Why did I bother coming back?

I've only been back on a week and already I'm packing it in. ONE WEEK and some moronic over sensitive arsehead has reported a book review I posted in 2020 as containing 'sensitive' material & it now has a big red warning sign on it. It has also given blogger free reign to spam me tonight with the same message three times in a row, telling me off for posting this material, as if I'm a naughty schoolchild or some sort of deviant. 

For those interested, the book review was Jenny Lawson's 'Let's Pretend This Never happened'. You can read it at my Goodreads profile. I don't know if the special precious idiot snowflake who complained objected to a mention that animals have a tendency to crap everywhere, or use of the words 'hand job' or 'labia' in relation to humourous story references in Jenny's memoir. But frankly this is just a bloody book review and if some constantly offended idiot can't handle a book review, they shouldn't be allowed out the house without adult supervision. 

Snowflakery and wokery are running rampant these days and I refuse to bow down to it. I'm quite sure that in this inclusive era that those in the trans community refer to body parts as part of their transition story yet I'm not allowed to mention the same body parts in relation to a book review?

Fuck off blogger, your site is shit and I'm done with it. Goodbye and good riddance.

Wolf Wanderings: Blackpool, England

I've been going to Blackpool since I was about 2 years old & I still enjoy it. It's your typical tacky seaside resort but I love walking along the promenade on a sunny day, sea breeze in my face, listening to screams from the roller coasters, eating junk food on the piers, taking the tram along the coast to Fleetwood, walking around Blackpool Tower, visiting the Sealife Centre or waxworks or bloody dungeons...here are a few photos.

Many a time I took the lift to the top of the tower to look across the town & out to sea. Great views on a clear day.

The tram system is smooth, efficient & an enjoyable way to get around. I enjoy this method of transport compared to buses to be honest. Less stressful!

The Big One. Might be tame by American theme park standards but it's one of the best rides at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

I love the junk food on offer, I can't help it. The standard of ice cream is very good & I never miss the opportunity...

Viking Wolf Reads: Robert Boren-The New Republic (Bug Out Texas #2)

 

In the Bug Out! Texas Book 1, invaders flood into Texas and stage a number of terror attacks. Police, the Texas National Guard, and armed citizens take them on. Texas has to take matters into its own hands after the Federal Government refuses to provide meaningful help. The roads are no longer safe, as roving bands of Islamic Terrorists run down citizens and kill them. Bug Out! Texas Book 2 moves throughout the huge state as citizens go mobile in their RVs , taking the fight to the enemy. Unlikely friends join forces to fight enemies from within and without the great state of Texas. Will they survive and prevail?

The action continues quickly as our trouble spreads through Texas. Local politicians like Kip and chief Ramsay are having to put political differences aside to work together for the good of Texas, protecting it from the invaders and their own government. Kip is still trying to deal with his growing infatuation with Maria and wonders if the crisis is making her more dependent on him, giving him a chance to win her over. But things get dangerous for Kip when the government asks him to spy on his Texas colleagues putting him at risk of treason. Governor Nelson is starting to think that turning Texas into a republic might be the only way he can fight back against outside interference at a national level but can Texas go it alone?

DPS are suffering from more losses as they try to take on the enemy barges that continue to cross from Mexico, full of armed terrorists. Now the enemy are sending choppers into the battle and nobody can be sure if the US military choppers in the air are actually attacking or assisting the foreign enemies. DPS are trying to fight a lone battle, outgunned and vastly outnumbered but patriots in the US military like General Walker and General Hogan continue to take risks to try and save their country from domestic and foreign enemies.

Jason's group are still on the move after the failed attack, with Curt's tech skills proving to be a game changer for putting them one up on the enemy. They link up with new allies as they travel towards the meeting place at the RV camp in Fort Stockton. Kelly's group are taking a similar route and facing the same problems on the road with the feeling that nowhere is truly safe. They are also concerned that Chris has taken a detour to collect his sister, putting him way behind the others. Chris and a couple of his friends have linked up with Simon Orr. Eric has had to sneak over the Texas border as he tries to reach his brother but the route he has to take is putting him on a collision course with groups of terrorists using the quieter roads to attack towns across the state. 

I'm very much enjoying the new characters being introduced in this book. There is the eccentric Brushy, who I totally love and want to see a lot more of. There are the fighters of Deadwood trying to save their town from the terrorists in what could be a suicide mission. There are Moe and Clancy at Fort Stockton who run the RV park. Gray's biker group are the latest to join the fightback against the terrorists.

Now I do have to address the numerous editing issues in the text which is a problem with self published books. The wrong character names are often used. In this book it says Nate and Fritz arrive together, at the start of book 3 it says Nate arrived with Jasper, then says Jasper is with Earl, Simon and Chris who have not arrived yet. It does get confusing. There are also spelling issues but I tend to ignore those for the most part. Later editions of the books may have corrected the issues, I don't really know.

I'm really enjoying the different take on the same US invasion, seeing a different set of characters and a new angle to view the events from. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Wolf Rating: 🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺

                                                      Robert Boren

Viking Wolf Reads: Robert Boren-Texas Lockdown (Bug Out Texas #1)

It’s a normal day at the Dripping Springs Superstore. Shoppers look at merchandise while keeping their kids under control. Customers wait in the check-out lines, some chatting, others silently bored. Everything is about to change. Terrorists rush in with guns blazing, killing all who try to escape, rounding up the rest to hold hostage. Carrie, pregnant mother with a four-year-old at home, escapes into a stockroom closet. She calls her husband Jason, an Austin PD officer.

Jason and his partner find a raging massacre in the parking lot. They attack, badly outnumbered until Kelly and his rednecks fly onto the parking lot in their pickup trucks, shooting the terrorists where they stand. Inside the store, Carrie’s hiding place is about to be discovered. She pulls the pistol from her purse and waits, firing when her closet is opened, killing the enemy fighters. As her husband frantically searches for her, Carrie slips into the storefront and attacks, foiling the terrorist’s plans. Reunited, Carrie and Jason think the danger is over. They are wrong.

Terrorists attack them at home later that night, forcing them to flee into the darkness. Others join them as they try to find safety, the relentless enemy hounding them wherever they go. Now there is only one thing left to do. Fight back. Hunt the hunters.

A terrorist attack at a shopping mall in Dripping Springs by Islamic extremists starts a war in Texas. Bad guys are flooding across the Texas borders in huge numbers leaving law enforcement and border patrols overwhelmed. The local police and sections of the military realise that they cannot contain the threat without the help of armed civilians across the state. Their efforts are being stopped by the Federal government who are using draconian measures to try and stop citizens joining the fight to save their homes, loved ones and way of life as more terrorists take them on.

This is a spin off from the highly enjoyable Bug Out series (I suggest you read that one first) which had citizens in their 60's to 80's in RV's taking on psycho militia, terrorists and part of their own military. I wasn't sure what to expect from this spin off as it is set in the same timeline as Bug Out, happening at the same time in Texas as events in Bug Out took place in California, Arizona and Utah. I wondered if it would be too similar but it wasn't. Events we heard about in Bug Out are briefly reported using TV news flashes which lets you compare the timeline without being bored by it being repeated.

This book begins with two Austin police officers Jason and Kyle rushing to the shopping mall to save Jason's pregnant wife Carrie, who is hiding in a shop with fellow shopper Kate while terrorists execute innocent people. The incident ends as the police, shoppers and armed rednecks take on the enemy with their legally owned weapons. However things turn bad soon after when the civilian shooters start getting targeted in their homes by revenge attacks, causing them to flee in their RV's. We see much more more of the terrorists in this book rather than the corrupt militia which dominate the early Bug Out books so although the characters flee in their vehicles, the plot still feels different.

We follow Jason, wife Carrie, daughter Chelsea, and his police partner Kyle and new girlfriend Kate as they flee towards Fredricksburg to link up with Jason's parents. Jason's brother Eric, girlfriend Kim and dog Paco are heading to Texas from Florida, hoping to stay out of trouble as they try to get across the locked down Texas border. The rednecks led by Kelly, Brenda and Junior split into groups to evade the terrorists with a specific meeting place in mind. There is the totally mad Curt who reminds me of Burt Gummer from Tremors! We also follow Department of Public Safety Patrol Boaters Juan Carlos and Brendan as they patrol Falcon Reservoir where terrorists try to cross to Texas and local law enforcement led by Chief Ramsay and Officer Sam Reilly, who are trying to fight the bad elements in the military and Federal government to try and save Texas. I really like all these characters and I'm already rooting for them!

We have the less pleasant characters in the form of slippery Simon Orr, trying to recruit rednecks for the militia as he was doing in Bug Out. I hate that guy! There is also the President of the Texas State Senate Kip Hendrix, whose obsession with secretary Maria is downright creepy and a source of worry for his advisor Jerry. They and Police Commissioner Holly have been trying to bring in gun control, unlimited migration, Sharia Courts in Muslim areas, leading them into conflict with local people. Now that Texas is under threat from terrorists, their previous stance makes them deeply unpopular-except in the government.

It was so great to see General Walker back in this book, trying to recruit the DPS guys to be part of his civilian fighter network which we hear so much about in Bug Out. We also hear the work of General Hogan mentioned too, which was great though he has yet to appear. I'm hoping we might get a glimpse of or hear about other Bug Out characters as we go along.

The main element of this book was introducing the characters and getting them all fleeing the situation in their RV's. They are trying to travel while under threat of terrorist attacks on the road and at RV parks like Bug Out but also attacks on the mall, a popular bar and the DPS border patrols so it has the same feel as Bug Out but is also new and different in other ways. I really enjoyed the book and can't wait to read the rest!

Wolf Rating: 🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺

                                                                Robert Boren

Blog Relaunch!

 

I have started to miss blogging & having a regular routine so I'm going to be relaunching this blog in about a week's time. I'm back on Twitter & can be followed under the new title of VikingWolf, instead of Chuckles Book Cave. I'm still @chucklesthescot so if we were following each other, you'll not need to request to follow. I'll be keeping Chuckles Book Cave for the blog title though as books will remain a big focus.😎

Wolf Wanderings: This is to be a regular series showing my photos of places I've visited on day trips & holidays over the years, & perhaps gorgeous scenery from around the world on my favourite photographic subjects.😍

Six Degrees of Separation: I really enjoyed taking part in this & I'm glad to see that it's still running. It was always fun to do. Hopefully I'll start this again.😊

Five Of The Best: As much as I enjoyed Top Ten Tuesday, I feel like I've done the various topics on there so many times. So I'm going to do posts where I pick a top 5 on a subject & share them with you instead.😉

Book Reviews: Yes I'm going to still be doing book reviews! New reviews will be under the title of Viking Wolf Reads, my twitter name. I don't enjoy writing them but I really need to make the effort & write them as soon as I finish reading them.😒

Chuckles Retro Reviews: I'll be posting a few of these older reviews during periods where I have no reviews to share or where I can't be bothered writing one!😄

Chuckles Mini Review Catchup: The odd time where I only have short reviews to share, I'll put a few together in one of these posts. 😁

Tackling The TBR: It's not that I WANT to be reminded of the ton of books I haven't read but I'm going to do regular updates on my progress. I don't buy as many books as I used to so hopefully I can put a real dent in my pile as I'm reading regularly again.😬

Chuckles Weekend Roundup: This is going to be more about what I've been doing during the week, anything I've bought, anything of interest in the world of Chuckles.😝

Chuckles With Chuckles: I'll be trying to put some funny posts in from time to time to have a bit of a laugh.😀

Wolf Watch: This will be about what I'm watching on TV, any films I'm looking at, & a regular update on the fate of my sporting teams.🐺

Other than a weekend roundup post & maybe Six Degrees of Separation, I won't be doing anything on set days so I can be more flexible & get a good balance with my off blog time. That was the issue before, too much bloody pressure & it all became a chore. This time I want it to be fun!

Long overdue update

Has it really been this long since I posted here? When I gave up writing the book blog, due to the time & energy it was taking up, I also stopped reading & reviewing. I've been offline so much that I even forgot my log in details for using Twitter or whatever its called now. I sort of lost myself for a while, lost my love of books, lost motivation for really doing anything much.

In the last few months, I've started reading regularly again, started going back to watching films which I hadn't done in over a year. I'm not sure what sparked the change but I'm enjoying my reading this year. I've read a lot of political books so I can clear a pile to the charity shop & haven't been buying many. I'm rereading Robert Boren's 'Bug Out' series & I'm reading for hours at night again like I used to. Many I'll get tackling those tbrs a bit better from now on!

One thing I can't be bothered with is writing reviews. You know how much I hated that part of having a book blog. I'm not even writing reviews for them on Goodreads but that might change in the future, who knows. I don't think I'll be resuming this blog for that reason. I've tried leaving comments on a few blogs but it's stopping me doing it so far. I'll keep trying. You might see my name pop up at some point!

I'm sorry to have lost touch with so many of you. I might see you around on Twitter & Goodreads as I get back into a routine. Hopefully I'll work out how to comment again on some blogs!

Take care everyone

Chuckles

Chuckles Blog Update

I don't know where this month has gone to be honest as I've been so busy off the computer that it is making my head spin. I'd fully intended to at least be back visiting your blogs and leaving comments by now but things have just got away from me. I'll give you an idea how crazy things have been.

 

Most of you are aware that it has been almost a year since we lost my uncle to Covid and we were struggling to try and deal with all the legal issues last year. My dad gave in and hired a lawyer in April who has taken charge of the 'estate' (basically the house!), is dealing with companies looking for money from us and reducing our stress levels. They hired someone to clear out and clean the house for us and now, this week it is finally going on the market for sale. It is a huge relief to get this dealt with as it has taken up a lot of time, energy and stress to get to this stage. The housing market is good for sellers right now so we hope for a decent price and a quick sale to get it over with.  

 

My dad has been waiting for a knee operation for two years now and was meant to get it done last summer but it was cancelled because of the pandemic. He has been told it is going ahead this summer and he will be on a list for cancellations at short notice. That got us into a real panic because we still have all the good stuff from my uncle's house inside ours, waiting to be sorted into keep or charity shop etc. We have all the stuff from our house ready to go to either the dump or charity shops. The place is in a mess! Lockdown rules keep changing in our area so we don't know from one week to the next whether non essential shops are open or closed, what the charity shop is taking or not, what hours the dump is running and what we can get rid off...it's chaos when these sites aren't giving updates on it all. 

 

My dad is also struggling to drive some days because of the knee which makes things more difficult. This has all been taking up a lot of our time, trying to get ready for this operation and knowing he can't drive for two months after it. He's also had a change of diet on doctors orders which means more frequent supermarket deliveries to get in the fresh fruit. Wiping down every item we get in each delivery each week is also time consuming. He's also having insomnia off new medication which limits how much he feels up to doing so I'm doing it all some days. My dad's room is a disaster zone with boxes/bags full of old cds everywhere but the charity shops aren't taking much of that at the moment so we are struggling to get rid of it. Add in the usual housework and 90 minutes of exercise every day and I'm not getting much time for anything else during the day. 

 

So overall I've been pretty busy each day and at night that is my relax in my room watching stuff time so I'm not on the computer then either. I haven't read anything this month as I'm now trying to get a pile of stuff watched to clear some space on various shelves. I have boxes full of series recorded from tv plus bought dvd box sets breeding everywhere! I intend to have a summer of getting stuff watched so I can catch up on a few series and get rid of stuff I don't like. I'm trying not to think about the book pile right now but that will be my task for winter I think. Things are pretty chaotic right now and I still don't know if I'm going to have a blog running when this busy month ahead is finished. I haven't had time to even think about it to be honest. I am pleased to report that I had my second vaccine dose last week and only had a slightly sore arm in the way of side effects, so that is my dad and I done until we need these booster shots later this year.

 

That's my update for now. I hope you are all staying safe.

Take care

Chuckles

Unexpected Blog Break

 

Hi guys!

Sorry I just seemed to vanish without word earlier in April. To be honest I wasn't planning a blog break of any kind. I just got really annoyed with Blogger messing me about on a few of the posts I was doing. I also happened to be reading a book written by one of the DS from SAS Who Dares Wins (Ollie's newest book, for those who know the show) and the book was about looking at the time consuming things in your life, the things you do out of habit or addiction etc and deciding why you do it and if you should continue with these things if they don't add to your life. It's got me thinking about the blog being so time consuming when Blogger is doing my head in, how I hate writing the book reviews and so on. It sort of got me wondering again about the long term future of my blog which has been a theme for me since last summer.

Can I see myself doing this blog in five years time if Blogger continues to arse me about over simple graphics and text? No, to be honest. Are there other things I could be doing like reading and getting stuff watched? Yes. Am I also tired of the toxic social media environment I'm wading through? Yes. I guess I didn't realise how draining it all was and on the 13th I think it was I told myself I couldn't be bothered blogging that day and went off to do other stuff. I ended up exercising, weight training with my new weights, varnishing the fences, watching reruns of favourite stuff, browsing the internet just for fun. To be honest, the caterpillar cake wars (Colin v Cuthbert), Ed Balls Day and the failed European Super League had me so entertained that I forgot to go back to the blog and I realise I've been away from it for two weeks without thinking about it or realising. The question is, what now?

 

I just wanted to let you know that everything is ok with me despite my vanishing so suddenly. My health is fine, my dad got his second Pfizer dose earlier this week and he's ok, my mood is fine and I'm not depressed or anything. I'm just trying to have a think about things but I'm not reaching any conclusions yet. I'm off the blog and social media until Monday as there is a anti-racism boycott going on in the UK but after that you'll see me active on Twitter. At the moment I'm hoping to start visiting your blogs next week to say hello, and I plan to continue keeping in touch like that for now even if the blog isn't posting anything. So I will see you guys around while I ponder things for a bit longer!

 

Take care of yourselves and your loved ones

Chuckles

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!

 

Another week speeds by and I'm wondering where it is all going. The weather has been a bit mixed again, so no outdoor work done on the fences but I did dye my hair purple just for a change. The postman complimented me and said it makes me look younger which was nice of him! A change is as good as a holiday as they say. I'm concentrating on trying to delete all the non essential crap stored on my computer as it is being a bit sluggish and close to capacity. It's a slow and thankless task that I'm forever putting off so I had to get on with it. I've also added a couple of new exercises to my morning routine which has been a bit of a trial as both are pretty hard going!

I've been reading each nice but I'm tackling a few longer books so each is taking a few days to get through. Quality rather than quantity this week! I need to put a book buying ban on myself for a few weeks as there have been a lot of new releases that I just had to have so progress has stalled a bit on reducing the tbr. I'll get there though.

Chuckles Blogging World

A bit of a mixed week for getting blog related stuff done. 

 

Book Reviews

 

Chuckles Mini Reviews Catchup 

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2021/04/chuckles-mini-reviews-catchup.html 

Regular Posts

 

Top Ten Tuesday

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2021/04/top-ten-tuesday-one-word-titles-3.html 

Chuckles Weekly Reading Roundup

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2021/04/chuckles-weekly-reading-roundup.html

 

Around The Blogs With Chuckles

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2021/04/around-blogs-with-chuckles_9.html 

Discussion Posts

 

Spring Things #5

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2021/04/spring-things-5.html 

Obituary

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2021/04/obituary-prince-philip-duke-of-edinburgh.html

 

Reading Challenges 

 

Tackling The TBR

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2021/04/obituary-prince-philip-duke-of-edinburgh.html 

Films & TV & Music

Started watching a bit of IPL cricket and continued watching my Jaws films! Music wise I'm listening to my mp3 of favourite songs while I exercise each morning!

 

Book Tags/Blog Awards

none this week

 

The Week In Review

I was back in the mood for a bit of non fiction recently so my latest reads have included biographies of Tyson Fury and Burt Reynolds, along with Ollie Ollerton's Battle Ready which I've just finished.

 

The Week Ahead 

This week I'll be continuing to sort through computer files but I do hope to get a few book reviews written if time allows. I'm not sure what I'll feel like reading so I'll see where the mood takes me and not pick anything yet.

 

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/ 
 

Spring Things #5

TUESDAY

My exercise weights arrived this morning and I'm itching to get started with them. I've also bought and received some of those Grenade fat buster pills. They help speed up your metabolic rate so you can burn a bit more fat during each exercise session. Every bit helps so we'll give that a go. A weird side effect of the exercise regime is that for some reason I'm not really wanting to consume sugar. Not sure why but I'll take it! I'm a bit less keen on the lemon flavoured water I consume after each session which also aids fat busting. It's not fun if you put too much lemon in the water! Ugh!

 

WEDNESDAY

Did myself a bit of an injury last night. I have big long plastic storage boxes beside my bed and if I get up during the night, the light switch for my bedside lamp is right beside it. I was a bit dopey as it was 2am and instead of grabbing the light switch I missed. I slammed the joint between the smallest two fingers right into the edge of the plastic, forcing the two fingers very far apart and at a fair force. Cue muffled screaming, severe pain and mild nausea for the next thirty minutes. My fingers aren't broken but I've done some damage to the tendons in two fingers of my left hand, (says the pharmacist) which is now strapped up tight, and I'm on painkillers. The brownish bruising goes from halfway down the two fingers on the back of my hand right up to the wrist and across half the surface of the hand. On my palm, the end finger is bruised. I've tried taking photos of it but it isn't showing up in the gloomy light today. Why am I suddenly becoming accident prone during a pandemic??? You'd think I'd be more bloody careful. Luckily it's my left hand so I can still read, type and so on. Muppet.

 

THURSDAY

Tonight I decided to dye my hair purple. I haven't dyed it since around 2005/2006 so I was happy to see that it is an easier process than it was then. No dye coating your face and ears for a week and refusing to come off, no stained shower floor making it look like a scene from the Bates Motel, and no dye coming off on clothes and sheets every time you sweat! An old towel to use on the hair was the only casualty of the operation and I'm pretty happy with the results. No photo as yet as I still hate getting my photo taken! It was a bit of a military operation trying to get it done one handed but I was too stubborn to wait for another week or so!

 

On the fun side another T Shirt arrived and I'm feeling very Stark at the moment so yes it has wolves! I'm very much part of the North when it comes to Westeros. This is what the sigil on the shirt looks like. Nice!

 

 

FRIDAY

Britain went into mourning this morning for the loss of HRH Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, husband to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. He was well loved in this country for his devotion to duty, his support of The Queen, his war record, his charity work, his humour and also the way he never suffered fools gladly. Telling photographers to hurry up and take the effing photo was one much loved withering putdown witnessed in a documentary. Ordinary British people loved what the media called hi rude comments and insults. As a Royal fan, it was a sad day for me to hear of his passing. It seems ironic that two books I ordered over a week ago about the Duke arrived yesterday in the post.

SATURDAY

The post arrived today with a couple of Game of Thrones T Shirts to add to my ever growing collection. I'm glad I cleared out a pile of old clothes these last few months as it was a good excuse to buy some of these bad boys! You can never have too many GoT T Shirts!

Tonight I am treating myself to fish and chips out of the local takeaway. Well fish is good for you so I figured why not! I'm not thinking about the big pile of chips that'll go down very nicely or the fatty batter on the fish...

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. 

 

It is vital that we all stick together online at this time. Do what you can to show some love to other blogs, to books and authors and let us all know that you are staying safe and well. Hearing from our friends will make it easier to deal with whatever is coming during the pandemic. Stay safe everyone.

 

This week!

 

1) Book Review-Shadow And Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Barb's review.

http://bookertsfarm.blogspot.com/2021/04/2-bloggers-1-series-shadow-and-bone.html 

 

2) Book Review-Almost There And Almost Not by Linda Urban 

Lindsi's review.

https://www.doyoudog-ear.com/2021/04/almost-there-and-almost-not-by-linda.html 

 

3) Book Review-Stolen Daughters by Carolyn Arnold

Sherry's review.

http://www.fundinmental.com/stolen-daughters/  

 

4) Book Review-Near The Bone by Christina Henry 

Mogsy's review.

https://bibliosanctum.com/2021/04/05/audiobook-review-near-the-bone-by-christina-henry/ 

 

5) April Releases 

AJ's list.

http://ajsterkel.blogspot.com/2021/04/cant-wait-wednesday-april-2021-book.html 

 

6) Book Review-The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon 

Carole's review.

https://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.com/2021/04/review-drowning-kind-by-jennifer-mcmahon.html 

 

 

Obituary: His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

It was with great sadness that I saw the breaking news of the death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and beloved husband to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. He was a war hero who was destined for a life of naval service and promotion to the very top before giving up the career he loved for the woman he loved. From that day onwards he was forever at her side, dedicating himself to the service of his Monarch and our country. Year after year, he was by her side, entertaining the crowds on royal tours, amusing us with his wit and his real impatience with photographers and the media. 

His war heroics soon came to light. In July 1943 he was first lieutenant, second-in-command, aged 21. During the Allied landings in Sicily, HMS Wallace came under attack at night, with the ship and crew in real danger of destruction. Philip came up with the idea of a decoy, a raft overboard covered in smoke to make it look like ship debris. The Germans were fooled into attacking that decoy while the ship and crew were able to safely escape from the area. For witness details please follow the link below. I wonder how many lives he saved that night.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/dec/28/monarchy.davidsmith 

His love for the environment came before it was fashionable to care for the planet, a love he passed on to Prince Charles. He was the first President of the World Wildlife Fund after it was founded and he was passionate about his charities. He helped to transform the lives of many young people through his Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. I was a great admirer of his work ethic, his enthusiasm and his devotion to duty. I'm very much a Royalist, proud of my country and a supporter of the working royals who represent Britain around the world. I would have loved the chance to meet this inspirational man. We grew up feeling as if we knew the Royals, watching them grow and their lives evolve over the years. I watched all the weddings, funerals and state events, the documentaries and also read a lot of books about their lives. I can't express my sorrow at the news today.

My heart breaks for the Queen. He was her rock, her strength, her support in times of trouble. He was unbending in his loyalty to her and was always there for her. I so loved seeing the photos of them together, where you could see the genuine love, respect and the regard that he held her in. She must be totally devastated by his death and I really fear for her health after such a blow, which comes after a year of real stress in the family. His recent health scare coupled with the troubles unleashed against the family in recent weeks must have been hard for her. To lose him so soon after this must be terrible for her.

My thoughts are with Her Majesty and the rest of the family who will provide her with the love and support that she needs at this moment. Rest in peace Sir. You deserve it after your years of loyal service.

Goodnight Sweet Prince. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

 

Tackling The TBR April #1

 

 

In December 2018 I launched Tackling The TBR, a challenge to reduce the ever extending TBR pile and 2019 was pretty successful in that regard. In 2020 I intended to make a big effort to reduce my TBR by buying less, getting stuff read and getting rid of the things that I just don't want to read from my bookshelves and my ereaders Maurice and Myrnin! However the darn Coronavirus Pandemic has put the skids under all my plans and I had to suspend the challenge. I've now decided to bring it back in a bid to kickstart my TBR reduction as nothing else has been working.
 
The TBR total shown is the total number of books I own but have not read yet-wishlist books are NOT in my TBR! Sometimes there will be a difference between the books read and new total-if I read a book not on the TBR it counts for books read for the week but not for this challenge.

BOOKS IN

-Books in refers to bought, downloaded or gifted books being added to the TBR list. 

BOOKS OUT

-Books read refers to books read that were ON the TBR and DNFed is obvious. 

-Deleted from the TBR are books I lost interest in reading, or sequels to DNFed books I no longer want to read and have been removed without starting to read them. These three categories added together are my books 'out'.

I'm posting my progress on the 7th, 14th, 21st and final day of the month as before, even if there is no progress to report and anyone else is welcome to join in. No rules, set up your posts how you want and when you want, just reduce the pile! And each week I'll add my new week to the end of the post so I can track how the whole month went.

********************

April 1st-7th

TBR Start Total: 1518

 

BOOKS IN:

New Books In: 7

 

BOOKS OUT:

Books Read: 3

Books DNF: 0

Others Deleted From TBR: 2

 

Target Total: 1500

 

New Total: 1520

 

A better week for reading which offset a bit of damage astwo lots of books I ordered all arrived by today. Oopsie. But I did get a few books read, even though the total stayed nearly the same.

********************

 

Chuckles Weekly Reading Roundup

 

Welcome to my Reading Roundup! This feature will show exactly what I've been buying, reading and DNFing through the last week. I'm changing it up a bit and instead of doing this every Friday as I have been doing, I'm going to co-ordinate it with my Tackling The TBR post and post it on the 7th, 14th, 21st and final day of the month. That way you can see my stats on TTT and see which books I got and read on the weekly roundup.

BOOKS BOUGHT: 

OK so a few more books I really wanted did find their way into my possession this week. The Piers Morgan book is anti-woke so I want to read that, Ollie was one of the DS on SAS Who Dares Wins that I loved so much and it's his first novel so I must support him, and MSF wrote my favourite zombie series and I want to see what he does with a military thriller. Phil is former SAS and I like the sound of his adventures. Alone book 18 goes on to my neverending Darrell Maloney shelves. BUT look at the Bigfoot book!!! Am I excited, YES I AM!

 

READ

 

4 stars, 3 stars, 3 stars

Top Ten Tuesday-One Word Titles #3

 

 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. 

I'm going rogue and expanding on the last two week's rogue topic of one word titles. I'm looking at more one word titles with good covers that made me want to read it.

1) Kenneth Passan-Stingers

2) John Passarella-Halloween

 

3) Daniel Pyle-Dismember

4) Gord Rollo-Crimson

5) Mary SanGiovanni-Chills

6) Hunter Shea-Creature

 7) Hunter Shea-Slash

8) Saul W Tanpepper-Contain

9) David Wood-Primordial

10) Rio Youers-Halcyon