Monthly Catch Up #12 – December 2018

Well, hello there! How are you guys doing?

I survived Christmas, and I’m delighted to say, our friends have also survived my pumpkin pie I sent over with my other half to the dinner I ended up not attending on account having come down with some plague.

I’m usually quite confident in my pieing abilities, but this time what emerged from the oven was the stuff of nightmares. A half burned piece of horror. Of course I had no time (or ingredients) to make a replacement. Classic. But this is what happens to people (me) who leave shit for the last moment, eh?

P.S. It was still yummier than anything else that was on offer apparently. I’m just being picky.

Considering all the books I read this year, I thought it will a much bigger pain in the ass to select my favourite 10, but as it turns out, I went through a lot of stuff I liked but wasn’t going nuts about. Yay, I guess?

Overall, I feel like most of the books I read this year were all right. I mean, look at my rating! 3.7!

To top it all, a few days ago my favourite Scandi author, Mons Kallentoft replied to my tweet on a thread discussing whether some authors tone down their poetic writing skills in order to appeal to more people. To me this question doesn’t even compute… I mean… Whaaa’? So I’m just melting into a puddle now, if you’ll excuse me…

* heart eyes *

 

Eight books. Some depressing, some hilarious, but what I’m happiest about, is that I finally finished Shift by Hugh Howie. I started it in July 2017, but it took me over a year to get around to it. It wasn’t bad, it just seemed pointless and kind of lackluster after the first book, Wool, which was pretty freakin’ awesome. It’s done now, though, so here’s to hoping the final book will not suck!

The Winters by Lisa Gabriele
Quite eerie, with lovely prose and an even pace, this book is the very definition of pleasant.

The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan
A pretty straightforward mystery, set in Ireland.

S.T.A.G.S by M.A. Bennett
A gorgeous country side manor, a bunch of posh twats and a weekend full off blood sports. Recipe for a disaster, or a delicious thriller?

The Rumour by Lesley Kara
Small town gossip, child murderers and second chances.

The Deaths of December by Susi Holliday
A whiny serial killer chased by and unlikeable detective.
Fun Fact: one of the murder victims worked in The North Star, the pub I used to go to for drinks with my colleagues a few years ago.

Mince Pies, Apocalypse & 9 Christmas Mysteries

15 Books For Cold Winter Nights

Naughty Under the Blankie – Bad Reading Habits Tag

It’s the End of the Year #Tag

What’s On My Bookshelf? Mess, That’s What…

Crazy Lady with the Blankie Receives the Liebster Award

Atrocities Under the Blankie – The Naughty or Nice? #Tag

Squirming Under the Blankie – Out Of My Comfort Zone

Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King & Owen King

In a future so real and near it might be now, something happens when women go to sleep; they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze.

If they are awakened, and the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed or violated, the women become feral and spectacularly violent; and while they sleep they go to another place.

The men of our world are abandoned, left to their increasingly primal devices. One woman, however, the mysterious Evie, is immune to the blessing or curse of the sleeping disease.

Is Evie a medical anomaly to be studied, or is she a demon who must be slain?

I’m not planning to participate in any particular challenge in 2019. My experience with the Popsugar Reading Challenge this year was not exactly pleasant, and I won’t subject myself to anything similar in the future.

That said, Annemieke @A Dance With Books created a fun challenge for fans of fantasy & sci-fi, and I’m just picking my way through her brilliant suggestions. I found some really cool books to add to my wish list.

I expect the December Madness at work to die down in a week or so, and hopefully work will return to something resembling bearable.

I look forward to seeing what you guys are up to!