My reading record posts are a way for me to document all things bookish and reading in my life - I aim to post these consistently, with them most often being in a weekly format, however readathons and certain books have their own specific reading record.
In this post I share about some lingering books that I finished, and also my participation in the Off The Grid Readathon which place between Friday 17th - Sunday 19th.
MONDAY 13TH JANUARY
Starting the week with 5 hours and 57 minutes left on my
audiobook of The Five, and just under 150 pages left in The Seven Deaths of
Evelyn Hardcastle.
Today I made progress in both of my current reads... I
have returned to Evelyn Hardcastle after my short break, as I had hoped, and
read just over 50 pages today. I also listened to The Five audiobook; we have
moved on to third woman killed by Jack the Ripper, and I have 4 hours and 44
minutes of listen time left. I’m happy with the steady pace I am working
through The Five, and am really enjoying the book itself, which I will of
course talk more about when I’ve finished.
TUESDAY 14TH JANUARY
One book finished and a new one started today.
I finished The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle! Whilst
I appreciate the book for what it was – an original and well crafted murder
mystery – it just wasn’t the book for me. I have seen universal praise for this
book, and so hoped I would have a similar experience myself... There are a
couple of things that dented my personal reading experience: the lack of
likeable characters (at all) and also the fact that I always felt like an
observer, never fully falling into the story. I wasn’t whisked away by this
book, and reading it felt like a chore at times, however I am happy I stuck
with the book and was able to complete my experience.
The new book I have started today is Outpost by Dan
Richards, a nonfiction title with a focus on the outdoors, wilderness, and
remote places on this earth. The book is split into a number of chapters, with
each chapter representing a different location visited by the writer. The
reason I have picked this up to read is because since finishing After The End on
Sunday, I have not had another ‘read in the bath book’ – I know some people
have strong views on bath reading, but I personally love a good relax and read
in a hot bubble bath, HOWEVER, I only ever read my own physical copy books in
the bath... Occasionally I’ll listen to an audio book, but for the most part I
like to keep bath reading to personal physical copy. As you know, I am currently reading a nonfiction book (on audio), and don’t tend to read more than one NF at
any one time, however I know the next fiction book I pick up having now
finished Hardcastle will be a library borrow, which of course I would not have
as a ‘read in the bath book’, so I looked at my unread books and settled on
this title; I don’t think it will conflict with my other current NF as they are
vastly different topics being handled. Outpost should work great for the reason
I am picking it up now, as I can read one or two chapters at a time, dipping in
& out. I will likely only mentioned this book again once I have finished it, as I imagine my bookmark will slowly meander through the pages.
WEDNESDAY 15TH JANUARY
I started my next current fiction read today: The Escape
Artist by Diane Chamberlain. I know that this is one of her backlist books,
very early backlist at that, but it was recommended to me when searching for
her newest release on my library reservation system. I’ve read more than a
handful of Diane Chamberlain’s books now and have always had a good reading experience,
so I hope for the same with this one... I read just under 40 pages.
I did also listen to more of my audiobook today: The
Five.
THURSDAY 16TH JANUARY
I finished reading The Five: The Untold Lives of the
Women Killed by Jack the Ripper today; the book is by Hallie Rubenhold, and my
audio version was read by Louise Brealey.
Hallie Rubenhold has done a phenomenal job with this
book, using extensive research to show the real lives of the women killed by
Jack the Ripper, as well as depict what the Victorian era would have looked
like – visually, morally, and more. I also really felt a sense of care in the
writing, care for these five women – Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine, and
Mary; their stories were told with tenderness and love even. If you enjoy
historical or true crime nonfiction, then I highly recommend The Five.
FRIDAY 17TH JANUARY
Today begins my participation in a readathon (my first of the year): Off The Grid Readathon. The idea behind this readathon is to read without distractions. I like the idea of switching off, disconnecting, and focusing on books, which is why I take part in this readathon whenever I can.
My TBR consists solely of library borrows, being backlist books by authors I’ve
enjoyed previously,
I decided to start my readathon experience with The Death
of Mrs Westaway, simply because it is the book I need to return the soonest of
the three... And I managed to read the entirety of it today! It picked it up
multiple times today and flew through it.
With an isolate country estate and family secrets central to the plot, I will admit I did have some hopes for this Ruth Ware novel as I do love both of those things in a book... However, something just didn't work out for me with this title, and actually other Ruth Ware titles also. I find her stories interesting - this being my 3rd book of hers now - but with all the books I have read of hers, I find there is a disconnection between me & the story... And I can't pinpoint what exactly it is.
SATURDAY 18TH JANUARY
Having finished The Death of Mrs Westaway, I have now
moved my focus to The Escape Artist by Diane Chamberlain. As mentioned above, I
did briefly start this book on Wednesday, but made some significant progress
today, reading around 230 pages... Meaning I am more than half way through.
I like the story so far... I mean you can tell it is of
its time (1990's) technology wise and such, plus I also have a suspicious as to the mystery plot elements unfolding, however I am enjoying the writing and the
progression of the main character.
SUNDAY 19TH JANUARY
This morning I finished the remainder of The Escape
Artist... I would say it was a good reading experience – I’m enjoying reading
some of Diane Chamberlain’s backlist titles, but as with any author, when
you’ve read more recent works of theirs, often times the backlist ones aren’t
comparable. The things I do enjoy in a Diane Chamberlain novel – a dilemma that
wants the reader to project themselves in to and characters that you easily
invest in & commit to – where present within The Escape Artist, and so for
that reason, as I said, it was a good read.
Having finished The Escape Artist in the morning, I did ponder whether I should pick up another book or not... More specifically, if I pick up another book will I finish it within the readathon time frame.
I did indeed pick up another book, opting for a middle grade title sat on my unread shelf: The Somerset Tsunami by Emma Carroll. If you're a regular reader of my blog then you'll know I do enjoy a middle grade here and there, and in particular, Emma Carroll is one of my favourite MG authors, so of course I was super keen to get stuck in to her most recent release.
And yes, I did finish it in the readathon time frame - concluding the story early evening!
Emma Carroll writes historical middle grade fiction, often times with adventures ensuring, strong female characters being central to the plot, and wonderful relationship dynamics between both family & friends; all of these things combine perfectly in my opinion. There was also a Q&A with Emma Carroll at the end of the book which I quite enjoyed also.
What a reading week - 2 books carried over from the week before finished, and concluding the week with 3 books finished in 3 days!
BOOKS MENTIONED
OTHER INFORMATION
QUESTION
Do you have specific books for specific reasons?
For example, the bath like me, or perhaps a commute book, or a bedside table book etc.
I’m glad you liked The Five. Good luck with the readathon!
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
Thank you!
DeleteYou've encouraged me to put The Five onto my reading wishlist. It does sound fascinating and about time we heard about the women who were the victims rather than yet another book about who Jack Ripper was or was not
ReplyDeleteYes, I quite agree - it was definitely a new take on the case as a whole.
Delete