This year, I am once again participating in the 52 Book Club Challenge. The Challenge is to read one book each week, to a particular prompt. The thing I most enjoy about this challenge, apart from reading the books, is matching books to the prompts. It’s a fun thing to do, and I often end up choosing a book that I may not have otherwise read. That is always a positive. Quite often the prompts have me scratching my head for a while. and that’s when the challenge kicks in. I do enjoy the hunt for a book to fit a particular prompt.Challenge Books.
Reviews for the following books to come in the next few days. The review for Apartment 303 is up already and can be found at the link below the image.
Did you read a fabulous book this month, that you would recommend. I would love to hear about it, as I’m always on the look out for recommendations.
Star Rating
Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book. For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Unputdownable. Would read it again.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fantastic read. Not to be missed
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Enjoyable. Would recommend it.
⭐️⭐️ Wouldn’t read it again.
⭐️ Don’t recommend this book at all.
The books mentioned in this post is of my own choice and has not been sent to me to review. My opinions are my own and I receive no renumeration at all for them.
Have you read this book? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts. I promise to always reply to comments made below.
To keep up with the latest book reviews, please pop your email into the box in the side bar. This will ensure you are notified of all updates.
During this year, I have been participating in the 52 Week Book Challenge. The Challenge is to read one book each week, to a particular prompt. The thing I most enjoy about this challenge, apart from reading the books, is matching books to the prompts. It’s a fun thing to do, and I often end up choosing a book that I may not have otherwise read. That is always a positive. Quite often the prompts have me scratching my head for a while. I do enjoy the hunt for a book to fit a particular prompt.
A few days ago, I read the final book in the challenge. So now I’ve read all 52 challenge books, they are listed below, along with my star rating.
A Book With A Subtitle Don’t Look Away: A Memoir of Identity and Acceptance ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Featuring An Inheritance The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley #1 Seven Sister series ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Title Starting With The Letter ‘G’ The Guest by Emma Cline ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Title Starting With The Letter ‘H’ (The) Hidden Book by Kirsty Manning ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Title Starting With The Letter ‘I’ The Irish Inheritance by Jayne Sinclair ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Under 200 Pages Pawprints On Our Hearts: How A Few Incredible Dogs Changed One Life Forever ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
A City Or Country Name In The Title A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dystopian Fiction The Measure by Nikki Erlick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Book With A Dedication The Orphans (Amherst Island #1) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Takes Place During The Roaring Twenties Her Mother’s Secret by Natasha Lester ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Book About Secrets Little Wing by Freya North ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
High Fantasy The Time Machine by H.G. Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Published Posthumously Murder at Fleat House by Lucinda Riley ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
A Survival Story Cold Blows the Wind by Catherine Meyrick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Set In Australia The Orphans by Fiona McIntosh ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Featuring One Of The “Seven Deadly Sins” Lying Beside You by Michael Robotham ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
By A Caribbean Author Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Ecevedo ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Set During A War Other Than WWI or WWII Zambesi by Tony Park ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Typographic Cover Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
A Book About Siblings The Bookstore Sisters by Alice Hoffman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Second-Hand Book Where The Sky Begins by Rhys Bowen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Body Positive Message Fearless by Jelena Dokic ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 💫
An Alliterative Title Back to Bangka: Searching For The Truth About A Wartime Massacre ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Nordic Noir Outside by Ragnar Jonassen ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
A Fashionable Character Becoming Mrs. Mulberry by Jackie French ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Has An Epilogue Angels Cry Sometimes by Josephine Cox ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (+.5 star)
Newbery Medal Winner The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera ⭐️⭐️⭐️ +.5 star
Includes A Funeral Postcards From A Stranger by Imogen Clark ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sends You Down A Rabbit Hole Fishing For Stars by Bryce Courtenay ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
An Author With A Same Name As You Daughter On The Home Front by Jennie Jones ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Set In A Workplace Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Published By MacMillan Best Kept Secret by Jeffrey Archer ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
A Banned Book Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Featuring Mythology The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley #2 Seven Sister Series ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 💫
A Book You Meant To Read Last Year The Lost Ancestor by Nathan Goodwin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Chapters Have Cliffhangers The Ninth Month by James Patterson ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Written In Present Tense The Family Secret by Kiersten Modglin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
An Enemies To Lovers Plot The Money Club by Fiona Lowe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Final Book In A Series The Match by Harlan Coben ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Written By A Comedian Bridge Burning and Other Hobbies Kitty Flanagan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Character Who Is A Refugee The Last Of The Bonegilla Girls by Victoria Purman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Time In The Title The 6:20 (The 6:20 Man #1) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
A Book “Everyone” Has Read Verity by Colleen Hoover ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
A Contemporary Setting Philly Barker Is On The Case by Joanne Tracery ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
First Word In the Book Is “The” The Silent Wife by Kerry Fisher ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Script Font On The Spine The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Set In The City Of Dublin The Coroner’s Daughter by Andrew Hughes ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
A Book By Octavia E. Butler Bloodchild And Other Stories ⭐️⭐️💫
Books On The Cover The Bookbinder of Jericho by by Pip Williams ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Related To The Word “Murder” Fire With Fire by Candice Fox ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Doesn’t Fit Any Of The Other 51 Prompts The Long Way Home by Don Charlwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Published in 2023 Immortality: A Love Story (the Anatomy Duology #2) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This year, for the second time, I have been participating in the 52 Bookclub Challenge. The Challenge is to read one book each week, to a particular prompt. The thing I most enjoy about this challenge, apart from reading the books, is matching books to the prompts. Its a fun thing to do, and I often end up choosing a book that I may not have otherwise read. That is always a positive. Quite often the prompts have me scratching my head for a while. I do enjoy the hunt for a book to fit a prompt.
Prompt 2: Featuring An Inheritance The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley Seven Sisters Series #1
Published in 2015. 450 pages
Prompt 24: Nordic Noir by Outside by Ragnar Jonasson
Published October 2021. 352 pages
Prompt 41: A character who is a regugee The Last of the Bonegilla Girls by Victoria Purman
Prompt 9: A Book With a Dedication Orphan’s Island by Katharine Schwartz Amherst Island #1
Published 2009. 395 pages
Prompt 35: A book you meant to read last year The Lost Ancestor by Nathan Dylan Goodwin The Forensic Genealogist #2
First published 2014 267 page
Prompt 37: Written in the Present Tense The Family Secret by Kiersten Modglin
Published in
52 Book Week Challenge Books Read So Far This Year
Star Rating
Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book. For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Unputdownable. Would read it again.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fantastic read. Not to be missed
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Enjoyable. Would recommend it.
⭐️⭐️ Wouldn’t read it again.
⭐️ Don’t recommend this book at all.
This post is linked to the monthly #whatsonyourbookshelfchallenge linkup hosted by bloggers Deb, Sue, Donna, and Jo.
Also linked to Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share. Check out the great blogs there on varying topics.
This year, for the second time, I have been participating in the 52 Bookclub Challenge. The Challenge is to read one book each week, to a particular prompt. The thing I most enjoy about this challenge, apart from reading the books, is matching books to the prompts. Its a fun thing to do, and I often end up choosing a book that I may not have otherwise read. That is always a positive. Quite often the prompts have me scratching my head for a while. I do enjoy the hunt for a book to fit a prompt.
This is not a book review post. Reviews of these will be posted in upcoming days.
Prompt 10: Takes place during the roaring twenties Her mother’s secret by Natasha Lester
Published 2017, 368 pages
Prompt 13: Published posthumously The Murders at Fleat House
Published 2019, 384 pages
Prompt 20: A book about siblings The Bookmaker of Jericho by Pip Williams
Published 2023, 432 pages
Prompt 21: A second hand book Where The Sky Begins by Rhys Bowen
Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book. For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Unputdownable. Would read it again.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fantastic read. Not to be missed
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Enjoyable. Would recommend it.
⭐️⭐️ Wouldn’t read it again.
⭐️ Don’t recommend this book at all.
The books mentioned in this post are of my own choice and have not been sent to me to review. My opinions are my own and I receive no renumeration at all for them.
This post is linked to the monthly #whatsonyourbookshelfchallenge linkup hosted by bloggers Deb, Sue, Donna, and Jo. Also linking to Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share
This year, for the second time, I have been participating in the 52 Bookclub Challenge. The Challenge is to read one book each week to a particular prompt. The thing I most enjoy about this challenge, apart from reading the books, is matching books to the prompts. Its a fun thing to do, and I often end up choosing a book that I may not have otherwise read. That is always a positive.
Until now, I have been posting about these books, and other books that I’ve been reading, on my other blog Next Phase In Fitness. Now that this blog has been revived, I will be posting here about the books that I’m reading, along with the challenge books.
At the bottom of this post, I have included links to the challenge books that I’ve read so far in 2023. I have decided not to read the challenge books in order of 1-52. I am reading whatever seems right at the time, depending on my mood and also on the books that I have available to me.
I also have been linking my monthly challenge book posts to the #whatsonyourbookshelf linkup, and will continue to do so.
Challenge books
Prompt 30: Author With the Same Name as Yours Daughter of the Home Front by Jennie Jones
I didn’t expect to find a book who’s author has the same name as me, so was quite surprised when I stumbled across Daughter of the Home Front on Borrowbox, the library platform, where I access my audio books. I was also surprised to find that it was historical fiction, which always draws me.
Set in Townsville in 1942, during WW2, Emma arrives at Townsville as a 16 year old keen to join the war effort, and escape the life of poverty she had been living with her family in their beachside village.
In Townsville, Emma finds a busy bustling city, with American soldiers and glamorous women. Emma’s life is about to change and she is forced to make very courageous decisions which will alter her life in ways she would never have dreamed about.
Emma was left to look after herself and after making one mistake, was forced to decide which way her life would go, with no family support. I felt a very strong connection to Emma who was a very strong and inspirational woman.
I enjoyed reading about life in Australia at this time, with all it’s prejudices and complications. I would recommend Daughter of the Home Front as a book that will stay with you after you have finished reading it. I felt anger and sadness, but also laughed many times with Emma and her friends.
Published October 2022
Prompt 18: Set During a War Other Than WW1 or 2 Zambezi by Tony Park
I was looking for a book for the letter Z, when I came across Zambesi. A trip to an African animal safari is on my bucket list, so this book looked like the perfect choice. I reviewed Zambesi for the Blogging April A to Z challenge and gave it 5 stars. Following is a link to my review if you are interested to read more about this book. Zambesi by Tony Park #bookreview
Published January 2005
Prompt 52:Published in 2023 Immortality,. A Love Story
After reading Anatomy A Love Story and giving it 5 stars, I was looking forward to the next book in the series, Immortality: A Love Story. After reading it, I gave it 4 stars. This was another book that I reviewed for the Blogging April A to Z Challenge. Following is a link to my review if you are interested to read more about this wonderful book. Immortality: A Love Story #bookreview
Published February 2023
Prompt: A Fashionable Character Becoming Mrs. Mulberry by Jackie French
Jackie French has become one of my favourite authors, over recent years. I’ve read many of her books and there hasn’t been one that I haven’t enjoyed, so when I saw her latest book on Amazon, I couldn’t resist purchasing it and downloading it right away.
Summary
The once impoverished medical student Agnes Glock is now the fabulously wealthy Mrs Mulberry. Her estate in the mountains is magnificent, a haven for those too ravaged by the Great War to cope with the society that first condemned them to battle and which now shuns them.
The War has, however, stolen Agnes’s chance to graduate as a doctor, as well as the fiance she adored. Her husband, Douglas Mulberry, remains shellshocked and unable to speak. Their scandalous marriage is a farce, an act of kindness to keep Douglas’s fortune from his uncle’s grasp.
A chance visit to a circus brings about a mystery in the form of a fairylike child whose guardians claim was brought up by dingoes. The child cannot speak and seems deformed. But Agnes is inexplicably drawn to her and believes she can be cured.
The decision to save the child will bring Agnes’s lost fiance into her life again, as well as awaken the love of her husband who finds his voice as the three try to solve the mystery of the ‘dingo girl’.
Agnes has put aside her own life and the dreams she once had. But now she has choices, with the main question the hardest: Who is Mrs Agnes Mulberry?
My Thoughts
Becoming Mrs. Mulberry was an absolute pleasure and a joy to read. Other than the characters which I felt became my friends, this book has a very strong sense of place, that permeates every part of the story. Add to that the often quirky goings on and the animals, and you have a book that is just wonderful. Set in the Australian bush at the fictional Wombat Hills, this book is both very sad and very very funny at times. I would recommend Becoming Mrs. Mulberry as a great read.
Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book. For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Unputdownable. Would read it again.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fantastic read. Not to be missed
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Enjoyable. Would recommend it.
⭐️⭐️ Wouldn’t read it again.
⭐️ Don’t recommend this book at all.
The books mentioned in this post are of my own choice and have not been sent to me to review. My opinions are my own and I receive no renumeration at all for them.
This post is linked to the monthly #whatsonyourbookshelfchallenge linkup hosted by bloggers Deb, Sue, Donna, and Jo. Also linking to Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share
The Blogging April A to Z Challenge has now ended. As 2023 is my eighth year of participating in this challenge, I’ve become quite used to April being a very busy month. For me, the key to completing the challenge successfully is planning and organisation. My theme this year was book reviews, so there were books to read, and reviews to write. I read all books that were reviewed. Some, in the past couple of years, but most of them in more recent months. I love the planning and choosing of books, according to a letter of the alphabet. This often has me choosing books that I wouldn’t usually read, just to be able to write a review on a particular letter. This often brings up some lovely surprises.
This year, because I knew I would be time poor, I was quite organised, and this meant that I was able to read and comment on more blogs than I ever have in previous years. I’ve given a bit of thought to the 2023 challenge and have come up a few things that I am happy about and a few challenges that I had.
What I Am Happy About
By the time 2022 had become 2023, I had written a plan of the books that I was going to review, and still needed to read.
On the day that the challenge website opened, I had written rough drafts for most posts.
Almost all posts were written, and ready to be published before the challenge started.
I visited many great blogs on a huge variety of topics and themes during the challenge.
There were many comments made on my blog, with some of those comments being made by bloggers other than book bloggers.
I loved that bloggers often commented about their favourite books.
A relationship has developed with a few bloggers that I hope will continue into the future.
Challenge
A few posts that were not completed by the start of the challenge, were left until the last minute. Those posts were for W X Y Z. Because of this procrastination, the final week was quite hectic, which is what I was trying to avoid. This was the only challenge that I had with the AtoZ this year.
Fun Facts
5 star books: Two 4 star books: Thirteen 4.5 star books: Four 3.5 star books: Six 3 star books: one book
Australian authors: Ten books Female authors: Fifteen books Male authors: Eleven books
My favourite book was the very last book reviewed, Zambesi by Tony Park.
Challenge Future
All being well in my life, I will be back for A to Z in 2024. I have decided that next year I will participate in the challenge on my family history blog,Tracking Down The Family. I don’t need to spend all year trying to come up with a theme for 2024, as I am fairly certain that I have settled on one.
Best Bookish Blog went into what was meant to be a very short hiatus, just as the world was struck by the pandemic. All the worry about Covid and what was ahead for us, caused me to lose my way a bit, and there hasn’t been a blog post here since then.
That is all about to change, as I’m now intending to revive the blog, and continue to add to my book reviews. If you would like to check out the reviews done so far, they are listed here
The other announcement is that, once again, I will be participating in the April A to Z Blogging Challenge. The April A-Z Challenge, requires me to post every day in April, except Sunday, to a chosen theme, using the letters of the alphabet from A-Z. Some bloggers choose not to have a theme and that’s ok too.
I have participated in the A to Z Challenge every year since 2015, on my other blogs, but on this blog only two times. In 2016 I participated on two blogs. I can say that the challenge of posting two posts a day for a month was more stress than anyone needs. I most probably won’t be doing that again.
I really do enjoy this challenge for many reasons. Aside from the discipline it takes to be organised sufficiently to post every day, Mostly, I love the opportunity to connect with other bloggers. These bloggers are blogging on a very diverse range of topics, with most being vastly different to the blogs that I usually read.
My theme for 2023 will be book reviews. All reviews will be on books that I have read, some new releases, and also older books that are still available.
All reviews will be my own opinions. I receive no payments for reviews, nor do I receive free books to review, unless otherwise stated.
I would love you to join me, and hopefully find a book in my reviews that sounds interesting to you. So you don’t miss anything, you are able to follow me, by entering your email address in the sidebar.
The BLOGGING APRIL A-Z has now finished. I decided to take a few days to think about this year’s challenge, before publishing my reflections post. As usual, I loved the challenge, even though it does make for a busy month. This year was my sixth year participating, but not all were on this blog.. Including 2020, I have participated twice on this blog, and three times on my blog, Tracking Down The Family and twice on my other blog, Next Phase In Fitness & Life The reason the numbers don’t add up is that in 2017, I participated on two blogs in the one year.
What I Am Happy About
I had made a long term plan and had read all books by January
By the time the challenge website opened, I had written rough drafts for most posts
Almost all posts were written and ready to go before the challenge started, even though there was usually a final edit needed.
I visited many great blogs on a huge variety of topics and themes
There were many comments made on my blog and there were comments from bloggers other than book bloggers.
I loved that bloggers told me about their favourite books.
A relationship developed with a few bloggers that I hope will continue
Facts
Star Rating on books reviewed: 5 Star – three books, 4.5 star – six books, 4 star – nine books, 3.5 star – 7 books, 3 star – one book . My star rating is based on enjoyment, not literary merit, so, happily, most of the books I reviewed were enjoyable to read
My favourite book reviewed was Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood.
Ten books reviewed were written by Aussie authors
Multiple books written by one author: There were two books written by Stephen King and two books written by Dervla McTiernan. Two books were written by James Patterson, but they were co-authored by different authors.
Eighteen books were fiction and eight were non-fiction
Twelve books were written by female authors, with sixteen written by males. One of James Patterson’s books was co-authored by a female author.
The Challenges
The posts that weren’t written by the start of the challenge were left until the last minute. Those posts were for W X Y Z
We had no phone or internet and patchy mobile service, for the first two weeks of April
As usual, the time I had to read, comment and reply to posts was limited. I intend to do more of this over the next two weeks.
Challenge Future
All being well in my life, I will be back for A to Z in 2021. I have decided that next year I will participate in the challenge on Tracking Down The Family, my family history blog. Just for a change, I don’t need to spend a whole year trying to come up with a theme for 2021 as I already have settled on one. But that’s a story for another day…..
The April A-Z Blogging Challenge is now over. My theme was book reviews and I posted a review here every day in April. Here is the complete list of reviews. Hopefully you will find something interesting to read in the list.
One of the highlights in the blogging year for me, is the April A-Z Challenge. I have participated every year since 2015 on each of my three blogs. One year, I even took the challenge full on and participated on two blogs. This was a huge committment and I really didn’t enjoy it that year, as I was constantly under pressure, for the entire month. But every other year, I have loved this challenge and found so many positives in being involved.
The 2020 April A-Z Challenge is now almost here. Starting on April 1, the challenge is to publish a post every day in April, except for Sundays. That makes 26 day, so one day for each letter of the alphabet. April 1 is A, and so on through the month to Z.
Using this premise, you would start beginning April 1, with a topic on something with the letter A, then on April 2, another topic with the letter B, and so on until you finish on April 30, with a topic based on letter Z. The theme for each day is the scheduled letter for the day.
This challenge started in 2010, when it was first presented to bloggers, who didn’t hesitate to get on board. The number of bloggers participating every year has grown and is now huge. Also huge, are the variety of blogs and blog topics.
Theme Reveal 2020
Most bloggers choose a theme for the A-Z Challenge, but it’s not necessary. Today, there is much excitement amongst the participating bloggers, as today is ‘Theme Reveal Day.’
My theme is Book Reviews. Each day in April, I will post a new book review from A-Z. Books reviewed will be all genres. My only stipulation is that they are books that I have read. My policy is that I don’t review books that I have not read.
I am very much looking forward to reading about the themes that have been chosen by other bloggers. This is part of the fun of the A-Z Challenge.
I would love you to join me. To keep up with the latest book reviews, please pop your email address in the box on the sidebar. This will ensure you are notified of updates.
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