On The Broadwalk Extract

EXTRACT TIME! Oh yes, I have something fun to share, from a book that was released yesterday!

On the Broadwalk: A Memoir by Martin Sherman follows the acclaimed playwright’s life from 1930s New Jersey where he was born into a Jewish immigrant family all the way to 1970s Broadway at the premiere of his play starring Richard Gere, Bent. 

Along the way, he do a whisper-stop tour of Los Angeles, London, Woodstock, rub shoulders with celebrity royalty such as Meryl Streep, the Bee Gees and Joan Benz, all while tackling his struggles with his sexuality, the death of his mother who died tragically young and trying to make it in the theatre circuit. 

All with humour (sorry, I don’t know if I could have a memoir on this blog if it was too dark and depressing). Plus, with this book being foreworded by Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf! Magneto! West End! Broadway!) with praise from Stephen Fry, Alan Cumming, High Jackman, Vanessa Redgrave and Ruby Wax, this might be one for you that want to peek behind the scene of stage shows. 

Now, before I throw the extract at you (with the book’s trailer), I want to say a huge thank you to Justin and Nathan at Inkandescent for asking (then allowing) me to share this extract with you. And, if you want more info on this title, you can check it out at inkandescent.co.uk or via uk.bookshop.org (affiliate link)!

Rereading Surprises

Something strange happened the past few weeks. Barring the whole “I killed my NetGalley account so make my reading/blogging easier as I might be saying Goodybye in the next 12 months or sooner…”, I starting making plans on rereads. And yes, I impulsively reread a book or two. 

And, even more shockingly, I actually enjoyed them. HARD TO BELIEVE, I KNOW! (Ok, I will explain this outburst shortly). 

Now, I know I wrote about my NeverEnding Reread TBR, but I have so many books/audiobooks/ebooks fighting for my attention, I didn’t truly think I would have gone hard on my rereads over the past few weeks since I wrote that post. SURPRISE!

Bye Bye NetGalley

I did something a little impulsive. I closed my NetGalley account.

Now, for those of you who don't know, NetGalley is a way for "professional readers such as booksellers, educators, librarians, media professionals and reviewers" (this includes bloggers/vloggers) to get access to electronic ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) of upcoming titles in exchange for an honest review/reaction.

Now, I had been using it for several years and I did enjoy using it. It helped to share the hype of upcoming titles and share my love for reading. But, within a space of 12 hours (I kid you not), I went from “Wow, NetGalley is overwhelming me lately” to deciding to delete my NetGalley account to actually hitting that “Delete Account” button. 

I can't even explain how I got on the idea to close the account, nor why I thought it was such a great idea for my blog (seeing as I suspect the Pewter Wolf Reads blog is in its death throes...), but it's done and, weirdly, I feel oddly ok with doing it. Reading should be fun and a pleasure (something I say all the time on my blog and on ly socials and yet, rarely follow through on!)

Having a % ratio of what is acceptable for NetGalley Approval rating (80%, in case you are curious) hanging over my head felt like an impossible target to hit as, remember, my Amazon account was hacked/deleted several years back which wiped out my entire kindle catalogue. All my ebooks and most of my Audible audiobooks I got back after causing a huge fuss to Amazon one Easter weekend (yes, this happened on Easter Saturday, folks), but all my eProofs were gone.

Plus, I noticed I would hit that "Request" button and go "If I get approved, when will I read it as my TBR is long" and then I would worry about being a bad reader.

So, removing this from my anxious mind can only be a good thing, right?

Expect an hour or two later, I went "Wait, what about the downloads on my kindle/iPhone? What do I do with them? What is the etiquette here? Do I delete them all or keep/read? If I do that, is it stealing?". So, off to Google I go and … nothing. Yes, people delete their NetGalley/Edelweiss/etc accounts but there is no rules about what to do with your eProofs/Audiobooks. So, am having a think on this front and get back to you on that front. 

Now, I am not quitting blogging yet so I could keep these, but I am slowly winding down the blog (I will write a post once I know when the blog will be put to bed - but not yet). I want a little more freedom over what I read and I want to showcase books am excited to read (and with my reading taste changing from when I first started blogging to now. Hell, my reading tastes have changed in the past 18 months!). This means I might have to get a Kindle Unlimited account so I can read more indie authors/queer romances so this is a genre I want to read. 

So, yeah, I am no longer using NetGalley. Maybe the TBR piles will be thankful for it… Highly unlikely, but we shall see…

The NeverEnding ReRead TBR

Well, if I have scared self into writing about my ending TBR (in all formats), maybe I should write one about my Reread TBR that I would like to read so it’s long. Plus, I did say to self I would try and read more rereads as I do enjoying rereading my faves and, so far this year, I have read none. I am currently audiobooking a reread (The Diviners by Libba Bray), but as I said in my NeverEnding Audiobook TBR post, this is because I have been saying that I would do this series for YEARS but keep chickening out so my plan to do one book in this for book series a month to Halloween/Winter Solstice then do a post (still deciding if I should do one post per book or one HUGE post at the end!). 

The more I think about this post (which I only thought of writing ten or so minutes ago at the time of writing), the more I realise that I have more books I want to reread than I first thought. As always in the past few NeverEnding TBR posts, I will put affiliate links to the titles (with a * next to them) so am playing fair.

The NeverEnding Physical TBR

Following on from my neverending TBR posts about audiobooks and ebooks, let's now look terrifyingly at my physical TBR which, if you look at my shelves, is a mess. I really should do a tidy-up on them a tiny bit. Maybe have a sort out and do a book cull. (And yes, I have put affiliate links to Bookshop.org with these titles next to the * so am playing fair and not tricking you. Plus, if any catch your eye, would love to hear!)

The NeverEnding eBook TBR

After doing my neverending audiobook TBR post of last week, I thought I would do the same with my physical and ebook TBR (as I tend to buy or request quicker than I can read them). I will split these up in separate posts as it will be easier for my brain (it seems to want to only blog every now and again or when I feel like I have something to say) and there's one or two physical books on this list that I am kinda ashamed is still on my TBR so trying to push this post back.

So, with this, I will show off a mix of ebooks I've bought and kindly gifted by publishers (in exchange for an honest review/reaction - I know I go on about this and I feel like this goes without saying), though I sense this will be more titles I have purchased as my eproof list scares me when I try to look them over! I, hopefully, have a nice mix of titles and genres for you to see.

Plus, like before, I will put affiliate links to Bookshop UK but will put a star next to most titles I mention, so you can find out more about these titles art your leisure.

Dead Real Extract Alert

I got an extract for you guys! And I think you guys are going to like it! Best way to describe this book is “Heartstopper meets Shaun of the Dead”.

Let me give you a quick synopsis of Poppy T Perry’s Dead Real and you’ll see what I mean.

Nora wants to tell her horror movie superfan best friend, Ruby, that she is in love with her. Totally, absolutely, completely going to tell her. So what if someone’s written on the toilet wall that Nora’s frigid? Or that her old friends say that all bisexuals are attention seekers? Or that Ruby wants to lose her virginity before they go off to university? Or the town has suddenly been overrun Ned by flesh-eating zombies?

Yes, you read that last line right.

Looks like Nora has no time but the bloody now to tell Ruby of her undying love - before the undead get their teeth into each others’s hearts first…

Like I said, I thought you were going to like the synopsis of this! And I am thrilled to share a tiny extract from you. Now, this is from the first chapter and I choose this little section because it made me howl with laughter! No other reasons. It made me laugh and I thought it would make you guys laugh too. 

If you want to know more about this book after reading the extract, check out either Poppy’s website at poppytperry.com, her Instagram (@poppytperrybooks) or you can use this affiliate link to visit uk.bookshop.org!

The NeverEnding Audiobook TBR

It always feels like I am writing about my audiobook TBR. I keep banging on about several audiobooks that I will get to one day but never do. But, as this is the year that I want to try and read (in all forms) books that make me fulfilled (and it has been VERY hit and miss so far), I thought I will mention several audiobooks that I plan to tackle this year and, hopefully, this will keep me on track and listen to them! While, at the same time, allow me flexibility to listen to others that catch my eye (I'm going to do this with my physical and ebook TBR as well as there are a few that I want to try! Plus, I will put affiliate links to Bookshop UK but will put a star next to titles.).