Chuckles Weekend Roundup

Welcome to my feature Chuckles Weekend Roundup where I will be looking at what books I've received, anything interesting I've done or bought or watched and other random stuff. I'll be taking a look back at what happened in my blogging world too, sort of like The Sunday Post that some of you do! 

Please note that I'll be visiting your STS/SP as normal, but I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave comments, and I won't allow DISQUS to follow new people, update my profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I am the only one who does that on my social media! I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account. Sometimes, I have problems leaving messages on blogs hosted by Wordpress-they try to block me because I deleted my account with them but I will persevere as it only happens the odd time!

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 The end of November eh? Seems like no time at all since that summer heatwave but now I'm looking forward to winter nights of reading, films and dvd boxsets! I have a ton of stuff to get watched and I need to get motivated to do it now. I might add one boxset to each month of reading and see if that gets me started! Next month I start reading the books on my shelves that either got poor reviews or I bought to make up the numbers in special offers. It sounds strange that I'm hoping for lots of DNFs next month as that will kickstart my tbr reduction! I am hoping not to like these books which is weird, I know! 

The book ban. Well I haven't bought any paperbacks or hardbacks since last week and the last of my Amazon packages are coming in this weekend so that has been a success. Trouble is, there is one I REALLY want so I'm asking Santa to bring it as I'm allowed freebies and gifts! But I do confess to buying two 99p Kindle books!The first one I bought forgetting the book ban at all but it was 99p and I forgave myself. The second is a reduced price copy of a new series I wanted to buy so I got it. Maybe I should start the book ban tomorrow with it being the start of the month and do it for December instead! Or at least until the boxing day sales...oh I'm pathetic! I'm useless at book bans!

The books appearing today were all bought before the book ban was considered so they are all legal, so to speak! 

DOWNLOADS

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42619107-serpent-son 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42399472-the-highfire-crown 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8529844-ancestor 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7980210-the-cabin-in-the-woods 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41729832-the-longest-night---a-post-apocalyptic-emp-survivalist-story 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41643764-dark-horizon 

GIFTED!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26795359-gamescape 

Chuckles Blogging World
 I've kept up mostly on the blog this week and got a few things done. I'm taking part in Blogmas for a bit of fun so there will be a post about that most days in December. I'm already working on getting a few posts ready to get me started but getting a few book reviews prepared so it'll be a busy week online!

Book Reviews

MP Johnson-Lake Lurkers
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/11/book-review-lake-lurkers-by-mp-johnson.html 

Hunter Shea-Megalodon in Paradise
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/11/book-review-megalodon-in-paradise-by.html 

Regular Posts
I went Around the Blogs as usual. Cover Love featured Donna Galanti, Top Ten Tuesday was Platonic Relationships, Can't Wait Wednesday was The Extinction Trials Rebel, Books From The Backlog was the Dreg City series and Prepping With Chuckles looked at Food Storage.

Chuckles Cover Love
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/11/chuckles-cover-love-102-donna-galanti.html  

Around The Blogs With Chuckles
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/11/around-blogs-with-chuckles_26.html

Top Ten Tuesday
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/11/top-ten-tuesday-platonic-relationships.html

Can't Wait Wednesday
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/11/cant-wait-wednesday-extinction-trials.html 

Books From The Backlog
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/11/books-from-backlog-dreg-city.html 

Prepping With Chuckles
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/11/prepping-with-chuckles-food-storage.html

Discussion Posts

How Do You Solve A Problem Like A TBR?
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/11/how-do-you-solve-problem-like-tbr.html 

The Breakdown of my TBR
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-breakdown-of-my-tbr.html

Book Review Backlog
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/11/book-review-backlog.html 

Film & TV Reviews 
My digital TV box is about to go terminal so I've been trying to clear all the docs and TV episodes off it all week which has prevented me doing much else! I've been watching Ant Middleton on Everest-good but needed to be a mini series rather than one episode, a few true crime things, Masterchef The Professionals, Coronation Street and films for my dad.

Special Posts 

 Blogmas 2018
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/11/blogmas-2018.html

Scifi Month Films Final Update
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/11/scifi-month-films-final-update.html

Scifi Month Final Update
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/11/scifi-month-final-update.html

Book Tags/Blog Awards
none this week

Currently Reading/Up Next 
 I've been disappointed in my lack of reading over these last two months and I've missed out on the fun of Horror Month and Scifi Month for the most part. Next month is Delete the Shelves December where I'm intending to tackle books with mixed reviews or those I'm less keen on reading. I'm only picking ten books as my reading has been so bad recently and hopefully this will kick start me, ready for a brand new reading year! These are my first books to be tackled and I'm actually hoping I DNF them to free some shelf space quickly!

FOLLOW ME:

https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/chuckles-book-cave-9910183 
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3426724-chucklesthescot 
https://twitter.com/chucklesthescot 
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/chucklesthescot/

Book Review: Megalodon in Paradise by Hunter Shea

Island life can be deadly.

For Ollie Arias, owning an island in Micronesia is beyond his wildest dreams. Moving his best friends from college to share his dream…priceless. A little urban exploration of the abandoned military lab unearths strange, dark secrets. And awakens a slumbering beast that has gone decades without food. Ollie and his pals have unwittingly unleashed a deadly infection above, and a prehistoric killing machine below. The storm of the century is headed their way. Paradise has never been so close to hell.

My Review:
When Ollie wins a fortune on the lottery he buys a private island and encourages his old friends from college to give up their lives and go and live there with him. It seems the ideal place with endless beaches, a beautiful sea view and houses built to have everything needed. nine months later, they are all living the dream. However the island was once owned by the US military including a secret lab where a modified megalodon is housed, asleep and unaware of anything-until it is accidently roused by the exploring of the new residents. Now a storm and other dangers are on the way and the megalodon is very hungry...

I honestly wasn't sure what to expect from this one. Yes I love any kind of scary shark creature feature and I'm a fan of the author, so that was good but I was unsure about the plot. I mean, if you are on an island that is well supplied with houses on it, why should a megalodon be so scary when it is in the water and can't reach you? In the long term it could be an issue getting re-supplied with a monster shark roaming around but is it scary in the short term for the story? The answer of course is yes! The shark can now get in and out of the lab and into the water, circling the island looking for prey. It is soon going to get a lot closer to them as the storm hits the island and the flooding begins.

This book had everything. It starts with the group of friends and the people working on the island, who are all likeable enough. Things start going wrong when Lenny decides that he wants to explore the lab that is there so off we go on their merry way. Once inside, they accidently trigger the feeding mechanism which is designed to wake the shark and they flee safely from the area. But Lenny is curious about whether anything is alive in the lab and decides that he needs to go back to be sure. This decision turns out to be a very bad one for the group in general. However, Marco is also about to bring trouble of a different kind down on the island when his dodgy deals start to catch up with him, putting their lives at risk again. The last thing they need is to see evidence of the megalodon and know that the coming storm is going to trap them there but that is just the beginning of their problems.

We also get a bit of the back story to the lab which was quite interesting and how the shark came to be there. We see what the scientists did to 'train' it and what exactly they fed it! It explains the behaviour of the shark through the book and I liked seeing that side of the story. I liked the 1954 tale and the way is was mixed in with the up to date disaster that was happening. As the story progressed, the danger and tension ramped up as the various story threads laid out all began to collide and the island paradise became a total death trap for everyone there.

I really enjoyed this story! I liked what Shea did with the shark, the storm and the unwanted visitors. It was fun to see how the story developed and there was plenty action to keep most readers happy. It had that mad scientist element to the classic creature feature story which was entertaining and of course there was the shark itself. I do enjoy a good megalodon story, mainly because I believe that these guys could be living in some deep sea trench waiting to eat people! This was one of my favourite Shea stories so far and I hope to read a lot more of his books next year.

Read July 2018.
4 stars. 

SCIFI MONTH-Final Update

For the first time ever, Chuckles Book Cave is going to be joining in with Scifi month hosted by https://onemore.org/ and https://deargeekplace.com/ , which runs the whole month of November. There will be blog posts, Twitter posts and even a giveaway and I'm pretty excited at taking part this year and reading some SF books and watching SF films hopefully.

Here are most of the unread SF books I have on my shelf and I hope to get to as many as I can. No specific target in mind, just reading fun! A few are rereads so I can refresh my memory as to what happened but most are new to me.

1) Martha Wells-Exit Strategy (read)
2) Amie Kaufman-Illuminae
3) Anne McCaffrey-Dinosaur Planet (read)
4) Anne McCaffrey-The Survivors (read)
5) Christopher Brookmeyer-Bedlam (DNF)

6) Ernest Cline-Armada
7) Jeff VanderMeer-Annihilation 
8) Elizabeth Briggs-Future Shock (reread)
9) Elizabeth Briggs-Future Threat (read)
10) Elizabeth Briggs-Future Lost (read)
11) Joelle Charbonneau-The Testing
12) Joelle Charbonneau-Independent Study
13) Joelle Charbonneau-Graduation Day
14) Becky Chambers-The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet
15) Nicholas Sansbury Smith-Hell Divers
16) Jules Verne-Journey to the Center of the Earth
17) Andy Weir-The Martian
18) PK Hawkins-Recon Marines
19) Richard Herley-The Penal Colony
20) Kenneth C Johnson-V 
21) Mur Lafferty-Six Wakes
22) Marie Lu-Warcross 

I'm really disappointed by my total. I think it was a mixture of being busy and tired this month that led to a lack of reading overall. I really wanted to get some of these books done. I still might get to one or two in December. 

Scifi Month Films-The Final Update

As I've mentioned, I'm taking part in Scifi Month. I've shared the books that I'm planning to read so now I'm sharing the films that I want to watch this month. Some are new-to-me and others are classics that I want to watch again! It's not too late to join in the fun so join up here https://onemore.org/2018/09/16/scifimonth-2018-sign-up/ or follow the Twitter posts here

#RRSciFiMonth

FILMS I WANT TO WATCH AGAIN! 
The Thing and Starship Troopers weren't on my original list but happened to be on TV!

1) Alien (watched!)
2) Aliens (watched!)
3) Alien 3 (watched!)
4) AVP (watched!)
5) Predator (watched!)
6) Total Recall
7) Armageddon
8) The Running Man
9) Star Trek 2 The Wrath of Khan
10) Battleship (watched!) 

11) The Thing (watched!) 

12) Starship Troopers (watched!)

FILMS I HAVEN'T SEEN YET 

1) AVP2 (watched-2 stars)
2) Predators
3) Independence Day 2
4) Ready Player One
5) Star Wars The Force Awakens
6) Star Wars Rogue One
7) Star Wars The Last Jedi
8) Annihilation
9) The Maze Runner
10) Divergent 

11) Jurassic World 2 

Overall this was a disappointing effort-one film I hadn't seen before and that was all I managed? I didn't even enjoy AVP2! Quite a pathetic attempt but I have been busy this month on a lot of things around the house. 

Blogmas 2018

Sophie over at http://bewareofthereader.com/ is hosting Blogmas 2018 and would love everyone to take part! The idea is that you post on each topic through the month (or as many as you can manage) on Wordpress, Twitter, Instagram etc using the hashtag #BestBooksof2018

I think I can manage most topics and I always enjoy a looky back at what I've read this year so I'll be doing a blog post for each topic I do and a link on Twitter! Hope you join in too!

Want to join in? Check it out here. http://bewareofthereader.com/i-will-be-a-busy-bee-in-december-blogmas-is-all-about-daily-posts-of-my-bestbooksof2018-join-me-if-youd-like/#comment-46380

Now I'm heading off to plan a few posts! 

Books From The Backlog-Dreg City

Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf.  You might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks. Go to Carole's blog and add your blog post link in to join in the fun! Hosted by Carole at https://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.co.uk/

This seems like a fun feature and I have been planning to take part since Carole launched this so at last, here we go! I have a TON of unread books to choose from in various genres and I'm looking forward to sharing some of them with everybody. 

They’ll never see her coming. . . .

When Evangeline Stone wakes up naked and bruised on a cold slab at the morgue—in a stranger’s body, with no memory of who she is and how she got there—her troubles are only just beginning. Before that night she and the two other members of her Triad were the city’s star bounty hunters, mercilessly cleansing the city of the murderous creatures living in the shadows, from vampires to shape-shifters to trolls. Then something terrible happened that not only cost all three of them their lives but also convinced the city’s other Hunters that Evy was a traitor—and she can’t even remember what it was.

Now she’s a fugitive, piecing together her memory, trying to deal some serious justice—and discovering that she has only three days to solve her own murder before the reincarnation spell wears off. Because in three days Evy will die again—but this time there’s no second chance. . . .

I loved this book when I read it back in 2010 and I loved the characters, the varied creatures and the plot. I never got round to reading the rest of the books but I'll be reading the complete series next year and look fiorward to it!

Book Review Backlog

I always watch with envy as I see people reviewing a book within a week or two of getting it read. It would make life easier to do it then, when all the details are fresh in your mind and you are ready to gush or rant about it.

Sadly things don't work that way at The Book Cave as you may have noticed! When I'm on a roll I can read 20-30 books a month and I also do short reviews on the books I DNF so if I only write 2 reviews a week, it quickly becomes a backlog of reviews which is what I have at the moment. I'm currently 4 months behind in my reviews and I need to get caught up as much as I can before the year ends. I don't want to start next year with a huge backlog and it would be great to be just a couple of weeks behind in my reviews!

The fact that I'm reviewing books I read months ago seems to be causing some confusion in the comments section as people keep saying 'I hope your next read is better' when in fact I've read a ton of books since the one being reviewed. I have tried to make it easier for my blog followers over the last few years by dating it-above the star rating at the end of the review, I've got a line saying when I read the book. It doesn't seem to help with the confusion though!

I know I have the very annoying OCD type habit of pointing it out in my reply each time. I seem to keep saying 'I read this in July' on every comment this month wishing me a better next read! Sorry about this guys, I'm trying not to do it but it seems to have become a bad habit that I have trouble breaking! I'm concerned that when I do it, you might think I'm annoyed with you for it but I promise this isn't the case! This is about me being annoying, not you! I shall try harder, I promise!

But how to catch up with a backlog? I can put together a post like this in ten minutes but I seem to take two hours to write some reviews, even though I have a book journal where I noted down things as I read the book. You'd think that would make it easier! I just seem to struggle getting it written down, then I keep editing it because I'm not happy with it and it becomes a chore. I like seeing my reviews on the blog so I don't want to stop doing them but I have to find a way to get them done quicker! There doesn't seem to be a magic formula other than getting myself in gear and doing it!

Do you struggle with book reviews? Do you have a backlog?

Book Review: Lake Lurkers by MP Johnson

The Land of 10,000 Lakes is about to become the Land of 10,000 Deaths!

After years of saving, Tess is finally able to move into her dream home: a gorgeous house in the wealthiest neighborhood in Minneapolis, right across from Lake Harriet. But something vicious has moved into the lake at the same time, and the housewarming party is going to be brutal.

When the remains of missing neighbors start floating to the surface, Tess has to decide whether to go head-to-head against the fangs and tentacles of the creatures lurking in the lake or take shelter in her new home.

Unfortunately, the enemy may be even closer than she thinks. 

My Review: 
It was a beautiful lake, surrounded by exclusive houses...the perfect place to live until green flames shoot across the sky and somefall falls into the icy depths of the water. Scaly finned monsters have taken up residence in the lake and start to pick off the unwary who venture too close to the water's edge. However, these monsters are not content with the odd meal being delivered so they start to pay house calls on the local residents.

I love the cover of this book and it sounded really good in the blurb. The actual plot was a typical creature feature story with an alien twist to it but it was fun and the monster parts are well written and enjoyable. Lots of people start to go missing-an injured jogger, an investigating police officer, a man doing one of those chilly dips in the lake that people seem to do to torture themselves etc. I liked reading about the attacks and the action really ramps up when the monsters start coming out of the lake to attack people on the land and in their houses. The big problem with this book actually came from some of the characters.

Our MC is Tess, who has always wanted to live in this environment, and is thrilled to be moving in. Naturally she is somewhat pleased with herself to be finally achieving her dream and buying her perfect house in a beautiful location. It's a pity that Tess is a self obsessed bitch as well as proud houseowner. The house is the one thing she really loves and that becomes clear through the book. She is moving in with her boyfriend Randall but it isn't really clear why. She keeps refusing to marry him and doesn't even seem to like him that much, as she is forever annoyed by everything he says and does. When she becomes aware of the monsters, she seems more interested in the dropping value of the house and the fact that her dream home is being spoiled for her, than the safety of her new neighbours. There is even a point where she hesitates over helping someone being attacked as it means damage to her bloody house! I really could not stand this character and her obsession with being the proud home owner.

Then we have the usual asshole cops to deal with. Tess passes the police officer while out jogging, just before he goes missing at the edge of the lake. She sees the vscaly hand grab him and calls 911, only to be accused of letting the officer die, leading to one of the cops deciding to assault her for no reason. When her neighbours begin to go missing, these cops are back accusing her of letting these people die as well, to the annoyance of this irritated reader. The next attack is witnessed by a few of the residents who try to save the victim by attacking the monster but Tess is now being blamed again and arrested despite the witnesses saying what really happened. I was getting really mad at the book by this point. One of my pet hates is the small town cop with the moronic attitude who always seems to be racist or bigoted or violent bullies. I might not like Tess but I wanted these idiots eaten. There were some good characters. I certainly liked Randall more than Tess ever seemed to and I really liked her neighbours Gus and Naomi, but the horrible characters overshadowed them.

Overall I'd say that it was a decent creature feature. I liked the alien side to the monster story and having them able to leave the lake to find victims made them much scarier than the usual lake monster. There were certainly things to enjoy in the plot and there was the usual satisfying death toll that you expect in these books. It would certainly make you think twice about buying a house beside a lake! However it was let down a bit by the steriotype cops and an MC that I couldn't really care less about. It wouldn't stop me reading more by the author as long as the characters are not the same next time!

Read July 2018.
3 stars. 

Can't Wait Wednesday-Extinction Trials Rebel

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at http://www.wishfulendings.com/ to spotlight and discuss books we're excited about but haven't read, which may not even be released yet. 

NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account. 

Betrayal. Sacrifice. Survival. Welcome to The Extinction Trials

Storm and Lincoln's city is burning. The people are starving. The only place left to run is Piloria, the continent of monsters. It's up to Storm and Lincoln to keep their people alive as they colonize this lethal paradise. But will the biggest threat to their survival be the monsters in the jungle...or the ones inside the encampment with them?

The Hunger Games meets Jurassic Park in this wildly popular series filled with action, survival and betrayal.

I can't tell you guys how excited I am for this book! It is due out in February next year and I've already pre-ordered it!

Top Ten Tuesday-Platonic Relationships

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  http://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/top-ten-tuesday/

NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account. 

This week is about platonic relationships that I enjoyed reading about.

1) Gavyn & Ian (Gavyn Donatti by Sonya Bateman)
Gavyn is a petty and hapless thief who inherits a djinn protector that doesn't like his task. The relationship is snarky and funny with lots of action thrown in for good measure. This is one of my top 5 favourite urban fantasy series and book 3 is out now!

2) Atticus & Oberon (Iron Druid by Kevin Hearne)
Atticus is a Druid and Oberon is his faithful wolfhound that he can mentally communicate with. Oberon is obsessed with sausages and French poodles. Their relationship is very funny, and they play all kinds of word games that are amusing as well.

3) Zoey & Maurice (Monster Haven by RL Naquin)
Zoey is an empath whose job it is to help monsters with their problems, and turns her home into a protected haven. Maurice is her anxious, super baking, houseproud Closet Monster roomie. I love their friendship!

4) Jon & Samwell (ASOI&F by GRRM)
Jon is the bastard son of a well loved noble and Sam is the unwanted fat heir to his father's title when they both end up as outcasts in the Night's Watch. They forge an unlikely friendship. I loved the way Jon did everything he could to help Sam find a place in the group.

5) Frodo & Samwise (LOTR by JRR Tolkein)
There are similarities to Jon and Sam here. Samwise is devoted to his friend Frodo and is determined to protect and save him on their deadly mission to destroy the Ring of Power. Sam was just so brave and devoted-I loved the character and the friendship.

6) Sookie & Pam (Southern Vampire by Charlaine Harris)
I wish we got to see more of them interacting as I loved the sarky and dangerous Pam working with Sookie. There was a great short story about the two of them working together on a road trip and I wish we'd seen more of that.

7) Claire & Myrnin (Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine)
Claire is the college student and Myrnin is a mentally damaged, eccentric and dangerous vampire that he assists in his research. I love the dynamic of this friendship as Myrnin swings between saving, loving and trying to kill Claire!

8) Mary & Anne (The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory)
I loved reading about the Boleyn sisters and their assumed rivalry over Henry VIII. Mary is upset to be replaced by her sister in Henry's affections but it is Anne who will soon envy Mary's happy marriage...and a son. Loved the drama and angst!

9) Scott, Linda & Joyce (Countdown to Armageddon by Darrell Maloney) 
How refreshing it was to have Scott and his new girlfriend Joyce getting on perfectly well with ex wife Linda instead of a lot of fighting. I enjoyed watching them and Scott's kids with Linda preparing for the coming armageddon.

10) Fitz & Apollo (Extinction Cycle by Nicholas Sansbury Smith)
Fitz is the soldier who lost his legs in combat and found new purpose fighting witha new unit in the variant wars. I loved it when he teamed up with his furry friend Apollo to tackle many dangerous missions together.

Around The Blogs With Chuckles

We all enjoy snooping and lurking on other people's blogs right? Why not share those entertaining things you found with other readers and bloggers too! Welcome to Around the Blogs with Chuckles, where I take time out to show you some of my favourite blog posts from the previous seven days and link you up so you can check them out. 

This week! Yes there are three posts featured for a few bloggers! I always try to feature things like Book Recs and lists to get more books featured on this list. Likewise, I like to get a wide range of book reviews on the list so that there is something to interest most people. If that means three posts from one person, I'll feature it! A few this week are books I think a lot of people are going to be interested in, across the genres!

1) Book Review-Someone Like Me by MR Carey
Mogsy looks at stand-alone horror.
https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/11/18/book-review-someone-like-me-by-m-r-carey/ 

2) Book Review-I'd Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel
Lark looks at a book about reading!
http://larkwrites.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-bookish-gem.html 

3) Bookish Pet Peeves 
Katherine looks at the down side to second hand books.
http://iwishilivedinalibrary.blogspot.com/2018/11/ramblings-from-stacks-bookish-pet-peeves.html 

4) Book Recs
Verushka shares a few more books this week.
https://editingeverything.com/blog/2018/11/19/5books-book-recs-and-journalling/ 

5) Amazon Update
Bark tells us the latest developments in the Amazon battle.
http://barksbooknonsense.blogspot.com/2018/11/amazon-update.html 

6) Top Scifi Reads of 2018
Mogsy shares her list and reviews.
https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/11/20/rrscifimonth-top-10-sci-fi-reads-of-2018/ 

7) Book Review-Elevation by Stephen King
Erica goes horror.
https://www.ericarobynreads.com/2018/11/book-review-elevation-by-stephen-king.html 

8) Book Review-The Darkside War by Zachary Brown 
Bookstooge looks at a new SF series.
https://bookstooge.wordpress.com/2018/11/21/the-darkside-war-icarus-corps-1-%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%E2%98%86%E2%98%86%C2%BD/

9) New Releases
Carole takes a look at four for you.
https://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.com/2018/11/new-releases-november-20-2018.html 

10) Book Review-Brotherhood Of The Wheel by RS Belcher
Verushka goes for unique urban fantasy.
https://editingeverything.com/blog/2018/11/21/brotherhood-of-the-wheel-is-dark-intense-and-whew/ 

11) Book Review-The Cheerleaders by Kaza Thomas
Greg looks at YA mystery.
http://gregsbookhaven.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-cheerleaders.html 

12) Book Review-Adrift by Rob Boffard 
Mogsy looks at a SF stand-alone thriller which is on my tbr!
https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/11/22/rrscifimonth-book-review-adrift-by-rob-boffard/ 

13) Book Review-The Lost Man by Jane Harper
Verushka looks at an Australian outback mystery.
https://editingeverything.com/blog/2018/11/22/the-lost-man-book-review-in-which-i-can-admit-i-am-still-a-jane-harper-fan/

14) Book Review-Twelve Slays of Christmas by Jacqueline Frost 
Carole looks at a cozy mystery.
https://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.com/2018/11/audiobook-review-twelve-slays-of.html 

15) Black Friday Hall of Shame Videos 
The Organic Prepper shares the American sales fights.
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/black-friday-2018-video-hall-of-shame-its-the-most-embarrassing-time-of-the-year/ 

Chuckles Cover Love #102-Donna Galanti

If there is one thing that makes a great book even better, it is when it has a cover that we love! The cover design is what catches the eye as we browse through a bookstore shelf or check out the Amazon or Goodreads recommendations. The right cover makes me look closer at a book, to read the blurb and maybe make a purchase. A poor cover might mean I never look at the blurb at all.

NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account.   

This Week! 

I saw these gorgeous new bookcovers on Sherry's blog  , and loved them! I liked the sound of the plot and downloaded the first book to my ereader.

The Breakdown of My TBR

As another year draws closer to ending, I'm looking closely at my TBR and what the plan is to tackle it. I've done a post about how I intend to do that but it made me take a close look at the TBR itself as it looks on Goodreads. My TBR is books that I either own a paperback or hardback copy of or have a digital copy already on my ereaders. Everything I want to get remains on my wishlist. Here are my stats:

WHEN BOOKS WERE ADDED TO MY TBR AND HOW MANY THERE ARE

2010-28
2011-52
2012-44
2013-42
2014-34
2015-92
2016-264
2017-204
2018-448 

TBR rough total-1208

Firstly I'm shocked at how many books I purchased in some form this year if that is just the unread number. Yes some were free and cheap but the sheer number of them is shocking! This makes the book ban plan a bit more important in reducing these numbers! I'm also quite horrified about the number of unread books that have been on my TBR since back in 2010-2014. That is WAY too many and I need to make some of these books and series a priority next year.

The other thing that worries me is that not all of my books are catalogued on Goodreads yet so I'm thinking that there is maybe another 50 or even more to add to the 2016-2018 numbers. That is a mixture of sequels, new books and those I'm saving up for the weekend posts through the winter where I won't be buying anything so I have something to share with you every week! During the winter I'll get everything uploaded to Goodreads so I can see the true number of books that I have. *trembles*

Now, here's a rough rundown on the genres and how many I have to read in each. Some may have been counted twice in different genres so as I said these are rough numbers. You can see the areas of concern right away!

fantasy-29
SF/dyst-49
horror- 329
apocalypse-314
thrillers-90
political-43
royal-18
NFiction-96
tudors-62
historical-8
UFantasy-173

I expected high totals for horror and apocalypse as I have a ton of horror books on my shelves and a lot of apocalypse series to read. I also have a lot of urban fantasy series to catch up with so yes, I expected those three categories to be way out in front. I'm a bit shocked by the non fiction total which doesn't include my political and tudor NF, so that needs to be tackled quickly. I actually thought I had more tudor books than thrillers but of course that was before I checked the ereaders! Looks like I have plenty to get on with next year. I am planning to keep a careful eye on what I buy and read in a regular post or start adding it to my weekend roundup again. I haven't decided yet.

What is lurking on your tbrs? What genres are you targeting next year? 

How Do You Solve A Problem Like A TBR?

Yes when I wrote the title I did get singing nuns in my head! I admit it! I've been trying to find ways to deal with my tbr for who knows how long now and the pile keeps getting bigger, not smaller. It doesn't take a genius to work out that you need this very complex equation for a solution.

Buy Less + Read More = Lower TBR + More Bookshelf Space

Yeah it's as easy as that huh! Well, Chuckles has decided to tackle the first part of the equation. As of next Monday, after the last of my Black Friday sales purchases have arrived, there is going to be a book ban. I will not be permitted to buy any paperbacks until after New Year *clutches desk for support*. Yes, 5 weeks of a book ban! I can accept free books of course and no Kindle books at all.  *sweats* It's the only way to get started on dealing with this chaotic tbr.

In the New Year I'm already considering other ways to keep it under better control. Maybe read 10 before I can buy a new one? Mini bans where I can't buy anything until I get a bag of books out to the charity shop? A two week book ban every month? Have you guys tried something like this to curb the buying or have you been doomed to failure?

Next is the Read More, which can be easier said than done for us when a big hairy reading slump comes along (above), or you are working overtime or a relative is sick or you have visitors, kids, pets to deal with etc. However, I don't have any of those distractions as my dad is house trained so I need to try and read as much as I can next year. I'm not going to do monthly targets for my reading as I always set too high a target and feel like I've failed when I don't reach it. Targets will be more relaxed from now on.

I'm looking at something like running a series catchup challenge all year where I start by picking three short series I want to complete then do it in my own time. After that I'll pick a few more series to tackle and so on until the year finishes. No stress, no panic, just getting through a few series throughout the year. Alongside that I'll be doing a paperback challenge. Again I'll pick a small number of books I really want to read across all my favourite genres, and get them read. Then I do another post with the next books I want to read and do that through the year. It means manageable targets and no panic about being behind on reading or a deadline to read it by, and space for mood reading. I'll do a similar ebook challenge through the year. This way I'm tackling all my favourite genres and reducing the tbr on each one without there being a set target in mind for book numbers. 

I will also be doing the Goodreads Challenge as it provides that handy graphic to see at a glance everything you've read but I'll set the target low then change it higher if need be as the year goes on. I'll be doing short individual challenges like Barb's Puppy Love and if I see other challenges on other blogs that interest me I'll consider them too. 

Now we get to More Bookshelf Space. Doing different genres every month will certainly help as my apocalypse, zombie, tudor, NF, politics, SF and thriller shelves are overflowing, meaning books are stacking up again on the floor. By reading a mix of genres each month I hope to free up shelf space for every genre in the first couple of months of the year. I'm starting this by continuing with SF reads in December along with some thrillers. Get a few of these read and to the charity shop and gaps will gradually appear on several shelves! That's the plan! It also means that none of my favourite genres will be neglected next year which means variety in the reading and the blog posts.

Do you have any plans to tackle the TBR next year?

Prepping With Chuckles-Food Storage

Welcome to my Prepper Posts which aims to help you be ready for any kind of short or long term disaster that might come along, and showing you the importance of being ready and able to help yourself when the authorities cannot assist you. I don't claim to be an expert on these subjects but I'll tell you what I can and direct you to prepper sites for further information if you are interested. Prepping is for normal people, and I aim to give you common sense reasons for thinking about how ready you are.

If any of you looked at the Black Friday annual shopping riots, you may have been amused or horrified at the way people were behaving, tearing TVs away from each other, fighting, stampeding etc. It wasn't a pretty sight. So lets look at that scenario in a slightly different way.

Imagine that a hurricane hit and you are without power and it could be a week or more before things are back to normal. If you are prepared for it, it is a minor issue and life goes on as normal. But what about the people who only have a day or two of food, wh0o shop as they need it or rely on takeaway food? When the power goes out the first thing they'll do is head to the local shops or supermarket to get more food. What happens when most people have the same idea and panic buying begins? There will be no more food deliveries to restock the shelves and the takeaways are closed. You are going to see people fighting each other for milk and bread, and anyone trying to buy a stock of each is never going to make it to their car in one piece. The last thing you want is to risk your health getting involved in that chaos when people get desperate and steal from each other in the car park outside.

FOOD STORAGE ESSENTIALS (depending on what your family likes to eat of course and this is not a complete list)

I suggest using links to prepper websites for info about how long you can store the items for (below list)

1) PASTA
2) RICE (white stores longer than brown)
3) OATS
4) BEANS
5) SUGAR
6) APPLE CIDER VINEGAR
7) HONEY 
8) SALT
9) SPICES
10) TEA/COFFEE
11) COCONUT OIL (can replace butter, lard, margarine and stores longer)
12) POWDERED EGG/CHEESE/MILK
13) WHOLE GRAINS
14) TINNED VEGETABLES
15) TINNED OILY FISH
16) TINNED FRUIT
17) PEANUT BUTTER
18) MAPLE SYRUP
19) DRIED NOODLES
20) ALCOHOL
21) TINNED MEAT

22) JERKY

Worried about use by dates? Check this out for detail about eating after dates are up
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/expiration-dates-food/

Check out these articles on long term storage food options
https://www.foodstoragemoms.com/foods-that-last-forever/ 

http://readynutrition.com/resources/everything-you-want-and-need-to-know-about-long-term-canned-food-storage-plus-10-signs-to-look-for-when-its-spoiled_06082018/

https://homesteadsurvivalsite.com/foods-last-decades/ 

http://americanpreppersnetwork.com/2018/01/foods-longest-shelf-life-pantry-stockpiling-tips-need.html

http://americanpreppersnetwork.com/2018/01/foods-longest-shelf-life-pantry-stockpiling-tips-need.html 

https://www.survivopedia.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-shelf-life-of-foods/ 

TOP PREPPER WEBSITES
https://wellnessmama.com/
http://readynutrition.com/ 
https://www.shtfpreparedness.com/ 
https://www.survivopedia.com/ 
https://www.prepperwebsite.com/ 
http://americanpreppersnetwork.com/ 

If you have a good stock of these staples in your home, you won't have to run the gauntlet of the supermarket in a short term crisis situation-and that will be good news for your whole family! Keep a full cupboard of food in addition to what is in your fridge and freezer and you'll be well set for whatever is coming!