Book Review | A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King: Vol. 2 of the Sherlock Holmes-Mary Russell Series

Ah, well here we are: another book review! It's in the cards for me to delve into this review of A Monstrous Regiment of Women, the second installment in the Sherlock Holmes-Mary Russell series of case and adventure-laden novels, brought to life on ink and pages by none other than Laurie R. King! I know some of you will feel a bit of second-hand embarrassment, but I'll say it anyway: I'm actually listening to the Sherlock BBC theme whilst typing up this draft. So, don't judge me! 😄

In this second installment, Sherlock Holmes takes a backseat, and Mary Russell takes the reins, so to speak. Let the review commence!

A Bookly Tuesday | A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire #1 by George R.R. Martin | Thoughts & Update

A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire #1 by George R.R. Martin. Phew, let me wipe that imaginary sweat off my brow, and say that if this wasn't in paperback edition, I would've happily used it as a doorstop before I commenced in reading it, because for some reason I'm the kind of person/reader who is perpetually drawn to the large, heavy tomes rather than smaller ones, but when the time comes that I actually pick them up to read them, I'm left shaking my head, not knowing what the hell I was thinking to even pick them up in the first place. Ideally, it was a goal of mine to finish the first novel in this series before summer semester at uni started, and while that ended up not being the case (my reading habits took a bit of a nose-dive last month), the good news is that I've read about 75% of it!

Knowing nothing about the HBO Game of Thrones series, and not being much a fan of fantasy literature at any rate (historical fiction is what I tend to prefer, where fantasy, save for some series, is just a genre that I just don't tend to gravitate towards anymore), I just had to see for myself, in regards to this series, what the world was going essentially ape-shit insane over, and so wanted to share some of my thoughts on it so far! 😁

Book Review | The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King: Vol. 1 of the Sherlock Holmes-Mary Russell Series

     'Tis high time for a book review! My 2-week blog-cation has ended, and now, I have found it... this fascinating mystery series of Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell's fast-paced, adventurous detective partnership is one that I would like to treasure, and will gladly dedicate my time to for the rest of 2017! Today, I'll be reviewing the first installment of this series written by Laurie R. King, The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Or, On the Segregation of the Queen.

Book Review | The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

Currently Reading : Snow-Storm in August by Jefferson Morley

Book Review | The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Oh mercy, has Gaiman has crafted an absolute gem with this one! This will be my first book review, and it's one that has been almost a week in the making, and I have to say that I couldn't have chosen a more befitting novel for a first review if I tried! Spoiler alerts are accounted for! With that, let's begin...

Books I'm Currently Reading!

Books I'm Reading: The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George, A Song of Ice and Fire Series: Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Hi folks! Here's an update on a couple of books I started in February and have made a bit of a dent in since then. These are pretty much the only things beside me in my bed. 😁

Books I've Finished Reading So Far in 2017!

     So, with being a college student, I only put a total of 14 books as my reading goal for 2017. Sounds a little on the low side, but I'm sure I'll exceed that number by the end of the year. And I'm not going to include the books I have to read for my courses. Strictly leisure reading, this is! I'm still working on reviews for all of these, and they will be on my blog and on Goodreads in due time. 

Books I've Finished in 2017: The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

#1 Life-Changing Read of 2016 | Eleanor Roosevelt Bio: The Defining Years by Blanche Wiesen Cook

     *First, let me make it quite clear that I have every intention of reviewing this six-year-spanning bio much more comprehensively on Goodreads, and that review will be in the near future. So until then, please excuse this compulsive overview of some quick points as to why this was unequivocally the best novel I read in 2016!

     Before I purchased this for three dollars at HPB, I couldn't locate the first volume with which to start off my extension of knowledge and understanding of the inspiring First Lady's legacy after watching the PBS special, and immediately developing a deep admiration for the wonderful historical character that is Eleanor Roosevelt. So I thought to myself that since Cook is a highly praised historian, it would do me well to just dive into reading the second volume, perhaps to go to the first one at a later time.

A Bookly Wednesday: The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt | Thoughts & Update #1

How innocent it looks......

     Le sigh of 'oh shit.' This seemingly moderately-sized tome is finally beginning to reduce my thoughts to pinings of the disappearance of that figurative brick wall that seems to appear in front of me and block me with every five pages of this book that pass. While I'm not going to throw in the towel on this, pack it away and move on to another read just yet, allow me to just reiterate from my first post of this novel, the sheer number of developed characters that are contained within this book. The families are all of the same timeline, same narrative, they are all acquainted with one another, and are constantly appearing and developing with each page.

Oh, don't know where I'm going with this? Just take a look at all these characters...

It cut off the bottom of the page, but oh, if only that was all......

What I'm Currently Reading: The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt

     Before I begin, I have a confession: I'm currently in the middle of reading two gigantic tomes....at once. Funny, and I wonder why I never seem to retain all that I would want to from these large weights after I finish reading them (bibliomaniac's first world problems here). One of the novels currently on my bookshelf is a piece of historical fiction (the one for which this post will discuss) and the other an Eleanor Roosevelt biography that I'm still trudging through, and finally nearing the end of, after almost a year. Phew, glad I got that off my chest. Now, onto the topic at hand....

Making a Dent in My Summer Reading List....

     A bit of an off-topic post here (haha forgive me 😜), but literature is indeed another passion of mine, and is just as close to my heart, so it's inevitable that I'll be including bits and bobs here on this blog of books I've read, books I'm currently reading, or books I've even just perused. As much of a hectic summer it's been, a reading list just had to be placed somewhere on the schedule. I chose a few classic novels for this season, two of them I have started, which are Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I also chose a biography on the Russian imperial family, which was a pretty random choice, but I must say I'm really enjoying it! These are going to be quite brief, watered-down comments on each book, as I haven't finished any of them yet. I don't know if writing future book reviews will really be my forte, but I will certainly try my hand at it, and, upon receiving feedback, ultimately see if it helps anyone!