Markus Zusak – #A-Z Challenge 2024

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Well, I made it! My final post for the A-Z Challenge and I’ve managed it on the last day, just!

My post for Z is for Markus Zusak and The Book Thief. I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting when I picked up this book to read. I probably chose it because it seemed to be a book that so many had read and thought I really ought to as well. I did enjoy it, and at the time I wondered if I was engaging with it enough and feeling for the characters.

As I read the last few pages I found that I did have a few tears for Liesel, the main character, and that reassured me that, yes, I had taken something from it.

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Image and blurb taken from www.goodreads.com/book/show/42628604-the-book-thief

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To check out more blogs taking part in the A-Z Challenge for 2024 head over to the main website where you can find out more. There’s plenty to choose from!

Young adult fiction: Holly Jackson – #A-Z Challenge 2024

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I had to think a bit about my post for Y, having no book or author beginning with the letter. Instead I’ve gone for a genre, which is a great opportunity to share the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series.

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Images taken from http://www.goodreads.com

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It follows main character Pip as she tries to solve a five-year-old murder case as part of her school project, uncovering secrets and lies along the way.

My daughter introduced me to these books and has read them so much they’re starting to fall apart, which is quite a feat for her as it often takes her a while to find something she loves reading. She was raving about them so much I just had to see what it was all about.

I wasn’t disappointed, I can tell you. I whizzed through them all, partly because they were compelling and I had to find out what happened, and partly because I needed to read them before my daughter gave away any spoilers. She was so excited that I was reading them she almost burst with wanting to tell me stuff! ❤

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To check out more blogs taking part in the A-Z Challenge for 2024 head over to the main website where you can find out more. There’s plenty to choose from!

Exe Men – #A-Z Challenge 2024

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I don’t know about anyone else doing this challenge, but I always struggle the most with X.

Not this year though! I’ve been saved by my rugby reading and this post is for Exe Men: The Extraordinary Rise of the Exeter Chiefs.

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Image and blurb taken from www.goodreads.com/book/show/56075155-exe-men

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I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if you’re reading this and have never heard of this team. They play in the English Premiership and their rise to the top really is an amazing story. I first got into rugby in the 2014/2015 season and they were one of the first teams I ever went to see. The other was Northampton Saints and I am now a solid supporter of them, but Northampton is considerably closer to Norfolk, UK, than Exeter is! Exeter are still one of my favourite teams though and it was great to read this book and get an insight into how they made it to the peak of success.

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To check out more blogs taking part in the A-Z Challenge for 2024 head over to the main website where you can find out more. There’s plenty to choose from!

Andy Weir – #A-Z Challenge 2024

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W is for another science fiction writer that I’ve come to really enjoy, Andy Weir.

I seemed to read The Martian in super-quick time, I just couldn’t put it down. I think it was a late night session to get this one finished and I felt I was on the edge of my seat. I just couldn’t read it fast enough. It felt like a bit of a let down when I finally got round to watching the film.

Project Hail Mary was much the same. I took to the style of writing with ease and was drawn straight into the drama and problem-solving alongside the main characters (although I certainly don’t have the knowledge or expertise that they have to be able to survive in a hostile environment).

I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.

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Image and blurb taken from www.goodreads.com/book/show/18007564-the-martian

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Image and blurb taken from www.goodreads.com/book/show/58959523-project-hail-mary

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To check out more blogs taking part in the A-Z Challenge for 2024 head over to the main website where you can find out more. There’s plenty to choose from!

John Vornholt – #A-Z Challenge 2024

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John Vornholt is an author who has worked on many different media tie-ins, including two of my favourites, Star Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’ve got books from both series by him but the one I’ve read most recently is Coyote Moon.

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Image and blurb taken from www.goodreads.com/book/show/293413.Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer

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I’ve found it quite invigorating to post about my love for reading these media tie-in books. There was a time, probably not that long ago, that I never used to talk about them, as though they were a secret to be kept. But I’m past caring about such things now. I like what I like and I’m not the only one, so I’ll keep on enjoying them and maybe even blogging about them more. No more hiding for me!

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To check out more blogs taking part in the A-Z Challenge for 2024 head over to the main website where you can find out more. There’s plenty to choose from!

Unnatural Selection – #A-Z Challenge 2024

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I’m starting to get to some of the harder letters now for this challenge, so U is for another book rather than an author.

Unnatural Selection is a novel by Mel Odom and is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer story. Yep, as well as Star Trek novels I do love a Buffy (and Angel) novel too!

I think the appeal of these books is that they’re something of a comfort blanket. I know the characters and settings so well it’s no effort at all to get immersed in the story quickly, and they’re fairly quick reads as well so it’s good for an easy distraction. And when I’m cooking the dinner!

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Image and blurb taken from www.goodreads.com/book/show/293517.Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer

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To check out more blogs taking part in the A-Z Challenge for 2024 head over to the main website where you can find out more. There’s plenty to choose from!

Adrian Tchaikovsky – #A-Z Challenge 2024

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I was as excited to write about this post as I was about the Becky Chambers post. I came across Adrian Tchaikovsky by accident really and I’m so glad that I did.

The first book I read was Children of Time and it just blew me away. An epic storytelling of the human race fleeing from a dying planet Earth, hoping to find a new home that has been prepared especially for them. But when they get there it is already inhabited, by spiders! What follows is a race between the two species to establish their own claim on the planet, pushing themselves beyond what they thought possible.

The sequel, Children of Ruin was equally as compelling and I’m looking forward to getting my teeth into the final book in the trilogy, Children of Memory.

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Images taken from www.adriantchaikovsky.com/books-novels-novellas-by-adrian-tchaikovsky

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As well as sci fi novels, Adrian Tchaikovsky also writes fantasy. Honestly, what’s not to love about this guy! Ready and waiting on my TBR pile is the Echoes of the Falls series. I’ll keep you posted when I’ve made my way through them.

Images taken from www.adriantchaikovsky.com/books-novels-novellas-by-adrian-tchaikovsky

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To check out more blogs taking part in the A-Z Challenge for 2024 head over to the main website where you can find out more. There’s plenty to choose from!

Patrick Stewart – #A-Z Challenge 2024

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I could not wait for this book to come out. I’ve been a fan of Patrick Stewart for a long time, and not just for Star Trek (although that was the first reason). It came out in the UK just before Christmas and I mentioned to my mum that she could get it for me as a Christmas present. Well, that made the run-up to Christmas almost unbearable! Every time I saw it I just wanted to get it but knew I had to wait. And it was well worth it.

I started reading it on Boxing Day and was finished three days later. I was so absorbed in reading about his life and the amazing people he’s met and worked with. I knew he was originally a Shakespearean actor but it was fascinating reading about his story from the beginning and how he really had to work from the bottom up.

When I first started reading I couldn’t wait to see how he got into Star Trek, but the build up was equally as enjoyable. I truly find him an inspiration and would probably be lost for words if I ever had the pleasure of meeting him.

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Image and blurb taken from www.goodreads.com/book/show/101160634-making-it-so

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To check out more blogs taking part in the A-Z Challenge for 2024 head over to the main website where you can find out more. There’s plenty to choose from!

Katherine Rundell – #A-Z Challenge 2024

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My daughters both enjoy reading (thankfully) and my nine-year-old is discovering new authors through her teachers at school. She brings home books all the time and now and again I’ll pick one up and give it a read. Apart from coming across new authors myself, it’s nice to be able to share and talk about something we’ve both read.

The Wolf Wilder is one of those books. I’ve read a few children’s books over the past couple of years and they can be so enjoyable to read. There was a time when I was in a real lull about reading, not really enthused by anything and finding it more of a chore than I’d like. But then I picked up a children’s book and was taken away with it, and it really ignited that spark again and got my reading mojo back.

I’d definitely recommend reading some children’s or YA fiction if you’ve never done it before.

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Image and blurb taken from www.goodreads.com/book/show/30234552-the-wolf-wilder

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To check out more blogs taking part in the A-Z Challenge for 2024 head over to the main website where you can find out more. There’s plenty to choose from!

Q-Squared – #A-Z Challenge 2024

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So, since I’ve been keeping my reading record I haven’t yet read anything by an author whose name (either first or second) began with a Q, so this post is about a book instead.

When I was a teenager I was introduced to the world of Star Trek, both in TV form and in novels. At the time I had no idea that all these books existed as well for something I loved watching every week. A trekkie friend of mine had almost all of them and I’d borrow them in batches, always with one on the go. It wasn’t long before I started my own collection, but there’s so many now I’m not sure if I’d ever complete it. And there’s the obvious problem of bookshelf space. At the last count I have 103, but there are so many more than that. Maybe they’re on Kindle too …

Q-Squared is one I’ve read a few times now. Who wouldn’t love a book about everyone’s favourite (sort of) omnipotent mischief? And this book sees him up against someone who’s even worse than him, if you can believe that.

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Image and blurb taken from www.goodreads.com/book/show/217902.Q_Squared

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To check out more blogs taking part in the A-Z Challenge for 2024 head over to the main website where you can find out more. There’s plenty to choose from!