BC: August 2018 Reading update

With just over a week left of August, I thought I’d put out a little update about what I’ve been reading so far this month. Unfortunately, the TBR I posted a few weeks ago isn’t going so well but I’ve got through a fair few other books I wasn’t planning on getting around to.

Audiobooks have really rescued my reading, to be honest. I’ve had a few evenings where I’ve walked home from the train station after work, providing me with an extra 30 minutes of reading time.

A return to Darren Shan’s Cirque du Freak series saw me plough through books 4, 5, and 6 in quick succession and I feel like now we know a bit more about the characters the story can finally get going. Of course, they’re still books for kids and didn’t make me think too hard about anything but as simple entertainment goes they are more than good enough. The total time for all three of these books (I still have six instalments of the series left) was probably around 15 hours or so, but as I often listen at 1.5-2.0x speed, I probably spent about 9 hours with them in reality.

 

The audiobook I am currently listening to is Vicious – V.E. Schwab. I thoroughly enjoyed her Shades of Magic series on audio but was disappointed to find out that this novel doesn’t have the same narrator. No huge loss though as I quickly found myself adapting to the new voice and becoming engrossed in the series. At the time of writing this article, I have 6% of the book left and I cannot wait to see how it concludes. With its sequel, Vengeful, out in early September, I will only have a short period of time to make predictions for the second entry in the series before I read it.

 

I also finished Windcatcher by A.J. Norfield – a TBRindr novel. Didn’t enjoy this one and it really put a dampener on my other reading activities as I needed to get it done. A review for this will be coming very soon but I’ll tell you right now that I will not be continuing with the series. Too many errors and not enough reasons to care about the characters.

 

The second novel I physically read was The Silent Companions – Laura Purcell. I was a bit disappointed by this one I must admit. There is no shortage of rave reviews and adoration for the horror thriller online and I let the hype get to me – I was expecting gold and what I got was… tarnished silver? It absolutely is not a bad book, but it just could have been so much better. Glad I borrowed this from the library as I would have regretted spending money on a new copy from a bookshop.

 

The novel I am currently reading is Protecting the Dead – Katherine Gilbert. Another TBRindr book, this one follows a young woman as she starts her new job working in a care home for supernaturally-challenged individuals. I’m enjoying what I’m seeing so far and I hope that the hopeful/less romantic elements don’t become overbearing – I feel at about the 40% mark, that the current mix is more than good enough. I’ve got a couple of ideas about where the plot might end up going so I’ll be interested to see how it all pans out.

 

That’s my August 2018 reading update then! I will probably go on to This Savage Song – V.E. Schwab when I am done with Vicious, and the text novel will probably be Shattered Dreams – Ulff Lehmann. What are you guys reading? Anything you think I might enjoy?