Monthly Reading Summary – November 2023

Top Book of the Month – ‘Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard’ by Tom Felton

Book Club Book This Month – ‘All the Lovers in the Night’ by Mieko Kawakami

Books Read This Month:

• ‘Inside Bridgerton’ by Shonda Rhimes & Betsy Beers ★★★★
• ‘Hallowe’en Party’ by Agatha Christie ★★★★
• ‘Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly’ by Jeremy Clarkson ★★★★
• ‘Death Comes to Marlow’ by Robert Thorogood ★★★★
• ‘Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard’ by Tom Felton ★★★★★
• ‘The Bullet That Missed’ by Richard Osman ★★★★
• ‘Hex and the City’ by Kate Johnson ★★★★
• ‘All the Lovers in the Night’ by Mieko Kawakami ★★★

Books Bought This Month:

• ‘Enchanted to Meet You’ by Meg Cabot
• ‘The Last Library’ by Freya Sampson
• ‘A Most Agreeable Murder’ by Julia Seales
• ‘Queen Charlotte’ by Julia Quinn & Shonda Rhimes
• ‘Anne Boleyn’s Letter from the Tower’ by Sandra Vasoli
• ‘Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly’ by Jeremy Clarkson
• ‘All the Lovers in the Night’ by Mieko Kawakami
• ‘The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac’ by J.K. Rowling
• ‘The True Love Experiment’ by Christina Lauren
• ‘Love and Other Words’ by Christina Lauren

Statistics:

• Books Read – 8
• Currently Reading – 1
• TBR – 227

• Fiction – 5 (62.50%)
• Non-Fiction – 3 (37.50%)

• Male Author – 4 (50.00%)
• Female Author – 3 (37.50%)
• Non-Binary Author – 0 (0.00%)
• Multiple Authors – 1 (12.50%)

• Paperback – 3 (37.50%)
• Hardback – 3 (37.50%)
• eBook – 1 (12.50%)
• Audiobook – 1 (12.50%)

• Total Pages Read – 2,014
• Average Pages Per Book – 287.71
• Hours Listened – 9.50

• Average Star Rating – 4.00

‘Hex and the City’ by Kate Johnson

Genre: Adult Fiction – Paranormal Romance

Published: 2023

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★

I really enjoyed this book, a great spoopy romance and unexpected in the middle! I love the chaos of this book; I mean how do you suddenly find yourself in the midst of the Great Fire of London? It was a fun and absolutely enchanting read. I’ve read ‘Hex Appeal’ before and I’m so looking forward to ‘Hex and Hexability’.

I absolutely adored Poppy and her hair was like a character of its own. Alex was also a fun character, though it could do without the third act misunderstanding trope, to be honest. You could see it coming a mile off, though it worked better within the magical context of this story than others I’ve read. The relationship between the pair was adorable even though their meeting and early encounters were fraught with tension and chaos.

Iris and her coven were so funny and such great foils for each other, and the chaos of Poppy. Iris, Fiona, and Sylvia are a great trio. They try to keep Poppy grounded and her chaos magic under control, but secrets will out. They’re all so quirky that it makes what seems like a cursed and quite haunting story much funnier. Accidentally cursing a pendant sets off a chain of events that bring Poppy and Alex together and fireworks fly.

If you like a paranormal witchy romance with oodles of humour and a little spice, then this is the book for you!

Monthly Reading Summary – October 2023

Top Book of the Month – ‘Trouble’ by Lex Croucher

Book Club Book This Month – ‘Hallowe’en Party’ by Agatha Christie

Books Read This Month:

• ‘Richard III: A Failed King?’ by Rosemary Horrox ★★★
• ‘Trouble’ by Lex Croucher ★★★★
• ‘To Marry and to Meddle’ by Martha Waters ★★★★
• ‘The Marlow Murder Club’ by Robert Thorogood ★★★★
• ‘To Swoon and to Spar’ by Martha Waters ★★★

Books Bought This Month:

• ‘Hex and the City’ by Kate Johnson
• ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’ by Agatha Christie
• ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’ by Agatha Christie
• ‘Death in the Clouds’ by Agatha Christie
• ‘Death on the Nile’ by Agatha Christie
• ‘After the Funeral’ by Agatha Christie
• ‘Cat Among the Pigeons’ by Agatha Christie
• ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ by Agatha Christie
• ‘Hallowe’en Party’ by Agatha Christie
• ‘Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and the Marriage that Shook Europe’ by John Guy & Julia Fox

Statistics:

• Books Read – 5
• Currently Reading – 2
• TBR – 223

• Fiction – 4 (80.00%)
• Non-Fiction – 1 (20.00%)

• Male Author – 1 (20.00%)
• Female Author – 3 (60.00%)
• Non-Binary Author – 1 (60.00%)
• Multiple Authors – 0 (0.00%)

• Paperback – 5 (100.00%)
• Hardback – 0 (0.00%)
• eBook – 0 (0.00%)
• Audiobook – 0 (0.00%)

• Total Pages Read – 1,495
• Average Pages Per Book – 299
• Hours Listened – 0.00

• Average Star Rating – 3.6

Monthly Reading Summary – January 2023

Top Book of the Month – ‘The Princess Saves Herself in This One’ by Amanda Lovelace

Book Club Book This Month – ‘The Witch’s Heart’ by Genevieve Gornichec

Books Read This Month:

• ‘Elizabeth I: Life and Legacy of the Virgin Queen’ by Paul Kendall ★★★★
• ‘Hex Appeal’ by Kate Johnson ★★★★
• ‘To Have and to Hoax’ by Martha Waters ★★★★
• ‘The Princess Saves Herself in This One’ by Amanda Lovelace ★★★★★
• ‘The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic’ by Sophie Kinsella ★★★★
• ‘The Twist of a Knife’ by Anthony Horowitz ★★★
• ‘Shopaholic Abroad’ by Sophie Kinsella ★★★
• ‘Boy: Tales of Childhood’ by Roald Dahl ★★★★★

Books Bought This Month:

• ‘The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic’ by Sophie Kinsella
• ‘Shopaholic Abroad’ by Sophie Kinsella
• ‘Shopaholic Ties the Knot’ by Sophie Kinsella
• ‘Shopaholic and Sister’ by Sophie Kinsella
• ‘Shopaholic and Baby’ by Sophie Kinsella
• ‘Mini Shopaholic’ by Sophie Kinsella
• ‘Shopaholic to the Stars’ by Sophie Kinsella
• ‘Shopaholic to the Rescue’ by Sophie Kinsella
• ‘Christmas Shopaholic’ by Sophie Kinsella
• ‘Three Sisters’ by Heather Morris
• ‘The Witch’s Heart’ by Genevieve Gornichec
• ‘The Marlow Murder Club’ by Robert Thorogood
• ‘The Princess Bride’ by William Goldman
• ‘The Elizabethans’ by A.N. Wilson
• ‘The Plantagenets: The Kings That Made Britain’ by Derek Wilson
• ‘Rattle His Bones’ by Carola Dunn
• ‘The Reign of Henry VIII: Politics, Policy and Piety’ by Diarmaid MacCulloch
• ‘Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery’ by Eric Ives
• ‘Henry VIII: The Heart and the Crown’ by Alison Weir

Statistics:

• Books Read – 8
• Currently Reading – 3
• TBR – 174

• Fiction – 7 (87.5%)
• Non-Fiction – 1 (12.5%)

• Male Author – 3 (37.5%)
• Female Author – 5 (62.5%)
• Multiple Authors – 0 (0%)

• Paperback – 5 (62.5%)
• Hardback – 1 (12.5%)
• eBook – 0 (0%)
• Audiobook – 2 (25%)

• Total Pages Read – 1,878
• Average Pages Per Book – 313
• Hours Listened – 11.68

• Average Star Rating – 4.00

‘Hex Appeal’ by Kate Johnson

Genre: Adult Fiction – Paranormal

Published: 2022

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★

I really really liked this book. It just felt like a book of two halves, hence 4 stars rather than 5. But I laughed at loud at various points in the scrapes that the witches got themselves into, and I loved Beldam House as a location because it just sounds so quirky and cool!

I adored ALL of the characters, but especially Essie and Blessing. The characters all had their individual quirks and finding out more about them was fascinating. The romance between Essie and Josh didn’t seem forced as you sometimes find with books combining romance and paranormal; it seemed a natural progression and I could see them being together happily in the end, not like some books where you feel like the relationship fell apart after the story ended.

The book is kind of like a cross between a paranormal romance and a historical fantasy and it really works. The second half had me absolutely gripped and I think I pretty much read the second half all in one go because I couldn’t put it down.

If you love paranormal romances and want to see the bad guy get his comeuppance then this is a brilliant book, just for you!

Monthly Reading Summary – November 2022

There has been a lot going on generally this year so it’s no surprise that once again I haven’t read as many books as I would have liked. Our book group read for November was ‘A Flicker in the Dark’ by Stacy Willingham.

Books Read This Month:

Mickey Mayhew – Imprisoning Mary Queen of Scots: The Men Who Kept the Stuart Queen ★★★★

• Hardback, 2022, Pen and Sword
• Adult Non-Fiction, History

Grady Hendrix – The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires ★★

• Paperback, 2020, Quirk Books
• Adult Fiction, Horror

Julia Chapman – Date with Deceit ★★★

• Audiobook, 2021, Pan Macmillan
• Adult Fiction, Cosy Crime

Emily Henry – You and Me on Vacation ★★

• Paperback, 2021, Penguin Books
• Adult Fiction, Chic Lit

Nathen Amin – Henry VII and the Tudor Pretenders: Simnel, Warbeck, and Warwick ★★★★★

• Hardback, 2020, Amberley Publishing
• Adult Non-Fiction, History

Books Bought This Month:

• Stacy Willingham – A Flicker in the Dark
• Natalie Grueninger – The Final Year of Anne Boleyn
• Stephanie Garber – Once Upon a Broken Heart
• Kate Johnson – Hex Affair
• Rosie Blake – The Hygge Holiday

Statistics:

• Books Read – 5
• Currently Reading – 2
• TBR – 159

• Fiction – 3 (60%)
• Non-Fiction – 2 (40%)

• Male Author – 3 (60%)
• Female Author – 2 (40%)
• Multiple Authors – 0 (0%)

• Paperback – 2 (40%)
• Hardback – 2 (40%)
• eBook – 0 (0%)
• Audiobook – 1 (20%)

• Total Pages Read – 1,336
• Average Pages Per Book – 334
• Hours Listened – 11.25

• Average Star Rating – 3.2