Short E-Books I Really Have To Read

I've recently discovered that my e-reader is packed to the gills and loaded for bear with lots of great sounding books. With my reading at a standstill during this pandemic, I am having trouble getting motivated to read. The plan is to start with a pile of books under 150 pages to try and kickstart my reading and free up space again. These are my planned reads.

1) Camille Picott-Dawn Patrol (56p)
I never can resist a short zombie adventure and it will be a quick read to see if I like the work of the author.

2) Richard Bachman-Rage (131p)
I haven't enjoyed any of King's recent offerings so going back to a few older ones he wrote will sort of bring closure to his books for me.

3) Greig Beck-The Fossil (85p)
I've liked what I've read so far by the author so a nice short horror tale by him should hopefully be fun to read.

4) Brian Moreland-The Girl From The Blood Coven (20p)
A short prequel story to The Witching House which I aim to read quickly and see what I think of the author, as I have another five or so books of his to read.

5) Andrew Glencross-Why The UK Voted For Brexit (82p)
I didn't know it was this short when I got it but I plan to get it looked at quickly.

6) Griffin Smith-Annihilation (46p)
This is another short and free zombie story to get my teeth into...

7) Jon Athan-The Harbinger of Vengeance (106p)
I love this author's writing and have a huge pile of his stuff to read, which I'm looking forward to. I'll maybe start with this shorter one.

8) Eli Constant-Red Eye (98p)
This episode is part of a serial novel, a format I'm not a fan of. I want to read a whole book not segments y'know? I'm reading this one as I like the author and it has zombies.

9) Charlie Dalton-Virtual Insanity (62p)
This is a new author for me and I have three of his short stories to try. A virtual reality game, a stag weekend and a lot of trouble!

10) Christopher Artinian-Before Safe Haven (Lucy) (76p)
I have the first book in this zombie series but I'm not sure if I'll read this prequel before or after the novel. 

11) Kealan Patrick Burke-The Tent (134p)
I love the description of this book which is a favourite horror scenario of mine.

12) Stephanie Fox-Borrowed Magic (96p)
I've fallen out of love with urban fantasy in recent years but this is a new author to try and the book is short enough to read in one night so I'll give it a try.

13) TW Gallier-The Horde Rises (104p)
This is basically the first part of three, a zombie novel chopped into three parts. I do have the three parts and I can never resist zombies!

14) Doug Goodman-Backpacking With Dinosaurs (122p)  
A group of friends hiking in a forbidden zone being chased by a T-Rex...yes I certainly want to be getting on with reading this!

15) Michael McBride-Blindspot (131p)
This is another author that is new to me and I really like the sound of his work. 

16) William Meikle-Operation Amazon (138p)
This is the fourth part in a novella series following the insane adventures of a British Special Forces Unit and the monsters they tackle.

17) Tim Miller-Family Night (115p)
Everyone enjoys a fun family night-but this family is all about torture and mayhem. It sounds like just my kind of read!

18) CG Mosley-Rogue (115p)
Another topic I can never resist is a Bigfoot drama!

19) Matthew Reilly-Troll Mountain (132p)
I do enjoy the work of the author but I'm worried about this one as it is way outside my comfort zone. Fantasy quests are not quite my thing.

20) Armand Rosamilia-The Beast (117p)
Another Bigfoot adventure that I hope to enjoy!

21) Rowan A Scott-The EMP of the Beginning (106p) 
EMPs are my favourite disaster to read about it and I got this one free. I've no idea what to expect from the author.

22) Kyla Stone-Chaos Rising (129p)
This is another author that is new to me and I'd like to try this prequel before maybe going on to try the full EMP series.

23) Jerry D Young-CME (79p)
I've tried several short disaster novellas by this author and I like his writing so I'll be looking to fit this one in.

24) Jon Athan-Sinister Syndromes (117p)
Two serial killers in the same city cause mayhem on the streets. I love this author and plan to read a good few of his this year.

25) Jon Athan-Sympathy For The Widow (113p)
After killing a man, Mario is now rehabilitated with a family of his own but his victims widow is coming after them.

The Testing Of My Patience

MONDAY
This was my uncle's funeral. My uncle was never one for fuss. There was nothing he hated more than funeral services where there were hymns and speeches from people, and more than anything he hated wearing a suit to each one he attended. Due to the virus, the cremation could only have been witnessed by my dad and I, excluding all his friends, so we decided on something different and more fitting.  

We arranged for the hearse to stop outside my uncle's house where his house-bound self isolating neighbour could come outside to see the coffin, along with five other sets of neighbours. Then the hearse, followed by my dad and I in our car, drove up past the men's club he was a member of and all his friends who went there were able to gather as the hearse stopped for a minute for them to say their goodbyes. I welled up when they gave a minute of applause and so did the lovely young woman from the funeral home who walked ahead of the procession in her top hat and tails. It was all so moving! On the coffin we had flowers in the shape of a football which made them smile and everyone dressed casual, which my uncle would have liked. There were about forty people between both locations which was lovely to see. The cremation went ahead without a service but my uncle's send off was complete with one song being played as he entered the building 'When the saints go marching in', the theme song of our beloved football team.
I think my uncle would have smiled at that!

TUESDAY AM
For a year, an old disused rubbish bin has been sitting beside an electricity sub station across the road from us. Flytippers have been dumping crap in it and the council haven't bothered to remove it in spite of many complaints. Last night, well, 1am to be exact, someone set the bin on fire and the spreading fire destroyed the sub station, putting the power off through the district. Had the power company not acted so quickly, I'd have lost the entire contents of the fridge and freezer which are both packed. They had power back on in less than two hours for us so disaster was averted. Needless to say, my dad and I got no sleep at all. You can see our house in the middle of the three houses (one top and two lower windows) to the left of the lamp post.

And this is the damage today. What a complete mess.
 

TUESDAY
Things went from bad to worse today when our oven stopped working. We do still have the grill and the ceramic hob working which is a relief, and the microwave oven but now we are going to be spending £500 on a brand new oven and having to shop for it during the pandemic. Oh bloody great, just what we needed. Did the fire do something to the oven? Maybe, as a dogwalker told us today that her entire cooker broke right after the incident. Her hob was gas where ours is electric. It could explain it. Now we need to try and claim on our housing insurance. More hassle!!!

'Just Get On With It!' Reading List Update #1

This is kind of how I feel about my reading at the moment. Even my re-read of my beloved Harry Potter feels like an uphill trek with a heavy backpack in the blazing sun! It's a struggle with concentration and motivation and I only seem to be getting a few chapters read at a time instead of my normal hours at a time night reading sessions! I also have the added issue of needing a mass clearout of my bedroom to get it looking like something other than a disaster zone-to do that I MUST clear out a pile of books.

I need to get reading the paperback and hardback books on my bookshelves. I decided to get a list of books I own in various genres that either have mixed reviews, I'm not quite as keen to read it as I was when I bought it or I think I'll read it once and be satisfied with that, donating them to charity shops. If I can tackle them first, I could make a tiny dent in the pile and get my reading back on track! I hope...There is no specific time limit on reading this pile. I just want to put a dent in it before the year ends!

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Were they slow, boring, over descriptive or with poor characters?

THE LIST

1) Brandy Purdy-The Ripper's Wife/ The Secrets of Lizzie Borden

2) Stephen King-The Long Walk
 
3) Gillian Bagwell-The Darling Strumpet

4) DD Barant-Bloodhound Files series (DNF)

5) Conn Iggulden-War of the Roses series

6) Billy Billingham-The Hard Way

7) William Jevning-Notes From The Field

8) Joseph Nassise-By The Blood Of Heroes
 
9) Phil Scraton-Hillsborough The Truth

10) Joanna Hickson-The Tudor Crown

11) The Tony Benn Diaries

12) John Steakley-Vampire$

13) Kate Emerson-Secrets of the Tudor Court series (currently reading)

14) Theresa Saldana-Beyond Survival

15) Ollie Ollerton-Break Point

16) Walter Farley-Black Stallion series

17) Lincoln Child-Utopia

18) John Preston-A Very English Scandal (read-4 star)

19) Paul F Wilson-The Keep

20) Joseph Talluto-White Flag Of The Dead series

21) Anthony King-The Blunders of Our Government

22) Tyrell Johnson-The Wolves of Winter

23) Malcolm Gaskill-Witchfinders

24) MR Carey-The Boy On The Bridge (DNF)

25) Isabel Hardman-Why We Get The Wrong Politicians (read-4 star)

First Update. Ironic that two of the books were four star reads! I had expected to read both once and discard them but I might keep both!I'm starting book two of the Kate Emerson series which has mixed reviews. I am hoping to maybe like a couple of them!

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 in the next few months. Stay safe everyone.

This week...

1) The Nowhere Bookshop
Jenny shows us her fab bookshop!
https://thebloggess.com/2020/06/08/this-is-exactly-why-i-wanted-a-bookstore/ 

2) Books About Isolation With Others
AJ takes a lighter look at isolation.
http://ajsterkel.blogspot.com/2020/06/discussion-books-for-people-who-are.html 

3) Book Review-Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo
Karen's review.
http://www.fwiwreviews.net/2020/06/review-somewhere-only-we-know-by.html#.XuT1IufTXcs 

4) Book Review-Pine by Francine Toon
Barb's review.
http://bookertsfarm.blogspot.com/2020/06/i-went-in-blindlyand-came-out-just-as.html 

5) Book Review-The Clutter Corpse by Simon Brett
Katherine's review.
http://iwishilivedinalibrary.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-clutter-corpse-mystery-review.html 

6) Book Review-The House Of Whispers by Laura Purcell
Mogsy's review.
https://bibliosanctum.com/2020/06/09/book-review-the-house-of-whispers-by-laura-purcell/ 

7) Book Review-Changeling by William Ritter
Lindsi's review.
https://www.doyoudog-ear.com/2020/06/changeling-oddmire-1-by-william-ritter.html 

Chuckles Friday Reading Roundup

Welcome to my Friday Reading Roundup! This feature will show exactly what I've been reading and DNFing through the last week. 

I did NO reading from Friday to Tuesday but over the last two days I've motored through the final Harry Potter book. I love the Deathly Hallows!

5 stars!

Currently Reading: