Christmas 2021 Reads - Mini-Reviews

I'M BACK! After a nice long break (yes, this Christmas blog holiday was longer than normal, but I'm quite happy with this decision as, sometimes, we need a long break to find ourselves and make plans...). Anyway, for the next few weeks, you will be reading write-ups of books/audiobooks that I have read/listen to over the Christmas break. Normal(ish) schedule will resume in the next few weeks. So, once we get into (let's say...) February, you will see my 2022 reading! So, brace yourselves! 

Anyway, I was hoping to get this up last year, but one of the MM romance novellas I was reading took a little longer than I was expecting so decided to push this MM romance heavy post back to 2022. 

Now, originally, the initial plan was I going to do individual reviews on some Christmasy titles that I read or try to read before I go on my Christmas blog break, but as I was writing to write a short review for eNovella, How To Catch The Boss by Ana Ashley (4.5 in the Chester Falls series, in case you are curious), I decided that I might push a few titles together and show you guys that I have gone against my typical "I need to play catch up on my reading/review (which yes, I am!) and read something Xmas!" And so, here are a few titles.

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)!

End of 2018 Post

Ok, this is a little earlier than I was expecting but I've decided that this post here is going to be my last for 2018! WHERE THE HELL HAS THIS YEAR GONE, GUYS?!

The reason I am writing this now instead of the next few days is because I will be back blogging in the New Year a week earlier than I planned so keep your eyes peeled! Plus, am going to try and do a little experiment on The Pewter Wolf where January is going to be a book reviewing free zone. It's kinda happened by fluke where other types of blog posts are taking up January and seeing as I am a tad stubborn and don't want to realise any blogposts on weekend, it's just happens that January is going to be a tad different than normal. So, no real book-review posts to my knowledge in January 2019, although I might - MIGHT -  break this with one, possible two books, but most book reviews will be up in February. Plus, this also gives me a bit of breathing room as scared am going to fall into reading slump over Christmas and New Year and I have made plans to read a few books by certain dates and I CAN NOT BREAK THEM!

Although, if you do want reviews, keep eyes peeled on my other social media outlets - Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Goodreads - as I will try and put one or two up on these platforms in one form or another...

But this is gonna be a short post as all I want to say is thank you.

I know I don't have a huge readership compared to other book blogs who are smarter, funnier, cooler or more cat-like than me, but I am really grateful. I am grateful that authors, publishers, PR people and other cool book people still think my blog can be involved in promoting their book/series and allow time to tweet/email and check I'm ok. Same for when they meet me at events and am going through a tiny self-confidence crisis. Thank you for being kind and thoughtful.

To all my fellow book bloggers/vloggers/podcasters/instagrammers/etc, thank you for always being welcoming to old blogging folks like me (8 years I've been doing this! CAN'T YOU BELIEVE THAT?!) and yet always welcoming newer bloggers into the community! Your passion, warmth and dirty senses of humour are wonderful and there are a few of you I think of as wonderful friends so thank you.

To real life friends, family and my Other Half, thank you for being there and laughing at the amount of books I have and reminding me that there is a life outside of books, telling me to calm down when I get worried/stressed/flap over things I shouldn't worry over. And for your love. Thank you for loving me as much as I love you. I couldn't my lives without you all.

Just thank you all.

Now, am going to leave you and try and enjoy the last few days of 2018 (by working! And reading!) but I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a Happy and Hopeful New Year and wonderful holiday. See you in the future!

End of Year Time!

This time next week, we will be celebrating Christmas! So, this will be my last post for this year! Like Neighbours, Home and Away, and our fave US dramas, am going on my Christmas break. And I don't think I will be coming back till the 8th January! Maybe even later - it really depends on real life matters, but am working towards the 8th January 2018 (wow, that was weird to write!)

So, I hear you ask, why am I writing this post. To show you guys some of my fave reads of this year? Maybe... Or maybe I should show you some covers of books that I had fun reading. As, like am always saying on the blog (and maybe I should say more often), reading should be a pleasure and should be fun! So, let's do that! Here are some books I had fun reading!

I sense some of you are going to backtrack and go "You didn't give these 5 stars" for these. Yes, I know, but like I said, I want to go "Ta-dah" over books I had fun reading.

But this post is just a short "Thank you" post. Thank you to all the authors, publishers, PR comapnies/people and book bloggers/vloggers/podcasters for helping me this year with being involved with wonderful and exciting books and for pointing me in the right directions over books that you guys went "You need this on your radar!"

To my family and friends, thank you for dealing with me this year as I have been all over the place with blog and in real life. I know I am not the easiest person in the world - am a bit of a nervy person so... yeah. Thank you for being there. I love you all.

To my Other Half. I love you.

And now, to you, dear reader, I thank you for reading my blog/Twitter/Instagram/Pinterest/etc and for chatting/interacting with me about books, cats and goodness knows what else. I hope I will still be able to keep writing this blog and keep the fun at it throughout next year! Fingers cross that 2018 is going to be a good year - I mean, it can't be worse that 2017 when you look at the news, right?

So, to you all, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas or whichever religious holiday you are celebrating over the next few weeks and I will see you in the New Year! SEE YOU IN 2018, YOU LOVELY LOT!!!

End of Year Note

When in doubt on how to start a blog post, use a gif. Hence why I used a Friends gif yesterday, a Modern Family gif now and goodness knows what gif I'll use to end this post! Shall we go and find out? 

*scrolls down* ... oh. Really, Andrew? Letting the side down, aren't you? I mean, this is the final post of the year - oh, you guys didn't know that? Ooops. 

Yeah, sorry to throw this at you. But this is my final post of the year, so I can enjoy the holiday season the only way I can... 

Ok, if you know me at all, you know I won't get stinking drunk. In fact, when I do have an alcohollic drink, most of my family/friends/partner look at me in shock. "You're drinking? Are you ill?! What's wrong?!" 

But after the year we've all had, I think we're allowed to let loose for a day or two. Within reason. I mean, 2016... wow, 2016. A year most of us will want to forget. Brexit, Trump, all the people we love/admire/respect dying. Yeah... 2016 wasn't a happy year. So, we will be running into 2017 and, when we do, we'll turn to 2016 and either give it a rude gesture or 

How many of you, I wonder, saw this gif and went either "CURSE YOU, PERRY THE PLATYPUS!!!" or sung "Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorperated"? (That's the only reason this gif is in here. A tiny, tiny bit of humour!)

But, honestly, we'll be walking into 2017, hoping that this new year will be better than the last! We'll be staring at it, waiting for the moment it begins to look like it's going to misbehave so we can either do this...

... or this...

Well, this blog post isn't going the direction I was hoping for. So much for fun and light. 

So, this year was difficult, but we've made it. And hopefully 2017 will be easy on us (it better!!!). And reading was fun this year. A mixed bag as well and finally, I seem to have discovered that I can be ruthless on my reading (at last! Am practicing what I say!) 

And, hopefully, the new year will be the same. I will be reading and listening to stories that will excite me and I will fall in love with. So much so, I will turn to you guys and go "GUYS! GUYSGUYSGUYS!!! YOU HAVE TO READ THIS!!! IT'S SO COOL!!!"

And, hopefully, I will be more proactive on future blog posts. Hopefully, it will be a mixed bag of stuff I hope you guys will like to read. 

Now, am going to sign off now. Have been rambling. But, before I do, I want to thank you all. To all the publishers, all the authors, all the PR people, to you readers, to my fellow bloggers/vloggers/podcasters... I want to thank you all for making this year so much fun blog wise. It has been a struggle and there have been a few times I have gone "Should this be the end I wrap this up?"

But am having far too much fun now! AM BACK IN MY GROOVE!!! 

To my family, friends, fiancee - thank you for putting up with me. I love you all. 

So, I should wish you all a very merry Christmas or whatever festive holiday you keep and I shall see you in the new year (I am thinking either Thursday 5th or Tuesday 10th so mark those dates in your calendar!). 

Ok, that's a bit of a scary gif to leave you on. Ok, let's leave this post on here. See you in the New Year! 

SMILE - Christmas is The Only Time...

Random Google from Sarah Millican is my thanks here so that was easy! And this, my dear friends, is the last SMILE post of the year of 2013! We had fun, didn't we?

SMILE will be back on the blog next year or, if you're fancy and are on Pinterest, come follow the SMILE board at pinterest.com/pewterwolf/smile/ (or follow all my boards, if you fancy it) and you might get a sneak peek of a future SMILE post!

Xmas Songs

Earlier in the month, I asked you guys for your fave Christmas songs. I annoyed you on Twitter and hopefully for a good few song choices.

Only THREE people replied to my request. THREE! So, if these aren't your fave Christmas songs or your isn't on here, you only had yourselves to blame...

Anyway, the three requests are...

WHAM's Last Christmas
Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas
and
Lindsey Stirling's Celtic Carol!

Your Fave Xmas Songs

Less than a month till Christmas. LESS THAN A MONTH!!! Are you excited? Are you panicked? Is the Christmas Movie channel on all the time or have you banned it from your home?

Why am I chatting abou Christmas? Well, I want to do something special for you guys and I thought this would be a good way to do it. I want to know what your fave Christmas song or your fave Christmas-themed song is. Is it Michael Buble? The new Kelly Clarkson? What about the latest Leona Lewis? Or are the classics like All I Want for Christmas and Fairytale in New York your faves? Or is it not anything Christmasy at all?

I wanna know. Why? Well, I want to do the top 5 voted for Xmas songs on this blog's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ThePewterWolf). If you're not following the Facebook page, please do. It would be nice to get to know you all!

Anyway, the plan. The top five voted for songs will be put up, one song a day, leading up to Christmas (meaning the first day will be Friday 20th December). Each song will go up sometime in the afternoon on the Facebook page and, after your fave song is announced on the Facebook page on Christmas Eve, a blog post with the top 5 will be up (it will be later in the evening, though).

So, here's the form. All I ask is you give me the name of the song, the artist and, if you have it, the youTube/SoundCloud link so I can put it on both the Facebook and Blog.

That's it. Nothing more to add. Oh, deadline. I will be closing this at around 7pm on Friday 13th December. So that gives me time to add the votes, get the right song and get everything ready. That fair?



Now the form is out the way, you may carry on with your day!

SMILE - A Christmas Special

MERRY CHRISTMAS FOR TOMORROW EVERYONE! (oh, the image came from Epically Funny's tumblr. Thanks guys for the laugh!)

SMILE - Let The Snow (and Books) Take You Away

Many Thanks to the tumblr of FzngWizbee.

GoodRead - The Night Before Christmas

We all should know the story of Twas The Night Before Christmas. But how many of us actually know it and not only the first few lines?

So when I bought this for my sister (it's a surprise! SSSSHHHH!!! [she's 2 years older than me and is far more awesome than I]), I decide to read through it and stare at the illustrations by Eric Puybaret.

They are beautiful. Yep, I said it. One of my fave illustrations (which I can't show you because Google doesn't like me and I don't want to use my iPhone to take a picture) is of Father Christmas in his sleigh, calling on his reindeer to "Now, dash away, dash away, dash away all!". The reindeer are wearing top hats and bowler hats! I got very excited over this and the PIW (Person I'm With...) had to take the book away from me.

This book comes with a CD, that had three tracks from the Grammy winners Peter, Paul and Mary. Just three tracks, I'm afraid. But they are lovely and Christmasy (is that even a word?).

But this is enchanting. I can't believe I haven't read this till in my mid-twenties (yes, I am VERY behind the times!), but this is simply enchanting.

And now, to leave with a "MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL. AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!"

SMILE - Last Minute Christmas Wrapping!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Secret Book Santa

So, I did this book blogger Secret Santa event for this Christmas just gone (even though I have doubts that I can call myself book blogger? No other book bloggers blogs the randomness I do!) and after the madness of Christmas and the Post (mainly the latter!), I discovered that the present I sent to my Secret Santa-ee was received (and talked about on their blog yet I can't find it!) and, due to Royal Mail, I got my Secret Santa present this Saturday just gone.

My Secret Santa was from Emma from Asamum Booktopia – one of my fave blogs out there and who's lovely to chat to on Twitter! So it was a lovely surprise that I got my Secret Santa from her! So, with a few odds and ends I'm not telling you (because I'm mean like that!), am going to show you the books I received and which have been added to my already HUGE To Be Read pile...





BLACK SWAN RISING by Lee Carroll
Jeweller Garet James isn't the same as everyone else. She just doesn't know it yet.
With her fair share of problems – money (lack of), an elderly father, a struggling business – Garet should be just like any other young, feisty, single New Yorker. If only it was that simple...
It begins with the old silver box that had been soldered shut. All Garet has to do is open it. A favour for the frail owner of the antiques shop. Who wouldn’t help?
Only it’s then that things start to change. Garet doesn't notice at first, the shifts barely perceptible. But the city in which she grew up is beginning to reveal a long-hidden side – darker, and altogether more dangerous: parallel world of chaos, smoke and blood.
And now it’s out of the box...and it has no intention of going back in.

FINDING SKY by Joss Stirling
You have half our gifts, I have the other . . . When English girl Sky, catches a glimpse of bad boy Zed in her new American high school, she can't get him out of her head. He talks to her with his thoughts. He reads her mind. He is the boy she will love for ever. Dark shadows stalk her past but a new evil threatens her future. Sky must face the dark even if it means losing her heart.


TITHE by Holly Black
Sixteen-year-old Kaye finds a white-haired young man of exotic appearance bleeding to death in a rain-drenched wood and saves his life. From that moment nothing in her life will ever be the same. Soon she is plunged into an inhuman world of conflict and betrayal, with a sacrifice -- hers -- and a kingdom as the prize. Cleverly combining romance with the resonance of myth, Holly Black masterfully evokes the dark heart of her conjured realm where Kaye must fight for her lover and her survival -- a place of wonder, to be sure, but also of trickery, decadence, brutality and blood.

HALF BROTHER by Kenneth Oppel
Ben Tomlin has been an only child for thirteen years. So when his research-scientist parents bring home a baby chimp to raise as a human child, Ben's life is turned upside-down. Teaching a baby chimp how to understand language is not his idea of fun, especially when he's trying to settle in at his new school.
But it isn't long before Zan's infectious personality endears him to everyone and he becomes a real member of the family. But just what will happen when he grows up and the experiment comes to an end? Ben must take dramatic steps, and the repercussions ricochet through home and community with devastating results.
This phenomenal novel is a thought-provoking story of relationships and family, first love and growing up, ethics and dilemmas.

Now, these books are really wow! The book that has got me the most excited is Black Swan Rising. It looks so interesting and dark and set in New York (am a bit of a sucker of dark fantasy based in New York).

So, thank you, Emma! And thank you for the Hunger Games tattoos and the AWESOME Maggie Steivfater bookmark! I ADORE that the most! :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!