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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Another week of this hot spell has been survived and there is no end in sight to it. I'm getting grumpier by the day and wishing for winter again. I'm not designed for weather like this and I can't get on with tasks around the house that need doing. I'm rearranging furniture in another room-at least, I want to but it's too hot to shift any of it. Too many things needing done at the moment but we'll just have to muddle on. Other than that, nothing really of note to report on.

 

On the reading side of things I'm pleased to have read one novella and three books this week so that has been productive in spite of the weather. I'm keeping up ok with answering comments left on my blog and blog visits but I haven't got anything much done other than posting the regular posts, which is annoying. I just didn't get time to do any book reviews this week or the samples I hoped to deal with. Maybe next week! So to the books I got! Iread a couple of powder mage short stories and that intrigued me to get Promise of Blood which, being fantasy, is out of my comfort zone. In fact, the first three downloads are all new authors to me. The other three are authors I'm giving a second chance to.

 

DOWNLOADS

 

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17383866-promise-of-blood

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24848014-the-hollow-places

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32918704-hell-on-earth

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36245122-when-darkness-falls

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32794967-blackout

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37771077-warcross

PAPERBACKS

AUDIO CD

DVD

Chuckles Blogging World

 It was a decent week without being earth shattering and I'd liked to have got a couple of book reviews done. I'll try again next week!

Book Reviews

 none this week

Regular Posts

I went around the blogs as normal but no samples post which I'd hoped to do this week. Cover Love was KC Tansley, Top Ten Tuesday was a last minute change of mind about books connected to America, Can't Wait Wednesday was Marked and Books From The Backlog featured Hell Divers. 

Chuckles Cover Love

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/07/chuckles-cover-love-81-kc-tansley.html

Around The Blogs With Chuckles

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/07/around-blogs-with-chuckles.html

Top Ten Tuesday

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/07/top-ten-tuesday-america.html

Can't Wait Wednesday

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/07/cant-wait-wednesday-marked.html

Books From The Backlog

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/07/books-from-backlog-hell-divers.html

Discussion Posts

Chuckles Chat was about scenarios we love and hate about mythology and Chuckles Chuntering was a moan about the weather again and wishing for a lottery win!

 

Chuckles Chat

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/07/chuckles-chat-71-mythology.html 

 

Chuckles Chuntering

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/07/chuckles-chuntering.html 

 

Film Reviews 

none this week

 

Special Posts 

 none this week

Book Tags/Blog Awards

 

Ultimate Book Tag

http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2018/07/ultimate-book-tag.html 

Currently Reading/Up Next

 This week I read four books which was quite good going. I read Hunter Shea's Jurassic Florida, PK Hawkins Shark, Tim Waggoner's Teeth of the Sea and Tim Meyer's Sharkwater Beach. I'm pleased with that. Next up are going to be a couple more horror selections!

Next week on the blog

I'll be doing my usual regular posts and book reviews!

 

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Chuckles Chuntering

This is my new feature Chuckles Chuntering, which will be me talking about a mixture of things that make me happy, mad or somewhere in between. I could be talking on any subject from films to sport to news to books and what is going on in my life.

The weather is still trying my patience! The weather people said this hot spell could last another full month and I can't deal with that! I'm getting up really early every day to get the windows open and take advantage of any breeze there may be but if I want to go out and get the shopping done I'd have to close them all during the hottest parts of the day or send my dad to do it on his own. That's not ideal as even if I send him with a very specific list, he'll still come back with the wrong things! But as I don't drive, I can't go and do it myself! Stupid darn weather. I'll celebrate the first day we get some rain. And if I see one more story in our media about stupid people leaving dogs in hot cars and the poor furry guys needing rescued, I'll go and sort these idiots out myself!

I'm amazed that I'm actually getting any reading done but household tasks are mostly on hold as the heat builds up a lot during the day in this house. I'm not going to complain about getting four books read this week, and still getting some good tv time in. I watched three seasons of SAS Who Dares Wins, a reality show where real SAS instructors put a group of men through a form of SAS selection to see if any of them can get through it. I love watching things like this! And the chief instructor Ant is hot in a scary kind of way...! 

I've been dreaming this week about a sudden lottery win and the chance to move house. I'm sick of these summer parties in the street next to ours as it sounds like a full scale club night going on outside our windows-the back of our houses face onto the back of theirs and the sound travels when their windows are also open. Then the party turns nasty and the fights and broken glass and sirens begin. It's frustrating. One of our neighbours died back in September and his house is still sitting empty, leaving us worried about who is moving in and when. Anyone who has followed me for a long time might know that over ten years ago we had serious problems with a neighbour spanning a couple of years. We celebrated when they moved as that left us with three sets of good neighbours around us. With one gone, we just also got the news that a second of the three neighbours won't be here much longer so I'm already worrying about two sets of new neighbours and fearing what we might get. My big nightmare is a pile of kids with lots of cats, or dogs that never stop barking. We have three of those dogs in the street already. Our street is reasonably quiet so knowing my luck, we'll get total nightmares moving in. I'm dreading it, I really am.

What's new with you guys?

Books From The Backlog-Hell Divers

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. 

More than two centuries after World War III poisoned the planet, the final bastion of humanity lives on massive airships circling the globe in search of a habitable area to call home. Aging and outdated, most of the ships plummeted back to earth long ago. The only thing keeping the two surviving lifeboats in the sky are Hell Divers--men and women who risk their lives by skydiving to the surface to scavenge for parts the ships desperately need. When one of the remaining airships is damaged in an electrical storm, a Hell Diver team is deployed to a hostile zone called Hades. But there's something down there far worse than the mutated creatures discovered on dives in the past--something that threatens the fragile future of humanity.

I first discovered this author when I read the first of his Extinction Cycle books about zombie style variant humans. I automatically looked to see what other books he had written and found Orbs, Hell Divers and Trackers back in 2016. Orbs was ok but not really to my taste but this book certainly caught the eye and I do plan to get reading it hopefully some time this year.   

Can't Wait Wednesday-Marked

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. 

Alex Verus is tracking down dangerous magical items unleashed into the world by Dark Mages - however, when the Light Council decide they need his help in negotiating with the perpetrators, Alex must use all his cunning and magic to strike a deal.

This is book 9 in the series and it comes out any time now so not much longer to wait!

Ultimate Book Tag

I saw this tag on JennReneeRead http://jennreneeread.blogspot.com/ and it was taken from The Book Nut. https://booklovingnut.com/

1) Do you get sick while reading in the car?
I don't read in the car. If I'm in the car I'm with my dad and I prefer sitting talking to him rather than burying my head in a book. If I'm in the company of someone, they get my full attention and I do my reading when I'm alone. I hate to see families eating out together and all four have their faces buried in their mobile phones or tablets while waiting for the food instead of enjoying talking to each other!

2) Which author's writing style is completely unique to you and why?
No such thing. I'm either entertained by a book or I'm not. I'm less worried about other things like this unless it is really bad writing, which switches me off.I don't sit and analyse why I like something, I just get on with reading.

3) Harry Potter series or the Twilight Saga? (Give 3 points to defend your answer)
Harry Potter but I have no intention of defending my choice to anyone. I just love everything about the series and it is one of my all time favourites. I liked Twilight at the time I read it though it was slow. It would probably be too slow for my taste and the love triangle would drive me even madder now than it did then.

4) Do you carry a book bag? If so what else is in it?
I don't carry a book bag. If I go out I carry a rucksack in case I buy anything but I don't carry stuff around in it except on holiday when I have a cuddly toy and my camera for taking cute monkey selfies!

5) Do you smell your books?
Of course!There is nothing like the smell of that brand new book straight from the shop! I'm careful not to sniff the books in public though as that has led to people giving me really odd looks! They just don't understand...

6) Books With Or Without little Illustrations?
I'm not really bothered as long as the illustrations aren't used to really pad the book out and make me pay more for it...Generally I like to just read the book so probably text only.

7) What book did you love while reading but discovered later it wasn't quality writing?
I don't really go in for analysing the quality of the writing and I don't give star ratings based on this unless something is really dreadful. I judge a book by whether or not it entertained me and if I'd want to read it again.Usually, plot and characters are more important.

8) Do you have any funny stories about books from your childhood?
I used to drag my grandpa's chair out into the back garden to pretend it was Enid Blyton's Wishing Chair. I had hours of fun with that!I'd get out of the chair and have lots of adventures with my own imagination. I think too many kids today lack that. My friends used to act out things we watched on TV and read in books and we had so much fun!

9) What is the thinnest book on your shelf?
My favourite childhood book, Stan Berenstain's Bears in The Night. I still love reading about their midnight adventure through the woods and up Spook Hill!

10) What is the thickest book on your shelf?
Stephen King's 'It' which is a hefty 1116 pages. Some of my Game of Thrones books are split up into two volumes or they would be longer. A Dance With Dragons is 1125 and A Storm of Swords is 1177.

11) Do you write as well as read? Do you see yourself in the future as being an author?
I wrote a lot of crime, horror and SF when I was younger but after leaving college I got into a stressful job and it stopped me pursuing my reading and writing. I went back to reading but not to the writing. I have several half finished books lying around but no time or motivation to deal with them. I always had great ideas but would spend so much time editing that I never got far enough with the story. If I could go back in time I'd choose a different college course and job and spend less time with the unreliable friends I had and more time writing my books!

12) When did you get into reading?
My parents always read me bedtime stories and my dad was a big fan of books so I got my love of reading from him. He read me The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings after I got tired of fairy tales! Watching him read Stephen King books from the library got me interested in reading them too as soon as I got my adult library card! When my mum took me shopping each week to pay the bills, if I was good and didn't complain, I was taken to the local bookshop to choose something, followed by a toastie and lime ice drink!

13) What is your favourite classic book?
I don't read classics and have no interest in them. I've tried a few over the years and found them overdescriptive, slow and the language too flowery and formal. They just don't interest me at all.

14) In school was your best subject Language Arts/English?
I was decent at English and did pass those exams though grammar and punctuation were a struggle at times for me. My best subject was History. I loved that.

15) If you were given a book as a present that you had read before and hated, what would you do?
Donate it to a charity shop. There's no point in keeping something I don't want when other people can have a chance to read it. My family always asked me what books I wanted to get which avoided this scenario from happening.

16) What is a lesser known series that you know of that is similar to Harry Potter or The Hunger Games?
Joelle Charbonneau's The Testing is similar to The Hunger Games. Candidates who want a college education and good career take part in a series of tests to weed out the weak. The tests can be deadly if you get them wrong and other students are out to beat the competition. This is followed by a survival trek across a game zone where only the best make it to the end alive. I loved the first book and need to read the rest of the trilogy!

17) What is a bad habit you always do (besides rambling) when blogging?
Getting distracted. When I'm writing a book review, I remember five other things that I want to do more and start a couple of them and then I get nothing done!

18) What is your favourite word?
Blackpool. It is my favourite holiday destination so nothing beats seeing it finally appear on the sign posts on the motorway at 38 miles to go! The anticipation builds mile by mile and I start scanning the horizon looking for Blackpool Tower! Books are of course also a favourite word, as is chocolate...

19) Are you a nerd, dork or dweeb? Or all of the above?
I don't label myself, I'm just me.

20) Vampires or Fairies? Why?
Vampires! Being a Buffy fan I have to say that. I love a good horror story with evil vampires to get the blood pumping! I'm flexible about types of vampires and don't mind some being written as varying degrees of good guys. I've never liked stories about fairies, or the Fae for that matter. Flying fairies don't interest me at all and the Fae aren't the most interesting creatures to read about as the characters all tend to be nasty.

21) Shapeshifters or Angels? Why?
Shapeshifters! I like the variety of were animals that show up in the books I read. I'm not interested in the soulmate mating PNF but I love shifters in strong paranormal urban fantasy as long as there is more plot than sex. I don't enjoy books about Angels at all. They either seem to be pure evil like the Fae with cold personalities or the angel turned teenage boy who falls in love with a plain schoolgirl. No thanks!

22) Spirits or Werewolves? Why?
Werewolves! They have always fascinated me in horror and urban fantasy and a good Pack provide lots of good plot if it doesn't overdo the sex. I'm not greatly interested in reading about spirits, ghosts, haunted houses and exorcism to be honest. I prefer full on action to slow burning events in a haunted place. I only read the occasional spirit related book.

23) Zombies or Vampires? Why?
Zombies! I just LOVE zombie books! As a kid my friend and I used to play in a wooded area near her house and we'd take turns pretending to be zombie and victim. I was a strange 10 year old! I love fast paced zombie books and have a ton of them on my bookshelves at home and on my ereaders!

24) Love Triangle or Forbidden Love?
Hate them both! I will not start reading a book if the blurb suggests a love triangle, however good the rest of the plot sounds. Forbidden love is just too much angst for me to want to read about. I'm not a romance fan at all.

25) Full on romance books or action packed with a few love scenes mixed in?
Neither. I never read romance books. I want to read the pliot about the heist, the escape, the expedition, planning to defeat the madman or monster etc, not reads chapters full of sex and relationship angst. Ugh! I'd be happy just reading books that are totally romance free!

Want to take part? Consider yourself tagged!