End of 2020

2020. Well.... this has been a strange year, hasn't it? 

Well, yeah. Maybe I won't reference the car-crash of this year as this is my last post of 2020. And seeing as I didn't do this type of post last year (I went on a mad reading/blog tour sprint last year, didn't I?), I'm not sure what the rules are for these types of posts. Plus, with most of us feeling a bit burnt out due to 2020 (oh, this year was rough on us, wasn't it?), a nice few weeks off will be wonderful. 

Now, before I go, I'm going to put some music videos up as, while books and audiobooks did save me this year (and I had mini-reading/blogging burnout throughout the year because of this), music and podcasts were essential to me (as was binge-watching things on Netflix, BBC iPlayer, SkyQ and Disney+). 

But before I do, I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you to all you wonderful authors and illustrators for creating wonderful stories. Thank you to all the publishers for releasing them to the world in these trying times. Thank you to all the publicists who pushed books onto us. Thank you to all of the booksellers who kept selling books, even though stores closed and some for their jobs under threat. To all the book bloggers/Booktubers/bookstagrammer/Tik-Tokers/podcasters/etc for keeping promoting and loving stories. 

Now, to my family, friends and my Other Half, just thank you. 

Now, before I go, I want to you wish you all a lovely and safe holiday (whether that be Christmas, Hanukkah, Pancha Ganapati, Yule or other holidays that I need to do more research into) and I will see you sometime in January 2021! 

Now, the music that I have been into this year (it's a weird mix and yet, not so much)!

Audiobook Review - Here Is The Beehive

Another audiobook and a short one at that! And I know I am doing the Reindeer Readathon, this isn’t going to fill one of the prompts. I really tried to figure out which prompt would work for it, but nothing does. And I’m ok with that - like I said at the start of the month, I will try and do the Reindeer Readathon, but I’m planning to flexible with my reading/audiobooking. And seeing as I have a week of blogging before I go on a Christmas/New Year blog break, I want to go silly/hardcore with my reading/blogging. Sorry in advance for the weirdness to come! 

Title And Author: Here Is The Beehive by Sarah Crossan

Publisher: Bloomsbury Circus

Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/write-up

Length: 288 Pages or 3 Hours 55 Minutes

Ana is sitting in her lawyer’s office when she gets a phone call from Rebecca, saying her husband has died. But when Ana hear’s the name of Rebecca’s husband - Connor, it throws her into a spiral. Rebecca’s husband is the man Ana’s been having an affair with for the past three years.

Now Ana’s finds herself alone, trapped inside her secret grief and her life, her marriage, her relationships with her family and friends, are spiralling out of her control. How can she grieve for the man she loved, the end of her secret relationship, if the world knew nothing about it?

Reindeer Readathon - The Private Patient

Reindeer Readathon Audiobook the Second. Ok, am still going strong but how much are we willing to be I’ll lose stream and read whatever calls to me like a siren? Anyone? And yes, most of my reads in the next few weeks/into 2021 sound very crime (am I turning to a crime book blogger? Surely not! I love YA and fantasy too much to do that, right?). Anyway, let’s get this post started, shall we? 

Title And Author: The Private Patient by PD James
Publisher: Faber
Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
Length: 416 Pages or 12 Hours 39 Minutes

The final Adam Dalgliesh novel (as well as penultimate novel PD James wrote before her death in 2014 [her last novel was Death Comes to Pemberley, a murder mystery sequel/fan-fic to Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice) and we see Dalgliesh and the team investigate the murder off notorious investigative journalist, Rhoda Gradwyn, who was strangled in a private clinic in Dorset after the successful removal of a disfiguring scar. But as the team try and solve the murder, the question of innocence and guilt become far more complicated and line more blurred…

Reindeer Readathon - Off The Rails

My first Reindeer Readathon story-time, and it’s a random, surprise audiobook I bought on Audible as part of their Black Friday Deals (I have bought/preordered a few other audiobooks as I’ve decided to pause/end my subscription for a while. I need to save some money and I have so many audiobooks to listen/relisten to!)

So, quick history lesson with me and Bryant And May. Been vaguely aware of this series for a while, but I always thought this was a crime series with a slight paranormal twist/element to it. I even have two eProofs from NetGalley – Hall of Mirrors and Oranges and Lemons. But kept putting them off as I wasn’t in the mood for it. Fast forward to a few weeks ago when Audible doing their Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sales. And yes, I am a sucker for a sale. So, when I saw this, this caught my eye.

Title And Author: Bryant and May Off The Rails by Christopher Fowler
Publisher: Transworld
Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
Length: 386 Pages or 10 Hours 46 Minutes

Arthur Bryant, John May and the rest of the Peculiar Crime Unit are in shock and grief. One of their brightest and bravest members was murdered by a violent enigma that they already caught once and escaped. Everything about Mr Fox is false and he can hide easily in plain sight. The Peculiar Crime Unit are desperate to catch him – but they have less than a week to catch him. Otherwise, the department will be shut down. As they have nothing to work with, expect Mr Fox has a link to King's Cross train station. The same place as a strange, motiveless death has just happened. A woman was pushed violently down the stairs. The only clue on her is a sticker of a university bar on her back. Are these two separate cases linked in a twisted way? Can the history and myths of the London Underground and King's Cross be the key? And will Bryant and May finally catch Mr Fox before he strikes again?

NetGalley Blog Tour - The Cousins

BLOG TOUR TIME! And yes, it’s a review-type post. I know, I normally stay away from these kinda tours in case I read the book and hate its guts, but when this title popped up, I couldn’t resist trying this author. I mean, you guys LOVE Karen M. McManus thrillers, especially One of Us Is Lying and Two Can Keep A Secret. So, of course, I was curious and suffering a little FOMO. But The Cousins catch my eye and demanded my attention. And who am I to refuse a book’s siren call?

Title And Author: The Cousins by Karen M. McManus
Publisher: Penguin
Physical, eBook or Audiobook: eBook
Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/write-up for blog tour (hosted by The Write Reads)
Length: 336 Pages

The Story family are the envy of their neighbours: owners of the largest property on the East Coast island, rich, beautiful, closely knit. Till one day, the four children all suddenly get disowned by their mother with a letter containing five words: You know what you did.

Years pass and when cousins Aubrey, Milly and Jonah Story receive mysterious innovations to spend the summer at the their grandmother, they feel like they have no choice but to go, in the vain hope of healing the diverted family. But when they get to the island, they get the strong impression that their grandmother didn’t invite them… 

The teens are determined to figure out what happened to rip their family apart and the truth behind those five words. But every Story has a secret…

NetGalley November - Don't Look

The last NetGalley November review. Yes, I know this is December but I finished this Sunday/Monday so I can’t include it as part of my Reindeer Readathon or my December TBR (which seems to be turning a bit of a Murdery Christmas… [and I planned to read fantasy and sci-fi like heck. Oh well…]. And yes, it’s a crime-y read… kinda… so yeah, this December on the Pewter Wolf might be more stabby than I was hoping for…

Title And Author: Don’t Look by Alexandra Ivy

Publisher: Kensington Books

Physical, eBook or Audiobook: eBook

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/reaction

Length: 402 Pages

So, main reason I requested this on NetGalley was the cover. The cover is striking, right? But does it live up to the premise. 

Kir Jansen returns to his hometown of Pike, Wisconsin, to bury his father, the former sheriff of the town. After the funeral, things happen out of his control: Kir bumps into the town’s vet, Dr Lynne Gale and there’s something between them. The vicar gives Kir a letter from his father, listing initials and Kir is wondering if it’s linked to his father’s frantic and drunk delusions that a serial killer is taunting him, waiting to strike at the women of Pike…

Then women begin to get murdered. Discovered naked barring a red ribbon wrapped round their neck, their throats slashed and each victim looks like they have been tortured. 

Kir realises (to his horror and shame) that his father was telling the truth and he’s worried that Lynne might be the last victim in this serial killer’s list. As the two try to figure out who the killer is, the two grow closer…