After reading the first two volumes of this series back in June, I knew that I had to finish it as soon as possible. So, at the end of August, I got copies of volumes 3 and 4 to finish before the end of the month. I’ve read Solitaire, so already knew that things were going to get a lot less fun for Charlie and Nick. I just hoped that it wouldn’t get too bad. All I could do was find out for myself.
My first week back at work after my holiday was a long one. I definitely would have preferred another 7 days off before going back. It was also business as usual on the blog. Although, I did skip the film review this week because I had too many book reviews to get through. I don’t like the idea of still reviewing July reads halfway through August.
My family holiday was lovely overall. There was one awkward moment when, during a day at the beach, I revealed this baby. I don’t think any of them trusted me for the rest of the week. I swear they were hiding the knives just in case. There were definite side-eyes over the dinner table. It was probably a mistake to pick this as one of my holiday reads but I was desperate to finally read it. It sounded like such a fun book. Like a bit of a British American Psycho.
Normally, I would expect to read at least 3 books when I’m on holiday but this year I only managed 2. That’s still a decent number for a week but I just had an idea of what I’d get through. Thankfully, I managed to finish this book, which was definitely something I needed to finish this week. Mostly because I doubted my ability to finish it during a work week. Which isn’t to say that I had low expectations for it. I was really excited to read this book because it felt so timely. The anti-vax movement has been around for ages but it was never more apparent than during the recent Covid pandemic. Especially with all of the fake science being shared on social media. Confirmation bias is one of the greatest problems facing society right now and I was really interested to see where this narrative would go.
Number of books read: 7
Number of rereads: 0
Number of physical books: 4
Number of ebooks: 0
Number of audiobooks: 3
Number of ARCS: 0
5* reviews: 0
4.5* reviews: 0
4* reviews: 0
So, July didn’t exactly work out as I intended. It started with me getting Covid and I never really made up for lost reading time. Then my final week was spent on holiday with my 3-year-old niece and 1-year-old nephew. Meaning there wasn’t much time for reading in between playing and going on adventures. I still managed to get a few things off my TBR, so it’s not a complete disaster and I’m still ahead of my yearly target.
It’s been an odd week and I always knew that I wasn’t going to get much reading done. So, I had to turn to this trilogy in order to get a second review up this week. I listened to it over the last couple of days once the heat had calmed down a bit. I don’t think I could have concentrated on it at the start of the week. I know this book isn’t universally loved like the previous 2. I also know that a lot of people have a problem with the ending. So, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel. I really had to find out for myself.
It’s so hot that I can’t even think about reading anything. I was a mess yesterday that I don’t know how I’m going to cope at work. I know people make fun of the UK for having terrible weather but it’s true. We aren’t prepared for this kind of heat. We should all just agree that on days with a red weather warning, we all just stay home and try and read. Or at least listen to audiobooks. I think I could cope with that. Speaking of audiobooks, I borrowed this from the library recently after having the paperback for ages.
After a couple of weeks lost to Covid, I’m pleased to announce that I’m officially Covid free. I’ve been feeling better since last Monday but now I’m actually able to leave the house again. It’s such a relief after testing negative so many days after my symptoms were gone. It also meant that I should be able to get back on track with my reading. I’ve already finished a couple of books last week, so I’m feeling pretty positive going into the next 7 days.
Thanks to Covid, I missed the actual mid-year point to post this review but that’s not going to stop me. Before writing this post, I felt like I’d been having a good year but not as good as last year. There’s a definite difference between the amount of socialising I’ve been doing this year compared to last year. So, I was sure my reading had taken a hit. Turns out I was wrong. Either I’ve been reading shorter books or I’m just getting better at it.
I’ve been going a bit mad on NetGalley again and requesting loads of books. Just what I need when I already have an unending list of stuff to read. But it’s just what we do, right? When this book came out, I was so close to buying it. Obviously, I wanted the Waterstones exclusive edition but it sold out before I could get it. So, I put off getting it. Then it became available as an audiobook on NetGalley. When I was struggling to read last week, I decided it was a good time to take a look. It’s not my usual thing but what harm could it do?
Yipee ki-yay, motherbooker 