as a Christmas present off my cats, maybe they are hinting that I am too stressed and need to be more relaxed like a cat. This is essentially a mindfulness book, linking mindfulness with cats’ behaviour and how we can use things that cats do to become more relaxed.

I really enjoyed this book and it did make me giggle a lot and I must admit I read it in one sitting as I just could not put it down. The other element I really liked was that the book has nine chapters like a cat has nine lives and each chapter was somehow cat related.

The book gives helpful little exercises that should help us and are what cats do, for instance cats will stare at a wall for hours on end in our case we would meditate. There are a lot of these different exercises in the book to help us be more mindful but I must admit some do tend to repeat themselves. There are also some cat related tips in the book which are also very amusing and very factual.

The other thing I loved about this book was the wonderful little cat illustrations that run through the book. The book is also scattered with cat related quotes which I really enjoyed.

This book is basically a self help book and the exercises are all basically yoga or meditation based but linking them to cats is brilliant. I really enjoyed this book and give it 4 out 5 Dragons. The only reason it did not get the full 5 Dragons was because it was a little repetitive. Highly recommend to all cat lovers out there!

Purchase Links

Waterstones

Happy Reading!