Karen > Recent Status Updates

Well, I've beaten my challenge goal.. Something I didn't expect to do, but using Audible and Borrow Box has helped... Not sure what the challenge goal will be next year - think I'll do the same as this year - start small(ish) and increase as necessary.... Don't want to complete the challenge too early....

Another challenge finished. And this time, it's due to audio books. If it hadn't been for a back injury, I wouldn't have considered Audible, or even considered Borrow Box.

That and the fact that it allows me to continue working whilst enjoying a book (and being able to ignore the horror that is the obligatory Christmas playlist being inflicted on me in the office!)

Thank God for an audiobook. Yet again, I am having a Christmas playlist inflicted on my poor little ears. I wouldn't mind if it was the sort of music I listen to, but it's the usual syrupy nausea inducing rubbish.

So, I have done the usual thing – put my earbud in and listen to The Fellowship of the Ring. I know it’s a book I’ve listened to before, but with Andy Serkis narrating – it’s an audio treat.

Amazing what a little time off and typixal British winter weather (cold and wet) can do for your reading target. Audible (and to a lesser extent Borrow Box) have all helped as well... But it's been the kindle that has been my life saver. The TV is diabolical aa normal (I don't watch I'm a Celebrity) and the rest is brain rot. I prefer to use my imagination - far more creative....

I knew some of the history, but Boeing's founder must be spinning in his grave. The "takeover" of McDonald Douglas by Boeing was more the other way around - with Boeing paying for it....

It used to be said " If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going". Now....? It's just scary.

Amazing what a quiet weekend can do. Ok - this weekend hasn't been as quiet as I would have liked, simply because I had the battery on the car changed (it was the final straw when the car refused to start Friday morning after I'd refuelled).

Despite that, I have been able to settle in my beanbag with a mug of goid tea and hit my kindle... Three books in 36 hours. Not bad going....

This gets more interesting - especially given the news Andrew has "voluntarily" (more like volentold" relinquished his titles... A major update for the paperback edition?

Now to the juicy stuff. Epstein. And I still want to know why Andrew is the only famous (or infamous) man named from the little black book...

Not a bad read so far... I remember the fall out of the photos from the south of France, but the early stuff I didn't know about. Dratted heavy as a hardback book though... Should have gotten this one on kindle!!

Amazing. I first heard of this book from a Podcast - Detectives Don't Sleep, and I was really interested in it.
The narrator really brings this book to life, and Arthur has just started to follow the trail of the 3m high statues...

Saw this at Kew Gardens and was tempted.. But it was an escape to the Oxford Botanical Garden that really made me think about it. The author comes across as almost childlike in his wonder at the flora and fauna he's seeing, and having seen the hothouse in Oxford where the Amazonian waterlilly grows, I can understand why.

I'll review this book properly, but so far? It's a cracking read.

Been on a bit of a reading blitz recently. The heatwave (and the associated health warnings) meant it’s not been possible to get into the garden... But books are not heat dependent thankfully...
Amazing what you find going through the kindle.. Books I’d forgotten about and am now reading, and others that I read years ago and forgotten how good they were....

Being told that the unofficial prescription is "Netflixs and chill" whilst I recover from yet another lower respiritory tract infection would be most people's idea of bliss. Only I don't watch Netflixs. Never have. So I amended it to "Kindle / Audible and chill". Which suits me (when I can stop coughing long enough to listen to Audible or hold my kindle...) So it's a case of digging out books I've forgotten about

Ill over a bank holiday. Just what I wanted. Not. But luckily for me Audible is keeping me going - especially when I'm coughing too much to hold the kindle.. And when I'm not coughing? I've been trawling my kindle for books that I've been meaning to read - including my current one - The Old Man and Me... Does help that I know the area the Old Man grew up in, so I can relate better to the book...

OK - three books on the go is a bit excessive, but in my defense, they're all books that I have read in previous years. The two audio books are ones that are perfect for travelling, and the kindle book is one to chill out with - and although it counts as one book, it's an omnibus - 5 in 1...

Tombland is from Warwickshire Library service, so it's my main book, and the How to Build a Car is on Audible..

Another re-read on the kindle. Again, it's another series that I have read in the past - and it's a good book. The Audiobook is another good listen - and it came about on the Audible 2 for 1 sale...

I know it sounds like I listen to quite a bit of real life stories - but on the whole, the book can be made or broken by the narrator... And Karl Jenkinson is a really good narrator - he brings the book to life...

Two non-fiction books on the go at the moment... One is a kindle book that was a pre-order (beginning to regret it - see the update on the book!) and the other one is from Audible - that was on the 2-1 sale. It's a book I've seen in tree book, and have given it some thought, but seeing it on Audible and knowing there was another book I wanted - it made sense to me.

A bit hit and miss so far... Good in parts - especially describing the history of the formation of the Kingdom. But it is somewhat disjointed - the author keeps referring to later chapters in the book, meaning that the flow of the book is somewhat disjointed.

All I can do is hope that this improves - because so far, this is on for a maximum of a 2* rating...

Had to knock two of my books off my currently reading list. The audio book (Truth, Lies and O-Rings) is a little intense after a day at work, and The Witches Garden is only really readable on my phone - which I don't want to stare at after a full 7.5hrs staring at a computer screen!
I will go back to them - most likely when I am on holiday, and in a better frame of mind to listen / read.

Never thought I'd get caught up in the series that everyone has been raving about - the The Empyrean series. Boy - was I wrong. I got a sample of the Fourth Wing, and was hooked - to the extent that I went and got all three books on the kindle.
Needless to say I am hooked. It's a damned good series, and in the past, books that have been hyped up like this have been... Disappointing. But this series is... Amazing.

Another day, and another book from Borrowbox. Don't get me wrong - Audible is good, but there are some books that I want to try without the commitment to buy them. So Borrowbox is perfect for me.

It's slightly less refined in the controls than Audible, but it still allows me to listen in the car and more to the point, listen via my earbuds whilst trying to get some peace and quiet whilst working....

This owes an awful lot to the Handmaids Tale.. Never struck me how much until I started listening to it again...

Another day, another book completed. OK - this was an audiobook (and perfect for travelling) but it was a cracking listen. Simply because the narrator can make (or break) a book.

A good example of a book being spoilt (in my opinion) was Gerald's Game by Stephen King, The narrator seemed to read the book in a monotone, which really spoilt my enjoyment. But thankfully, this is a rare occurrence...

Nearly the end of January, and I'm already 8 books ahead of my target. But this is only because I have been listening to audio books - not just from Audible, but from Borrow Box.
The kindle is not being ignored - but when I am travelling, the audio book is my go-to listen if I am on my own. It's a little difficult to listen to a book with a passenger on board - especially if I am half way though it!

Another day, another book. This time it's from Borrowbox, and is the 4th book in the Shardlake series.

I've read the series before, but the narrator for the audio books - Steven Crossley, does a really good job of narrating the story - he sounds just like I imagined Matthew Shardlake to sound...

As for my other book - this was an impulse buy as I saw it on the kindle daily deal and got hooked...