January was a predominantly audiobook month for me. Without even realising which is great as I’m taking part in #2024AudiobookChallenge with my target for the year to be 50 and I’ve listened to six in the first month.
As I’ve been feeling under the weather a friend mentioned meditation. I’ve tried mindfulness in a number of ways and it doesn’t always work for me. I decided to jump into bed and listen to an audiobook- instead I decided to listen to a Sleep episode on #Audible.
It was a seven min listen about tension that had me feeling relaxed and super sleepy. I had a really good sleep and didn’t wake until nearer six for a wee. I then went back to sleep until ten or just before. It really helped.
Last night I decided to try a different one…both made me sleepy although I think the first one relaxed me a little more. Although the second one was soothing and I definitely think I’ll check out more from Dr Nerina.
I’m currently listening to the Improbable Meet Cute and I believe I’m on the third short story of six.
Podcasts – The Well-being Lab from Will Young has been a favourite but there isn’t a series at present. And I’ve dipped in and out of Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place and the sleep episodes are classed as them. I really enjoy podcasts and would love to get into some more so hit me with some inspiration. I listened to some Running ones a while back to but haven’t in forever.
Bert’s Books posted this on their Instagram and it got me thinking…it made me think and create this post and it’s taken me to now to finally finish and share these thoughts ha.
One for how many I’ve read, and two I’m also intrigued to how many you guys have read? And whether I should use this as a sort of challenge to up my reading.
My reading mojo hasn’t been at its greatest this year, but following my time off I’ve finished an audio and two physical books. I’m currently in the middle of the same again so potentially adding four more books to my low numbers on GoodReads.
Also why were these books banned? What was the reasoning behind this? Does anyone know?
In first instance I’ve read To Kill A Mockingbird, Thirteen Reasons Why, Of Mice & Men and Catcher In The Rye (I read at school but I may reread Catcher In The Rye – as it’s one I don’t really remember.) The Color Purple and I’ve read the first in the Harry Potter series yup really.
Should I add these to my ever expanding TBR pile and if so where do I start?
Happy Hump Day lovelies I hope you are having as good a day as possible right now. So I really enjoyed this post last week and I’ve set myself a number of reading intentions for the weeks of February. So far I’ve done pretty well with what I’ve wanted to achieve but before I go to bed I hope to get a decent amount of the next Christina Lauren book on our read-along read. Although, in saying that I hope to get into bed at a decent hour.
Two of the books I’ve been reading are coming out on Thursday so there will be a bumper post coming then so watch this space.
Last: Cry Baby By Mark Billingham
Now: My Favourite Half Night Stand By Christina Lauren (just about to start this this evening)
Next: The Night We Met By Zoë Folbigg (I’m on theblog tour for this on my birthday)
Sorry for the delay in this post I’ve been enjoying the final pages of Cry Baby and following that a few bits round the house before watching Miranda Dickinson’s Wednesday night chat over on Facebook.
There will be two reviews and a cover reveal tomorrow so watch this space. What do you think to this midweek post.
Just like that the first week of February is nearing it’s close. We’re at Saturday…..So how has your week been? Well now I’m kind of regretting some of my choices this week.
On Monday I headed out on a run and I had said to myself I wanted to run at least 10k which is fine and completely within my capabilities. However, as I was approaching miles 3 and 6 I got stubborn and wanted to break personal bests so I sped up which isn’t an issue per Se but those 7 miles to kick start February are the only ones I ran this week 😦
Since Wednesday I’ve been doing a Yoga for feet stretch and it’s helping. Although had some shopping to do yesterday it’s safe to say I will be sat a lot this weekend. Which is fine I have books and blog stuff to be doing. I am annoyed with myself as I’ve been pretty good at listening to my body and my stubbornness to start well means I’m now missing out on running time. On another note I’ve had both on and off scale victories this week which has left me in such a positive mood. I came back from a worse setback I will bounce back but with not much routine and now also no running – I’m not a happy bunny. But I have faith I will be back out before the birthday and before my favourite month closes.
This week I have read:
Not a bad start for February – we will be starting our second Christina Lauren book on Monday.
What’s been on the blog this week:
On Sunday I shared my Six for Sunday thoughts this weeks prompt was bookish hates and you can read it here.
On Monday I shared my wrap up of my January reading and you can read that post here.
On Tuesday I was pleased to be a part of a gorgeous cover reveal for Kim Nash and you can see that post here.
On Wednesday I had two posts to share a cover reveal for Being which you can see here and a blog blitz for What the World Needs Now- Bees you can read that post here.
On Thursday I was able to share my review got Married at First Swipe by Claire Frost which was publication day for the gorgeous read that I devoured in January – you can read it here.
On Friday I shared two posts with you one for our Christina Lauren read-along that you can read here and I also shared my review of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist and you can read that here.
I’ve just started reading:
And I’m listening to:
Two very different yet gorgeous debuts.
Let’s see what the next week of my most favourite month brings. I cannot wait to be back running but I’m also loving my book time. It’s also Saturday and we’re nearing the final few weeks of the Mask Singer
I’ve seen lots of posts with 21 books for the year 2021 and I’ve been compiling a list and trying to get this up and posted. I’ve had to change a few as I wanted them to be ones I haven’t already read. Mad I know but as I upped my GoodReads for this year I’ll do anything that adds to hitting that target. I’ve read 8 books already and I’ve loved each of them for different reasons. So I’m definitely hoping to get to all of these.
The Start of Something By Miranda Dickinson.
Lives Like Mine By Eva Verde
Home By Penny Parkes
Lindsey Kelk On a Night Like This
I had to revise my list a tad to only include 2021 releases. There’s a few I don’t have covers for but I can’t wait to get to these.
Are there any you’re itching to read? Just today I was included on a blog tour for one of these and I’m beyond over the moon.
Buddy Reading is one of my most favourite things to do. During 2020 I had the time and the pleasure to read a lot more buddy reads with Catriona. With her being in Denver and me in London it meant we were both mostly reading when the other was asleep and catching up in the interim with questions and more often than not OMG have you got to.
We read a lot of gorgeous books last year and we are now reading Love at First Swipe as our first of 2021.
Right I won’t necessarily go in order but our first buddy read of 2020 was the gripping Mr Nobody by Catherine Steadman and you can read my thoughts here.
Our last read of 2020 was This Time Next Year and we actually went live on Catriona’s You Tube to live chat that one. My review is here. Here is the you tube Link.
The Secret Seaside Escape By Heidi Swain review – Heidi is definitely one of our mutual favourites. Neither of us can remember whether we actually read The Winter Garden together or if we just overlapped it Review.
Where We Belong by Anstey Harris Review – another author whose debut we both adored so it was a given we wanted to buddy read this one.
The Liberation of Brigid Dunne was both our first Patricia Scanlan read this is being repackaged this year as Family Reunion and you can read my review here.
The High Moments By Sara Ella Ozbek was a gorgeous debut from Simon & Schuster and you can read my thoughts here.
Mhari McFarlane is another author we both adore and we decided it was high time we read one neither of us had read. It’s Not Me, It’s You is one I’ve had on my shelf for ages. As I’ve mentioned before I love the look of hardbacks but hate carrying them around. You can read my review here.
The last two Isabelle Broom books we have buddy read I really enjoyed reading Hello Again with Catriona my review is here.
Here and Now was my first Santa Montefiore novel and Catriona hadn’t read one in a while and we were both intrigued by this one so….review.
Miranda Dickinson is a go to read for us both. We read The Day We Meet Again together so it was only natural we read Our Story together you can read my review here.
I’m not going to give every link as I could be here a while but we read through Paige Toon’s back catalogue Readathon until we got to The Minute I Saw you which you can read here. There were two or three that I still need to finish due to getting mad headaches so watch this space.
Pumpkin Everything was a book I came across on Facebook and in mentioning to Catriona. We were both eager to read it. We both have a soft spot for all things coffee with a syrup so this definitely fit the season. You can read my review here.
Dash & Lily’s Book Of Dares had been on my book shelf for a while. We had wanted to watch some of the Netflix series together so naturally needed to read the first book first. You can read my review here.
I don’t know about you but I’m intrigued to see what we can accomplish this year. More often than not I’m usually behind Catriona but with our first of this year I’m a little ahead.
As I said last Sunday I absolutely love taking part in this prompt and I hope to be more of a regular in 2021. Six for Sunday is a weekly meme created by https://alittlebutalot.com each week a prompt is given and then you choose books accordingly.
Today’s prompt is Bookish winsof 2020. I mean 2020 sure was an extraordinary year for us all but it’s good to look back on the positives it brought us however small.
1. Buddy Reading – During 2020 myself and my stateside pal Catriona read a lot of Buddy reads. Reading around 15 books and re-read Paige Toon’s back catalogue.
2. Blogging – in being at home I’ve had more time to read and simultaneously more time to blog. In reading more I’ve had much more content to share on a regular basis.
3. Good Reads challenge –2020 was the first time I’ve hit my challenge and over exceeded my target. I read 107 books. It makes me wonder how many more I could have read if I hadn’t lost around 2 weeks to headaches.
4. Reviewing on publication day – Being at home and having a bit more time I was able to read more books ahead of the release dates. Simultaneously being able to post my review on publication day or as close to that.
5. Libby – supporting the library – During the original lockdown I discovered Libby and was able to borrow and listen to a few books that had been on my TBR a while. As well as being able to discover some new authors.
6.BlogTours, prompts, blitzand cover reveals – During 2020 I’ve managed to take part in a number of these. I also have to give some credit to the fact I’ve written more lists in 2020 than ever before. In coming into 2021 I’ve already started with a pretty decent blog list of dates and what I’m posting.
I’ve loved taking part in this Six forSunday I would love to know your answers. If all you did was read that’s still a massive win during the strangest time in our lives.
Happy Sunday all…whatever you do today take some time for you..
Just like that another week has flown by, I’m not sure if they’re flying or whether I’m lacking routine. When life was normal I would almost always work on Saturdays – I’m the girl who would pick up that shift on the day most people would choose to have the day off. Whether that be to go out or just to go shopping.
In saying that I can 110% say when life resumes I will be saying yes to all sorts of catch ups and events. I mean I wouldn’t say I’m a social butterfly but man do I miss simple things like coffee shop catch ups – meals out etc.
Anyway…enough about that.
On Monday I got out for my first run of the year and my did it feel good. I had hoped to have run a few days earlier but that didn’t happen. I must say it was a soggy one.
It sure was a wet one…
But it was also my first 5k of the year 😉 not quite in average mileage but it was a damp one plus I’m not really a fan of wearing a hoodie as I get so hot when I run.
I had hoped to get back my Monday, Wednesday, Friday routine but I wasn’t feeling 100% on Wednesday and I hadn’t slept too well so my second run of 2021 came on Thursday.
Thursday saw my second run of the year and I smashed my 10k PB it’s safe to say I was over the moon.
Today I got out for my third run of the week – it sure was cold but today was a brand new personal best for the 5k which I haven’t done since August. I haven’t stopped smiling – part of me almost wanted to see how much further I could run at this faster speed but I decided to stop happily at 5 miles.
I may not have kept my original run days but I got out and ran 3 times this week smashing two personal bests. That is a massive win and I cannot wait to see where the next lot of runs take me. I’m currently at 24km for January I finished December on 76km. Today I needed that run so much I feel like the state of the world is constantly having me on edge.
This week I’ve read:
My review of Fanny Blake’s is up – I’m on the blog tour for I Give It a Year it will be up in the week.
What’s been on the blog this week?
On Sunday I took part in the Six for Sunday prompt and you can read my blog post here.
On Monday I ran and read and wasn’t organised so there wasn’t a blog post.
On Tuesday I looked back over what I read in December and you can read my blog post here.
On Wednesday I took part in a blog blitz for a book called Freak and you can read my blog post here.
On Thursday I had a pretty late in the day book review for Fanny Blake’s The Long Way Home on it’s publication day. You can read my post here.
On Friday I had started reading a new book as part of a blog tour and I wasn’t really feeling it. So I then started thinking and this post came to be – read my thoughts here.
After struggling to read my blog tour read I decided to start this one and I read a good 23% yesterday. I’ve read a chapter or so today and I’m eager to get back to it.
Is there anything you would love to see on my blog give me a shout?. I’m hoping to add some product reviews this coming week and it’s my turn on the I Give it a Year blog tour on Tuesday.
So today I’ve started a new book that I’m reading for a blog tour and I’ve found myself asking this question. I’m around 8% in and I’ve continued to persevere for now but I’m wondering when is the time to stop.
On paper this book should be right up my street but I’m finding myself increasingly confused by where it’s going and also finding that my mind is drifting off to anything and everything else. I can’t say I’ve read anything recently that’s made me think I shouldn’t continue, I mean there’s been books that haven’t been as enticing but I’ve always found something positive.
I have a while until this blog tour is due but when is enough enough?
I’m interested to know your thoughts?? I’m making Netgalley a higher priority this year and I thought I would get ahead…
Today I’m pleased to be a part of a blog blitz for Freak By Leslie Georgeson.
Blurb: Jealousy. Betrayal. Family secrets.
Appearances are everything in my family. We are the Strongs. Fame is our birthright. Music flows through our veins in a continuous harmony. Flaws are unacceptable.
When my parents got a good look at the freak they’d created, I was hidden away, my existence wiped out.
Until they discovered my secret.
Now I had something they wanted.
Taking it from me didn’t faze them. They believed they were entitled.
I was just a boy, unable to fight back.
So I did the only thing I could.
I vanished.
That was nine years ago.
Now they are back, and they want something from me again.
They send the sexy and oh-so-tempting Mia Bennett to persuade me, and I’m helpless to resist her.
Mia seems innocent in my family feud, but is she really?
I can’t be sure.
All I know is she makes me feel alive again. She gives me the courage to just be me. She’s the new inspiration behind my music, my heart’s own melody.
But something dark and twisted lurks close to home, and leaves me questioning who is friend and who is foe.
Now I am forced to make a decision that could well break me.
How far am I willing to go for the woman I love?
About the Author: Leslie Georgeson writes a blend of romance and suspense, sometimes tossing in a dash of sci-fi or paranormal to make things more interesting. From genetically-altered super soldiers (The Dregs) to deceptive, daredevil rescuers (The Pact), her stories are laced with danger, action, and plenty of steam. Music and the mafia combine in her newly released romantic suspense series, Something Real. Book one, FREAK, is now available at all retailers. Look for the next book, SNITCH, in the spring of 2021.
Leslie is an avid reader, a nature and animal lover, a plant enthusiast, and enjoys spending time with her amazing family. She lives with her husband of 25+ years and her teenage daughter on a quiet country acreage in Idaho.
I am also pleased to share with you an extract from Freak…
I eyed the nearest “no trespassing” sign mounted on the fence about ten feet away. With all the surveillance cameras, he had to know I was out here. I was probably lucky the guy hadn’t had me arrested yet.
Another hour passed.
The sun was disappearing over the horizon now, darkness settling in. It didn’t look like I was going to be successful today.
With a heavy sigh, I gathered up my bag and rose to my feet, deciding to call it a day.
My skin prickled as something moved on the other side the fence.
I spun around, my heart smacking into my ribs.
The heavily-treed yard now deep in shadows, it took a moment for my eyes to take in what had appeared before me. Even then, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was looking at in the low light. He stood as still as the tree trunks surrounding him.
My hand flew to my throat, my eyes widening.
Gasping, I stumbled back, tripping over my own feet and falling into the underbrush, my bag landing beside me.
I tilted my head back, unable to tear my gaze away.
HayleyReviews10 
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