📚Top Ten Tuesday – Books I read in one sitting (or I would if I had the time)📚

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Today’s post is all about books that I read in one sitting, or that I would have done if I had the time to. While there aren’t many recently that I’ve been able to read in one go, due to time constraints, there are definitely some from when I was younger!

1 – Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. I could easily read this book in one sitting, I find it so easy to devour this one!

2 – Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix. I remember vividly when this came out, I read it in one day where I literally only moved to use the toilet or to get a drink.

3 – Goosebumps Horrorland Series. If I remember rightly my re-read of this series a few years ago took place across one full day. Granted they’re only short books but I was so desperate to find out what happened that I just powered through them.

4 – Matilda by Roald Dahl. This is one from my childhood that I never ever tire of reading!

5 – The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Not so much with my re-reads of this book but the very first time I read it I literally flew through it, I couldn’t put it down.

6 – Chopping Spree by Angela Sylvaine. Now this one was helped by how short the story was, I didn’t think it was going to be that short, but I devoured this in one sitting and it was SO worth it.

7 – Me and Mr Jones by Lucy Diamond. This one was just so easy to read that I completely lost any sense of time and carried on until I finished the whole thing!

And moving onto ones that I would love to read in one sitting if I could…

8 – The Pastel Effect by Arly Carmack. This book gave me all of the feels and was so bloody good that I would love nothing more than to be able to re-read it in one go, without any interruptions so that I could fully immerse myself into the story.

9 – The Shining by Stephen King. I absolutely love the atmosphere of this book and I always get disappointed when I have to put it down as it spoils it for me, so to be able to read this is one sitting would be PERFECT.

10 – The Guest List by Lucy Foley. Now I probably won’t re-read this one but if I could erase it from my memory and then read it again I would do so in one sitting, I felt like I was constantly on edge and I needed to keep reading to find out what would happen next. Every chapter was a cliffhanger.

And there you have it, 7 books that I absolutely flew through in one sitting and 3 that I would love to have done so if I just had the time!

Let me know if you’re taking part in TTT so I can check out your post too.

Until next time, Em xxx

Origin, Dan Brown – A Review.

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Origin by Dan Brown.

Synopsis… “Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend the unveiling of a discovery that “will change the face of science forever”. The evening’s host is his friend and former student, Edmond Kirsch, a forty-year-old tech magnate whose dazzling inventions and audacious predictions have made him a controversial figure around the world. Tonight is to be no exception: he claims he will reveal an astonishing scientific breakthrough to challenge the fundamentals of human existence. But Langdon and several hundred other guests are left reeling when the meticulously orchestrated evening is blown apart before Kirsch’s precious discovery can be revealed. With his life under threat, Langdon is forced into a desperate bid to escape, along with the museum’s director, Ambra Vidal. Together they flee to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch’s secret”.

Overall rating 4 out of 5 stars.

My review…

The setting of Origin was perfect, it was set in Barcelona so it was nice to read one of Brown’s books where I knew the places being described, as I’ve been to Barcelona in the last few years. For me, this piqued my interest straight away and I loved reading how Brown described each location. Brown has this way of making you feel as though you are in the location, heightened only by the fact I know the city in question.

Character wise, I’ve always loved Langdon throughout the books, but Ambra was awesome. She was such a badass, despite the fact she was due to become the future Queen of Spain she didn’t hesitate in following what was right and doing what was necessary. And Winston, that was the biggest shock I’d read all year! I thought they all gelled together really well too, the dialogue was easy and really flowed between them despite the clear differences in the characters.

The story itself wasn’t Brown’s best, in my opinion, but it did still grip me. He has this clever way of writing a chapter with a cliff hanger and then in the following chapter completely swapping characters or locations so we want to keep reading!

It did get quite confusing, with the Church and Valdespino, the Regent and a lot of other minor characters that weren’t really fully developed but contributed to the story. There were also a couple of smaller plot lines that didn’t get tied up and were forgotten about, which frustrated me.

The ending though did give me the shock of my life and I wasn’t expecting it at all. But for me it wasn’t enough to bring the book up to the same standard as his other work.

Let me know if you’ve read Origin as I’d love to hear what you thought!

Em xxx

Top Ten Tuesday – Authors I’ve read the most books by📚

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Hey guys welcome back to my blog! It’s Tuesday (7th July already?!) which means it is time for Top Ten Tuesday! Currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and is a weekly post, born out of the want to bring us bookish people together!

This weeks topic is top 10 authors that I’ve read the most books by, but I’ve decided to do as many as I can, I might get to 10 (or I might not) I’m going to look back through my Goodreads and total my reviews for certain authors haha.

1 – J K Rowling. I’ve read all 7 Harry Potter books, the 3 Hogwarts Library books and The Casual Vacancy.

2 – Stephenie Meyer. I’ve read the 4 Twilight saga books and The Host and I will be reading Midnight Sun when it’s released. (WOOOOOP!)

3 – Thomas Harris. I have read all 4 of the Hannibal Lecter book series.

5 – Roald Dahl. I’ve read his 15 book collection, numerous times! I still have the boxset in the loft, a bit battered and faded but I’m saving them for when I have my own little ones!

6 – Dan Brown. I have just (as in the start of June) completed Origin which means I have read every book of his!

7 – Rick Riordan. I’ve read the first 5 of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, I want to do a reread at some point but the other books on my TBR list will screech at me if I do that lmao.

8 – Piper Lawson. I’ve read 4 of her books so far and enjoyed every single one, they were all amazing.

9 – Stephen King. I’ve lost count now of how many books of his I’ve read, I had ones from before I started blogging and using Goodreads too.

10 – Adam Nevill. Someone I didn’t find until the last year or so but so far I’ve enjoyed!

That was easier than I thought actually to find 10 authors I’ve read multiple books of, here was me thinking I’d struggle. Let me know if you’re taking part in TTT so I can check out your post too.

Em xxx

Top Ten Tuesday turns 10🎉🎊

Hello everyone! It is Tuesday today which means it’s time for Top Ten Tuesday… Today is a special one as TTT is 10, so we have a celebration post! Our brief for today is that we could pick any previous TTT post and redo or update it, we can be as creative as we like…

Top Ten Tuesday is currently hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl and is a weekly post, that was born from the want to bring us bookish people together and those of us who love a good list (me😂)

I have decided to post my top ten fave books I’ve ever reviewed, the original post was first ten books so I’ve decided to switch it up a bit and share my fave reviews instead!

If you click on the book titles you can see the original review I posted too.

1 – Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. I picked this one because it was the first ever book review I posted, and while I’ve certainly come a long way since then it reminds me of when I started out.

2 – Inferno by Dan Brown. This book literally planned an entire holiday for me and even though I only rated it 4 stars it still made such an impact on my life.

3 – Mirror Mirror by Anthony M Strong. I reviewed this 1 star, BUT, it’s my first ever bad review of a book so I had to include it!

4 – The Perfect Couple by Jackie Kabler. I really enjoyed reading this book and it’s definitely one that will be on my reread list, which is why I’ve included it.

5 – Die, My Love by Zoe Blake and 6 others. This was the first anthology I’d read and it was amazing. I’ve included it because I want more people to know about this book, it was SO GOOD.

6 – Camp Leanpe by Timothy R Baldwin. I’ve included this one because it reminded of the Goosebumps series I used to read as a child, so it was one of my favourites to review, it was like going into a time machine!

7 – Coraline by Neil Gaiman. I don’t know why I put off reading this book for so long because it was amazing and by far one of my favourites to review, I felt like I couldn’t get my words typed fast enough to share the review.

8 – Goosebumps by R L Stine. I mean of course I’ve included this one, I literally got in a time machine and went back to my childhood!

9 – Death Warrant by Will Pearson. This is the only none fiction book on my list and I’ve included it because it was my third book after I’d DNFR the 2 previous, and it really got me out of a slump.

10 – Hannibal book series by Thomas Harris. Technically this is 4 books in this review, but Hannibal is one of my all time favourite book series and I had to include it, as they were my favourite reviews to write.

Happy 10th birthday to Top Ten Tuesday too, originally from The Broke and the Bookish back in June 2010 it moved over to Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018 and it has been there ever since. I can’t even begin to imagine how many posts there has been in its 10 year history!

As always, let me know if you’re taking part and I will check out your post too.

Em xxx

The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown – A Review. [SPOILERS].

Welcome to my blog and hello to my usual followers! Today I’m reviewing another Dan Brown book that I’ve read… The Lost Symbol.

Overall rating – 5 out of 5 stars.

This book was a literal rollercoaster from start to end, it’s quite a long book but I literally could not put it down… 

The writing was brilliant, every chapter was like a mini cliff hanger, making you want to keep reading. The book was written from multiple POV, which throughout the story all intertwined and allowed Brown to progress the book without rushing it.

It also lent itself well to twists and turns that later developed, the seed had been planted all along…

I felt all of the characters were exceptionally well developed. At no point did we feel like Katherine was relying on Robert or like Sato needed the input of a man to do her job. It was refreshing to read. 

There was also no romantic relationship that formed between the two main characters, which endeared me to this book even more. 

The whole book itself is based upon Freemasonry, which I enjoy learning about anyway (I have family members that are Masons) and I really liked how The Lost Symbol pushed me to read into Freemasonry and noetic science in more depth, I felt like I really learned something from reading this book.

Let me know if you’ve read it OR if you have any recommendations for none fiction books about Freemasons, my Gdad and Dad are both in the Masons and have some books but I’d love some others to read. 

Em xxx

The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown – A Review. [SPOILERS].

Hey guys and welcome back to my blog! Today I’m going to be reviewing The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I’ve actually read this book several times and never reviewed it so here it is!

Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

I read The Da Vinci Code with a very open mind (not being a religious person) and expecting there to be stretching of the truth and artistic license where required.

What I didn’t expect was to read such a thought-provoking, well crafted, thrilling novel. I was desperate to keep reading, to turn the page and read the next chapter. I was desperate to be alongside Robert Langdon on his quest for the truth – and it felt like I was. Brown’s writing made you feel as though you were there.

It felt so realistic that even I (who the closest to Paris I’ve ever been is Disney) felt like I knew the places being described.

The Da Vinci Code opened up a whole new world for me and made me crave Dan Brown books.

I gave The Da Vinci Code 4.5 stars because I felt his later works were better, but I am forever loyal to the first Dan Brown book I read (and will probably add to my TBR list for a re-read next year).

Have you read The Da Vinci Code? Let me know what you thought! Em xx

Top 10 Tuesday – Book characters I’d love to be besties with📚

Here I am again with another Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Arsty Reader Girl. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is book characters I would love to be besties with! As I would literally reel off about 6 million HP characters I’ve limited myself to 5 characters to keep the list from getting OTT…

Here we gooooooOOOOOoooo.

1. Hermione Granger. I mean duh, of course I would want to be friends with Hermione, I feel like we have so much in common!
2. Matilda Wormwood. I just love her so much, I think she’s a great character and would be super cool to have as your bff.
3. Vin (from the Mistborn Trilogy). I think Vin is an amazing character, and I mean, who wouldn’t want her as your pal? Her allomantic powers would make her a great addition to my girl power team.
4. James (from James and the Giant Peach). Who wouldn’t want to be friends with James with that adventure he went on?!
5. Robert Langdon. Literally every single book he features in I wish I was his bestie so I could travel the world and see all these cool places with him. I just think it would be amazing.

Honourable mentions must also go to the following! Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Charlie Bucket (the kid has a chocolate factory ffs), Katniss Everdeen, Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson.

Did any of your BFF characters feature on my list? Let me know! Em x

First Line Friday – The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown📚

Hello my wonderful followers! I’m back with another First Line Friday post to share with you all, hosted by the lovely blog Hoarding Books.

Today we’re reading the first line from The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. 

“Renowned curator Jacques Sauniere staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum’s Grand Gallery”

I love The Da Vinci Code, it actually featured on one of my recent Top Ten Tuesday posts about books that I will never let anyone touch!

Are you taking part in First Line Friday? Let me know in the comments so I can check out your post too. 

Em xx

Deception Point, Dan Brown – A Review. [SPOILERS]

Hello, my lovelies! I am BACK and ready with another review for my latest read.

I have recently finished Deception Point by Dan Brown – one of my favourite authors of all time! My overall rating of this book is: 4 out of 5 stars. 

As always, I was in awe of Dan Brown’s writing, the scene is set so well that you feel as though you are with NASA whilst they’re making their “discovery” and you become so engrossed with the characters that you feel their fear…

But, I just didn’t enjoy the storyline. I’m all for conspiracy theories, but really? I guessed right from the start that the meteor was placed there and then it just ruined it for me.

On the whole I enjoyed the book itself, down to Brown’s writing but the storyline itself just wasn’t for me.

Have you read Deception Point? Let me know what you thought in the comments! Em xx

Inferno, Dan Brown – A Review. [SPOILERS]

Hello my lovely followers,

I’ve just completed Inferno by Dan Brown so I thought I’d put a quick post together on it (and by quick I mean it’ll be suuuuper long)

So, whenever I read Dan Brown’s books I always like to figure out what’s going on and how it will end. I got one part right this time – go me.

ANYWAY! To my review…

I’m speechless. I don’t expect anything less than excellence from Dan Brown and I wasn’t disappointed this time.

It was fast paced, without rushing, it featured so much history and background to bring everything together, each chapter was a cliff hanger.

Relying heavily on Dante’s The Divine Comedy it had to feature a lot of history, but not too much it became “boring” which it achieved effortlessly.

Each chapter brought us another twist and turn and each character introduction was done at just the right time to aid the book.

Dan Brown creates a book full of turns and twists and things that throw you upside down to create a masterpiece, a scavenger hunt contained within a book full to the brim with history.

This book made such an impression on me that I not only brought my own copy of Dante’s The Divine Comedy (review to come!) But that I am looking for holidays to Florence to explore some of the places mentioned in the book.

My overall rating? 4 out of 5. 4 because I felt at a very small point about 2 thirds through we lost ourselves a little bit before the book was pulled back to the plot.

Have you read Inferno? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Em xx