Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. For more info please check out Jana’s blog.
Hello!
I hope this post finds everyone well and having a good week so far.
This weeks Top Ten Tuesday is rather different and it is to celebrate Jana’s birthday. Happy Birthday Jana!
So this week you post ten books that you would love to own and also post your Wishlist in case anybody would like to grant you a wish. I will be going blog hopping today to see if I can grant a few people their bookish wishes.
So here are ten books off my extensive Wishlist.
Meet me in Hawaii by Georgia Toffolo – I went to Hawaii in 2019 and it is honestly the most beautiful place I have ever been to so that is one reason I want to read this book but also because I like the look of the storyline.
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker – I recently read the next book from this The Women of Troy and really liked what Barker had done with a time old tale so would love to read her first book.
An Old Fashioned Girlby Louisa May Alcott – I simply love Louisa May Alcott and my aim is to read and own all of her books and this one is next on the list.
In Her Shadow by Mark Edwards – New author for me but the storyline sounds fantastic.
After I’ve Gone by Linda Green – I’ve read some of Linda Green’s books in the past and really enjoy her writing.
6. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius – Being a classics student has left me wanting to read loads of classics and this has been on the Wishlist for a while.
7. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell – I came across this book years ago on a TV programme done by the BBC but sadly I have never got around to reading it.
8. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje – Another book I have been wanting to read for what seems like forever.
9. Flowers in the Rain and other stories by Rosamunde Pilcher – Pilcher is one of my favourite authors, I just love her writing.
10. Evelina by Frances Burney – This is a bit of a wild card because I can honestly say I do not remember why it is on my Wishlist.
So there are my ten books and here is my Wishlist. Please don’t feel like you have to grant any wishes, I am just glad you stopped by for a read of my post. However, if you do grant a wish I am extremely grateful.
Right I am off to grant a few wishes. I feel like a fairy godmother!
Once upon a time, inhabitants of another world tore a hole through the universe and came to Earth. They called themselves Suriias, and rivalled humans in knowledge and skill with one great exception: they had magic.
War followed. Humanity lost. And three hundred years later, humans are on the brink of extinction.
Orphans Thorn and Thistle live in hiding. They are the last of their families, the last of their friends. They scrape by, stealing to survive and living on the streets or hiding in sheds. But even under the brutal regime of the Suriias, there are places where humans can mingle in secret with magical sympathisers, and one night Thistle gets an unexpected offer of marriage from a Suriia with high standing and friends in all the right places. For Thistle, it’s a chance at safety and comfort; for Thorn, it’s a chance to find the ones who killed her parents.
And so the pair move into the capital city of Courtenz. An urban monstrosity of magic and might, false friends and flying cars, drones and death tolls, the new city promises a fresh start – and new love – for both.
But if there’s one thing Thorn knows for certain, it’s that dreams can swiftly turn into nightmares.
Review
Firstly, a massive thank you to Rebecca Crunden for gifting me a copy of her wonderful book These Violent Nights in exchange for an honest review.
This is rather a substantial book and I was a bit worried about the size of the book when I first started reading it because I struggled to get into it to start with. However, thankfully I kept reading because I was soon hooked and was pleased at the size of the book because I did not want to leave the characters and finish the book.
Thistle and Thorn are humans who live in hiding from the Suriias who are magical beings from another world. Thistle and Thorn have a very sad past and this has left both of them scarred both emotionally and physically. When Nithin who is a Suriia proposes to Thistle, Thistle and Thorn move in with Nithin and his best friend Kol. Thistle is overjoyed to be safe and living in wealth and comfort but Thorn only sees it as an access to find the murderer of her parents.
I really felt sorry for Thorn during this book. She is forced to live with the very species she fears and hates and even though Nithin and Kol support humans and are fighting for the humans’ rights Thorn struggles to trust and believe them. At the same time Thorn sees her best friend slowly slip away from her and change. Thorn feels alone and angry with everything and no matter how much Kol tries to help her she still resists. I completely agree with the character Lucien who says that Thorn has never had a chance to breathe.
Thistle annoyed me and made me rather angry at times because she hurt Thorn so much. Yes, Thistle wanted to start living life and enjoy her new found freedom and wealth but she forgot her best friend at times and didn’t see just how much Thorn was suffering.
I loved the concept of this book and I loved how in the end humans and Suriia had to work together and overcome each species’ difficulties. I also loved the different romances that occurred within the book and how they crossed species. This book was brilliant and I will definitely be reading more books by Rebecca Crunden. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
An urgent cry for help brings Poirot to France. But he arrives too late to save his client, whose brutally stabbed body now lies face downwards in a shallow grave on a golf course.
But why is the dead man wearing his son’s overcoat? And who was the impassioned love-letter in the pocket for? Before Poirot can answer these questions, the case is turned upside down by the discovery of a second, identically murdered corpse . . .
Review
This is the second full length Poirot novel I have read and I will be honest it kept me on my toes. This book is so full of red herrings I was never sure of who the murderer was until Poirot explained all at the end.
The more I read the Poirot stories the more I realise just how amazing he is and far better than the TV version. Poirot is funny, eccentric, cheeky and quite naughty at times. Hastings is his usual useless and silly self, always jumping to the wrong conclusions and getting into trouble.
In this book Poirot and Hastings rush off to France to help a man who has written begging for Poirot’s help as he believes his life is in danger. However, when they get there they realise that they are too late and instead of protecting someone they have a murder to solve instead.
Poirot has competition in the form of the young French detective Giraud. Giraud believes Poirot is a dinosaur and believes that Poirot will never solve the murder because his methods are old fashioned. Giraud rather amusingly spends most of the time on his hands and knees crawling around for clues and generally not finding them.
There are so many things that do not add up in this murder but Poirot uses his little grey cells to work them out and also finds time to sort out Hastings’ love life. I also loved how Poirot sometimes called himself Papa Poirot to Hastings.
I really enjoyed this book and I loved learning more about Poirot’s character but did find Hastings very annoying at times. Christie is so clever at writing a murder plot with so many different aspects you never see what is really happening until the end. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
About the author
Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections. She also wrote the world’s longest running play, The Mousetrap. She also wrote 6 novels under the name Mary Westmacott.
If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you
The rules are answer the questions below and 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?
Happy Wednesday!
I have spent the day finishing another assignment and now it has finally been handed in I intend to spend the next couple of days doing lots of fun reading until I start on the next one. However, I also need to catch up on house work so that might also have to happen.
What I am Currently Reading
I struggled to get into this initially but now I am hooked.
What I have Recently Finished Reading
Really enjoyed both these books. Here is the review for The Late Monsieur Gallet. Review for The Murder on the Links will follow shortly.
What I Think I will Read Next
As usual I am never quite sure what I will read next, it all depends what mood I am in.
So there is my WWW Wednesday please drop me a link with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
Happy Reading
If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you
Goodreads Monday is hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners. All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.
Happy Monday!
I hope you have all had a good start to the week.
I thought I would take part in Goodreads Monday this week. The answer is below the cats. Good luck!
“Andrew looked at the coffin and tried to remember who was inside it. It was a man, he was sure of that. But, horrifically, the name escaped him. He thought he’d narrowed it down to either John or James, but Jake had just made a late bid for consideration. It was inevitable, he supposed, that this had happened. He’d been to so many of these funerals it was bound to at some point but that didn’t stop him feeling an angry stab of self-loathing.”
Get Guessing!
and the answer is…
Sometimes you have to risk everything to find your something…
Andrew works with death for a living. Searching for people’s next of kin and attending the funerals if they don’t have anyone, he’s desperate to avoid the same fate for himself. Which is fine, because he has the perfect wife and 2.4 children waiting at home for him after a long day. At least, that’s what he’s told people.
The truth is, his life isn’t exactly as people think and the little white lie he once told is about to catch up with him.
Because in all Andrew’s efforts to fit in, he’s forgotten one important thing: how to really live. And maybe, it’s about time for him to start.
Please drop me a comment with your Goodreads Monday and will go over for a visit.
Happy Reading
If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you
In the second Maigret mystery, the circumstances of Monsieur Gallet’s death all seem fake: the name he was traveling under, his presumed profession, and, more worryingly, his family’s grief. Their haughtiness seems to hide ambiguous feelings about the hapless man. Soon Maigret discovers the appalling truth and the real crime hidden beneath the surface of their lies.
Review
This was my fifth Maigret novel that I have read this year and I must admit this one did make me laugh. The best word to describe Maigret in this novel is ‘grumpy’.
It is the holiday season in Paris and this means that Maigret is left in charge with only a skeleton staff to keep law and order and when a royal visit takes away all the police officers but himself he is left to solve a murder without any of his usual staff to do the leg work for him in the scorching summer heat. It also means he has to stay in a second class hotel which really upsets him!
Maigret must find who murdered Monsieur Gallet but everything about the murder seems very wrong to Maigret and as he investigates he realises more and more that the facts don’t fit the crime. In his investigations Maigret meets Madame Gallet the wife of the deceased and dislikes her immensely, she appears very aloof, proud and cold to Maigret. In fact I have noticed in the Maigret novels that it is very rare to find a woman other than Mrs Maigret who Maigret actually thinks highly of. Although I did feel sorry for Mrs Maigret in this book because during all of his investigations Maigret never rang to tell his wife where he was even though he was staying in a different town and not coming home. Mrs Maigret must have the patience of a saint is all that I can say.
I loved how this story unfolded and due to several very well placed red herrings I never had a clue till the end of who was the murderer or why. Maigret follows the clues and builds the picture of what happened and he comes across as the most eccentric character at times, from standing on random walls to climbing through windows he really made me laugh. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
About the author
Georges Simenon (1903-1989) was a Belgian writer who published nearly 500 novels and many short stories. Simenon is best known as the creator of the Maigret stories.
If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you
The rules are answer the questions below and 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?
Happy Wednesday!
I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I have been thoroughly getting into my research for my dissertation and I have finally started to get a plan worked out. I have also been trying to control our overgrown garden with varied results.
What I am Currently Reading
I started this yesterday and I am already nearly finished it. I do love the Maigret books. We have been watching the Maigret series with Rowan Atkinson playing Maigret this week, I just wish there were more episodes than four.
What I Have Recently Finished Reading
This is my favourite book of 2021 so far! Click the photo for the review.
What I Think I will Read Next
As usual no clue what I will read next, it all depends on my mood.
Please drop me a link with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
Happy Reading.
If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you
Lady Book Dragon 