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 busy week ends and another one looms on the horizon! I've been very busy this week getting things done around the house, see my Chuckles Chuntering post for what I've been doing, and this next week will be pretty much more of the same to finish off some tasks inside the house. I'm toying with the idea of taking a week of rest from the blog the week after or at least some reduced activity to recharge my tired batteries! I'll make a decision on that at the end of next week though. It has been busy but I'm pleased with productivity! The weather has been a bit cold for painting though so no more action on that side of things. 

 

As I have had a good few productive weeks I decided to treat myself to a few paperback books as a wee reward! You do have to treat yourself sometimes, don't you! I've got a bit of reading done and some TV watching so that is pleasing. As I write this today, the political intrigue in the UK hits fever pitch as we await news on an upcoming leadership contest. Things like that are pretty exciting for a politics fan like me! It could be an interesting few weeks. Well I need something to fill the gap left by Game of Thrones! 

 

PAPERBACKS

 

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46003589-on-duty-with-the-queen

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7107831-the-red-rose-of-anjou 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18929207-the-sun-in-splendour

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42615401-wetoo-in-the-white-house

 

Chuckles Blogging World 

It has been a better blogging week where I have caught up on some book reviews and done a few fun posts about Game of Thrones. 

 

Book Reviews 

 

Suzanne Lazear-The Secret Life of Rockstars

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/book-review-secret-life-of-rockstars-by.html 

Bobby Adair-Ebola K

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/book-review-ebola-k-by-bobby-adair.html

 

JR Tate-Tornado Warning

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/book-review-tornado-warning-by-jr-tate.html 

Hunter Shea-Antarctic Ice Beasts

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/book-review-antarctic-ice-beasts-by.html

Chris Pike-Unexpected World

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/book-review-unexpected-world-by-chris.html

 

Regular Posts 

I went Around The Blogs looking for interesting posts to share with you, Cover Love looked at pretty white covers, Top Ten Tuesday was another Page to Screen topic and Books From The Backlog looked at The Line.

 

Chuckles Cover Love

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/chuckles-cover-love-126-wonderful-whites.html 

Around The Blogs With Chuckles

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/around-blogs-with-chuckles_21.html

 

Top Ten Tuesday

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/top-ten-tuesday-page-to-screen-2.html 

Books From The Backlog

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/books-from-backlog-line.html

 

Discussion Posts 

 

Chuckles Chuntering

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/chuckles-chuntering_24.html 

Game of Thrones Season Eight Episodes 4-5

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/game-of-thrones-season-eight-episodes-4.html

 

Book Challenges 

 

Tackling The TBR

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/tackling-tbr_21.html 

Reading Challenge Update

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/reading-challenge-update_24.html

 

Book Review Challenge Backlog

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/book-review-backlog-challenge_24.html 

Special Posts

none this week

 

Films & TV 

I watched season two of Game of Thrones again for fun and enjoyed watching all the extras. I love those history and lores read by each character on the Blu Ray boxsets!

 

Book Tags/Blog Awards 

 

Game of Thrones Book Tag

https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2019/05/game-of-thrones-tag.html

 

Currently Reading/Up Next 

 I read two of last week's selections-Henry VIII's Last Love and The Last Bastion of The Living and liked them both. I'm starting The King is Dead and On Duty With The Queen and will continue with that today. I'm trying to get a few done on my Royal Challenge and that has worked nicely over the last week or so. I'm back on track with that. After The King Is Dead I'll be looking at these as my next three reads.

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Reading Challenge Update

Why do all my reads have the same letters?  Gameland, Going Home and Graduation Day! Independent Study, Into the Darkness, Infestation and Into the Mist! Royal Marriages, Rebel, The Remaining, Redfall and Red Headed Stepchild!

A) A Dance With Dragons
B) Booked 4 Murder
C) The Chalk Man
D) The Devil's Fingers
E) Ebola K
F) The Farm
G) Gameland
H)
I) Independent Study
J) Jack and Jill
K)
L) The Last Bastion Of The Living
M) The Mage in Black
N) No God Is Safe
O) Operation Antarctica
P) Premonitions
Q) Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault
R) Red Headed Stepchild
S) Secret Lives Of Rockstars
T) The Testing
U) Unexpected World
V) Victoria & Abdul
W) The War Mage
X)
Y)
Z) Zombies, Run!

Welcome to my ebook challenge! This year I plan to get as many books off the ereader and the tbr and free up space for other things. 

Here is my starting list of those I really want to deal with. I'll add to the list through the year.

1) Bobby Akart-Axis of Evil (Lone Star #1) (DNF)
2) Bobby Akart-36 Hours (Blackout #1) (DNS)
3) Bobby Akart-The Loyal Nine (Boston Brahmin #1) (DNS)
4) WR Benton-Premonition of Death (Fall of America #1) (DNS)
5) Lee Murray-Into The Mist (read)
6) Lee Murray-Into The Sounds (DNS)
7) Donna Galanti-Joshua & The Lightning Road
8) Jeff VanderMeer-Annihilation
9) Meg Collett-Fear University
10) Alex Hughes-Clean (DNF)
11) Adam J Wright-Lost Soul (DNF)
12) Norman Christof-Destination Lost
13) Seth Skorkowsky-Damoren
14) Simone Pond-Exodus of Magic
15) Steve McHugh-Crimes Against Magic
16) Suzanne Lazerar-The Secret Life of Rock Stars (read)
17) Michael F Haspil-Graveyard Shift
18) Lisa Blackwood-Betrayal's Price (DNS)
19) Bobby Adair-Ebola K (read)
20) Ania Ahlborn-The Shuddering
21) Saul Tanpepper-Gameland (read)
22) Hunter Shea-The Devil's Fingers (read)

This year, I really need to get a pile of paperbacks off the tbr and bookshelf, and out to the charity shops! Every month I'll be trying to tackle a few that I'm not sure I'm going to like based on gut feelings, reading tastes or Goodreads reviews. On this list I'll indicate what I managed to read, what was DNFed and if any of them are keepers! I'll be adding to the list through the year and the challenge will end in December.

1) A American-Going Home (The Survivalist #1) (read-3 star)
2) Annie Berdel-Alpha Farm (Prepper Chick #1) (DNF)
3) Justin Somper-Allies & Assassins (Allies & Assassins #1)
4) Michael J Sullivan-The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1)
5) Candace Robinson-Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault (Glass Vault #1) (read)
6) Candace Robinson-The Bride of Glass (Glass Vault #2) (DNS)
7) Conn Iggulden-Darien (Empire of Salt #1)
8) RL King-Stone And A Hard Place
9) Stephen King-Revival
10) Joseph Nassise-Eyes To See
11) Joseph Nassise-By the Blood of Heroes
12) Boyd Craven-Breaking Point (read-2 star)
13) Mary Kubika-Every Last Lie
14) CJ Tudor-The Chalk Man (read-3.5 star)
15) DB Thorne-Troll
16) Seth C Adams-If You Go Down to the Woods
17) Belinda Bauer-Snap
18) Terry Brooks-Running With The Demon
19) Thomas E Sniegoski-The Demonists (DNF)

The idea is to read books with a royal theme ie Kings, Princesses, Queens, Dukes, Knights, Castles, Kingdoms, Quests etc. This challenge is hosted by Adriana Garcia over at https://shesgotbooksonhermind.blogspot.com/ .

Here are the books from my tbr that I hope to get read this year for the challenge. I've picked 15 to try and get Queen status but if I do well or DNF a few, more may be added!

1) David Baldwin-Henry VIII's Last Love (read)
2) Shrabani Basu-Victoria and Abdul (read)
3) Jane Bingham-The Tudors (read)
4) Lady Colin Campbell-The Royal Marriages (read)
5) Lady Colin Campbell-Diana in Private
6) Sharon Kay Penman-The Queen's Man (DNF)
7) Dinah Lampitt-Pour The Dark Wine
8) E Knight-My Lady Viper
9) Elizabeth Fremantle-Sisters of Treason
10) Katherine Longshore-Tarnish
11) Laurien Gardner-Plain Jane
12) Margaret Campbell Barnes-My Lady of Cleves
13) Diane Haeger-The Queen's Mistake
14) Judith Arnopp-Intractable Heart
15) Kate Emerson-The Pleasure Palace
16) Mike Ingram-Bosworth 1485 (read) 
17) Suzannah Lipscomb-The King Is Dead 
18) Dickie Arbiter-On Duty With The Queen (read)

I'm intending to catch up on quite a few series this year, starting with a few of the shorter series that have been lurking on my shelves for a while! If I can clear them it will help in the battle to reduce the never-ending tbr! 

The Plan is to start this year with a few series that I really must finish or catch up with. Once I've done them all I'll extend the challenge by adding more series on until I run out of days in the year. The challenge will run all year.

SERIES TO BE FULLY READ

1) DD BARANT-BLOODHOUND FILES
1-Dying Bites
2-Death Blows
3-Killing Rocks
4-Better Off Undead
5-Back From The Undead
6-Undead To The World

2) JAYE WELLS-SABINA KANE 
1-Red Headed Stepchild (read)
2-The Mage In Black (read)
3-Green Eyed Demon
4-Silver Tongued Devil
5-Blue Blooded Vamp
 -Violet Tendencies #2.5 (read)
 -Rusted Veins #5.5

3) MLN HANOVER-BLACK SUN'S DAUGHTER 
1-Unclean Spirits
2-Darker Angels
3-Vicious Grace
4-Killing Rites
5-Graveyard Child 

4) CHRISTINA HENRY-BLACK WINGS
1-Black Wings
2-Black Night
3-Black Howl
4-Black Lament
5-Black City
6-Black Heart
7-Black Spring 

5) KELLY MEDING-DREG CITY 
1-Three Days to Dead
2-As Lie the Dead
3-Another Kind of Dead
4-Wrong Side of Dead
5-Requiem For the Dead
6-The Night Before Dead 

6) JOELLE CHARBONNEAU-THE TESTING 
1-The Testing (read-5 star)
2-Independent Study (read-4 star)
3-Graduation Day (read-4 star)

This is my latest update. Over the last couple of weeks I've tried to concentrate a bit more on my Alphabet Challenge and have completed Z and L. I have 4 letters to complete and hope to have that done by the end of next month. I've also been catching up a bit with my Royal Challenge which is now back on track

Book Review Backlog Challenge

Having happily completed catching up on reviews for all the books I read last year I've decided to keep motivated by writing a list of everything I've read this year and have yet to review. Seeing the actual list to be done has really motivated me to get it done so hopefully that will continue right through the year!

JANUARY READS (COMPLETED!)
1) George RR Martin-A Dance With Dragons part 2 (reviewed Feb 19)
2) Saul Tanpepper-Gameland (reviewed Feb 19)
3) Lady Colin Campbell-The Royal Marriages (reviewed March 2019)
4) Joelle Charbonneau-The Testing (reviewed March 2019)
5) Joelle Charbonneau-Independent Study (reviewed March 2019)
6) Joelle Charbonneau-Graduation Day (reviewed March 2019)
7) A American-Going Home (reviewed March 2019)
8) CJ Tudor-The Chalk Man (reviewed March 2019)
9) Diana Anderson-Premonitions (reviewed March 2019)
10) Lee Murray-Into The Mist (reviewed March 2019)
11) Jay J Falconer-Redfall (reviewed March 2019)
12) Christopher Coleman-They Came With The Snow (reviewed Feb 19)
13) Chris Lowry-Flyover Zombie (reviewed March 2019)
14) MV Stott-66 (reviewed March 2019)
15) Edward Chilvers-Curse of the Forever Rain (reviewed Feb 19)
16) Cheryl L Cholley-Survivalist By Circumstance (reviewed Feb 19)
17) Kealan Patrick Burke-Jack and Jill (reviewed Feb 19)
18) Doug Kelly-Into The Darkness (reviewed March 2019)
19) DJ Molles-The Remaining (reviewed April 2019)
20) Bobby Akart-The Loyal Nine (reviewed Feb 19)
21) Bobby Akart-Axis of Evil (reviewed Feb 19)
22) Annie Berdel-Alpha Farm (reviewed Feb 19)
23) Catt Dahman-George's Terms (reviewed March 2019)
24) Adam J Wright-Lost Soul (reviewed Feb 19)
25) Alex Hughes-Clean (reviewed March 2019)

FEBRUARY READS (COMPLETED!)

1) Jaye Wells-Red Headed Stepchild (reviewed March 2019)
2) Jaye Wells-The Mage in Black (reviewed March 2019)
3) Jaye Wells-Violet Tendencies (reviewed March 2019)
4) Hunter Shea-The Devil's Fingers (reviewed March 2019)
5) Candace Robinson-Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault (reviewed April 2019)
6) SM Wilson-The Extinction Trials: Rebel (reviewed April 2019)
7) JC Eaton-Booked 4 Murder (reviewed April 2019)
8) Greig Beck-Primordia (reviewed April 2019)
9) Sharon Penman-The Queen's Man (reviewed March 2019)
10) Greig Beck-Primordia 2 (reviewed May 2019)
11) Bruno Miller-Breakdown (reviewed March 2019)
12) Ryan Casey-Into The Dark (reviewed March 2019)
13) Ryan Casey-Blackout (reviewed March 2019)
14) Mildred Abbott-Cruel Candy (reviewed May 2019)
15) Amy Cross-The Dog (reviewed March 2019)

MARCH READS (COMPLETED!)

1) William Meikle-Infestation (reviewed April 2019)
2) William Meikle-Operation Antarctica (reviewed April 2019)
3) Matt Shaw-Voyage To Hell (reviewed March 2019)
4) Brad Harmer-Barnes-Tempest Outpost (reviewed April 2019)
5) Thomas E Sniegoski-The Demonists (reviewed March 2019)
6) Suzanne Lazear-The Secret lives of Rockstars (reviewed May 2019)
7) Bobby Adair-Ebola K (reviewed May 2019)
8) JR Tate-Tornado Warning (reviewed May 2019)
9) Hunter Shea-Antarctic Ice Beasts (reviewed May 2019)
10) Chris Pike-Unexpected World (reviewed May 2019)

11) Jane Bingham-The Tudors (reviewed April 2019)

12) Various-Become An American Ninja Warrior (reviewed April 2019)

APRIL READS
1) Jules Verne-20000 Leagues Under The Sea (reviewed April 2019)
2) Jason Fox-Battle Scars 

3) Orlando A Sanchez-The War Mage (reviewed April 2019)

4) Orlando A Sanchez-No God Is Safe (reviewed April 2019)

5) Matthew Reilly-Roger Ascham and the King's Lost Girl (reviewed April 2019)

6) David McMullen Sullivan-Moorehead Manor (reviewed April 2019)

7) Eric S Brown-The Squad (reviewed April 2019)
8) William H Weber-Defiance
9) Kate Morris-The McClane Apocalypse 
10) GR Carter-Fortress Farm
11) Grace Hamilton-Dark Retreat
12) Courtney Konstantin-Prepared 

MAY READS

1) Harley Tate-Darkness Begins
2) Arthur T Bradley-Anarchy Rising
3) Boyd Craven-Breaking Point
4) Boyd Craven-Flirting With Death 

5) Shrabani Basu-Victoria & Abdul
6) John W Vance-The Defiant
7) Johnathan Davis-900 Miles
8) Mike Ingram-Bosworth 1485
9) Naomi Alderman-Zombies, Run!
10) David Baldwin-Henry VIII's Last Love 
11) Nicholas Woode Smith-Cape Zero
12) Nick Lancaster-Pandemia
13) Rhiannon Frater-The Last Bastion of the Living 
14) Dickie Arbiter-On Duty With The Queen 

I have now completed all my reviews for the books I read in March, which is great! I'm now working this weekend and into next week on the April reviews and a a mini reviews post which will be another big step! 

Chuckles Chuntering

It has been another pretty busy week at the Book Cave but I have managed to be a bit more organised than last week. I had another dentist appointment and I'm delighted to report that two out of my three front teeth have now been fixed so I'm less likely to frighten children now! Hopefully my next appointment in a month's time will fix the third front tooth and I'll feel able to start smiling in public again! My dentist is happy with the way things are going and I'm pleased that I'm continuing to face my fears and get these teeth fixed at last. I'm also pleased that this work in the garden has led to me losing an inch or two from the fat parts!

Things are busy around the house with us gutting the place to discover what goes straight to the rubbish dump and what we can donate to the charity shop. It amazes me how much stuff can be hidden away in cupboards and corners that we just don't need to keep. It's good to see it leaving the house and gradually things are getting tidied. My dad hopes to get the gate painted next week if the weather is good and plans to do that himself. I'm on a different and not much fun duty!

My task is, I'm trying to get a pile of newspapers dealt with. For those who don't know, since 1994 I have been doing scrapbooks of all the big events in news, pop culture and sport. It means going through every newspaper to rip out articles of interest and storing them, and at a later date fitting all the news and cartoons and stuff into the scrapbooks-it's like a giant jigsaw puzzle trying to get everything to fit and look nice and the whole process is time consuming. I let it slide for a while (a year!!!) so now I have a huge pile of papers to check through and get to the dump! Once I get them all cut I then get back to sticking the stuff in the scrapbooks. It can take weeks to get each month stuck into the scrapbook and is it a really frustrating task. The last thing I stuck into my scrapbook was the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics! Hey, only seven years behind!!! *groans*

I finished my rewatch of Game of Thrones season two and I am fitting in some reading, which is always good. I also managed to get a few book reviews written so I have now reviewed everything I read in January, February and March, which I'm really happy with and done a few Game of Thrones related posts this week too. I did treat myself to a few books this week just as a little pat on the back treat for Chuckles for a fully productive week!

What are you guys up to at the moment? Anything fun or productive?

Book Review: Unexpected World by Chris Pike

Author Chris Pike's debut novel is a gritty and compelling survival tale about human courage and steadfast determination to live, to endure, and to persevere against all odds.

Assistant District Attorney Dillon Stockdale is on the phone with his daughter when an EMP obliterates the entire electrical grid of the United States. Anything relying on a computer is fried, including the plane his daughter is on. Gripped with the terrifying realization the plane has crash-landed somewhere in the expansive and dangerous landscape of Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin, Dillon sets out to rescue her before it’s too late.

A harrowing survival story with non-stop, pulse-pounding action, Unexpected World is a story of good vs. evil, of a complex narrative of fight or flight, and mind-bending choices resulting in profound consequences. Dillon Stockdale is determined, he’s well-equipped, and nothing will stop him. Or will it? 

My Review: 
Dillon is a deputy DA who thinks he is on the verge of a big win and calls his daughter, who is on a plane to share his excitement. As they talk an EMP hits, causing her plane to crash and another plane to crash into the building that he is in. With his rival defence council Holly, he is able to escape her veangeful client and get out of the building alive. Dillon has to get home first so he can gather the supplies that he will need to set out on the dangerous journey to get Cassie, knowing her flight went down in the swamps.

The first thing that attracted me to the series was the gorgeous set of covers. I mean who can resist a colourful cover for an apocalypse book that also features a faithful hound! The down side to a dog on the cover of course is the fear for the fate of the dog, something that I always get nervous about. I also like these dangerous journeys after the apocalypse type stories where we see the gradual breakdown of society and how our heroes cope with the new world that they are living in. The book begins with a bang as the EMP hits and the planes begin to crash. Dillon has to travel 5 miles with the injured Holly to get to his house where faithful hound Buster awaits his return and then the next stop is to be Holly's house, from where Dillon will set out to find his daughter.

I was disappointed that the book pretty much skipped out the usually interesting part of the dangerous journey home. We get nothing about Dillon's trek to his home at all and we don't get a great amount of detail on the actual trip to find Cassie. We get a couple of encounters with a helpful man and a hungry alligator but not much else. Most of the focus is on the time spent at Holly's house and the start of a steriotypical apocalypse love story beginning between them. I found the focus on their attraction somewhat annoying when it was there instead of good apocalypse moments. If that wasn't bad enough, Cassie has decided to love the guy who was sitting beside her on the plane like a lovely little Twilight moment, and of course he happens to be the long lost son of Holly...how wonderfully convenient! Gah!

Holly was really annoying to me. She is the steriotype female character who doesn't quite believe how bad things are going to get and she questions every decision that Dillon makes. It left me wanting her to just shut up. I got really mad at her when she just decides to go and look at the jewellery of Dillon's dead wife and start trying it on and when she is almost caught by Dillon, decides to keep wearing it for the journey. Listen lady lawyer, that is called stealing and you should never be doing that in these circumstances! There is also the fact that Dillon pandering to her delays his trip to get his daughter when that should've been his first priority. And of course Holly never bothers to mention the fact that she has a bad infection that requires medical treatment so again Dillon when he finally finds out has to detour for medicine before looking for Cassie. Jeez, Holly is a pain.

It was a bit of a silly plot at times. Holly doesn't know who her son is and it is just so convenient that he has hooked up with Dillon's daughter so there could be cozy double dating in their future. Yeuch. Holly's psycho client Cole just happens to be the daddy who has blackmailed her into representing him as he knows where their son is and if she wins the case he'll tell her. Of course Cole then decides to take over the town where Holly is living and naturally only Dillon is willing to take a stand. It is just too farfetched even for an apocalypse book for me and every bit of plot seems to centre on the irritating Life Of Holly and not on the more interesting parts of the apocalypse that we aren't seeing!

It was more angst that apocalypse tension and I felt that it was just lacking the tension and excitement that I expect in this genre, and that was really disappointing. The plot was slow and didn't greatly excite me and the characters weren't greatly exciting. It was decent enough to read once but I don't have any interest in reading any more in the series as there are better apocalypse series out there.

Read March 2019
3 stars.