Weekly Wrap Up (April 29)

So we are now nigh on a third of the way through 2018… already? And my week has been as normal and non-descript as ever so straight into…

This Week on the Blog

I plunged straight into the week with my review of Don’t Make a Sound by David Jackson – another five star read from this author.

My excerpt post was from one of my own books which I’m listening to in audio format for a change – Crippen: A Novel by John Byrne is currently accompanying me on my walk home from work to brighten up the end of my day!

This Week in Books featured the authors Suzanne Rindell, Juliet Nicholson and Belinda Bauer.

My second five star review of the week was given to The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton with the bold claim that this will be one of my Top Ten reads of 2018.

My final review of the week was for The House Swap by Rebecca Fleet – those of you who are booked into Airbnb might just want to give this one a miss!

This Time Last Year…

I was reading The Fact of A Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich which is definitely one of the most memorable non-fiction reads. The book is part memoir, part true-crime and the blend is perfect. The author marks the point when she, a daughter of two crime lawyers found herself incapable of holding on to her conviction that the death penalty was wrong. As she watches a video of an interview with Rick Langley who was convicted of the murder of a child she is compelled to understand why this case has hit her so hard. The results make for compelling reading.

You can read my full review here, or click on the book cover.

Blurb

When law student Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich is asked to work on a death-row hearing for convicted murderer and child molester Ricky Langley, she finds herself thrust into the tangled story of his childhood. As she digs deeper and deeper into the case she realizes that, despite their vastly different circumstances, something in his story is unsettlingly, uncannily familiar.

The Fact of a Body is both an enthralling memoir and a groundbreaking, heart-stopping investigation into how the law is personal, composed of individual stories, and proof that arriving at the truth is more complicated, and powerful, than we could ever imagine. Amazon

Stacking The Shelves

Shocker – absolutely no books added this week and please note that in the entire month of April I have not requested one NetGalley book and only accepted one invite of an ARC which hasn’t arrived… yet.

 

As there are no books, and it is nearly the end of April I thought I’d give you an update on my book and blog related resolutions/challenges for 2018

• In 2017 I discovered what a wonderful array of books I have already in my possession and so the target is to read 40% of my own books in 2018.

I have read 14 of my own books so far this year which equates to nearly 30% but I’m hoping to push the percentage up with the 20 Books of Summer Challenge – more on this soon.

• To give me some motivation I have decided to allow myself to buy one book for every three of my own that I read – of course there are some get-out clauses – the annual book sales held on the island are exempt and I will be visiting the library for any must-reads that I don’t own.

I have stuck to this – I have purchased a mere three books and only after I had read (and reviewed) nine of my own books – and I have two books that are awaiting reviews…

I have also visited the library which reminds me, I have to return some books!

• The latter clause is important as I really want to up my reading or re-reading of classic novels, I shelved just one book in this category in 2017 although two others could have been put there but I felt they belonged better elsewhere. My target is to read at least 6 so one every other month and the library is the place to go for these. Despite being a library member all of my life, I haven’t visited anywhere near enough in more recent years which is something I feel guilty about.

Well so far this year I have read and reviewed four classic books but will be aiming for twelve in the year as I joined The Classics Club and so have a list of 50 to read before 27 January 2023!

 

 

• I am taking part in the Mount TBR Challenge again with an aim of reading 36 books purchased before 1 January 2018 – let’s see if I make it this year.

Well of course as I’m not buying so many books, most of my own books fall into this challenge, in fact 13 so exceeding expectations!

And now for the abject failures for my blog related resolutions!

• I am (very) slowly amalgamating the tabs with the aim of putting all the reviews for 2013-2015 onto one tab – this ongoing project must be completed by the end of March 2018.

Nope – nowhere close although I have more done than I did when I wrote the resolution if that helps?

• My about me page is in dire need of an update especially as it is visited far more often than I expected with 660 views in the last year.

This has had some minor amendments made to it, but I can’t really claim wholesale change

• And of course I will shortly display an updated shelf as my header to welcome in the start of 2018.

Of course I will, hahaha – that’s a big fat NO!

• • I always used to write my book review before starting a new book and this habit is being resumed in 2018 – this has been a very busy year and as much as I love blogging it has been a real struggle to fit everything in and I’m hoping this will help me get a better balance, rather than frantically writing reviews at the weekend when I need to endlessly check names (I have a real blind-spot in this department) as well as other elusive details.

This started off well but since my last trip away I am back to writing the reviews as and when I need to – must try harder. However, I aim to try harder because it did make life an awful lot easier.

• • Finally I will remember to post each review to Cleopatra Loves Books Facebook page which at best has been intermittent since I set it up earlier this year.

Another resolution that started well but I can’t remember the last review I posted on Facebook – if I’m honest I simply don’t have enough time…

https://giphy.com/embed/3o6gE2SmFWRmpwCE2Q

via GIPHY

So overall a great start on the book related resolutions and I have to admit I really feel as though I’ve read more widely and therefore appreciated more books so far this year. Sadly on the blog front I find that I lack the time to make the changes I intended to, but there’s still time…

Since my last post I have read 3 books and since I have gained 0 so my TBR has fallen to its lowest level yet since mid-way through November 2017, only 179
Physical Books – 112
Kindle Books – 49
NetGalley Books –18

 

Since my last post I have banked no tokens at all so I’m still just 1 book in credit!