What have you been reading this week?

I’ll be in Scotland enjoying my holiday by the time this gets posted. That could either mean getting out in the nice Spring weather or hiding from the torrential rain inside. Either way, it beats being at work. No doubt I’ll have packed a huge pile of books to take that I definitely won’t finish. I’ll hopefully get a fair amount done but I always overestimate. It’s so easy to do. Especially when your TBR is as big as mine. As I’m writing this in the past, I don’t actually know which books I’ll be taking yet because I’m leaving it to the last minute. That seems like the best way. Otherwise, I’ll never decide.

Weekly Blog Posts

• BOOK REVIEW – Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

Despite having had a copy on my shelf for ages, I’ve never read Eleanor Catton’s Booker prize-winning novel The Luminaries. In fact, this was the first book that I’d read by her. Why Birnam Wood? Partly the Shakespeare link if I’m honest. It sounded like my kind of book. I was hoping that I would love this enough to finally read her previous stuff. Read my review to find out if this will inspire me to finally read The Luminaries.

• BOOK REVIEW – Villains Academy by Ryan Hammond

Just like last week, I picked up some middle grade fiction to get ready for my second review this week. I bought this one recently because the book looked great. I’m a sucker for a stencilled edge. I love them even more than I love a book about magical schools. And I really love books about magical schools. So, this actually sounded perfect for me. Read my review to see if this was.

• FILM REVIEW – Bullet Train (2022)

I’ve been meaning to catch up with this one for ages. I wanted to see it in the cinema but it didn’t happen. I thought it looked like a lot of fun and I was ready for Brad Pitt to be back in action movie mode. If it’s working for Keanu Reeves then why not him? After putting it off for so long, I finally watched it this week. Find out if it lived up to my expectations by reading my review.

Just Read

• Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

It took me so long to finish this book. I think it was about 20 days in the end. It’s been ages since it took nearly a month to finish one book. It just goes to show how much I’ve ruined my ability to read longer books. I keep thinking about rereading Lord of the Rings at some point but can you imagine how long that would take? Anyway, I finished it and I think I enjoyed it. It’s one of those books that left me a bit stumped. Not an easy book to review.

• Villains Academy by Ryan Hammond

After Birnam Wood, I needed something quick and easy to read. This was the perfect choice. A middle grade story about a school for villains. Not only did I finish it in a matter of hours but it was just a lot of fun silliness. The kind of book that I’d have loved as a kid.

Currently Reading

• Our Hideous Progeny by C. E. McGill

I wasn’t really sure what to pick up next because of the holiday. So I went onto my Kindle and remembered that I had this ARC to get through. I decided it was probably time to take a look. I’ll hopefully finish it fairly quickly when I’m away so I can fit in plenty more reading.

Book Haul

Didn’t dare buy anything new this week because I’d probably have wanted to take it away with me. Although, I did get a few more pre-orders.

Recently Watched

• TV:
  • Diagnosis Murder -I’m still not watching much TV right now but I’ve still been binge-watching this at the weekends. It’s on for pretty much the whole of Saturday and I love it.