Spooky Booky Month!

 

Yes it's that time of year again when I'll be spending the month reading spooky books and watching horror related films...YAY! I have a nice big collection of zombies, vampires, shifters, demons, monsters, aliens and so on to enjoy-the biggest decision is what to read first! I'll be having an update every so often about what I'm reading and watching so feel free to comment on my updates.

I'm currently reading Warm Bodies, which has an interesting concept but has been a bit slow so far and I'm struggling to get on and finish it! I'm not sure I fancy the idea of this as a film. Anyone read the book or seen the film?

Do you have any plans for a Spooky Booky month? If so share your details and challenges with us! Mwoooaaahhh!

Turkish delights and a busy week

So it has been a pretty busy week which has kept me away from blogging for a couple of days. I had to go and do the chore of food shopping for the week but a visit to Marks & Spencer uncovered the chance to try some new dishes! They have a great selection of food from around the world-Mexico, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Greece, Japan plus of course the usual Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Indian. I decided to try a few new things so this week I'm going to have dinner in Greece and Japan which should be fun!

On Monday, I tried my first Turkish meal-Lamb Kofte Pide and it was YUM! Basically, it is crispy pastry with minced lamb and chicken meatballs in a very lightly spiced tomato sauce with a few chilli and parsley flakes (see main picture above). I don't like spicy food so this was a nice mild meal, tasty and filling which I will certainly eat again! A nice touch of Heinz mayonnaise just finished it nicely!

On Tuesday I spent the morning making my Curried Potato and Apple soup. It's not hard to make but it takes so LONG to peel and chop all the potatoes and apples! I swear, I need a House Elf to help me around the house! Winky, do you need a new job?

I was also waiting all day for an Amazon package with another ten books in it so I was all happy and buzzing when that came! Restraint has gone out the window but to be fair, they were all in a sale and it would be RUDE not to buy them at that price. *clears throat*

Today I'm trying to get a few blog posts up in between getting some cleaning done, which I really can't be bothered with! I really need to get on with these pesky book reviews...I take notes as I read each book to help me remember what it was about when I come to do the review, since I have a dreadful short term memory! I've got well over a 100 reviews that need to be done and no motivation to get on with it! 

*Sigh*

Chuckles TV Catch Up #6

This is my new feature for the summer/autumn! I have sooo many great sounding TV shows that I want to watch but because of all my reading, I haven't had time to catch up with any of them! So this summer I'm doing a Chuckles TV catch up where I hope to get a look at some TV, decide what I like and don't like and tell you all my thoughts on everything. Now, my TV watching is very much mood related so I can't predict what I'll want to watch...

This Week: Pretty Little Liars starring Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, Troian Bellisario, Shay Mitchell and Sasha Pieterse.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1578873/?ref_=nv_sr_1 
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.

I read the first story arc of the books and quite enjoyed it. Who is 'A' who seems to know all their guilty secrets? What happened the night that Ali disappeared and who killed her? What is the Jenna thing? Who can you trust and who is going to stab you in the back? I liked the first eight books but when we started with a second secret and a new 'A' the books went downhill for me and I quit reading. So how did I get on with the series?

Well it was good in parts. I liked Hannah, Aria and Emily, who felt true to the characters in the book. I also loved Hannah's mother played by the brilliant Laura Leighton from Melrose Place. Ali was wonderfully bitchy, Mona was a complete cow...but Spencer was wimpy and unconvincing when in the book she had been my favourite character. It was a decent series without being earth shattering and I watched quite a few episodes but in the end I wasn't too bothered about continuing to watch it, knowing how long the series is, and knowing that things have been changed from the book. So, decent but not enough to make me have to watch it.

TBR Countdown Challenge

My tbr managed to sneak up over 600 books again and action was taken!!! So I set myself a target to get that tbr from 612 as it stood down to 500 books by December 31st. I reached that goal last month. I wondered what target to set next and decided just to keep tackling the tbt to try and reduce it as much as possible by the end of the year. My updates on my progress won't be weekly, just whenever I have something to report! Anyone who wants to try and reduce their tbr is welcome to post on my update posts about their progress!

FYI: A few people have asked why the number of books I've reduced the pile by in the post title does not match the number of books I mention in the actual blog post. Simple really, I'm still adding new books to the tbr each week, and a few are rereads.

There is no number on my title as you'll notice. I had a two week reading slump and a holiday book splurge which took me up over 500 again,and since then I have went mad on Amazon, snapping up a pile of books in their 3 paperbacks for £10 offer. ERK! Bad Chuckles! Anyway, it looks like I could be stranded at 500 if I don't stop buying, coz I'm having to read madly to offset what I'm buying! Darn those shiny new books!

FINISHED:

Helen Wells-Cherry Ames Student Nurse
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/510011.Cherry_Ames_Student_Nurse

Daran Little-Keeping the home fires burning
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1747652.Keeping_the_Home_Fires_Burning

Kevin Hearne-Clan Rathskellar
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10324651-clan-rathskeller

Sonya Bateman-The Getaway
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10325896-the-getaway

Tori Centanni-The Demon's Deadline
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25131766-the-demon-s-deadline

Joe Tasker-Everest The Cruel Way
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19219204-everest-the-cruel-way

Steven Jenkins-Rotten Bodies
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25449190-rotten-bodies

Steven Jenkins-Burn the Dead
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22583910-quarantine

Christopher Hibbert-The Borgias
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12212231-the-borgias


ABANDONED:

Hilary Mantel-Wolf Hall
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6101138-wolf-hall

Darcy Bonnette-The Tudor Princess
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20113731-the-tudor-princess

Matt Drabble-Gated
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16247192-gated

Joseph D'Lacey-Garbage Man
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6002391-garbage-man

Joseph D'Lacey-Blood Fugue
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16120396-blood-fugue

Stacking the Shelves #103

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! Click on the link under the book to find its page on Goodreads or Smashwords. 

Please note that I always leave a message on your STS/SP if you visit me, but if you use DISQUS or a similar third party I will not be able to leave a comment on your page. And sometimes, I have problems leaving messages on blogs hosted by Wordpress so you might get a double message sometimes! Blame them, not me!

I still can't seem to get rid of this stupid cold and it's annoying me! You know the kind of thing-not anywhere near bad enough to go to a doctor but it's just there all the time making you tired and grumpy. Grr! Still at least it isn't affecting my reading. I'm getting a fair amount done each week, which is being hampered by Amazon sales! I've picked up a lot of exciting books in their 3 for £10 sale which is stopping my tbr from reducing at the moment! It's not my fault...the books are just sooo shiny and new looking! *sigh* I'm trying not to look at the pile as they don't even fit on my overcrowded bookshelves! But do I feel guilty...NOPE! I want ALL the books!

 The books this week are a bit of a mixture really. The downloads are books that I thought sounded interesting. Incarceron sounds like the kind of dystopia that I might like, and I love the Resident Evil film so I figured I'd read the book next. Demons at deadnight isn't my normal kind of read but a few of my friends liked it so I'm borrowing a copy to read! I got these paperbacks from Amazon's aforementioned sale and a few were on my wishlist which makes it a double bargain! I had previously read and reasonably enjoyed Divergent so I grabbed two parts of the trilogy in the sale. The second book Insurgent was in the sale but had a totally different cover to these two but I managed to trade online for a brand new copy so my trilogy looks the same! Relief! I decided not to buy The White Princess as the stupid story of Henry VII raping his wife before they married just annoyed me, so I skipped straight to the next one in the series instead. 

DOWNLOADS:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11304521-incarceron 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/221274.Resident_Evil 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16067683-demons-at-deadnight 

BOUGHT PAPERBACKS: 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18517479-divergent 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18713356-insurgent 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18713720-allegiant 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15849910-the-king-s-curse 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18241607-cross-my-heart 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25495036-the-hunt 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25038824-the-three 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16199630-the-accident 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23465642-the-lie 

FOLLOW ME:
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3426724-chucklesthescot
https://twitter.com/chucklesthescot
https://uk.pinterest.com/chucklesthescot/  

The Unpopular Opinions Book Tag

I saw this tag when I was visiting the blog of Alma over at Journey through fiction and she tagged anyone visiting who wanted to take part. It looked like fun as I love answering questions about my reading! http://journeythroughfiction.blogspot.ie/

Please remember this is a FUN book tag and if you are visiting my blog just to argue about my choices or to complain about it, then you're missing the whole point! By all means express your opinion respectfully but if you start this 'how can you HATE that wonderful book, are you mad?' nonsense, your comment won't be published!

1) A popular book or series you didn't like 
How long have you got? Catch 22 and The Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy are two of the worst books I've ever read! As for series, I read several of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books but just couldn't get into them. They were well written etc but just didn't appeal to me for some reason.

2) A book or series that everyone seemed to hate but you loved 
Hmmm, this was tricky. I don't think there is anything obvious-I tend to be the one who hates the popular things! I'm picking out an urban fantasy that I gave 5 stars to which had quite a few low star ratings. It is The Bloodhound Files series by DD Barant. I totally loved book one, Dying Bites, to bits and it was one of my all time favourite books in the genre!

3) A love triangle where the person ended up with the person you did not want or an OTP you didn't like 
I couldn't think of an answer to this because I go out of my way to avoid books that have even a hint of love triangles in their plots. 

4) A popular book genre you hardly reach for 
*grins* fantasy, crime, romance and contemporary! I hardly read anything from these genres! 

5) A popular beloved character that you do not like 
If there is one thing that baffles me, it is readers swooning over brooding 'heroes' who slap their women around. I HATED Heathcliffe in Wuthering Heights for this reason and I felt the same about the actions of Jericho Barrons from the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. Trying to break a womans ribs and dragging her around by the hair is not going to make me love this thug!

6) A popular author that you can't get into 
There are a lot, believe me! Patrick Ness is pretty high on the list. I did not like anything of his that I tried and really hated his MC Todd in the Chaos Walking series because of his cruelty to his poor dog. 

7) A popular book trope that you're tired of seeing
I totally HATE insta-luv and love triangles! Urban fantasy is being swamped by this rubbish and has stopped me reading countless books in the genre. I hate both because the romance angst always gets in the way of the darn plots. Show some imagination in your writing!!! 

8) A popular series you have no intention of reading 
50 shades of grey. Erotica in general doesn't interest me and I won't be reading it.

9) What movie/TV show do you prefer more than the books? 
I really like the Walking Dead comics but the TV series is just so amazing! I'm a bit behind in it so no spoilers please! Book wise, I liked Stephen King's The Running Man but I loved the Arnold Schwarzenegger blockbuster more! 

OK there we go! Now it's tag time and I tag YOU! Yes if you like the questions and want to take part, consider yourselves tagged! If you do join in, let me know here so I can come and see your answers!

Book Review: Suicide Forest by Jeremy Bates

Just outside of Tokyo lies Aokigahara, a vast forest and one of the most beautiful wilderness areas in Japan...and also the most infamous spot to commit suicide in the world. Legend has it that the spirits of those many suicides are still roaming, haunting deep in the ancient woods.

When bad weather prevents a group of friends from climbing neighboring Mt. Fuji, they decide to spend the night camping in Aokigahara. But they get more than they bargained for when one of them is found hanged in the morning—and they realize there might be some truth to the legends after all.

My Review:
I didn't like anything about this book. Firstly the plot was so slow that nothing seemed likely to ever happen. It was a bunch of people wandering around a forest and waiting for something to happen. To amuse themselves on this exciting adventure, they fight, swear and plan sexual encounters. Nothing new or original there.

The characters are uninspiring, obnoxious clowns. The young Japanese characters sound like wannabe gangsta rappers with their language. We got n***** this, n***** that and there were more m***********s and fbombs than the entire population of China. It was a swearfest and showed little imagination for witty dialogue or character development. I wanted the idiots to die, which is not a great start to the book. Of course our heroic MC is the usual drugged up waste of space that you expect in books, along with the steriotype rude, brash, obnoxious American guy John. John is a truly dreadful character and I hated him from page one. The girls as usual were all dippy idiots just there for the guys to feast their eyes on and served no other purpose except to whine constantly. You just wanted everyone to die. NOW.

This is basically a cheaply written book with a z movie plot about disrespectful asshats wandering around looking for their brains.

Book Review: The Unwashed Dead by Ian Woodhead

In a rundown council estate in the North of England strange things are happening. The dead suddenly are not quite as dead as they should be......

A mysterious government body has decided to use the estate as an experiment. Things are out of control & now they need to eradicate all knowledge & existence of the estate

But what happens when a small group of survivors band together? Will they survive the apocalypse & triumph over the undead?

My Review:

This book is an example of an author who doesn't take the time to think up interesting dialogue and descriptions. Instead he chooses to have totally pointless swearing in every sentence of the book. This is what we get in the space of the first 1.5 pages of the ebook:

-shitty kitchen and effing lino on the floor
-his hosts, who are b******s, not giving two s***s about decorating
-refers to himself as a miserable b*****d (correct!)
-his friend's are all effing retards
-the music gets on his t**s and is a pile of s***e

Swearing in books is ok with me if there is a purpose ie when someone is angry or scared of being chased by fast zombies. But I do not find it entertaining to be bombarded by f bombs and stuff because of lazy writing and no imagination. People might say 'yeah but it's realistic because people talk and think like that'. True but if I want to hear that language all day, I'll go and sit in the city centre and hear it for free. When I read a book, I want to get away from everyday life and be entertained, not feel like it's a Friday night when the pubs have closed.

This was not clever writing or witty dialogue. This was just rubbish and I'm so glad I got this free. If I had paid for it, I would've been really angry. I will NOT be reading anything else by the author based on that standard of writing.

Book Review: Blood Prophecy by Alyxandra Harvey (Drake Chronicles #6)

Solange Drake has been officially crowned Queen of the Vampires, fulfilling the centuries old prophecy that foretold the rise to power of a daughter born to an ancient vampire line. Except Solange's thoughts and actions are no longer her own—she's been slowly being possessed by the spirit of Viola, the first daughter born into the Drake line, since her bloodchange. And instead of uniting the vampire tribes under the rule of an ancient daughter as the prophecy predicted, Viola would rather destroy them all and enslave humans in a personal vendetta for the devastation both wrought to her life centuries ago. Can Solange break her hold in time to save everyone she loves from a vampire civil war, hunter attack, and each other? Not everyone will survive the prophecy, perhaps not even her.

My Review:
The first four books in this series were packed with action, humour and romance, and I had really loved them. Sadly the last two books did not live up to this promise and the series ended with more of a whimper than a bang for me. It's very unlikely that I'd read Blood Moon and Blood Prophecy again.

The chapters where Viola fully takes over Solange, leaving Solange trapped in a castle inside Viola's mind, were very dull and confusing. We have Solange wandering around this castle looking for answers and an exit. This was repetitive and dull on a grand scale and I did not enjoy this at all. Endless memories that Viola was 'sharing' with the reader through Solange bored me and added nothing to the plot. It just slowed things down again. It took so long to move the plot forward when we kept having to suffer these dramatic mental interludes until Solange found an idea on how to escape Viola. I was ready to cheer with relief when we finally got to that stage.

The other thing that bored me was the author deciding to resort to that boring YA cliche of the heroine being bullied at school. It was really getting on my nerves to see Lucy constantly having to deal with bullies in this book. We got through the rest of the series without dreadful cliches so I don't understand why the author decided to drop all that into the plot now. It was not a great plot advancement. And frankly, why is Lucy there? She never seems to actually go to classes! Or sleep, for that matter.

This book does not have enough kickass Drake Brother action. It is focused too much on the terrible ordeal of poor possessed Solange and Lucy being bullied, and not enough of all the great characters introduced in earlier books.

So what I did like about the book? The ending. The book finally kicks back into gear with Solange learning how to fight Viola, Lucy getting herself into a pile of trouble and trying to find a way to escape, the attack on the school and on the Blood Moon camp. Basically you could miss out all the boring stuff at the start and go straight to the end of the book where things start to kick off. This is where we get to see the things we loved about those first four books! I still don't understand why the author deviated from that great writing in book five and the start of book six. I was thankful that things were salvaged by a satisfactory end to this book.

However, the ending alone did not make this a great book and I cannot bring myself to rate it higher than a three, and it's only getting that because of the big finish. 

Book Review:Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey (Drake Chronicles #5)

"I can still smell his blood, Lucy. I can smell it everywhere. It's in the grass, in the air, on me. I'm not safe."

When the vampire tribes convene for the rare Blood Moon ceremonies, Solange Drake is plunged into a battle with her feral nature. The Drake brothers have been raised knowing they had to protect their younger sister at all cost. But forbidden magic and a mysterious stranger have put all of them in terrible danger. 

Nicholas is going to have to make a difficult choice: between his girlfriend, Lucy, and his little sister, Solange - blood or love?

My Review:

After the shocking cliffhanger to the last book, I had high hopes for this one but I found it very disappointing. The standard of the other books was high but there were so many things about this book that I didn't like. Frankly if it hadn't been the second last book in the series I might have even quit during it. This book is narrated by Lucy, Nicholas and Solange.

Solange becomes the royal bitch from hell in this book and I hated her. She was behaving like a spoiled whiny brat, hurting Lucy, breaking all the rules and being cruel to her family. I had suspicions about what was happening but even being proved right about it didn't change my feelings towards her as the damage was done. I think if the author had shown her hand earlier we could have had sympathy for Solange as she struggled not to do bad things, especially with her as a narrator. Instead we don't get the why until I had turned against her and I have never warmed to her again since.

I liked seeing how Lucy fitted in at Helios-Ra, watching her trying to learn to protect herself while having a vampire boyfriend and trying to work out what to do about Solange. I love her character and her narrated chapters were the bext thing about the book by far. I still enjoy the relationship between her and Nicholas who are the best couple in the series.

I wasn't interested at all in the Blood Moon gathering. I don't enjoy it when urban fantasy descends into vampire politics and endless talk about who hates who and diplomatic relations between tribes and their security teams attacking people. I found the whole thing to be long drawn out, boring and tedious. The vampire politics is one of the reasons I lose interest in the Anita Blake books and it had the same effect here. I started to disengage with the book and several of the characters.

I had no interest in Solange and Constantine. I didn't find him interesting in any way as a bad guy, and the scenes between the two were boring in a mind-numbing way. I really wanted to skim every time the story switched to them. I didn't enjoy the whole Viola storyline either.

I would have preferred a more straightforward grab for the crown plot instead of this confused attempt at a storyline which was neither entertaining or exciting. Instead we had a book that was padded out to look bigger but totally lacked the kickass action and intrigue that made the other books so good. Sections of the story were so slow that I considered stopping several times because I was bored. Only Lucy and Nicholas kept me reading.

I really hope the final book in the series dekivers more of a punch than this. 

Book read in January 2015.

The TBR Book Tag

I was tagged by the lovely Barb at http://bookertsfarm.blogspot.co.uk  and thought this was the ideal tag for me to get involved in! So here are my answers to the tbr related questions!

1) How do you keep track of your tbr pile?
I upload everything onto my Goodreads page so I can easily refer to it online. I can use it to see if something new in a series is about to be published or check which book or short story comes next. It's the best way to keep track of things. I also use http://www.fictfact.com which helps you to track books in series you are following. I find it helpful when I remember to update the books I've read!

2) Is your tbr mostly print or ebooks?
ERK! Mostly print books! I've spent years building up my book collection through second hand bookshops, charity shops, Amazon, Waterstones and WH Smith, plus trading my unwanted books with other UK swappers at  http://www.readitswapit.co.uk and sharing books with other book lovers over at http://www.bookcrossing.com/ For me nothing beats the feel or smell of the printed book in your hands! I try things free using my ereader but if I love it I try to get that paperback version to keep and read again!

3) How do you determine which book from your tbr to read next?
This is something I always have trouble with! Anything I'm reviewing for authors takes priority of course, but if I'm reading for myself I'm very much a mood reader. I tried doing themed months where I tried to read a particular genre for a whole month but by the third week I'd be getting bored with it and wanting to read something else! The exception is October which is always Spooky Booky month where I read anything with monsters. I'm looking forward to starting that soon! I like to try and decide what I'm going to read next before I finish what I'm on but sometimes I can spend hours staring blankly at my bookshelves with no idea what to pick next!

4) A book that's been on your tbr list the longest
The Empty Chair by Jeffery Deaver has been sitting unread since at LEAST March 2010 which is pretty shocking! I really liked the first two books in that series so why it has taken so long to get back to it is a mystery to me! Too many books, too little time! Actually I blame the authors for all those shiny new books that keep coming out...

5) A book on your tbr strictly because of its beautiful cover 
This is a tough one because I only buy books I want to read. I wouldn't buy one just because of the cover-the blurb would have to entice me too. I decided to go with one that I sort of think sounds interesting but I'm not so sure how keen I am to get to it!

6) A book you recently added to your tbr
I picked up a few recently on my holiday book splurge so lets go with Emily Murdoch-If you find me. It sounded a bit different from my normal reads. 

7) A book on your tbr that you never plan on reading
Hmmm there are a few that I've got lurking that are not my highest priority! I'm not a fan of fantasy-I picked up Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence from a charity shop on a whim because I liked the cover and blurb but after reading a few Goodreads reviews I'm not so keen to read it! 

8) A book on your tbr that everyone has read but you
The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling. I've had it for ages but never come close to reading it yet. A lot of my friends read it when it came out and had mixed opinions on it.  

9) A book on your tbr that you are dying to read
The rest of the Monster Haven series by RL Naquin! I loved the first four books but I didn't read the others because I don't want the series to be over! But I loved it so much it's driving me mad not knowing what happens next! So I'm picking RL Naquin-Demons in my driveway. 

10) An unpublished book on your tbr that you are excited for
Every book on my tbr is already in my possession. Anything unpublished yet is on my wishlist. 

11) A book on your tbr that everyone recommends to you
I don't really get book recommendations from friends as their tastes are so different to mine. A popular book online that is on my tbr is Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor 7 Park. I'm not sure it's really my thing but I decided to try it anyway. If I don't like it there are lots of people I know on bookcrossing who want to read it! 

12) How many books are on your Goodreads tbr shelf? 
504 books that I own and are unread as yet! Plus everything on my wishlist!

My nomination!
I nominate anyone reading this who wants to take part in it! If you take part, tell me you are doing it so I can come and see your answers!

Pet Peeves #1: The Publisher Promotion!

You've seen it haven't you? The way a publisher tries to persuade you to buy their book by comparing it to something popular. It's either a sticker or a big declaration on the cover that screams out at you 'THE NEW HARRY POTTER!!!' or 'If you LOVED the Hunger Games, you'll LOVE this!' And when you read the blurb, it rarely sounds anything like Harry Potter or The Hunger Games! I can't tell you how annoying I find all this! I get why they do it but how does some publisher know what I'll enjoy based on one book I've loved? Hmmm? Got ESP have you matey? Nope, didn't think so!

Or maybe you see the declaration that this is 'The Hunger Games meets Narnia and Lord of the Rings!' Right so we have hobbits running from killer Orcs in a Game show where you need to find an exit through a wardrobe to win a box of turkish delight? Er, no thanks...!

Seriously, it might encourage people to try the book and there is nothing wrong with that but in the long run you might not be doing the author a favour. I've lost count of how many books claim to be the new Harry Potter, and by putting the comparison in my mind, I am going to be disappointed in it because it can NEVER be as good as Harry Potter! The publisher has made the comparison and many people will judge on how alike they are and might then give it a lower mark, thinking 'that was NOTHING like Harry!' I have read really good children's adventure series like Artemis Fowl and H.I.V.E which are great series in their own right and don't try to be cheap copies of something else. Mr Publisher, if you have confidence in these series, market them as new adventures for kids or YA fans-don't pretend they are something they are not!

Have you had any annoying experiences with publisher's promoting books like this? Do you like or dislike publishers using these comparisons? Do you feel you judged a book on what they said it was going to be rather than on what you actually thought of the book itself? What strange comparisons have you seen?

Stacking the Shelves #102

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! Click on the link under the book to find its page on Goodreads or Smashwords. 

Please note that I always leave a message on your STS/SP if you visit me, but if you use DISQUS or a similar third party I will not be able to leave a comment on your page. And sometimes, I have problems leaving messages on blogs hosted by Wordpress so you might get a double message sometimes! Blame them, not me!

First whole week back after the holiday and I don't feel as if I've been away! Washing, ironing, back to cleaning and making meals...bah! I need another holiday already! Still, at least the reading slump is over. Last night I reached my target for the Goodreads reading challenge and finished book 200, which was good. Now lets see how many more I read before the year end! I also decided to take the plunge and buy an adult colouring book, and I admit that it was fun to colour my first flower with glittery gel pens! Should be good therapy! I had a look at the range of colouring books out there and was surprised by the variety! AND I noticed a Harry Potter one is due for release ready for Christmas! I'll be grabbing THAT! So that, and getting my free flu jag has been the excitement for this week!

DOWNLOADS:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25339018-three-slices 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10324651-clan-rathskeller 

 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25449190-rotten-bodies

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25350847-dead-time 

BOUGHT PAPERBACKS:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26056552-trouble-in-mind 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17283039-warm-bodies 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6712517-sister-queens 

 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25373789-millie-marotta-s-tropical-wonderland

FOLLOW ME:
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3426724-chucklesthescot
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New Release: NYV PUNK by KD McQuain

NYV: PUNK is an original coming of age story of adventure, music, romance and bloodthirsty horror set in the harsh 1980s New York Punk scene. (UF / NA)

For fifteen year old Christian, living in rural isolation with only his mother for company was as boring and bleak a life as he could imagine. Nothing ever happened and the most exciting thing to look forward to were monthly visits from the nice old lady who took his mother shopping in town. After being subjected to a bizarre and humiliating birthday ceremony, Christian decides to leave home to think things through. And when the opportunity for adventure presents itself, he jumps at the chance.

But being on his own is more terrifying than he ever dreamed. Barely surviving a brutal attack, Christian finds himself being hunted across the country by an ancient bloodthirsty evil, putting himself and those he cares for in mortal peril. He must learn to navigate the hazards of the tough Punk music scene if he is going to survive on the gritty streets of New York City long enough to discover his destiny.

Can he survive on his own? Will he find the life he hoped for? And what the hell does OMFUG mean anyway?

**Due to mature subject matter, this book is intended for readers 18 years of age or older.**

Released: September 2015 

TBR Countdown Challenge

 

My tbr managed to sneak up over 600 books again and action was taken!!! So I set myself a target to get that tbr from 612 as it stood down to 500 books by December 31st. I reached that goal last month. I wondered what target to set next and decided just to keep tackling the tbt to try and reduce it as much as possible by the end of the year. My updates on my progress won't be weekly, just whenever I have something to report! Anyone who wants to try and reduce their tbr is welcome to post on my update posts about their progress!

FYI: A few people have asked why the number of books I've reduced the pile by in the post title does not match the number of books I mention in the actual blog post. Simple really, I'm still adding new books to the tbr each week, and a few are rereads.

There is no number on my title as you'll notice. I had a two week reading slump and a holiday book splurge which took me up over 500 again, though I'm working on reducing that again! The countdown will resume when I hit 500! Meanwhile I can tell you about the books I've looked at recently!  

FINISHED:

James Cracknell/Ben Fogle-Race to the Pole
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7120969-race-to-the-pole 

Robert Kirkman-The Walking Dead book 2 (13-24)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/138399.The_Walking_Dead_Book_Two 

Reinhold Messner-My Quest for the Yeti
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/861064.My_Quest_for_the_Yeti 

Carrie Ryan-Hare Moon (Forest of Hands and Teeth #0.7)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11011944-hare-moon 

Michael Robertson-Teeth
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20418466-teeth 

Michael Robertson-Crash
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18270309-crash 

JT Sawyer-Hell Week
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21461495-hell-week 

Ann Christy-The In Betweener
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25225875-the-in-betweener 


ABANDONED:

Jennifer Chiaverini-Round Robin
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25225875-the-in-betweener 

Ian Woodhead-The Unwashed Dead
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10894176-the-unwashed-dead 

Jenn Stark-One Wilde Night
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26013064-one-wilde-night 


How are you getting on with your tbrs?

Stacking the Shelves #101

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! Click on the link under the book to find its page on Goodreads or Smashwords. 

Please note that I always leave a message on your STS/SP if you visit me, but if you use DISQUS or a similar third party I will not be able to leave a comment on your page. And sometimes, I have problems leaving messages on blogs hosted by Wordpress so you might get a double message sometimes! Blame them, not me!

Hi everyone! Last Saturday I posted to say I planned to take a couple of days off blogging to rest and read but instead, as some of you already know, my dad surprised me by taking me on holiday to Blackpool from Sunday to Thursday, which was a bit of a shock! We haven't been away since 2013 so I didn't expect to have to pack in a rush! We had a really great time and the weather was awesome! As well as my dad, I took one of my many children with me! This is Otis with the Big One rollercoaster behind him. Monkey selfie...!

The weather was over 20 degrees every day we were there, except for a stronger breeze on Sunday afternoon. We got a few good pictures so here is one looking down from South Pier towards Blackpool Tower, using the zoom lens.

I only took a few photos of the Pleasure Beach and this was the only one that really came out because of the glare on the screen! I couldn't see what I was taking half the time! This one features the newer Blackpool trams which are great to travel on!

So we had a really great time, strolling along the seafront eating junk food and enjoying the sun. I always do a lot of walking so I've been stiff and sore since I got home! My dad bought lots of great T shirts in the markets while I of course grabbed dvds and books and dinosaur stuff! But I didn't read a thing when I was there because I was tired every night from the heat and exercise! Since I got home I have read a graphic novel and short story so hopefully my reading slump is slowly ending! I hope so anyway...

Right, the books! You know I'm a horror/monster/zombie kind of girl and I do love reading those subjects. And of course I have zombies and psychos in my haul this week! But sometimes I look at popular genres like the fantasy and YA genres and see people rave about certain books that I've never considered reading and I think that there are bound to be books in here that I might like if I have the patience to look at reviews and stuff. I guess I just feel like a bit of a change, trying a few books and authors and seeing if I can find a few new hidden gems! So I took the plunge with a few trades and my holiday money! I'm a bit nervous at a few of my choices but I did get them at reduced price in Waterstones sales. Wish me luck, I'm going in!

DOWNLOADS:

 

    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20418466-teeth

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18270309-crash

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11011944-hare-moon 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21430091-rain

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23296002-the-oasis-of-filth

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25131766-the-demon-s-deadline

BOUGHT PAPERBACKS:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/510011.Cherry_Ames_Student_Nurse 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20810072-if-you-find-me 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25665352-the-fire-sermon

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15745753-eleanor-park 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16068905-fangirl 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18392459-we-all-looked-up 
  

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12891111-prince-of-thorns 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17369312-nowhere 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18606526-four 

FOLLOW ME:
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3426724-chucklesthescot
https://twitter.com/chucklesthescot
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