October reading round-up

By | November 2, 2013
I learned a lesson when I did my September reading round-up – don’t promise what you might not actually deliver! October has been an excellent reading month – with a few exceptions – but the books I’ve read weren’t all the ones I’d planned at all (I have no discipline at all…) and I STILL haven’t caught up on my reviews.  Here’s my summary of October:

Read and reviewed:

Elizabeth Is Missing – Emma Healey

The Coincidence Authority – JW Ironmonger

The Room Beyond – Stephanie Elmas

Dance The Moon Down – RL Bartram

Is This Love? – Sue Moorcroft

Wake – Anna Hope

This Child Of Mine – Sinead Moriarty

Calling Mrs Christmas – Carole Matthews

Bridge Over The Atlantic – Lisa J Hobman

The Circle – Dave Eggers

Caught up with reviews:

Tempting Fate – Jane Green

The Disappearance of Emily Marr – Louise Candlish

Reviews pending:

The Englishman – Helena Halme

Mr Lynch’s Holiday – Catherine O’Flynn

The House We Grew Up In – Lisa Jewell 


Read, but won’t be reviewing:

Woman Walks Into A Bar – Rowan Coleman

This was a lovely short read, but a little difficult to write a full review.  Two wonderful things I must mention about it though. One is that 100% of the royalties will be donated to Refuge, the domestic abuse charity. The other is that my e-book contained an extract from Rowan’s next book – The Memory Book – that I now can’t wait to read.

Ancient Light – John Banville

I’ve tried to read this author’s books before, and though this one looked more accessible – it wasn’t.

Wolf Bride – Elizabeth Moss

This was a surreal one.  I really should have known it wasn’t for me from the subtitle “Lust In The Tudor Court”.  I understand the author is Victoria Lamb, a former RNA prizewinner for her YA books – but I really don’t know what she was thinking of with this one. I got to page 100 and gave up.


It’s been a really lovely blogging month. I’ve run my first two giveaways (with many thanks to Catherine at Penguin Ireland for the giveaway copy of This Child of Mine) and published my first two interviews, with Sinead Moriarty and Stephanie Elmas.  

I’ve also been really thrilled that authors have been in touch to express their appreciation, with special mentions to Sue Moorcroft for her wonderful blog post, and to Carole Matthews for quoting me in her monthly newsletter (and for falling in love with my cat!). I also noticed I had a quote from my review of Complicit (welshannie is my Amazon identity) in a Gill Hamer author spotlight on the Triskele Books website published in July – many thanks. As well as the constant pleasure of being able to share the books I love, those acknowledgements really make this blogging life worthwhile.

So what will I read in November? Your guess is as good as mine… happy reading!


3 thoughts on “October reading round-up

  1. Anne Williams

    But a most enjoyable one Joan, fitting it round the busy stuff… hoping I'll be able to spend even more time having fun in the not-too-distant future! x

  2. Lindsay

    Thanks for commenting on my blog Anne. Glad to see how much you're enjoying blogging. I have a lot of reviews to catch up on too; my reading is going better lately but my reviewing isn't happening! x

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