Hey guys! September is here which is why I wanted to take the time to actually type up my thoughts of how I’ll be doing things on my blog from now until I feel like another change!
So, from now onwards…
I will be posting two days a week, possibly a third if I get backed up again with reviews. Tuesday will be other bookish related content and Friday will be review day. The only other day I will post is a Sunday, which is in case of a backlog.
Some of my posts recently have used the CAWPILE rating system, and some haven’t, due to how they were scheduled. Going forwards all books will be rated using this system – it’s a much better way (for me personally) to give a book a star rating, without just gushing that I absolutely loved it 5 stars.
Not all book reviews will be fully written and long, some of them will be 10 or 15 thoughts whilst reading [book tittle] this is because sometimes it’s just really hard to write a full review of something! I will still rate the book out of 5 though. And this will not be something I do for ARCs, they will always get a full review from me.
I’ve also had a little bit of a rebrand! Which you may have already noticed, but will start to see more of in my posts. I’ve created some new graphics and changed the colours around – I just fancied something different! Do let me know what you think (unless you don’t like it then please keep that opinion to yourself, I’m very sensitive haha).
This theme is now consistent across my blog and Twitter page (you can find me @WhatEmsReadingX).
I am super excited to get started with this new plan and I will be hopefully sharing a NetGalley update with you all tomorrow to get my month off to a good start.
Let me know what upcoming blog posts you’ve got, as I’m more determined to spend time interacting with all my fellow bloggers and friends!
Guess who’s back, back again! Following on from my post a couple of weeks ago where I wrote about books I will always re-read I decided to create a list of ones that I absolutely loved but will just never re-read!
This one will likely be a lot shorter than last weeks, just because there aren’t many I wouldn’t chose to re-read. Some of these books I did rate 4 or 5 stars and I absolutely raved about them but I just don’t feel like I’d want to read them again.
1 – The Guest List by Lucy Foley. Now don’t get me wrong this was a cracking book but I feel like the air of mystery and suspense won’t be the same because I know how it pans out.
2 – The Players by Darren O’Sullivan. Much like the one above the first read of this book really draws you in, I was so interested by the premise of the book and how everything unfolded but now I know what to expect and what happens, it just wouldn’t feel the same to re-read it.
3 – Honeymoon Alone by Nicole Macaulay. I loved this book it was so good, but I just feel as if I would feel differently if I was to re-read it, not in a bad way but I just don’t think I’d get the same joy that I did the first time around.
Those are probably the only books that I rated highly but wouldn’t re-read. It mostly comes down to the fact that they have quite unique plots that once you’ve read them, it would spoil the atmosphere of the book if you read them again!
Let me know if you have any books like this that you loved but wouldn’t re-read, I’d love to know what they are and maybe add them to my own TBR!
Hi friends, I wanted to do something a bit different today and discuss some of my favourite books that are my go to re-reads!
I am the worst for re-reading books sometimes, especially when I have ARCs or new releases that I want to read… I recently re-read the Percy Jackson series even though at that point I had 100+ books on my TBR. In my defence, I am very much a mood reader and none of my books were taking my fancy.
1 – The Percy Jacksonseriesby Rick Riordan, I would re-read this series straight after I’d just read it if I could, I love these books so much they have a special place in my heart.
2 – The Twilight Sagaby Stephenie Meyer. Much like PJO these books have a special place in my heart and I will never tire of reading these (or watching the films, they’re a guilty pleasure of mine).
3 – The End of Mr Y by Scarlet Thomas. I am OBSESSED with this book, let me tell you. I find something new to love about it every time I re-read it (also hit me up if you’ve read it, I would love to discuss it with you!)
4 – The Shining by Stephen King. I mean of course this one was going to make my list, I’m pretty sure I read this at least once a year. It usually features around Halloween time and then I thoroughly scare myself by going and watching the film.
5 – The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I am also obsessed with this book, it’s the first Dan Brown book I ever read and it really ignited my love for his books so I always go back to this one.
6 – Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. I may have had a small (large, huge, massive, fucking ginormous) crush on Patch as a teenager, which has definitely not *cough* stuck with me into adulthood, so I used to read this book like every other week.
ALSO, shout out to everyone on booktwt who has made me realise that having a crush on fictional characters is totally normal and in fact encouraged by other readers, you guys are the best <3333333
IT ME!!!!!
There are also some recent reads that I would love to re-read in the future because for various reasons they really stuck with me…
The Pastel Effect by Arly Carmack | Chopping Spree by Angela Sylvaine | Dreaming of Florence by T A Williams | The Scam List by Kurt Dinan
I won’t review these books when I re-read them because there’s no point, I might do a little comparison post to see if my feelings are still the same but otherwise I’ll just enjoy my re-reads in peace.
Be sure to let me know if you have any particular faves that are falling apart because you re-read them so much!
Hello friends, I’m here again with another book tag, I’m trying to do one per month to bring a lil bit of variety to my blog, so I hope you enjoy reading my take on the ultimate recommendations book tag.
If you would like to take part in this tag then please consider yourself tagged!
Recommend a book from your favourite genre.
Okay so my fave genre is definitely horror/thriller, so I would have to recommend The Shining, or Salem’s Lot, or Pet Sematary, in their own right they are all excellent books and I can’t recommend them enough. I speak highly of most King books but these are just *chefs kiss*
Recommend a short book.
One that I’ve read recently and really loved was Psychosis by Matt Dymerski. It’s a collection of short horror stories and they all really packed a punch in different ways. It was different to anything I’d read before…
Recommend a book to screen adaptation.
Gone Girl. I actually watched the film of this before I read the book, but they both still were absolutely brilliant.
Recommend a book out of your comfort zone.
This was a really hard one as I only usually read books within my comfort zone, but I’ve decided on The Scam List by Kurt Dinan. It was so far out of my usual reads but I absolutely loved it! You can read my review here.
Recommend a book series.
If you haven’t already you should read the Hannibal series, it’s honestly such a brilliant read and one of my favourite ever series.
Recommend a standalone.
Based on my recent reads I would definitely recommend The Pastel Effect by Arly Carmack. I will shout about this book from the rooftops I think it’s my favourite read of the year.
Recommend a book you don’t talk enough about.
Definitely The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas. I wish more people that I know or interact with had read this book because I would just love to talk about it with someone! It was such a thought provoking read and I need to discuss it with someone.
Recommend your staple book.
I don’t really have a staple book, if I like something then I’ll recommend it!
Recommend books that got you into reading.
This would be the Goosebumps series, I used to consume these at a crazy rate when I was younger and they definitely encouraged my love of reading when I was younger. I also have to say thanks to Roald Dahl because his books were also a huge influence on me as a child.
Hi friends! Just a quick something different from me today! I wanted to showcase these absolute GEMS that I have recently picked up from local charity shops. (Feat my cat who wanted to help me).
All but one of these were books I’m actively looking for/adding to my wishlist/hoping that people will buy me for my birthday or Christmas but I am super excited to read them all!
I have recently purchased:
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (this was a bargain, it was only 50p)
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (would you believe me if I said I only watched the film of this like 8 months ago, I had been meaning to watch it forever and it was on Netflix so I thought why not – it was amazing)
My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithewaite (I actually let my mom read this before I did and she really enjoyed it so!)
The Strings of Murder by Oscar de Muriel (can’t lie to you friends, I only picked this up because I liked the spine and the cover)
The Holiday by T.M.Logan (now this is the one that I was actively searching for when I went into shops! I’m really excited to start this one as it’s been on my list for ages)
I am actively searching for some other books too, and I’m always checking charity shops as I love the feel that a pre loved book has.
I constantly have my phone open with my to buy shelf on Goodreads whilst I’m searching high and low for new books to bring to their forever home!
And there you have my most recent charity shop purchases. Let me know if you’ve read any of these books and what you thought, I’d love to hear your opinions.
Hello friends, I’m here again this time with the opposite book tag! I can’t remember where I saw this so if you do know the original creator please let me know so I can tag their blog.
Q – First in my collection and last book I brought.
The first book in my collection is my Chronicles of Narnia series and the last book I brought was If I can’t Have You by Charlotte Levin.
Q – A cheap book and an expensive book.
The cheapest book is one of my charity shop ones, it’s Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick and it was 50p. And the most expensive book on my shelf is my hardback copy of Midnight Sun.
Q – A book with a male protagonist and one with a female protagonist.
Male – Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh. Female – The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas.
Q – A book you read fast and one that took you long to read.
One that I read fast is Percy Jackson and the Lightning thief and one that took me forever to read was The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. (Absolutely no hate on that book, I loved it I just took soooo long to get into it haha).
Q – Pretty cover and ugly cover.
Pretty cover is Landline by Rainbow Rowell and ugly cover is The Canal Boat Cafe at Christmas by Cressida McLaughlin.
I don’t really have any books with ugly covers so I’ve just picked one that is my least favourite instead. I love the colours of Landline they’re so simple and work really well!
Q – A national book and an international book.
I don’t really think I have any to include for this one!
Q – A thin book and a thick book.
A thin book is my copy of Psycho by Robert Bloch and a thick book is IT by Stephen King.
Q – Fiction book and a non-fiction book.
The Chain by Adrian McKinty (fiction) and Very British Problems by Rob Temple (non-fiction). I picked these 2 because they are both red so I wanted to have matchy matchy ones!
Q – Very (way too) romantic book and action book.
Taken: Captive Romance by Esme Devlin. (I don’t read many action books so I picked this one instead) It Came From The Multiplex: 80s Midnight Chillers by various authors.
Q – A book that made you happy and one that made you sad.
One that made me happy is The Scam List by Kurt Dinan and one that made me sad is New Moon by Stephenie Meyer.
As always if you want to take part consider yourself tagged and be sure to let me know if you do so I can check out your post!
Hello bookworms and friends, I recently asked on Twitter for people to recommend me their favourite book of the year so far, and then I combined that with posts I’ve saved from blogs I follow to create this list of books that I have added to my to buy shelf!
When I finished adding these to my “to buy” shelf on Goodreads, I also got rid of some that no longer interested me! Leaving me with a total of: 120 books that I want to read and 33 books that I need to purchase/lend from the library to read.
I honestly don’t know if I will ever stop adding books to my TBR (probs not) so I imagine I will be updating this list as time goes on!
Be sure to let me know if you’ve read any of these books and if you’d recommend them and if you’ve reviewed them.
Hello friends, I’m here (actually on time this month) to share my NetGalley update!
I have actually requested 2 more books (from an auto-approved publisher) and then like 5 or 6 more that I’m hoping the book Gods will look favourably on me for… PLEASE :)))))) so my ratio is down a little bit on where I’d like it to be.
So as of 1.6.21 my stats are:
Ratio – 85%
46 approved / 39 feedback sent (I do have one that I’ve read and need to submit feedback for but I haven’t gotten around to it yet).
My titles to read are:
– The House of Dust by Noah Broyles
– The Neighbour by London Clarke
– Unnatural by Luke Fitzpatrick
– Silvers Hollow by Patrick Delaney
– Level Zero by Dan McDowell
– The Face At The Window by Ruby Speechley
A couple of these have already been published so I’m going to try and get those read first so I can get my review out ASAP and then I will make some time (maybe in August) to read The House of Dust.
Please pray to the book Gods that I get approved for the other books I’ve requested and hopefully I can add them to my list!
Hello fellow bookworms and bloggers! This is my slightly late (very late, we’re halfway through the month Emily…) May NetGalley update!
I am pleased to say that I haven’t requested any more books since my last update, I am very pleased with myself, I can’t promise I won’t have requested 10 books next time I update you all but here we are.
So, as of 14.5.21 my stats are:
Ratio – 93%
41 Approved / 38 feedback sent
My titles to read are:
– The House of Dust by Noah Broyles.
– The Perfect Life by Nuala Ellwood.
I have to review and then share my review of One Monsoon in Mumbai by Anitha Perinchery, which I just haven’t gotten chance to get to reviewing yet, but I have read it and IT WAS BLOODY BRILLANT.
I’m actually really proud of myself for managing to not only increase my ratio but also not request anymore books!
I will try and be more punctual with my June update but don’t hold out hope…
Hello friends! I am here with my review/discussion post/word vomit all about my Percy Jackson and the Olympians series reread.
Let me start off by saying I am SO GLAD I decided to do a reread of the PJO series, it has brought so much joy into my life, right at a time when I needed it.
These will not be proper reviews of each book, there will be a star rating but it will mostly just be me banging out about how much I loved the books, maybe with a few quotes thrown in and definitely a few memes!
One of my favourite things about this series as a whole is how much I learnt after reading the 5 books, I answer quiz questions and people are like “how do you know that?!” thanks PJO👀 but at the same time it doesn’t feel like learning because the books are so much fun.
BOOK 1 – THE LIGHTNING THIEF.
Overall rating – 4 stars.
The way this book starts immediately draws you in and entertains you from the very first page and compels you to keep reading. This is made even better by Percy’s narration and the chapter headings, my personal favourite of which is “I become supreme lord of the bathroom”.
Straight away I warmed to Percy and his Mom, the love she has for him clearly oozes through the pages, especially in the way she tries to allow Percy to be as normal of a child as possible, given that he’s actually half God and is at risk of dying every time he goes somewhere.
And the characters only got better from this point onwards, Annabeth and Grover stand out (obviously) due to them being a focal point through the book.
Riordan has this wonderful talent when he writes, you truly believe you are at Camp Half Blood or on Mount Olympus with Percy and co, you could practically taste the fresh air of camp or the electricity from Zeus’s lightning strikes. I was made to feel like a part of the camp and quest too.
This book still makes me feel the same as I did when I was younger, I loved it!
This is LITERALLY how Zeus felt when Percy started riding the elevator to the 600th floor…
BOOK 2 – THE SEA OF MONSTERS.
Overall rating – 5 stars.
This one definitely has a dramatic opening, which I personally loved! I know they all open quite dramatically but for me, this one is the best opening chapters.
We also get introduced to Tyson, who I adore. A particular favourite part of mine about this book is how Percy feels embarrassed when Tyson is claimed and is his half brother, before he goes on a journey to realise that in actual fact he could do a lot worse – it shows us that Percy is still just a teenager and that he has the normal thoughts and feelings of a teenage boy. It felt real.
The chariot racing though has to be my favourite part! I feel like we’re riding in the chariot with them, you can feel the wind on your face and hear the shouts from the other cabins, it is described perfectly.
Sea of Monsters is also when Percy starts to open his eyes and realise how much he likes Annabeth and we really start to see them grow (which is a huge plus for a Percabeth fan like me!)
Oh and my favourite chapter heading from this one is “I have the worst family reunion ever”.
BOOK 3 – THE TITAN’S CURSE.
Overall rating – 4 stars.
This one is my least favourite of the series, nothing against it I just don’t enjoy reading it as much as the others, I think it’s the lack of Annabeth and the way her and Percy bounce off each other…
That being said, I love how we finally get to meet some other Gods, Artemis and Apollo for a start, and of course Artemis’s hunters are introduced.
I start this book with a very strong dislike of Thalia, I don’t like the way she treats Percy when they play capture the flag. I also dislike Bianca’s decision to join the hunters and leave Nico behind to deal with this overwhelming new life on his own. However, once we get to the end of the book (and this is testament to Riordan’s character development) I loved the two of them, they really grew on me.
This one was a little slow for me though, which is why it’s my least favourite.
My favourite chapter heading from this one has to be “I have a Dam problem”.
BOOK 4 – THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH.
Overall rating – 5 stars.
I actually have two favourite chapter headings from this book, I couldn’t decide between them both and they are… “Nico buys Happy Meals for the dead” and “I open a coffin”.
EEEEEK, this one is my FAVOURITE of the series, I would rate it higher than 5 stars if I could. I feel like this is the one where things take a much darker turn and we start to realise how much danger Percy and the camp are actually in.
Throughout this entire book I felt as though we were in the labyrinth with our heroes, I could feel the same fear that they felt and as someone who is claustrophobic and scared of the dark it really got under my skin.
I love this book so much that I cannot think of what to write about it, except that I LOVE IT. Tyson going with Grover, even though they both dislike each other, Annabeth getting annoyed with the Sphinx because it isn’t a riddle she’s been given, Rachel hitting Kronos in the eye with a plastic hairbrush. It’s just a masterpiece.
There are so many layers within this story but everything weaves together to create an incredible story for us to enjoy.
BOOK 5 – THE LAST OLYMPIAN.
Overall rating – 5 stars.
I have lots of feelings towards this book and I admit, I cried when I finished reading it because it really is the best end to the series.
I get goosebumps when I read this book, from start to finish the whole thing is excellent. There are so many different aspects that all work together to create this book that will make you feel every emotion under the sun.
The description that went into this book were second to none, I felt like we were in Poseidon’s realm fighting alongside him, or in the Underworld with Hades and Percy and Nico, or in May Castellan’s kitchen when we learn why Luke is the way he is. I cannot fault the description and writing from Riordan.
Throughout the various battles there were heartfelt moments too, that helped us to tie up any lose ends and brought the perfect ending to the books.
You could feel the emotion through the page with the scenes with Hermes and the scenes with Percy and Annabeth when they finally got together (Percabeth for life) and when the Gods were discussing how to honour the heroes and Nico finally got the recognition he deserved. I cried a lot during this book lmao.
And my favourite chapter heading has to go to… “My parents go commando”.
This 5 book series is just a true masterpiece and an absolute joy to read and I’m so glad I reread them, they were absolutely worth it!
This is my personal favourite meme, I can see Percy doing water aerobics…
What Em's Reading 