2021/04/30
2021/04/29
BOOK HAUL:
APRIL
S P O N S O R E D : T W O B O O K S S E N T B Y P U B L I S H E R S
I N C L U D E S A F F I L I A T E L I N K S
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Spring is in full swing and May is just around the corner, so it's time for another book haul! April has been a quiet month for me, but hopefully things will get a bit more lively in the next few weeks with Oslo coming out of lockdown. I got a bunch of fun books in April though, lots of historical fiction and mystery thrillery type books that I'm super excited to read!
( a f f i l i a t e l i n k s + b o o k s m a r k e d * s e n t b y p u b l i s h e r )
I hope you're all doing all right and that you're having a good day!
2021/04/22
2021/04/21
BOOK REVIEW:
THE CHAIN BY ADRIAN MCKINTY
I N C L U D E S A F F I L I A T E L I N K S
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Title: The ChainAuthor: Adrian McKinty
Published: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 368
Rating: 2/5
Summary:
A woman drops off her daughter at the bus stop and is called up a few hours later; someone has kidnapped her daughter and if she wants her back, she'll have to pay a ransom and then kidnap someone else's child. She's now a part of The Chain.
Review:
This was an entertaining book for sure, and quite a page turner, but in the end, was it that great? Not really.
I think the idea of this story is excellent, and the story is exciting from the very first chapter. The book is split into two parts and the first part was filled with suspense, whereas in the second part, things went a bit downhill. It's in the second part we learn more about the masterminds behind The Chain and I found myself quite disappointed with the reveal of that. The end felt like a bad action movie.
This is a very plot heavy novel and none of the characters really stood out to me, they felt like very generic characters and I don't even really remember their names or who they were at this point.
This feels like the kind of book that's fun when you read it, but completely forgettable when you put it down, and I'm not all that impressed. It was just kind of OK, not a waste of my time but not a great use of it either.
You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads
You can read more about it on Goodreads
2021/04/17
BOOK REVIEW:
THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB BY ROBERT THOROGOOD
I N C L U D E S A F F I L I A T E L I N K S
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Title: The Marlow Murder ClubAuthor: Robert Thorogood
Published: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 384
Rating: 3/5
Summary:
An eccentric seventy seven year old woman is out swimming one evening and thinks she hears one of her neighbours being murdered, and when the police don't take her seriously right away, she sets off to try and solve the mystery, recruiting the help of some new friends on the way.
Review:
This was a very cosy and enjoyable mystery.
I liked how this book is set in this small, sleepy village and I liked reading about the characters in here, even if they are a little bit over the top sometimes. They're charming and fun to read about, and this is just a very fun and entertaining book to read. All the main characters in here are women as well, which was awesome, and I do love a good elderly sleuth.
The mystery is intriguing and keeps you guessing, although at some point I did kind of figure out what was going on. It was still fun to see the reveal though, even if there's a bit of a dragged out monologue at the end there.
This is a pretty quick read, it's exciting and just a lot of fun! I think if you've read a lot of books like these, it might not be entirely new to you, but it was still worth the read.
You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads
You can read more about it on Goodreads
2021/04/14
BOOK REVIEW:
CRAZY FOR BIRDS BY MISHA MAYERNICK BLAISE
I N C L U D E S A F F I L I A T E L I N K S
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Title: Crazy for Birds: Fascinating and Fabulous FactsAuthor: Misha Mayernick Blaise
Published: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 210
Rating: 5/5
Summary:
In this beautifully illustrated book, we explore facts of all kinds of different birds and their place in history and culture.
Review:
This book is a work of art and I loved it!
I got this book knowing it was illustrated and I was looking forward to seeing the art, but I didn't realise how thoroughly illustrated it would be; every single page is beautiful and colorful. In between all of this, there are fun little facts about all kinds of different birds, eggs, feathers, nests and so on.
The facts are quite surface level for the most part, but I didn't mind that at all, I think it suits the book perfectly (I'm not very knowledgable about birds, so I don't know a lot about them). I also love that there's bits of humor in here and from my Googling of what the birds look like in real life, the illustrations are pretty accurate!
I just think this is such a treat of a book, it's enjoyable, entertaining and educational, but also just a lot of fun to read. I couldn't get enough of it, I absolutely adored it!
You can read more about it on Goodreads
2021/04/13
2021/04/12
BOOK REVIEW:
THIS GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND BY AYISHA MALIK
I N C L U D E S A F F I L I A T E L I N K S
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Title: This Green and Pleasant LandAuthor: Ayisha Malik
Published: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 454
Rating: 5/5
Summary:
In a small, English village, a man sets out to build a mosque after his mother told him to on her deathbed, throwing the traditional little community into an uproar and threatening to tear it apart.
Review:
I knew I was going to like this book, but I didn't know I would love it as much as I did. It was just fantastic!
I do love a good novel set in a small town or community, and the one in here is the perfect backdrop for this story. I loved getting to know all the different characters; they're well written and fascinating, and we get to peek into all of their individual lives and struggles. I also found the discussions on the idea of home and what it is to be, in this case, English to be really interesting.
The story discusses racism, identity, friendship, love and community and it does all of it effortlessly. All the themes are weaved into the story perfectly and it's all captured brilliantly. The writing is just so good; the language is unforced and the story is well paced. It's also just an incredibly enjoyable read, with heartwarming and funny moments alongside sad and difficult ones.
Definitely one of the best books I've read this year. I can't say enough good things about it.
You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads
You can read more about it on Goodreads
2021/04/09
2021/04/08
2021/04/07
BOOK REVIEW:
PÅ ÅSTEDET BY EVA B. RAGDE & TRUDE TEIGE
S P O N S O R E D : B O O K S E N T B Y P U B L I S H E R
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Title: På Åstedet: Jakten På BeviseneAuthor: Eva B. Ragde, Trude Teige
Published: 2020
Language: Norwegian
Pages: 223
Rating: 3/5
Summary:
Eva B. Ragde is a forensic technician who has worked on countless crime scenes and in here, she gives a look into some of her cases and how she works through them.
Review:
This was a pretty interesting book.
We go through six different cases in this book and each one works to show us the variety of working in this field. I feel like I learned a lot about the methodical and thorough approach one has to have to be able to do this job, and how challenging it can be to push your emotions aside to be able to do a good job and help serve justice.
A lot of the cases described in here are brutal, so I'd be aware of that before reading this book; if you struggle to read about violence, blood and gore, this one isn't for you. I do think that the honesty of the brutality of this work and what these people see is important here though and I like that the book doesn't sugarcoat anything.
I did perhaps feel like this didn't go quite as in depth as I would've liked though and I can't really put my finger on what was missing, I just feel like something was. That being said, the absolute strongest chapter in this book is the last one where we explore the authors experience of working on the terror attack in Oslo in 2011; I think this chapter was the best one because it mixes the clinical with the emotional, and as someone who lives in Oslo and did back then too, it's a both fascinating, gruesome and emotional story to read.
Overall though, I did quite like this book and I feel like it gave me some insight into a very interesting field.
2021/04/05
BOOK REVIEW:
A PINCH OF MAGIC BY MICHELLE HARRISON
I N C L U D E S A F F I L I A T E L I N K S
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Title: A Pinch of MagicAuthor: Michelle Harrison
Published: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 352
Rating: 3/5
This is the first book in the A Pinch of Magic series.
Summary:
Three sisters live on the island of Crowstone and discover they are cursed to never be able to leave, but are given three magical objects passed down for generations and decide to set off on an adventure to try and break the curse.
Review:
This was a very enjoyable book, just like I thought it would be.
Obviously, the target audience for this book is people quite a bit younger than me, but I picked this up because I wanted something easy and a little magical. This is a really sweet story and I especially loved the setting and reading about these three sisters. I loved the magic and mythology in here as well.
It is a simple story in a lot of ways and somewhat predictable, but overall very charming. I'll definitely pick up the second book in this trilogy for when I'm in the mood for something like this again.
You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads
You can read more about it on Goodreads
2021/04/04
2021/04/03
BOOK REVIEW:
SANDSTORM BY JAMES ROLLINS
I N C L U D E S A F F I L I A T E L I N K S
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Title: SandstormAuthor: James Rollins
Published: 2004
Language: English
Pages: 572
Rating: 2/5
This is the first book in the Sigma Force series.
Summary:
A mysterious explosion in a museum in London sets off a team of scientists and adventurers to search for a lost city in the Arabian desert, but they're not the only ones interested in this discovery, making it a race to get there first and not get killed on the way.
Review:
I had such high hopes for this book; I thought it was going to be a great action adventure but alas, there were several things going on in this book that made it much less enjoyable than I had hoped.
The book did deliver when it came to the action part; there is a lot of action scenes in here and one might even venture to say there is a bit too much of it. There is also adventure; there are ancient clues and mysterious artefacts and it takes this team all these different places. I thought the descriptions of the settings was particularly well done; it made those parts feel vivid and colorful.
There are what feels like a zillion characters in here though, none of which were particularly well done and most of them felt pretty flat to me. For the most part, we don't really get the time and space to truly get to know them in between all of this action. Two of the male characters also end up being interested in the same woman, which takes up a lot of space in the book and felt like an unnecessary use of time in the story.
Although the mystery is somewhat intriguing, I lost a lot of interest for it as we got further into the book and I think that's simply because the book is just way too long. There is so much action it starts getting in the way of moving forward and it takes forever to get anywhere in here, so by the time we got to the end, I'd lost almost all interest in anything that was going on in here.
I think I would've enjoyed this so much more if we had a smaller cast of characters and the book was about half the size it is, but alas, that's not what this is, so unfortunately I didn't really love this one.
You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads
You can read more about it on Goodreads
2021/04/02
2021/04/01
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