Category: Assorted

Giveaway

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Assorted1 Comment

Hello!

It’s been a bit of a slower start to the year on the blog than I’d intended as I’ve been recovering from my fall on the bus (bruised bones are no fun as it turns out), so I’ve decided to kick things of with a giveaway celebrating the fantastic books that made my ‘10 favourite books of 2022‘ list and my book of the year.

First/Second Prize are open internationally. The Runner-up prize is UK only due to the restrictions on sending ebooks.

To enter, retweet the pinned tweet on my twitter, follow me and comment with which book you’d like to win. If you are in the UK and want to be considered for the runner-up, please put UK after the name of the book.

The Giveaway will close at Midnight on January 31st.

Details of the prizes (and a few alternate options as there were ebook only books, and seqels in the mix) are below.

Continue reading “Giveaway” →

Book Tag: Three Bookish Things

On By Rowena AndrewsIn ChallengesLeave a comment

Hello!

Happy 2023 everyone. I’m still tinkering away with my review for The Alchemy of Sorrow which is going to be the first review of the new year, and as I am currently laid up on the sofa after a nasty tumble last week, a book tag seemed like the perfect thing to play around with.

I came across this tag on Becky’s Book Blog so please check out her post and the rest of her blog. I’m not tagging anyone in particular, but if it catches your fancy then give it a go.

Continue reading “Book Tag: Three Bookish Things” →

My ’10’ Favourite Books of 2022 & My Book of the Year

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Lists2 Comments

Hello!

It’s that time of year again when we look back at the books we’ve read and loved this year, and while 2022 has been A YEAR, I was blessed with many fantastic books (and an evergrowing TBR from the ones I didn’t get too). It’s always difficult to narrow that down to ten (and I did sneak in an extra one), and then my absolute favourite on top of that (because I have no self control). Now these are my personal favourites, whether because of emotional resonance, sheer enjoyment, favourite characters or any one of the many criteria readers love books, and I’ve listed them in no particular order (because I can’t choose and they’re all bloody good and you should absolutely add them to your TBR for 2023 if you haven’t already read them.

This year, all the books featured are indie/self-published which reflects just how much of my reading falls into that category these days. There are wonderful trad books out there and I still really enjoy them, but indie books are just so wonderfully varied and the community so rich that I find myself leaning that way more and more.

Now without further ado…the list!

Continue reading “My ’10’ Favourite Books of 2022 & My Book of the Year” →

My 10 Most Anticipated Books for 2022

On By Rowena AndrewsIn ListsLeave a comment

Hello!

The first list post of the week is taking a look ahead to 2023 as Hogmany looms. This year has been a great year for books, and next year is already shaping up to be a great year with both new releases and those already on my TBR.

For the purposes of this list, I have only included books that are (a) coming out in 2023 and (b) as confirmed as they can be (allowing for life and everything else that might get in the way.

And because I have no self control I might have snuck an extra one in too…

However, before we get into that list. I also want to shout out the following who may or may not have books out in 2023, but would be on my most anticipated list if and when they do (and who I will wait however long it takes for their books). Firstly, Sarah Chorn who has the Necessity of Rain in the works which is shaping up to be one of the most emotional and beautiful books, and I am already very much in love with this book and can’t wait to see the finished product whenever it is ready. Secondly, Luke Tarzian who is currently working on a project called Atrocious Puppets, and every snippet he has shared so far has been hauntingly compelling to read. Another is Nathan Hall who is working on A Fort of Winter which is the sequel to An Altar on the Village Green which was my favourite book of 2021. And finally, Jonathan Nevair who has just released Stellar Instinct which was such a fun read, and whose Wind Tide series is absolutely fantastic, and I look forward to discovering what his next project is going to be!

And now on with the list…

Continue reading “My 10 Most Anticipated Books for 2022” →

Book Blogger Memory Tag

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Assorted, ChallengesLeave a comment

Hello!

Taking things easy today with another book tag – this time the Book Blogger Memory Challenge which really was a challenge at times! I found this one via Fi’s Bibliofiles and you check out their answers via this link.

Before we get to the challenge itself though I wanted to shout out a short story by Quenby Olson called ‘A Slumbering Fire’ which you can find here. I read it last week and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. It’s a wonderful, smouldering (on more than one level) of two women finding one another just as their worlds are attempting to push them out of sight and thought. Plus there’s a dragon. So go and check it out!!

**

The Rules:

You must answer these questions without looking anything up on the internet and without looking at your bookshelves!!

Continue reading “Book Blogger Memory Tag” →

IFA Summer Challenge & SPFBO 8 Readalong

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Challenges, IFA Summer Challenge2 Comments

Hello!

As we reach the end of May (and why is this year going so quickly?) I’m getting ready for the IFA Summer Challenge which kicks off tomorrow. You can find out more about the challenge either on the website or across in the facebook group, but essentially it is an opportunity to celebrate indie fantasy which is one of my favourite things to do.

I have an ever expanding TBR which I will be tackling, but I am also using the challenge to kick off a SPFBO 8 readalong. I’m in no way associated with SPFBO but it’s a great way to find indie books, and I intend to read as many as I can over the course of the competition and you will be able to find my reviews for that under the Readalong page which has it’s own tag at the top in the menu. While I am reading a lot of these for the IFA challenge, I wanted to make sure that other books were included too, and for the Adventure Wheel which is supposed to get us reading outside our usual genres (depending on what you read) I will be reading non-spfbo books and you can find my TBR for that below.

Continue reading “IFA Summer Challenge & SPFBO 8 Readalong” →

Life in Books Book Tag

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Assorted, ChallengesLeave a comment

Hello!

Something a little lighter to kick off the week, especially as I spent yesterday wishing I could evacuate my own body and this was a wonderful distraction. I’d been searching around for a new tag to play with, and discovered this one via Ashlee at Books Are 42 blog. I’m not sure who created the tag, but a shoutout to them because it was a lot of fun.

Continue reading “Life in Books Book Tag” →

2021 Rewind

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Assorted1 Comment

Hello!

So here we are on Hogmanay with 2022 not that far away now, or already there depending where you are in the world. If you missed them, I shared my Top 20 books for 2021, Top 10 series for 2021 and my 10 Most anticipated releases for 2022 last week. I’d hoped to have a few more reviews up this week, but work and my own clumsiness resulting in a trip to minor injuries yesterday put paid to that, so they will be running over into the start of the new year.

While this year didn’t end quite the way I’d hoped – and it’s been A Year in so many ways, there are still many good things to look back on for this year. Firstly, this was an absolutely fantastic year of reading (hence the top 20 rather than top 10 because I couldn’t choose). While the blog has gone (and taken me) to places I never imagined when I first started it, and it turned 2 earlier this week which was a little surreal as it feels like it couldn’t possibly be that long, and at the same time it feels like I’ve been part of the book community for far longer. And it’s onwards and upwards and there will be some updates on the blog in the next couple of days, as well as a little bit about what’s coming in the near future.

Today though is about the books of 2021, and below the cut you’ll find my year in books (it’s a looong post), and at the end of the post I have my book of the and series of the year, and a special shout-out.

Continue reading “2021 Rewind” →

Top 10 Series 2021

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Assorted, Lists1 Comment

Hello!

For my final post for today (and this week) I’m looking at my top 10 series for the year. Not all of them are complete, but the only rule was that I had to have read at least two from the series in 2021 for them to count. Again, these are done alphabetically (by series title) because I couldn’t choose an order.

Thank you again to all the authors for making 2021 such a wonderful year with your words and stories!

Continue reading “Top 10 Series 2021” →

Top 20 Books 2021

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Lists1 Comment

Hello!

The end of 2021 is fast approaching, so it’s the time to look back on the year of reading. This was supposed to be a Top 10 and that lasted all of five minutes, and there were so many more books I could add to this list, because 2021 has been a truly phenomenal year of reading. And I will admit… I cheated a little, because I have a second list of Top 10 series that I have read this year (they don’t have to be complete, I just had to have read at least two of the series this year) so that I could shout about more of the fantastic books that I have read this year. For this list (and the series list) I have gone alphabetically by title because it has been so hard to rank them. These lists are entirely subjective, and the only ‘rule’ I have applied is that if they are on this list they can’t be on the series, and vice versa.

I do have a top book and a top series for the year, but they will be on the 2021 rewind post on the 31st.

I also have to shout out the amazing Indie and Self-Published books that I’ve read this year. While, I have read some fantastic traditional books this year, it is the indie scene that has really blown me away this year and I have discovered so many new series and authors that my TBR for 2022 is towering high with books I can’t wait to pick up.

Thank you so much to all the authors for making 2021 such a wonderful year with your words and stories!

Continue reading “Top 20 Books 2021” →