Bookish Stuff #28
a mix of physical and audiobooks
I’ve felt really good about my reading in June. I have also been listening to more audiobooks from the library. I have surprisingly been enjoying them so much I have decided to create a XigXag account, a more ethical alternative to Audible and an Ethical Consumer Best Buy, including purchasing my first audiobook.
Below you can see I have included a reading breakdown of the books I’ve read/listened to in June. I’m experimenting with this. I’m interested in seeing a quick breakdown of what books I’ve read from these categories. There may be a book that falls into more than one category, for example my From TBR book was also the one I DNF.
Reading Breakdown
Total Books: 12
Library Borrows (including audiobooks): 6
Re-Reads: 0
From TBR: 2
Audiobooks: 1
DNF: 2
Presents: 3
I had enjoyed reading the previous library borrowed audiobooks from last month and with the wait I had until I could read the next in the series, I decided to start another I was interested in listening to. As I had watched The Lightning Thief and enjoyed the Percy Jackson TV show, I chose the Percy Jackson series to listen to.
I was immersed into the series from the start. Having watched the film, I could see the book narration being acted out in my head. This helped me be fully absorbed into the story while pottering around the house doing odd jobs.
I loved the magical feel to the story and although I doubt it is meant to be a cosy read, I had that feeling when listening to it. I enjoyed listening to this so much that I have put it on my wishlist on XigXag for when I’d like to re-listen to the book.
These three books are my presents to my niece for her birthday this July. I purchased the first two from the National Trust shop at Clumber Park. I got the third from my local independent bookshop. Before wrapping them up, I couldn’t not read through them. They were beautifully illustrated, all with the themes of nature. Each has a pop up element to them along with educational undertones. I can’t wait to see my nieces reaction to them.
This is the book I took from my TBR shelf. It has been there for a couple of years after receiving it from the publisher. It is also the book that I decided to DNF. I read 50 pages of this book. I usually try to read more before I make the decision to DNF a book.
However, this book is on the topic of grief. I feel this is a topic that needs to be explored more in books. I felt this one was primarily focused on a person's raw grief. Although I hadn’t figured out the authors trajectory with the story, I couldn’t continue reading because the grief topic was getting too much for me to be able to continue.
One of the goals I set for myself for the next three years was to read all of the Agatha Christie books. I decided to look at my library to help me with this to save on money, to thankfully find they have a big selection of Agatha Christie. I had a couple to choose from for this book alone. I blindly chose one and I believe I did well with there being an unpublished ending of the book at the end of this one.
I have watched some of the Poirot TV and film adaptations over the years. I’ve always found them interesting and intriguing to how the author had originally written them, hence the goal. I was not disappointed. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this first introduction to Poirot. I couldn’t put it down. I was invested in figuring out who had done the crime and the cosy detective feel the author achieved.
I cannot wait to read the rest of Poirot stories and the other characters Agatha Christie has written.
With putting The Thursday Murder Club on my curated book shelves, it was no surprise I wanted to continue with the series. For this second book, I did not have the physical copy so decided to listen to the audiobook through my library.
This was another book I was drawn into from the start. Having read and listened to the first, I could imagine the characters and story in my head while it was being narrated to me. My love for the main characters grew as the story went on and I learnt more about their lives. I love the cosy, comical feel this mystery has.
I have since learnt that there is a film adaptation in the works for The Thursday Murder Club and I’m all in. It’s not out yet and I can’t wait to watch it. I have the next two books as physical reads. Both will be the first time reading them. I wouldn’t be surprised if one or both end up in the next edition.
On creating my XigXag account, account holders receive this free x-book to listen and/or read within the app to get to know more about how to use the service. It is under an hour listen and gives a full breakdown on what x-books are, how to use the app and the payment scale. I found it very informative and now and again I looked in the app to see the x-book as this showed visuals on what the narrator was explaining.
I have since purchased my first audiobook in the app, which happens to be the next Agatha Christie book due to this not being available at my library. There were multiple versions to purchase. What I liked was that I was able to sample the audio to choose the narrator I found best to listen to.
Another library book. One I selected because I kept hearing about it from multiple sources. With it being available at the library I placed a hold on it, waiting for it to become available to read.
It wasn’t long before I was joining Mika Moon and her self discovery on allowing others into her heart. What made this book even better was that Mika was a witch. A personal development, cosy, magical story of finding love, a new home and found family. I couldn’t wait to get to bed to read some more of the book.
This is one that I would re-read again. With my enjoyment of audiobooks but still wanting a curated physical library at home, I’m now deciding the format of book and how I would immerse myself in the story in the future. Because I enjoyed the book but didn’t have the I need to purchase this book straight away feel. I have decided to add it to my wishlist on XigXag to purchase when I fancy reading it again.
This is the third volume in this Life is Strange graphic novel series. I have already read the first two and this one has been sitting on my TBR shelf a little bit longer than others.
I love seeing an ongoing story line on what could happen after the ending of the game. Read in an hour, this third follows on from the second with Max sharing she’s from an alternative reality and with help from a new character trying to get back to her original time line.
Knowing time travel isn’t easy at the best of times for Max, the suspense was consistent throughout the novel for me on whether she will or won’t get back to her time. I was surprised by the ending and wanted to immediately pick up the next but it will be one I’m going to have to search for.
There’s no surprise that the second book in the Percy Jackson series is here as well. Having to wait until July for the next Agatha Raisin audiobook, I wanted to continue on with this series. I can’t remember if I’ve seen the film adaptation of this book. Even so that didn’t stop me from being able to visualise the narration in my head throughout.
I was drawn into the narration straight away. I was committed to learning about the dangers the camp and characters were in. We get new characters and revisit previous in this adventure to save friends and retrieve the item that will save the camp. I was eager to know what was going to happen, I even listened to the book while travelling in the car instead of listening to music.
Again I would listen to this again and have added it to my wishlist on XigXag. With how the ending was, it won’t be long before I’m listening to the third in the series.
I had recently watched the documentary series of the same name on Disney Plus with a friend. I was surprised to find this book was available at my local library. Finding the series interesting, I decided to see what extra information was depicted in the book.
However, I didn’t get very far with the book. I ended up DNFing it around page 60. I think having watched the series first and knowing some truths behind what is in the book didn’t help. But I was expecting that to hinder me towards the end of the book. I think I found it hardest from the start was how certain information has been fictionalised. Meaning that there is a flow of a story that may or may not have happened as fact.
With this being more of a memoir and the person that was being spoken about in the first section had no input, information was being pulled from other people and then filling in the blanks to make it flow didn’t sit well with me. Those truths learnt in the documentary made it harder for me to continue, leading me to DNF. Especially when I was doing other things that I was procrastinating on to procrastinate reading this.
Life & Books with Tami Siobhan is my online diary. I’m sharing my thoughts on life, books and Disney. Join me to read snippets created by my tangled web of a mind.